This is still fun, but man, don’t let anyone fool you – writing an opera is work.

Took a mighty long time to put the JQA/Symmes meeting into Finale. It’s 14+ minutes long and 388 measures. This is just the piano reduction! The orchestral score (Fl/picc, Ob/EH, Cl/Bs Cl/AS, Bsn/TS, Hn, 2Tpt/Flgl, Tbn/Euph, Tuba, Hp, Pno, Timp, 2 Perc, string quintet) is going to take up most of the summer!

I am currently working on the opening of Act I, up to the Poem Duet. If all goes well, I can finish that this week and write the rest of the connection between the Poem Duet and the Symmes meeting as well as the conclusion of Act I next week, then spend the week of 2/13 editing, typesetting, and finalizing the act. I do have a couple of small distractions; I need to write a 20-30 minute talk about my Concerto for Piano and Band, which I will give on February 13 at 2pm at the University of Jamestown in Jamestown, ND. This will be followed immediately by the premiere of the two-piano version (John Clodfelter, soloist; Mei-Chuan Lin, accompaniment). The night before that, the Central Lakes Symphony Orchestra is giving a concert of music from films, so my wife and I will be driving from Alexandria to Jamestown after the gig. (Playing in that group has reinvigorated me.) And after that, of course, the Cincinnati Bengals are in the Super Bowl. We’re staying an extra night in Jamestown just to make sure we don’t miss the game. WHO DEY!

Once Act I is finished, I’ll try to put up a couple of excerpts. I’ll be writing Act III next.

Back to the grind.

WF