Tantramar River, Trans-Canada Highway, MacIntosh Brook, Blue Ridge Parkway. Watauga River, Dutch Creek, Peak Road, Thomas E. Dewey Thruway. US-4, I-95, Batemans Brook, Hudson Headwaters. Route 16, Reversing Falls. North River, West River. North River Road.

Man, oh, man. It’s been a season on the go. Uprooting my New Brunswick home and hitting the roads (and rivers) of the Atlantic provinces and states, up to the north, out to the east, down south, and back again. And now I’ve landed in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, a small chunk of land sitting in an ocean bay filled by three rivers, where I’m thrilled to be joining the faculty of Holland College in the fall.

I’ve got all sorts of exciting things in the future: a new album of songs to be released this fall, two new choral pieces published by Renforth Music, the American premiere of my piece Beautiful Dreamers (by the fabulous Nick Photinos!), a bass recording of a Bach cello suite re-mix, and a brand new literary musical collaboration. Plus a possible orchestral premiere in the new year. Some serious cubic feet per second.

The last couple months have seen some great music happening too. Erato Ensemble gave a fabulously playful premiere performance of Of All the Birds, a piece they commissioned for their Ayre II program. The concert also marked the last for Will George as the artistic director of the group, and you can watch his stunningly conclusive performance here (the video also features Dory Haley‘s spot-on rendition of a flycatcher!). Esther Lamneck performed I Will Stay Here recently in Manhattan at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival. And the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra presented my piece for erhu, pipa, ruan, sheng, and zheng Old As the River at the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver. Take a listen…