It looks like the world premiere of “Turbine” will be on February 24, 2006, at the Southern Division CBDNA convention in Nashville, Tennessee at Vanderbilt University. J. Cody Birdwell will lead the premiere with the University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble. I’ll be there! On that same day, Georgia State University, under the direction of Robert J. Ambrose, will perform Redline Tango at the same convention. That’ll be quite a day. I should stock up on Xanax.

Rick Clary has been rehearsing Sasparilla for a few weeks, and he’s been graciously supplying me with MP3 (actually, AAC) files of his rehearsals so I can hear the progress and make notes. I’ve said it before, but wow – that FSU ensemble kicks ass.
The school hired a professional accordion player to play the solo, and it makes all the difference. The piece works infinitely better with the accordion, rather than the cues in trumpet and clarinet. Rick is doing the piece with the Texas All-State Band in February, and I sure hope we can snag an accordion player for that concert, too…

FSU will perform the piece a week from Friday, and with Rick’s permission, I’ll post the MP3 as soon as it’s available.

AEJ is flying off to New Mexico tomorrow morning to spend a few days on the set of her movie. I’ll be spending those days finishing Turbine, keeping the cat under control, and hoping that she doesn’t run off with Neeson or Brosnan.