I was happy to spend some time again in Ensenada, MX, performing with friends and students on the 10th Semana Internacional de la Improvisación (SIDIMPRO). The first concert was a double bill featuring new works by a group of ICIT PhD students from UCI (Emma Houton, Rebecca Larkin, Xuanqi Liu, Brandon Woo Snyder and Reed Wixson), followed by an improvisation set by Wilfrido Terrazas, Ivan Trujillo, Kyle Motl, Yamil Almaguer and me. The next day we presented a concert of new works by undergraduate students in a collaborative class we’ve co-run this fall across UABC (Alvaro Diaz), UCSD (Wilfrido Terrazas) and UCI (me), as part of the two-year Cauces Sónicos project that Wilfrido and I co-direct.
Seeing undergrads – most of whom are new to composing – dive into wild and fun experiments and cross-border collaborations, and seeing PhD students in the early stages of their career coming together to produce new work in highly collaborative and joyful ways… it’s all helping me to practice hope and stay positive during these difficult times. Thank you all!
