We are rounding the bend on the ballet. There are a few more scenes to go, and I am writing about three minutes of music a day. While it is a bit tiring, I am having fun. It is also revitalizing to see that the “Done†pile is now bigger than the “To-Do†pile.
I need to have the music locked by the end of March. Holy Smokes! I just realized how soon that is! Well, back to work.
So when will I have time to do my taxes?
Since December I have been working on the music for a ballet called “Emily of Amherst.” The ballet is being presented by the Emily Dickinson Museum as a part of Amherst, Massachusetts 250th Birthday. The choreographer is Catherine Fair, the creative director of Amherst Ballet. 80% of the music is written, but half of that still needs to be scored.
It has been a fast-paced, but fun, collaborative process. Catherine and Jane Wald, Director of the Emily Dickinson Museum, wrote the libretto, and Catherine and I work on the music. Catherine tells me what the general character of a given scene should be, and I write the music that I think helps create that character. Catherine then tells me “yes” or “no,” and I work on fine-tuning the parts that work and redoing the parts that don’t.
Working as part of a team is much more satisfying for me than working as a solitary creator — the give and take, the discussion of ideas, the bringing together of different visions of a project is invigorating.