The Year Between

Well, it's been almost a year to the date since last I've written on here. And that's because 2009 pretty much sucked. The highlight was seeing the Met's last production of Otto Schenck's production of Wagner's "Ring." The bad parts far outweighed the good, though, in this year of setbacks and disappointment. School has been put on hold until Fall 2010 and I miss all my friends there terribly. Composition has been at a steady rate, though, producing lots of great choral works. I want to keep this brief, but since my life at U-M currently is on hold, so will this blog, for a bit longer, as my musical achievements are nonexistent. Except for one thing, which is some good news too...again, in 2009, I've been awarded the ASCAPlus award with a nominal grant, bigger than last year's. If this keeps happening annually, I could become more well-known in ASCAP circles, and with my choral collection growing, I smell a publisher-hunt coming.

In the meantime, while my health recovers, I've seen many movies and will be starting a new blog. You can find it on here, by clicking on my profile link and finding the blog about movies. Thanks much, and when I can finally jumpstart my music career, I'll be back on here.

Love, Cory

NEW CLASS SCHEDULE

Had to drop MusEd 205 due to logistical errors; I will take that next fall. So I am now taking Band for 2 credits, to maintain a full 18 credits, so I can get 2 credits with an easy A. Here is the schedule...CP.

Slalom

Hey guys, enjoy listening to "Slalom" by Carter Pann, a composer-friend of mine. He's highly successful and teaches at CU--Boulder. This piece is probably his most famous and is being played almost every second all over the US and the world. It's a piece that depicts his skiing experiences at Steamboat Springs, CO while listening to classical standards. One of my favorites (which is why I'm sharing it with y'all)! Enjoy! Visit his site below for more information...

Carter Pann's Website

Slalom - London Symphony Orchestra, Carter Pann

NEON 10

Introducing Neon 10! Neon 10 is a progressive rock/alternative rock band in Downers Grove, IL comprised of many friends of mine from high school. Their music, whether original or covers, is awesome and their take on rock is refreshing, considering today's often confusing and overwhelming world of rock music. I highly recommend you check them out; take it from me--I do music for a living, so I would know! They've got a show on February 15th at Saban's Place in Downers Grove, IL so you'd better be there--and tell them who sent you ;-)

Check them out at their website: www.neon10band.com
Their link will be hosted permanently on my sidebar, so you can always access their site from there.

Happy Holidays,

CP

Notice: Podcast Suspension

Dear Loyal Fans,

Unfortunately, my podcast "Commentating the Classics with Sir Richard Pancake" has been suspended until further notice, due to factors out of my control. I cannot afford to own a site for the podcast to be hosted at, and it needs to be hosted somewhere that makes it easily uploadable and accessible to the iTunes Library. I was using iWeb/MobileMe's free 3-month trial and LOVED it. The site-design was simple, yet sophisticated; easy to use, and hosted the podcast with all the embedded information to correctly display it on the iTunes Store. However, it costs $100 a year to maintain an Apple MobileMe account, and while it is an investment I'm willing to make in the future to make this podcast a consistent, real, and infectious thing, I cannot afford it now (plus MobileMe makes almost all important info like contacts, calendars, bookmarks, etc. syncable from your Laptop to your iTouch, and to your sites, as well as having a bunch of other cool features). So, thanks for your support (while it lasted), and I hope you enjoyed what you heard. We'll be back soon, WE PROMISE!!!

On a similar note, as soon as we are able we will re-host the podcast via MobileMe (just need to pay the fee, and press the "re-publish" button) and it will immediately reappear in the iTunes Store, and hopefully it'll take off big this time. If you'd like to support this cause, or any other cause of ours (like Cory's COLLEGE FUND or MUSIC FUND, simply send money via PayPal--email address for PayPal is corypark@aol.com (that's all you need to send money). Thanks! (But seriously, I don't expect that from you--just a joke.)

Best,

Sir Richard Pancake, KBE, MD, PhD, DMA; Podcast Co-Founder and Program Host

Cory Parkinson; Podcast Co-Founder and Producer
Composer (ASCAP), Pianist/Vocalist,
Undergraduate BMus of Composition &
BMus of Choral Music Education at
The University of Michigan

My Winter 2009 Schedule (tentative)

Here is my tentative schedule for the Winter 2009 semester; the only changes will be to Voice Lesson and Composition Lesson times (but hopefully not, because they fit well as is!).

Here is an image file of it, click to enlarge:

Also, at the very bottom of this page (the blog's footer), there is a permanent large-sized image of my schedule--this post and the footer will be updated as needed. Enjoy!

Gramophone's New List of Top 20 Orchestra hails Chicago as best in the US!

Once again, CSO kicks butt in the world of classical orchestras, ranking 5th in the World, 1st in the US! Read the NPR Bulletin, based on the rankings by Gramophone magazine (scroll down for complete rankings):

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97291390&sc=emaf

You can also listen to the radio broadcast of the story from NPR by clicking "Listen Now" (Adobe Flash Player 8 required).

Also, for convenience, the article appears as images below...click to enlarge.

Also, enjoy the cover of the December 2008 issue of Gramophone Magazine (the magazine's annual Critic's Poll determines the orchestra rankings):



Enjoy, and LONG LIVE CSO!!!

IMEA Composition Contest Awards!

Friends, I once again have been honored with TWO awards from the Illinois Music Educators Association Composition Competition (IMEA). This brings my IMEA Award total to 6, and my grand total of awards to 7. These are the specific awards this year:

2nd Place, Vocal Solo, for: "Loveliest of Trees" for baritone and piano, text: A.E. Housman
3rd Place, Choral, for: "Bogoroditse Devo" (Russian "Ave Maria") for mixed SSAATTBB choir acappella, traditional text.

As a post-graduate of high school, it is an especially great honor for me, and I am extremely grateful to IMEA, the competition judges, my alma mater Downers Grove South High School (DGS), Brayer Teague (IMEA competition coordinator and personal friend), Glenn Williams (friend, mentor, and chairperson at DGS), and all others who have influenced me, namely my composition instructors: Belford Hernandez (DGS), John Connolly, Roshanne Etezady (ASU/Interlochen), and Erik Santos (UM). Erik had a large role in critiqueing both winning pieces this year, so I owe many thinks to him! Thanks to all others, including but not limited to: Holley McKee, Craig Roselieb, Ron Hornish, Laura Coster, and all the other music faculty at DGS. And of course, thanks to my FAMILY and my PARENTS. I love you all!

As a college freshman, this was my last year eligible for IMEA awards, so I am grateful to have gone out with additional awards. This program has helped me grow immensely as a composer, and I am honored to have contributed to a great system. Thanks IMEA, and thank you Brayer for coordinating such an excellent competition. Thanks also to the esteemed judges.

I am entering many other competitions at the collegiate and professional level this year, so stay posted for updates! Thank you ALL for your support, and good bye for now!

ASCAP Link

Here's the link to the second feature in ASCAP's PLAYBACK magazine.

ASCAP Playback Magazine "Stepping Out" Column.

Just click on the link "Premiered."

Enjoy!

World Premiere!

Dear friends...

It is my pleasure to announce the world premiere of my new art song for baritone and piano, "Loveliest of Trees," based on the A.E. Housman text of the same name. The concert will be held on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 at Britton Recital Hall, Moore Building, University of Michigan School of Music, North Campus, Ann Arbor, MI. It will be featured during our 2nd of 5 Composers' Forums. Dorian Hall, baritone, and Siyi Fang, piano, will be the performers.

We had our dress rehearsal today and it sounded STELLAR! Just as I wanted it to sound. If you are in the area, feel free to stop by and say hi afterwards! Wish me luck!

And for God's sake, VOTE on Tuesday! Barack Obama for President!