I stopped complaining about how busy I was a long time ago because I realized that I wasn’t really as busy as most people, especially parents… and especially moms. I have no kids to drive to soccer practice, I have no lunches to make, I have very little laundry to do (comparatively), I enjoy my job, I have an easy commute… Organizationally, my life is … Continue reading Music Ed Monday – The Space Between
Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. It is the day where we take time to remember the service men and women who fought in Canada’s military to protect the peace and freedoms that we hold dear. I’ve always felt reasonably impacted by Remembrance Day. Maybe it was because my grandpa fought in World War 2, or that my Afi (Icelandic grandfather) was supposed to, but … Continue reading Revisiting the Ghosts
This past month, something that I always felt inside was confirmed: The world is craving emotional classical music about our place in the natural universe. We Are Stars is getting published, Filum Vitae is in submission (but has generally been well-received) and, perhaps most surprisingly, Cosmos has been shared by prominent astronomers, is being featured by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Vancouver) and has … Continue reading Its song, so sweet, compels me…
24 days ago, I uploaded the “Cosmos” choral suite to Soundcloud, hoping that people would listen to it and feel a resonance between the music and themselves. The response has been more than I ever could have imagined. Today, the suite hit 10,000 views 🙂 Thank you. Thank you for giving it a shot. Thank you for writing about it, if you did. Thank you … Continue reading 10,000
On Friday, I had a really thought-provoking conversation with Winnipeg composer Matthew Patton. Matthew was the Artistic Associate with the New Music Festival that just happened a few weeks back. In other words, he’s the guy who got the headlining Icelandic composers to come to Winnipeg. That’s a great feat, but he’s no slouch as a composer himself. He studied Composition at Manhattan University and … Continue reading Coffee with Composers – Matthew Patton
So, you know what’s awesome? This 🙂 A huge thanks to the students of the University of Manitoba Concert Band, Dr. Fraser Linklater (for rehearsing/conducting/opening up time in his class) and to Brenna too, because we should always thank our fantastic significant others. Recording to follow soon! Kenley Continue reading “Filum Vitae” Recording #3 – University of Manitoba Concert Band!
Making parts and I have a love/hate relationship. I love the formatting, the making every part beautiful, the tweaking of fonts and the slight adjustment of dynamics and articulation… until about the fifth hour. You see, it’s painstaking and precise work. I love that kind of work… up to a point. The other catch with making parts is that, while there are many steps between … Continue reading Conception to Completion – Filum Vitae
I have this weird obsession with posterity – not just my own, but anyone’s. I don’t want anything to be lost. I wrote, directed and voice acted in a radio play called “The Constant” and just the other week, I found my notebook with its sketches from early 2008. I completely forgot that I had it. In its faded, smudged pages, I found the outline … Continue reading As the Ink Dries on “Filum Vitae…”
