Sound art | Eris DeJarnett

Recital in Review: face the mirror and its process

TW: sexual assault. I just want to take a few moments and tell you a little about what this show means to me and how it came to be.

Hi, all!

Wow, what a crazy first half(ish) of the semester. I’m spending the weekend sleeping extra and getting back on a somewhat normal schedule for, well, everything. I’m still a little shocked that I spent two months working hard on an intense show about sexual assault and victimhood and somehow it worked. We had a great run last Sunday—my dancers were superhuman and my chops were happy with me—and now I’m diving deep into footage, thinking critically about the next steps for face the mirror. I’d really love to take it on the road in California and the Southwest, so if your school or venue wants to host a night or two, give me a shout. For the time being, though, I just want to take a few moments and expound a little on what this show means to me and how it came into existence.

Eris, with mostly blonde, short hair, stands behind a table. On that table are a few (fake) candles, a washcloth, a bowl of water, and a pack of makeup wipes. Eris reaches for the cloth.

I’ve wanted to make some of my sexual assault stuff into a cohesive show pretty much since I started writing it. I’m always really happy to present the work within the scope of a larger concert—that’s where most opportunities to play new music live—but I wanted to challenge myself to take these somewhat-disparate pieces that each told little stories and fit them into a larger arc. It’s important to me that my audiences have some access to my thoughts on how all these things go together, and the easiest way to do that is to mash them together on the same evening of music and performance. This wasn’t an easy process, and I didn’t expect it to be. I’d actually planned two or three more pieces of my own for face the mirror, including one with a sweet title I’m looking forward to putting together this year, but time constraints and the need to maintain my mental health kept those from coalescing.

We Don’t Report

TW: sexual assault. My brothers and sisters and siblings and I, we have been violated. And we don’t report.

My brothers and sisters and siblings and I, we have been violated. We have been attacked and groped and touched intentionally and carelessly and recklessly. Our attackers may know what they did to us; all the same, they may have forgotten entirely, relegated us and our pain to the insignificant past. We have been hurt beyond all telling. And we don’t report.

Commission Season: I’m Looking for Collaborators!

Looking for a new piece in your repertoire? Hoping to further your intentional programming? I’d love to work with you.

As we move into the fall semester (or quarter, if you’re weird like that), I’m happy to announce I’m accepting commissions for Fall 2018 and Spring 2019. I’ve had a fantastic time working with individuals and groups this year, including the Spring View Middle School Jazz Band, Failsafe Duo, Willis Dotson, John Pisaro and Ian Stahl, and Oakwood Brass. That said, something I’ve come to realize is a lot of my friends, peers, and colleagues are interested in commissioning new works but don’t necessarily know how to approach the process. I can’t and won’t speak for all composers, but these are the most important things to know if you’re interested in working with me.

A Manifesto? (otherwise known as An Intro to My Creative Practice)

TW: sexual assault. Let’s get to know each other better. I’m Megan, and my creative practice is different than you might expect….

Hello, friends! I hope this finds you well.

I’ve spent much of the past week reflecting on my experiences at the Rafael Méndez Brass Institute and getting back into the daily grind. I had such a great time getting to know everyone at RMBI, but it’s dawned on me that as someone who actively identifies as both a composer and a performer, I don’t talk as coherently about my creative practice as many of my new friends do. To be completely honest, I’m a little envious—from the outside looking in, it seems nice to be able to start by saying “I do this” and then getting more specific instead of explaining that you do two or three or five different things and having to elaborate on each one. I’ve also realized that I haven’t at any point sat down and written out how I describe and view my own work. (Grad school application essays don’t count.)

Generally, I dismiss myself pretty quickly. I tell people that I try to marry traditional technique and tonality with experimental idioms, and that’s true. Making weird things accessible to audiences regardless of their musical background is and always will be a priority. Even still, there’s so much more to my writing and performing than “it sounds a little weird but also sort of normal.” There are facets of my creativity I haven’t talked about very much. So this post has two objectives: to introduce myself a little more thoroughly to my friends (new and old, musicians and non-musicians) and help define for myself how I frame my creative practice.

A CalArts Year in Review: Part Two

TW: sexual assault. Though CalArts is great, a few things could jeopardize the wellbeing of its students. Let’s break it down.

Over the past year, CalArts has allowed me to learn at my own pace while providing countless opportunities I wouldn’t get elsewhere. That said, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Like every school, CalArts has serious downsides it needs to address. I can’t speak as much to programs and events outside the music school, but even within HASOM (the Herb Alpert School of Music), there are significant issues that require more management than students or faculty are capable of providing individually. And sometimes, the administration’s what’s causing the problems. So buckle in, everyone. This one’s long.

♦♦♦

Let’s start with my favorite part of every school: the Title IX office. As someone who’s a little opinionated about gender equity in music and all its ramifications, I tend to have a love-hate relationship with Title IX – useful in theory, less so in practice. At a lot of schools, the message these folks tend to send (consciously or otherwise) is “if there isn’t sex involved, we don’t care.” I haven’t tangled on a personal level with the Title IX office at CalArts, but that’s been influenced in part by my first experience with them.

April Performances (and other adventures)

April’s going to be action-packed: Don’t Tell returns, I’m off to the desert, news from Phantom, and more!

Friends,

What a month it’s turned into! April is shaping up to be action-packed in more ways than one. Because I’m about to plunge into a bunch of different performances, I thought I’d take a moment to highlight a few of them here:

March Favorites are here!

Trumpet solos, voice duets, and a music educator feature in my inaugural favorites list.

Like every YouTuber ever, I’ve decided to start a monthly favorites segment. Ultimately, my goal is to highlight music, creatives, and moments I enjoy. If anything catches your attention, don’t keep quiet!

March has been an absolutely insane month. I had the privilege of playing on three recitals (including my own), joining ensembles on various other concerts, clearing a couple commissions off my plate, and preparing for premieres of new works. That said, this is what’s caught my eye and ear:

Welcome to the (Electronic) Jungle

I’m diving headfirst into electronic music. Here’s the rundown of my first few experiments.

Happy Spring Break!

I’ve been taking this week to explore places I’ve never been before, prep for my senior recital, and generally just relax before the hailstorm of midterms and rehearsals I’ll be thrown into once we’re back in school. In all the craziness of last week, I forgot to mention that I’ve begun posting recordings of my first experiments with electronic music and sound art. Here’s a brief rundown on each one, along with links to other places where you can learn more about them:

Don’t Tell: February Premieres and Shenanigans

February is going to be crazy! What’s going on? Here’s the rundown.

Hi everyone! I hope your holiday season was restful and filled with friends and family and all that jazz. Mine involved lots of traveling, but now that we’re back to a (mostly) normal school schedule, I’ve returned to my normal music-making groove. February is a busy month for me – despite it being the shortest of the year, I and my peers have a lot going on! Here’s a sampling:

Fall 2016 In Review: Premieres and Performances

What the heck did I do this semester? Quite a lot, actually.

What a four months it’s been! This semester, I’ve been lucky to score premieres, performances, and commissions. Here’s the roundup:

Category: Sound art