PUBLICATION – REVIEW: Object Collection | 5.18.17
Part two of a two part series on new Composer Collective releases. Read it here.
PUBLICATION – REVIEW: Ensemble Pamplemousse | 5.11.17
Part one of a two part series on new Composer Collective releases. Read it here.
NEW COMPOSITION: Veil, for solo mezzo-soprano and fixed media | 5.2.17
Finished a new wordless lullaby for Megan Ihnen and the Sleep Songs project. Read more.
PUBLICATION – REVIEW: Eleonore Oppenheim: Home | 2.15.17
I wrote a review of Eleonore Oppenheim’s debut album, Home. Read it here.
GRANT AWARDED: Common Threads | 12.17.16
My commissioning project with fEARnoMUSIC has been awarded a RACC grant. Read more.
BLOG: On Rehearsal Time | 11.18.16
Some recent thoughts on how I spend my rehearsal time with ensembles. Read more.
NEW COMPOSITION: I want to unfold, for sax quartet | 8.28.16
Completed a new piece for the Mana Quartet. Read more.
NEW COMPOSITION: Rock Salt, for Orchestra | 7.25.16
Completed a short and furious piece for orchestra. Read more.
NEW COLLABORATION: Mana Quartet | 5.10.16
I will be working with the Mana Quartet on a new piece for Sax Quartet and Electronics. Read more.
PUBLICATION – REVIEW: Lois Vierk: Words Fail Me | 3.1.16
I wrote a review of Lois Vierk’s latest release. Read it here.
NEW COMPOSITION: Joyful Noise, for amplified cello quintet and drum set | 1.26.16
Completed my first piece of the year. Read more.
REVIEW: Frozen Smolder | 11.23.15
FROZEN SMOLDER received a lovely review! Read it here.
PUBLICATION – GUEST BLOGGER: Music Meets Prosody | 10.28.15
I wrote a blog entry about my latest piece for Third Angle. Read it here.
DISCUSSION: Online Presence | 9.28.15
I will be hosting this week’s #musochat discussion: Online Presence. Read more.
FEATURED COMPOSER: Composer’s Circle | 8.20.15
I was featured as the “Composer of the Day” by Composers Circle. Read more.
BLOG: The Measured and Unmeasured | 6.11.15
Wrote an essay on some different composer’s approaches to writing for speaker and live ensemble. Read more.
NEW COMPOSITION: Frozen Smolder, for amplified trio | 5.18.15
Completed my latest commission for the Third Angle Ensemble. Read more.
PUBLICATION – REVIEW: The Brooklyn Rider Almanac | 5.6.15
My first review with I Care if You Listen has gone out. Read more.
WEBSITE UPDATE: Sheet music now available for purchase | 4.28.15
I’ve added a new page where you can order print-on-demand scores. Check it out.
NEW COMMISSION: Third Angle Ensemble | 4.17.15
I will be collaborating with the Third Angle Ensemble on a new piece for violin, viola, and narrator. Read more.
CALL FOR SCORES SELECTION: Two Miniatures | 3.24.15
My sax quartet has been selected by Vox Novus for their 60×60 mix in Louisiana. Read more.
NEW COMPOSITION: Catalyst, for mixed septet | 2.14.15
First double bar of the year has been reached! Read more.
WEBSITE UPDATE: New Website Address | 2.2.15
This website has a new, easier to remember web address. Read more.
BLOG: On The Threshold of 2015 | 1.12.15
Shared an update on a current project and some thoughts on what I want to write during 2015. Read more.
PUBLICATION – REVIEW: fEARnoMUSIC | 12.16.14
My first publication with OR Arts Watch has gone out! Read my review of “Locally Sourced Sounds” here.
CALL FOR SCORES SELECTION: Aphorisms II, for solo piano | 11.28.14
My second set of piano miniatures has been selected for the Composer’s Voice Concert series! Read more.
NEW ARRANGEMENT: Interrobang, for mixed dectet | 11.1.14
A new arrangement of INTERROBANG is now available. Click here.
NEW VIDEO: Sun, for a cappella choir | 10.14.14
I just received the video from the premier of my choral piece, SUN. Performed by the FPC Chamber Choir. Watch.
SEMI-FINALIST: American Prize – Chamber Music Division | 9.22.14
My fifth string quartet, OUTSIDE THE EYES, has been named a semi-finalist in the 2014 American Prize for Composition. Read more.
REVIEW: Northwest Resonance | 9.21.14
A very nice review of Northwest Resonance and my percussion duet, FANTASY IN METAL, has been posted in OR Arts Watch. Read more.
CALL FOR SCORES SELECTION: Two Miniatures | 9.15.14
My sax quartet, TWO MINIATURES, has been chosen by the Very Small Consortium for their fall concert series.
NEW ARRANGEMENT: Scherzo, for string quartet | 9.5.14
A new arrangement of SCHERZO is now available. Click here.
WEBSITE UPDATE: New Performances Page | 8.30.14
I added a new page dedicated to all past, present, and upcoming performances of my music. Read more.
BLOG: Artistic Entrepreneurship | 8.29.14
At the three-quarters mark, this has proven to be a very productive year thus far. Read more.
NEW RECORDINGS: Fantasy in Metal | 8.18.14
I just obtained the live video and audio from Saturday’s NORTHWEST RESONANCE concert. Read more.
PREVIEW: Northwest Resonance Concert | 8.13.14
Brett Campbell wrote a lovely little preview for my upcoming concert, NORTHWEST RESONANCE. Read more.
CALL FOR SCORES SELECTION: Sun | 7.16.14
My second choral piece, SUN, has been selected by Cascadia Composers to be premiered during their fall Celebration Works concert series. Read more.
NEW ARRANGEMENT: Toccata Lot of Nerve, for solo guitar | 6.20.14
A new solo arrangement of my guitar quartet is now available. Click here!
WEBSITE UPDATE: Catalog Overhaul | 6.12.14
I just did a major overhaul of my catalog page. Now EACH PIECE has it’s own unique page with lots of relevant info. Check it out!
NEW PIECE: Percussion Duet Completed | 5.20.14
A lot has been going on and consequently my already limited attention-span has been drastically reduced. Read more
NEW COMMISSION: Duet for Percussion | 4.25.14
I’m a bit late announcing this, but I’ve begun a new work for Seattle’s RE:Percussion Duo which will receive its premier in mid-August at the Community Music Center. Read more.
BLOG: First new piece of the year: DONE | 3.15.14
Finished my first new work of the year; a set of two easy pieces for solo piano. Read more.
PREVIEW: Inaugural Concert | 3.3.14
“Composers and musicians from opposite ends of the Willamette will celebrate new connections between two river communities when the Eugene Contemporary Chamber Ensemble (ECCE) and the Contemporary Portland Orchestra Project (CPOP) join forces for a March Music Moderne concert on March 8 at Portland’s AudioCinema studios. Read more.
GRANT AWARDED | 2.24.14
I’m very happy to announce that the upcoming “Inaugural Assembly” concert has been awarded a Project Grant from New Music USA!
[Note: Location and beneficiary of concert has changed, but the essence remains the same.]
The full details can be read here.
REVIEW | 2.8.14
“Portland composer Jay Derderian’s austere [REDACTED] for electric viola and tape sounded the most up to date, not least because of its birth during the recent National Security Agency privacy intrusion scandal and its consequently ominous atmosphere, produced by the viola’s raspier timbres and pitch bending. Like others on both programs, its length exceeded its ideas, but the probing music offered a piercing contrast to the surrounding pieces. “ Read more.
– Brett Campbell, Oregon Arts Watch
BLOG: One Month In | 1.28.14
I’m very optimistic that this will be a great year, and so far I’ve been proven right. Read more.
BLOG: Movin’ on up. | 11.4.13
As of a few weeks ago I am officially on the governing board of Cascadia Composers. I’m really excited to serve this fine organization and be able to contribute to its growth and development. Read more.
BLOG: Orchestras and New Rep. | 8.15.13
NPR Posted a very interesting article on American orchestras and their relationship (or lack thereof) with new music.
I was pretty intrigued by it and the author raised a number of interesting points. Namely, that the idea has been passed down in modern composition departments that it’s a futile endeavor to write a large orchestral piece. The argument is mainly from a practical standpoint; orchestras are big, unwieldy beasts, and the costs of rehearsal time and performances almost completely outweigh the opportunity of in-depth exploration for both the orchestra and the composer. It’s unfortunate we’ve arrived at this point, but there it is. Read more.
BLOG: Upcoming Projects | 6.13.13
Many new things are starting to happen, but they are all currently in the early conceptual stages. Here’s a brief over-view of some current and potential upcoming projects (all of which I’ll write about in more detail as they come nearer). Read more.
BLOG: On Listening to New Music | 5.14.13
There was an interesting article posted on Allclassical FM‘s Facebook page today, asking “How are we to listen to New Music?” The article goes on to interview a composer asking if there’s more to “get” in New Music.
I think the best way to approach “new music” is to think about how it was conceived within the context it was written in. Read more.
NEW RECORDING: Outside the Eyes | 4.2.13
Just received a copy of the live recording made from the New Ideas in Music concert. Listen.
BLOG: On Rehearsing | 3.11.13
Soon I’ll be working directly with Third Angle on my string quartet; the first open rehearsal of my piece will be this Friday. It’s starting to get very, very real. Read more.
UPCOMING EVENTS: March Music Moderne 2013 | 3.11.13
March Music Moderne launched last week and has an incredible schedule of events planned for this year. So much to hear, so little time. Read more.
BLOG: On My Fifth String Quartet | 2.22.13
Many composers write their pieces as solutions to problems or questions they pose for themselves, and I’m no exception. Nearly every piece I’ve written has been an attempt at approaching some sort of dilemma I’ve conjured up from who knows where. The problem (or question) could be a kind of formal shape, a rhythmic pattern, a harmonic idea… you name it. My fifth string quartet, Outside the Eyes, written for the Third Angle New Music Ensemble, will encompass a number of ideas, questions, and challenges I’ve put forward for myself, some of which I’ve been carrying around for many years and a few I’ve developed especially for this occasion. Read more.
BLOG: It is done. | 2.8.13
Written between October and December of 2012 with edits and revisions happening even up to last night, my fifth string quartet, Outside the Eyes, is officially done. All I have left to do is finish making the parts. Read more.
FINALIST: New Ideas in Music, 2013. | 2.1.13
I’ve been selected as a finalist in this year’s New Ideas in Music Composition Competition!
I’ll be doing a series of posts about the progress of my fifth string quartet, Outside The Eyes, for the competition’s website. This piece has been one of the biggest compositional challenges I’ve set forward for myself, and I’m very excited to be working with the Third Angle New Music Ensemble. Read more.
Jay Derderian 