Jeff Reilly bass clarinet

This announcement came out last week but better late than never! Totally delighted that Luminous Voices, conducted by Timothy Shantz has received a JUNO nomination for Sea Dreams! Classical album of the year vocal or choral! So proud of Luminous Voices, Timothy Shantz, Peter-Anthony Togni, Sarah Gieck, Sara Hahn, Katie Partridge, Paul Chirka and so many others.... and yes - I played on this one, so I am thrilled to say that this is my second Juno nomination!

Wow... look what I found on Spotify. I wonder if they know?

Coming up on Wednesday - live streamed from the music room in Halifax and hosted by the Scotia Festival of Music. Peter -Anthony Togni and I with our duo Blackwood. I love this project because it is informed and inspired by the 20 plus years of intense and deeply satisfying musical experience Peter and I have had working together.

Ben Caplan at his best. A dark take on a beautiful song... putting O Holy Night into a minor key changes the very heart of it and turns it into something powerful and transformative. Somehow it feels like just what we need right now. An incredible team all around. With a smattering of bass clarinet from yours truly.

I'm working on a piece with Tom Allen that uses one of John Cage's approach to composition - that is using using only chance parameters to determine the elements of a work. It's about letting random events decide what goes in to the piece and not about you - the composer - making decisions. If you don't like the results - you change your attitude, not the results. It's an interesting process and requires letting go of ego and the need to control. I'm actually enjoying it. I'...ve been using recordings of sounds in my backyard to determine a lot of parameters but I've also come across the need to generate random numbers - to determine pitch choices, scales etc... I remember my father (a statistician) had a random number generator that he used to carry around - a multi sided cylinder like thing that he would toss in the air - and you'd put your thumb down as you caught it and the number would be printed on the side you touched - I could use that thing right now. In the absence of this I have found the site random.org. A site that uses atmospheric noise to create random numbers in a wide range of forms. I think my Dad would have loved this. More to follow. https://www.random.org/

Tonight at 7:30 Atlantic. Blackwood (Peter-Anthony Togni and Jeff Reilly) in concert! https://youtu.be/-KH110UgzcQ

This preview highlights Blackwood in concert virtually from St John's Anglican Church, Lunenburg. Hear a collection of compositions that will appear on their al...bum to be released in the new year, inspired by the power of dreams, the birth of children and grandchildren, the natural world and Irish mystical poetry. Tune into the virtual concert on Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 pm via Musique Royale Facebook & YouTube channels. bass clarinet: Jeff Reilly bass clarinet piano: Peter-Anthony Togni audio/video: Pause Music drone: Kerry Bursey

Coming up Saturday!!! Peter Anthony Togni and myself in concert. Beautifully recorded by John Adams and Glenn Patscha of Pause Music. I love this project because it is informed and inspired by the 20 plus years of intense and deeply satisfying musical experience Peter and I have had working together.