For the chamber music fans out there, at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, 2008, saxophonist Vince Gnojek will give a recital at the University of Kansas. Mr. Gnojek is the professor of saxophone at KU and will be accompanied by Holly Beneventi Page, piano and Brian Gnojek, clarinet. The program will feature works by all modern composers with the exception of Jules Demersseman who was one of the very first composers for the saxophone. This recital marks Gnojek’s 20th year at KU and coincides with the 50th Anniversary of Murphy Hall.

In 2005, my wife and I did a recital together where we each played a half-concert worth of music. In addition to some unaccompanied Piazzolla études, the big piece that I performed was a jazz improvisation with my father Vince Gnojek. I gathered together a series of 10 photographs which were a combination of my own photographs and some found images. All of them were abstract and had strong elements of texture and color. I projected them onto a large screen and we each stood on either side of it and, with the lights turned out, we performed an improvised piece of music that responded to the photography that we were looking at.
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Rechelle Malin is a folk singer, songwriter, author, blogger, mother, the wife of a country doctor, and most recently, a horticulturist. Her writing and lyrics are clever, humorous and deeply personal. So, you can imagine my excitement when I was asked to design the artwork for her newest album, Secret Songs!
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The KU Wind Ensemble is the premier wind band at the University of Kansas. This is the poster for their upcoming concert on Feb. 14th, 2008 which should be a great one! It’s at the Lied Center on the KU campus and if you’re looking for a Valentine’s date idea . . .

This studio visit features the live music studio at Kansas Public Radio on the University of Kansas campus. This state of the art recording studio was built into the new KPR building when it was constructed in 2002-03. From the website:

Various acoustical elements were designed into the room to ensure a good sound such as adjustable curtains, floating floor, non parallel wall and ceilings, and insulation to isolate the studio from outside and interior noise. KPR hosts musical artists from around the world for special live performance recording sessions which are mastered by our own professional sound engineers.

Every recording I’ve heard come out of this studio sounds wonderful and it can accommodate a variety of groups from a solo piano to a large jazz group or a choir. I was able to stop in for a visit while the chamber group Allégresse was putting the finishing touches on their debut album which is coming out later this year.

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For those of you looking for great local art and music, this Friday night will not disappoint! Check out Liz Gardner’s show entitled “A Day in the Life: Pocket-sized Pieces (PSPs)” at the Love Garden in Lawrence! Her fabric and found material collage works are fascinating and she’s a really cool person as well. The band Ghosty will be performing at the opening as a CD release party for their new album called Answers.

The show is Friday, Jan. 11, 7 p.m. at the Love Garden, 936 1/2 Massachusetts St. and admission is FREE.

(The cover of “Answers” features one of Liz’s pieces to give you a feel of her work)

AND, if you’re not ready to turn in early that night, another great local band, Marry Me Moses,will be playing across the street at the Jackpot Saloon at 10 p.m. They released a killer album last year called Engine, Engine which has had a lot of rotation in my CD player since I got it. So, get out and support some local artists this weekend. You won’t be disappointed!

As a side note, one of my rock n’ roll moments was when Marry Me Moses asked me to shoot some publicity photos of the band (including the one above)!

Since the holidays are swiftly approaching, I thought I’d put up a project I recently finished for the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra. They have a holiday concert every year that raises funds to help keep the orchestra going. The best part about this year’s concert is that it features members of my family! If you can make it, the concert is this coming Sunday, Dec. 23rd at 2:00 p.m.

This is a logo I designed this past summer for the soundSCAPE Music Festival which is a new music festival that takes place in Italy every year. It’s a chance for electronic and new music composers have their works performed and also for musicians to play new chamber music and work with contemporary composers. It’s in it’s third year now and is a wonderful festival that seems to be taking hold as a premier new music event.