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I just recently finished a redesign of a website for classical pianist Steven Spooner. Check out the site and listen to some of his excellent recordings.

I just wrapped up a new website for the Kansas Summer Flute Festival, a new summer flute camp for all ages from beginning flute students to experienced high school musicians. The festival organizers Annie and Mary wanted a very direct and clear website that was eye catching, yet easy to navigate.

Rather than have a bunch of columns or unnecessary information, I decided to try out a skinny design (440px!) to see how it works and I think it’ll be just what they’re needing. I also utilized some MooTools on the front page which are some cool javascripts that fail very elegantly if the viewer doesn’t have javascript running. Always important for accessible websites!

Check it out at www.kansasflutefestival.com!

In a bold effort to bring back the lost art of the mixtape, then there’s a new online service called Muxtape that allows you to create a music mix and share it easily with others online. It’s simple, easy to use and is even supposed to be iPhone friendly. Although it seems like there are certainly some legal issues here, it’s a neat way to learn about different music, so we’ll see how long it sticks around. The creator, Justin Oullette, is also a photographer with some pretty cool work.

You can check out a mix I made at designojek.muxtape.com and I’ll change it around from time to time.

UPDATE: They’ve added RSS feeds now, so you can keep track of any edits using your favorite feed reeder! Also, I’ve been trying out Google Reader for the past couple of months and I think I’m sold on it.

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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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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Congratuations to the 2007 Phoenix Award winners! The Phoenix Award is given by the Lawrence Arts Commission to recognize outstanding achievements in the arts in the Lawrence community. This town is really lucky to have such amazing support for all art forms and there are so many world class artists living in the area who’s talents help make it a great place to live. This year’s winners were:

Kathy Pryor, Arts Administrator
Ted Johnson, Arts Advocate
Janeal Krehbiel, Musical Arts
Vince Gnojek, Performing Arts
KT Walsh, Visual Arts
Joyce Schild, Arts Volunteer
Linda Frost, Arts Volunteer
Barb Wasson, Exceptional Artistic Achievement

I’d especially like to congratulate my dad, Vince Gnojek for winning in the performing arts category! I could tell at the awards reception that he was deeply touched and honored to be on stage with everyone. He is truly one of the finest musicians I know and I’m extremely happy that all of his hard work has been recognized! Also, thanks to Kip Haaheim for his kind introduction.

A memorable moment at the awards ceremony was KT Walsh’s speech who asked everyone to take a pledge to the arts which was a humorous way remind people that there is an instinctual need for creativity in our lives and we need to recongnize it on a daily basis. She also gave out several bags of found items that the audience will take and create street art with for display downtown on Nov. 24th.

You can read more about each of the winners here online.