Ben Tibbetts Studio      Home    Services    Archive    Students    About    Contact    Now    Store    Subscribe Now ("So how have you been? What are you up to now?") Last updated on December 21, 2024 Here's some of the stuff I've been up to in 2024. Teaching My teaching studio has grown a lot. This time last year, I had about thirty students. Now, I have about fifty students. That's because I started renting my office full-time, so I had a lot more time on my hands to work. The recent student recital video is now on YouTube. I thought that was the best student recital so far. I saw improvement this year from all my students. That recital featured about half of my studio, since the other half are adults. They had some performance opportunities, too—informal “Music & Mingle” parties—but those events aren't filmed. The Curses Concert The first event this year was a concert called Curses. This was a collaboration between the poetry group Typewriter Rodeo and a group I'm a part of, Central Texas Composers. Curses was an eclectic mix of art songs inspired by the word "curses." For example, one song was about magical spells; another was about cursive writing; and another was about swearing. The song I composed for that concert was called Ode To Cursive. The full concert is available on YouTube. Please be aware there's a lot of adult language. Developing A Video Game With A Student I helped one of my students compose music for an original video game. We began the project last year, and it was released this past spring. My student Vaibhav wrote all the music and we designed the game during the last ten minutes of our piano lessons. I programmed it in GameMaker and it came together nicely. You can play it at www.glitchmountain.net. Music for Jani Putzker I composed some music for an animation by my friend Janina Putzer. The film, which is called Hook In The Mouth, is still in production. Not Yet by Ashten Falter I arranged music for a music video by my friend Ashten Falter. Ashten is a local filmmaker, actress, musician, and dancer. The film is called Not Yet. It features the Debussy piece, Clair de lune, arranged for piano, flute, and cello. It was filmed at Mozart's Coffee Roasters in Austin, and featured Sheila Va and Caroline McGee. One Ounce Opera: Valentine's Day Early this year, I accompanied vocalists for a Valentine's Day concert organized by One Ounce Opera. The concert featured Carlee Abschneider, Katie Winchester, and Kevin Arratia-Diaz. I will release those videos later. (I want to add lyrics on the screen, but it's a slow process for me.) Inversion Ensemble I had the privilege of performing with the Inversion vocal ensemble this year. The first performance was at the Austin Public Library, called “Inversion at the Library”. The second was at the Here Be Monsters Festival this past summer. For that latter performance, I was on stage with an electric organ premiering an original oratorio by James Tecuatl-Lee called Godric And His Demons. Please be aware that this piece contains some graphic descriptions which are not child-friendly. Sam Levreault's Doctoral Recital I also had another opportunity to play with the flutist Sam Levreault. Sam is pursuing her doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I flew up there to perform a couple pieces in her Doctoral Recital. We performed the Prokofiev Flute Sonata, a solo piece by the contemporary composer Amanda Harberg, and a virtuosic showpiece by Alfredo Casella. Young Artist Competitions Another highlight of the year was playing for several young artist competitions in the area. These were at Cedar Park, Cedar Ridge, and Vandegrift high schools. These are basically school-wide competitions where student musicians perform sonatas, concertos, and other showy solo pieces with piano accompaniment. Orchestration Lessons This year, I worked hard to improve my orchestration abilities. I took orchestration lessons with my friend Keith Allegretti. Keith has been providing a lot of helpful advice, but more than that, having a deadline every two weeks to produce something has been incredibly useful. Here are the pieces I produced this year, if you'd like to listen: In The Cave Humoresque Cold Blood Overture Joy Ride Aria in the Style of Mozart A few people from Central Texas Composers were commissioned by One Ounce Opera to produce arias for the Here Be Monsters Festival. The lineup included Graham Yates, Carol Brown, and myself. We were given considerable freedom in what we could create. I chose to write an aria in the style of Mozart. It was a parody of the Queen of the Night aria, titled The Queen of the Morning After. It was beautifully performed by Elise Leung Kotara and Benjie Dia. That video will be released on YouTube. The Riddles Recital In September, I participated in The Riddles Recital. This was originally the brainchild of my friend, Amy Herman. Amy was seeking public domain text to set to music, and she happened on a set of medieval poems called The Exeter Riddles. In the end, she, Keith Allegretti, and I set a few of these poems to music. This was my first time writing music in Old English. It was hard, but it was fun! The video will be released soon. Personal Things This was a busy year. To make my work schedule easier, I moved to an apartment near my office. This was a good call. It's right down the road, about a 3-5 minute drive. I've been learning the guitar. This has been fun. I think it's making me a better teacher, too, because it's reminding me of what it's like to be a beginner on an instrument. Scarborough Fair was a recent project. I’m still playing at Trinity Church every week. I’m grateful for that because it gives me an opportunity to perform regularly, which ensures I don't let my chops slip too far. (Thanks for putting up with me every week, Tim.) Instead of New Year's resolutions, every year I pick a word or phrase to remind me of something I want to focus on. This past year's phrase was “Netflix or Bust”. I wanted to participate in something on Netflix or another streaming platform—to be connected, in some small way, to show business. I sort of managed to fulfill this, since earlier this year I was an extra on the TV show 1923. It'll be on Paramount, not Netflix. That'll be coming out in February. Someday, I'd like to snag a scoring job for a show, or something similar. That would be amazing. Being a film composer was a childhood dream of mine, and as an adult I still have a strong desire to tell stories with music. I don’t know what my New Year’s theme 2025 will be yet, but things are looking up. Musicians & Organizations Here are all of the musicians and organizations I mentioned in this update. I've included links so you can find more information about their work if you're interested. Timbral Music Studios Central Texas Composers Typewriter Rodeo Keith Allegretti Graham Yates Carol Brown Brittney Benavidez Smith Charissa Whillock Mary Schani Jordan Walsh Barbara George Armstrong Community Music School Ashten Falter Sheila VA Caroline Magee, cellist with Austin Civic Orchestra One Ounce Opera Carlee Abschneider Katie Winchester, instructing with Cedar Park High School Choir Kevin Arratia-Diaz Inversion Ensemble James Tecuatl-Lee Here Be Monsters & Tetractys Sam Levreault Amanda Harberg Elise Leung Kotara through One Ounce Opera Benjamin Dia Amy Herman with ACMS Bethany Ammon Monica Salas Curtis Simmons Lisa Lamb Local Opera Local Artists  Ben Tibbetts Studio      Home    Services    Archive    Students    About    Contact    Now    Store    Subscribe Search     Copyright © 2006-2023 Ben Tibbetts change log