I had lunch today with Roger Zare. He arrived the day after the Kol Ami concert, and we found time to meet today for some Thai food and conversation (I-Thai in White Plains is excellent, by the way).

We talked quite a bit about several of his compositions, including his current work while in residency at the Copland House at Merestead. He’s here until mid-December, and then he heads back to Evanston.

We also discussed our two recent performances of Mare Tranquillitatis, and the plan to reprise it at the Exchange Concert on June 19. He’s very excited that we’ll be playing it one more time on that program! I asked him several questions about the motives and themes, and he was kind enough to show me several instances of the initial motive which recur throughout the piece, which never surfaced during my score preparation. It was a great meeting, and I appreciated the opportunity to ask him direct questions about the composition, which I know will pay off in spades in June.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, and you’re ready to dive in tomorrow night. Percussion is meeting as a separate sectional at Eastchester, all of the rest of us are meeting at TMH. Check the rehearsal plan if you haven’t already, and please try to listen to the two clips from the previous post, “Mackey & U2.” I think these will really help you appreciate Mackey’s work to its fullest.

See you tomorrow night!