ABC New Waves Podcast with Mosaics and Transparencies out now!

Stephen Adams, from the ABC, produces a weekly podcast of New Music.  The latest edition features a unique version of my Mosaics and Transparencies, made specially for the ABC in late January.  Also featured are pieces from the five ex-Box Hill composers featured in the Astra Now and Then festival last September: Jeffrey Dunn, Tamara Violet Partridge, Dave Weaver, Dylan Imeneo, and Matthew Paine.  It's quite a nice show, and Stephen has done a great job of putting it together.  Have a listen!

http://www.abc.net.au/classic/new-waves/warren-burt-mosaics-and-transparencies/9531134

Astra Choir CD on New World (with WB Elegy) out now!

The long awaited Astra Choir CD, conducted by John McCaughey, recorded by Michael Hewes, with pieces by Morton Feldman, Will Ogdon, Earle Brown, Pauline Oliveros, Robert Carl and me, is now out on New World Records. Here's a link for more information and sound samples: 

http://www.newworldrecords.org/album.cgi?rm=view&album_id=94924

Like all Astra adventures, this CD places the featured works -  by Morton Feldman - in juxtaposition with other works which reflect off it, and hopefully reflect back, making a collection of pieces into a musical dialogue, revealing aspects of each which might not be heard in isolation.  For 40 years, John McCaughey has heroically led the choir, through thick and thin, gracing Melbourne's music scene with a shining example of what can be done when musical events are organized with care, intellectual precision, and love.  Visit the website for more information, and while you're there, download the liner notes, which feature a wonderful and detailed essay by John about the pieces and their contexts. Thanks also to Paul Tai and Paul Zinman from New World who shepherded this project to completion! I'm delighted with this CD, and I hope you will be too.

Four Reviews - the latest crop of Soundbytes articles

The latest issue of soundbytesmag.net is out and I have four reviews in it:

http://soundbytesmag.net/review-buchla-easel-arturia/

http://soundbytesmag.net/review-complete-toy-museum-uvi/

http://soundbytesmag.net/music-tablets-ioptigan/

http://soundbytesmag.net/freebie-month-vcv-rack/

The first is a review of the new Arturia Buchla Easel V, a wonderful emulation of the classic 80s Buchla Music Easel.  The second is a review of a sound set from UVI, the "Complete Toy Museum," which is a lovely, and beautifully sampled collection of musical toys.  Lots to explore there.  The third is a review of the iPad app, iOptigan, a reconstruction of a classic early 70s, "sampler chord organ," which had lots of flaws, which the designers have lovingly preserved.  And finally, there's a first look at a new system, VCV Rack, a free, open source, cross platform virtual analog patching synthesizer.  Sounds like a mouthful!  It's a very powerful system, and the price, as they say (free), is right.  Hope you enjoy the articles!

Two Ruined Pianos for Ross Bolleter

Ross Bolleter, composer-improviser in Perth extraordinaire, loves collecting Ruined Pianos (http://bolleter.wixsite.com/warpsmusic). Recently, my wife, Catherine Schieve, discovered these two.  (One is a frame rather than a true Ruined Piano, but what the heck?)  This tiny cell-phone video is the result of visits to these two in December 2017 and January 2018.  Enjoy!  And greetings Ross!

Mosaics and Transparencies on 3MBS-FM live, now streaming

Last Tuesday night, December 5th, I was Tony Thomas's guest on his new music radio show, Contemporary Visions, on 3MBS-FM.  On the air, I played the group of pieces by the recent Box Hill Institute graduate composers that I played recently also on 3PBS-FM, and then I did a live performance of "Mosaics and Transparencies" my improvisational live electronics multichannel piece, in a half-hour version.

That show is now up on the 3MBS-FM website, available for streaming. Here's the link to it.

 I play and talk about the pieces from the Box Hill composers first: Dylan Imeneo, David Weaver, Tamara Violet Partridge, Jeffrey Dunn, and Matthew Paine.  Then I talk about and we play my piece.

If you just want to hear my piece, we talk about it from 47:30, and I begin playing the piece at 56:20.  Enjoy!

https://3mbs.org.au/player/streamer.php?title=Contemporary%20Visions&file=http://media.emit.com/3mbs/contemporary-visions/201712052000/aac_mid.m4a&date=5th%20December