Maestro Robert Moody conducts the AZ Musicfest orchestra, a 60-piece, hand-picked ensemble made up of some of the best performers from various symphony orchestras across the country.

Tonight concluded a very long week doing a little work for the simply remarkable Arizona Musicfest organization. At the same time, I’m also helping my good friend, Dan Malone, record the concerts and attempting to make a short documentary on this year’s composer in residence, Mason Bates, for a class at ASU.

Composer Mason Bates rehearsing "Liquid Interface"

Mason’s music is incredibly unique in that his more recent works for orchestra also include electronica. That is, he uses a MIDI drum pad and a MacBook to design unique soundscapes that inspire a dance-like element within his symphonic works. He also incorporates “taped” field recordings such as glaciers and hurricane sounds in his work called Liquid Interface and the official NASA dialogue between ground control and astronaut Ed White in his work, The B-Sides. There’s a lot of work left to do, but I think it’ll end up being a rather interesting documentary once all the elements are edited together.

The “Girls Handle Big Balls” music video is finally here!! Enjoy~