I'm really excited about my collaboration with cellist Maya Beiser and visual artist Shirin Neshat. The piece is called I am writing to you from a far-off country, and it sets a haunting text by Belgian Surrealist Henri Michaux. The first performance will be at Zankel Hall in NYC on 9 March 2006. You can get your tickets here.

The evening before (that is, on March 8 at 7 pm), my good friend Rick St. John is going to be reading from his newly published book of poems, The Pure Inconstancy of Grace, at The Church of the Ascension, 10th Street and 5th Avenue. For more information about his work and the event, please click here.

The last remaining permission has cleared, so my long-awaited CD Tell the Birds will be coming out on New World Records at the beginning of May. YAY!!! The repertoire includes The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Creating the World, Robin Redbreast, Landscaping for Privacy, Wonder Counselor, and FlamingO. Performers include the Paul Dresher Ensemble, the MATA Ensemble, vibes player Bill Ware, actor Roger Rees, singers Corey Dargel and Lisa Bielawa, flutist Margaret Lancaster, and conductor Brad Lubman. I want to throw an actual PARTY to celebrate this release, and I'll keep you posted as the date draws nearer.

Contact Contemporary Music is playing Fireside on a concert in Toronto on 8 March, which also features the wonderful clarinet player and composer Lori Freedman. If you're in the Toronto area, check it out!

I'm about to get started on my next project with director Lee Breuer, a production of The Libations Bearers that will be presented at the Patras Festival in Greece in May. More information about that as I have it, but in the meantime, you can go here for news about the ongoing tour of Mabou Mines' Dollhouse, our last collaboration.

10.06.04 I just got back from a really fun mini-tour of songs from a book of days with the Robin Cox Ensemble and pianist Sarah Cahill. Here's the LA Times review, which made my day!