The biggest news the success of Underground Movements, my third Continental Harmony commission. The River North Chicago Dance Company brought Frank Chavez's amazing choreography to life and elicited standing ovations at every performance. The first public performances in March 2007 also garnered these amazing reviews:
"...a massive full-company piece set to Evan Solot's richly textured and colored score - a specially commissioned work whose pre-recorded instrumental part was overlaid with complex, stunningly rendered live vocal accompaniment by members of the Chicago Children's Choir." - Chicago Sun-Times
"Evan Solot's harmonic score blends the plinks and echoes of an underground cavern with sonorous vocal work performed live...by the Chicago Children's Choir...an impressive collaboration." - Chicago Tribune
It was an incredible collaboration an an over-the-top experience. The CD is available at www.rivernorthchicago.com.
I'm getting ready to go back into the studio to record the demos for Does Your House Have Lions?, Sonia Sanchez's memoir in the form of an epic poem. It uses jazz and R&B singers with an orchestra and rhythm section.
I was recently awarded a McKnight Visiting Composer Residency in Minnesota. It will culminate in Minnesota Stories, an orchestral suite based on compelling "snapshots" of the lives of Minnesotans. After the premiere with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Dance Theatre (and video projections), it will tour the state. I'm just beginning to gather the stories.
My newest honor was being selected for the Fulbright Senior Specialist roster. It will enable instutions around the world to bring me in for a 2-6 week residency with my travel expenses and a daily honorarium underwritten by the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars. I can't wait to see where this will lead!
Also coming up next year - a commission for the Chicago Children's Choir.