what I'm working on
LGBTQuintet
The Lawrence Graduate Bayreuth Tuben Quintet is a Wagner Tuba quintet that, fluid by design and inclination, is comprised of at least six members who identify as, know, or would like to know, someone who is LGBTQ+.
Informed by decidedly un-Wagnerian values of inclusivity, diversity, and visibility, the LGBTQuintet aims to build and expand the cannon for the Wagner Tuba and advance a non-hierarchical agenda that includes affecting positive social change and creating broader representation for the historically underrepresented.
Kylwyria
Comprised of three forward-thinking musicians, Kylwyria actively pursues collaborations with living composers and illuminates work written since Gyorgy Ligeti's seminal Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano (1982).
Taking their namesake from a make-believe country Ligeti invented and "maintained" throughout his childhood, Kylwyria seeks to expand the repertoire for Horn Trio by representing the dynamic voices of today's composers and musical innovators.
HORN + _____
Horn + ____ is a commissioning project named after its premise. The blank gets filled in one piece at a time: Horn + Clarinet, Horn + Violin, Horn + Electronics, Horn + Piano Resonance, and etc..
Each new work is a new experiment in pairing: what the horn does in a particular kind of company, and what that company does back. Configurations are flexible (mostly duos, sometimes more), and the working assumption is that the horn plays well with others (not yet disproven).
J GATTIS CONSULTING
J Gattis Consulting is the non-musical project on this list. I work with small and mid-sized arts nonprofits on CRM systems, fundraising workflows, and the unglamorous
infrastructure that keeps development teams running. The working premise is that a well-designed spreadsheet is sometimes the highest form of art. More at jgattis.com.