Brad Baumgardner

Four Systems

brad — Fri, 13 May 2011 16:39:25 +0000

This realization of Earle Brown’s graphical score “Four Systems” features members of the Digital Honkbox Revival on Bass Clarinet, Cello, Percussion, and Electronics.

Recent Reviews

brad — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:54:51 +0000

The Musica Estas series was recently reviewed by the Kansas City Star. I played Peiying Yuan’s piece “Fractal Excursions”, which was described as “haunting.” “. . . Baumgardner moved effortlessly from pure tones in lyrical passages to unearthly growls . . . ”

Visit this link to read the entire review.

Fractal Excursions

brad — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:39:21 +0000

Fractal Excursions was written for me by my good fried Pei Ying Yuan as a part of a commission she received from the electronic music group KCEMA. We’ve done it a few times here in KC and at a festival in Iowa. Its a lot of fun to play and is written in a way that doesn’t hand cuff me too much in regards to the tape part.

Click to hear a recording.

Fractal Excursions

These are people who are alive on the planet, until they dry off . . .

brad — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:20:33 +0000

Theses are people who are alive on the planet, until they dry off . .

Violin, Cello, Piano (2008) – Finalist in the 2009 UMKC composition competition.

Click to hear a recording.

11 These are people who are alive on the planet until they dry off – lower bit rate

John Frum Lives!

brad — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:15:39 +0000

John Frum Lives! (2009) is a wind quintet in five movements based loosely on the cargo cults of the Pacific Islands. It won first prize in the UMKC 2010 composition competition.

Click to hear a recording

05 John Frum Lives! – S

Adrift in Endless Realities – Bass Clarinet Concerto

brad — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:33:20 +0000

This concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra was written as my master’s thesis. It won the UMKC concerto/aria composition contest and was performed in the Spring of 2010 by the composer and the UMKC student orchestra.

Click here to hear a recording of the first movement.

Adrift in Endless Realities (I. Awake, Shake Dreams From Your Hair)-edit_small bit rate

Click to hear a recording of the second movement.

02-adrift-in-endless-realities-ii-to-your-scattered-bodies-go

Among My Oscillating Metallic Songbirds

brad — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:10:02 +0000

These preludes were written for my good friend Mabel Kwan. She recently sent me a rehearsal recording, and the third prelude may be heard here.

03 Prelude #3

Malleable Rigids

brad — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:26:57 +0000

02 Malleable Rigids MP3 (click to hear recording)

One day in passing I said to my friend Aaron Stepp “Man, one day you should write something for me …” The next day he handed me Malleable Rigids. Over the past few years I’ve played this piece quite a bit.

Flirts and Whispers

brad — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:20:20 +0000

flirts-and-whispers (click to hear recording)

Nick Drake wrote this piece for me in the Fall of 2006. We collaborated on a couple of versions of this and I really like Nick’s finished product.

Echolalia

brad — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:57:48 +0000

07 Echolalia (click to hear recording)

This piece was written for me by Adam Hardin and was premiered at U of L in 2006. The piece makes use of solo bass clarinet with live sound manipulation by Max MSP. I have since played it with Adam at the Electronic Music Midwest 2007 and SPARK 2008 festivals. Adam and I collaborated on this project for nearly a year and I think that we both learned a great deal from working with one another.