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Y O T A M H A B E R B L O G

September 2007
American academy in Rome

September was a roller coaster of events, lunches, dinners, cocktail
parties, exhibits, guided walks around the city, and introductions to
some of the most interesting people I've ever met.

Courtyard, American Academy in Rome

The food is pretty extraordinary this year thanks to Mona and her
staff from Chez Panisse. Turns out I know her from NYC - a couple of
years ago I threw a dinner party and my friend Louisa asked me if she
could invite her friend Mona to "help" out in the kitchen...she blew
me out of the water by completely deboning a chicken while leaving it
intact in three minutes flat.

I've been heading over to Santa Cecilia (the Juilliard of Italy) to
do some research in the Leo Levi jewish music archives, but really,
i've just been starting - the last month has been so full! Yesterday
and today are the big Roberts celebrations (the director during the
40s and 50s). I was seated at dinner last night next to Diana (forgot
last name) who used to represent Copland and Bernstein from CAMI.
Great stories...

My studio, in the Casa Rustica, is the one in the back that has the
slanted chalet-like roof where Galileo used to work. The piano is
lovely and is deeper in sound than the piano in Erin Gee's studio,
which I find funny - is there such a thing as masculine piano?

As I imagined, there are quite a few personalities emerging, such as
Caveh, the filmmaker, who screened his film "I am a Sex Addict" last
week, or Tim Davis, the photographer who, on the archeological trip
to Cervetri and Tarquinia, delayed the bus for several minutes by
stopping to photograph snails next to an ancient temple. It's all
great fun and feels like camp...

Erin Gee, for her 5-minute project presentation, sang her Mouthpiece
1, which was beautiful and courageous. It's so nice that she is doing
something completely different from me - we aren't stepping on each
other's toes - stylistically speaking - and I think it's certainly
helped us become friends in a way that often is impeded to composers
cut from the same cloth.

Marty Brody the arts director arrived a day or two ago, and we've
had several conversations about his plans for the coming year and
beyond. He is brimming with enthusiasm and it's contagious. I told
him that I'd like to meet Ivan Fedele and he'll see what he can
do... Perhaps I should
just contact him myself, though I'm beginning to learn that
everything in Italy works better if you come bearing an official
letter of introduction, preferably on heavy paper with a watermark
and a seal...

Richard Trythall, the music liason, has been planning upcoming
concerts with us. I'd like to have a string orchestra and mezzo-
soprano perform my Rome Project - a work synthesizing the research on
the music of the jewish community of rome - in the final concert for
the trustees. That would mean hiring a Roman orchestra. Hopefully
that doesn't then preclude having Xak Bjerken, Rick Faria, Steve Miahky - three
wonderful musicians and dear friends, come to play as well.

Michelle came to visit for a few days - so wonderful to have her here. She became very interested
in the collection of books
on ancient jewelry at the AAR library. When she returns in Novemeber, she hopes to design a line influenced
by her research.

Lunch at Da Francesco, a classic Roman trattoria

Yesterday, Trythall performed a concert at the glorious music room of
the Villa Aurelia. Very challenging program of music written at the
academy during the Roberts years - Copland, Foss, Alexi Haieff. I was
enlisted as page turner at the last moment, and I was a nervous wreck
by the end of the Foss sonata - a never-ending whirwind of propulsive
subtly changing running 8th notes.

I'm off to Santa Cecilia again this afternoon - their music library
is extraordinarily good - with old recordings all digitized and
available online; modern, sleek facilities, and a gorgeous new
auditorium designed by Renzo Piano. It's quite a hike to get there
from the academy - off the map, really, if you use the little dinky
ones they give you at hotels and McDonalds. I bought a scooter before
arriving in rome from a past fellow, but have been to chicken to take
it out to town - the rules of the road are rather anarchistic here,
and as you know, stop signs are merely suggestions.