Luke Gullickson: Composer, Pianist, Writer
Contact: lukegullickson@gmail.com Website: www.lukegullickson.com Blog: Sonatas and Interludes |
Luke Gullickson, shown here during the now-legendary premiere performance of Taco's First Puppopera, is a composer, pianist, and writer based in Austin, Texas. A recent Music and History graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, he is currently pursuing an MM in Composition at the University of Texas. Luke's music, which has won numerous awards and been performed on two continents, reflects his interest in contemporary concert music as well as jazz, rock, folk, and theater. It is usually energetic and rhythmic, but occasionally creepy and surreal. Other characteristics include an emphasis on formal structure and the influence of language and literature. Many people agree that the resulting music is often fun to play and listen to. Luke is also active as a performer of classical, jazz, and new music, having performed widely with the jazz combo Active Ingredient and the ephemeral but incendiary Cedar Rapids rock outfit House on the Island. He is a member of the board of directors for the Chicago-based new music group SEMC, and currently plays piano for the University of Texas New Music Ensemble under the direction of Dan Welcher. Aside from his musical activities, Luke is an avid traveler and outdoorsman, and has recently had the good fortune to hang about in such locales as Wisconsin's Apostle Islands and the Northern California coast. He has climbed three fourteeners and visited 43 states and 20 national parks, and is generally on the lookout for excuses to contribute to these numbers (see contact information at left). As a writer, he has been responsible for numerous articles, short stories, and novellas. He writes about music regularly on his blog, Sonatas and Interludes. Luke is a member of the Society of Composers, the Iowa Composers Forum, Pi Kappa Lambda, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and the Seven Titans Compositional School. |
|
Some Recent Works: A Thousand Windows Opening - chamber orchestra (2008) Terlingua Meditations - guitar, bass, percussion (2008) On the Beach at Kantishna - solo piano (2008) The Not Knowing - solo percussion (2008) Islands - oboe, viola, piano (2007) Time Drawing Circles - electric guitar, double bass, and djembe (2007) Lost Coast Narrative - timpanist and multipercussionist (2007) Liturgy of Crystal - soundscape composition (2007) Contrapunctus - organ (2007) The Hanging Gardens - theatrical installation, part of The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, a collaborative work for multiple simultaneous installations (2007) Sonata for Cello & Piano (2007) Sincerity - tenor voice and piano (2007) String Quartet - in four movements (2006) Four Preludes for Piano (2006) Three Movements for Solo Violin (2006) |
|
|
Compositions | |||
|
Sonata for Cello & Piano |
|||
| Sonata for Cello & Piano.mp3 - complete | |||
| Sonata for Cello & Piano.pdf - excerpt | |||
|
This piece is surrealistic in character and oblique in development, with some ideas moving forward and others serving as red herrings. The text has particularly unconventional origins: one night, having previously set my alarm for 3:30am, I woke up, scratched out a stream-of-consciousness poem, and immediately went back to sleep. The middle section is in mobile form with a repeating transitional figure separating the episodes. Matt Huddle, cello Luke Gullickson, piano | |||
|
Islands |
|||
| Islands.mp3 - complete | |||
| Islands.pdf - excerpt | |||
|
Islands is a straightforward trio based on the ABA formal principle. Each section is an ABA containing nested ABAs, with those B sections of unique material representing the title's "islands." The idea of venturing and returning to familiarity is foundational. Lindsay Taylor, oboe Jessica Embach, viola Luke Gullickson, piano | |||
|
Time Drawing Circles: 1) Aulavik |
|||
| Time Drawing Circles: 1) Aulavik.mp3 - complete | |||
|
The players in Time Drawing Circles are asked to play along completely independently of one another, generally in different tempos. In this way they resemble a group of friends who separate, and whose actions, considered together, are chaotic and without adherence to a general goal or organizing principle; but a link between them remains, and occasionally in their actions, whether or not it is clear to them, there will come moments of harmony and common coherence. I hope that any performance of Time Drawing Circles will give rise to several such unintentional occurrences of concord in musical form. SEMC Trio Ben Hjertmann, guitar Eric Malmquist, double bass Brian Baxter, djembe | |||
©2006 by Luke Gullickson
All Rights Reserved
Luke Gullickson is a member of Society of Composers, Inc. SCI is dedicated to the promotion of composition, performance, understanding and dissemination of new and contemporary music.