News
Click through the current projects, collaborations and events below.
Andrew Harrison commission
saxophone
Commission by saxophonist, Andrew Harrison, for solo saxophone and piano piece. Originally planned to premiere at NASA (North American Saxophone Alliance) Convention in Arizona, March 2020, but performance postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. New performance date tentatively set for Winter 2022.
Collaboration with Danielle Gonzalez
percussion
Ongoing collaboration with percussionist Danielle Gonzalez as part of her Natural Beauty Children's Series, exploring the human inpact on the environment through performance and sound.
Alex Heppelmann is creating a multi-movement work for percussion and electronics for Gonzalez to perform and tour. It will be used as a teaching tool for children about the multiple types of pollution as well as the exploration of completely new percussion instruments and sounds they make to create aural images of pollution types.
LEAVINGS, or The Borderland
Opera
Words by 2014-15 Penn State laureate, Susan Russell, and libretto by Gary Briggle.
LEAVINGS, or The Borderland received workshops and performances throughout 2019-20 at Penn State venues involving both faculty, students, and local professionals. A culminating partial performance at the Penn's Woods Music Festival in State College, PA took place June, 2019.
Cry Wolf wins award; premiere at festival
Opera for Young Audiences
A semi-staged production of Cry Wolf was performed in April, 2017 at the University of Texas at Austin during the Cohen New Works Festival. The performance was directed by Azalea Laredo and set designed by Zoe Andersen. The composition and performance was awarded a 2017 Roy Crane Award.
Libretto by William Glick and based on Aesop’s Fables.