ProfessorTomoe

The San Antonio Community Wind Ensemble (SACWE) has put out a flyer with more details about the concert where "Elegy 137" will be getting its World Premiere. Here's a graphic of it - enjoy with your favorite beverage.

I'd like to use this thread as a way to highlight new releases of my music. Anyone else who has any music coming out is welcome to do the same. For starters, I've just released a song called "Ant Farm Melee" to my Bandcamp account. You can read all about it on my latest blog post. Please grab a copy of the song today!

Why the F not?

My latest concert band work, "Elegy 137," is getting a World Premiere concert! Please read the announcement at this link for details: https://dleejackson.lbjackson.com/2026/07/world-premiere-announcement-elegy-137/ If you haven't heard it yet, here it is on YouTube:

There's a new version of my arrangement for concert band of Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Movement 3 up on YouTube. It features a new, condensed Scrolling Score that is much easier to follow as the music plays. Please give it a look/listen and tell me what you think. Thank you! (Watch on YouTube for best results.)

As with the thread from the previous incarnation of the board, I begin this one with a request that the information within remain confidential. This is a thread for those seeking support as they deal with very sensitive situations involving either their own or a loved one's health. Please let this be a thread where such information can be shared with a level of trust. Now, back to the topic at hand. I picked up my second filling of Brintellix yesterday—all $141 of it, for a month's supply. I find it odd that it is an antidepressant, yet the price is so high that it is depressing just to purchase it. As for its effects, I'm still getting used to them. I haven't been able to sleep for more than three hours at a time for a couple of weeks now. When I do wake up in the middle of the night, I'm not groggy. In fact, I feel for at least a short time that I've had a decent night's sleep. That sensation only lasts a few hours, though. I don't crash out—I just sort of fade to the point where I need to sleep again. Very weird. I've also lost weight. Not a lot, but every pound counts, and it's been a slow and steady drop. Some of this might be related to the small dose of metformin that I'm on (my A1C hit 6.5 again, causing my primary doctor to freak out). I seriously don't know. Whatever the reason, it made my cardiologist happy at my appointment yesterday. Speaking of cardiologists, mine determined that I am status quo as far as my PVCs are concerned. He hasn't seen them in the short 30-second EKGs he runs at every appointment, but the memory of my Holter monitor results from several years ago is enough to keep him on his toes. Still, he saw no reason to increase my lisinopril or to add a beta blocker to my shoebox full of medicines. I hope this thread will be as useful as the last one was. Thanks for any support you can provide.

Making Tabasco chili tonight. They sell a liquid chili starter in a jar. Good stuff. They pulled it from the market a couple of years ago, but now it's back. Gonna see if they changed anything.

Let's see if we can consolidate some of the "what are you eating/drinking/breathing" threads into this one. I am currently ingesting Crystal Light tea. Just had some hummus & pita chips beforehand. I'm considering getting a glass of Bulgarian buttermilk (I was shocked that my local Albertson's actually had the Bulgarian style! Nom.).

This is a trophy I don't want to win, thankyouverymuch.

Migraine. Feels like my head is erupting. Got an ice pack on it now & have taken all my meds. Just gotta ride it out.

Robert C. "Bobby" Prince has passed on. He was a mentor, a teacher, and a friend, and he will be sorely missed. https://www.legacy.com/legacy/robert-bobby-prince-lll

I've been bringing Mrs. Prof coffee in bed for a long while now, and recently I've expanded to bring breakfast as well. We don't own a breakfast tray, so I got online and found a stain-resistant bamboo tray: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bambloom-Bed-Tray-Table-with-Foldable-Legs-Bamboo-Breakfast-Tray-for-Sofa-Bed-Working-Natural/1738823508?sid=e1f8e95b-2837-40cc-92af-bee1579a6e68 One thing led to another, and by the time I was done I'd bought a miniature vase to hold a sprig of herb, and custom laser-engraved coasters with a logo we paid for a long time ago but never used. I didn't spend a ton of money. Just several small purchases.

The work I wrote in memory of the 137 victims of the July 4th flooding in Central Texas last year is getting a world premiere, if my luck holds out. "Elegy 137" is slated to be performed by the San Antonio Community Wind Ensemble on Sunday, October 25th, 2026 at 2:30 p.m. Central time, according to the group's musical director, Albert Aguilar. He tells me that the ensemble will begin rehearsals on the piece on September 20th. The concert will take place in the auditorium on the campus of Texas A&M - San Antonio. The piece had been scheduled for a June 27th concert, but that got cancelled as the ensemble was unable to lock down a venue for the performance. I'm assured that this won't be the case with the October 25th performance. So, if you're in the area on that day, come on by and give us a listen. Admission is free!

I've received permission from the source to use his name with the quote. His name is W. Peter Kurau, and he is the Horn Professor (among other things) at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. For those of you unfamiliar with Eastman, it's kind of like the Harvard of music schools (IMO, some may differ). This was one massive endorsement, and I am thankful for it.

Morton Feldman's work, Rothko Chapel, Very contemplative, and extremely slow (but good). Give yourself about 25 minutes if you plan on listening.

Had my first good solid meal last night since coming home from the hospital. Beer battered fish and stuffed potato skins. Couldn't get enough of either. I noticed that I'm back to where food is trying to go the wrong way again: instead of going down into my stomach, sometimes a part of it will try to go up into my sinuses. Takes real concentration to make sure one eats properly and not too quickly when this is happening. Fortunately, it's not a full-time fight, and it's not really causing me any problems in trying to drink things.

My post-op drink of choice has been either Muscle Milk protein shakes or Bulgarian cultured buttermilk. I prefer the latter, but I get more nutrition from the former.

I'm in what I'm hoping will be my last day in the Big Baylor hospital in downtown Dallas, as I continue to recover from my Zenker's diverticulotomy throat surgery. They had to put some clips inside my throat to help things heal, but I'm told I'll eventually swallow them without noticing. I had the surgery early Monday morning, and was in great pain for the first two days. Things started getting better yesterday, to the point where I'm no longer being fed through a tube up my nose. I'm still on a liquid diet, though, but it's a real treat when Brenda brings up something from Dutch Bros. If I make it through this morning, then I'll be sent home this afternoon.

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Man, things have been busy around the lab of late. I learned yesterday that a major ensemble in the San Antonio area wants to feature my Elegy 137 work at an upcoming concert they're planning. I literally couldn't sit still for about a half hour after getting notified! Once I settled down, I got the piece together and sent it to them. They've acknowledged successful receipt. I am looking forward to this with bated breath!!!

Thank you! I can't say exactly who it was, nor can I say what piece was involved, but I guess I can say the name of the institution. They're with the Eastman School of Music. EASTMAN, for cryin' out loud! That's like the Harvard of Music Schools. When I saw their reply, the first thing that ran through my head was, "OHMYDEARLORD." I'm still thinking it.

Big Frackin' News!!! I just got an email from an instrument professor at a MAJOR music university. I'd written to him, asking him to "consider" one of my pieces for his student ensembles. He wrote back and called said piece an "important addition to the repertoire!" (Yes, the exclamation point is inside the quotation - he used it in his reply.) I sent him a comp copy of the work, and he just as I was typing up this post wrote back to thank me for it. I AM SO FARKING STOKED RIGHT NOW I CAN'T EVEN

Oh, man, I hate those things. I broke both my ankles back in 2009 while wearing the Grippy Socks. Urgh.

Sorry to hear that. Are you at least improving somewhat? I hope so.

"Tapper" is in the process of being converted into a screenplay! The first pass is complete. Here's the logline: Recruited into the Zilker Institute’s Tapper program, Candidate Travis Morgan and his qLink‑9 partner Tabitha expect a tightly scripted proving mission. When the operation turns fatal, Travis must decide how far he’ll push the Tapper system—and himself—to foil the saboteurs' plan and make it out alive. Here's a link to the Literary page on my website: https://dleejackson.lbjackson.com/about/literary/