Experience

Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra

• United States
• Performing Arts
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Composer-in-Residence

  • 2013 - Present

  3 Emmy Awards, Masterpiece Grant, State of Indiana Bicentennial Legacy Project Special Event Coverage (Documentary including the world premiere with interviews. Produced by Jim Simmons and Brian Paul.) WFYI Great Lakes Region National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Peacemakers (2012, 2014-2016) A Filmic Oratorio, 90-minute tribute to legendary 20th-21st-century leaders Mahatma Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, JFK, MLK, RFK, Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter. Dedicated to each member of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra organization, Peacemakers includes synchronous, wonder-filled videography by Mike Halerz, of Terapixel, Inc. The performers at the premiere included Steven Stolen and George Shirley, narration; Robert Newcomb, sitar; Kathryn Krasovec, mezzo soprano; Dan Tepfer, piano; Rob Dixon, soprano saxophone; Davis Brooks, electric violin; Indianapolis Children's Choir; Ensemble Vocal Arts; and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Maestro Matthew Kraemer, conducting. Stage direction and operations manager, Amylou Porter; live audio/video engineering, Colin Shay; technical engineer, Dennis Long; personnel manager. Daniel Golando. Peacemakers is the subject of a forthcoming documentary by award-winning directors/producers Clayton Taylor and Jim Simmons of WFYI Indianapolis and was artfully recorded by audio engineer, George Benn who has mixed and mastered audio of the premiere. Triptych: Musical Momentum was my initial piece composed for the ICO. The ICO released, "Momentum 21" on Albany Records in 2015 including Triptych with works by Derek Bermel, Michael Thomas-Foumai, and Christopher Theofanidis. The recording received favorable reviews by David DeBoor Canfield, Peter Burwasser, and Colin Clarke in Fanfare Magazine, Jan/Feb 2016, and by music critic, Jay Harvey. The interior movement, "The Particle Garden", borrows/steals its title from a book by my friend, the notable physicist, Gordon Kane, with his permission.



University of Michigan - Rackham Graduate School

• United States
• Higher Education
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Composer, Music Faculty, Humanities Faculty

  • Aug 1996 - Dec 2013

  Subjects taught include: Advanced Orchestration, Orchestration, Private composition lessons for graduate and undergraduate composers, Seminars in Music, Composition class for music majors, Accompanist for Modern Dance, Composition Class for Non-Music Majors, Undergraduate Music Theory Sequence, Music Theory for Musical Theater Majors, Analysis of 20th Century Music, Introduction to Musical Masterpieces, Introduction to the History of Jazz, Introduction to World Music. Subjects taught include: Advanced Orchestration, Orchestration, Private composition lessons for graduate and undergraduate composers, Seminars in Music, Composition class for music majors, Accompanist for Modern Dance, Composition Class for Non-Music Majors, Undergraduate Music Theory Sequence, Music Theory for Musical Theater Majors, Analysis of 20th Century Music, Introduction to Musical Masterpieces, Introduction to the History of Jazz, Introduction to World Music.



Aikman Music

• Composer

  • 2006 - 2013

  I set several poems by my daughter, Elise Aikman, from her collection: "Stained Glass". Philanthropist Thomas Monaghan commissioned "Since You" for his wife, Margie, on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. "To The Passage of Time", an album of structured improvisations in collaboration with guitarist/sitarist Robert Newcomb, was released on Robert's PartialMusic.com. Great Spirit (2012), a multi-media piece I composed was commissioned for the extraordinary James Pellerite, Native flute with narration by George Shirley & electro-acoustic music by myself. With video imagery by my daughter, Elise, "Great Spirit" was commissioned by the Eiteljorg Museum of Native American and Western Art with support from the Lilly Endowment and was released on Mr. Pellerite's 2015 Albany Records recording, "Mystic Voices Soaring". 2011 Naxos American Classics release, "Aikman: Venice of the North Concerti". Saxophone Concerto (2010) for Taimur Sullivan, St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra. Violin Concerto was premiered by the SPSSO with Vladimir Lande conducting and Charles Wetherbee, violin. The Violin Concerto U.S. premiere was in November 2009 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, with Mr. Wetherbee, violin and Maestro Lande leading The National Gallery Orchestra. The Violin Concerto and Saxophone Concerto each received distinguished nominations for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. "Some Things I Love", a Song Cycle for Chorus and String Orchestra on poems by President Jimmy Carter, with his permission, was premiered in Denver, May 2009, with the Lamont Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, Lawrence Golan, Music Director and Conductor; Catherine Sailer, Choral Director. (Four songs from Some Things I Love were later included in Peacemakers as a tribute to Jimmy Carter, a leader for peace throughout his incredible life.



Clarian * Band

• Greater Indianapolis

• Senior Partner/Co-Founder

  • Jan 1975 - Nov 1985

  Award-Winning Rock Band, we were determined to play our own songs in the regional clubs. This eventually led to an early MTV music video: Take To The Air sponsored by L. S. Ayres (now Macy’s). Also supported by WFBQ, Bob and Tom’s Syndicated Radio Show, and by Coca Cola which sponsored a recording and album project. We played for the opening of the festive 1982 National Figure Skating Championships, the closing ceremonies of the 1982 National Sports Festival and regularly enjoyed an enthusiastic fan base in top night clubs of the region where we played on tour. Synchronously, the advertising music division of our band, Clarian House Productions, focused on creating music heard nationally on commercials. This allowed us to pay our parents back for a loan for our musical gear and P. A. System, to buy our band truck, to make payments on a home mortgage where we rehearsed, to pay monthly bills and re-invest for the future. We had the best “live” and studio audio engineers and roadies around. It was definitely hard work. We took it seriously, most of the time. But man, it was fun!