Today was my first full day at Arizona State. It started with a brief meeting with Gary Hill, the head of bands at ASU. Then it was an uber-tasty lunch at Fatburger (why doesn’t Manhattan have Fatburger?!), followed by a composition seminar.

I haven’t heard any of their music yet, but the group of composition majors seemed like a good bunch. I played “Redline Tango” for them and took questions, and before I knew it, the 50-minute class was over. Seeing that I had no way to entertain myself after the forum, one of the student composers invited me out for coffee with him, his wife, a friend of theirs, and another composer. It was a really nice time. It’s fun talking with other composers who are my age, whether it be about pieces they’ve written, or things I’ve written, or whether the new Photo iPod is worth $600.

Tonight: dinner with the band TA’s.

Tomorrow: my first rehearsal with the wind symphony! I’ve heard talk that they’re going to try to play the piece with the entire ensemble standing. Should be fun! More tomorrow…