Making the switch from bulky pedals to Macbook Pro + Ableton Live was a challenge… and Power was the perfect piece to debut our new setup! Being able to record, loop, stop and reintroduce lines in real time has never been so fun. Thank you to the New York State School Music Association for featuring us at their Annual Conference.
Category Archives: News
New YouTube Series – Sonic Escape’s Guide to Performing
We are thrilled at long last to bring you our Guide to Performing – an in-depth romp through all things performance-related. Tips, hacks and stories from the road that might just provide a nugget or two for aspiring musicians. New episodes every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Sonic Escape’s music travels the world
We LOVE hearing from people who play our compositions! Since we started offering our sheet music a couple of years ago, we’ve sold hundreds of copies in over 20 countries – Azerbaijan to Malta, South Africa to Japan. Check out our store to see if there’s a piece for you!
Awesome live photos
We have discovered the perfect live music photographer – Ashlee Wilcox! She must’ve been as sweaty as we were, contorting to capture shots from every angle of our show for the National Association for Music Education. Click the photo for our favorite picks.
Maria’s “Fall” from “Four Seasons Rising”
Maria just completed her first orchestral work, and hit the recording studio so she could share it with you:
Our first music video!!!
Of course, the day we decided to shoot our video, it rained! We took it in stride, though, and even wrested a few dry minutes from the weather gods to whip out the drone! Frizzy hair, muddy feet, rain-infested instruments… it’s all featured in our collaboration with cinematographer Umit Gulsen. Without further ado, we proudly present:
Why We Perform
Our Corpus Christi audience’s energy made us giddy with excitement – they have set the bar HIGH for Texas. What a lovely introduction to this state… and this was just mid-concert!
I Don’t Practise (and Neither Should You)!
We often get asked, “How often do you practise,” to which Maria answers, “I don’t.” In Maria’s new entry for her series, Play Harder, she explains why…
Bringing Music to Life
The Montgomery Advertiser just published a front-page feature about our concerts and residency in Montgomery, AL. Click here to read the article, Bringing Music to Life.
Sonic Escape in Pictures
See Sonic Escape play their way across North America in candid shots of their concerts, outreach, flash shows, tour van and of course, cats! Check out their Flickr photostream for a behind-the-scenes look at life on the road…
Play Harder Series: Help Me, I’m an Artist (Entry 5)
I have always made my living as an independent performing artist. A 9-to-5 job is as foreign to me as waking up early, establishing a routine or even teaching a student regularly. We artists share one thing in common – we need help! Funding, booking, housing, brainstorming, bartering, watching, listening, feedback, encouragement… our success depends upon asking and receiving.
Play Harder Series: Cape Breton in Pictures (Entry 4)
Fall – the first movement I’m composing for Four Seasons Rising: The Symphony – is as inspired by Cape Breton’s nature as it is its music. My 3 weeks on the Island saturated my senses, flooding my eyes with technicolor foliage, ears with crashing waves and lungs with fresh, wind-tossed air. I have now lived autumn! Thank you, Cape Breton.
Wonderful Feature Story about Sonic Escape
The expert pen of Jeremy D. Bonfiglio proves that the art of storytelling is alive and well! Check out this beautifully written piece about Maria and Shawn’s fateful trip to Ireland, and the music and relationship that ensued: Classical, Irish traditions merge in Sonic Escape.
Play Harder Series: The Men of Normaway Inn (Entry 3)
“Yeah, that could work,” says Dave MacDonald, owner of The Normaway Inn in Margaree Valley, Nova Scotia. When I’d reached out to his wife on homeexchange.com about the possibility of doing a two-week swap between New York City and Cape Breton, she said to give him a call. Maria and I have to be in Cape Breton for our project, Four Seasons Rising, and with many rooms sold out for Celtic Colours or unavailable to 2 musicians traveling with 2 cats, time is running out.
Play Harder Series: On Violins and Virtuosity (Entry 2)
This past month, I’ve listened to more live violin playing than I have in the last two decades combined! The spree began on a sunny September day in Toronto. I arrived at 8:30 am for jury duty… but fun jury duty. It involved listening to Canadians from around the world who flew in to compete for 21 violins and cellos – including instruments by Stradivari, Guarneri and Gagliano – in the Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank Competition.