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Dear World Boardgaming Championships. Thank you for existing, for happening immediately after a very long stressful crunch deadline at work, and for being scheduled at the same time as my wedding anniversary. The week was much needed, much enjoyed, and I had a blast competing this year. See you again in WBC 2015!

Had a nice time being part of the “Fannish Music Beyond Filk” panel at Confluence this morning with W Randy Hoffman and featured guest artist (and fellow game audio designer) W. Scott Snyder! Thanks to my fellow panelists and to those who came to hear us chat about music fandoms:)

I am pleased to announce that I will be speaking on a panel, “Fannish Music Beyond Filk”, at Confluence – Pittsburgh’s Literary SciFi/Fantasy/Horror Conference on Saturday July 26th at 10am. Join us as we discuss how far fan music has come since the original ‘filk’ days, from Star Trekkin’ Across the Universe to Zombie Operas video game tributes and beyond! I will also be appearing that evening in the Parallax Second Players musical production “The Parallax Zone” at 7:45pm that same day (Sat the 26th).

Confluence is presented by PARSEC, a 501c3 non-profit organization promoting science fiction, fantasy and horror in literature, media and music for over 25 years in the Pittsburgh area.

EDIT: please note my panel time was changed, we are now at 10am this Saturday.

One of the games we developed at Schell Games for Amplify, “Inklings” also called “Ink Blot Underground,” was awarded a Gold Medal by the 2014 International Serious Play Awards last week! Go Team! Press Release and more info…

Evenings in Quarantine: The Zombie Opera, the multimedia/stage hybrid that I created with colleague Liz Rishel back in 2009, may be technically ‘dead’, but many members of the cast and crew keep running into each other! We have important roles to play in this weekend’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute by Undercroft Opera, both on stage and behind the scenes. For more details on Zopera in Mozart Land, check out our blog entry “Wild Creatures and the Forces of Darkness”. We have one more performance left, today at 2pm at the Antonian Theater. Don’t miss this classic Mozart opera, IN ENGLISH!!!

I’m super excited for Undercroft Opera’s production of  Mozart’s The Magic Flute opening a week from tomorrow (May 29th-June 1st at the Antonian Theater).  Rehearsals have been going splendidly music-wise, and as Creature Designer I’m happy to report that we’ve come a long way with Papageno’s flock of birds, the Giant Serpent and Animal masks and feet.  Continue reading →

Things have been exciting at my workplace, Schell Games, for the last couple weeks as we prepare to move into a bigger and more snazzy office in Station Square on Memorial Day weekend! Check out this article for more info about our new location.

Are you a fan of the music from Verdi’s famous opera Aida, but not a fan of how long it is (4 hours)? You’re in luck! This Sunday, April 13th, there is a FREE recital with Highlights from Verdi’s Aida, as part of the Chatham Vocal Recital Series starring soloists Marybeth Sederburg, Kelly Lynch, Robert Frankenberry, Milutin Lazich and Zachary Luchetti and I’m happy to be singing in the final scenes with a fabulous ensemble of men and women choristers.  The Highlights concert is ONLY 1.5 hours long, so join us this Sunday for some classic tunes and still be home in time for dinner:)

Twitterpated is this weekend, a voice recital program by sopranos Liz Rishel, Gwen Schmidt and myself, with special guest tenor Sean Lenhart and pianist Bill Larson. A polar opposite of our Autumnal program in 2012, which focused on ghosts, spooks, and witches, this time love and madness are the key themes (hence borrowing the title from Disney terminology). We have a lovely program in store, including works by Menotti, Strauss, Mozart, Rossini and a special vocal arrangement of a classic Bambi tune. Join us Sat, April 5th @7pm at the Modern Formations Gallery. Admission is FREE (donations accepted, to support Pgh Savoyards and Undercroft Opera) and there will be a reception following the program. (see website  or Facebook Event)

Now that the jet lag has fully left my body, I am happy to do a quick writeup about my return to GDC (Game Developers Conference) in San Francisco last week.

I once again went with the Audio Track, which I highly recommend if you are a musician or sound designer in or interested in the industry, and had a blast with the onslaught of panels, discussions, gameplay demos, parties and more. Thursday night was especially awesome as I was able to attend the first ever GDC Wedding of my Schell Games coworker Heidi McDonald. It was a crazy time, video game themed of course, and got lots of media attention. As soon as the party left I ran across the hall to the remaining portion (I had been half hearing the awards thru the wall during the wedding) of the G.A.N.G Audio Awards in time to watch Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite snag multiple wins.

This year my travel (aka crazy flight times) allowed me extra wiggle room in SF. I had a lovely time catching up with some of the Loudr.fm team over deeelish mexican food, hanging out with past GameSoundCon/GDC/MAGfest associates and also made it to both 8bitSF concerts on tues and friday night, POW POW POW GDC (featuring Danimal Cannon and other chiptuners) and the first California appearance of Metroid Metal at 8bit POW POW presents Band Saga LIVE.

So there it is… home again, back to the audio grind refreshed, and ready for a new onslaught of upcoming side projects.. dear god I’m in 3 shows this month alone… bring it on!