Michael Blostein is a tubist, educator, conductor, and composer based in the capital region of New York State. He has music degrees from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and the University of Arizona. He is currently the band director at Averill Park High School in New York. He also maintains an active performance schedule, a bustling private studio, and a wealth of composition activities. Throughout his career, he has worked with musicians at all levels.
Blostein wrote Thrumming in 2020 in response to the needs of ensembles in the COVID pandemic. It is a flexible instrumentation piece for up to five distinct parts. Its form and construction our also flexible, with interchangeable sections throughout the piece. Blostein says in the score:
This work was written in response to a general call (and immediate need) for flexible ensemble works in the midst of the Covid19 Global Pandemic.
This work is designed to focus on elements of aleatoric music, and to allow for a virtual ensemble if so desired (with any instrumentation available). It is entirely based on the key center of A, with multiple contrapuntal lines (and minimal harmonic movement). As such, dynamic contrasts are used to emphasize different lines at different times, and articulations take on added importance.
Here is the Backyard Flex Band of Upstate NY performing Thrumming in 4 parts:
See more at Blostein’s website.