Live From My Living Room

Tune in Thursday August 13 at 7:00pm CST for Live From My Living Room with Holland Hopson presented by the Hoover Library in Hoover, Alabama. I’ll perform new works and improvisations for a custom electric guitar/banjo hybrid instrument built by the amazing Jefferson Pitcher. I may also give a sneak preview of a some visualization software I’ve been developing. Check out the entire Live From My Room video series on YouTube.

The Hoover Library has a long history of presenting great concerts. I played there in person (how quaint!) in 2016, and have had my pieces played there by pianist Aron Kallay and the percussion group Iron Giant. Here’s a video of Iron Giant playing my Quartet 60x880120x208 for four metronomes:

Here’s the info for Thursday’s concert:

Appointment Reminder: Drunk Doctor at Proper Saké on Friday

Looking forward to trying the Nigori saké at Proper Saké in Nashville Friday night when I play a solo set for banjo and electronics. FMRL is presenting the event which also features Drunk Doctor. Nigori seems about right: unfiltered, slightly cloudy, a touch more texture…

Friday February 28 7:00pm
FMRL: Holland Hopson/Drunk Doctor
Proper Saké
628 Ewing Ave
Nashville TN 37203

Saturday at Rhizome DC with Insect Factory and Rambutan

Show flyer for Insect Factory, Holland Hopson and Rambutan at Rhizome DC

Happy to be playing at Rhizome in Washington DC for the first time this weekend.

Insect Factory, Holland Hopson, Rambutan
Saturday, January 18 at 8pm
Rhizome DC
6950 Maple St NW
Washington DC 20012

This will by my first time sharing the stage with Jeff Barsky (Insect Factory) and a welcome reunion with Eric Hardiman (Rambutan). Rhizome looks like my kind of place–great concerts, residencies, exhibits, youth programs, and DIY workshops on everything from electronic instruments to fermentation to visual arts. In that spirit, I’ll be performing Crow Chases Red-tailed Hawk–a newer piece for invented instruments and live electronics– along with other works. No Appalachian banjo this time out.

Badstar at iCAT

I had a great time playing in the Badstar production last week at the Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology (iCAT) at Virginia Institute of Technology in Blacksburg, Virginia.

L to R: Zach Duer, Brandon Hale, Andre Foisy, Denver Nuckolls, Charles Nichols, Holland Hopson. Not pictured: Jon Rugh

And here are a few photos from rehearsals.

More documentation to come.

l’Artiste Ordinaire, Tim Feeney, Holland Hopson at Gin Palace House Concert

Tomorrow I’ll be playing a house concert in the newly christened Gin Palace. I’ll perform a solo set for banjos with electronics, and Tim Feeney will play solo percussion. Special guests l’Artiste Ordinaire (Melissa Grey, David Morneau) will perform their work Photon Ecstasy.

October 10 8:00pm
House Concert with
l’Artiste Ordinaire (Melissa Grey, David Morneau), Tim Feeney, Holland Hopson
2120 6th Street
Tuscaloosa AL

Comes and Goes

Here’s a performance of Comes and Goes from the 2016 Birmingham New Music Festival featuring (L to R) Andrew Raffo Dewar, modular synth; Geni Skendo, flutes; Wendy Richman, viola; Holland Hopson, laptop.

The piece is for open instrumentation: four or more performers using electronic and/or acoustic instruments. We chose to perform the sections in the following order: Foothills, Unmatched set of revolving doors, Cirrus – lock of hair, I Send the Rockets Up, Constant Interference. Download the score

Tim Perkis Touch Typing Tonight

I’m so happy to have an opportunity to play with Tim Perkis tonight. Tim will perform a solo set, then Andrew Raffo Dewar and I will join him for a set of improvisations. Tim will be playing his Touch Typing instrument featured in the video below. I first heard Touch Typing sometime in the 1990’s on the excellent Artificial Horizon recording with John Bischoff, so I’m looking forward to hearing Tim in person tonight.

Friday January 27 7:30pm
Sonic Frontiers presents
Tim Perkis
with Andrew Raffo Dewar and Holland Hopson
Moody Music Hall, UA School of Music
810 Second Ave, Tuscaloosa AL

DIY Concert Review

Edward Forstman reviewed the BAMA DIY concert for ArtsBham writing:

And, a new and wonderful discovery for this reviewer, Holland Hopson set his haunting vocals about a desolate landscape with “no road lead[ing] straight home” against layers of clawhammer banjo woven together via computer processing and a foot pedal.

LA Reviews of “Elevators”

Here are two reviews of Aron Kallay‘s recent performance of A History of Elevators in Film at the MicroFest Beyond 12 concert in Los Angeles. The first is by Paul Muller in Sequenza21 who calls the work

“…an engaging and highly musical work that presents a remarkable variety of moods and colors.”

The second is by Steven Niles in New Classic LA who writes

“The History of Elevators in Film, by Birmingham composer Holland Hopson, depicted the sensory experience of riding in elevators with virtuoso compositional prowess.”