In early spring of 2014, I was listening to the Illinois based band, Blue Meanies. Their song I’m a Have-Not began to play, and I started thinking about the meanings of have-not and how they pertain to me. As defined in the Random House Dictionary, a have-not is “one that is without wealth, social position, or other material advantages.” Compositionally, I approached Have-Not in a similar way to my piece, Late Night Banter, in which contrasting ideas abruptly interrupt each other while growing and changing. Influences such as jazz and African music are very clear in this piece.

Have-Not was written for Transient Canvas and was premiered on June 9, 2014 at Davis Square Theatre in Somerville, MA, and was heavily revised in 2015. -Aaron Jay Myers, 11/13/2015

Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Aaron Jay Myers (b.1979) is a Boston based composer. He has composed orchestral and large ensemble works, many diverse chamber works, and music for dance and short films. His works have been performed across the United States by various ensembles including ALEA III, IronWorks Percussion Duo, Zodiac Trio, DMC clarinet and percussion duo, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Ludovico Ensemble, Diagenesis Duo, Transient Canvas, and by many other performers. He has received commissions by DMC Duo, Matthew Sharrock, Diagenesis Duo, Open Theatre Project, and by 'Air Dance Bernasconi' to compose music for their aerial dance piece titled As Above, So Below. He was a finalist in the 2011 ALEA III International Composition Competition and was awarded second place for the 2011 Ironworks Percussion Duo contest in Long Beach, CA. He is also an organizer of The Equilibrium Concert Series along with composers Jason Huffman and Mischa Salkind-Pearl among others. As a guitarist, he has performed many different kinds of music in solo and group situations over the past eighteen years. He also gave private guitar and theory lessons for over seven years.

Myers holds a BM in Composition from Towson University and an MM in Composition from The Boston Conservatory. He studied classical, flamenco, and jazz guitar as well as music theory privately with Maurice Arenas from 2000-2005, and classical guitar with Troy King at Towson University from 2005-2007. He studied composition and improvisation with Dave Ballou and composition with William Kleinsasser at Towson University, and composition with Jan Swafford and Marti Epstein at The Boston Conservatory.