My newest work for choir, Filled with His Voice, premieres tomorrow at Bethel College in Newton, Kansas! The work, scored for SATB choir, alto saxophone, and piano was commissioned by Dr. William Eash and the Bethel College Choir. You can read the beautiful text I worked with here. Thank you to Dr. Eash for helping to bring this work to life, and best wishes to him and the choir for a great performance tomorrow!
Goodnight, Goodnight for Band - Winner of the 2012 Hot Springs Concert Band Music Composition Award
I'm excited to announce that my work Goodnight, Goodnight for band has been named the winner of the 2012 Music Composition Award by the Hot Springs Concert Band in Hot Springs, AR. This wonderful ensemble will perform Goodnight, Goodnight on Sunday October 21st at 3:oopm and I will be in attendance! Who: Hot Springs Concert Band performs Goodnight, Goodnight When: October 21st, 3:00pm Where: Woodlands Auditorium, Hot Springs Village, AR
World Youth Wind Symphony Video Recording!
Slight correction from my last post: The World Youth Wind Symphony was the ensemble that performed Lauda at Interlochen under the baton of Gary Green. You can watch the wonderful video recording of the performance below. These are some very talented young people (high school students) who played my piece (and the whole concert) beautifully. Thanks to the World Youth Wind Symphony, Gary Green, and Interlochen! Bravo!
Lauda at Interlochen Tomorrow! Watch via Webcast!
My wind ensemble work Lauda will be performed tomorrow, Saturday July 14th by the Interlochen Symphony Band conducted by the incomparable Gary Green. Interlochen will be streaming live video of the concert at the link below. Check it out if you can! Who: Interlochen Symphony Band conducted by Gary Green When: Saturday July 14, 2012 - 7:00pm Where: Kresge Auditorium, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, Michigan Webcast: Live video streaming here
Goodnight, Goodnight This Sunday - Greater Gardner Community Choir
This Sunday, May 20th, the Greater Gardner Community Choir will perform Goodnight, Goodnight under the direction of the wonderful Diane Cushing. I will be there and I'm really looking forward to the performance! Who: Greater Gardner Community Choir When: May 20, 2012 - 4:00pm Where: Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, Gardner, MA
Lauda at Texas Tech on Monday!
Lauda will be performed by the Texas Tech University Concert Band, directed by Duane Hill on Monday May 7th at 8pm. They are doing a really interesting program called "The Great Outdoors" and students in the ensemble have prepared visual slide shows and videos to play along with the music - very cool! Best wishes for a great performance! When: Monday May 7th, 8:00pm Where: Hemmle Recital Hall, Texas Tech University
"This Song of Mine" Premieres Tonight at Houghton College!
My new work for women's choir and piano, "This Song of Mine," will be premiered tonight at Houghton College in Houghton, NY. "This Song of Mine" will be published this fall by Santa Barbara Music, and tonight the work will be presented by the Houghton College Women's Choir under the direction of David Horace Davies. Houghton College Women’s Choir directed by David Horace Davies April 25th, 2012 – 8:00pm Recital Hall – Center for the Arts Houghton College
Arise and Sing - This Sunday!
This Sunday I will conduct "Arise and Sing" in two services at the Westminster First Congregational Church in Westminster, MA. Arise and Sing is a 30 second introit piece for SATB unaccompanied choir intended to herald the opening of an Easter service. It is in the key of C and we will be dovetailing it with the opening hymn in the service - Christ the Lord is Risen Today. We tried this last year, and it was pretty cool. The choir lands on a powerful C major chord at the end of Arise and Sing, and while the choir is holding the last chord (fff of course) the organ comes in like a bulldozer, starting the introduction to the hymn. It's powerful - trust me. (Or better yet, come hear it on Sunday!)
Below is the King's College Choir singing Jesus Christ is Risen Today (same hymn as Christ the Lord is Risen Today). We will be singing it out of our hymnal, but Ashley and I co-wrote a descant for the last verse! Should be quite a morning! Happy Easter to all!
Nocturne IV Premiere Performances Coming Next Week
As I detailed in a post here, Nocturne IV is a new work commissioned by the University of Central Florida, scored for saxophone quartet and flute ensemble. It is based on the fourth movement of my solo piano set, Nocturnes, and the work will be premiered at UCF on the following performances: Monday March 26th - 9:00pm University of Central Florida Woodwind Ensembles Concert Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)
Saturday March 31st - 8:30am - 6:00pm University of Central Florida SaxFest Rehearsal Hall, Auditorium (116)
Best wishes for great performances with this unique ensemble!
Polyphonic.org - WCMW Webinar on Monday!
On Monday March 19th at 8:00pm eastern, Ashley and I will present a webinar titled "Presenting Concerts in Your Local Community – Creative Ideas for Making Concerts Happen Anywhere." The Webinar is part of the Polyphonic On Campus webinar series (view past webinars here). We will talk about the process of how we started the Westminster Chamber Music Workshop, and use it as a case study for thinking about how to make musical events happen in any community, large or small. Hopefully it will be fun and interesting so if you are free, sign up! The webinar is free and the great thing about webinar technology is that you can participate from anywhere in the world! All you need is a computer and an internet connection. See you Monday!