Dr. Mike Hall (KU Professor of Trombone) will be performing my trombone sonata next week on the KU student recital, and then on March 8 at the University of Missouri. I had planned to attend the MU performance, but I’ll be in St Louis for the ACDA convention, instead, that night.
The plan is to submit the recording from MU, with the score, to Southern Music for possible publication…We’ll see. It’d be a tough sell to break into that market, probably, but it’s worth a shot.
I went to Shawnee Mission East today to meet Tracy Resseguie (who commissioned Arise, Shine for Carnegie Hall) and to hear his Choraliers sing.
When they pulled out Leonardo Dreams as their first piece to sing, I thought “Oh no!” But when I heard them start singing, I thought “Oh my!!” They’re FANTASTIC! Tracy has a wonderful rapport with his students and motivates them to amazing heights of excellence and musicality. I’m very excited about writing for them!
Once I finish the band transcription of A Basque Lullaby, Arise, Shine will be my main project. We’re still trying to decide how to best open a program with the Lauridsen Lux Aeterna on it. We could go for a big, loud, fast exciting piece, or we could go with something that builds and builds to paint the idea of “Arise.” I’m leaning toward the latter, but we’ll see…
The premiere of Make A Joyful Noise went well. The Dorman High School (Spartanburg, SC) Chorus, Orchestra, and Band performed it in the Charleston Convention Center. A few ensemble problems in places, but considering that a piece of this difficulty was being performed by high schoolers, they did a fine job indeed!
Dorman has treated me royally, flying me into town, and putting me up in a super-nice hotel. Tonight, in celebration, we’re going on a dinner cruise in Charleston’s Historic Harbor. Should be a great time.
I learned a few things, too: Unison choir is more effective (especially for giant choirs like this) than we tend to think…Harp in an orchestra this big is truly a visual aid, not an aural contributor…and, muted triangle isn’t as effective as I thought it’d be. 
The program also included selections from Mozart’s Requiem, a neat piece by Randall Stroope, the gorgeous Ave Maria by Franz Biebl, and a commissioned piece for a cappella choir by Leslie Gilreath.
All in all, it was a good afternoon…now off to the cruise!…
I had the privilege of spending an hour and a half today, one-on-one, with Ronald Staheli, the famous choral conductor who has conducted all over the country and the world, and made several recordings with the Brigham Young choirs. He gave me some really good ideas for small improvements here and there on all 5 movements of Words From Paradise. He especially liked Hallelujah and Hosanna (which is surprising- most people love the slow movements more). Then again, this is a guy who’s been everywhere and seen it all, and has commissioned Eric Whitacre!
In the end, he asked if he could “be so bold” as to take the copy of Words From Paradise with him, and asked for my contact information “in case he ended up performing any of the movements before they were in print.” He also took copies of A Basque Lullaby as well as several of my church anthems; and before I left, he held up the folder of music that I gave him, and said “This is a RICH folder of music. Thank you! And please, put me on your list of people that you make aware when you’ve written a new work and want people to find out about it.” (To which I responded…..”Ok!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”)
Composers need conductors/performers, as we always say. But often times, we have to “take what we can get”. (Although I’ve been blessed to have stunning performances recently by the BJU Chorale!) But for someone of Staheli’s stature to be interested in one’s music, is very exciting and motivating, to say the least. Once again, the Lord has richly blessed me in ways I don’t deserve.
Bob Bixby has posted some thoughts on Words From Paradise on his blog…click here.
