ForrestWorks

Will Gray has posted a web-article about me and my music on his blog. Click here.

We’re back in Kansas, Daw-ra-thy- and there’s no place like home! Especially when you’ve been criss-crossing Manhattan, and have missed your little kids! We had a wonderful time, though, while away.

The ASCAP Concert Awards were great. I got to see Peter Schickele (aka PDQ Bach), (composer) Phillip Glass, (conductor) James DePriest, (film music composer) Bruce Broughton, (composers) Meredith Monk, Chris Theofanidis, Jennifer Higdon, NPR personality John LoFrumento (remember the voice from St Paul Sunday?), and a slew of other composers my age, some of which are quite notable already. John Corigliano was actually supposed to read my citation, but his mother was sick and he couldn’t come…Here’s me and Peter Schickele…

Me and Cia Toscanini…

And here’s Peter Schickele giving Phillip Glass his award (Glass is to the right of Schickele)…

We had an informal time with all the Morton Gould Young Composer Award winners, in which a minute of each of our pieces was played. They put Words From Paradise last on the program, but surprisingly, rather than playing part of Amen, they chose the last minute of Hosanna. (Congrats to Dr Cook and the Chorale- your recording was played in the Lincoln Center in front of all these people!) Afterwards, the young Julliard composition graduate who put the media show together for ASCAP told me that she loves Hosanna, and had been walking all over NYC the last month with it playing on her iPod! Also, Cia Toscanini (yes, that’s Arturo’s granddaughter, for you observant and curious readers), told me that when she had the stressful night (the previous night) of finding someone to take John Corigliano’s place at the ceremony, she got out my CD of Words From Paradise and put it on to unwind to. These “awards” are better than any silly medal!

I did get a little medal, a nice ASCAP messenger bag, and various pieces of ASCAP paraphernalia, along with a super-duper catered buffet on the 10th floor penthouse of the Lincoln Center. When it was all over, though, I was happy get out of the limelight and return to a quiet evening with Addy.

We stayed at the New York Gospel Ministries Angel House, with Dr Bill Jones and his family, while in NYC. They have a wonderful place (and a wonderful ministry!) smack-dab in the middle of lower Manhattan. Interestingly, their house is right next door to the house where Charlie Parker lived for a few years- there’s a monument plaque on the front of the building to prove it!
My parents met us in NYC and did all this stuff with us, too, including viewing the Statue of Liberty, with a surprise visit from the Blue Angels!

Our trip then took us to Georgia for Brian Bondari’s wedding.

We had a great time hanging out with Brian and Kat’s families, and laughing at the Unique Humor of one Everett Griffiths. We wish Everett and Melanie weren’t moving off to earthquake-ridden California. We have way too much fun with them and will miss them sorely…

After a short little 18-hour drive in the Bonari’s CRV, towing a U-Haul trailer, we’re finally back in KS. I hope to get some progress made on some composing this week, before we head out to Denver next week for a long-overdue family vacation.

Thanks for reading!

Addy and I are heading to New York City this week for the ASCAP Concert Awards, then down to Georgia at the end of the week for Brian Bondari’s wedding…We’ll post news and pictures from our trip as we get opportunity…

In other news, the first week of summer has been pretty profitable as I’ve finished the revising and editing of my Christmas cantata and its orchestration. It’s now in the more-than-capable hands of Joan Pinkston, who will be overseeing the production of the Soundforth demo recording of it, this summer. It will be available next spring…
I’ve also finished editing and revising my piano duet book, which I sold to Soundforth 4 years ago, but is finally going to be coming out soon (by Jan 2007, I think). I also have two easy piano books of seasonal solos coming out fairly soon, as well. It’ll be nice to finally see all these things in print and in use.

We also have plans for a book of reflective piano solos on the topic of the cross/salvation, suitable for offertories or communion music, but that probably won’t happen for another year or so.

Stay tuned for news from NYC later this week…

GRAFENBURG Variations, for wind band, has now been added to the Audio Files under “Instrumental Works.”

The audio file of my 2005 Hal Leonard anthem, Be Thou My Vision, is now available on the “Choral Works” page under Audio Files. The audio isn’t available on the Hal Leonard or Pepper websites, for some reason, so I’m posting it.

I found out last week that I won the 2005-2006 Anthony B. Cius Award from the University of Kansas, given to the outstanding composition student for the year. It’s kind of been overshadowed by the ASCAP Award, but it’s still a nice honor; I’ll have my name on the Cius plaque outside the Dean’s office. (That is, if they can get caught up on the engraving for last year and this year!)

To hear Audio Files, click on the “Audio Files” link over on the right—>

Nearer Still Nearer is just coming out from Beckenhorst. I got a sneak preview yesterday of the JW Pepper editor’s choice awards soon to be announced, and Nearer Still Nearer received one. I haven’t received the Beckenhorst spring release yet with the demo recording, but I’ve received my composer copies, and there’s now an audio file (a small one, for dialup users!) available to listen to at the Beckenhorst site. Click here to go there.