Two more choral anthems are now posted on the Audio Files page; they’re my new Hal Leonard anthems just released. They’re both under “Hal Leonard”, a little ways down the Audio Files page.
First is Thy Word Is Like A Garden, Lord- a beautifully poetic text exalting the Word, but previously matched with a hymntune that never really inspired me. My setting was commissioned by the First Baptist Church of Lake Orion, from my old ministry-team buddy, Jim Watson. Sorry it too so long to get this in print, Jim! This recording is for chorus and a small chamber orchestra. Tempo is a little slow at times, but it’s still a nice recording.
Second is Alas And Did My Savior Bleed, which John Purifoy “commissioned” for this fall’s Hal Leonard release. He asked for a setting of the AVON tune, in a similar style to the best-selling Be Thou My Vision setting that I wrote for them last fall. The recording, again, is a bit slow, but still nice; you’ll hear the two contrasting ideas of stark death and redeeming love pitted against each other via contrasting moods in the anthem.
The Lawrence Journal-World (the KU hometown paper) interviewed me this week and wrote a feature article in today’s (Saturday Oct 21) paper. The online version can be read here.
New Audio Files are available on my Audio Files page: my two new Beckenhorst pieces are available for listening there. It’ll be a few weeks yet before the print music is available, but I got the audio files early…
It’s almost time for Fall releases from sacred choral publishers…I got my complimentary copies of Thy Word Is Like A Garden, Lord from Hal Leonard this week; they gave it a gorgeous cover- a marbled purple background with a large rosette-window type design, and a beautiful font. Not that covers matter much, but I like the look of it. I’ve been waiting two weeks now for a sneak preview CD of my two Beckenhorst pieces for this fall from Craig Courtney, but it appears to have gotten lost in the mail…
My dissertation is making a little progress, slowly but surely…movements 1 and 2 (out of six) are where I’m focusing right now. 1 is starting to take shape a little, although my preliminary sketch is over 11 minutes long right now- yikes! I need to pare it down…
Good news this past week from Southern Music (who publishes Jim Barnes’ [my comp teacher] works, some of Eric Ewazen’s works, etc)- word is they want to publish my Sonata for Trombone and Piano (premiered by Paul Overly at BJU and performed on my recital at KU). Contracts have yet to be signed, but I have a verbal agreement from them, at least. Still waiting on a decision for Basque Lullaby for Band…Also, Dr. Mike Hall (who now teaches at Old Dominion in VA) will be performing it on a faculty recital there soon, as well as in the Ukraine on a tour this spring…I’m glad for these “breaks” into the whole brass world- nice diversity from my usual choral music jaunts. 
Not much else to report…I’m teaching busily, enjoying the challenge of presenting advanced chromatic topics to my sophomores, enjoying some beautiful fall KS weather with my family, and starting to get busy planning and making arrangements for various spring trips, including the Big Move To Greenville…
