The Kids 4 Truth songbook is now in print- I got my copies today. It’s really beautifully done- full color throughout. I had only seen PDFs of everything, so it was especially impressive to see the bound, glossy version!
The Fruit Of the Spirit (SA[T]B and piano) is now available from Chorister’s Guild. It’s probably the easiest anthem I’ve ever written, which will please those who find my Beckenhorst-type anthems too hard. 
The audio file isn’t posted yet, but a score image sample can be viewed at the Lorenz (Chorister’s Guild distributor) site: Click here.
What a great day! Had a wonderful lunch with Bill Carroll and learned a lot about the inner workings of Hinshaw…
The concert today was long but good. The earlier pieces on the concert were Schubert and Mozart, and after 70 minutes, we were ready for some different style. Lauridsen took care of that quite nicely- the Choraliers sang wonderfully- far beyond their years!
I mostly expected Arise Shine to be “almost as good” as rehearsal, in performance….but it was way better. Tracy was absolutely stellar, and the kids just nailed the piece. I couldn’t have asked for a better premiere, and can’t wait to hear the recording. About halfway through the piece, it just dawned on me how incredibly they were singing- it was way better than any of the rehearsals. They really kicked it up a notch when it counted. The ending was completely overwhelming, and everyone loved the piece (thankfully- no rotten vegetables thrown at me!)
I can’t wait for the recording…I’ll post it on here if I’m allowed to.
Here are a few pix from today:
Addy and me before the concert…
The hallway outside Stern Auditorium is plastered with autographs and manuscripts of various pieces by famous composers from Berlioz to Bernstein. I snapped this picture of the first page of a movement from Copland’s Third Symphony.
Me and the sign.
A very very happy conductor and composer, rejoicing.
We had quite a celebration!
It’s been a wonderful trip. It’s hard to even realize how wonderful this has been; I think after I’ve been home for a few days back in Kansas, it’ll start to dawn on me what a marvelous occasion this was. I’m thankful for Tracy, who had the idea in the first place to commission me, and to the Lord for His continual and bountiful blessings.
And now, we’ll click our heels together three times: “There’s no place like home…there’s no place like home…”
PS) We are home safe back in KS now…:-)
We went to the dress rehearsal this morning and heard Arise Shine with chorus and orchestra for the first time. Addy tried to hold back tears. It was wonderful, and extremely moving- I’m not sure whether it’s the music itself or just the experience- either way…. We can’t wait for the performance this afternoon.
Tracy’s doing a spectacular job. We had a few minor issues yesterday in orchestral rehearsal, and he’s dealt with them really well. The Choraliers are singing wonderfully, as always, too- they really rise above what you expect when high schoolers sing.
When you walk into Carnegie Hall, it just takes your breath away. Partly because of its beauty, and partly because of its significance and the knowledge of just exactly where you are! The acoustics, of course, were beyond anything I’ve ever heard. The difference in sound between the third row and standing against the back wall was indiscernible. Amazing! A few pictures from this morning:
The lights in the center ceiling…
Some of the wraparound seats in the middle levels…
The view from the fifth row during rehearsal…
And there it is: the music of Dan Forrest filling Carnegie Hall. The Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad!
Off to lunch with Bill Carroll, and then off to the performance…!
The Shawnee Mission East Choraliers have been busy rehearsing Arise Shine and the Lux Aeterna for several hours a day, these last couple days.
Meanwhile, the New England Symphonic Ensemble got together tonight for their rehearsal of the orchestral parts for both pieces. We rehearsed Arise Shine first, and it went quite well. I discovered some missing accidentals in my score and parts (Grr! The accidentals are there, but they’re “hidden” in Finale because of the way I did the key signatures on the clarinet and horn parts; I’ve got to figure out a better way to do those!!), but all else went well. There’s nothing like going from ridiculous Finale playback, or even one’s aural imagination, to hearing and feeling a full orchestra play your score! I have to fight the urge to just get swept up and carried away by it. (Deep breath…keep feet on ground…) I’m always telling composition or orchestration students to NOT rely on Finale playback, and I have various arguments to try to convince them…but one time hearing your score played live is a more powerful argument than any of the others.
Tomorrow morning is the dress rehearsal where the full orchestra and the full choir perform together for the first time…that will really be the test of the piece.
We’re having lunch with Bill Carroll, the chief editor for Hinshaw Music, tomorrow, before going to the concert at 2:00. Hopefully I’ll get to post something inbetween the dress rehearsal and the performance…
Had a nice time walking around midtown this morning- a few of the sights were:
The Coolest Store on Earth! (The NYC Apple Store!)
The front of St Thomas’ Church (Anglican). Amazing! They were tuning the organ while we were there…
The main sign outside Carnegie Hall…
has my name on it!
We’ve safely arrived in the Big Apple. Man, I love New York City (at least in most respects). It fascinates me to see the city thing and the incredible variety and sheer amount of people.
We flew right past downtown Manhattan on the way in- I hadn’t seen that skyline from the air at night before- it was stunning!
Tomorrow we’re going to St Patrick’s Cathedral to hear a concert (Abbots Bromley School Chapel Choir, from Britain)- should be stunning to see and hear!
Got the news this morning- there will be two of my anthems in Beckenhorst’s spring release:
Heading to New York tomorrow, where I’ll post updates on our Carnegie Hall trip!
