Three Nocturnes, in London…
Three Nocturnes will be performed just outside London, May 7, alongside some Chilcott and some Jenkins. (I’m the American in the group!) 
Here’s the poster. Wish I could be there!
Category Archives: My Blog Entries
Carnegie Hall Premiere, Monday night
“A Covenant Prayer”, commissioned by High Point University, will be premiered in Carnegie Hall this coming Monday night. We’re heading up to NYC for it!
New recording from Soundforth
Full length recordings of my four pieces on Soundforth’s new CD (released tomorrow) are available for listening (but not downloading) at the “Choral Library” page. Look for When I Survey, O God Beyond All Praising, Lord of the Small, and My Song Shall Bless The Lord.
ACDA premiere, and video
If you haven’t followed my posts on Facebook about the premiere of Psalm 8 in Chicago last weekend, head over there and check out my posts. Best of all, someone posted the full video (with better audio than my iPhone captured) of the dress rehearsal. There are starts and stops, but the whole piece is there. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY83r_Tdk_g.
This was one of the most moving premieres I’ve had. The kids treated me like an absolute hero (which is saying something since I’m a composer of art music, and not Justin Bieber!), and their sound was so beautiful- more beautiful than I had even imagined when I was writing the piece. I actually had to hold back my emotions, the first time I heard them sing it…!
A couple news articles…
First, a review of the Greenville Chorale’s recent concert, here.
Second, an adorable article….well, you’ll see. Read it here. Rest assured I plan to give him an autograph!
Meet me at ACDA!
I’ll be in Chicago next week, and I’m looking forward to meeting choral musicians from all over the country! You can find me at the Hinshaw Music reading session, Friday at 3:30, or at the premiere of my “Psalm 8″ by Henry Leck and the National Honors Children’s Choir, Saturday at 4:00.
Over Havet performance on Ellis Island!
So…Tracy Resseguie is taking his choir to Norway, soon, to sing Over Havet in the places where the piece’s subject, Peter Mandius Nerland, grew up- including the church on the coastal island of Norway where he was baptized. (Think of it- “my eyes look out, gray as the gray north-sky, across the sea…”).
On the way back from Norway, the choir is intentionally coming through Ellis Island. So Tracy applied for a permit to sing Over Havet in the Great Hall of Ellis Island, but his request was denied, citing federal policy that that kind of performance is not permitted in the Great Hall because of the weight of its historic significance. They gave him permission to sing outside, instead.
So Tracy (in typical fashion) wrote a couple senators, explaining the piece’s significance to American immigration…and today he received a letter from Washington, DC, stating that he will be given an exception to their policy, and his choir will be permitted to perform it in the Great Hall on Ellis Island, March 19th, at 2:00. The videographer who is making a local PBS documentary about the piece will be there to video the performance. I can’t WAIT to see it, and I wish I could be there!!!
Over Havet Corrections
To our great chagrin, we’ve discovered that some of the wave noises are missing in the newly printed octavo of “Over Havet”. (They were the result of composer and publisher not having the same version of Finale; our backwards-compatible XML file introduced bizarre layout issues which resulted in missing staves…! So much for XML being a reliable way to share files between versions of Finale…) Future printings will be corrected, but the first printing copies will ship with an inserted correction sheet, which I’m also posting here for public use.
Youtube Videos…
Some YouTube highlights: Good Night Dear Heart sung very beautifully for high schoolers (!), the Festival Singers of Florida singing Lord of the Small and When I Survey, and then the FSU University Singers singing Good Night Dear Heart. The Florida Festival Singers also have beautiful recordings of When I Survey and I Know That My Redeemer Lives, posted on YouTube!
New Choral Page!
Click on the “CHORAL” tab, above, to see my new library of choral music- fully sortable, searchable, and with built-in audio files for listening. I’ve needed something like this for a long time!
I don’t have my entire output of choral works in it yet, but the most recent and most popular ones are all there. I’ll work on getting the rest added eventually…and audio files of the brand new pieces will be added as they become available.
Try out the search box….say you’re a choir director who wants a Christmas piece, for SATB choir, with orchestra…? Simply type “Christmas SATB orchestra” in the search box, and you’ve got your list, instantly!