MICHAEL T ROBERTS
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News/Blog

'Come to Us in Water' on video

1/6/2022

 
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Happy New Year, team!
​
In case you missed last month’s International Orange Chorale SF concert, including the premiere of my piece Come to Us in Water, you can catch the recorded livestream on Facebook (registration not required). 


Not surprisingly, IOC exceeded the high bar they set at the Berkeley concert and performed an amazing show. I’m very lucky to have worked with them as composer-in-residence these past two years. 

Director Zane Fiala introduces my piece at 52:15, and the music begins at 55:00. (I recommend you catch at least the last minute of Zane’s intro, where he explains the ritual breathing that begins the piece.) 

The program has a number of fantastic premieres, and if you have some time I hope you’ll give them a listen. Fun tidbit: IOC hands out ballots for audience members to vote on their favorite piece; the winner gets a reprise at a future concert. If you watch the show, you will perhaps not be surprised to hear that the winner—by a country mile, apparently—was ‘Pieces of My Heart’ by Lauren Bydalek (starting at 46:00). I voted for it too. It was the simplest piece on the program, and very beautiful, and clearly that’s what we all needed to hear that night. 

Can you guess the (distant) 2nd place piece? (Hint: the guy who wrote it is the only one who appears in this video with a mohawk. See 1:23:00.) 
Watch the Concert

​Thanks for listening/watching. I hope your 2022 is off to a beautiful start! 

Mike

Mike on 'In Unison': the choral podcast interview you never knew you didn't want to miss

11/23/2021

 
If you woke up this morning with a feeling you couldn't quite place—a subtle, nameless yearning,  perhaps—allow me to identify the source: 

It might be the lack of having heard this conversation between me, International Orange Chorale director Zane Fiala, and IOC tenor Giacomo DiGrigoli about choral music. I'll let the guys introduce it: 

https://www.inunisonpodcast.com/episodes/s04e11

On today’s episode of In Unison we’re continuing our mini-series of conversations with the composers whose works will be premiered on International Orange Chorale of San Francisco's Freshly Squeezed program on December 4th and 18th this year. Today we’re chatting with IOCSF’s current Composer-in-Residence, Michael T Roberts, about all sorts of things, but most importantly his new composition—a prayer for rain of sorts—entitled “Come to Us in Water.” We may also discover whether or not Mike is a witch…! #choir #composer #podcast #singers

​
Spoiler alert: I'm not a witch (but pretty close). 
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OMG...Actual concerts (and a livestream)

11/4/2021

 
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The Upcoming Concerts page on my website was blank for a long time. But I'm pleased to announce that the International Orange Chorale of San Francisco, with whom I have been composer-in-residence since before Covid was a thing (you might remember them as the Zoom choir), will be premiering my newest piece, Come to Us in Water, in two concerts this December:

Saturday, December 4, 7:30pm at Christ Church in Berkeley, CA
​
Saturday, December 18, 7:30pm at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in San Francisco, CA

Read More

This Friday: a Virtual Mass for Freedom

12/2/2020

 
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Dr. Lynne Morrow, conductor extraordinaire
Hey all, Happy December!

​Please join me and Dr. Lynne Morrow for a free Oakland Symphony virtual event this Friday, December 4, 3:00-3:45pm Pacific Time.

Lynne and I will discuss the Mass for Freedom, my five-movement work for chorus and orchestra that Lynne commissioned and directed with the Oakland Symphony Chorus last year. I'll play some original recordings of the five spirituals that form the core of the work, and talk about why I was inspired by these particular songs. 

We’ll end with a video showing of the full premiere performance, so if you weren’t able to make the concert, I especially hope you'll check it out! There will be some Q&A afterward. 

Just RSVP here for a link to the Zoom. 

​I'm excited to relive the awesome experience of writing and premiering this work. Hope to see you there! 

Mike

Zoom-a Zoom Zoom Zoom

10/6/2020

 
There’s too much going on right now. What this world needs is a video of singers meeting virtually to sing about virtual meetings. 

Please enjoy Zoom, my first official piece as composer-in-residence with San Francisco’s International Orange Chorale. (It’s three-and-a-half minutes long, and there are lyrics in the video description.)

The planned June concerts did not happen, obviously. But I did have a nice Zoom chat with the choir (and two other composers on the program) about the music they had been planning to perform. And in the ensuing conversation I found myself talking about how it can be tough for us as choral composers to write music that really speaks to the moment, because for legal reasons we tend to use public domain text that is, by necessity, old. 

As I signed off the call, I thought: well, of course we can always write our own text. I could do that again. But what to write about...?

You never know what's going to bubble up. I must have needed some levity in my life; at a time when everything feels really, super serious, Zoom is not. But there is a genuine message here: we are getting through all of this together, one day at a time. We couldn’t possibly do it alone. So isn’t it really, really amazing that we have some tools to help us carry on with our business and be with our loved ones whenever we want, even if we are far away? My twice-weekly Zoom chats (and online card games) with my brother in Tennessee and my dad in Florida have helped keep me afloat these past seven months. That’s something to sing about. And I’m really lucky to have this amazing choir to do the singing for me. 

Hurrah for International Orange Chorale, and hurrah for all of you. Hope everybody’s staying safe in these uncertain times. 

Lots of love,
Mike
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...and I've got one of the Golden Girls.

Listen to this: Mass for Freedom premiere

7/12/2019

 
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Warming up for the big game. Note chorus member stretching.
Happy summer, friends! 

I'm excited to share some audio with you from the world premiere of Mass for Freedom, this past April 13 in Oakland: 
Listen
I've included the first and last movements (Kyrie and Agnus Dei), along with the text. While you're there, check out the great sneak-peek video if you haven't seen it already.

This is a live recording of a first performance, so there are some inevitable bobbles along the way. But these 120-or-so musicians pulled together some pretty tricky music pretty beautifully, thanks to a lot of hard work and the firm direction of Maestra Lynne Morrow. 

I miss working on it and hanging out with all those great musicians. The good news is that Lynne has big plans for the piece in 2020: the Mass is slated to go on tour with the Oakland Symphony Chorus next summer, with plans for performances in southern cities that were significant to the Civil Rights movement (think Selma) as well as Washington, D.C. 

In upcoming posts I'll be sharing other recent premieres: Accord Treble Choir ("New England Song") and International Orange Chorale ("O Child"). 

Support Accord's Release of "To Soar" on CD

3/20/2019

 
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Accord Treble Choir (NYC) is releasing a new album, and it will feature my piece "To Soar in Freedom and in Fullness of Power" (text by Walt Whitman), which Accord beautifully premiered this past June. 

You can help support this very worthy endeavor by pre-ordering the album in digital download or CD via their IndieGogo campaign.  Donations of any amount are also accepted, and if you live in the New York area, you can also get tickets to their June concert (where I may have another new piece on the program—TBD), and other in-person perks. 

This will be the first-ever "official" recording of one of my choral pieces. Exciting, needless to say, and I hope you will join me in giving Accord some love as they launch this project in celebration of their 10th anniversary! 

Meanwhile, back in Oakland...

Only three-and-a-half weeks until the Oakland Symphony Chorus premieres Mass for Freedom!
Saturday April 13, 8:00pm at the First Congregational Church of Oakland. 
Buy tickets

​Hope to see you there. 

Tickets on sale for Oakland Symphony premiere

2/22/2019

 
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Lynne Morrow, OSC director
At long last! You can now buy advance tickets for the Oakland Symphony Chorus' April 13 world premiere of my new five-movement work for chorus and chamber orchestra,
​
Mass for Freedom
Buy tickets
Mass for Freedom re-explores the sacred roots of five African-American spirituals that became anthems of protest during the Civil Rights movement. Scored for large mixed chorus and a 24-piece chamber orchestra, the work combines the spirituals with text from the Latin Mass Ordinary (in English translation) and additional words by a certain Michael T. Roberts, M.M., A.B., D.A. 

Advance tickets are $20. All seating is general admission. 

Oakland Symphony Chorus Spring Concert
Lynne Morrow, director
Saturday, April 13, 2019, 8:00pm
First Congregational Church
2501 Harrison St.
 
Oakland, CA 

Read More

'To Soar' on video, and more premieres

6/21/2018

 
Check out Accord Treble Choir premiering my setting of Walt Whitman's "To Soar in Freedom and in Fullness of Power," June 9 in New York City. (It's less than 3 minutes.)

They nailed it. More premieres below!

'Our Names' premiere recording

6/20/2018

 
[Newsletter readers, view in browser to hear streaming audio, or download here. About 6 min. long]

The Albany (CA) High School vocal department, led by director Mary Stocker, commissioned me to write two pieces for them this year. The first, The Gift to Sing, is a soul-pop tune premiered in March by the AHS "All-Choir" (i.e., all the singers in the dept.—a big group!)

​The second, Our Names, is a whole different animal. Sung by the more select Chamber Singers, in a more classical (but still contemporary) style, the text for 'Our Names' was penned by a student in the ensemble, Harpreet Kaur.

Lucky for me, the Chamber Singers professionally recorded several pieces this spring, and 'Our Names' was one of them. 

You can download the recording for free on the Albany High Vocal Department website. Their work is thoughtful, precise, and profound—far beyond their years. I'm very proud and grateful to have worked with them. 

More on the piece, including text, here.
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