Speaking of O Child: this past December, Accord Treble Choir premiered the women’s chorus version of the piece.

Shortly after the premiere of Mass for Freedom with the Oakland Symphony and Chorus last April, I received an e-mail from the orchestra’s trombonist, Don Benham. Thanks for the cool solo in the Agnus Dei, he said. And would I like to write a piece for his chamber trio, Noyo Consort, for their concert at the Mendocino Music Festival in 2021?

Of course, I said. What’s the instrumentation? Flute, trombone, and piano, he replied. 

Say what? I’d never heard of a flute, trombone, and piano trio. Could this seemingly odd combination of instruments actually sound, you know…good ? 

I tried to find videos on YouTube. I found exactly one, and a not very helpful one at that. I searched Apple Music. No dice. 

It was at that point I remembered I’d been writing nothing but vocal music for several years. I’d grown accustomed to having a text point me in the right musical direction. But here I was in the musical wilderness—no compass, no map, just the idea of a flute, a trombone, and a piano together somewhere, dancing harmoniously in a mythical forest glen. I felt like Link in that old Legend of Zelda commercial: “Which way to go?”

Then I remembered that I do have something useful, something I often forget about when composing starts to feel more like problem-solving: an imagination. Maybe I don’t need a map. Maybe I can just make stuff up as I go along. See what happens. Hack a path through the woods. If I hit a wall, I can turn around and hack another one. 

So that’s what I’ve done, and I have indeed hit a wall—several times. Each time, I’ve learned a little bit more about this unique combination of instruments. And, I think, each new path has been a bit wider than the last, a bit straighter, a bit more promising. 

I’m still on the most recent of those paths, and definitely the most promising so far. It feels like that mythical glen is, perhaps, just over the next rise.

Listen: International Orange Chorale sings 'O Child'

Accord Treble Choir sings 'O Child' tomorrow and December 15 in NYC! 

The Bible doesn't tell us much about Joseph's state of mind when his virgin wife gave birth in a stable to the soundtrack of a heavenly choir, but I've always been pretty impressed that he seems to have held it together well enough not to elicit comment from the Gospel writers. Could he possibly have been as calm as those Nativity scenes always show him to be? Seems doubtful. 

When my son Hank was born in 2009, and then my daughter Eliza in 2012, I feel like I got an inkling of what might have been going through Joseph's head that night. He probably didn't hear the heavenly hosts. He probably didn't notice all those donkeys invading his personal space. He probably didn't care whose name went on the birth certificate, his or God's. He was probably just thinking about that child, his child, perfectly whole in the straw. 

I wrote 'O Child' from Joseph and Mary's perspective, and set it to music in two versions: one for mixed choir and one for treble choir.

San Francisco-based choir International Orange Chorale premiered the first version last December, and I've been holding on to their recording ever since so I could share it with you during the holiday season. They gave a stunning performance! 

Listen: International Orange Chorale sings 'O Child'

My good friends Accord Treble Choir in New York City are premiering the treble choir version tomorrow, December 7 at 6:00pm in Manhattan, and next Sunday, December 15 at 3:00pm in Brooklyn.  I apologize for the short notice, but hope that my NYC-based friends can make it! 

​Full concert info here. Admission is free (donations accepted). ​

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: 

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"). 

Just two days to go! I can hardly sit still.

The Oakland Symphony Chorus, accompanied by a 24-piece chamber subset of the Oakland Symphony, will premiere Mass for Freedom this Saturday, April 13, at 8:00pm at the First Congregational Church of Oakland. 

Last chance for advance tickets! 

​Meanwhile, please enjoy this very cool sneak-peek video the Symphony made to promote the show. It features rehearsal footage, interviews with me and Lynne, and me being unprepared when the videographer asked me to sing and play part of the Mass at the piano. (Fun fact: the videographer is also the director of the Oakland Youth Symphony, Omid Zoufonoun.)

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. 

​Hope to see you there. 

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 

A very merry belated Thanksgiving to all of you! 

Two choral works by yours truly will be performed in December, including the world premiere of my very first choral Christmas work, 'O Child'!

If you're in the Bay Area or NYC, I hope you'll come hear these excellent concerts.
(Click on dates for venue and ticket information.)

December 7 (Manhattan) and December 9 (Brooklyn)
Dessoff Choirs perform 'To Soar in Freedom and in Fullness of Power'
Admission $20-40

If you missed the world premiere back in June, here's another chance to take flight with my setting of Walt Whitman's inspiring poem, scored for women's chorus—part of Dessoff's Welcome Yule program. Why is this piece, which has nothing to do with Christmas, on a Yule program? It's because Dessoff is spending this entire season celebrating Whitman's 200th birthday. Joyous Yuletide, Walt! 

December 8 (Berkeley) and December 15 (San Francisco)
International Orange Chorale premieres 'O Child'
(Free admission, donations gratefully accepted)

My first Christmas-themed choral piece, 'O Child' also marks the first time I've penned my own choral text. It's written from the perspective of Joseph and Mary, imagining what they might have been thinking and feeling when they first beheld the newborn baby Jesus. It is very much inspired by my own experience as a father of two. My goal was to write something like all my favorite Christmas music: simple and beautiful. 

'O Child' was chosen from an open call for scores for International Orange's Freshly Squeezed program, so you will hear a number of really interesting, brand-new works at this concert. I've been to several IOC concerts and they are consistently excellent—in fact, I've been bugging them to sing my stuff for quite a while now, so I'm truly delighted to be on their program. 

I'll be attending the Berkeley concert on December 8—I hope to see you there!