The Fruits of Spring

2018 has been a delightfully busy (by my humble standards) year of choral premieres and performances. Here are two for you to enjoy.  (newsletter readers, open in your browser to hear audio)

The Albany High School combined choir successfully premiered “The Gift to Sing” on March 28. I like this recording I made at a late rehearsal, with director Mary banging out the piano part and her very talented students still getting the hang of their parts. It’s raw in a good way. ​​​

(By the way, rehearsals are underway for my second Albany High commission, “Our Names.” The premiere is slated to happen at the end of this month, but performance dates still haven’t been nailed down. I’ll keep you posted.)

Sunset High School choir, from Portland, OR, premiered “Voices from the Freedom March” on March 20, and reprised it just last week at a competition in Fairfield, CA, which I was fortunately able to attend. My friend and Choral Chameleon compatriot Chris Rust directed; it was great to see him and hear his students bring this piece to life!

“A Prayer in Spring,” after its premiere last summer in Brooklyn, received performances two through five this year: Mouthscape Contemporary Chorus in SF, University of Nebraska Chamber Singers in Lincoln (see video above), and Pacific Edge Voices in SF and Berkeley. 

Pacific Edge Voices, between their December 2017 and April 2018 concerts, gave the first complete performance of “Hymns from a Meadow,” my four-movement setting of Robert Frost poems, which includes “A Prayer in Spring” in addition to “Rose Pogonias,” “In Hardwood Groves,” and “Stars.” 

The rest of 2018 has me working full-tilt on my commission for the Oakland Symphony Chorus, premiering in April 2019.