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On August 6th I'll share the stage with pianists David Nevue, Louis Landon, and Neil Patton in a Whisperings solo pIano concert at 7 pm at Emerald Baptist Church, 631 East 19th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97401. Admission is $15 ($10 for students). Tickets are available from Brown Paper Tickets online or by phone, toll free 24/7, at 1-800-838-3006. I'll be premiering some new songs that night! Please come if you can!
On Sunday, September 19th, the Octava Chamber Orchestra of Seattle, Washington, will perform the world premiere of Sleep, Child, a work for string orchestra I wrote back in 2000.
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Around the beginning of 2010, Whisperings Solo Piano Radio released a demo sampler CD of ten solo piano artists all playing on a lovely Kawai piano at Piano Haven Studios in Seattle. It includes a new recording of my song October Wind.
In mid-March I had an amazing trip to the Czech Republic where The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra recorded two of my works (Finding the Murray River for full orchestra, and Sleep, Child for string orchestra). Produced by PARMA Recordings, the tracks will be available on CD and on iTunes later this year, on the Navona label. Stay tuned!
The Jewel Winds Quintet of Central NY State played my Aesop's Fables with narrator on Saturday morning, March 27 at 11 am in Rome, NY at the Jervis Public Library. They will perform it again with narrator Elizabeth Evans on June 11th at two school assemblies in the Fort Plain, NY school district. Members of Jewel Winds are Cornelia Brewster, flute; Janelle Bookhout, oboe; Colleen O'Neil, clarinet; Judy Marchione, bassoon; and Ilze Brink-Button, French horn. Jewel Winds uses Aesop's Fables as the centerpiece of a program they've developed about Fables which introduces the woodwind quintet instruments to young audiences. They've published a free, online PDF study guide for use by teachers and librarians.
My October Wind CD received a wonderful review from Reviews New Age (in Spain). Click here for the Spanish review, and here for an English translation.
On June 1st the Linn-Benton Community College Chamber Choir, conducted by James Reddan, premiered my SATB choral arrangement of the folk song In The Gloaming on their spring concert. It was a beautiful performance.
The Willamette Valley Community Orchestra has programmed my orchestra piece Finding the Murray River on their two winter concerts in March 2011.
On July 7th I shared the stage with fellow pianist Isadar in a delightful house concert in Florence at the home of Kathy Parsons who hosts a solo piano concert series.
And even more plans are in the works! Please stay tuned....
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In January I played a concert of tango music at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon, with dancers Liz Foster and Charles Augustine.
In late January I uploaded another single track to iTunes. Check out Claro de Luna (the "Moonlight Sonata" Tango). If you like it, please tell your friends! Pianists, the sheet music is available on my Lulu page.
On March 7th the Mill Ave. Chamber Players in Phoenix, Arizona, presented Aesop's Fables, my woodwind quintet with narration, in a children's concert. They held a competition a couple of hours before the concert to select a narrator for the performance!
In late March I completed a commission to write an Alma Mater for Linn-Benton Community College, which was premiered at a choral concert in June.
I played a house concert on May 3rd in Florence, Oregon. Kathy Parsons, the concert host, is a professional CD reviewer and interviewer. She publishes the website MainlyPiano.com, and its monthly newsletter Pianotes. She interviewed me extensively about my composing, my piano work, and so much more, in advance of the concert. Please check it out!
In June I went on a mini-tour. I played a solo piano concert in Springdale, Arkansas, then a house concert in Houston, Texas.
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In July my song Regatta from my October Wind CD was nominated for a 2009 Just Plain Folks Song Award in their Solo Piano category! It didn't win, but the nomination was a great honor. |
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On September 1st the Canadian women's choir She Sings! released a CD that includes my song Let Him Return. Click here to listen to audioclips of the CD and to order a copy.
On September 13th two of my works (Field Report: News from Rural Oregon and Ubi Caritas) were performed on a concert benefiting the music program at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Eugene, Oregon.
I wrote a commissioned SATB choral arrangement of the 19th century American popular song In the Gloaming. It will be performed sometime this year.
On September 21st The Dimming of the Day for solo natural horn had its world premiere in the U.K. at the 11th London New Winds Festival.
In October I performed my original solo piano pieces on two collaborative concerts with other Whisperings artists; one concert was in Eugene, Oregon and one in Seattle, Washington.
On October 17th a flute choir in Eugene, Oregon performed my flute quartet Barbara in a concert at the Eugene Hotel.
On November 6th my horn solo The Dimming of the Day was performed again in the U.K. at the 12th London New Wind Festival and Women in Music UK Joint Event.
The Jewel Winds woodwind quintet performed my Aesop's Fables at the Manheim Library in Dolgeville, NY on November 14th during the children's story hour. Five librarians there provided the narration. The quintet demonstrated the instruments and different themes for the fables. The weather was terrible, but a nice sized crowd came anyway and they all loved it! Jewel Winds will perform Aesop's Fables again sometime this winter in Rome, NY, details TBA.
In November I wrote and produced new opening and closing themes for the weekly half-hour television interview program UO Today. The show's new format and new music themes will launch on January 4, 2009.
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In January I was commissioned by soprano Gretchen Farrar to write Double Beauty, a lullaby for soprano and piano, for inclusion on her forthcoming CD.
On July 1, 2008, the Oregon Bach Festival orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Philip Brunelle, performed the world premiere of Man of Oregon in the Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center in Eugene, Oregon. This 23-minute "symphonic biography" for full orchestra was the centerpiece in a gala tribute concert celebrating Bill Bowerman (1911-1999), famed track and field coach from the University of Oregon and the U.S. Olympics, co-founder of NIKE, inventor of the waffle-soled running shoe and all-weather track, and author the best-selling book Jogging, which sparked the entire jogging movement in the United States in the 1970s. Man of Oregon is a reorchestration of my chamber orchestra work Bowerman, Man of Oregon.
In October I completed a studio recording of my flute quartet Barbara.
In November I uploaded to iTunes my short piece for four prepared guitars called Tin Roof. It's fun, check it out!
Throughout the year I performed my original solo piano pieces on three collaborative concerts with other Whisperings artists (see my at the piano page for more information). Since November my October Wind CD has been getting significant airplay in the U.S. and abroad.
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In 2007 I completed four concert work commissions, all of which had premiere performances; also I wrote two hours of videodocumentary score, wrapping up my work on the miniseries A History of the University of Oregon.
On March 31st, the Canadian women's choir She Sings!, conducted by Martha Hill Duncan, premiered a fun a cappella SSAA piece called Walk With Me, for which I wrote the words and music. And on May 11th, they also performed my moving SSA/piano work Let Him Return in New York City, in concert with the New York Treble Singers. She Sings! (formerly known as Aurora) had premiered that piece in 2005 in their home town of Kingston, Ontario.
My new choral work in English and Estonian for three choirs, four winds, and percussion, entitled Journeys to Freedom: Rännakud Vabadusse, premiered in Maryland on April 22nd, with two performances that day, and another performance on May 13th, conducted by Dr. Margaret Boudreaux. This nine-minute choral work incorporates folksongs from the U.S. and Estonia celebrating human freedom and dignity.
On May 12th, 13th, and 14th, the Central Oregon Symphony (COS) in Bend, Oregon, under the baton of Maestro Michael Gesme, presented a 7-minute excerpt from Bowerman, Man of Oregon, a 23-minute symphonic biography for chamber orchestra honoring the life of Bill Bowerman (1911-1999), famed track and field coach from the University of Oregon and the U.S. Olympics; co-founder of NIKE; inventor of the waffle-soled running shoe and all-weather track; author of the best-selling book Jogging, which sparked the entire jogging movement in the United States in the 1970s.
Flutists from the Central Oregon Symphony premiered my 4-minute flute quartet entitled Barbara on two chamber music concerts on October 6th, part of the COS's Music In Public Places series at the High Desert Gallery in Redmond, Oregon.
And finally, on October 27th, 28th, and 29th, the COS, again under the baton of Maestro Michael Gesme, presented the full-length premiere of Bowerman, Man of Oregon.
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I traveled much of 2006, visiting friends and family, writing commissioned works, and playing house concerts to promote my piano CD, October Wind. After returning home I began work on several large commissions which you can read about in my News from 2007 section (above).
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On April 30, 2005, Aurora (later renamed She Sings!), a women's chorus in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, conducted by Martha Hill Duncan, premiered my SSA/piano choral work Let Him Return. This piece had won Top Honors in the women's chorus category of the "Waging Peace Through Singing" international choral composition competition in 2002.
On October 8, 2005, the Arrieu Wind Quintet performed my five-movement work with narration, Aesop's Fables, in Roseburg, Oregon, with Andrew Brock as narrator.
On October 30, 2005, my 11-minute SATB choral work Reciprocity premiered at the Society for Ethical Culture in New York City, as a part of the First Festival of Universal Sacred Music, sponsored by the Foundation for Universal Sacred Music. Susanne Peck conducted the festival choir, Sangita.
In November 2005 I released my first full-length audio CD, October Wind, thirteen original works for solo piano plus one art song for tenor voice and piano. The style is beautiful, melodic, flowing. Indie Acoustic selected track 10, Periwinkle Blue, on my CD as one of their "Songs of Note 2005," calling it "one of the best songs of 2005."
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