o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o  Spring 2008 NEWS  o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

On March 28, 2008, Elizabeth Austin's Sonata for soprano recorder was performed near Pittsburgh, PA, as part of Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Women Composers Festival. On March 29 Dr. Austin’s choral work, Song of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis), dedicated to the late Peter Harvey, was sung as part of the Women Composers Festival of Hartford at the Unitarian Meeting House in West Hartford.  Ulrich Urban, the Leipzig pianist who was Connecticut Composers’ guest a few years ago at the President's Party in Storrs, CT, will be performing Austin's Puzzle Preludes on a tour during April and May, which  included a concert at the University of Connecticut on April 26. On April 14 in Frankfurt, Germany, Austin's setting of Frauenliebe und -leben was performed by mezzo-soprano Renate Kaschmieder and pianist Florian Kopnick.

The annual Connecticut Composers’ President’s Party will take place this year in June at President Austin’s home in Storrs, CT. Please check the Connecticut Composers website, connecticutcomposers.org, for the exact date and time.

The first performance of Allen Brings’ Aria da capo for solo viola was given on May 1, 2008, at Queens College in Flushing, NY, by violist Elena Rojas. On May 30 of 2007 soprano Jennifer Foster with Brings at the piano performed his Three Songs of Blake and Donne in Weston, CT. On April 21, 2007, the Kent Singers under the direction of Marguerite Mullée, sang the first and fourth rounds of his Getting Around for chorus and piano. Capstone Records has just released a compact disc entitled “A Concert of Music by Allen Brings” that contains his Three Studies for Piano, left-hand, performed by himself; Five Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins, sung by soprano Jennifer Foster with Brings at the piano; String Quartet, performed by the Atlantic String Quartet; Sonata a quattro for percussion ensemble, performed by Talujon; and Antitheses for guitar, saxophone, piano and percussion, performed by Flexible Music.

On April 28, 2008, at the U. S. Department of State, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice awarded Dave Brubeck the first Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy. A winner in the Individual Category, Dave was cited for his “outstanding leadership in advancing America’s ideals through public diplomacy by offering a positive vision of hope and opportunity rooted in America’s belief in freedom, justice, opportunity and respect for all.” The new award is the most prestigious honor that the Department of State can bestow on American citizens who are making outstanding contributions to public diplomacy. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that this year marks the 50th anniversary of Dave’s first tour for the Department of State.

Dave reports that he was recently privileged to hear a piece that he had written seventeen years ago but had put aside after its first performance at a church in Rhode Island. On October 19, 2007, the combined choirs and orchestra of Notre Dame conducted by Russell Gloyd performed it again while Fr. Ron Brassard, who had originally commissioned the work, sat in the audience with Dave’s wife Iola. In Canticles for Mary Dave used three Gregorian melodies and, as a prelude, a hymn in praise of Mary, combining all four at the end.  He mentions that the Pacific Mozart Ensemble under Richard Grant is also planning to include many of his choral works in future concerts with the aim of recording them.

There is also good news for all who are interested in following Dave’s numerous activities, and that is that Dave is now on the web at davebrubeck.com, where you can check for itinerary updates, new photos and recordings as they become available.

“Some of you may know that I retired as Director of the U. S. Coast Guard Band in the fall of 2004,” writes Lewis Buckley. “I had really hoped to have more time to write; but I am now conducting the Manchester (CT) Symphony and the Natick-and-Lexington,  Massachusetts-based, Metropolitan Wind Symphony, in addition to being co-owner of Cimarron Music Press, which we bought in 2004. So I'm not writing as much as I'd hoped. Still, there's been some activity.” Mr. Buckley goes on to report that in 2005 the U. S. Air Force Academy Band commissioned Dances From a Different Village, a dance suite for concert band, which was performed on a concert tours in both the Midwest and New England. Also in 2005 the Macungie (PA) Town Band celebrated its 150th anniversary, in part, by commissioning a march, The Macungie Band Sesquecentennial. In 2007 the Bettendorf (IA) Park Band celebrated its 40th anniversary, in part, by commissioning a march, Honor the Founders, which they dedicated to the founders of community bands all across America. The New Jersey Arts High School Wind Ensemble commissioned a piece for this spring entitled Ciudad del Fuego (City of Fire), which Mr. Buckley refers to as a “5-minute commercial piece.”. In what he says was a first for him, he invited the students to give input into the kind of piece they would get and to send him some suggested titles. There was enthusiastic participation with an overwhelming desire for a Latin piece. The title, while not exactly the same as any they submitted, was in the spirit of their submissions. In 2009 the Metropolitan Wind Symphony will honor the contribution to that organization of two of its associate conductors, Rob Franzblau and James O'Dell, with a commissioned work by him for trumpet (Rob's instrument), tuba (Jim's), and wind ensemble.

Elizabeth Lauer reports from Albuquerque, NM, that her Two Rags à la française “hit a kind of trifecta.” “The gorgeous performance,” she says, that pianist Sandro Russo gave at Connecticut Composers’ concert in the Brubeck Family Room at the Wilton Library on November 19, 2006, was “recorded beautifully” by CCI composer-member Howard Rovics so that the Rags are now available both on a new CD released by Beauport Classics as well as on iTunes and CDBaby.  The pieces will be published by Arsis Press (Washington).  They have also won first prize in the NLAPW Biennial National Composition Competition. Not least of all, she has been engaged by the Osher Institute to do a perform-and-talk performance at the University of New Mexico's Keller Hall that will take place on July 15. The subjects are impromptus by Schubert and Chopin with other works as well.

Eugenie Rocherolle recently completed a trio for piano, violin and cello, which was commissioned by Chamber Music Central of Westport, CT. It will receive its premiere in a performance by the Trio Esprit sometime in the spring. Three new publications have just been released by Hal Leonard, both a solo and a two-piano/four-hand version of the original eight-hand work,  Jambalaya — A Portrait of Old New Orleans, which was commissioned by The Musical Arts Society of New Orleans, and a piano solo collection of original French waltzes, Valses Sentimentales, published under "The Eugenie Rocherolle Series." She presented her most recent works on the publisher's showcase at the annual MTNA convention in Denver, CO, on March 30 as well as other collections in a mini-session held at the Hal Leonard booth on March 31.

Howard Rovics is currently working on a commission from the Music at Eden's Edge ensemble for a new work entitled Listening to the Sea Winds. It is the third time this ensemble has commissioned him for a new work in the last six years. In this case the requested work is for a mixed quartet, violin, harp, bassoon and percussion. The occasion honors the poet Vincent Ferrini, known as the poet-laureate of Gloucester, Massacusetts, who died in December at the age of 94. Readings of his poetry are to be done by members of the ensemble in conjunction with their playing.  Three performances will take place on July  8, 11 and 12 in Danvers, Salem, and Beverly, all north of Boston. For more information contact Howard Rovics.

In addition to Ken Steen’s Legacy for string orchestra being released on volume 4 of the CCI Spectra series, Legacy was also performed on February 22, 2008 by the Hartt Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Christopher Zimmerman at the Hartt School, University of Hartford. Other recent performances include: the premiere of Memos to Mr. Palomar for piano trio by the New World Trio on April 12, (21 & 22) 2007 at the Warner Theatre in Torrington, CT, Driving Me Crazy for piano and vehicular noises performed by Larry Axelrod at the Nordamerikansk långhelgsfestival bland vårblommorna at Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden on May 10, 2007, Husk #4 performed by Jerome Reed at a concert presented by Connecticut Composers in South Windsor, CT. On November 16, 2007, Regina Caeli for SATB was premiered as part of A Musical Crèche “Ora et Labora” at the Abbey of Regina Laudis on Janauary 13, 2008 by the Oblate Choir under the direction of the composer, the premiere of four songs from Each to Each, a song cycle for soprano and mixed chamber ensemble on poetry by Denise Levertov, was performed by the Hartt Contemporary Players, Cherie Caluda soprano soloist on February 27, 2008 and both heal the wounds of war and Reliquary of Labor for electronic cello and video were performed several times by Jeffrey Krieger on his recent mini-tour of India in Mumbai and Bhilaspur, Chattisghar, Indaia.

In addition to these musical performances, Ken Steen and media artist Gene Gort’s collaborative paper entitled: Parallel Media: Strategies of Convergence in the Classroom was presented at the 2nd International Conference on the Arts in Society in conjunction with Documenta 12 on August 23, 2007 in Kassel, Germany, at the Hartford Art School on May 10, 2007, and on February 29, 2008 at New Creativit: the 11th Biennial Symposium of Arts and Technology at Connecticut College in New London, CT. It will be published in The International Journal of the Arts in Society during the summer of 2008.

In May of 2007 Margaret Collins Stoop's work, maggie and milly and molly and may, for SSA chorus, flute, and piano, was awarded First Prize in the Berkshire Children's Chorus Composition Competition. It was performed by the Berkshire Children's Chorus in Great Barrington, MA, as well as by the Atlanta Young Singers of Callenwolde in Atlanta, GA that same month. Also in May of 2007 another work for children's chorus, The Talking oak, was performed at the Scotts Ridge Middle School in Ridgefield, CT. In September of 2007 two of Meg's solo works were performed. Lonesome Flute: Fantasy on a Native American Dream  was performed by Italian flutist Andrea Ceccomori at a concert presented by the Long Island Composers Association in Hewlett, NY, and her Time Pieces: five short movements for solo piano were performed by Jerome Reed at a concert presented by Connecticut Composers in South Windsor, CT. On November 16, 2007, Gnosis, her piece for SATB chorus, vibraphone and marimba, was performed by the Queens College Vocal Ensemble at the New Music Festival at Queens College in Flushing, NY, under the direction of James John.  Dr. John performed the piece a second time at a concert on November 28, 2007.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o  Winter 2007 NEWS  o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Electronic cellist Jeffrey Krieger has just returned from a solo recital tour of India that began on February 15, 2007. The U.S. Embassy in India sponsored the fifteen day tour. At the Embassy's request, several of the concert programs are being built around a work entitled Shadows and Light by composer Ken Steen, Associate Professor of Composition and Theory at The Hartt School. This concert tour will help support the current emphasis of programming by the Embassy: HIV/AIDS prevention education and raising public awareness of the threat of the disease throughout India. It is of special importance at this time because currently the disease is spreading at crisis level.

Shadows and Light, a work for solo electronic cello composed in 1989, originated as part of a larger collaborative work commissioned by the AIDS Ministries Program of Connecticut for Works Contemporary Dance that included 2 other composers, 2 choreographers, dancers, a storyteller and a number of lighting and costume designers in the Hartford area. The entire work was conceived as an artistic response to the AIDS epidemic and emphasized the need to care for people living with HIV/AIDS in Connecticut.

Shadows and Light was to have been danced as a solo by Rob Kowalski, artistic director of Works. It was in fact, choreographed by him for the premier. Unfortunately, just prior to the premier Rob became too ill to dance, so it was performed as a musical interlude. Not long after the premier performance Rob died from AIDS. His passing was a great loss to the Hartford dance community. Like the quintessential riderless horse honoring military heroes, the electronic cello solo remains as music for a dancerless dance and is dedicated in memory of Rob Kowalski.

Shadows and Light was recorded by Jeffrey Krieger and is available on his Night Chains CD, part of CRI's Emergency Music series currently available through New World Records - http://www.newworldrecords.org/cri-nwr-2004-03.shtml.

Mr. Krieger's concert tour of India, which also featured works by Donald Erb, Michael Gatonska and Anna Rubin, took him to New Delhi, Goa, Mumbai, Jaipur and other cities.

Works by several members of Connecticut Composers were heard on a program presented at the Unitarian Society of New Haven in Hamden, CT, on Sunday, May 21, 2006. Included were Elizabeth Austin’s Elegy for piano, four-hands, played by its composer and Allen Brings, who opened the program with his own Three Studies for piano, left-hand, and accompanied soprano Jennifer Foster in a performance of his Five Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Robert Carl was heard as pianist together with Craig Biondi, Nate Brown, Tom Izzo and composer Ken Steen (on laptop computer) in a performance of his Changing My Spots. Richard Corbett appeared briefly as a speaker in a performance by soprano Peggy Rae and pianist Istvan B’Racz of his setting of Pat Vidal’s In the Flare of Baghdad’s Fires. Oboist Daren Weissfisch was heard in a performance of Stephen Gryc’s Three Excursions, and Harold Littledale was heard in a performance of his own work for solo flute, Melinda’s Wedding. Soprano Jennifer Cece Bellon and bassist David Kahn were heard in the first performance of John Mucci’s Regret of the Ranee in the Hall of Peacocks set to a text by Laurence Hope. Pianist Matt Herbst played Ken Steen’s Waft, piano prelude in the form of a double bass for airports, and Allen Brings returned with cellist Adam Grabois and the composer to perform A Night Song for flute, cello and piano by Margaret Collins Stoop.

Soprano Jennifer Foster, accompanied again by Allen Brings, returned to open a program entitled “Connecticut’s Own” at the Wilton Library on Sunday, November 19, 2006 with performances of Dave Brubeck’s The Desert and the Parched Land, My Soul Magnifies the Lord  from Dave’s setting of the Magnificat, and a setting of Langston Hughes’ Hold Fast to Dreams. These were followed by a setting of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ Pied Beauty by Brings and finally his early Three Songs of Blake and Donne. Heard also on the program was a performance by three outstanding students from local high schools, violinist Chelsea Starbuck, cellist Carlyn Kessler, and pianist Emily Watkins, of Eugénie Rocherolle’s An American Rhapsody, the first performance of Elizabeth Lauer’s Two Rags à la française: L’Aurore and Le Crépuscule by pianist Sandro Russo, and, to close the program, Howard Rovics’ settings of four texts by Kabir, Clay Jug, Guest, Dulcimer, and Water, in which Mr. Rovics appeared with soprano Christina Rovics and cellist Adam Grabois as a performer of bowls and santoor as well as on the piano.

Françoise Vanhecke included Elizabeth Austin’s Birthday Bouquet in two solo voice recitals in Germany in January and February of 2006, and in February Austin’s Waitn’ and Wailin’ Blues was given its first performances by Dutch pianist Marcel Worms at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford and at the University of Cincinnati. In March and April the Trio PianOVo played  Ginkgo-Novo, a work for English horn, cello, and piano written for the trio, at Bowdoin College, Maine, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. Michael Slayton delivered a paper/recital on Austin’s setting of Frauenliebe und Leben with performances of the music by soprano Mei Zhong and pianist Jerome Reed on October 15 at the Society of Composers National Conference in Greensboro, NC. A Christmas premiere of  When the Song of the Angels Is Stilled for a cappella chorus took place on a series of five concerts in Rome given by the Goffredo Petrassi Chamber Ensemble.  A Falcon Fantasy for guitar and piano has been included on a compact disc produced by Querstand (Germany) with guitarist Chris Bilobram and pianist Reinhard Wolschina.On June 9, 2006, Wie eine Blume for chamber ensemble was performed as part of the American Composers Alliance Festival in New York City, Karl Kramer conducting. In September, Linda McNeil, soprano, and Carolyn True, pianist, featured Austin’s  Sonnets from the Portuguese in two concerts, one at Trinity University and the other as part of the Society of Composers National Conference. On October 21 Jerome Reed performed  An American Triptych for solo piano at the New Music and Art Festival at Bowling Green University in Ohio. Also in October Elizabeth Austin was honored on the occasion of her tenth year as organist/choir director at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Windham Center, CT, with a performance of her Mass of Thanksgiving.

Allen Brings and soprano Jennifer Foster gave the first performance of his Five Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins on a program presented by the Long Island Composers’ Alliance on May 1, 2006 at Queens College (CUNY). In another first performance Beth Ilana Schneider and Matt Gould of Duo46 performed the first movement of his Sonata breve for violin and guitar at  Christ Presbyterian Church in New Haven, CT, on March 23, 2006. On March 13, 2006 on a program presented by the National Association of Composers/USA in New York, Deborah Wong and Adam Grabois gave the first “live” performance of Brings’ Duologue 8 for viola and cello; the same work was performed at Denison University in Ohio by the Avendo Duo on March 24, 2006. In another first performance Flexible Music, consisting of guitarist Dan Lippel, saxophonist Tim Ruedeman, pianist Eric Huebner, and percussionist Haruka Fujii, performed Brings’ Antitheses in New York on March 18, 2006 and again on the C. W. Post campus of Long Island University on November 6, 2006. The Swiss youth orchestra Il mosaico, under the direction of Hermann Ostendarp, with the assistance of alto soloist Judit Rajk, gave performances of Brings’ In memoriam for string orchestra in Hungary, on October 2, 2006 in GöllödÅ, on October 3 in Hastvan, and on October 4 in Budapest. On October 3 Brings gave a presentation of his music for students at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest at which Genevieve Chinn played his Ten Conceits for piano. Hermann Ostendarp again conducted In memoriam with the Philharmonia orchestra of the Third Street Music School Settlement, this time with alto soloist Barbara Fusco, in New York on November 11, 2006 and again a week later at Queens College (CUNY). On February 8, 2006, the Long Island Composers Alliance String Orchestra under the direction of David Zych gave the first performance of Brings’ Introduction and Roundelay at Queens College, and later that year on September 26 his Concert Piece for four flutes was performed at Queens by the Femmes Four Flute Quartet.  A compact disc entitled “Duos, Duologues and a Duette” was released by Capstone Records in 2006 containing recordings of Brings’ Duos for cello and piano and for clarinet and piano, Duologues for violin and piano, viola and cello, clarinet and cello, oboe and clarinet and flute and oboe and Duette for flute and piano.

Dave Brubeck’s opera Cannery Row Suite, based on the characters of John Steinbeck’s novel, was premiered at the Monterey Jazz Festival on September 17, 2006. Dave’s ballet Elementals was given its first performance in Paris in July, 2005, by the San Francisco Ballet, which maintained it in its repertory during the 2006 season and will schedule it again in 2007. The ballet, choreographed by Lar Lubavitch, was performed by the Lar Lubavitch Co. in New York in the fall of 2005 and under the title Elemental Brubeck will be performed by the Florida Ballet in February, 2007. Scored for the Dave Brubeck Quartet with a big band conducted by Russell Gloyd, the music was heard at the JVC Festival in Carnegie Hall on June 21, 2006. Since Mozart never completed his great Mass in C minor, Richard Grant, the conductor of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, asked composers Dave Brubeck, Meredith Monk and David Lang to compose music for the missing movements. Dave obliged by setting the Credo, which was heard together with all of the other movements of this mass in California in 2006. An unusual recording entitled “Cello, Celli!”,  performed by The Yale Cellos, an ensemble of twenty instruments  under the direction of cellist Aldo Parisot, has recently been released; it contains several of  Brubeck’s compositions intermingled with the music of J. S. Bach. There is no end to the honors that have been received by Dave Brubeck over the years, but three special awards should be mentioned, namely, Notre Dame University’s highest award, the Laetare Medal, conferred at commencement on May 21, 2006, the first time since 1883 that it had been conferred on a jazz musician and classical composer; the first Highest Note of Achievement award granted by The Gramercy Brass Orchestra of New York (which then presented a program that included several of Dave’s works); and the 57th annual Christopher Life Achievement Award, which was conferred on March 16, 2006. It should also not go unmentioned that the concert, reported above, that CCI gave at the Wilton Library took place in the new Brubeck Family Room of the newly refurbished Wilton Library and that Dave, together with sons Chris and Dan, gave the inaugural concert to a large enthusiastic audience.

Lewis Buckley, for many years the conductor of the United States Coast Guard Band in New London, CT,  guest-conducted the Metropolitan Wind Symphony in October, 2006 as a candidate for the permanent position of Music Director. In that concert three of his works were performed: Con Sabor Español, Bright-Colored Dances, and Fantasy for Two Clarinets and Wind Ensemble. In December the Chamber Players of the Coast Guard Band performed a transcription which he had made of the Haydn Trumpet Concerto for the Harmoniemusik-like instrumentation of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and horns in pairs plus double bass at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago  with Barbara Butler of Northwestern University as soloist. In 2006 the Air Force Academy Band commissioned a four-movement work entitled Dances From a Different Village, which it took on tour in the fall and will record in February, 2007.

Steve Gryc's piece for solo trumpet and wind ensemble, Evensong, will be performed by trumpeter Michael Mergen and the United States Marine Band on February 18 in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland in College Park.  Gryc will attend both a rehearsal and the concert. On March 15 and 16 at 7:30 pm the Hartford Symphony Orchestra will give the premiere performances of his trombone concerto, entitled Passaggi, in the Belding Theater of the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford.  Edward Cumming will conduct, and the soloist will be Joseph Alessi, principal of the New York Philharmonic, who commissioned the piece. On March 31 the Hartt Wind Ensemble will give the first performance of the wind ensemble version of Passaggi in Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor as part of the biennial national convention of the College Band Directors National Association.  Glen Adsit will conduct, and the soloist will be Scott Hartman of the Yale music faculty.

Older News o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- (archive...)

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o  Fall 2005 NEWS  o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

NEW MEMBERS

Margaret (Meg) Collins Stoop received her bachelor's of music from Smith College, where she studied under John Sessions and Ronald Perera. Before entering graduate school, Meg spent a year in Hong Kong, where she studied Chinese flutes and folk music, and western flute with Timothy Wilson. She received her master’s degree from the Queens College (CUNY), where she studied composition with Thea Musgrave. Meg is the founding director of the Adesso Choral Society, a vocal ensemble which places special emphasis on performing contemporary music.

MEMBERS’ NEWS

Allen Brings gave the first performance of his Three Studies for piano, left-hand, at a concert presented at Queens College by the Long Island Composers Alliance on September 28, 2005. He performed the work again at a concert of music by Queens College alumni on October 1. The first performance of his Concertino in D for string orchestra, conducted by Joel Mandelbaum, was given at another concert presented at Queens College by the Long Island Composers Alliance on February 19, 2005. Other performances of his music include his Quintet for strings, conducted by Daniel Kessner, at a national concert of the National Association of Composers (USA) at the University of California at Northridge on April 22, 2005; two songs of William Blake performed in Cholula, Mexico , by soprano Nancy Ogle and pianist Ginger Yang Hwalek; Three Airs on anonymous 17th century verses for two-partt treble voices and piano by the Adesso Choral Society conducted by Margaret Collins Stoop in Danbury, CT, on April 10, 2005; and Sonatina for flute and guitar performed on March 29, 2005, at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, by flutist Sharon Osborne and guitarist Howard Williamson.

Recent performances of Dave Brubeck’s compositions include a six-minute choral piece, The Commandments, premiered by the Providence Singers on September 14, 2005 at Frederick P. Rose Hall in Lincoln Center as part of the New York Jewish Music and Heritage Festival.  The 1969 cantata, The Gates of Justice, was performed at the same festival with soloist Cantor Alberto Mizrahi and bass-baritone Kevin Deas; Russell Gloyd conducted. On October 19, 2005 the Dave Brubeck Quartet will appear with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performing excerpts from the oratorio, The Light in the Wilderness, in addition to orchestrations of various jazz compositions.  This is the 40th anniversary of Dave’s first appearance with the CSO as the first guest artist of the new pops conductor Erich Kunzel. The Baltimore Choral Arts Society will perform Dave’s Mass: To Hope! on October 30. On December 6 Dave celebrates his 85th birthday with the London Symphony Orchestra performing an all-Brubeck orchestral program including the premier of From All of Us by Darius Brubeck, his son. On December 17 Dave’s cantata La Fiesta de la Posada will be presented by the London Singers and the London Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican Centre.  This same Christmas cantata will also be performed in Munich and Ludwigshafen, Germany. His Points on Jazz will be performed on December 14 in Dásseldorf, Germany, by the duo-pianists Anthony and Joseph Paratore and chamber orchestra in a Bach-to-Brubeck program that includes Dave’s Brandenburg Gate: Revisited.

Lew Buckley retired from the leadership of the U. S. Coast Guard Band on October 1, 2004 after just-shy of 30 years in that position. He was the longest-tenured conductor with one band in American military history.  He and his wife have partnered with Bryan Doughty of Ledyard in the purchase of the assets of Cimarron Music & Productions of Texas, now Cimarron Music Press of Connecticut.  Despite the acquisition, Lew still finds time to compose: recent commissions include a march for the 150th anniversary of the Macungie (PA) Band, a Coast Guard-related song (SATB) for the Coast Guard Academy Glee Club, an arrangement for Mainstreet Brass's upcoming Vermont tour, and an original dance suite for the Air Force Academy Band's fall tour.

Lew hopes to become more active in CCI by next year, and he looks forward to meeting more CCI members at that time.

Steve Gryc traveled to California to hear his Dream Vegetables performed by the chamber ensemble EARPLAY at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco on September 26, 2005.  Dream Vegetables is scored for speaking voice, clarinet, violin and marimba.  The texts by American poet Maggie Anderson describe the dreams of different vegetables as they grow in the garden.  The performance was conducted by Mary Chun and featured classically trained chanteuse Wesla Whitfield, who is known on both coasts as a jazz and cabaret singer.  The beautiful Herbst Theatre, part of San Francisco’s War Memorial complex, features murals created for the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915.  The theater was also the site of the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945.

Elizabeth Lauer writes to say, “for the past I-don't-know-how-many months, my husband and I have been involved in moving to Albuquerque.  Just that.”  She says “hello” to everyone and promises to keep in touch and to keep her membership up. 

On September 30, 2005 The Fry Street Quartet performed Thomas McFaul's string quartet, music for four parts in five movements at Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center in Bethlehem, PA, in a program that also included Stravinsky's Three Pieces for string quartet, and the Brahms Piano Quintet with pianist Eugene Albulescu. McFaul’s string quartet was performed again on October 1, 2005 by The Fry Street Quartet in Reading, PA, for The Friends of Chamber Music at the Women's Club Center for the Arts. The program also included the Haydn op. 9, no.4, and  DvoÍák A-flat major quartets.

The first performance of Howard Rovic’s Contemplation: 9/11 in Memoriam was given by organist Edwin Taylor at the Congregational Church in Ridgefield on September 11, 2005.

Margaret Collins Stoop and Allen Brings were featured on the same program twice last spring, on opposite coasts!   Meg’s string quintet, Before and After the End, was performed on April 22, 2005 at the NACUSA national concert in Northridge, CA, and Hestia’s Loom for SSAA a cappella chorus was performed by the Adesso Choral Society in Danbury, CT, on April 10, 2005.  Also performed at the Adesso concert was Meg’s arrangement of What Wondrous Love (SSA a cappella chorus) and Time Pieces: five short movements for solo piano. Hestia’s Loom was also performed on March 5, 2005 by the Smith College Chamber Singers at the ACDA Eastern division convention in Northampton, MA, and on tour with the Chamber Singers in Budapest and Prague in March 2005.

As founding director of the Adesso Choral Society, Meg seeks to place a special emphasis on performing music by local composers.  At the April 10, 2005 concert Adesso performed Three Airs by Allen Brings, and in January the group will perform Alleluia by Eugenie Rocherolle. Currently the group is all women, but Adesso will begin auditioning men in January with the goal of programming select music for mixed choir in future concerts, namely Steve Gryc’s Two Poems of Henry David Thoreau.  Submissions of music by Connecticut composers are most welcome, as are enthusiastic choristers!

UPCOMING EVENT

CCI members are all invited to attend a “salon” at which they will be able to play CDs or cassette tapes of their work, discuss their work, or just talk about music among themselves. The salon will take place at 3 pm on Saturday, November 5, at the home of Howard and Christina Rovics in Bethel. Food and beverages will be available, but they will be “potluck” so that each member should bring something edible and potable.

Directions to the home of Howard and Christina Rovics, 26 Windaway Road in Bethel:

From the north, take I-84 south to exit 9, CT-25. Turn left onto CT-25 (Hawleyville Road) toward Brookfield, right onto US-6 (Mt. Pleasant Road), left onto Old Hawleyville Road, right onto CT-302 (Dodgingtown Road), left onto Windaway Road. Just before the left turn onto Windaway Road watch for Kellogg Road and then Linda Lane on the right.

From the southeast, take CT-58 (Black Rock Turnpike) from either the Connecticut Turnpike or the Merritt Parkway. Turn right onto CT-302, then right onto Windaway Road. Just before Windaway Road notice the mail box numbers. Windaway is right after #56 and across from Elmwood Cemetery.

From the southwest, take I-95 to the US-7 extension going north to Danbury. At the end of the extension take US-7 north toward Danbury approximately 7-8 miles Turn right onto CT-107. Follow CT-107 (observe the signs carefully; you’re in Charles Ives’ territory) to CT-58 north. Turn right onto CT-302, then right onto Windaway Road, which is just after mailbox #56.

The Rovics’ telephone number is 203.744.5841.

  NEW CCI CD RELEASE!  

Capstone Records has recently released the third compact disc in CCI’s Spectra series. Entitled: “A Concert of Music for Piano by Connecticut Composers, Inc.,” it contains Elizabeth R. Austin’s An American Triptych and Puzzle Preludes performed by Ulrich Urban, Allen Brings’ Ten Conceits and Harold Littledale’s Hornpipe, both performed by Genevieve Chinn, Elizabeth Lauer’s A Bouquet of Bagatelles performed by Margaret Mills, and Howard Rovics’ Forces performed by Angela Pistilli. As with the two previous releases Norwalk artist Canio LaSalva provided the distinctive art for the cover of the new CD. Copies of the new disc may be ordered from any record dealer or directly from the Capstone Records website, capstonerecords.org, but CCI members may order copies by writing to Allen Brings, 199 Mountain Road, Wilton, CT 06897-1526, enclosing a check made out to Connecticut Composers, Inc. for $7.50 for each disc ordered.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o  February 2005 NEWS  o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Cellist Garfield Moore and pianist Stephanie Watt gave the first performance of Duo for Cello & Piano by Allen Brings on February 22, 2004, at a concert in New York presented by the eastern chapter of the National Association of Composers/USA. They repeated their performance at Queens College on September 23. Brings' Concerto da camera no. 4 for harpsichord and strings with Bradley Brookshire as soloist and Brings as conductor was broadcast on National Public Radio's Theme and Variations program on March 7, 2004. Brings performed his Variations on an American Folk Song for piano in Weston, CT, on May 16, 2004. His Three Airs on Anonymous 16th Century Verses for treble voices and piano was performed inDanbury on June 12, 2004, by The Adesso Choral Society conducted by CCI member Margaret Stoop. Soprano Nancy Ogle and pianist Ginger Yang Hwalek performed Brings' A Cradle Song at the Annual Conference of the International Society for NeoPlatonic Studies in Liverpool, England, on June 26, 2004.Organist David Hatt performed Five Praeludia by Brings in San Francisco on July 18, 2004, and again there on November 4 during the national conference of The College Music Society. Pianist Genevieve Chinn, who appears on CCI's latest compact disc "A Concert of Music for Piano by Connecticut Composers," performed Brings' Ten Conceits on November 18, 2004, at Queens College on a concert presented by The Long Island Composers' Alliance. Other first performances of compositions by Allen Brings include his Duo for Clarinet & Piano by Esther Lamneck and Judith Olson at New York University on October 14 and his Two Badineries for solo double bass by Jenny LaBonte in Bayport, Long Island, on a program presented by The Long Island Composers' Alliance.

Dave Brubeck's solo album Private Brubeck Remembers with a bonus CD interview with Walter Cronkite was released last spring by Telarc to mark the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Also recorded in New York in January 2004 is a new Dave Brubeck Quartet album with Bobby Militello, Michael Moore and Tandy Jones entitled London Flats, London Sharps. Dave says that many of the tunes on this album are in the Quartet's standard repertoire but not often performed in concert. A highlight of his career was his being welcomed by Prince Charles at Windsor Castle and being introduced to Queen Elizabeth. He performed with the London Symphony along with many other celebrated performers such as Midori, Sarah Chang, M. Rostropovich, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Sir Colin Davis among others, all of whom, he
reports, were as nervous as he. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival performed Dave's Mass To Hope with the Quartet, a choir from Loyola University, and the Louisiana Philharmonic. The Newport Jazz Festival celebrated its 50th anniversary with a performance of his The Gates of Justice with the same soloists as on the Naxos recording of the work.

Honors are still in abundance. Last November Dave received an honorary doctorate in sacred theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland followed by a performance of his mass and his Pange Lingua Variations set to a text by Thomas Acquinas. Together with Marian McPartland and Billy Taylor, he received the first annual WBGO Achievement Award on October 7, a Lifetime Achievement Award in Jazz from the Jazz Journalists Association, and last June an honorary doctorate in letters from York University in Toronto.

A work by Stephen Gryc was performed by the United States Marine Band during its national concert tour in October and November, 2004. His Masquerade Variations on a Theme of Sergei Prokofiev was performed by the band in Maryland, Kentucky, Illinois, Kansas, Utah, Idaho, and Washington.  The work was well-received by audiences and, according to assistant director Michelle Rakers, kept the players "on their toes". The work also had  performances at Illinois State University and Florida State University during the fall of 2004.  The score to Masquerade Variations was recently published by Carl Fischer.

A work for flute and piano by Stephen Gryc has been recorded by the New York-based Duo Essence. The performers chose to name its CD after his piece, which is entitled Shadowdance. The recording comprises music inspired by the dance from a diverse group of composers from Gluck to Sting.  The recording is on the Capstone label (CPS 8738).

Stephen Gryc's work for clarinet and orchestra, A Dance Concerto, will be performed by clarinetist Richard Shillea and the Bristol Symphony on April 10 at 3 pm at St. Paul High School in Bristol, Connecticut.  The concert will be conducted by the Bristol Symphony's music director, Marshall Brown.

John Mucci's community opera, Another Tortoise, Another Hare, was performed by the Ursuline School for the Performing Arts in Louisville, KY, in January, 2005. The performances for schools took place on January 26 and 27 and for the public on January 28 and January 29.

Time Pieces by Margaret Stoop was performed by pianist John Leichty on August 18, 2004, at the Summerkeys Festival in Lubec, ME. Song of Thanksgiving for SATB chorus and keyboard was performed on September 19, 2004, at the Forging Links conference of the CFAMC in Raleigh, NC, and Hestia's Loom for SSAA a cappella chorus on November 13, 2004, by the Smith College Chamber Singers in Northampton, MA.


Something that is not so well-known to members of CCI is that CCI member William Penn, whose Chamber Music II for cello and piano appeared on CCI's first CD, is the spirit behind an innovative recording company called Arizona University Recordings (AUR) based in Tucson, AZ. In recent years it has achieved special renown for its extraordinary series of discs of music for saxophone entitled "America's Millennium Tribute to Adolphe Sax." Included in AUR's catalog are three works by CCI member Allen Brings, whose Three Fantasies performed by The New Hudson Saxophone Quartet can be found on volume VII of the Millennium series (AUR CD 3115) and whose Quintet for 2 violins, viola & 2 cellos and Sonata after Vivaldi for cello with piano can be found on a disc entitled "String Music of Allen Brings and Leo Kraft" (AUR CD 3112). CCIers may find AUR's complete catalog at and can order CDs directly from AUR's website: www.aurec.com

Recent performances of the music of Allen Brings include two settings of the poetry of William Blake at the University of Maine on September 13, 2003 by soprano Nancy Ogle and pianist Ginger Yang Hwalek; String Trio at Brandeis House in New York City on December 16, 2003 at a concert presented by the Long Island Composers Alliance with Joanathan Weber, Earl Manein and George Dewar; and Digressions for guitar quartet and Two Strains for handbell choir performed at a regional conference of the Society of Composers on January 29 and 31, 2004 at Arkansas State University. Capstone Records has also just released a compact disc entitled "Music for Voices by Allen Brings" that includes performances by the Ars Brunensis chorus and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra under Toshiyuki Shimada of From Psalterium Davidicum and Three Holy Sonnets (Donne), a work for which he was awarded an Individual Artist Grant by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, The Lament of Rachel by the New York Virtuoso Singers and pianists Genevieve Chinn and Allen Brings under Harold Rosenbaum, A Herrick Suite (Robt. Herrick) by the Kent Singers and Allen Brings under Marguerite Mullée, Cor Jesu Trinitatis by the Kent Singers under Marguerite Mullée, and Three Songs of Blake and Donne and Mountain Song (Leonard Cochran) by soprano Mara Bonde and pianist Allen Brings.

Stephen Gryc will attend the premiere of his recently-completed String Quartet in Tucson, Arizona on February 18. The performance by the Avalon String Quartet will take place at 8 pm in the Leo Rich Theater at the Tucson Convention Center. The work was commissioned by the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music. While in Arizona Steve will present lectures at Northern Arizona University on February 13, Arizona State University on February 16, and Arizona University on February 17 He will be interviewed on National Public Radio station KUAT-FM in Tucson on February 18.

The final concert of this year's Festival of Contemporary Art Music at Washington State University will be devoted to the music of Stephen Gryc. WSU faculty and students will perform five of his works: Shadowdance for flute and piano, Dream Vegetables for voice, clarinet, violin, and marimba, Fantasy Variations on a Theme of Béla Bartók for oboe and string quartet, Evensong for trumpet and wind ensemble, and Masquerade Variations on a Theme of Sergei Prokofiev for wind ensemble. The concert will take place on February 21 in Bryan Hall on the Pullman campus. While in Pullman Steve will lead a master class in composition for WSU students, be interviewed by Northwest Public Radio and Television, and be honored at a black-tie reception given by the president of Washington State University.

Steve Gryc will also travel with the Hartt Wind Ensemble to attend the ensemble's performance of his Masquerade Variations on a Theme of Sergei Prokofiev at a regional conference of the College Band Directors National Association in Baltimore, MD on February 28. The same piece will also be performed by the Northwestern University Symphonic Band in Evanston, IL on March 11. Steve will travel to Bakersfield, CA as a guest composer to hear a performance of his Evensong for trumpet and wind ensemble by the California State University/Bakersfield Band on March 6. Other March performances include a performance of Shadowdance by the flute and piano duo Essence at Trinity Church in New York City on a noon hour concert.

Composer-pianist Elizabeth Lauer performed her Carousel: Dance Variations on “All the Pretty Little Horses” with Margaret Mills on February 15 at the “Fish” Church in Stamford on a program presented by the Schubert Club Ensemble Group. She will give the first performance of her An Entertainment for piano trio with violinist Julia Lawson-Haney and cellist Tom Hudson on February 27 at 8:00 at the Pequot Library in Southport for the benefit of Connecticut Alliance for Music’s summer camp. She will be the featured composer and pianist on Sunday, March 7, at 2 pm at the Westport Library with a performance of Carousel with Margaret Mills, the first US performance of L’Aube for wind quintet with Ralph Kirmser and the Prevailing Winds, her arrangements for wind quintet and piano of Schubert’s Variations and Poulenc’s L’Embarquement performed with Ralph Kirmser and the Prevailing Winds, and Poulenc’s Sextuor. Her settings of texts by Shakespeare for a cappella chorus, Fear No More and Sigh No More, Ladies, performed by The Kent Singers under the direction of Marguerite Mullée and later recorded by them on CCI’s CD “Spectra: A Concert of Music for Voices,” are now published by Arsis Press.

Thomas McFaul's String Quartet, entitled st qt, will be given its first performance at Utah State University, Logan, UT by The Fry Street Quartet on February 19. The piece will be performed again at The Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, FL on February 25. For details see Tom’s website www.tommcfaul.com.

Constance Walton reports that Artaban, the Stargazer: The Story of the Fourth Wiseman in an adaptation by Martha Kate Miller with music by herself and Robert Puleo and John Velonis is now available on a compact disc together with the published score in a performance by the award-winning ensemble Musica Plenti. It can be obtained from Musica Plenti, 9 Dorchester Lane, Riverside,
CT 06878.

Ken Steen’s Legacy for string orchestra was performed on January 31, 2004 at the Wallace Steven’s Theater in Hartford, CT by the new Ecce Esse Percipe chamber orchestra conducted by Thomas Carling, music director. Driving Me Crazy for piano and vehicular noises will be performed on March 16 at the Spring in Havana Electro-acoustic Music Festival in the Basilica de San Francisco de Assis by pianist Larry Axelrod. Steen’s Gaudens Gaudebo for women’s choir (SSAA) cello and harp was recently published by Harrock Hall Music, a new web-based publisher of sacred music: http://www.harrockhall.com/

Arthur Welwood travelled to Prague, The Czech Republic, on February 10-15 to record his recent piece Wind Sky Clouds, Poem for Trumpet and Fluegelhorn and Orchestra with the Prague Radio Symphony under Julius Williams with trumpeter Greg Hopkins from the Berklee College of Music as soloist. The recording of the twenty-four-minute piece will be released later this year by Albany Records. The Poem was recently performed by the Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra under the direction of CCI-member Tibor Pusztai, who is also conductor at Trinity Episcopal Church in Hartford, on November 16, 2003 to an enthusiastic audience of 500.

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Elizabeth Lauer has just received word that her two choral works on Shakespeare texts ("Sigh No More, Ladies" and "Fear No More . . ."), which were recorded by the Kent Singers for the most recent CCI Spectra CD, have been accepted for publication by Arsis Press.

Eugénie Rocherolle reports several new publications including Trois Préludes for solo piano, which was presented at the World Piano Pedagogy Conference in October in Las Vegas and at MTNA in March in Salt Lake City. She will be giving a workshop/master class of her music in September at the École de Musique
Vincent d'Indy in Montreal and again at Hollins University in April in Roanoke, VA. She just finished a collection of two-piano arrangements of popular counter-melody "oldies" ("Play a Simple Melody," "You're Just in Love," etc.) for Hal Leonard, a choral piece for her church choir at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Wilton to be presented in September at the parish's 50th anniversary Mass with Bishop Lori, a one-piano, four-hand, commission, and a Christmas collection for Warner Brothers Publications. Two other piano solo collections from Warner Bros. will be released in time for the World Piano Pedagogy Conference in October 2003.

Elizabeth Lauer’s Bouquet of Bagatelles, a set of six short piano works written on commission in 1999 for pianist Margaret Mills, won first place in the National American Pen Women composition contest. The National American Pen Women also gave Honorable Mention to her choral work, Four Seasonal Settings, for mezzo-soprano soloist, mixed chorus and piano (written on commission for the Long Island Choral Society), and it won the Sunflower Award (from Kansas).

Allen Brings' String Trio was performed by violinist Jonathan Weber, violist Kelly Dylla and cellist Joanne Lin at Queens College on February 28 on a program presented by the Long Island Composers Alliance. The first performance of Brings' Ten Conceits was given by pianist Genevieve Chinn on a program presented by the Northeast chapter of The College Music Society at the Berklee College of Music in Boston on April 7. Subsequent performances took place on a program presented by CCI at the Bushnell in Hartford on April 13 and at Queens College on April 17. On the CCI program on April 13 Genevieve Chinn was joined by Brings in a performance of his Passacaglia, Interlude & Fugue for piano, four-hands. Violinist Daniel Phillips and pianist Morey Ritt joined in the first performance of Brings' Duologue 7.

Brings' Three Songs of Blake and Donne were performed in Weston, CT, on a concert presented by the Connecticut Alliance for Music (CAM) by soprano Jennifer Foster accompanied by Brings at the piano. This performance was sponsored in part by CCI under a special arrangement with CAM. Listeners to Internet radio station WOMR in Provincetown, MA, heard a performance by Lisa Hansen and Susan Jolles of Brings' Fantaisie for flute and harp on January 29. Vienna Modern Masters has just announced the release of a recording of Brings' Scherzi musicali on its Music from Six Continents 2001 series performed by the Moravian Philharmonic under Toshiyuki Shimada. The Scherzi musicali had been composed for the Ridgefield Symphony and its conductor Beatrice Brown, who is known for her performances of the works of other CCI composers as well. The Orchestra gave the work its first performance in Ridgefield in October, 1987.

Elizabeth Lauer has been awarded the commission from the Connecticut State Music Teachers Association (CSMTA). The new work, a set of progressive piano pieces, will be premiered in Hartford in November 2002, stay tuned for date, time and location.

A work by Stephen Gryc has won the 2002 Cascadian Prize for Choral Composition. Steve's work for mixed chorus, Two Poems of Henry David Thoreau, was the winner in the At-Large Composer category as well as the overall winner of the Cascadian Prize. The winning composition was performed by the Cascadian Singers in concerts on February 23 in Bellevue, Washington and on February 24 in Medina, Washington. The same work was recently performed by the Kent Singers and will be recorded by that ensemble for inclusion on CCI's next compact disc.

The current CCI collaboration with The Kent Singers, conducted by Marguerite Mullée, continued with its final installment on Sunday 04.14.02. The performances were wonderful and, as is always the case with The Kent Singers, the Chapel of St. Joseph on the campus of The Kent School was filled to capacity.The program featured performances by CCI members Elizabeth Austin, Sandra Smith Brooks, Stephen Gryc, Elizabeth Lauer, George Lombardo, Howard Rovics and Constance Walton. These pieces are in the process of being recorded and edited for inclusion on the upcoming second CD release of music by members of CCI. Stay tuned to these pages for details of the CD's upcoming release date.

The CCI concert at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts on 04.13.02 was a smashing success! The concert featured stunning performances by Tom Schuttenhelm, The Brings/Chinn Duo and The Avery Trio, of works by Tom Schuttenhelm, Allen Brings and Ken Steen. These performances, as part of The Bushnell's String Break Open House Weekend, gave CCI continued exposure as an organization which provides the state of Connecticut with vital musical resources.

CCI Library Series

Five days after the horrific event at "ground zero" a small group of contemporary music lovers turned up at the Pequot Lbrary in Southport, CT, for a Sunday concert of CCI compositions.

CCI-member composers represented were Allen Brings, Sandra Smith Brooks, Drago Kuharec, Elizabeth Lauer, Harold Littledale, Eugenie Rocherolle, and Constance Walton. Ms. Walton and Justine Macurdy performed Walton's "Ubunto for Two Pianos, a first performance. Eugenie Rocherolle accompanied flutist Moira Shur Craw in the former's "Vignette and Reverie" for flute and piano. Allen Brings, piano, and Edward Gilmor, clarinet, performed Brings' "Sonata for Clarinet and Piano" and Genevieve Chinn gave a lively did a lively reading of Harold Littledale's "Hornpipe for Piano."The first two movements of Drago Kuharec's "Croatian Sonata," a string quintet, were played by string players of the Bridgeport Symphony. Moira Shur performed Sandra Smith Brooks' "Six Scenes for Solo Flute" and Margaret Mills wound up the concert with a performance of "A Bouquet of Bagatelles" for piano by Elizabeth Lauer.