The Strange Genius of the Adagio for Strings
[First published in WRTI’s Arts Desk 2 Nov 2015] Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings didn’t start out the way we know it now. In this feature for WRTI, I look at the inescapable strangeness of this work that is now one of the most heard and most moving pieces in the...Agnus Dei reviews
Still floating from the exquisite first performance of Agnus Dei by Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and Symphony in C, conducted by MC’s new director, Paul Rardin. Turns out, on a day of many concerts in Philadelphia, many with new music, the Philadelphia...Agnus Dei
[click on page to view/download full score] Commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Paul Rardin, Artistic Director. Completed 24 August 2015. Premiered 18 October 2015, The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia by the Mendelssohn...Telling Jokes and Composing
[First published in Broad Street Review 30 Aug 2015.] “I think there’s rice in this potato soup.” There were five of us at the table, but I was looking directly at Fred. “Ha!” he laughed. “Yes, yes, rice in the potato soup. We should tell the server. Ha!” It hit Fred...An Agnus Dei for the Mendelssohn Club
Just sent in the Agnus Dei I’ve been composing for the last number of months. It is for Paul Rardin’s first concert as the new artistic director of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. Official program notes to follow, but as if writing a piece for this...
THE ARC IN THE SKY
Best Choral Performance, The Crossing, Donald Nally
CANTICLE
Producer of the Year, Classical, Blanton Alspaugh