Art imitates life:The winners get the losers money

Is art a competitive sport? Or, why music composition competitions can be unhealthy and unfair.

Well, my title certainly tells part one of this blog entry- since when did art have to become a competition? And what are the motivations for competitions and what positive and negative messages do they send us?


Let’s look at this from each side of the equation:

Party of the first part, the composition competition creator:

I think there can be two motivating factors in play here- one would be a simple desire to find new heroic talent by throwing competitors into the Coliseum pit and see who emerges bloodied yet triumphant. Okay, I guess that could work. But for every single “winner” there are far more losers and some of these may be folks whose fragile artistic, sensitive egos may be totally shredded by not winning. So is having one glorious winner worth all this? And, anyway, can we really judge art objectively enough to warrant this kind of general abuse of all the entrants?

Motivation number two for the organizers- lots of public relations attention, a new angle for selling tickets, maybe some cash profit.

Let’s look at the entrants’ motivation:

Well, to win may be prestigious, and the winner probably hopes that wining one or two of these things will build a reputation, open doors, look good on a resume, etc. But once again, do composers need to be judged in this manner, in hand to hand battle with each other? It just seems so unhealthy. And honestly, from my perspective, winning some of these competitions does not really enhance ones career much at all. In the long run, your reputation as a composer will be based (and justifiably so) on your work over a period of time, say at the very least ten or twenty years filled with successful compositions, successful collaborations with great directors and quality publishers, and so on.

Here’s my own history in this area- having not composed for a long time, I felt the need to catch up to some of my age peers who hadn’t stopped composing. So I entered some competitions and won two of them awhile back. After awhile, though, I did see that despite the fact that they looked good on my resume they really weren’t opening too many important doors, and I did start disliking and disapproving this competitiveness in the arts. So I stopped competing in these things and concentrated on only positive things, like writing good music and finding cool people to work with.

So… here is where I am going next: recently a very talented composer and teacher who you may know, Paul Crabtree, felt outraged by details a of a composition competition. The gist of the details was this: the choir’s website plainly stated that all the entry fees from the composers entering (ie, the sweet income pile of cash coming from composers) would be pooled and 50% of that money would be awarded to the “winner”. Paul was outraged that this was stated out loud so blatantly, and when he told this group how he felt, their response was that they thought it was a good thing that this (possibly) big pile of moolah could grow and grow and the happy winning composer would have a great windfall. Apparently the group made no effort on their own part to raise any money to fund a prize! AND this also begs AT LEAST one question… what is the group doing with the other 50% of the money? And in Paul Crabtree’s mind, isn’t this just becoming a lottery of sorts? And doesn’t it seem patently unfair to fund the “winner”’ on the backs of the losers?

In fact, let’s look at the math of a typical choral composition competition:

One Grand Prize: $1,000
Composer entry fee: $25
Break-even point for organization: 40 entries

My example shows that once there are over forty entries there are actually two winners- the organization and the grand prize winner, and 39 losers who are funding the lucky ones. Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?

And truthfully, there are a number of these competitions where the prize is only $300 or $500, not $1,000 or over, and where the winner is expected to find their own way to finance attending the premiere. And here is a real kick in the teeth, and this one is so offensive I am happy to name names: the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) holds a composition competition which encourages entrants as young as five years old, the entry fee is $100(!) AND if you win and cannot attend the premiere performance your prize is rescinded (gee thanks MTNA for treating children like this). Let’s look at the math there:

MTNA Elementary Composition Competition (5-10 year olds)
First prize $500, second prize $250
Entry fee: $100
break-even point for MTNA: 8 entrants!

Now what would some of these organization say in defense of their competitions and their entry fees? They would probably cite the clerical time/expense involved with the event, or perhaps the hiring of experts to judge the entries. But really, does a group doling out a modest $300 prize really need to hire people to adjudicate the entries-- why not trust that your own musical staff or some volunteer judges could do a good job?

Do I think there should be an entry fee for these competitions? Honestly, I think not. But I think someone could argue that a small fee is not totally out of line, something like $10, just to help defray expenses a bit. But I certainly don’t think that composer entry fees should ever be expected to fund the winner's prize. It just isn’t right and I think is abusive to turn a group a profit from the composers, none of whom, I am sure, are rolling in cash.

I will now cite some great examples of groups and individuals who are supporting new music in a big way and without expecting composers entry fees to fund these prizes:The Cambridge Chamber Singers based in Cambridge, MA run a competition yearly. I won that competition in 2003, the first year that they threw out their entry fee and were bombarded with hundred of entries from around the world. The folks there, including director Ray Fahrner, a great supporter of composers, were thrilled with that massive response, and sifted through all those scores gladly. They made no money off of the composers and have continued to this day in running this event without a composer entry fee, bravo, Ray!

A very large competition, the Barlow Prize, awards a $12,000 prize and a number of $7,000 commissions as well. There is no entry fee.

The New York composer/conductor group C4 is currently holding a competition with healthy prizes and no entry fee. You read about it here recently in a guest blog by C4 member Jon David.

Here is my bottom line opinion, followed by an alternate to the competition and composer fee mentality:if you want to run one of these composer competitions for your musical group, please stop and truly examine your motivations. Is this really about finding new talent and nurturing it, or is it about the PR and entry fee money you are hoping to bring to your group? And how will you feel as a group or a board of directors if your winner can’t afford to get to your city for the premiere? Will you find a way to get them there or will you penalize them? And don’t be so crass as to fund your “prize” on the backs of losing composers . Almost anyone’s gut feeling is that this is just not right.

Here is my alternative: find money to fund a no entry fee competition, or even better, do some homework and find a worthy composer, young or old, and commission them to write a piece for your choir. This is a far more respectful way to treat a creative artist and make them feel valued and wanted, and not just an athlete with a number on their back.

If this blog post changes any group’s mind about their approach to composer competitions, commissions and the like and helps them move toward a healthier approach, I will be pretty happy with my lil’ ole self.

[UPDATE from since I first started drafting this blog: the competition which Paul Crabtree found offensive announced a winner, and also brags that there were over 100 entrants. They also have told me that the 50% of the composer's money they pocketed went into their general operating funds and they do not agree with Mr. Crabtree and myself that this is in any way unethical or "not right". So, there you go composers-- you just funded a choir whether you knew it or not, gave them plenty of PR, and all you got out of it was some more rejection of your art- what a pretty picture, eh? Maybe your entry fee could be written off as a charitable donation?]

Premiere of Endless Worlds- May 14

Back on April 14th I ranted a bit about the narrow expectations of publishers and their desire for all newly composed choral music to fit into their model of accessibility. That blog got some positive response from some fellow composers and directors. Tonight I’m going to blog about a wonderful group who purposely did not want that “make it easy for me” music when they commissioned me to write for them.

The group is the Goldenaires from HD Jacobs High School in Algonquin, Illinois, a highly skilled auditioned chamber choir directed by a very talented young conductor named Andrew Collins. For the 15th anniversary of the groups founding, Andrew wanted to commemorate the event with a commissioned work. When he first inquired about my interest I was struck with his seriousness and high artistic standards. Andrew did the opposite of what many high school directors would have done- he purposely asked for an a cappella piece and welcomed (virtually insisted actually!) that there be divisi writing at times. In other words, Andrew wanted nothing dumbed down for this piece- he wanted a challenging piece, sans piano help, that his singers could do some serious work on.

Well of course as a composer this was a delight to hear. So Andrew and his wife Polly joined Sherri and me for dinner and an evening of text discussion between Christmas and New Year’s. Prior to the evening we had already agreed on using some of the poetry from Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali, so the evening was all about trying to find the specific poems within the massive 103 that comprise Gitanjali that Andrew thought he liked. We leafed through a bunch of them and Andrew found ten he liked a lot. After a week or two, I was able to find a way to link three of these poems with a fourth that really appealed to me, thus creating a four movement work. I was happy that I had found something which could function as an underlying linking element to the piece- an introductory poem (and music) that talks about singing and the joy of singing about creation and humanity, an apt choice for a commission celebrating the founding of a choir. Set as an introduction, the rest of the poems relate in some way to the first poem, as well as giving a taste of the other main elements of the vast Gitanjali collection. This was important to me—to pay homage to Tagore’s lyrical brilliance by creating a multi-movement work which musically distills some of his main themes. I did not want to write just a 3 or 4 minute piece because I felt that it would just be too lightweight and not really impart what Gitanjali is about.

With this introduction plus three form I was off and running with the composing all though the cold month of January, writing virtually every night. I also decided to try something new for me-- I took the poem with the most raw passion, and even though that would be movement three, I decided to write it first and link musical motifs and keys from it as I composed the other movements. Thus the center of the piece, not the beginning, is literally the germinal music, an idea I wanted to try at least just as a compositional process for myself, whether it matters or not to a listener. Actually, I think this idea worked quite well since the emotional content of this poem is quite breathtaking and using it as the starting point creatively actually does make the piece quite interesting musically.

I also kept in mind Andrew’s desire for musical/choral challenges, and of course I didn’t purposely set out to write anything difficult, I just knew that if I ventured (and I did) into extended harmonic regions, dissonances, divisi, etc that he had welcomed that.

Once the piece was done I was pretty pleased with it and I sent it off to Andrew. This is always a “keep your fingers crossed” moment for any commissioned composer. Does the director like it or hate it, does the choir like it or hate it? You just hope to hear back something good at this point. I did hear back that everyone was digging the piece (yay!) as they started in on one movement at a time. Andrew set up some Monday evening two hour rehearsals for me to attend. When I did so I was very pleased-- the students were singing their hearts out, they “got” the texts on many levels and enjoyed the variety and connection across the four texts, and were proud of what they were doing. We also took some time out during a couple of these rehearsals for them to ask me questions about composing, music careers, etc and I was happy to share my opinions about a number of things, especially in regard to some of their questions about majoring in music in college.

The premiere is tomorrow night and I am going to be very pleased to attend and cheer on this fine young choir and their amazing director. They will have the Tagore texts printed in the program as well as my program notes, and I will share all that here with you as well now below.

Finally, a word about some of the links across the movements, the architecture which unites the music and the text on a few different levels: probably the most important link is a chorale in movement three; the text being a song about love lost morphing into love of the universe. The chorale signifies spirituality/connection to the divine on a deep level. The music there is a rich F Major and sounds kind of like good ole J Brahms, who I think liked F major a lot (yes, I know F major doesn’t tune well for singers, but I am not going to avoid it always). The chorale theme appears momentarily in other movements as well to signify similar emotions (I seem to write these chorales a lot lately; I’ll blog more about the chorale significance sometime soon). There are also other motifs and keys which span across movements and unify the four movements of the piece. This is all very standard structural stuff, but discovering these structures is not necessarily easy, mind you. And I say discover them, because you can’t force these things to happen, it’s more like starting with some very basic material and then letting the material discover its form while you watch it and nurture it. This is a crazy part of the creative process that many composers and other artists talk about a lot- the fact that often the music starts writing itself and you are just there shaping it as it develops. I have a few philosopher friends with IQ’s double mine that I intend to talk to soon about what this all means and how the universe makes these things happen!

So, time to wrap up this very gabby blog-here are the texts to Endless Worlds and my program notes. And for any of you directors (especially university directors, since this piece is really university difficulty level) who have read this far, send me an e-mail if you would like to see a perusal score of the piece. Meanwhile I look forward to the premiere tomorrow night by Andrew and his young, very skilled and inspiring singers.

Program Notes

In the early years of the twentieth century, Rabindranath Tagore (1861- 1941) took the western literary world by storm with the publication of Gitanjali (Song Offerings). This collection of 103 poems speaking of god, nature, spiritual journeys and meditation, translated from earlier Bengali versions into English by the author himself, was published in 1912. Such was its immediate popularity that it won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. The introduction to the book by W.B, Yeats distills the essence of Gitanjali; here are a few quotes from Yeats’ introduction:

[The poems come from]… a tradition where poetry and religion are the same thing…gathered from learned and unlearned metaphor and emotion.

Tagore has been content to discover the soul and surrender himself to its spontaneity. Tagore is so abundant, so spontaneous, so daring in his passion, so full of surprise.

We are moved… because we have met our own image…our voice as in a dream.

Yeats’ introduction is worth reading in its entirety, which may be found along with the complete Gitanjali (now in public domain) at www.sacred-texts.com/hin/tagore.gitanjali.htm

When Andrew Collins asked me to write a commissioned piece for his amazing choir, we talked about a few different authors, but eventfully landed in Gitanjali territory. This is obviously a deep treasure trove of very lyrical, metaphysical, pantheistic poetry, and I eventually felt that I needed to at least imply, via multiple movements, the depth of the collection yet not wind up with a two hour piece of music. I eventually found a way to present many of the core textual elements of Gitanjali by constructing a four movement work.

The first movement speaks of music, and specifically about singing-- of Tagore’s belief in the spiritual intersection of singing with god or the absolute. The second movement speaks of the duality of humankind and of nature—while children play in a serene seascape there is also the knowledge that nature can be fierce. Dualities abound in Gitanjali, just as they do in Eastern thought. Here they are readily accepted as yin and yang, as opposed to the way that duality is often a battleground in western thought. The third movement is reminiscent of themes in Sor Juana and St. John of the Cross— the pang of earthly love transforms into love of god, and acknowledgment of the vastness of the cosmos. The fourth movement is in praise of the kaleidoscope of nature and time, and reaches an electric ecstasy. I have tried to capture the energy this poem implies -- yet all along one could imagine Tagore, with no difficulty, peacefully meditating with a slight samadhi smile on his face through all this busyness of the universe and this particular music!

Musical Elements

All the movements are linked by a tonal center of C, and often there is use of modes- Dorian, Phrygian, etc. F major sections in movement one and three are almost chorale-like, echo each other, and are tied to the textual beauty of those moments. F major (historically a pastoral key) appears as well in the playful uptempo sections of movement two. There are also some juxtapositions of the tonal center C with its seemingly most opposite tone center, F sharp. Some of these are very subtle, but the most obvious one is the “tempest music” in movement 2, starting at m. 63.

Melodically I of course wanted the music to be extremely lyrical. There is quite often a rising element in most of the melodies, as if envisioning Tagore reaching his hands to the skies for communion and inspiration. To also imply the otherworldly beauty of Tagore’s poetry, some of my voice spacing is purposely unusual. There are also hints of the odd dissonances often heard in Aarvo Part’s music, probably most noticeable in movement three, which was actually the first movement composed and really is the expressive crux of the whole piece.



TEXT

Introduction: The Light of your Music

The light of your music illumines the world,
I ever listen in silent amazement.
When you command me to sing
it seems that my heart would break with pride;
I look to your face, and tears come to my eyes.
I know you take pleasure in my singing.
I know that only as a singer, I come before you, before your presence.

On the Seashore of Endless Worlds

On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.
The infinite sky is motionless overhead
and the restless water is boisterous.
On the seashore of endless worlds the children meet with shouts and dances.
They build their houses with sand and play with empty shells.
The sea plays with children, and pale gleams the smile of the sea

Tempests roam in the pathless sky,
ships get wrecked in the trackless water, death is abroad---
yet children play, children play with shouts and dances.


In Desperate Hope

In desperate hope I go and search for her in all corners of my room; I find her not.
My house is small and what once has gone from it can never be regained.

But infinite is your mansion, my lord, and seeking her I have come to your door.
I stand under the golden canopy of your evening sky and I lift my eager eyes to your face.
I have come to the brink of eternity from which nothing can vanish---
no hope, no happiness, no vision of a face seen through tears.
Oh, dip my emptied life into that ocean, plunge it into the deepest fullness.
Let me for once feel that lost sweet touch in the allness of the universe.


The Abounding Joy

Thy sunbeam comes upon this earth of mine with arms outstretched.
All things rush on, they stop not, they look not behind,
no power can hold them back, they rush on.
Keeping step with that restless, rapid music, seasons come dancing and pass away---
colours, tunes, and perfumes pour in endless cascades in the abounding joy.

Guest blog by C4 composer Jonathan David

Hi folks! Today I have a guest blog by cool composer/conductor Jonathan David, a founding member of the choir "C4" based in NYC. Jonathan is a gifted composer and a good friend. I am happy to help spread the word about C4's composer competition, especially as it has no entry fee and some great awards (I will blog soon about the myriad choirs holding low prize competitions funded by composer's entry fees- a really yucky scene,in my opinion, wherein a choir can turn a profit on composer's entry fees). Here is what Jon has to say about C4 and their new activities:



C4 was founded in November 2005 by a small cadre of veterans of New York City's choral scene, including myself, who sought a chance to explore new directions for themselves and for choral music in a collaborative, artist-friendly environment. The world's first Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, C4 is a unique vocal ensemble in New York City dedicated to performing music of our time. It functions not only as a presenting ensemble in its own right, with a three-program concert season, but also as an ongoing workshop and recital chorus for the emerging composers and conductors who form the core of the group.

C4's repertoire consists entirely of music written in the last twenty-five years, with a pretty even balance between works by composer members of the chorus and works by non-members. Including its upcoming May concert (works for chorus and electronic media), C4 will have performed, in less than five full seasons, 49 world premieres and 24 New York City, East Coast, or North American premieres.
Conductor members of the group divide the repertoire among each other and work closely with each composer to achieve a collaborative interpretative approach. (Composers may not conduct their own works.) For those used to concerts with a single conductor a C4 performance is quite singular, each piece rotating to a new conductor.






I’m really excited about our upcoming commission competition (details below—note May 15 postmark deadline!). There were several goals we kept in mind when designing the competition: To maximize the opportunities we will award a relatively large number of finalists (5); in addition to performance, there are substantial prize dollar amounts; there is no entry fee; there is no limit on age or nationality; all judging is blind (anonymous scores only).




C4 (the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective) Commissioning Competition 2010
Postmark deadline: May 15, 2010

The C4 Commissioning Competition will give five finalists the opportunity to compose new
works for C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, and to participate in the rehearsal process. All five new works will be premiered on March 3 and 5, 2011, in New York City. First prize is $2,000, second prize is $800. The remaining three finalists will receive honorable mention prizes of $400. C4 is the only chorus that is collectively run by its composer and conductor members, and one of the few choruses in America dedicated exclusively to performing contemporary music, programming only music that has been composed in the past twenty-five years. This competition is made possible by grants from The David and Minnie Berk Foundation and the Yale School of Music Alumni Ventures program.

A panel of judges consisting of C4 board members will select approximately twenty semi-finalists. From among these a second panel consisting of James Bassi, Clara Longstreth and Steven Stucky will select five finalists, who will be notified in late August, 2010. The finalists will compose new 3-6 minute a cappella works for C4, to be completed by November 15, 2010. As the performance nears, C4 will record the new works. The outside judges will then select first and second place winners before the premiere, the remaining finalists receiving honorable mentions.

Both concerts will be recorded. All finalists are strongly encouraged to attend one of the performances. A travel stipend of up to $300 per composer will defray the cost of travel for the winning composers; all additional travel costs are the responsibility of the composer. Accommodations with C4 members will be provided as needed.

Any composer may apply, regardless of age, career level, or nationality. Current and former C4 members are not eligible. Please see the complete guidelines at www.c4ensemble.org for information on how to apply. Email questions to competition@c4ensemble.org.



Jonathan David has been described as “an important emerging musical voice” in the worlds of choral music, music-theatre, and art song. He has served as Composer-in-Residence for The Greenwich Village Singers, Music Director for the Morningside Heights-based chorus, Howl!, and is a core member of New York’s pioneering new music group, C4, the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective. Recent choral premieres include Titania’s Garage Sale by C4 and Flocks Feed by Darkness, a commission from Glass Menagerie. Upcoming premieres include Even in Darkness, a commission from the Packer Collegiate Concert Chorus. Past commissions have come from the New York Treble Singers, and the Thanks-Giving Foundation. His choral music has also been performed by the Princeton Singers, the Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus, and Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble, among others. Current projects include a large-scale song cycle, Winter Birds, for countertenor Phillip Cheah, to texts by poet David Brendan Hopes. Stage works include Bronx Express, which ran to critical acclaim at the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival. His music has received awards from ASCAP, the Americas Vocal Ensemble, and the Global Network of Conservatories. A graduate of Wesleyan University, he studied with John Bavicchi and Don McDonnell at the Berklee College of Music. He is published by Oxford University Press. (February, 2010)

A Choral Music Revolution- no more junk food!

It still seems so strange to me that music publishers think that composers should always color inside nice, neat lines and provide a constant source of predigested music for their masses. They hope we will consistently give them what they want (speaking in the choral publishing world for now, as that is what I do the most): a formulaic 3-4 minute piece, with a simplistic text, very limited tessituras, NO DIVISI ("divisi bad, bad, bad"), and a happy ending (and, oh yeah... high sales figures). An easy to sing piece that parents gurgle a contented "ah" to when they hear their grade school or high school child sing in concert. And, btw, dear composer, don't forget that anything with drums sells, and anything touchy-feely and dedicated"to the children"or "for the sake of our children" sells & sells (like an Energizer Bunny).











So... here is what happens. Some of us do write pieces sort of within some of those parameters. But it just kills me though when the publishers only expect that product to arrive in their submission inbox and the only thing they say over and over is, "Well we love your music, so write your very, very best music, find that fabulous text, create art on the very highest level.. but just make sure it is (and here all composers cringe)... accessible". Ah yes, the dreaded "A" word.


My reaction to this is as follows- to set out on purpose to write "accessible" music will usually result in blandness and lack of creativity. Nor will these purposely mediocre pieces ever challenge a choir in the ways many of them want to be challenged. Where is their opportunity for growth if all we ever feed them is pablum? There are choirs out there who want to sing music with divisi, yet no publisher believes this to be true.

Better to write a good piece of music that just happens to be "accessible" within certain parameters. Composers should write pieces with creativity and then, if they choose, gradually craft some of them into age-appropriate or choir type-appropriate models. It is fun and rewarding to do original pieces and arrangements along these lines. But the creative spark has to come first and remain foremost. Better to listen to that inner creative voice than to print out a banner in screaming CAPS to place over your piano that says "PLEASE THE PUBLISHERS AT ALL TIMES- BE ACCESSIBLE" and have that as your motivation.

I will always write my off the wall stuff and I encourage every other composer to do the same-- keep writing amazing pieces you want to write even if you already know they aren't mediocre and predictable enough to please the average publisher-- the pieces that are not formulaic, are longer than four minutes, are musically and textually challenging, aren't a tidy ABA form, contain divisi, and so on.

How can we make a major shift in our musical world? It's really pretty obvious- directors and composers need to work together more directly, and stop relying on the mainstream publishers to set values. We need a new era where composers and directors collaborate far more and stop accepting the junk that the mainstream publishers and retailers think we want for our choirs. In other words, we need to rebel- composers need to stop writing to mainstream publishers narrow standards of so-called accessibility, and directors need to stop buying garbage from Hal Leonard and the like and stop blindly purchasing whatever JW Pepper and other music mega-retailers are telling you to buy. If a Jamie Oliver can start a "Food Revolution" in this country and work his tail off to quash junk food in our schools, why can't we band together and start a choral music revolution?We really do owe this to ourselves AND to our children to start turning things around. We need to stop looking for an EASY button when it comes to how we write music, teach it, and choose repertoire.




http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution


Dear directors, I have an idea for you: think of doing this-- that composer whose published music you already know you like-- e-mail or phone them and ask them what they have in manuscript that the publishers won't touch (you know, the pieces the publishers would cringe over and treat like proverbial red-haired stepchildren if they were forced to take them in). Ask about the pieces a quality creative composer has in ms that "won't sell", but of which they are especially proud, and that probably have gotten zero or just a few performances. You would be making a composer or two very happy if you would seek out their so-called "unpublishable" music and consider it for your program.

Dear composers, get out there in the real world more and form more personal relationships with choral directors and their choirs. We as composers have got to be far more visible and more approachable for directors and choirs of all ages and types. And start asking directors what they would like to see you writing and work together with them one on one. I assure you that doing this will be very rewarding as a composer and as a person.

Let's get rid of the junk, start fresh, and work together a whole lot more!

Thanks for reading,and I do feel I need to go on record at this moment and state that I do have a wonderful relationship with the Roger Dean Company and their editor Scott Foss, who has always treated me with respect and honor.

PC

Food Glorious Food!

I'm happy to see more and more choirs discovering two of my pieces which have the most fun, most creative texts-- "My Friend Elijah" (Walton Cat # HL08501621) and "Play with your Food" (Walton cat. # HL08501682)

The whole three part set and excerpted movements of "Play with your Food" have been featured this season by a number of choirs, including two separate performances at the NW ACDA conference a few weeks ago in Seattle. And now coming up, Bemidji State University is singing the whole set on their spring tour (see tour info below). Many thanks to Dr. Bradley Logan and the choir!

I get a kick out of some comments here and there from some people who know my music- they have noticed I have written a whole bunch of food-based tunes. Well. we all get hungry, don't we? And I keep finding really great texts about food, I just can't resist them. Beside all the food references in "Play with your Food", "My Friend Elijah" talks about Oreo cookies a bit, on its way to discovering miracles and a vision of God- gosh, that Elijah fellow gets around.

Btw, here are the poems from "Play with your Food" (an interesting side note- Sidney Hoddes, the author of Mashed Potato/Love Poem used to hang out with the Beatles in Liverpool before they became famous):


I. Summer’s Bounty by May Swenson

berries of Straw apples of Crab beans of Lima
berries of Goose apples of May beans of Jelly
berries of Huckle apples of Pine beans of Green
berries of Dew apples of Love beans of Soy

berries of Boisen nuts of Pea melons of Water
berries of Black nuts of Wal melons of Musk
berries of Rasp nuts of Hazel cherries of Pie
berries of Blue nuts of Chest cherries of Choke

berries of Mul nuts of Brazil glories of Morning
berries of Cran nuts of Monkey rooms of Mush
berries of Elder nuts of Pecan days of Dog
berries of Haw nuts of Grape puppies of Hush









II. Mashed Potato/Love Poem by Sidney Hoddes

If I ever had to choose between you
and a third helping of mashed potato,
(whipped lightly with a fork
not whisked,
and a little pool of butter
melting in the middle...)

I think
I’d choose
the mashed potato.

But I’d choose you next.


III. Vending Machine by Grey Held

Let me do It!, he shouts.
I take the coins from my pocket,
and he counts out the quarters—three, four:
I pick him up so he can slide
the money in. He pushes the buttons:
K—I whisper,
10— I whisper. Out falls
the package of peanut butter crackers.


He grabs it from me, yanks
the little red string that opens the wrapper
and it falls to the floor. He unglues
the top half of a sandwich,
scrapes the peanut butter off
with his teeth, his tongue, polishing
the cracker into the soggy circle
he hands to me. Your half, he says
and I take it.


And here is the info on Bemidji State's tour- maybe you can make it if you are in the Upper Midwest!

BEMIDJI, Minn. (March 30, 2010) — The Bemidji Choir and Chamber Singers, under the direction of Dr. P. Bradley Logan, professor of music at Bemidji State University, will open a five-day 2010 spring tour on Tuesday, April 6, in Grand Forks, N.D.

The tour begins April 6 and will include eight concerts in six cities in Minnesota and North Dakota, culminating with a Saturday, April 10, home concert in Bemidji. Tour dates include:

• Tuesday, April 6 - Grand Forks, N.D.
The Bemidji Choir features Grand Forks native Anna Smith, a senior in music/liberal arts and music/teacher certification and choir manager.
12:15 p.m. - Central High School; 115 N. 4th St.
2 p.m. - Red River High School; 2211 7th Ave. S.
7:30 p.m. - United Lutheran Church; 324 Chestnut St.
• Wednesday, April 7 - Bismarck, N.D.
The Bemidji Choir features Bismarck natives Alyssa Wagner, sophomore in elementary education and social studies education, and Alex Ferderer, freshman in music/teacher certification.
7:30 p.m. - Cathedral of the Holy Spirit; 508 Raymond St.
• Thursday, April 8 - Moorhead, Minn.
7:30 p.m. - St. Joseph’s Catholic Church; 218 10th St. S.
• Friday, April 9 - Fargo, N.D.
11:52 a.m. - Shanley High School; 5600 25th St. S.
• Friday, April 9 - Park Rapids, Minn.
The Bemidji Choir features Park Rapids native Nick Dahn, a sophomore in music/liberal arts.
7:30 p.m. - St. John’s Lutheran Church; 803 W. 1st St.
• Saturday, April 10 - Bemidji, Minn.
7:30 p.m. - Bethel Lutheran Church; 5232 Irvine Ave. NW.

The program will feature a broad array of pieces, including “O Magnum Mysterium” by Jeff Enns and a trio of pieces by Paul Carey collectively called “Play With Your Food!”

The Bemidji Choir was founded in 1937 by Carl O. Thompson and has gained an international reputation for excellence. The choir has represented the United States five times at The Europa Cantat, an international choir festival, and has performed in a number of other countries including Israel, Italy, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. The choir also has performed at numerous national and regional conventions across the United States.

The choir has also produced Bemidji State University’s world-reknowned Madrigal Dinners for each of their 41 seasons.

The 2010 Bemidji Choir features 54 singers, while the Chamber Singers is an auditioned choir of 16 members from within the Bemidji Choir.

Dr. Brad Logan, director
Logan, chair of Bemidji State’s Department of Music and director of choral activities, received his undergraduate degree from North Dakota State University, a master’s from California State University in Long Beach and a doctorate from the University of Illinois. He has served on the faculties of the University of Montevallo, Louisiana College, University of Illinois and California State University in Long Beach. He made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting René Clausen’s “a new Creation” in 2002, conducted the BSU Chamber Singers on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion” in 2003 and served as conductor of the Röthenberg Choral Festival in Röthenberg, Germany, in 2005. He is the executor of the Edwin R. Fissinger Musical Estate and serves as co-editor of the Edwin Fissinger Choral Series published by Meadowlark Music Publications. Dr. Logan has been an active teacher of voice for 30 years. His studio has produced numerous winners of state and division National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions and prepared students for graduate study at leading conservatories in the United States.

About Bemidji State University Bemidji State University, located in northern Minnesota's lake district, occupies a beautiful campus along the shore of Lake Bemidji. The University enrolls nearly 5,000 students annually and offerings include more than 65 undergraduate majors and 13 graduate programs encompassing the liberal arts, interdisciplinary studies and applied fields. The University is a member of the Minnesota State College and Universities System and has a faculty and staff of nearly 600. University signature themes include environmental stewardship, civic engagement and global/multicultural understanding. For further information about the University, visit our web site at: http://www.bemidjistate.edu.

Aspiring choral composers- do NOT miss this!

I see that Steven Sametz and his school Lehigh University, in a beautiful part of Pennsylvania, have hooked up with ACDA to present a choral composers workshop this summer. Bravo to all involved and for those of you who don't know the history behind this, I will try to fill you in (though I am not privy to the details of the new developments with ACDA- perhaps someone there can fill in the recent blanks).


Steven started this great idea about 9-10 year ago-- a week long bootcamp for aspiring choral composers/arrangers to start a new piece or two from scratch, hit the ground running, write like maniacs every day AND hear their sketches sung every day by Steven's fine professional group, the Princeton Singers. This was Steven Sametz' and Lehigh's invention, and it went really well the first year, from what I heard.

The next year, 2002, Steven got Oxford University Press (USA), at that point run very ably by Chris Johnson, to collaborate. Oxford (with some of the decisions being made by the UK management) decided to expand the event by adding in a "festival" adult choir to the composer element in hopes of drawing more people and more income to the event. For a few years this was the format, but the festival choir element never really took hold, as many quality amateur singers in the area (and there are a lot, this is Bethlehem Bach Choir country) already had pretty strong allegiances to singing at the Berkshire Festival off and on.

But in the meantime Steven had great guest composer mentors such as Libby Larsen, Bob Chilcott, and so on working with the aspiring composers and things really took off. Oxford was able to discover some, at that point, totally unknown composers such as yours truly (I attended 2002 and 2003 to compose, and 2004 to work on my conducting with Nicholas Cleobury), Reg Unterseher, Jon Rommereim, Ellen Voth, Valerie Crescenz, Jonathan David, and a whole bunch of other very talented folks. Oxford was able to, in short time, add about 40 quality pieces into their catalog from the composers at the event, no small accomplishment by the composers or by OUP.

However, things kind of unraveled. As I said, the festival choir element never really gelled, although people like Nick Cleobury and Tom Hall gave it their all (hey, I just rhymed) and Oxford UK seemed to grow weary of the event and/or lack of income. They finally pulled the plug on their support which to me totally sucked (yeah, I can say that, it's my blog). To me, this was OUP UK not respecting (or jealous of?) OUP USA as run by Chris Johnson-- a real shame that they decided to not respect Chris' vision for what OUP USA Music Department could achieve.

I believe Steven Sametz did the event at least once or twice since then with its original intent, as a composer/professional choir workshop for new choral compositions. I'm thrilled that Steven and Lehigh went back to their original idea and did that.

I am also thrilled to see that Steven, Lehigh and now ACDA are collaborating on this event this summer. I wish them all the success in the world and for any of you aspiring choral composers/arrangers of any age- PLEASE sign up and attend. I guarantee you that it will be worth it- the chance to work with Steven, Chen Yi, the Princeton Singers, and the collegial atmosphere you will find there will be life-changing for you.

And finally, I will never forget the amazing sessions we had with Bob Chilcott one summer- Bob's tiny handwritten immaculate notes he prepared for seminars, his supportiveness, his earnest and intense beliefs about the intent of musical composition, and for sure his ability to blow off some steam and amuse all of us with insanely funny King's Singers stories- what a blast.

So... here is the link to ACDA's page about this event. Go, sign up already!


http://acda.org/index.php?q=summer-choral-composers-forum

Part Two: ACDA Brock Commissions for 2011-13

While I was in Tucson for the recent ACDA Western division conference, Tim Sharp, ACDA executive director, happened by. Tim sat down and we got a chance to chat for a few fun minutes (and also again later in Memphis). One of our topics was how to get more young choral directors to join ACDA and to start attending conferences regularly, and I think Tim and the organization have already made some strides there.

The other topic was Joan Szymko’s very successful new piece “All Works of Love” which was the 2010 Brock Commission. I asked Tim how the commission had progressed and how Joan and he had discussed it as the process unfolded. And Tim’s wonderful comment was this- his role, as he saw it, was to invite Joan to write a beautiful new choral piece, and it “just happened to be” the Brock Commission. In other words, don’t let the “importance” of the commission weigh you down and make it difficult to simply write in your own personal, very creative voice. It appears Tim’s advice/invitation to Joan really worked.

By the way, Joan’s new piece is published by Santa Barbara Music Press, and through their new marketing/distribution relationship with Lorenz, it is available through Lorenz, catalog number SBMP 942. Here is a link to the order page:


http://lorenz.com/product.aspx?id=SBMP942


Then Tim rewarded this cub reporter with a mini-scoop.



(pictured: a more famous cub reporter)


In addition to already public knowledge of the next two commissions (Steven Sametz for 2011 and Chen Yi for 2012) Tim gave me this scoop (you are hearing it here first folks)-- the 2013 commission will be for women’s choir and orchestra. Tim likes this idea a lot, as he’s trying do things outside the box- how many pieces are there for women’s choir and orchestra? So, it will be very interesting to see who this commission goes to and how the piece turns out. I hope it will be stunning and a great addition to the repertoire!

ACDA Brock Commissions Pt. One: Joan Szymko's "All Works of Love"

The 2010 ACDA Raymond Brock Commission, Joan Szymko’s “All Works of Love”, is in my mind, the most successful ACDA Brock Commission in years. The piece is beautifully lyrical, thoroughly well-crafted, sets a timely yet ever-universal text, and is accessible to many choirs in the best sense of that sometimes scary word “accessible”.

I had two opportunities at the recent ACDA conferences to hear the piece, once in Tucson and again in a performance by Dan Bara’s wonderful choir from East Carolina University in Memphis. What Joan has created is a gorgeous piece with a gentle text that could and most likely would devolve into cloying musical clichés in the hands of a less mature, less sensitive composer. The text by Mother Teresa is all of twenty–five words, yet Joan has found a way through repetitions, using almost Zen-like echoes of varying phrase lengths (this was important, I believe, to avoid four bar phrases) to bring the message across in the most artistic way:

“All works of love are works of peace. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”




The piano part is supportive and never intrusive, in fact, in many ways the music often feels like an a cappella piece, that’s how much the choir is entrusted to convey the message, with the piano just there to help out.

Joan is a composer who has strong beliefs about music, about society, and other issues and her world views are usually reflected in her music. I was quite thrilled that she received this commission and wrote about it last April in one of my first blogs- which you can see here

http://paulcarey440.blogspot.com/search/label/Joan%20Szymko

(this also includes a fun anecdote about meeting her parents at one of my concerts!).

Here are some thoughts about composing by Joan, taken from her website, which is at www.joanszymko.com

“As a choral musician, I have witnessed over and over again the power of ensemble singing to awaken in both vocalist and listener an almost ineffable yearning; a longing to be “one with”—what? The object is not so important as is illuminating the illusion of separateness. Dispersing the illusion allows the participant to enter into communion with that for which they yearn. I believe that it is the responsibility of any artist to facilitate this kind of communion. As a choral musician I am bound to the task. It is the nature of the medium. It is also in my nature as an artist. I know that as I compose, if I truly surrender myself—if I become “one with” the process, then I will create something of beauty that will resonate deeply with singer and listener, whatever the tone, character or meaning of the work.

I honor intuition, letting my compositions unfold, but am also a craftsman and a lover of language. I look at the rhythm and flow of a text in the way a sculptor may search her medium for the form that is already there. The willingness to see what is inherent, the courage to allow the truth that is present to be revealed and the skillful craftsmanship to give it a clear voice; all are a part of my ideal as I create new works.

Throughout my career, my goal has been to compose in such a way that invites the audience in while challenging the notion that “accessibility” and “musical integrity” are incompatible concepts. One of the means to realizing this goal has been through collaboration. I have composed choral music to be performed with actors, poets, Taiko drummers, modern dancers, aerialists and accordion players. I have set texts by fourth graders, 12th century mystics and Pulitzer Prize winners. As a composer and conductor, my intention is to engage audience members with choral performances that will surprise, delight, move and transform.”

Congratulations to Joan on this new piece, which I expect will become standard choral repertoire, something which many recent Brock commissions have not been able to achieve for one reason or another.

Coming Up: Part Two: ACDA Brock Commissions for 2011, 2012, and yours truly gets a scoop from Tim Sharp on the 2013 commission

Guest Blog by Sean Burton- North Central ACDA in Minneapolis

My very talented friend Dr. Sean Burton reports in on the NC ACDA conference that was held in Minneapolis. It sure sounds like a lot of great things happened up there!

Sean is a busy guy- besides being the absolute authority on the beautiful music of Pierre Villette, he is Director of Choral Activities at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa where he is also the founding artistic director of the Siouxland Choral Artists. He also directs the Children's Chorus Bel Canto of the Nebraska Choral Arts Society based in Omaha.

Here are Sean's impressions of the NC ACDA conference:


North Central ACDA: "Without a Doubt -- Outstanding" by Sean Burton

In a nutshell, the performance content of ACDA's North Central Division Convention in Minneapolis rivaled the programs of every National Convention I have attended in the last ten years. For this blogger, concerts had the strongest impact during the four-day celebration of the choral arts. There were simply too many triumphs to list in the context of a guest blog, though a few highlights follow:

The Girls' Choir of the Old Town Music House (Tallinn, Estonia): led by the uniquely talented Maarja Soone, fantastic renditions of intriguing music from the Estonian choral tradition complete with a complement of low altos to die for.

The Waukee High School A Cappella Choir (Waukee, IA): under the skilled direction of Ryan Beeken, from Janequin and Rossini to Dickau and Wilberg, a stunning program celebrating age-appropriate mature vocalism.

The Manitou Singers of St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN): directed by the incomparable Sigrid Johnson, incredible intonation and superb selections includingAbbie Betinis' riveting "Chant for Great Compassion" and a revelatory performance of Katie Moran Bart's classic "Blessing."

The Appleton North High School Varsity Men's Choir (Appleton, WI): a seamless performance masterfully coordinated by Craig Aamot, these men sang with genuine passion, conviction, and mission.

The Iowa State Singers (Ames, IA): anyone who has heard this group under the baton of Dr. James Rodde has experienced choral excellence of the highest echelon, yet again Rodde rocked.

University of Minnesota Singers (Minneapolis, MN): Kathy Romey's expert rendition of Stravinsky's "Symphony of Psalms" (accompanied by members of the university's symphony orchestra) was as refreshing as it was exhilarating, the choir was perfectly prepared and thank you so much for programming and beautifully executing this masterpiece.

Bemidji High School A Cappella Choir (Bemidji, MN): With repertoire running the gamut from Clausen and Gjeilo to Debussy's "Trois Chansons", Christopher Fettig's program models the very best of possibilities for public school music-making.

Luther College Norsemen (Decorah, IA): Immediately following the conclusion of their program, this massive group of first-year men brought the audience to its feet without pause. During their performance Tim Peter almost brought the house down, literally, when the guys broke into a virtual hoe down on the stage of Orchestra Hall!

The St. Olaf Choir (Northfield, MN): The benchmarks for outstanding choral performance continue to be set and exceeded by Dr. Anton Armstrong and The St. Olaf Choir. The engaging program -- from Schumann's exquisite "Talismane" and Abbie Betinis' compelling "Bar xizam" (Upward I rise) to Moses Hogan's brilliant "Ride On, King Jesus" --combined with Armstrong's commitment to the ultimate heights of vocal artistry united for an event of exquisite choral mastery and pure beauty.

More from the ACDA Southern Division Conference in Memphis

Some more great things at ACDA Southern Division Conference in Memphis

I’m going to quickly write about some excellent interest sessions and concerts:

Dr. Everett McCorvey, fresh off a spectacular performance leading his American Spiritual Ensemble, did an interest session on interpreting spirituals to a packed room of about 200 people. Dr. McCorvey talked a lot about stylistic interpretations even on the micro level of shadow syllables, stopped tones and the like as people feverishly took notes. He also had us singing using his stylistic interpretations and we sounded pretty darn good!

Caroline Carson of New Orleans University and Timothy Michael Powell did a great interest session on the liturgical and folk music of Bulgaria and they, as well, had us singing and even doing some Bulgarian dance steps, what… ACDA folks dancing?! The Powerpoint segment of their presentation on the development of Bulgarian church music from the late nineteenth century until now avoided being bookish and all in the room truly appreciated them sharing their obvious love of this musicand culture with us. This was an informative AND fun session!

Lori Hetzel of the University of Kentucky did a great two part session entitled “How to Unleash the power and beauty of the female voice in a choral ensemble”. Her first session was a four person truly expert panel who spoke to a number of topics and who then fielded a whole bunch of great questions from the audience. The second day Lori had some of her U. of Kentucky Women’s choir there to demonstrate warm-ups and other issues and Lori even brought four young singers of progressing ages from her children’s choir in Lexington; with these young singers she demonstrated the gradual changes happening in adolescent female voices and wonderfully referenced Lynne Gackle’s groundbreaking research on this quite a bit. By the way, I think Lynne is working on a new book about this issue and I would guess, more!

The Riverwood High School Singers directed by Amy Hughley gave a wonderful concert Saturday morning, with her singers producing some gorgeous legato lines and mature music-making far beyond their young years on a wonderfully varied program. They also sang a piece they commissioned for the conference by Dan Gawthrop, “The Deeper Well”, which not only featured Dan’s usual elegant lines and harmonies, but some new ideas which I was very interested by. Bravo Amy and Dan!

Saturday night featured an absolutely heartfelt and moving performance of the Brahms Requiem by three combined choirs, the Loyola University Chorale, the University of Mississippi Concert Singers, and the LSU A Cappella Choir, all under the baton of Kenneth Fulton. Fulton obviously knows this score inside out and his interpretation arose from the core of both Brahms’ musical style and his soul. His slower than usual tempi in movements one and two forced these young singers to truly engage and work through the very long lines of the piece with his masterful support, plus the slower tempo in movement two certainly emphasized the dirge quality of the movement. The singers all obviously bought into his interpretation because the results were amazing. The singing was impressive on all levels for the entire evening- no easy task, as I’ve seen choirs try to prepare this piece and at first they think it’s going to be easy. Soon they find out that, in addition to the long lines and their breath management issues, there is more snarky chromaticism in each part than you might think- just when you’re expecting a half step it’s really a whole step and vice- versa. The tenors were stellar the whole night, bravo to them for being a great strength in a choir, not the usual scapegoat target!

In an odd turn of events the choir sounded like seasoned and dedicated professionals while, unfortunately, the orchestra sounded like amateurs. In other words, the professional musicians from the Memphis Symphony Orchestra did not do their homework and these hardworking young choirs and Dr. Fulton deserved far better. There were sackbuts playing coarsely and out of tune most of the evening, lots of bleching and gurgling coming from the horns, and the first flute not only had an unpleasantly, non-Brahmsian metallic sound all night but also left unplayed important exposed cues (such as the very sweet cue near the end of “How lovely is thy dwelling place”- egads, what would Brahms think?). This is not ACDA’s or Fulton's fault, the Memphis Symphony just didn’t show up ready to perform on the level that the college students did- a shame, but still the conducting and choral brilliance of the evening shone through magnificently.

PLUS Seems like ALL the Memphis rib joints have some good stuff to offer. You don’t have to only go with the ones with the reputations (like Rendezvous).

MINUS College students in the audience for the Brahms talking way too much during the piece, checking their cellphones for text messages during the performance, etc. Would you like us all to show up to your senior recital and talk through it? I’m thinkin'—just go hit Beale Street and let the rest of us listen to this fabulous music-making.