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Performances this Past Summer + Premiere of Beloved, My Home

I was lucky enough to have a few performances of my works this past summer.

On May 31, 2007 the bands of Ingleside Middle School of Scottsdale, AZ performed 2 band works of mine that were the result of a month long residency with that same school. The students of two bands had the opportunity to create story lines upon which each of the pieces would be based. I took their story lines and suggested styles and wrote a band piece for each band. The students had the opportunity to witness the creative process as I brought in parts of the new composition each week. In the end, they gave each piece a title that they chose and voted on. The two band works are called A Sinking Divorce and The House of Delusion. (I take zero credit for those titles!) It was a thrill to hear those kids play works they had a hand in creating.

On June 8, 2007, Skid-Krinkin' was finally performed by the two musicians who commissioned the work, Alison Shaw and Marty Erickson of Balance Duo. They performed it as part of the Chaparral MusicFest 2007. Thanks Marty & Allison!

On August 3, 2007, I had the incredible pleasure of accompanying on piano the lovely voice of John Hubert singing Three Poems of John Hall Wheelock on a recital at the 2007 Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network Conference in Clearwater, FL. What a treat! Thanks, John!

On August 19, 2007, the choir at Rayne Memorial Methodist Church in New Orleans, LA premiered a new choral work entitled Beloved, My Home. I wrote the work to honor the 50th anniversary of my parents (August 20, 2007). Rayne Memorial is their church, and their choir did a lovely job. This was the first collaborative effort with a neat poet named Martha Kirby Capo. She answered an email I sent to my UU Musician peers. I asked for suggestions for poetry to set for this occasion. Martha offered to write some, and what a lovely job she did! We will be working together more in the future.

Beloved, My Home
By Martha Kirby Capo, Copyright 2007

Our lives have been a sacrament,
Each to the other.
I added my breath to your breath,
And mingled my soul with your own.
No matter what roads we did travel,
Beloved, in you, was my home.

Our lives have been a sacrifice,
Each with the other.
Our branches, entwined, intersect;
Entangled, my roots are your own.
No matter what roads we now travel,
Beloved, in you, is my home.

Our lives have been a sacred gift,
Each for the other.
Enshrined in my heart, be at rest;
Enfolded, your heart is my own.
No matter what roads we will travel,
Beloved, in you, I've come home.