Tonight I have but one purpose: to get you all to tune in to tomorrow’s In Good Hands concert presented by Cascadia Composers, the Portland, Oregon, area chapter of the National Association of Composers USA (NACUSA). Though from Fresno, California, I was able to join this very active chapter, probably the most successful chapter of the entire NACUSA. Another blessing from COVID-19.
Let me yak more about Cascadia Composers at another time, but I will brag on them now for one fantastic thing that they, and only they, I think, do every year. It’s call the In Good Hands concert, and it brings composers, music teachers, and their students all together for one amazing day showcasing the best of collaboration across these normally separated realms of music-making. Let’s let Cascadia Composers do the talking; this is quoted from an email I got an hour ago from them:
Summertime is almost here which means Cascadia Composers presents the final concert of our 2020-21 season, the beloved summer tradition:
In Good Hands
Saturday, July 17th, 2021
With recitals at 1 pm, 2:30 pm, & 4:00 pm.
find the link via our website:
https://cascadiacomposers.org/in-good-hands-2021
Join us in celebrating talented student performers from across Oregon and Washington playing brand new music written by Cascadia Composer members in this special outreach project of Cascadia and the next generation of musicians!
The numbers show that this is our biggest In Good Hands concert yet with 17 teachers, 53 students ages 7 to 22, and 20 composers participating!
Many of the compositions will be premieres which were written specifically for the student performers, creating an extra special artistic connection.
The program will include works for violin, cello, flute, oboe, voice and piano.
Cascadia Composers works represented this year are Carla Bartlett, David Bernstein, Daniel Brugh, Ted Clifford, Ally Rose Czyzeiwcz, Dianne Davies, John DeRuntz, Jr., Elizabeth Dyson, John Hidalgo, Jan Mittelstaedt, Liz Nedela, Lisa Neher, Timothy Arliss O’Brien, Paul Safar, Walter Saul, Greg Steinke, Linda Woody, Jennifer Wright and Nicholas Yandell.
I don’t know about you, but the idea of reaching the next generation with music I composed is so thrilling. Actually, it’s better than claimed. The four students performing my music could all be my grandchildren. And they are selling it well. At the 1:00 PM program, pianist Amaya Taylor will be performing my pentatonic piano piece, Dusk, all on the black keys. She paints a beautiful picture of a quiet evening as the sun sets and darkness arrives.
The 4:00 PM program features three students performing three of my best pieces:
- Elaine Lee, pianist, will be bringing her gentle and delicate interpretation of my Nocturne for My Mother to us over the Zoom link. This is a deeply personal piece I thankfully wrote for my mother a couple of years before she passed away, and which she always genuinely treasured.
- Jared Heng, a pianist with technique to burn, is performing the scampering finale to my Sonatina #5 for Piano, a work that Arizona State pianist and faculty emeritus Walter Cosand commissioned from me and first performed in China. Both Cosand and Heng play this exciting movement at blistering speed, so I would suggest fastening your seat belts before takeoff.
- Athena VanDyke, a vocalist with a stunning command of both the soprano and alto registers, inspired me to write Aphorisms and Arias with her review and commentary on Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays With Morrie, in which Albom describes his visits, always on Tuesdays, with Morrie Schwartz, his beloved professor from Brandeis University. The Aphorisms are pithy sayings from Morrie, during his battle with cancer, and the Arias are VanDyke’s interpretation of these aphorisms. This work, written for and dedicated to VanDyke, will receive its world première on this program.
I hope you will join me in tuning in for all three programs. My 19 colleagues have also written splendid music for these students, and this will be an unforgettable experience.