"Midnight Clear" on Performance Today! Merry Christmas!

My piece was on Performance Today hosted by Fred Child (pictured left) for Christmas Eve! If you didn't catch it live you can go to their archive and find it here. It's part of the second hour and it's the second song on the list. It starts at about 6 minutes in to the show. Never really thought I'd be on the same web site as John Cage.

Yeah, I know they got it wrong, they're calling it an arrangement when it's really a setting. For those who are still confused, here's your guide:

Arrangement - A piece based on a previously existing melody such as a hymn.

Setting - A piece not based on any pre-existing material.

I don't blame Mr. Child. It was probably KBYU. Everyone here in Utah calls everything an "arrangement" when it's not necessarily so. They hear about a new arrangement by Mack Wilberg and then they think everything is an arrangement. Bless their hearts.

Anyway, Merry Christmas everybody! And a Happy New Year! Thank you Mr. Child!

BIG NEWS! "Midnight Clear," to Air Nationally on "Performance Today"

I'm back in California, visiting my brother and his family for Christmas. It's beautiful, like 60 degrees and sunny. I walked outside in shorts and was just fine. Gonna go to the beach tomorrow and get a bagel with smoked salmon with cream cheese. Happy Winter Solstice everybody! Anyway, on to the real stuff.

I just got an email from Dr. Staheli telling me that my piece was submitted by KBYUFM to American Public Media’s Performance Today for their Christmas Eve program. They collect different pieces from university Christmas programs and select a few of them to air on their program. Well, one of the pieces selected to air on their Christmas Eve program was the BYU Singers performance of "It Came upon the Midnight Clear."

Is this really happening? I think my head just exploded! I'm feeling the same way about this as when Dr. Staheli asked me if BYU Singers would perform it for this year's Christmas concert. It doesn't feel real. I have to stop and just make sure that I'm not making things up.

Well, in any case, I've learned that one of the best antidotes/vaccines for an inflated ego/swollen head is work. I've still got a lot of work to do. I'll be giving updates throughout the break. And we'll see if I can take out some time to go surfing down in Santa Cruz.

Currently in Finals Week

It's been a while since I've posted because I'm currently in the middle of finals week here. I've been studying and finishing up projects. I'm taking two finals today (which involves three tests), and got my last one tomorrow. In the meantime, I still need to finish my extra credit project for one class, and I need to pack up everything I own and move it all to my new apartment before I leave for California this Saturday.

But the work is paying off. When talking to a professor about my grade in his class I asked if I could see what my final grade was. He agreed and showed me what I got. I did VERY well. A smile crept across my face because this is a particularly difficult class. He then said, "You don't need to gild the lily any further." Aww yeah. P'wned!

I've been getting some great feedback about "It Came upon the Midnight Clear." Many people told me that it was their favorite piece from the entire night. Others told me they had tears in their eyes while listening to it. Many people said they really felt something uplifting and enlightening. That's exactly what I was going for. I wanted to write something that would lift people up, and strengthen their faith in Christ. I don't just want to entertain, I want to buoy up the spirit. Maybe I can help somebody when nothing else can. That's my hope.

"It Came upon the Midnight Clear" Recording

Wow! What a weekend. I can't believe it's actually happened. This dream of mine has actually become reality. BYU Singers' premiere of my setting of "It Came upon the Midnight Clear," turned out beautifully. They really locked it in and nailed it. I could not have hoped for a better premiere. I'm so humbled that they would all pick up this piece and put as much energy into it as they would any other piece. Dr. Staheli did such a masterful job interpreting and conducting the piece. Wow!

It's kinda funny, a lot of people have told me that it sounds very "Whiticre-esque." I take that as a very high compliment, but for the record, I actually had Gabriel Jackson and Maurice Beesley in my head when I wrote this.

I've started putting the material together to start sending it off to some publishers. Here's page one again, with a quick and dirty recording to accompany it. Hope you enjoy! Tell me what you think.

"Midnight Clear" Premieres TONIGHT!

Hey everyone! Tonight is the night! BYU Singers will premiere me piece, "It Came upon the Midnight Clear," to THREE SOLD OUT SHOWS! In addition to three packed concert halls worth of people, the show will be broadcast live Saturday Night (Dec. 5th) on Classical 89. You can listen to it streaming online here. If you can't tell, I'm super excited. I just really hope that my head doesn't explode during the performance.

In this last week of rehearsals it's really started to come together really well. It's sounding amazing. I could not have asked for a better ensemble or a better conductor. This is, literally, a dream come true.

I'll post a recording as soon as I get one. Wish us luck!

I Can't Stop Watching These!

There's nothing quite as exciting as a performance of "Glitter and Be Gay," by Leonard Bernstein from his opera Candide. I found these two performance which are both really quite stunning in their own right and yet so very different from one another. The first one is Natalie Dessay (whose English is surprisingly accurate) and the second one is Kristin Chenoweth which is absolutely hilarious. It's amazing what the human voice can do.

Rehearsing "Midnight Clear"

I thought I'd give an update on how we're doing on "It Came upon the Midnight Clear."

Rehearsing my piece with BYU Singers has been a most interesting, and unusual experience. I am so glad Dr. Staheli is at the helm for this piece. He's put in a lot of time preparing to give the best interpretation he can. He is doing exactly what I want him to do with it. It's almost creepy how he'll say something about the piece or my intention as a composer without any sort of previous conversation, and he'll be spot on.

It's so exciting to see the way he's rehearsing it so carefully the same way he would any other piece of music. He's really paying close attention to the smallest details. I'm really flattered and almost a little embarrassed that we're taking so much time to rehearse it. It certainly has its challenges, but Dr. Staheli is relentless in making sure that we learn and perform it correctly.

One of the most rewarding moments for me as a composer has been to take this piece to Dr. Staheli and Prof. Hall and receiving feedback. When they started talking about all the images they had in their mind while listening to the piece I smiled because it's the same images I had in my mind when I composed it. Another rewarding moment is to catch people singing or whistling the piece randomly. Definitely a rewarding moment.

I'm so excited to have people here this in our concert! I'll post a recording as soon as I get one.

Two Recent Concerts (Full of British Sp'rit)

First, BYU Singers with the King's Singers.

We've had the singular priviledge of performing with such an outstanding ensemble. They are world class and yet so friendly. We had the opportunity to sing three songs with them: "High Flight," and "A Thanksgiving," by Bob Chilcott and "The Stolen Child," by Eric Whitacre. All of them were written for the King's Singers plus an accompanying choir and are exquisitely written pieces. If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably have to be "High Flight." These words are coupled with brilliant aleatoric passages contrasted with robust phrasing. There's a moment at the beginning when we've opened with these indeterminate constructs and then the tenor and two countertenors come in with this smooth legato line. Wow! It was thrilling from beginning to end.

The most difficult part about was how little rehearsal time we got. We had a half hour before the concert at best and then we sang with them. They are super busy. It's so refreshing to be so well prepared to tackle anything. It was really cool to talk with them after about how they do what they do. I talked for a bit with Philip Lawson about how they audition new members into the group. I learned they ask about Football (soccer) teams they support (Lawson is a Chelsea fan! Yeah!). Talked with Stephen Connolly for a bit about singing bass. Later, I was in the Apple Store up in Salt Lake and bumped into David Hurley. Got to tell him how singing with them exceeded all our expectations and that it was a dream come true for many of us. I highly recommend singing with them.

Second, BYU Singers and Concert Choir.

We just had our concert last night. We have a format for this concert that I just really love. Because we love listening to each other, when one choir is singing, the other choir sits on stage listening to them. It's great, because we get to listen and support each other in a very present sort of way. I really enjoy it! This concert was an all British program. Singers got to do a set of three Renaissance motets and four Purcell pieces from his operas as follows:

"Dum Transisset Sabbatum" by John Taverner
"O Lord, Give thy Holy Sp'rit" by Thomas Tallis
"Alleluia! Congnoverunt Discipuli" by William Byrd

"Around We Pace," from The Tempest
"Hush, No More, Be Silent," from The Fairy Queen
"See, We Assemble," from King Arthur
"With Drooping Wings," from Dido and Aenus

All were so much fun to sing, and Dr. Staheli did a really good job of making each piece really accessible to the audience. Some people told me that the Taverner was their favorite (kinda surprising!).

Concert Choir sang three pieces by Edward Elgar and the "Magnificat" by Finzi. The Magnificat was really stunning and a joy to listen to. I'm sure they've been working so hard on it, and what a pay off. It was a really moving performance.

Together we sang "Jerusalem," "Lux Aeterna" by Edward Elgar (an arrangement of the Nimrod theme from the Enigma Variations), "I Sat Down Under His Shadow," and an arrangement of the Tallis Cannon. Overall, it was a remarkable night we lots of great music and great singing. I love singing with these ensembles. It's such a joy in my life. When school starts to become a burden, and life in general seems like it's spinning down the crapper, singing with these groups keeps me going. It becomes a buoying force in my life.

Big Announcement: BYU Singers Premieres My Composition for Christmas

That's right! I composed a piece that the Brigham Young University Singers will be premiering at our Christmas Concert this December.

It's the piece I composed called, "It Came upon the Midnight Clear." Yes, it's the same text that we're all familiar with but with completely different music. Different melodies, different harmonies, different rhythms (although one is the same).

It composed it back in July. Don't ask my why I was writing Christmas music back in July, but I was. I composed it in a single afternoon (which doesn't usually happen . . . ever) and have spent some time polishing it up and making sure that it is represented in the best possible way. I used some impressionist and post-impressionist techniques in this piece, which is not all that new of a thing for me. Quartal harmonies, secundal harmonies, bi-chordalism (to some extent), pandiatonicism (to some extent), planing, ninth chords and the pentatonic scale. This piece is kind of a different direction than I've had in the past. Less function, more color and thicker textures. I'm not sure if this is the direction I'll take my compositions in, but it's a possibility. I know I talked about counterpoint versus stacked chords in a previous blog, but I just couldn't help myself.

In one of my previous posts I said, "Not sure when I'll actually hear this, but it's still fun to write. Maybe someday." Well, that day is soon coming! When I took it to Dr. Staheli, he really liked it and asked if I would promise it to the BYU Singers. I just about died. This is a dream come true: to write music for this incredible ensemble and have their incredible director interpret it. I'm over the flippin' moon. Dr. Staheli has been studying it and we're going to start rehearsing after our November Concert. I am beyond excited! Writing music is fun (sometimes painful), but hearing it is unbelievably rewarding.

Tickets for the Christmas concert go on sale tomorrow (November 2nd), and typically sell out very fast. Please come if you can. Here's page one from the piece that I posted a while back, it's actually different now, but my computer is in the shop so I don't have the true updated version. This'll do for now. Once I get a recording, I'll post it here.

Update: I finally got my laptop back! Here's the real page one with changes:

Big Announcement Coming Soon . . .

Hey everybody,

Watch this space in the next couple of days because I'm making a HUGE announcement soon. At least, I think it's huge. It's a big deal for me. I've kept it under wraps since August.

So yeah, get ready, and such.

Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park

A few weekends ago, my sister invited me to spend the weekend in Brian Head with her husband and in-laws. Our weekend itinerary included Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park, which are both in fairly close driving distance. I had been to Arches National Park earlier this year and absolutely loved it. It was an incredible journey for me, almost a pilgrimage (if that's a safe word to use). On this trip, I was, again, pretty amazed by what I saw.

In Bryce Canyon we hiked down from Bryce point into the base of the canyon and all around and through the hoodoos (yes, that's their proper name) through the forests and back up to Sunrise point. It was a long hike but very much worth it. My sister and her husband were great company walking through all these amazing places. The major dilemma the entire time was "I can't take my eyes off this gorgeous landscape . . . but I'm on a rocky trail next to a sheer drop." This was typical most of the way up and down. Bryce was much more mild to hike here in October then say Arches in July, but I'm really glad we brought a lot of water because I got thirsty pretty fast.

I was reminded very much about Oliver Messiaen when he visited Bryce Canyon. He was so taken by the landscape that he used some local birdsong he dictated and wrote a piece called "Des canyons aux étoiles… (From the Canyons to the stars...)" Messiaen's music was driven by color a great deal. Seeing Bryce Canyon for the first time, I can understand why he, specifically, was moved enough to visit and dictate. The orange and red hoodoos against the green forest against the blue sky. It's much better in person than in these photos. I need to listen to that piece. I haven't found Messiaen's music to be very accessible, but after visiting, I had a great desire to buy a recording.

(Here's a hint for anyway who wants to hike in Bryce Canyon. Bring two cars (with two drivers) park one car at Sunrise point and another car at Bryce point and hike from one spot to the other. Then when you're done, just drive back to the other car and go home. I think there are shuttle services, but it's way more convenient if you do it yourself.)

The next day, after Bryce, we went down to Zion National Park. We got off I-15 and travelled along the Virgin River till we got to the mouth of the canyon. Now, Arches is amazing, Bryce is incredible, but Zion . . . there's something truly breathtaking about Zion. Most of the trip in I was speechless. I've never been so taken by a gorgeous landscape before. They do everything by shuttle now, which is kinda of a shame, but it's a good service so I don't mind that much. We drove past the different "temples" and "courts" up the canyon that got their names from their geological formations.

Our goal for this trip was to hike Angel's Landing. I've heard about this hike before, but only that it exists and that it's a good one. My sister and her husband told me that the first part is probably the hardest. The whole thing was pretty hard I think, except for "refrigerator canyon." We joke that the reason it's called "refrigerator canyon" is because it's been littered with refrigerators formally owned by greenie/treehugger/granola-munching/leaf-licking hippies.

When we got to "the saddle," I thought, "well that wasn't too bad, I could do that any day!" In fact, when we got to the saddle and saw how high were were I made the comment, "you know, it's moments like these when you say to yourself, 'dang, I'm so awesome.'" Then they showed me how far we had to go still. My heart sank with terror. It wasn't how far we had to go, or how high we had to climb. No, it was the sheer drops on either side of the trail. I turned to my sister and said, "so I have I mentioned that I'm kinda/sorta/a little/maybe/VERY AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!" I guess not. They provide a chain for you to hold on to (for dear life) at certain points. Even if I didn't need the chain, I held on like my life was on the line. I wouldn't say I overcame my fear, but definitely looked it strait in the eye and told it it's ugly.

Believe it or not, I made it to the very top and was greatly rewarded. I've never seen a view like that in my life. Yes, many people do a good job of taking pictures, but they don't do it any justice. Angel's Landing is a name very well suited. To me, hiking Angel's Landing and seeing that view was a very sacred experience for me. It wasn't the most sacred experience, but definitely one to be remembered. The whole place felt like a "temple" of nature. It some moments, I didn't want to speak for fear of disturbing the reverence of the place. Absolutely majestic. I highly recommend it.

Why I'm Glad Sound Recording Technology is a Music Degree

I'm a music major, with an emphasis in sound recording technology. A lot of people find this very confusing. Why would sound recording be in the music program? Doesn't that belong in Engineering, or Physics, or some other technical school? I've also noticed some engineers ignorantly say, "why do I have to take music theory and history classes if I'm going to be a sound engineer? Learning about Leonin and Perotin doesn't make me a better engineer. Learning how to resolve a german augmented sixth chord doesn't help me know when I need to apply reverb."

I'm in an even more complicated situation because I'm in the classical voice studio for my instrument. Most of my colleges have chosen contemporary studios such a voice, guitar, drums or synthesizer. I feel fortunate because this gives me a perspective that most other musicians never have.

I've come up with a list on how being a musicians has helped me as a sound engineer and vice verse:

- Once, someone was recording a cello track in a pop song. The cellist was improvising, but the student "producer" wasn't happy with some of the notes he was playing. I was able to identify that he was playing the dominant when what we wanted to hear was the tonic. Identifying the key and matching that with my knowledge of the cello's range, I was able to suggest this change to the student. The results were much better.

- I record audition tapes for students trying to get into festivals or Master's programs. Having been a classical singer I'm able to better identify with what classical singers want in their recordings. Most of these goals in recordings are shared by instrumentalists as well. I recently got a compliment from one of the voice faculty about the recordings I've made for his students. "We like the recordings you make downstairs best." He's been recommending me to all his students.

- I learned in music theory how dissonant and jarring unresolved tri-tones can be in tonal music. This helped me learn why half-octave equalizers never became popular, because half of an octave is a tri-tone. Half-octave equalizers don't work as well to our ears as full-octave or third-octave equalizers do. That's the reason why.

- Most of us can tell when someone is singing or playing out of tune (or so out of tune that we consider it "off-key"). But how many of us can tell when someone is 25, 10, or 5 cents off? Or what we can do to fix it? Learning and performing music has sharpened my ears into a greater perception of tuning. I wouldn't be able to say "that's 14 cents too sharp," but I can hear it much more now than ever before.

- Sound recording has taught me to listen much more than I've ever done before. In sound recording we've learned and practiced two different ways of hearing: "Critical listening," and "Analytical listening." "Critical listening," is more about listening for the quality of the tone, while "Analytical listening" has more to do with the meaning of the tone.

This isn't close to a comprehensive list of everything, but these are some pretty big things that I can remember right now. My main feeling is that sound recording should be treated more like an art than as a science. I don't mean to downplay science, it's very important in my field, but science without art is dead. I considering this to be one of the best degrees available, and I'm glad I chose it.

First Concert of the Year

This last weekend was our first concert of this new school year. It's the typical Choral Showcase with the Combined Choirs at BYU. Men's and Women's chorus started the evening with their combined number and their individual sets. Both have been working really hard and it payed off.

For our set we sang three songs:

- "Alleluia Cognoverunt Discipuli" by William Byrd
- "Abide with Me" arranged by Molly Ijames
- "With Drooping Wings" by Henry Purcell

The first is surprisingly difficult to memorize. I'm not exactly sure why this is, but it could have something to do with all the uneven rests. It actually came off really well, and were all glad that it all came together so well. Byrd is a really amazing composer. We're doing a song of his in Wasatch Chamber Choir.

The arrangement of "Abide with Me," was easy to learn and easy to sing, but what a powerful statement it turned out to be. It means much more to me now that it did in the past. Look up this arrangement.

The last song we sang a cappella without any strings. In this piece, we worked really hard on tuning and phrasing. It was easy to learn but hard to execute. When we took it to performance Dr. Staheli took it much slower than we ever took it in rehearsal. And even though we took much more time in certain places, all of us followed him with incredible flexibility. It was exhilarating to have everyone following something that we'd never practiced. We didn't do it as well the second night, but it was good.

Concert Choir sang just one piece, but it was the Magnificat by Finzi. Holy Cow. It was incredible. They sound like a million bucks. It was the first time I'd heard it, and I was blown away. Kudos to them for working the hardest of all of us. What a miracle.

Our next concert is with the King's Singers at the end of October. We'll be performing a relatively new piece by Eric Whitacre called "The Stolen Child." Tickets go on sale tomorrow! Also, a hello and thank you to "Ian" who came from the University of Utah to see out concert this weekend.

Hello Norway (God Dag Norge)!

So, just in the past 48 hours, I've gotten about 75 hits from Norway alone. It must have something to do with the little review I wrote about the recent recording from Kammerkoret Nova. I'm not sure how the majority of them feel about it. I did get a kind comment from a lady named Mari who now lives in Denmark. Cheers Mari!

Well, I guess I should just say "Hello," or should I say, "God Dag!" I hope to visit someday. Keep making beautiful music.

As a side note, this weekend we had BYU Singers' semester retreat. It really lifted my spirits. Also I had my first graduate choral literature class with Rosalind Hall. It was FAN-JOLLY-TASTIC. I cannot believe this is a class, it's so flippin' fun.

Wee Payson

The last couple of weeks before school started my friend BJ and I went up to Payson Lakes to have one last hoo-rah before school started again. I've been here once before but it was kinda busy, not really crowded, but busy. We decided to go Thursday during the day. Since school had started and other people were at work, we virtually had the place all to ourselves. For an hour or so, there was literally not another soul around.

There are three lakes up at Payson Lakes (which is located on the Mt. Nebo loop). The first time we went, we walked around the third one for a while and then swam for a bit in the second one. It was nice, but it was rather small, wasn't very deep and quite a bit of pond scum.

The third time we went up we bought some inner tubes (on sale) and floated out in the middle of the third lake (which is the largest). We just sat there floating for several hours, relaxing, enjoying the scenery and soaking up the sun. It was well nice. There's nothing quite like drifting around without a care in the world. It just felt so great to forget all responsibilities and give our minds relief. The third lake is prolly the best one.

After we were done drifting around, we got up on this dock nearby and got dry while lying in the sun. We spent the rest of the time talking about life, career plans, and this coming school year.

It's kinda sad that we didn't get to using this place till the end of summer. We should have come here all summer. I guess at least we got to come here while it was still warm. It reminds of me of relaxing on the beach in California. There are very few times when I feel so calm. So what do we do for winter?

Thanks for the pitchers BeeJ!

Back in BYU Singers

Well, I'm back in BYU Singers this year, and I'm very excited about the possibilities. So far, we've been looking at a lot of Renaissance stuff, mainly Byrd and Taverner. We also looked at the first two pages of Bob Chilcott's "High Flight" that we're doing this with the King's Singers next month. Really looking forward to that.

Being back with a completely new group of people (there's been a lot of turnover this year) I started to ask a question: What does it mean to be in BYU Singers? Well, in my pondering, I've come up with a small list:

- You must be willing to learn a piece, rehearse it relentlessly, take time outside class to memorize it and then end up never singing it in concert or even recording it. All this without complaining, because it never felt like a waste of time.

- You must be willing to forfeit all personal space you once had. You do not have a "bubble."

- You must accept the fact that you will drop your music folder and all 60 pieces of music will spill out everywhere. And if you lucky, this might even take place in the middle of rehearsal. Bonus points for all the paper cuts you get trying to put your music back in some sort of order.

- You must not only gratefully accept constructive criticism and correction from those around you, but seek after it.

- You must get used to people thinking that because you're in BYU Singers you have this amazing voice that can do no wrong.

- You are with a bunch of other choir nerds who love choral music and have a palpable sense of ownership and commitment to sharing something profound. You've never felt more at home.

It's just a few things I thought of, and looking back on it, I'm just flooded with so many wonderful memories. This is such an amazing ensemble and I'm so privileged to be a part of it. At the same time, I understand completely that I'm still a pup in this group compared to everyone else around me.

I'm counting down the hours every day till the next rehearsal.

Third BYU Singers Recording

Here's a recording of Josef Rheinberger's "Kyrie" from his Mass in Eb Major for double choir.



The Archive CD is almost done! Hooray!

One of my favorite posters . . .

. . . to address one of my pet peeves:

Recording of Kammerkoret Nova

Look what showed up in the mail yesterday! After seeing their music video of "Water Night" up on Eric Whitacre's blog, I decided that I had to investigate this choir for myself. Just looking around on their website, you get a sense of how cool this choir is. It's a good vibe. I wanted to buy the CD rather than download the album's MP3s because MP3s sound like garbage.

After waiting for a while, it arrived! Listening to it in my car and at my computer I have high praise for these engineers. It's been recorded very well. The acoustic is right, the mic placement is very good, overall, really good job.

There's a pretty good variety of repertoire on this album. First the Whitacre. They recorded both "Water Night," and "Sleep," with the idea of dreams as their theme. Let me just say that Whitacre is hard to sing for native-English speaking choirs, let alone a European choir. "Sleep" in particular is extremely difficult because of all the long phrases, sustaining a real "sostenuto sound," and tuning issues, but then add the words and it's at a whole other level. These are both exciting recordings, and in a time when Whitacre is being attempted by so many amateur ensembles that don't fully understand how difficult Whitacre is, these are so refreshing. My only complaint is that "Sleep" could have been phrased a little bit more. Lingering on a word here, putting less emphasis on less important words.

A highlight of the album for me was Rachmaninov's "Bogoroditse Devo." Excellent sound, and really exciting dynamics. This piece is a challenge for smaller choirs because of how it requires so much sustain. They pull it off really well. Another highlight for me was the "Ave Maris Stella," by Trond Kverno. I've always loved this settings since I first heard it in High School and to hear an actual Norwegian choir sing this was a dream come true. I do feel that the "Allegro agitato" in measure 29 needs even more agitation, but that's just my opinion. I also feel that the "Ave Virgo Sanctissimo" should have been at the beginning of their "Maria" set rather than at the end. I suspect the reason for this was because Ms. Sundal wanted a different color before going into the "Deus, Qui Illuminas." Which by the way is spectacular. That recording pretty much nails me to my seat every time.

The last track "Trilo," is the perfect album/concert closer for this choir. It's a stunning piece, and has been recorded here so beautifully. The notes say that it's based on western coast Norwegian tunes sung by the wives of husbands returning home from sea. It's hard to put into words how cool this last piece sounds to me. It almost feels like it was composed for this choir or something because they just nailed it here. The emotion of this recording is overwhelming and felt through the entire song. Something that this choir understands that others do not is that performances succeed best when the goal and motive is to express rather than impress.

Final thought: this is the kinda of ensemble I want to write music for. Great recordings with excellent performances. I highly recommend it.

Here's their music video of "Water Night," but just be aware that it doesn't sound as good on YouTube as it does on the CD.

Les Paul 1915-2009

Counterpoint

This week I bought a book about counterpoint from the BYU Bookstore (and even got $25 back for over paying!). This is an idea that fascinates me, but also eludes me. The notion of having multiple independent melodies all working together to create something harmonious is mind-blowing. It's also a feature that I think is missing in a great deal of choral music today.

The author quotes the late Robert Russel Bennett, an arranger for Broadway shows, who said that "counterpoint is the indispensable element in arranging; if it is missing, the audience's enjoyment of the music will be lessened, even thought they will not identify the missing feature."

Bold words. I can agree with him to a degree. I've noticed that a lot of new choral music coming out is mostly homophonic. Just a bunch of stacked chords. Now, don't get me wrong, I love stacked chords, and homophonic music can be really effective and moving. It can, however, be severely limiting. I want more to music that just chords, and singers want more to sing that just chords. There's something missing right now.

There's a certain kind of lost art/black magic associated with modern polyphony. It's an interesting kind of language to work in. There's only a handful of living choral composers I feel that really have it down and I am certainly not one of those. That's why I bought this book. I want to start understanding this element that is lacking from so much music today, but that makes a huge difference in the end result.

So, I've started with chapter one and will work through it slowly and probably blog about what I've learned and maybe even post some results. I have no idea how much of this I'm going to grasp, but I'm excited to at least give it a try!

Trip to Moab

For Pioneer Day weekend I went down to Moab with some my greatest friends, and saw Arches National Park. It's really quite a remarkable place. It was very timely too, because I was getting very sick of the routine I was in. This was a great get-away, to spent some time relaxing and recharging. There's nothing quite like a good break.

On one of our hikes we got to talking about why we go on vacation. We asked ourselves what was so relaxing about hiking in sweltering heat in southern Utah in July. What's our motivation to get up and get away? When we take breaks, why do we travel long distances instead of seeing what our neighborhood has to often?

Regarding the last point, I knew some people in Northern Ireland who had never been to see The Giant's Causeway. From my own hometown, some friends have never see the Golden Gate Bridge or even bothered to cross it. It's funny sometimes how we'll travel around the world to see something, but wont bother with the wonders in our own backyard.

Anyway, I took this break because I wanted to get out of my office. Travel someplace where I could mentally escape my responsibilities even if only for a few days. I'm not trying to get out of my duties, I just needed some space.

More importantly, I went on this trip because I wanted to spend time with my friends, including my best friend. I wanted to strengthen my friendships with these people who are, in my opinion, the creme of the crop. They've meant a great deal to me. I was glad to be able to reconnect. Camping out in Moab, without any outside stress or obligation, allowed us to focus on what's most important.

At night, we were bombarded with stars. Our perspective of these constellations is quite fragile. We constantly forget about them simply because they are overpowered by city street lights. We all need a reality check now and then.

I highly recommend seeing Arches National Park and spending a lot of time there. Just go during a cooler time of the year!

Another BYU Singers Recording

This time it's Monteverdi. This is us singing "Si ch'io vorrei morire."



This was actually not that difficult to edit. I had two recordings that sounded very similar to each other by way of mic placement and intonation and two coughs were in places that were rather easy to edit out. I'm not always that lucky.

Page one from "It Came upon the Midnight Clear"

Here's a little sample of what I've just finished writing. Not sure when I'll actually hear this, but it's still fun to write. Maybe someday.

BYU Singers Recording (Sneak Peak!)

Hey, I'm working on the archive CD for Brigham Young University Singers and wanted to share what I was working on. This is a recording of "Un soir de neige," by Francis Poulenc. It's a very difficult work, and definitely an acquired taste, but truly unforgettable.



Just wanted to let every who's waiting on the CD know that it's coming. Tell me what you think.

New Composition!

So a few days ago I finished writing a new piece. It's a new setting of "It Came upon the Midnight Clear." Completely different melodies, harmonies, and rhythms. Nothing is the same. I'm cleaning it up right now and just tweaking it. I spend most of my time polishing stuff.

It's actually kind of amazing. I composed the majority of this piece in a single afternoon. That doesn't happen very often for me. Most of the time it stretches out over months, weeks, days at best. But this all happened really quite quickly. It was either A) a fluke, not likely to be repeated B) a byproduct of having my keyboard finally connected with my computer through the MIDI interface of my MBox 2 or C) the result an extremely focused mind. I had determined that I wanted to finish the piece that day and with that goal nothing was going to get in my way, so my inspiration gave way.

I've personally got money on A or B. I know I don't really let on about my whole process of writing. I don't really share this part of my life with a lot of people. Composing is a very personal and private affair for me, but I love sharing the results (most of the time).

I'll be posting a page or so in the future. Until then . . .

Wasting Time

Okay, so to distract myself from composing and my other various projects today, I started watching Arrested Development on Hulu, and this commercial came up:



I nearly died laughing. I love how people can find humor in dire times, while still remembering that everything has a time and a season.

Just ignore the really poor overdubbing at the end.

California Legistlature = Fail

Still no budget? What a joke. Why is this so hard to fix? Lawmakers will do anything to balance a budget expect cut spending. Government should protect the people, not burden them.

I'm ready for a new set of faces in Sacramento. As far as I'm concerned, everyone there right now is done.

Full Recording of Memories of Galilee (Fixed!)

I'm trying out a Flash MP3 Player here and decided to use a full recording of "Memories of Galilee" as my subject. Hope it works. Tell me what you think. Enjoy:




It works! (I swear they did the modulation in tune several time during rehearsals!)

Been Here a Whole Year!

I didn't realize till today that I've been blogging for a year now. 12 Days and a year ago today, I started blogging wondering what I was doing. I guess it works now. I still don't know what I'm doing. Right now, I'm editing the BYU Singers archive CD (late start), so I'll post some songs soon.

In honor of a year, I want to share two pictures that crack me up every time I look at 'em. Maybe I'm just an idiot/moron/dork, but I think these are hilarious:



Yeah for '80s throwbacks! Happy June!

Ciúnas

So I'm working on that irish piece with poem by Dairena Ní Chinnéide. It's called "Ciúnas." I'm having a really hard time with it right now for one main reason. There's a line in the poem that says, "Ciúnas i mo cheann," which basically translates to "Quiet in my head." It is NOT quiet in my head right now.

I try and compose from what I refer to as "the concert hall in my head." Right now it's occupied with a bunch of other stuff. With so many things distracting me, I hardly have anytime for myself to sit quietly and listen. Maybe I should drive up to Midway this weekend or Payson lakes. I don't know.

Any suggestions?

Back in the Game

Anyone reading this who is fluent in Irish Gaelic?

One of the things I wanted to get in Ireland (besides a lovely tan) was a book of poems in Irish Gaelic. I brought back four. Well, two and a half. I found two books of poems in their native language with side by side translations into English. One of the books is full of really old monastic and secular poetry from the 9th thru 12th Centuries. The other was a collection of contemporary poems called "An Trodaí/The Warrior" by a single author, Dairena Ní Chinnéide from Kerry. There's some really evocative and haunting stuff in here. I also found two books that contained some poetry in Irish as well as English.

I'm setting some of this into choral settings, but am having a hard time with it as I am not fluent (or even remotely competent) in Irish. If anyone is fluent, I'd sure appreciate some help.

On another topic, I got an internship this summer at the LDS Motion Picture Studio. I'm an audio editor for The Mormon Channel. I edit and mix content as well as openers, closers and bumpers. It's actually quite a bit of fun. I have one problem with Pro Tools though. I work with content that is typically 30 to 60 minutes long. When I want to bounce the entire episode to disk, Pro Tools does so in real time. So after several hours of editing content, I have to spend another hour listening while I'm bouncing to disk. C'mon DigiDesign! Give us the option to bounce immediately. I know the advantages of bouncing in real time, just give us the option.

I love summer. Have I mentioned that? It's a glorious time of year. I'm going back home to California for a week or so in August to visit some family, do some surfing, visit SF Symphony, and write. At least, that's the plan.

Oh, I wanted to post part of the episode where BYU Singers sang with the Tabernacle Choir on Music and the Spoken Word back in March. This was our closing number:

Back from Europe

Hey, I'm back in America after a month or so across the pond. I was touring with BYU Singers in Ireland, Wales and England, and then stayed a week longer in Germany to see my family living in Gießen. While I don't have the time or energy to give an entire recap of my trip, I would like to at least mention some of the highlights for me and recommend you see the full tour story at the BYU Singers blog.

We started in Cork, which reminded me how much I love that city. It's big enough to have everything you need in a city, but small enough that you can actually get to know people and get about easily. It's really one of my favorite cities of all time, not just Ireland. We also got to take a train to Cobh (pronounced: "cove") and enjoy a beautiful day there. The weather was stunning the whole time in Cork, and it certainly didn't disappoint in Cobh. What did disappoint was the absolute lack of Fish and Chips shops. I couldn't believe the rotten luck of it all. No Chippies? Ridonculous.

We participated in the Cork International Choral Festival and had fun participating in all of the performance, but my favorite performance we did in Cork was in St. Micheal's Church in Blackrock. The place never filled up, but I didn't care at all. The people who came were so warm and friendly. The acoustic was fantastic for our music. Most of the time I don't feel that a long reverb time is appropriate for most live concerts, but here it was glorious. There were few venues after this that equaled it. This became one of my favorite concerts I've ever participated in.

Back to the Choral Festival, we participated in the Fleishman Trophy Competition and won second place. We also won the "P.E.A.C.E Award," which is given to "a choir who touched the hearts' of all who heard them and exemplified the intentions of the trophy's benefactors, the P.E.A.C.E. Movement, Cork." We felt so honored to have received this high compliment. We felt that we had accomplished the mission that we set out to complete. We all got to pass around the trophy and see what it looked like. It was a beautifully cut crystal bowl. We all joked afterward that it kinda looked like a really expensive candy dish, and that we should all expect to see it in Dr. Staheli's home or office filled with peanuts.

After Cork we went do Limerick for a concert sponsored by the branch there. It was particularly touching to me because I lived in Limerick for a while and made a slew of friends there. It's nickname is "Stab City," but when I was there I saw nothing but great people everywhere. After the concert I got to meet up with several of them. I hadn't been there for at least three years, but they all remembered me. I was swimming in nostalgia to see their familiar smiles. I only wished it could have lasted hours longer.

We then drove up to Derry. I got to visit Coleraine, where I had also lived, and we toured the Antrim coastline as well as visit the Giant's Causeway. We then drove on to Belfast and sang in the gorgeous Ulster Hall. This hall was one of the best places we sang. It sounded incredible and as you can see in the pictured, looked just as great. We were very impressed by the whole set up. It's too bad we couldn't use the organ but whatever. Just to name some other acts that have been on this stage: Charles Dickens, Edward Elgar, and Led Zeppelin. Actually, this is the hall were Led Zeppelin premiered, "Stairway to Heaven." I only wish we could have gotten a choral arrangement for the event.

This was a benefit concert we did for the Marie Curie Cancer Care Foundation with a group called Capella Ceciliana. The group performed a number of early Renaissance pieces, and also sang "The Lamb," by John Taverner. It reminded me how much I love that piece. Together we sang "Cantate Domino," by Claudio Monteverdi. Over all it was an amazing and memorable performance.

Next we went on to Dublin and spent a good while there. I also lived in Dublin for a while and was really glad to have a chance to visit again. It's such a magical place in spite of it's rough edges. Walking through the city center and hanging out on the Liffey waterfront brough back a wash of good memories. It's memories like these that keep you warm in cold times. After a short time in Dublin we took a ferry across to Wales. I have to admit, it was hard leaving Ireland again. It felt like I was leaving home again. Home has always been an illusive concept for me and I sometimes feel like I don't know where mine really is. Occasionally though, I'll get a glimpse or two of what "Home" is to me. Leaving Dublin was one of those rare moments.


Wales turned out to be a gorgeous place. We went up to the Wrexham/Chester area and did a concert there to benefit the Nightingale House Hospice, as well as perform a few songs at the Hospice itself. Since we had Professor Rosalind Hall with us (who conducts the BYU Concert Choir and Men's Chorus) we decided to visit her hometown in the south of Wales, Merthyr Tydfil. We performed in St. Tydfil's parish church and had some really magical moments. First, the acoustics were great (Hallelujah!). Second, virtually everyone in the room knew Prof. Hall and was anxious to see her conduct a few pieces. Almost all of us in Singers has sung with Sister Hall and so it was a pleasure to sing under her direction once again. There was a moment when we were singing "Pilgrim's Song," when we all started to tear up and I don't get misty-eyed when I sing. The evening was brimming with magic. Ralph Pullman (Prof. Hall's brother) gave us a safety lantern that was used down in the coal mines of Wales that symbolizes safety and peace.


We then dedicated a song to Prof. Hall and her family for their generosity in letting us keep her at BYU. She really has touched thousands of lives at BYU and it's been wonderful to have her. We sang, "Homeward Bound," and found a few days later that a video had been posted on YouTube. Here it is:



After Wales we went up to Liverpool, Preston/Chorley, and finished in Oldham/Manchester. Officially tour came to and end and we all went our separate ways. I myself went to on to Germany to visit my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. We had a great time tromping around Deutchland. By special request, we went to Leipzig and heard two concerts in Thomaskirche. This is the church were J.S. Bach spent the last 27 years of his life working. This is the place were he wrote the B-minor Mass, the St. Matthew Passion, the Christmas Cantata, and hundreds of other cantatas. We got to hear Ensemble Concerto Sacro (absolutely stunning!) and the Thomaskirche boys choir. It was pretty awesome.

We then went to Limburg, Köln (and climbed the cathedral tower), Heidelberg, and Frankfurt city center. Everyone told me that Frankfurt was going to be a crappy place, but I actually really enjoyed it. It was beautiful week and we had a great time visiting all those places.

After a month in Europe though, I feel beat. I actually started pining for America. I'm glad to be back, and now it's time to get back to work. I've got some great ideas going and am going to start composing again shortly.

In Ireland . . .

Hey all,

I can't post much right now. I'll just say, go to singers.byu.edu/blog for more/better updates.

Enjoy

Memories of Galilee (with Recording)

This is a piece that I've been working on for the last two years (Most of that was polishing, I swear I'm faster now). It's an arrangement on the tune by H.R. Palmer with words by Robert Morris. Well, after years of polishing I had it performed by The Wasatch Chamber Choir (an ensemble I help conduct), and recorded with them too. I just sent it in to a music publisher. I hope they like it. Here's a 45 second sample, a performance I conducted, along with pg 4 from the piece. Enjoy!

Memories Sample.mp3

Two Very Hard Concerts

These last two concerts have been some of the most difficult I've ever been involved with. The first one was back in March, the BYU Singers 25th Anniversary Concert. Why was this so hard? Three words: Two hour show. That's right 120 minutes of pure singing. We got a 5 to 10 minute intermission, but besides that it was guns blazing. And it wasn't packed with easy filler music either. It was HARD music.

Our Sets

Armaque cum scuto
Christus resurgens

Un Soir de Neige (Poulenc)
I. De grande cuilliers de neige
II. La bonne neige
III. Bois meutri bois perdu
IV. La nuit le froid la solitude

Zion's Walls
Down to the River to Pray
Followers of the Lamb

Cantate Domino (Monteverdi)
Kyrie for Double Choir (Rheinberger)
Alleluja, Christus Resurrexit (Mawby)
Gloria (Knauf)

Intermission

Evening Wind
Oread Farewell

Go Down Moses
Balm in Gilead
Ezekial Saw the Wheel

Si ch’io vorrei morire
Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine

And then with the Alumni of Singers we sang:
Sure on this Shining Night (Lauridson)
I Got Rhythm (arr. Staheli)
How Can I Keep from Singing (Staheli)
I mean, this thing was a beast! And there was no swapping out the way we usually do with Concert Choir. Usually we swap with Concert Choir and go back and forth between our sets, but we did not have that luxury this time. It was all us all the time.

It was really amazing doing this though. I felt like I had slain a dragon by the end. It felt so good singing all this amazing music, it was a wonderful feeling. Especially Leonardo. We really have never sung it better, even when it was stuck at the end and we were all tired. And singing with all the Alumni was amazing. We really are standing on their shoulders. They've helped build something amazing, and we're all just enjoying the harvest. They're heros in my book.

Next was our HUGE production for PBS, "The Pilgrim's Journey Home," We've been planning this one for three years. We were supposed to do it last year, but it ended up not happening. This year, however, it worked out great! Each ensemble (including the orchestra) had two solo pieces each. BYU Singers sang "Saints Bound for Heaven," by Howard Helvey, and "I Feel Like I'm On My Journey Home," by Dr. Staheli. The latter piece was really satisfying to sing. Even though we've been singing this the whole year I never tire of it. It's message is really piercing, and the arrangement is just exquisite. When we sang it both nights, it was probably the best we'd ever sung all year. Both nights were amazing.
Then we had the combined numbers. Concert Choir and Singers did two combined pieces. We sang "Whither Goest Thou Pilgrim, Stranger?" by Dr. Staheli, and "Homeward Bound," by Marta Keen. The later of which was a beautifully delicate setting that is really comforting. Men's and Women's Chorus had a combined piece with the orchestra, they sang "When Jonny Comes Marching Home." The four choirs had a combined piece and sang "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?" by David Zabriske. Then, the entire group had three combined pieces at the end. "Pilgrim's Song" by Ryan Murphy (now associate director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), "Come, Come Ye Saints," by Leroy Robertson, and "Lead Kindly Light" by Mack Wilberg.

It was really interesting filming this, an entire night was dedicated to just filming the combined pieces without an audience. This is a huge deal! Ain't no messin' around. Some of my highlights from the weekend include the combined choirs doing the wave. We got really slap-happy tired between takes, and there was no audience so why not? Also, Having all the combined choirs in a circle was really quite an amazing sight. I can't think of a more beautiful sight then over 450 singers all on the same stage, singing so beautifully and sharing the same message. It's really unforgettable to see the circle close up and everyone contribute to something beyond us. Nothing can quite take the place of that.

Music and the Spoken Word

Ha Ha! I'm blogging back in time! Betcha didn't know you could do that! Anyway, I wanted to share about my experience on Music and the Spoken Word.

So, Our call time was 7:20 in the morning. That's when we had to be there ready to sing. I'm not exactly a morning person so this was a little hard. To soften the blow, I decided to stay at my Grandma's condo up in Salt Lake. It's right across the street from the LDS Conference Center, so virtually no travel time! Still had to get up wicked early. So, after early wake up, short breakfast, beautification, I was ready to go.

Getting there we rehearsed for a bit in this room with a way low ceiling. Warming up such difficult repertoire early in the morning is super hard. But the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square gave us cookies! They're awesome. After our warm up and individual rehearsal we went up to join the choir in the loft.

They put us in the center section and sat and listened to the Tabernacle Choir rehearse. Dr. Wilberg is meticulous when he rehearses. We're used to the same finickiness from Dr. Staheli, but it just seemed a little odd coming from Dr. Wilberg for some reason, I'm not sure why. Anyway, he had some brilliant things to say ("Men, put it in the top shelf"). He knows exactly what he wants and knows exactly how to get it. We then rehearsed some of our pieces together and our solo pieces. We sang "There is a Balm in Gilead," and "Whither Goest Thou Pilgrim, Stranger." The latter of which is actually rather difficult for us because, we're used to singing it with Concert Choir and their huge sound. Alas, there's only 40 of us. We did well though.

Next came our taped run through of the entire program. For some reason, singing for TV is ten times more stressful than it normally is. I mean, we've sung in front of cameras before, but Live TV is even more intense. After that came a break, and then the main event, the 9:30 downbeat. It was pretty exciting I must say. What a great challenge and wonderful opportunity.

I was surprised to find that rehearsal was so short. The responsibility is really on every single singer. If you're not there, you're not there, and ain't nobody gonna pick up the slack after you. I was also surprised to find that there weren't more briefings and policies about what you can and cannot do during a broadcast, or what to do in case something happens. I was also surprised to find myself really really tired at the end. Probably more tired then even our huge two hour concert (more on that later). I dunno.

Anyway, singing with the Tabernacle Choir on Music and the Spoken Word was a thrill. I highly recommend it to anyone out there. It's really quite exciting to sing with 300 really great musicians who are volunteering their time just like you.
P.S. Some guys from the Tab choir starting making fun of our ladies' outfit with their blue sparkles. The ladies basically retorted, "You're one to talk, you're wearing a burgondy blazer!" And the pot calls the kettle black. Hilarious.

Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine

This is a video we worked really hard on. Come see our Concert this Saturday!

Leonardo Dreams from BYU Singers on Vimeo.

I could really use a . . .

. . . massage. Anyone know a good place in the Utah Valley (preferably Provo area)?

P.S. I took two tests today: Music 302 (Music Lit) and 352 (Pro Tools). I don't think I did all that well on 302, but I feel fine. I'm not stressed out or anything. I actually feel relieved. The first time that's ever happened. When I took Music 301 tests I got physically sick from the stress. No fun.

P.P.S. I'm getting an MBox 2 this week with Pro Tools! Finally! My own copy of Pro Tools! Stay tuned.

Hilarious Commercial Right Up My Alley

If you're a choir nerd and a sound geek, you'll love this. P.S. Don't adjust your volume.



P.P.S. Name that tune . . .

Radiohead at the Grammy's

I love Radiohead (my favorite album is Kid A) and I saw them perform on the Grammy's with the USC Marching Band. I'm not a huge fan of marching bands, but this was flippin' brilliant. Here's the video:



Congrats Radiohead on the two Grammys!

Winter Choirfest and "Leonardo Dreams"

I've been waiting for a while to talk about this concert for a little because it was really good. Well, actually, it's because I'm lazy, but let's not play the blame game. Basically this is a concert where all the choirs get together and sing in the Provo Tabernacle. Some of the highlights for me were:

- Concert Choir singing "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes," and "The Battle of Jericho."

- Men's Chorus singing "El Yivneh Halgali."

- Woman's Chorus singing "We Are Pilgrims on a Journey" by Jared Oaks.

The were all spectacular.

BYU Singers sang three pieces: "Heartland" by Gary Fry and "Sure on this Shining Night" by Morten Lauridsen, but our masterpiece was "Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine" by Eric Whitacre. And it was breathtaking.

The idea behind this piece was to make a motion picture soundtrack to Leonardo da Vinci's dreams about flight. Eric Whitacre uses an amazing mix of old and new as he writes in his own style and quotes from Monteverdi's madrigals and imitative counterpoint. The poet, Charles Anthony Silvestri also takes Italian fragments from Leonardo's own notebooks about flight and sprinkles them throughout his own text. The second half of the piece is simply called "The Flight," where Leonardo "takes one last breath and leaps." The choir then starts to make sounds like a Renaissance engine with noisy motors, gears, propellors and wind. The song then ends with Leonardo flying away into the distance. It's an incredibly fun song to sing.

At first I didn't really get into this song that much, until our director, Dr. Staheli told us that he considers this piece to be sacred music. It's not really about Leonardo or a flying machine, it's about all of us and our dreams, visions and aspirations. It's about the dreams that we fear to actually live, but haunts us to the extent that we just can't live with out it. When you take that perspective, this song is no longer a gimmick, but a truly spiritual piece with a strong message that grabs the listener and doesn't let go. The feeling of the music and text is almost mercurial. We revel in the thoughts of flying, frightened by the fear of failure and then tortured to return again to our contemplations. We come to the point where Leonardo "steels himself" on the point of no return and jumps into the unknown, only to find that he grows wings on the way down. "The triumph of a human being ascending in the dreaming of a mortal man."

Because of these insights, this piece has taken on a completely new role in my life. It means so much to me now. And everytime I start to fear what I can do in my life, I'm reminded that what I need to do is "take one last breath and leap."

I'll post a recording for you all once I get my hands on one.