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Boyer Fanfare for Tomorrow at Biden/Harris’ inauguration

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Fanfare for Tomorrow, was performed as part of the one-hour Prelude music of the Inauguration ceremony, conducted by the Marine Band’s Director, Colonel Jason K. Fettig.

“The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, America’s oldest continuously active musical organization, is believed to have made its inaugural debut in 1801 for Thomas Jefferson, the first President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C., and to have performed at all subsequent Inaugurations. Since premiering Boyer’s work Fanfare, Hymn and Finale in 2018, commissioned to celebrate the Marine Band’s 220th anniversary, this superb ensemble has performed my music nearly 25 times, including on their 2018 and 2019 tours.

Fanfare for Tomorrow began as a brief piece for solo French horn, originally commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra last year, as part of their Fanfare Project in response to the pandemic. Boyer significantly expanded and developed that music for a full concert band for this commission (with an orchestra version to follow).

Read the NY Times article about the inaugural program.

The score and parts to Fanfare for Tomorrow are available for purchase here.

There is also an orchestra version, which is available on rental.

The Scarlet Ibis

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The Scarlet Ibis is an opera that fuses singers, puppetry and multimedia stagecraft to tell the story of Doodle, a remarkable, disabled boy whose older brother pushes him to be “normal.” Set in rural North Carolina a century ago, the story contrasts notions of physical wholeness versus mystical otherness. Episodic and expressionistic, the narrative draws on elements of Southern Gothic, boy’s adventure and domestic tragedy. It unfolds in thirteen scenes, from Doodle’s traumatic birth to his tragic end. Ingenious set and puppet effects take us to various locations: a house, barn, field and swamp.

The cast includes mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn, countertenor Eric S. Brenner, mezzo-soprano Abigail Fischer, baritone Keith Phares and contralto Nicole Mitchell. The Scarlet Ibis is for adults and teens.

Music by Stefan Weisman, libretto by David Cote
premiered at the 2015 PROTOTYPE Festival
A co-production between Beth Morrison Projects & HERE
Produced in association with American Opera Projects

The piano/vocal score is available for purchase here.

To request a quote for performance of the work, please click here.

Fung HUMANOID

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for solo Violoncello and Electronics

These are the files for the electronic part, which can be used for practice and performance.

Fung_HUMANOID-click-track.mp3 (Audio file with clicktrack (for practice purposes))

Fung_HUMANOID-click-track–Loud.mp3 (Audio file with louder clicktrack (for practice purposes))

Fung_HUMANOID-electronics.aif (Audio file (high resolution, for performance))

HumanoidDownload

TECH RIDER:

Fung_HUMANOID_tech_riderDownload

Danielpour Clarinet Concerto

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Michael Stern, Anthony McGill, Richard Danielpour

Looking for something new to listen to during the pandemic? The Kansas City Symphony has posted a wonderful recording of Richard Danielpour’s Concerto for Clarinet (from the mountaintop) with soloist Anthony McGill. McGill is currently Principle Clarinet with the New York Philharmonic.

Music for Our Time

Scroll down to “Voices of Justice” to hear an interview with McGill, followed by the performance.

This work joins several that were written for McGill by Bill Holab Music composers, including Joel Puckett’s Concerto Duo, a double concerto for flute, clarinet and orchestra which was written for McGill to perform with his brother DeMarre, Principal Flute of the Seattle Symphony.

Dead Man Walking at The Met

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The Metropolitan opera has announced their 2023-4 season, which will feature Jake Heggie’s and Terrence McNally’s Dead Man Walking. Since its premiere in 2000, the opera has had over 70 productions throughout the world, and we are thrilled that the Met will be producing it.

With a cast that includes Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen, Ivo van Hove directing and Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting, this production will be a must see next season!

Torke SKY awards

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Michael Torke’s Sky, performed by violinist Tessa Lark and the Albany Symphony (David Alan Miller, conductor) was nominated for a 2020 Grammy Award as Best Classical Instrumental Solo. Sky was also selected as a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

Torke’s ground-breaking work fuses bluegrass with his unique original musical voice to create a new, fresh take on the traditional violin concerto. The work was commissioned by a consortium of 11 orchestras in the U.S. and Europe, and has been received with resounding acclaim.

Peter Boyer Featured at BMI

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This month BMI features Peter Boyer’s story about his career as a composer, interviewed here by Deirdre Chadwick.

Boyer’s Ellis Island: The Dream of America continues to find new audiences as its message about the essence of what makes America so profoundly unique and great resonates even more today than when it was written in 2002. It has been performed over 200 times by nearly 100 orchestras, and was recently featured on PBS’ Great Performances, with the Pacific Symphony.

Daugherty NIGHT OWL premieres in Virginia

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Last April the Virginia Symphony gave the world premiere of Michael Daughtery’s Night Owl, a 20-minute, 3 movement fantasy on the nocturnal photography and recordings of O. Winston Link.

“Night Owl for orchestra is inspired by the masterful, nocturnal photography and sound recordings by O. Winston Link (1914-2001), who chronicled the last days of steam locomotive powered trains from 1955 to 1960 in the United States and the Norfolk and Western line.

In “Shutterspeed,” I reflect on the technical world of O. Winston Link’s photography and my passion for the medium. With an arsenal of flashbulbs, power generators, tripods and Rolleiflex cameras, he drove his 1952 Buick through the rugged backwoods of the Appalachian Mountains in search of perfect locations. Once discovered, O. Winston Link created meticulously composed photos, which often would take him days to prepare and execute. Since the majority of his panoramic black-and-white photographs of trains were taken outdoors in remote areas and at night, Link developed a unique and complex system of timed flash photography. This allowed him to simultaneously trigger hundreds of lightbulbs to dramatically capture the intricate machinery and steam plumes of the locomotive at the just the right moment. Keeping shutter speed, aperture and focus in mind, I have generated dramatic music in the first movement with the same precision as if taking photographs with my Leica camera.

In the second movement, entitled “Solitude, Virginia,” I focus on O. Winston Link’s photographs of the people who lived in the small, sleepy Appalachian railroad towns and whose lives were intertwined with the railroad: the train signalman and conductor; the shop owner; the farm couple; the teenagers at the drive-in movie theater or the swimming pool. I have composed nostalgic music, which, like the photographs of O. Winston Link, remind the listener of an era long gone. The night music begins softly with intimate horn, oboe and clarinet, solos accompanied by bells from the church tower and bluesy strings. Suddenly out of nowhere, boisterous trombones and timpani interrupt the musical proceedings like a massive steam locomotive rolling into town down Main Street. After the train slowly disappears out of sight, the opening night music returns, featuring mellow solos from the tuba, trumpet and bass clarinet as the town goes back to sleep.

In addition to his iconic photographs, O. Winston Link also made audio recordings of steam powered trains, which were issued on six vinyl records during his lifetime. Link believed that “the train is as close to a human being as you can get. It talks, it moves, it grunts and groans.” In final movement, “Thunder on Blue Ridge,” I translate the sights and sounds of O. Winston Link’s steam-powered trains into a stomping barn yard romp. A pulsating snare drum groove, like the clicking sounds of a locomotive thundering down the tracks, is punctuated by a train bell, harmonica and strings playing ‘behind the bridge.’ A catchy Appalachian-like tune, first played by the woodwinds, is developed and transformed through an array of kaleidoscopic orchestrations and polymetric counterpoints. After a series of virtuosic instrumental interludes, my musical train rumbles to its final destination.”

–Michael Daugherty