NEW SONG – DON’T LET GO
COMMISSIONED
AND JUST RELEASED BY
KING'S SINGERS: SWIMMING OVER LONDON
After the 2009 Grammy Award-winning Simple Gifts and a world premiere recording of Pachelbel Vespers in March 2010, internationally-acclaimed vocal group The King's Singers return to the studio to record Swimming Over London.
Featuring a diverse array of songs, this latest release captures jazz classics, current hits, and more, all arranged, performed, and recorded with the meticulous attention to detail and artistry that has established The King's Singers as one of the finest vocal ensembles throughout their history. Swimming Over London includes five original songs, commissioned specifically for the disc and written by Mia Makaroff, composer and arranger for Finnish vocal ensemble Rajaton; Ysaye M. Barnwell of Sweet Honey in the Rock; Roger Treece, arranger and performer in Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra ensemble; Alexander L'Estrange, composer and arranger for the Swingle Singers; and Bob Chilcott, a former King's Singer. Chilcott, a respected composer of vocal music, wrote the title track for the album, an evocative tale of a woman stretching her way over London to the coast based on a poem by Charles Bennett. Roger Treece, renowned arranger for groups including Manhattan Transfer and New York Voices, composed an original song ("Keeper of the Seasons") and arranged two contrasting songs: Sarah McLachlan’s beautiful "Angel" and Pat Metheny’s "September 15th."
FORTUNE’S BONES: THE MANUMISSION REQUIEM
WWW.FORTUNESTORY.ORG
www.waterburysymphony.org
Many of you have heard me talk about “The Requiem” for the bones of the slave, Fortune, who died in Waterbury, CT in 1798 and whose skeleton was preserved intact for generations until given to the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury in 1930. Marilyn Nelson’s masterfully written poem recounts Fortune’s story with profound eloquence and it is this poem that I was commissioned to set for the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, chorus and 7 soloists. The REQUIEM premiered in Waterbury, CT on May 9, 2009 with one performance only. The role of Fortune was sung by baritone Stephen Salters and the role of Dinah, Fortune’s wife, was sung by contralto Shannon Finney.
Two additional performances are being discussed: one at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland (2011) and a second in Waterbury, CT in 2012 as the culmination of a broad outreach project in the schools in 5 major cities in Connecticut. I am eager to explore other opportunities to present FORTUNE’S BONES: The Manumission Requiem.
NEW COMMISSIONS
- THE KING’S SINGERS (England)– My composition Don’t Let Go has been commissioned to appear on the King’s Singers next recording. www.kingssingers.com
- The KINGSWOOD OXFORD SCHOOL in West Hartford, CT has commissioned a choral work for their SSAB Choir – CANTABILE which will premiere in March 2010. www.kingswood-oxford.org