100th Anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is commemorated by new music November 11: Online Premiere, filmed on location

 November 11: Online premiere of "UNKNOWN", a dramatic song cycle, filmed on location

UrbanArias commissioned acclaimed composer Shawn Okpebholo and poet laureate Marcus Amaker

Arts organizations across the country are co-commissioners: Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Opera Colorado, The Dallas Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Opera Birmingham

Soldiers never die until they are forgotten.

Taylor Raven on location

A new set of dramatic songs commemorates the 100^th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

On November 11, 2021 - the date of the Tomb’s centennial - a cinematic treatment of the premiere performance of UNKNOWN with dramatic and historical scenes will be available online for a (newly extended) run of one month. 

UrbanArias, an opera company based in Arlington, Virginia, commissioned the composer Shawn Okpebholo and the poet Marcus Amaker to write a song cycle for this occasion. The two had previously collaborated on an acclaimed work, Two Black Churches.

Shawn Okpebholo, composer

Baritone Schyler Vargas on location for "UNKNOWN" filming 

Marcus Amaker, poet

UNKNOWN explores the ideas of war, honor, and memory through the eyes of soldiers, family members, and Tomb Guards who are connected to each other and the Tomb through their mutual service and sacrifice. The Tomb Guards' motto, “Soldiers never die until they are forgotten. Tomb Guards never forget,” captures the solemn and profound significance of their duty.

If death has a sound,

then I am now its echo.

Silence will soon

pass through me...

...and I will remember

that I was made

to have an ending.

Excerpt from UNKNOWN - words by Marcus Amaker; music by Shawn Okpebholo

Featured performers are baritones Michael Mayes and Schyler Vargas and mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven, accompanied by members of the Inscape Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Robert Wood, the Founder and Artistic Director of UrbanArias and directed by Kristine McIntyre.  The online premiere of the film of UNKNOWN is on Thursday, November 11, 2021, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Register now for free on-demand streaming on UrbanArias website.

Co-commissioning companies include Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Opera Colorado, The Dallas Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Opera Birmingham. Major support for the commission is also provided by Stephen E. and Dorothy P. Bird of Denver, CO. Calendar Listing UrbanArias presents the world premiere of UNKNOWN a dramatic song cycle commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier November 11, 2021 streaming video premiere Register at UrbanArias.org for free on-demand streaming music by Shawn Okpebholo poetry by Marcus Amaker Michael Mayes, baritone Schyler Vargas, baritone Taylor Raven, mezzo-soprano Biographies A widely sought-after and award-winning composer, Shawn E. Okpebholo (oh-PEB-oh-low) Okpebholo creates music that is diverse, dynamic, and genuine. He has been described by Augusta Read Thomas as "...a beautiful artist ...who has enormous grace in his music, and fantasy and color." His artistry has resulted in numerous prizes and honors, including The American Academy of Arts and Letters Walter Hinrichsen Award in Music, First Place Winner of the 2020 American Prize in Composition (professional/wind band division), the Inaugural Awardee of the Leslie Adams-Robert Owens Composition Award, and many others. He is Professor of Music Composition and Theory at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music in Illinois. Marcus Amaker (AM-uh-ker) was named Charleston, SC’s first Poet Laureate in 2016. In 2021, he became an Academy of American Poets fellow. He’s also the award-winning graphic designer of a national music journal (No Depression), an electronic musician, the creator of a poetry festival, and a mentor. In 2019, he won a Governor’s Arts award in South Carolina, and was named the artist-in-residence of the Gaillard Center, a world-renowned performance and education venue. Marcus has recorded three albums with Grammy Award winning drummer and producer Quentin E. Baxter. His ninth book is Black Music Is, from Free Verse Press. UrbanArias is dedicated to comissioning and producing short, contemporary operas – works that are up to 90 minutes long, and written within the last 25 years. UrbanArias brings engaging, accessible, and entertaining operas to audiences in the Washington, DC area and around the globe. Inscape Chamber Orchestra Robert Wood, Conductor Kristine McIntyre, director

HarvardPress.com: Sounds of Stow Chorus & Orchestra: "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes" by Adolphus Hailstork, Sun. Nov. 21, 2021, 2 PM, Hale Middle School

 

Adolphus Hailstork

The Harvard Press

October 29, 2021

After more than a year-and-a-half of silence, the Sounds of Stow Chorus and Orchestra is delighted to announce its first concert of the 2021-2022 season on Sunday, November 21 at 2 pm at the Hale Middle School in Stow, MA.

The program, selected by Artistic Director Barbara Jones, consists of four pieces, all by living composers, and speaks to themes of renewal, reflection and finally, of exuberant release. 

***

Adolphus Hailstork’s three movement cantata I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes expresses confidence of help and hope;  asks the ageless question of how long mankind will suffer hardships; then finds an answer through the consoling text of the 23^rd psalm.  The work concludes with a joyful, gospel choir expression of Alleluia!  The chorus and orchestra are joined in this dramatic work by renowned tenor soloist Fred VanNess.  

John Malveaux, President of MusicUNTOLD, briefly chatted with composer Michael Abels before LA Opera Off Grand presented "GET OUT" Oct. 29, 2021

Michael  Abels

DC Singers

John Malveaux of MusicUNTOLD.com writes:

On February 18, 2018, MusicUNTOLD presented composer Michael Abels the 2017 Composer of the Year Award at the Michelle Obama Library in Long Beach, Ca for the original motion picture soundtrack of “GET OUT”.  Attorney Michele Anderson, Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, was host for the honoring. The ceremony included two interviews covering the film score, as well as Michael Abels work as a composer of performance music. Following the interviews, the floor was opened for audience Q&A. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6lKpbIuKB4&t=3s

On October 29, 2021, John Malveaux, president and founder of MusicUNTOLD, briefly chatted with composer Michael Abels before LA Opera Off Grand presented "GET OUT" with Live Orchestra featuring composer Michael Abels conducting the  LA Opera Orchestra and The DC6 Singers at The Theatre at Ace Hotel, downtown Los Angeles. Watching the visual GET OUT on a large screen and concurrently watching and listening to a live orchestra and singers on stage performing the film music in front of the audience was a magnificent NEW listening experience. See pictures above of Michael Abels and DC Singers (LA Opera).

Chelsea Opera presents "Songs of Summers Past" on Saturday, November 6 at 8:00 PM, live streamed from St. John's Church in the Village, New York City

Richard Hobson

Chelsea Opera presents... SONGS OF SUMMERS PAST

After an 18-month covid pause, CHELSEA OPERA returns to New York City with a concert of arias, duets and songs on Saturday, November 6 at 8:00 PM from St. John's Church in the Village, 218 West 11th Street.  The hour-long program will feature former lead singers from past productions and will be live streamed, co-produced by Musae.  In-person advance tickets are $20, live stream are $15, and a limited number of tickets at the door are $25.  This program is being underwritten by NYSCA Rapid Grants.  For more information and tickets, visit http://chelseaopera.org/events.html.

The concert will feature Joanie Brittingham and Sarah Daniels, sopranos; co-founder Leonarda Priore, mezzo-soprano, Bradley Bickhardt and Chad Kranak, tenors; and Richard Hobson, baritone; accompanied by collaborative pianist Jestin Pieper.  The program will include selections from Lakmè, Porgy and Bess, Ballymore:  Part One - Winners, The Medium, Rigoletto, Street Scene, L'elisir d'amore, and Tosca, as well as songs by Tosti, Rorem, Gordon, Moore, and Schmidt.

Baritone Richard Hobson made his debut as Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) with Chelsea Opera. He later sang for ten consecutive years at the Metropolitan Opera. Among his many productions at the Met were Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Carmen, Boris Goudanov, Andrea Chenier, War and Peace, and The Nose. At New York City Opera, he sang the eponymous role of Porgy in Porgy and Bess, and Zuniga in Carmen. He is presently an Affliate Artist at Southern University, New Orleans, where he teaches voice and is the founder and director of the resident opera company, Opera Southern.

Now in its 18th season, Chelsea Opera is a professional company presenting fully staged operas with chamber orchestra, and concerts that include various genres. The company provides a nationally recognized venue for professional singers to advance their careers while making opera affordable and accessible to a broad spectrum of the community.  The fine acoustics of the space provide excellent hearing, and its intimacy allows the audience to feel more connected to the performances.  Of Chelsea Opera’s sustainability, Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times noted in June 2009:  “With American opera companies large and small struggling financially and a few going under, [Chelsea Opera is] a patch of encouraging news…”  Following its 60^th anniversary production of Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land in 2014, writer Jon Sobel declared that Chelsea Opera “certainly ranks as one of the country’s preeminent ‘small’ opera companies.”

Formed in 2004 by singers Lynne Hayden-Findlay and Leonarda Priore, Chelsea Opera was launched with an all-volunteer production of Suor Angelica.  Initially, Ms. Priore and Ms. Hayden-

Findlay had only intended to produce this one opera.  However, artist and audience response was so compelling that they agreed to move forward, incorporating the company and obtaining their IRS non-profit designation in a record eight days. They have since produced an extensive range of operas, from standard rep such as Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Don Giovanni, and Tosca, to newly composed works such as Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied which garnered rave reviews from both The New York Times and Opera News, and was revived in November 2015 thanks in part to a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts – Art Works program, one of two such grants the company would receive.

Chelsea Opera has received major support from The Bettina Baruch Foundation, The Amphion, Good News, Ditson, Kovner and Tuttleman Foundations, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), as well as from the Friends of Chelsea Opera.  In-kind support has been provided by JetBlue Airways, the official airline of Chelsea Opera.

For further information, visit www.ChelseaOpera.org or write to ChelseaOpera@aol.com.

OperaCréole: NewOrleansOpera.org: Happy International Kreyol Day!

Givonna Joseph of OperaCréole writes:

Hi Bill, 

The month of October is Creole Heritage Month. 

But today is International Kreyol Day. 

Just wanted to share with you all the info that New Orleans Opera asked me to supply for their website - to celebrate International Kreyol (Creole) Day.

https://neworleansopera.org/5-kreyol-musicians-in-5-minutes/?fbclid=IwAR0_fVvADEEBUvKH0zBA1mlkvTKCsKBPVnzgzK0qwy8el5KuPQYX5es66lM

Have a Bon Day!!

OperaCréole

www.operacreole.org

Givonna Joseph

Founder, Artistic Director

Aria Mason

Co-Founder, Production Director

Office: 504-356-3078

cell: 504-952-5240 

John Malveaux: LAPhil.com: Anthony Parnther will conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic in two November concerts, Nov. 10 and 20, 2021

Anthony Parnther

John Malveaux of MusicUNTOLD.com writes:

Anthony Parnther will conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic in two November concerts, Nov. 10, 2021 https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/1424/2021-11-10/ry-x-with-the-la-phil and Nov. 20, 2021 

https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/1476/2021-11-20/reel-change-kris-bowers.  See pic (LA Phil)

NYCityNewsService.com: While working on “Sonata” the first piece in her program, Shao reached out to the celebrated Black composer Adolphus Hailstork

Adolphus Hailstork

NYCITY NewsService

A student-powered service at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism

October 27, 2021

Hannah Fullmer

The tools of the trade in Sophie Shao’s world haven’t changed much in hundreds of years. She calls the cello old technology, laughing about its horsehair bow and a design featuring pieces of wood glued together that really hasn’t been altered.

Shao’s main cello is from 1855. With it, she hopes to bring something very new to a free Oct. 30 performance at the BronxArtSpace studio on Governors Island.

Foregoing the standard repertoire of Bach, Pachelbel or Boccherini, Shao will play a solo program of living composers, offering listeners a chance to hear rarely played pieces.  

“I’ve done my share of playing old music. I think we need to learn that,” said Shao. “But I came upon all these different composers. And I was really excited each time I found one of them.”

***

Foregoing the standard repertoire of Bach, Pachelbel or Boccherini, Shao will play a solo program of living composers, offering listeners a chance to hear rarely played pieces.  

“I’ve done my share of playing old music. I think we need to learn that,” said Shao. “But I came upon all these different composers. And I was really excited each time I found one of them.”

***

Shao put together a program of living composers to align with the BronxArtSpace’s mission to promote underrepresented and emerging artists. 

***

While working on “Sonata” the first piece in her program, Shao reached out to the celebrated Black composer Adolphus Hailstork through Facebook and then communicated over email. Eventually, she practiced the piece for Hailstork on Zoom, giving him the chance to offer his notes and ideas. 

Shao described “Sonata” which incorporates melodies from spirituals and choral traditions, as full of character and joy. It is actually the most traditional of Shao’s choices. Still, Hailstork takes it as a given that his music is played less often than pieces in the canon. 

“The repertoire is established. Pieces of new music are fringe repertoire. That’s the way it is and that’s the way it’s always been,” said Hailstork, a professor at Old Dominion University in Virginia. “First they learn the classics. Then some of them have the courage to meet with the wannabes like me.”

***

Sophie Shao will perform at 3 p.m. on Oct. 30 at the BronxArtSpace’s Governors Island studio (Colonels Row 404B) surrounded by art produced by five artists in residence. Admission is free.

Sergio A. Mims: RCMusic.com: The Royal Conservatory Appoints Pianist Stewart Goodyear as Inaugural Artist in Residence

Stewart Goodyear

Sergio A. Mims:

W

Just announced today:

The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) has appointed internationally acclaimed pianist, composer, and RCM alumnus, Stewart Goodyear to a three-year term as its inaugural Artist in Residence.

Flutronix: "Black Being" World Premiere At The Arts Club Of Chicago Thursday, October 28 at 6 PM CDT

Join us in Chicago tomorrow night for the world premiere of Flutronix's Black Being, an immersive electroacoustic song cycle examining the complexities of Black womanhood, featuring newly commissioned text by North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green. Black Being is a co-commission of The Arts Club of Chicago and Cincinnati Symphony. Save the date for the April 20 orchestral world premiere at Cincinnati Music Hall.  

NEWS AND NEXT

Nathalie's featured interview for VAN Magazine

Allison's featured interview on Person Place Thing

Nov 1 | Members of the Chicago Symphony perform Seen | Chicago

Dec 11 | Sō Percussion premieres Note to Self | New York

Jan 11 | Nathalie and Pamela Z with the LA Phil | Los Angeles

The Town Hall and PREformances Chamber Music Collaborative present a reimagined virtual opera "Otello" ....11/18 at 8pm

A Reimagining of 

OTELLO

A PREformances

Chamber Music Collaborative

The Town Hall Presents

OPERA AT HOME

A WORLD PREMIERE OF REIMAGINED

VIRTUAL OPERA OTELLO

TO BENEFIT THE CLASSICAL PROGRAMMING

AT THE TOWN HALL

www.TheTownHall.org

The Town Hall (www.TheTownHall.org) and the PREformances Chamber Music Collaborative have teamed up to bring Verdi’s Otello, virtually, to audiences at home as part of The Town Hall’s new Opera at Home series. The virtual series, beginning November 18 at 8pm, presents operas in under an hour, sung by a diverse group of singers who have graced the stages of great opera houses including Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera

 

Now, due to the pandemic, they are singing from their own homes.

 

At its core, Otello is about a man who falsely accuses his wife of cheating on him, and believes this lie so strongly that he eventually takes her life. Opera at Home’s Otello has captured and brought forth all the important points of the opera so that audience members get a full and rich experience of Verdi’s masterwork, while others are left intrigued and compelled to see the complete version. Although abridged, Opera at Home gives audiences a complete experience and aims to open operatic newcomers to the emotional lure of grand opera.

 

Otello features Errin Brooks as Otello, Allison Charney as Desdemona, and Jordan Charney as The Narrator. The pianist is Craig Ketter.

 

Shot in quarantine with all of the performers and crew members working remotely, Opera at Home’s first production asks the question: Is there a way to create opera virtually? Can performers truly sing to each other when they’re not in physical proximity? What must be undertaken by sound designers to make performers sound like they are in the same space? The PREformances Chamber Music Collaborative undertook this challenge.

 

Artistic director Allison Charney has reimagined and abridged Otello for this virtual presentation with a remote production team who worked to find a way to address the challenges of remote recording. The production team, including sound engineers and video designers, were able to use technology that allowed for graphics, outdoor scenes, and other techniques that a live experience can’t provide. The creative team is led by Tony-Award winning sound designer, Nevin Steinberg as Executive Producer. Opera at Home is a new way for opera lovers to experience opera with the most important values of the form in-tact: performance and storytelling. 

 

PREformances was created to allow artists to perform and workshop pieces of music that they were booked to perform on large stages. The Town Hall and PREformances teamed up in January of this year to present A Season of Hope, a collection of virtual performances featuring high-demand musicians and the works of living composers.

 

“The Town Hall, once the home of the classical music debut, is very excited to bring accessible opera to the masses,” said Artistic Director Melay Araya. “The history of classical vocalists at the hall is one of great pride and diversity in classical music has been a thread throughout the hall’s 100 year history. With a legacy that includes the debuts of Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price, The Town Hall is excited to bring diverse voices and high-quality, accessible classical programming to a wider audience.”

 

Opera at Home is a one-of-a kind program and Verdi’s late career masterwork is the perfect beginning for this new program.

 

All ticket sales benefit the Classical Programming at The Town Hall. 

Opera at Home is made possible by a generous contribution from Cowen Inc.

 

Tickets for Opera at Home are $35, with $20 tickets for students, seniors and those with financial difficulties. For tickets and information, please visit: www.TheTownHall.org.

 

All ticket sales benefit the Classical Programming at The Town Hall. 

 

Opera at Home is made possible by a generous contribution from Cowen Inc.

Errin Brooks (Otello)

ERRIN BROOKS (OTELLO)

American tenor Errin Duane Brooks recently made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Mingo in their critically-acclaimed production of Porgy and Bess, and is featured on the Grammy-Award winning recording. He returns to the Met in both Porgy and Bess and Fire Shut Up In My Bones. Brooks’ other notable recent debuts include as the tenor soloist with the National Chorale in Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes,and at Carnegie Hall in the Lord Nelson Mass, Serenade to Music and Chichester Psalms and at The Lincoln Center Theater as Mr. Charles in Intimate Apparel. Mr. Brooks was also featured in The-Mile-Long Opera: a biography of 7’oclock, and in the world-premiere production of Stonewall. Other recent operatic successes include his star turn as Jean de Baptiste in Hérodiade with the New Amsterdam Opera, Canio in I Pagliacci with Boheme Opera, and Robbins in Porgy and Bess with New York Harlem Productions. Brooks recently won both the Giulio Gari Foundation International Voice Competition and the George London-Kirsten Flagstad Grand Prize Award in the George London Foundation Competition. He has also won top prizes at the Bel Canto, Luminarts Cultural Foundation, National Vocal Arts and the Metropolitan Opera competitions. After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree with honors from Madonna University, his Master of Music degree from Bowling Green State University and his Artist Diploma from Roosevelt University, Brooks was named an Emerging Artist with Chicago Opera Theater and now resides in New York City, where he is represented by Randsman Artist Management.

Forbes.com: Database Of Works By Black Composers Is Available To Artists Seeking Inclusive Repertoires

Margaret Allison Bonds (1913-1972)

William Grant Still (1895-1978)

Forbes

David Lindquist

October 25, 2021

The African Diaspora Music Project is a free online database, but it required more than internet research to build the collection of nearly 4,000 songs and more than 1,200 symphonic works.

Louise Toppin, an opera singer and professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance, worked as a research assistant to music scholars George Shirley and Willis Patterson in the late 1980s. She learned that many works by Black composers haven’t been published, have been underperformed or were never premiered.

Even Margaret Bonds, a high-profile composer of the 20th century, posed challenges in terms of bringing her music to a new audience.

***

The African Diaspora Music Project exists because Toppin amassed one of the largest personal collections of works by composers of African descent. Since the website’s launch in 2019, the database continues to grow as more works are submitted and discovered.

Byron Allen's Allen Media Group Acquires The Free Streaming Service HBCUGO.TV

Acquisition of Leading Free Streaming Service Featuring America’s 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities Expands Allen Media Group’s Streaming Platform Footprint to Reach the African American Consumer Audience

Los Angeles, CA – October 26, 2021  Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, LLC (AMG) has acquired HBCUGo.TV from Symonds-Evans Media, LLC. HBCUGo.TV is the leading media provider for the nation’s 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, (HBCUs). The acquisition expands AMG’s reach to the African American community, cements its relationships with HBCUs and provides highly-rated, culturally significant content to national and global audiences. HBCUGo.TV is the latest in a series of asset-rich purchases by AMG geared to the African American market. AMG recently launched the over-the-air broadcast network theGrio.TV -- and owns the free streaming app and web digital platform theGrio.com -- to bring news, politics, health, entertainment, and relevant original content to viewers worldwide. 

As part of the deal, AMG has also acquired the robust HBCUGo.TV library of more than 5,000 hours of content, featuring the HBCU students and their alumni. The current HBCUGo.TV management team, who has strong relationships with the schools, sports conference commissioners, HBCU presidents, and governing boards will continue to manage the HBCUGo.TV platform.

 

The acquisition also affords HBCUGo.TV an opportunity to bring treasured content to its audiences worldwide, including a first-ever partnership with the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the nation’s oldest historically Black athletic conference, to broadcast 44 Black college games during the current football season, and the men’s and women’s basketball seasons. These broadcasts featuring all CIAA institutions will be featured on the HBCUGo.TV streaming platform (https://hbcugo.tv/live-streams) throughout the season.

“The HBCU brand represents over 184 years of historic excellence, dating back to 1837, which helped cultivate some of the world’s greatest minds and talent, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Spike Lee, Alice Walker, Samuel L. Jackson, Earl Graves, Oprah Winfrey, Chadwick Boseman, Justice Thurgood Marshall, Common, Booker T. Washington, Taraji P. Henson, Judge Kevin Ross, Langston Hughes, Katherine Johnson, Kenya Barris, and Vice President Kamala Harris, to name a few,” said Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group. “HBCUGo.TV positions us to speak to the heart and soul of Black America 24/7, and helps us stay strongly connected with one of the most valuable, untapped audiences in the world.”

“We are thrilled to be a part of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group and his vision to make HBCUGo.TV the ultimate destination celebrating the excellence of HBCUs and their alumni,” said HBCUGo.TV co-founder and CEO Curtis Symonds. “Our pioneer platform offers a global audience all aspects of the HBCU culture and positions the millions of brilliant young minds and alumni throughout the HBCU universe to help change the world for the greater good.”

SaltLakeSymphony.org: Adolphus Hailstork "Sonata da Chiesa for String Orchestra" Saturday November 13, 2021, 7:30 pm, Midvalley Arts Center

Adolphus Hailstork

Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra

Midvalley Arts Center
Matthew Makeever, Robert Baldwin, conductors
Kathryn Eberle, violin

Giovanni Gabrieli Two Canzoni for Brass
Respighi Concerto Gregoriano
Adolphus Hailstork Sonata da Chiesa for String Orchestra
Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Weber

Here is an excerpt from an essay by The Orchestra Now dated September 12, 2020 titled "Adolphus Hailstork's 'Sonata da Chiesa'":

Notes by Kyle Gann, Taylor Hawver and Frances Bortle Hawver Professor of Music at Bard College

Adolphus Hailstork was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in Albany, singing in his youth in the choir of the Episcopalian cathedral, which became a formative experience. 

***

As a composer Hailstork is postmodern, pluralistic, and above all pragmatic. He has written much for orchestra, also for amateur choruses, and a surprisingly large amount of organ music. Much of his music refers to spirituals and African American subject matter, but not exclusively. His style is fluid, ranging from a boisterous modernism to a delicate atonality, to devoutly reverent tonal counterpoint. Sonata da Chiesa illustrates mostly the last mode. The 17th-century term “sonata da chiesa” denoted instrumental chamber music suitable for religious meditation; Hailstork has expanded on the concept to give us an orchestral analogue to a choral Mass. The piece’s seven sections, played without pause, have titles taken from liturgical music: Exultate, O Magnum Mysterium, Adoro, Jubilate, Agnus Dei, Dona Nobis Pacem, Exultate (reprise). The Exultate is a vigorous chorale verging on ecstasy. O Magnum Mysterium is in quieter counterpoint, quite chromatic, yet without abandoning a sense of tonality. Adoro is like a slow dance, with an insistent melody introduced in the viola solo, and in fact the entire work gains color from frequent solos for the first-chair players. The Jubilate is more energetic and highly syncopated with changing meters. The Agnus Dei, the emotional center of the work, is a soft chorale in a minor key, limned by gestures of melodic filigree. Dona Nobis Pacem, a chantlike chorale often in 5/4 meter, gradually crescendos to a final statement of the opening Exultate.