CMEA
Happy New Year everyone! I am so looking forward to sharing a booth with my colleague Bryan Grosbach again this year. We should have more composers with us this year, so please stop by, check out new music, and say hello!
Publication
My big news is - drum roll please - To Madame Curie, written for SSA and piano is being published by Hal Leonard. It is a piece that I wrote this past summer for the women's choir at Prairie Middle School. Bella Voce is directed by Phil Drozda, a truly phenomenal middle school music teacher. They will be premiering the work on May 14, and I am so excited to hear them. This one is very special for me since my daughter sings in Bella Voce and will be singing with the choir for the premiere. The piece is being published in the Andrea Ramsey Choral Series. I will be sure to let you all know when it is released!
Colorado Mesa University
In October, Bryan Grosbach, Tyler Wiggington, and I traveled to Colorado Mesa University for a Colorado "Composium." The choirs at CMU performed our work, and we also got to spend a couple of days meeting and working with the choirs and their director Dr. Monte Atkinson. We also had a little bit of time to get to know the other choir director at the school, Dr. Graham Anduri. It was an honor and a pleasure to get to work with these singers. They premiered a piece I wrote a few years ago in memory of my dear friend Sarah, In Paradisum. They did a beautiful job on the piece, and I was honored to have them premiere it. You can see the recording here.
Christmas Eve Premiere
On Christmas Eve, I had the pleasure of attending the premiere of Be Not Afraid. I wrote this piece for the Grandview Ward Choir under the direction of Lauren Bales, and I thoroughly enjoyed their performance. I hope to have a recording of that piece up soon - I just have to okay it with their director!
That's all for now! Please come say hello at CMEA.