Ola is a truly unique voice, and every new piece of his takes a step forward. My favorite piece was “Contrition,” by Ola Gjeilo, in its American premiere. Next up was Gary Weidenaar’s Central Washington University Chamber Choir.
#Ola gjeilo contrition free
The program was blessedly free of cliché. I loved the integrated use of movement-it was engaging to both audience and the young singers, and supported the music rather than smothering it. Thursday morning’s concert started with the Cheyenne All City Children’s Chorus, conducted by Diane Hultgren. It had great emotional impact on first hearing, and it stood up well in the company of Duruflé and Vaughan Williams, no small task. I was especially taken with the Pacific Sanctus. The performances of each of the pieces would have been terrific, even if they were presented traditional concert style, but the other elements, including three dancers, took it even further. The opening was from the Duruflé Requiem, then parts of the Poulenc Gloria, the Tavener “Eternal Sun,” Robert Kyr’s “Pacific Sun,” and selections from the Vaughan Williams “Dona Nobis Pacem.” I knew we were in for something when the set-up/intermission period was overlaid with a recorded soundtrack that started with what sounded like audience noise and turned into an engaging, interactive aural experience. These parts were stitched together with newly composed pieces by Eric Barnum, who is a grad student there. It was titled “A Mass For Our Time,” taking the structure of the mass as the outline, with each movement taken from different sources. Next up was a program that could be, all by itself, the subject of a long article.
I have been a fan of SPM for years, had high expectations, and they absolutely lived up to them. Clear, precise, energetic, expressive singing and conducting in a program that included some pieces new to me and some favorites, ending with a portion of the Martin Mass for Double Choir. First up was SPM, which was the perfect way to set the bar for the whole conference.
#Ola gjeilo contrition pro
Wednesday night started out with a bang, with a concert featuring Seattle Pro Musica, conducted by Karen Thomas, and the University of Washington combined choirs and orchestra, conducted by Geoffrey Boers. This note is just going to be a quick overview of my favorite concert moments so far. Inspiring concerts, reading and interest sessions that are worth your time, and the chance to rub elbows with some really great people. The NWACDA conference in Seattle has so far been all the things I want from these events. Reg writes great, imaginative music in a variety of styles- his website is at Here is Reg's report:
In fact, that's how Reg and I got our OUP publishing start thanks to Chris's loving guidance (sadly he and OUP parted ways a few years back, a big mistake by OUP management for sure).
Reg and I met at the Oxford University Press/Lehigh University summer composer sessions in 2002 through 2004 led by Steven Sametz and OUP's Chris Johnson. My very good friend/composer/really funny guy Reg Unterseher reports in from ACDA NW in Seattle. In talking to some buddies, I realized that perhaps they could guestblog about some of the other ACDA conferences.
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