SOTN Commission Corner

Minnesota Composers share news about their recent projects in their own words. All quotes below were provided directly by the composers and were compiled by Laura Krider, R&R Chair for MN Composers.

By Laura Krider

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Elizabeth Alexander:

Disenfranchised” was a terrifically exciting commission for me. After taking a deep dive into America’s 200+ year history of denying and marginalizing citizens’ votes, I realized how often the democratic process had been warped into nothing more than a power game. It had been played in every decade of this country’s history, in every state, and by all major political parties. That revelation became the hook of what turned into a silly, satirical, and serious song: “We’re playing Disenfranchised, a game that’s stood the test of time.”

Carol Barnett:

I’ve just finished a suite of Portuguese folk songs for concert band, and am working on a piece for contrabass saxophone, two banjos, two 12-string guitars, and non-electric string bass.

Catherine Dalton:

“I Will Mend the Fence,” with text by Kao Kalia Yang, will be the cornerstone of a concert presented by the Osseo Chamber Choir, directed by Magaret Sabin, at the MMEA Midwinter Clinic on Feb. 14, 2025! Sabin wanted to commission a piece with text by a Hmong writer. She will be bringing in both Kalia and myself this fall to talk with her students. “Summer Still on Earth” was commissioned by CorVoce as part of their tribute concert to Michael Dennis Browne. This concert featured interviews of several local composers as well as Michael.  There is a video of the concert on YouTube here.

Peter J. Durow:

I recently completed a commission for the Litchfield High School Choral Department, Litchfield Illinois, to honor their long-time piano accompanist who passed away. The new composition (Sleep Sweetly, Tender Heart, In Peace) for SATB and Piano will be premiered on October 20, 2024. I am currently beginning work on a new composition for the spring (Gentle is the Joy) that will be premiered on the “Reconcile” program in the Twin Cities as well as a performance at Carnegie Hall in June 2025. I am also writing a setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis text for the choir at Holy Sepulchre London.

Ralph Johnson:

Premiere of “Gifts of the Magi” (a setting of 3 poems by Laurie Richardson Johnson) in concerts by Magnum Chorum on December 21 and 22. Learn more here.

Nicholas Landrum:

Currently finishing a commission for All Saints Church of New York City to be premiered this Fall, finishing recordings of a work for solo timpani that was commissioned by Erich Reippel (principal timpani of the Minnesota Orchestra). I also work regularly as a bass-baritone soloist and chorister around the Minnesota area, and am working on a recording of my “Eternal Light” with conductor Josh Wang for a video series. My piece “Hoc Corpus” is being performed by the Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at the end of September.

Libby Larsen:

The Oratorio Society of New York will perform my piece “Invitation to Music” at Carnegie Hall on November 11, 2024.  I am currently composing a work for well- known singer Kelli O’Hara and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra to be premiered on May 6, 2025 in Norfolk, Virginia.  I am also composing a work for British baritone Roderick Williams to be on November 11, 2025 on The Schubert Club‘s International Artist Series.

Andrea Leap:

As a recipient of a 2024 MSAB Creative Activities Grant, I created a cohort of composer/performers to create music prompted by interviews with older adults.  We had five composer/performers – we each served as each other’s workshopping “resources” as well as each of us creating original material – we will be creating an archival recording of our set of 8 pieces later this fall.  This piece is the result of an interview with a man who in the course of his interview dropped the phrase, “Is that my destination?” – A question that seems relevant at any age and which inspired not only this piece but an additional set of pieces still in process.

Sarah McMahill:

I’m currently working on a commission to notate a melody given to me and to add piano to the song. It’s called “A Child’s Lullaby”, so it will be perfect for young kids. “A Child’s Lullaby” was commissioned by Katie Haun Schuring who created the simple melody and words with her three children. They originally sang the song in unison and decided that they wanted help in turning it into a round with piano. It will be released in January 2025. I’m also writing a chapter for my dad’s book “Laughing at the Devil: A Journey of Spirituality While Living With a Chronic Illness”. I’ve already talked with my dad about an idea I had and he’s given me his blessing. After I’m done with my chapter from the child’s perspective, I’m going to be taking selections from his book to create a libretto and cantata about bringing awareness to hidden diseases. I’ve been working with a few poets from around the world and have been putting their poetry to music: Andrew Burton and Catherine Bell from Canada, Özgü Hafızoğlu from Turkey, and Nhien Vuong from Kansas City, KS and she is of Vietnamese descent.  I’ve also been working with the Wyandot of Anderdon Nation in notating and helping to preserve their traditional music.

David Moore

I am assembling a consortium to fund a TTBB arrangement of my piece “Earth Blessing” – learn more here and contact me if you are interested in helping to make that happen!

Andrew Parr:

I am thrilled that Luke Warren has asked me to rework my arrangement of “Wild Mountain Thyme” for the 2025 ACDA-MN CTB Honor Choir.  I am so excited to hear the singers perform it under his direction! I was also honored to receive a commission this year from Melanie McIver and the Music Association of Minnetonka for her K-3 children’s choir.  The piece will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary!

Kyle Pederson:

full length album of my choral works to be released sometime this year recorded by award-winning ensemble Transept entitled All is Miracle; New SATB commission with Las Vegas Academy of Arts, will set phrases of Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt- it is up tempo, high energy with piano and drum accompaniment, celebrating some of the awesome things about our country and reminding us of our responsibility to preserve our republic. It is meant to be a song students and audiences can all resonate with, whether Democrat or Republican; My extended work, A Vision Unfolding (30 min), is being performed at Carnegie Hall in March…and there’s still space for more singers/choirs. Come join 150+ singers and instrumentalists and also have a blast in NYC when you’re not rehearsing/performing!

Jonathan Posthuma:

An album of my choral music made by Twin Cities choir Kantorei will be released in Fall 2024. This features a range of secular pieces from the past dozen or so years, many of which had never been premiered or recorded!

Shruthi Rajasekar:

This September, new works I’ve written for upper voices & harp are releasing on Corvus Consort’s new album, “Welcome Joy.

My latest choral work, a 15-minute piece called “Whose Names Are Unknown,” has its second commissioned premiere at Reed College (with Prof. Shohei Kobayashi) on November 8. This piece, scored for choir + string quintet, is about climate change, workers’ rights, and the output of a great American author named Sanora Babb (who is finally getting the recognition she deserves! There’s a lot of momentum surrounding Babb right now, and it feels special and urgent to be a part of that). This is from the first commissioner’s performance back in March, at the University of South Carolina (with Prof. Jabarie Glass): link.

Lastly my new piece “To ask is to listen,” commissioned by Wigmore Hall, is premiering there in late November with performers Abel Selaocoe and The Hermes Experiment: link. I’m excited to be back across the pond for that!”

Jake Runestad:

A new piece, “The Lighthouse Keeper,” was just released this spring. Scored for choir, piano, and strings, it is a meditation on friendship and savoring every moment we have in life. “”Mariposa”” is a movement from that piece, now performable with just piano. “A Dream So Bright,” the newest album of my choral/orchestra music was just released with Reference Recordings. This album features two large-scale works: “Dreams of the Fallen” and “Earth Symphony.”

Gary Ruschman:

Recent commissions: “Progressive Lens” songwriting/performing commission cohort with Andrea Leap and Nautilus Music-Theater, work on the film soundtrack of animation legend Phil Tippett’s MAD GOD, and upcoming commissions in collaboration with Afropop legend Siama Matuzingidi and various settings of Buddhist texts for Carol Weingarten.

Steve J Sandberg:

I will be a clinician with the choirs of University of Wisconsin-Platteville with Interim Director Stephanie Klein sometime in the spring, working on several of my compositions, probably including “come autumn,” possibly along with the poet Jen Brady, who is a UW-Platteville alumnus. Also, “A Transylvanian Wedding” for men’s choir, two violins and piano will be published in the Carl Fischer Music Company 2025 catalog.

Timothy C. Takach:

My new opera Computing Venus, which was the 2024 winner of the Domenic J. Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize, premieres in November, 2024 at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. I’m also working on a new 45 piece for choir and strings called We Are Phoenix, with scheduled performances by over 40 choirs around the world.

Mari Esabel Valverde:

I am currently focused on three choral commissions to premiere in the winter and spring. Notably, one of them is for Eagan High School here in Minnesota. The piece is titled “Home,” and the text is by Devondra Banks a Black poet from Houston, Texas. It is devoted to trans folks—and especially families with trans kids—who have relocated due to anti-trans laws criminalizing their identity and care and threatening their personal safety. Voicing for this piece is SSA and piano. In March, I’ll be in Washington for a residency with Seattle Pro Musica, in conjunction with Seattle Public Schools, and in Colorado for a residency in the University of Northern Colorado’s Open Space New Music Festival. I will also be participating on two panels at ACDA’s national’s conference in Dallas, so hopefully I will see folks there. One panel is titled “In Her Voice: Spotlighting Female Choral Composers” with Alan Davis and Lynne Gackle, moderated by Hilary Apfelstadt in anticipation of a book to be published by GIA Publications next year.

Paul Winchester:

I’m currently putting the final touches on a consortium commission of multiple church choir programs across the country using themes from a program called “Soul Matters” as the inspiration. Several Unitarian Universalist congregations use Soul Matters to facilitate themed worship in the absence of a traditional lectionary and the commissioned piece will align with a Soul Matters theme for use in liberal worship.

About Laura Krider

Laura is an arts consultant and singer who lives for making creative projects happen through collaborative artist support and consulting. She geeks out on systems, finds joy in being a point of connection between creatives, and approaches all of her work through the frame of equity and access. Before Laura started her own business, she spent eight years working at the American Composers Forum focusing on youth programs, artist services, composer residencies, and internal administration/communications. As a singer, she frequently works with living composers and performs with ensembles including First Readings Project, Border CrosSing, Lumina Women’s Ensemble, and others. Laura has a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education and a Master of Professional Studies in Arts and Cultural Leadership from the University of MN. Along with her service with ACDA-MN, Laura also serves on the board of Schubert Club. She fills her non-working hours with comedy/culture, good friends, and loving up on her dog Mo.

Reach out to the composers directly and/or Laura if you’re interested in learning more about their projects and commissions and if you have an interest in programming their music!