YOUR OWN PRIVATE IOWA - Episode 17: Bryon and Rachel Dudley

Last week Bryon and Rachel Dudley joined me in the studio to gab about their projects and the life of running a small record label out of Ames, Nova Labs. It was a great talk with some fantastic songs by the pair, and they even played some new records! I really had fun sitting down with these friends of mine and getting to know them better!

This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm All Recordings done in the Studio at [88.5 KURE Ames Alternative]

IOWA MUSIC SHOWCSE PODCAST - Episode 60: Music from The Iowa Composers Forum

On this episode, we feature four pieces from the Iowa Composers Forum, a group of composers based in Iowa. These and other compositions will be featured on their upcoming festival in Iowa City on February 10. They represent the range of styles that our classical composers use.

Brooke and I hope that you will enjoy this exploration into Iowa's classical music. If you do, then check out some of the shows that The Iowa Composers Forum puts on regularly. The latest, Winter Festival of New Music, will be at The University of Iowa School of Music, in Iowa City, on Feb 10th. More information and links are listed below!

Before I go, I just thought I'd let you know that you can listen to and/or get the score for many classical pieces by Iowa composers on their website! Just hit where it says "Catalog"! Here's the link - http://www.iowacomposers.org/?page_id=112

IMSC Ep 06 - Song 1: "Charlottesville" written and performed by Brooke Joyce

Charlottesville — On August 11 & 12, groups of mostly white men gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, to march with torches and shout declarations of white supremacy. In the ensuing counter-protest, many were injured, and one young woman and two Virginia state troopers were killed. I have lived in Charlottesville, my wife grew up there, and our family has visited many times. This tragedy shook us to the core. For some reason, Oscar Peterson's great Civil Rights Era anthem, "Hymn to Freedom," repeatedly played in my mind as I read about the events of the weekend and saw photos. I decided to compose a piano solo based on Peterson's music; it is a tribute to those who stand up to hatred and fearmongering
- from an email sent by Brooke Joyce to this website

"Brooke Joyce’s music has been described as 'vividly pictorial' (San Francisco Chronicle) and 'exceptionally gripping' (Los Angeles Times) and has been performed by soloists and ensembles around the world, including the Indianapolis Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, the Brentano Quartet, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Nash Ensemble, and tenor James Gilchrist. He is the recipient of the Joseph Bearns Prize, the Wayne Peterson Prize, the Darius Milhaud Award, and many citations from the National Federation of Music Clubs and ASCAP. Brooke is the Composer-in-Residence at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, chair of the Iowa Composers Forum, and a founding faculty member of the International Music Festival of the Adriatic.
- from an email sent by Brooke Joyce to this website

Lineup:
Brooke Joyce - piano

IMSC Ep 60 - Song 2: "In the Dragon’s Mouth" written and performed by Eric McIntyre

""In the Dragon’s Mouth" (2014) is another of those compositions where I have the pleasure of doing a bunch of things that used to get me kicked out of junior high band class. Audio materials were recorded in Yellowstone National Park’s Mud Volcano thermal area where a massive, seething hot spring, called the Dragon’s Mouth, bellows unceasingly. When I arrived at midnight to record the springs, the whole area was buried in a thick fog, and I found myself wading into an other-worldly realm with the groans of the dragon’s mouth accompanied by coyotes crying in the distance."
- from an email sent to the website

"Eric L. McIntyre is a Professor of Music at Grinnell College; Music Director, Central Iowa Symphony; composer, conductor, hornist; part-time farmer, butcher, visual artist, performance artist
- from an email sent to the website

"Eric McIntyre maintains careers as a conductor, composer, instrumental performer, and educator. At Grinnell College he teaches music composition courses and directs the Grinnell Symphony Orchestra. He also contributes to Grinnell's Liberal Arts in Prison Program, for which he has presented lectures, taught credit-bearing courses, and conducted several performances of the Grinnell Symphony at Newton Correctional Facility. His current research interest involves the teaching of music listening skills among incarcerated populations.

"McIntyre is Music Director of the Central Iowa Symphony in Ames and has served as the leader of the brass program for the Swakopmund Musikwoche festival in Swakopmund, Namibia. His past music director positions include the Fort Dodge Area Symphony, Ottumwa Symphony, and the new music ensemble AURA.

"McIntyre's original compositions have been performed around the world by a wide array of performers and received support and awards from ASCAP, the Iowa Arts Council, the American Music Center, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Equally adept as a hornist, McIntyre was a member of the Houston Ballet and Houston Grand Opera Orchestras and has performed with the Houston Symphony, Des Moines Symphony and Orchestra Iowa.

"McIntyre received B.M. and M.M. degrees in music performance at Indiana University where he was also awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate. He then attended the European Mozart Foundation academy in Kraków, Poland, and later earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music composition from the University of Houston Moores School of Music."
- from his page on the Grinnell College website

Ep 60 - Song 3: "The Shriek of Silence" written by Logan Larson and performed by Lisa Neher and Abbie Corrine

"There is a silence where hath been no sound, There is a silence where no sound may be, In the cold grave—under the deep deep sea, Or in wide desert where no life is found, Which hath been mute, and still must sleep profound;No voice is hush’d—no life treads silently, But clouds and cloudy shadows wander free. That never spoke, over the idle ground: But in green ruins, in the desolate walls Of antique palaces, where Man hath been, Though the dun fox, or wild hyæna, calls, And owls, that flit continually between, Shriek to the echo, and the low winds moan,— There the true Silence is, self-conscious and alone." (Thomas Hood)

"Logan Larson is a classical music composer originally from Waukee, Iowa. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Music at Luther College (’16) in Decorah, Iowa. While at Luther he studied composition under Dr. Brooke Joyce. Logan now studies under Dr. Forrest Pierce while pursuing his Masters in Music Composition at the University of Kansas. His compositions have premiered on three continents including North America, Europe, and Australia. His choral music has been performed largely in the Midwestern United States and his vocal music has received more international recognition. Three of his vocal works have premiered in Italy, along with performances in the United States. In terms of instrumental works, Logan is known for his fusion of classical music elements with more contemporary music techniques found in genres such as electronic dance music. He has been fortunate enough to work with fantastic musicians from around the globe and has been commissioned to write works for groups such as the Grammy-nominated string quintet Sybarite5."
- from Logan Larson's homepage

"Mezzo-Soprano and composer Lisa Neher (DMA) thrives in the crossroads of the concert hall and the theatre stage. Trained as a stage actress, she is equally at home in the worlds of opera and spoken theatre, bringing dramatic specificity and committed physicality to her performances. Lisa’s compositions are shaped by her keen sense of dramatic timing and feature aching, lyrical phrases, energetic rhythmic motives, and intensely dissonant pitch clusters."
- from Lisa Neher's home page

Lineup:
Lisa Neher - vocals (mezzo-soprano)
Abbie Corrine - piano

IMSC Ep 60 - Song 4: "Aus tiefer Not" written by Jeremy Maas and performed by Gregory Peterson

"Originally written for a concert commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, “Aus tiefer Not” draws upon the tune and text of a hymn written by Martin Luther. The first line of the German hymn, 'Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir,' translates roughly to 'From deep affliction I cry out to you.' While I intend the music to create a space for contemplation or prayer, I also seek to express the voice of the text: a desperate call to a distant God." - from an email sent to our website

"Jeremy Maas (b. 1994) is a composer living in Iowa City. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Music Composition at the University of Iowa while working as a graduate assistant in Music Theory. He previously completed a Bachelor’s degree in Music from Luther College. His music has been performed by the JACK Quartet, Sybarite5, as a part of the Midwest Composers’ Symposium, the Exchange of Midwest Collegiate Composers, the Iowa Composers’ Forum, IMFA (Italy), and on MPR. Jeremy has studied composition with Josh Levine, Stefano Sacher, Steve Smith, and Brooke Joyce."
- from an email sent to our website

"Gregory Peterson has been hailed as an organist with "imagination and verve." His playing is described as "competent and stylish" (The American Organist) and "excellent and masterful" (Barometern — Sweden). A frequent soloist, he has given recitals in important venues including Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama, Trinity Church, Boston, the Memorial Music Hall, Methuen, Massachusetts, the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Mission Church), Boston and New York City’s famed Riverside Church and Central Synagogue. European venues include the Berlin Cathedral; Helsinki’s Rock Church; St. Anne’s Church, Warsaw; St. Nicholas Church, Prague; St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden and St. Augustine’s Church, Penarth, Cardiff. He has also performed at national and regional conferences of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and throughout the United States. He is featured on the critically acclaimed compact disc "Heroic Sounds," released by Denouement Records, recommended for "nice music superbly played" (Journal of the Association of Anglican Church Musicians) and "Dieterich Buxtehude: A 300th Anniversary Celebration" released in 2007 by Luther College. He is represented by Concert Artist Cooperative of Sebastopol, California.

" Dr. Peterson is Associate Professor of Music at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa where he teaches applied organ and church music. He also conducts the Luther Ringers and serves as College Organist and Cantor to the student congregation, playing for daily and Sunday chapel in the College’s Center for Faith and Life on the 42-stop mechanical action organ by Robert Sipe. A dedicated and expert professional church musician for more than twenty years, he served the historic Old South Church on Boston’s Copley Square as Organist and Minister of Music from 1997-2005. At Old South he directed the Old South Choir and Old South Ringers and performed regularly with the Old South Brass, Organ and Timpani Ensemble including the ever-popular annual First Night Concerts on New Year’s Eve. Prior to his appointment in Boston he was Christ Chapel Organist and Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota."
- from Gregory Peterson's page on the Concert Artist Cooperative website

Lineup:
Gregory Peterson - organ