Mission Possible . . . and Essential! Part 1: Composition

The mission of the American Choral Directors Association is to inspire excellence in choral music through education, performance, composition, and advocacy.

               

Rare is the choral conductor who has not longed to be able to talk with a Mozart, or a Brahms, or a Bach.  As ‘re-creators’ of their music, we would hang on every word as these great musical minds shared insights into the motivation behind their work, or explained a facet of performance that could not be conveyed by the score.

 

So when we have an opportunity to perform music of a living composer, we count it as a special joy.  Contemporary composers can be reached directly, they can help us understand the meaning in their music, and we can hear a performance that they themselves oversaw.  Such composers can help us bring the score to life in ways that will forever remain a mystery with Mozart, Brahms, and Bach.

 

The American Choral Directors Association counts as primary to its mission the encouragement of new composition.  Of the many new works composed for performance at ACDA’s National and Divisional Conferences, none is more eagerly anticipated than the work produced under the auspices of the Raymond W. Brock Memorial Choral Commission.  “Through our dedication to contemporary choral composition, and through endowment gifts of our members, we are able to live out our mission and purpose of inspiring new and excellent choral composition,” said Tim Sharp, ACDA’s Executive Director.  The Brock Series represents the largest commitment the Association makes to any prize or award.

 

ACDA is honored that Pulitzer Prize honoree Steven Stucky has composed the latest work in the Brock Series.  His composition, Take Him, Earth (for chorus and nine instruments) will be premiered by choruses from the United States Military during the 2013 ACDA National Conference in Dallas, Texas.

 

“I wanted to write something universal enough to be appropriate on other occasions, in other settings. Thus the score is dedicated to President Kennedy’s memory,” said Steven Stucky “I assembled a group of texts that are associated with him in some way, but that also stand alone as a more general eulogy.”

 

The world premiere of Take Him, Earth will be held on Thursday, March 14, 2013, in the Meyerson Symphony Hall.