PEACE & RECONCILIATION

A dream come true…. When I recorded REQUIEM in 2005 with superlative performances by Heidi Fielding (soprano), Dwain Briggs (tenor), Martin Tillman (cello), Alyssa Park (violin), Lily Hayden (violin), Chris Bleth (oboe) and Bernadette Allbaugh (clarinet) the recording was intended as a kind of demo for an eventual SATB choral arrangement. But for various reasons, this was not to be. However I felt the REQUIEM recording had genuine magic, and the beautiful performances by all involved made it so. REQUIEM was subsequently released in 2006. But I had always wanted that SATB arrangement…it was a Requiem after all, and I felt it just demanded the choral treatment. In 2018, as a result of an extraordinary family discovery, I went ahead and hired master arranger Richard Bronskill to arrange all 8 movements of my Requiem, now titled “Requiem for Peace & Reconciliation” for an SATB choir with string quartet. But I still had no idea how I could have the piece performed, let alone recorded. Until a miracle happened… Early in 2019, I was contacted by Ryan Holder, the founding Artistic Director of the Sedona Academy of Chamber Singers (SACS), and the musical director of The Church of The Red Rocks, Sedona, Arizona, to perform in their church. Delighted to accept, I mentioned I had a newly arranged “Requiem for Peace & Reconciliation” which had been neither performed nor recorded, would he be interested to look at the score? Ryan not only was, but also wanted to both perform and record the Requiem. Well, this was totally amazing, as we had never even discussed the recording budget! I mentioned I had two other short SATB pieces which he might like, so we could make an entire album of all my choral work. Ryan thought that was a good idea, and so just like that, all my choral pieces were recorded in the Saint Maria Goretti Catholic Church, Scottsdale, Arizona, with his magnificent 40 member SACS choir beautifully accompanied by the Tetra String Quartet. Only after performing at The Church of The Red Rocks did I learn the whole of the recording session was in fact underwritten by a couple who were members of The Church, and who had been fans of my music for many years. My long sought dream of having my “Requiem for Peace & Reconciliation” performed and recorded was answered, a miracle had occurred… Thank you, John and Suzanne Moore for realizing my dream.