Sigma Alpha Iota

PAN PIPES SUMMER 2015 SAI-NATIONAL.ORG 6 S AI Friend of the Arts and Composers Bureau member Dan Locklair's Angel Song was given its World Premiere on Sunday, December 21, 2014 by the Choir, Chorale and Choristers of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Dr. John Cummins, Organist/ Choirmaster and Brent Neuenschwander, Assistant Organist, in Winston Salem, North Carolina, as part of a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Angel Song (A Christmas Anthem for SATB Chorus and Organ) was the result of a 2014 commission from John and P.J. Williams in honor of the music program of St. Paul's Episcopal and Dr. Cummins. is commission marks the first such commission for this service, beginning a tradition of a newly commissioned work each year. is approximately five- minute anthem is a setting of a December 1863 Christmas hymn text by Moncure Daniel Conway (1832-1907). His five-stanza hymn text, Now Let the Angel Song Break Forth!, was written by Rev. Conway in Boston in December 1863 during the American War Between the States and only days prior to President Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. e composer writes, "In Angel Song I have sought to musically capture the vibrancy, pain and timeless reflections found in Rev. Conway's expressive words." e piece is published by Subito Music, and is available at store.subitomusic.com/ Dan Locklair's music is widely performed throughout the U.S. and around the world. His catalog includes symphonic works, a ballet, an opera, chamber, instrumental, vocal and choral compositions. Locklair's commissioned compositions have been performed by musicians worldwide, including the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Kansas City Symphony, the St. Louis Orchestra, the Saint omas Choir of Men and Boys of New York City and the Saint Paul's Cathedral Choir of London. Broadcasts of it have included Vatican Radio, Czech Radio, Radio Finland, NPR, the BBC and the CBC. His latest CD is the critically acclaimed Tapestries, Choral Music of Dan Locklair. Recordings of his works are also available on Naxos, Ondine, Koch, Albany, Lo, Priory (UK) and other labels. His primary publishers are Ricordi and Subito. Dan Locklair is Composer-in- Residence and Professor of Music at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. — Jeffrey James, Arts Consulting Chair, Long Island Music Hall of Fame COMPOSERS IN THE NEWS Locklair Premieres Angel Song For more information, visit locklair.com CLICK FOR MORE Elizabeth Allen Front row, front left: composer Dan Locklair, P.J. and John Williams, who commissioned Angel Song. Back row, from left: John Cummins (Organist/Choirmaster of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and Brent Neuenschwander (Assistant Organist of St. Paul's).

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