Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • WINTER 2018 • PAN PIPES 15 and persistence of its members. BCF has received some small Maryland State Arts Council grants and some donations from friends and the composers themselves. For a period of time it had a grant writer who brought in some very interesting grants, oen not a lot of money, but helpful nonetheless. e concerts are also funded through member's yearly dues and fees required for composers whose works are selected for performance. BCF also pays ASCAP and BMI membership dues. Attendance has fluctuated, sometimes small, sometimes large, and there is not a consistent following that comes to the concerts. e 20 th anniversary concert drew a large audience, and years ago when a number of Peabody students were members, they would invite their friends to come to the concerts resulting in big audiences. Most oen the composers, whose works are being presented, invite friends and relatives to the concerts and those attendees combined with a few non-affiliated audience members, who come because of our mailed postcards and posted flyers, make up the concert audience. Some goals for the future: increase audience size and public awareness of the unique Baltimore Composers Forum concerts through featured publicity articles or reviews in newspapers as well as interviews on the Baltimore classical music station. However, many of these publicity opportunities require additional funding, a challenge for such a small group. Composer Joy e joy of being involved in this group is derived from the support given to the composers through friendly encouragement, gentle critique, and the aesthetic delight received from hearing each other's newly composed works. Some are young composers in graduate school, some academic composers who teach or have taught at colleges and universities, some free-lance performers, and some have had an avocation of writing music while they made their livings in other ways. Each composer, though, has a distinctive and differing voice that needs to be heard, appreciated, and supported. In a number of cases, as a result of their involvement at these concerts, composers have developed more lasting and deeper friendships. Ljiljana recalls that during her tenure on the board: "We had an enthusiastic group of composers who in big numbers came to our events regardless whether they had their own works on the program or not. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that we had a lot of young members as well as monthly scheduled meetings where people had an opportunity to get to know each other and discuss everything related to BCF. We had between five and eight composers at each meeting and we had between ten and twelve members at the time. Everyone was kept in the loop by getting the minutes from the meetings. I think there was an excitement and enjoyment in being part of a very diverse group of composers, not only in style but also in age and experience." Garth remembers that "my membership in the BCF came at a crucial moment in my career. I needed opportunities that it offered. But it also gave me a li emotionally and brought much needed confidence to me-not only musically, but also in life in general." Igor Stravinsky in his book, Poetics of Music states: "I think at this point of the gospel parable of the woman in travail who 'hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.' How are we to keep from succumbing to the irresistible need of sharing with our fellow men this joy that we feel when we see come to light something that has taken form through our own action?" e Baltimore Composers Forum makes it possible for its member composers to experience the composer joy Stravinsky speaks of in his book. So, Happy 25 th Anniversary to the Baltimore Composers Forum, and many more years of composer joy! Hollis oms, composer, educator, and researcher, has had a number of articles published in Pan Pipes over the years. He has written almost 150 musical works and has had over 40 articles published in journals. Most recently, he has had his newly composed opera "And did the world with devils swarm, all gaping to devour us…" premiered by the Bach Concert Series in Baltimore under the direction of T. Herbert Dimmock to commemorate the 500 th anniversary of the nailing of the 95 theses by Martin Luther in Wittenberg. In addition Music, Gettysburg! will present a program of his music (and fellow composer Garth Baxter) for voice and piano during its 2018-2019 concert season. His composer website is: www. hollisthoms.com FOR MORE INFORMATION visit baltimorecomposersforum.com COMPOSERS

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