SAI Friend of the Arts Donald Reid Womack lives
in Honolulu, HI, working as Associate Professor and
Chair of Composition/Theory at the University of Hawaii.
He recently completed Southern Portraits, a
48-minute symphony whose three movements are inspired
by places and cultures of the Southeastern United
States. Presently, he is working on a violin concerto,
commissioned for Ignace Jang, concertmaster of the
Honolulu Symphony, scheduled to premiere in Honolulu
in the fall of 2002, with subsequent performances
on Maui and in Tennessee. Womack produced two concerts
of new music for saxophone and piano at the University
of Hawaii and at the performing studio of Hawaii Public
Radio. He was featured on Background Music,
an hour-long Hawaii Public Radio program, including
an interview discussing his musical influences, with
excerpts from his own works. Funded by the University
of Hawaii, a new CD will include 3D, written for saxophonist
Todd Yukumoto and pianist HyeKyung Lee, and Blue
Two, for alto/soprano saxophone and piano.
Premieres
Blue Two received its first performance with
Yukumoto and Lee, in Honolulu. Also premiered in Honolulu
were Na Iwi o Pele (The Bones of Pele), for
SATB ensemble, commissioned by Honolulu Symphony clarinettist
Norman Foster, with two performances at the Red Hot
Lava Chamber Music Festival; and Three Blues,
for violin, cello, and piano, commissioned by the
National Music Teachers' Association in conjunction
with the Hawaii Music Teachers' Association, with
Ignace Jang, I-Bei Lin, and Ronald Morgan.
Performances
3D was played in Honolulu by Yukumoto and
Lee.
