Annual American Composers Update

Robert Jager holds the position of Professor of Music and Coordinator of Academic Affairs -- Music at Tennessee Tech University, in Cookeville.

Jager served as narrator for the first performance of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, for narrator and orchestra, with the Bryan Symphony Orchestra, under John Dodson, in Cookeville, Apr. 6, 1997. On Apr. 26, 1997, Mystic Chords of Memory was played first, with the Rock Valley Community College Wind Ensemble, led by Jack Simon, in Rockford, IL. Gene Pokorney soloed with the Tennessee Tech Tuba Quartet in the premiere of Three Ludes for Tuba Solo and Tuba Quartet, Sept. 6, 1997. On Nov. 21, 1997, the Tacoma (WA) Community Band, led by Robert Musser, introduced A Sea of Glass Mingled with Fire. The American Choral Directors Association Southern Region convention, held in Charleston, SC, Feb. 26, 1997, included combined children's choirs from Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee and a chamber orchestra led by Dodson in the premiere of I Dream of Peace (poems by children of the former Yugoslavia). Staff Sergeant Thomas Vincent and The Air Force Band of the Midwest, led by Jager, presented Concerto for Euphonium and Band at an all-Jager concert conducted by Major Sam Pohl and the composer at the Arkansas Bandmasters convention, in Fort Smith, Aug. 1, 1997.

Besides the premiere, the concert included Esprit de Corps, Third Suite, Stars and Bars, Concerto for Euphonium, Colonial Airs and Dances, The Pied Piper of Hamelin (band version), Preamble, and Epilogue: Lest We Forget. The Breckenridge Woodwind Quintet played Mumblety-Peg at the Breckenridge (CO) Music Festival, July 1997. Roger Behrend soloed with the U. S. Navy Band, led by Lt. Com. John Pastin, in Concerto for Euphonium, Sept. 27, 1997 in Washington, DC. Sinfonia Noblissima was on the program of the Kumamoto College of Music Wind Orchestra, Keizo Ideta, conductor, at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, Sept. 14, 1997.

Concerto for Euphonium; Hal Leonard Publishing Corp., 1997. Old Time Spirit and Sinfonia Hungarica; both by Neil A. Kjos Music Co., 1997. The Last Full Measure of Devotion; Ludwig Music Publishing Co., 1997. Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann and Diamond Variations; reissued as part of Warner Brothers Publications Classic Band series, 1997.

Diamond Variations; Washington Winds, Edward Peterson, conductor; CPP Media Records EL9740CD.

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