Annual American Composers Update
Joseph Willcox Jenkins
Joseph Willcox Jenkins lives in
Pittsburgh, PA, where he holds the position of Professor
of Composition and History at the Duquesne University
School of Music. In the planning stages is a Christmas
record with the Duquesne University Chorus and Chamber
Singers featuring several of Jenkins's carol arrangements.
He is starting many new works and is considering retirement
but has not set a date yet.
Premieres
In 1998, Jenkins conducted the first performances of
Going
Metric (Op. 188, two versions), a suite for young
players, with the Ellis School Ensemble (Apr. 22) and
with the St. Edmund's Academy Orchestra (May 14), in Pittsburgh.
Praise to the Holiest in the Height (Op. 189),
commissioned by the Ben Avon (PA) Presbyterian Church,
was heard first there, Nov. 15, 1998. For the 20th anniversary
of the Pittsburgh Organ Artists Series,
Confluence
(Op. 190) is scheduled to premiere at Calvary Episcopal
Church, Apr. 1999. The Pittsburgh Children's Festival
Chorus and the River City Brass Band, Denis Colwell, director,
presented
Heartland (Op. 187) Apr. 4, 1998, at
Pittsburgh's Carnegie Music Hall.
Performances
On the same program, the same performers presented
Six
American Folk Songs (Op. 185),
A Wee Encore (A
Happy Afterthought) (Op. 179), and
Filiriooriooriay
-- Irish Railway Song. Also heard at Carnegie Music
Hall was
I Hear America Singing (Op. 170), with
the Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble and Chorus, Robert Page,
director, Apr. 24, 1998. On Dec. 6, 1998 in Westerly,
RI, Joseph Ceo led the Musica Dolce Orchestra and Chorus
in
The Westerly Carols (Op. 183), which will become
a yearly tradition there.
Recordings
Heartland and
Gateway West (Op. 155); both
with the Children's Festival Chorus and the River City
Brass Band, Colwell conducting; RCBB Records.
Further Information
