Annual American Composers Update
Kirke Mechem
SAI National Arts Associate Kirke Mechem, a San Francisco
resident, received the National Opera Association's 1998
Lifetime Achievement Award. He was a panelist for OPERA
America, Washington, DC, Sept. 12-13, 1997; and for the
National Opera Association, Jan. 16, 1998. For the 1998-99
season, he serves as Composer-in-Residence with the Marin
Symphony. The libretto is complete for his new opera,
The Newport Rivals. In recent years, his articles
have appeared in OPERA America's
Encore magazine
("An American Opera Network," Mar. 1997), ACDA's
The
Choral Journal ("Art and Entertainment," Mar. 1998),
and
Creator magazine ("Commissioning New Choral
Music," July-Aug. 1998). Doctoral dissertations on his
music have been written at Michigan State University,
Cincinnati Conservatory, and Kansas University.
Premieres
To Music, for SATB choir and organ, commissioned
by the Presbyterian Church of Sunnyvale, CA, premiered
at the church Mar. 22, 1998, under the direction of Natasia
Sexton. In May 1998,
Blessed are They, for SATB
choir and organ, commisioned by the Memorial Presbyterian
Church, Midland, MI, was heard first there, directed by
Robert C. Sabourin.
Performances
The Marin Symphony performed
The Jayhawk: Magic Bird
Overture, Feb. 13, and Feb. 21-23, 1998. The Mussorgsky
National Theater for Opera and Ballet, in St. Petersburg,
included
Tartuffe, an opera in three acts, in its
1998-99 repertory. With the Federated choir and orchestra,
under William Foley, soprano Barbara Mattox and bass Bill
Dempsey sang
Songs of the Slave, the suite from
Mechem's opera
John Brown, Mar. 15, 1998 in Cleveland.
In the 1997-98 season,
Seven Joys of Christmas
was heard with the Houston Symphony, Phoenix Symphony,
Lafayette Symphony, Sun Cities Symphony, Marin Symphony,
and many others. The Ohio State University Chorale, directed
by Hilary Apfelstadt, presented
Earth my Song,
a choral cycle with piano, at the ACDA and OMEA conferences.
Publications
Winging Wildly, Op. 64; a cappella SATB choir;
Time:
Lines Found on an Old Bell at Chester, Op.
63, No. 3; a cappella SATB choir and baritone; both by
G. Schirmer.
Recordings
Winging Wildly; San Francisco Chamber Singers.
Five Centuries of Spring; University of Southern
California Chamber Singers.
Further Information
