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Trying something crazy - it might not work, but it's fun to try new things I have a piece that I've arranged for band/orchestra and I was thinking it'd be cool to do a virtual band type recording Here's the link to the project drive - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cYfbUEXY9swZi-ZbNb6YI8oMmblUlloM?usp=sharing I have a piano track playing the melody at the correct tempo to keep everyone on track *IF YOU'RE PLAYING ANY OTHER INSTRUMENT OTHER THAN ALTO SAX, THOSE RECORDING INSTRUCTIONS/RECORDING ORDER ARE FOR YOU - ALTO SAX PLAYERS DISREGARD* Let me know if you have any questions

The Congregational Church of Needham is looking to hire both a tenor and a bass section leader to fill out our professional quartet within an all volunteer choir. Musicians must be fully vaccinated and have a good work ethic: learn music ahead of rehearsal, be on time, sight-read well, and work well with others. Rehearsals are the first and third Thursday of the month from 7:15pm - 8:45pm and usually three Sundays a month from 8:45am - 11:10am. Pay is $61 for Thursday evenings and $91 for Sunday services. Extra services during Holy Week and Christmas (Christmas Concert and Christmas Eve). You will need a car. The church is not T accessible. If interested please send resume and video or audio links to Valerie J. Becker, Director of Music. Valerieb894@gmail.com

The Congregational Church of Needham is looking to hire both a tenor and a bass section leader to fill out our professional quartet within an all volunteer choir. Musicians must be fully vaccinated and have a good work ethic: learn music ahead of rehearsal, be on time, sight-read well, and work well with others. Rehearsals are the first and third Thursday of the month from 7:15pm - 8:45pm and usually three Sundays a month from 8:45am - 11:10am. Pay is $61 for Thursday evenings and $91 for Sunday services. Extra services during Holy Week and Christmas (Christmas Concert and Christmas Eve). You will need a car. The church is not T accessible. If interested please send resume and video or audio links to Valerie J. Becker, Director of Music. Valerieb894@gmail.com

This piece is from a beautiful Georgian folk love poem. During my time in Afghanistan, we did a lot of work with the Georgian military, and I was always very impressed by their culture and music, so I decided to do some research into it. Georgian music is some of the oldest polyphonic music in the world, and that ancient sound is reflected in the "chant" parts of this piece. Modern chordal movements are also included to contrast the old with the new while still maintaining continuity throughout. There is both positivity and pain in this piece which is approprtiate for both the narrator of the poem and for the country of Georgia itself. I recorded this myself (countertenor I recorded down a minor third and then transposed, low basses same thing but up a major second), so excuse the mediocre singing. Net'avi ratme maktsia bulbulad gadamaktsia bulbulis ena masts'avla baghebshi shemomachvia davk'ono okros k'onebi davpero vertskhlis ts'q'alshia saghamo khanze giakhlo chamogiq'aro banshia dilit ro gamosuliq've shig gagekhvios k'avshia ნეტავი რათმე მაკცია ბულბულად გადამაკცია ბულბულის ენა მაწავლა ბაღებში შემომაჩვია დავკონო ოქროს კონები დავპერო ვერცხლის წყალიშია საღამო ხანზე გიახლო ჩამოგიყარო ბანშია დილით რო გამოსულიყვე შიგ გაგეხვიოს კავშია I wish I could turn into something: Turn into a nightingale, And learn the nightingales' language; I'd come to dwell in the garden. I'd gather up golden bouquets, Dip them in liquid silver, I'd come to you in the evening, And lay them on your roof. When you come out in the morning, May they be entwined in your curls!

I wrote a new song in the past 2 days. It is a samba type fusion music. I incorporated my JP-8080 to death and my live horns. Tell me what you think, comment and follow me here or SoundCloud or Instagram @wind_player1 https://www.instagram.com/wind_player1/ Listen to Validus by Cj Rhen #np on #SoundCloud

Hello everbody, This is my first serious choral composition, which I composed to practise counterpoint and voice leading. The piece is an Ave Maria, but the language is Dutch, which made it quite hard to compose music on. It is a hard language regarding accentuation. Dutch text: Wees gegroet, Maria, vol van genade. De Heer is met U. Gij zijt de gezegende onder de vrouwen, En gezegend is Jezus, de Vrucht van Uw schoot. Heilige Maria, Moeder van God, Bid voor ons, zondaars, Nu en in het uur van onze dood. Amen. There is trouble with the audio in this topic, so here is the link: Nevertheless, I am pretty content with it. What do you think? Tips are welcome! Maarten

A small playful piece for my friend who asked me for something fun. Approximate translation: Never mind, never mind, yesterday I had a girl today I have none. Now It's bad, now I'm gone I: my wife sold my oaxes for a bonnet. :I She sold a cow aswell bought herself a thingy-lingy on her head. She sold a stallion too, bought herself laces for bonnet. Never mind, never mind I: yesterday I had a thousand crowns now I have none. :I translation only for understanding the text purposes as always. Any advice on what to try out next in piano+voice songs would be much appreciated. I feel that I am getting stagnant with these "clashing" sharp dissonances at sections where there could be a conventional consonance (the intro would be a nice example and that style of harmonization is in my previous pieces as well). The only thing that differs is stylization and even that one is lacking creativity in left hand. Maybe something contrapunctual with conssonant harmony without the necessary clashes? That might get boring though. An attempt for quartal harmony would be a step up from this. Less harmony changes on a short section and maybe try using silence for tension or letting harmonies last rather than changing them so quickly. Some tip in this spirit would be appreciated. I will try so on my own but a perspective from someone more experienced would be gladly welcomed.

Two pieces from song cycle I was assigned to write at summer semester at conservatory. Tam pod Salatinom has lyrics for a woman singer but my friend liked the piano so much that he took the liberty to change the lyrics a little bit so he could sing it at concert in our city. The second one is a short song I liked because it was fresh and funny and I learned a lot there about how not to complicate things. The main thing I am looking for in critique would be notes on form and piano stylization. For example I learned that Tam pod Salatinom has hard changes for hand and making it unnecessarily difficult to sight read it and even a little awkward to play it. This summer I am trying to work on my form and developing an idea so I can create more cohesive works. The three stanzas of Tam pod Salatinom are based on the meaning of text so each stanza has different stylization. Also I tried to avoid unison of piano with voice to some extent at least since I find it hard to be at home while doing harmonic background for voice and hearing it how it sounds together. So gotta challenge myself in that I suppose. Any other suggestions? What do you guys got to say on harmonies and the sound overall? Looking forward to reviews. EDIT: Lyrics for the songs. Tam pod Salatinom (There, below Salatin) /Salatín is a mountain in Low Tatras, Slovakia/ There, below Salatín rustles a little green mountain, my beloved told me, my beloved told me, that she does not love me so I put a new feather, so I put a new feather behind my hat and I wonder away la dee da dee, la dee da dee to far far away (into the world) In Biely Potok (White Stream/sort of a village south from the city of Ružomberok/) at Biely Potok they play a music for dancing and there in Martinček (another village near Ružomberok) and there in Martinček people celebrate (Bursujú - have fun, eat and dance mostly in a folkish tradional way) A white goose flew, a white goose flew onto the water and she (the girl) lost her freedom (she got married). Mother, do not cry, mother do not cry oh it will be soon, for at the celebration, for at the celebration a beloved one I shall find I will take her, I will take her on a white horse and I will love her la dee da dee, la dee da dee to the final days. Počkaj diouča (Wait girl) Wait girl I have something to tell you wait girl I have something to tell you Yesterday night you didn't want to open for me neither the doors nor the gate not even talking with me Wait girl for you will regret.

This is my entry for the Shakespeare contest. It's an elegiac song upon the famous Macbeth's soliloquy. Hope you enjoy^^

Opus 9, Madrigal no 1, written for SSATB(lyrics : Bright Star by John Keats). Full album cover and more music available here : https://www.reverbnation.com/mademoisellelilaclucrezia Opus 9.mp3

Early in 2014, the father of a childhood friend of mine messaged me unexpectedly on Facebook, asking me to email him, as he had something very particular he wanted to discuss, and it wouldn't do to text it. When he emailed me back, I was pleasantly surprised and honoured that he was commissioning me to compose a piece of music in honour of his late wife, who had died the previous summer. This gentleman had long been a patron of the arts, and this was not the first time he had commissioned music from me. But this project was different, in that he had something very particular and rather unusual in mind. His instructions were for a setting of the only Latin words "Requiescat in pace" - "may [she] rest in peace," the ubiquitous words used as an epitaph on tombstones - for tenor voice accompanied by string quartet; he further stipulated that the setting should first express profoundest grief and loss, then emerge into music imbued with peace and hope. Sobered by the commission but undaunted, on February 4, I began writing. I envisioned first a long, slow introduction in C minor for the strings alone - like a mournful recitative, weighed down oppressively with crushing grief - from which would emerge a poignant, comforting setting of the epitaph in E-flat, full of sweetness, tenderness, and peace. Over the next five days, I barely slept or ate, seeming to exist only to fulfill this commission, until on Feburary 9, the work was complete - one day before the first anniversary of my own mother's death. In this piece, I memorialize not only my patron's wife, but also my mother, and all the beloved departed who have moved on to the next reality. Although it was not recorded, this work was premiered at a private memorial during the summer of 2014. My patron had paid my stipend well in advance of that, but shortly thereafter I received another envelope from him in the mail. Inside it was another check, effectively doubling my stipend, with a note explaining that the premiere had far exceeded his every expectation. If you are at all sentimentally inclined, this is not the sort of piece that will likely leave you with dry eyes, so I suggest a handkerchief. Sound file link here, score attached.