CONCERT MUSIC
INVOCATION
for soprano and ensemble (see below)
One movement, (5 minutes)
Written for Allison Charney, Arts Ahimsa and The Global Peace Initiative of Women, Invocation was premiered on March 27, 2006 at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City. The text is the phrase “Make peace on all your lands” and the word “Peace” sung in fourteen different languages. Allison and I chose the phrase, and then I walked around my neighborhood (Washington Heights in Manhattan) and collected every translation I could find in a five block radius.
Originally scored for flute, violin and cello, Invocation now exists in many forms. A most recent version is for Soprano and String Quartet and Solo Violin (currently featured in recent performances page.) A version for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra was premiered by the New Hampshire Music Festival in 2011.
KARNER BLUE
for flute and piano
Commissioned by the Pappoutsakis Foundation, and premiered February 2, 2003 in Boston, MA.
One movement, (7 minutes)
“karner blue” celebrates the life of the Karner Blue Butterfly. This beautiful endangered creature lives an intense short life. The music reflects the life of the creature, its beauty in nature, the joy of flight, and the delicate balance between survival and extinction.
“karner blue” is published by Falls House Press
JOYFUL HYMN
for organ solo
Commissioned by the First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake, IL, and premiered in 1999. One movement (7 minutes)
Joyful Hymn is a theme and variations based on “Ever Journeying Friend” a hymn written especially for the church to celebrate their sesquicentennial.
THE VISION
for guitar and english horn
(also available for guitar and flute)
Three movements (9 minutes)
1. Have No Words 2. Enemy Shadows 3. A Hawk Circling
The Vision is inspired by descriptions of a vision that came to the Native American warrior, Crazy Horse, when he was a young man. In it, he saw three significant events in his life – including his death.
Recorded by Klemp Kachian Duo on their CD “Falls Flyer”
Available through http://www.cdbaby/cd/klempk
REAL WORLD
for solo guitar
Commissioned and premiered by Christopher Kachian (1995)
Three Movements (9 minutes)
1. Have No Words 2. Enemy Shadows 3. A Hawk Circling
Real World is the solo guitar version of The Vision.
DITTIES
for Saxophone Quartet
Written for and premiered by the Amherst Saxophone Quartet (2001)
A set of 7 tiny movements (3 minutes)
1. Doo 2. Wah 3. Dittie 4. Did-he? 5. Dum(b) 6. Didee 7. Dew
A humorous suite of extremely short pieces.
THE MOON PIECE
for chamber orchestra
Premiered by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Wm. McGlaughlin (1981)
1 movement (27 minutes)
A tone poem on the theme of loss and remembrance.
SONG CYCLES
SONG OF SONGS
A Song Cycle for Soprano, Harp and Strings
also available for Soprano and Piano
Libretto by Eric Ehn
Commissioned and premiered by the San José Chamber Orchestra, Barbara Day-Turner, conductor and Allison Charney, Soprano.
Nine movements (27 minutes)
Opening 1. Your Mouth, Wine 2. Strong as Death 3. Stealth 4. Search 5. Do Not Stir Up Love 6. The Wedding Song 7. Love’s Time and Closing
Adapted from the Old Testament, Song of Songs is a celebration of love. In English and Hebrew.
A PRAIRIE DIARY
A Song Cycle for High Voice, Piano, and Clarinet
Eight Songs (13 minutes)
1. Prairie Dawn 2. Recipe 3. No Rain 4. Still Alive 5. Transformation 6. I Call Your Name 7. Bobby Shafto 8. Evening Song
Settings of poems by Willa Cather and Darrah Cloud, the material evokes the vast sky and land of the Midwestern Prairie, and the feeling of belonging to the dream of this country.
SUMMER, 1976
A Song Cycle for High Voice and String Quartet
4 songs (23 minutes)
1. June 2. July 3. August 4. September
Settings of four poems by Daniel Neer.
World Premier March 3, 2016 National Opera Center, New York, NY
CHORAL MUSIC
THE SONGBIRD AND THE EAGLE
Libretto by Rick Davis
For Soprano, Girl Soprano, Narrator, SSSAAATTTBBB Chorus, String Orchestra, Flute, Percussion and Piano
One movement (35 minutes)
Commissioned by The San José Chamber Orchestra in conjunction with the aubrey’s END foundation.
Premiered December 8, 2006 by The San José Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Barbara Day Turner, in collaboration with The Choral Project, under the direction of Daniel Hughes and featuring the vocal talents of Allison Charney, soprano, Jordan Charney, narrator and Katrina Swift, girl soprano.
The Songbird and the Eagle, based on a traditional Buddhist Jakata Tale, this work for explores the theme of the possibility of peace in the world being attained through the small actions of each individual.
THE HAPPIEST AND UNHAPPIEST OF MEN
Words of Beethoven set to music
For SSAATTBB Chorus, String Orchestra & Flute Solo
One movement (4 minutes)
Commissioned by The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia
Alan Harler, Music Director
Premiered October 22, 2005
“The Happiest and Unhappiest of Men is set for eight-part chorus, strings and flute. Sherman’s language is economical, and the text is presented very clearly and naturally. The piece opens with the chorus rhythmically patting their chests to create the sound of a heartbeat. The music begins simply, with each line of text given sequentially to a different voice part in chant-like phrases, creating an effect like a dialog or conversation. Each phrase is separated by modulations of a rather eclectic and distinctly Beethovenesque character. The music builds in intensity as sung phrases and spoken text overlap, until a final crescendo is reached on the enigmatic text that Beethoven wrote on his final composition, the String Quartet in F major, Op. 135: “Must it be? It must be.” The piece ends as it began, with the heartbeat, now softly fading away.” –program note by Michael Moore, ©2005 Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. All rights reserved.
SERVICE FOR THE DEAD IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Libretto by Eric Ehn
For A Cappella Chorus
Six movements (24 minutes)
1. Opening Meditation 2. Missing Girl Found 3. Behind You 4. Names Are Remembered 5. Graveside 6. End
Service For the Dead… is an a cappella choral work written in response to the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. “Graveside”, the fifth movement of six, is a keening, a culmination and response to what has come before, and a release which might enable life to begin again.
“Graveside” is recorded by Musica Sacra on the Catalyst CD “Of Eternal Light” (out of print) CATALYST 61822.
A WINTER SOLSTICE RITUAL
For Full Chorus, Organ, “Chantress” and Side Drum
Two movements (7 minutes)
Part One: Seven Circles, Part Two: Spinning
Commissioned and premiered in 1995 by The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Alan Harler, conductor.
“A Winter Solstice Ritual” explores the pagan roots of Christmas traditions. It is a celebration of the cycles of the earth, which reflect the cycles of life.
GLORIOUS MORN
For Full Chorus, Alto or Tenor Soloist and Piano
One movement (2.5 minutes)
Suitable for all levels, Glorious Morn is an inspiring anthem with the passion of gospel and the heart of Dickens.
OPERA
HONOR SONG FOR CRAZY HORSE
Libretto by Darrah Cloud
Premiered by Theaterworks, Palo Alto, California (1994)
Winner of Frederick Loewe Foundation Award (1994)
The epic story of the great Lakota warrior Crazy Horse and the last days of the free Lakota people.
THREE VISITATIONS an opera trilogy
LONG ISLAND DREAMER, RED TIDE and LAMENTATIONS
Libretto by Paul Selig
Commissioned by New Music Theater Ensemble, St. Paul
Premiered by New Music Theater Ensemble (1996)
Characters on the cusp of self-realization unwittingly collide with elements of the fantastic–stray killers, beach ghosts, bed ghosts– and find their personal trajectories irrevocably altered.
Long Island Dreamer evokes a doo-wop sound (four voices accompanied only by an electric bass). “Are there any Long Island dreamers out there?” asks Amana del Ray, after a stranger of unknown intention appears at the window…In Red Tide, Lutece, a boy of 15 returns to a beach, ostensibly in search of a lifeguard who saved him from drowning a decade previously. In truth, however, he has been drawn there, like a moth to a flame, by a mystical power he cannot explain to his friend, a hopelessly earthbound clod whose name, aptly, is Worm… Like an un-sanitized German Fairy tale, Lamentations is a dark psychodrama where aberrant sexuality and corrosive envy reveal the deeper scripts of ordinary lust and desire.
MUSICAL THEATER/PLAYS WITH MUSIC
HEARTLAND
A musical
Three sisters from Moscow, Iowa return home when their mother decides she is selling the family farm. A celebration of open space and saying goodbye.
Book and lyrics by Darrah Cloud
Orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin (website)
TheatreWorks (1998), Goodspeed (2000), Madison Repertory Theater (2003) and Dallas Summer Musicals (2004) Directed by Susan H. Schulman
THE ARABOOLIES OF LIBERTY STREET
A musical for kids of all ages, based on the “cult classic” by Sam Swope
Book and lyrics by Sam Swope
Music by Kim D. Sherman
General and Mrs. Pinch lead the Liberty Street kids in morning exercises and enforce a huge book of rules. Imagine their horror when the Araboolies move in! This eccentric, colorful, acrobatic, non-English speaking family brings pets, music and games of Remote Tickle and Boola Noola Ball. The Pinches declare war and summon the army! Only the children can save the fun-loving Araboolies and finally allow Liberty Street to live up to its name. Ages 4 and up.
Premiered at Imagination Stage (2007)
O PIONEERS!
a musical adaptation of the novel by Willa Cather
Book and lyrics by Darrah Cloud
The story of Alexandra Bergson’s struggles as a pioneer farmer in an untamed Nebraska prairie.
To license, contact Dramatic Publishing
Premiered at Huntington Theater, Boston (1989), Broadcast on American Playhouse (1990), Bay Area Critics Circle Award for Musical Score (1991), US Tour and New York City Premier (2002)
THE TWO ORPHANS
A Musical
Book by Theresa Rebeck, Lyrics by Theresa Rebeck and John Sheehy
Adapted from the 19th century French melodrama, “The Two Orphans” is the tale of two sisters, ex-slaves, one blind, one beautiful who become separated in post Civil War New Orleans and struggle against beggars, thieves, murderers and aristocrats trying to find each other again.
Workshop Performances at New York Stage and Film (1999) Hartford Stage (1999) and New York Theater Workshop (2000)
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
A play with music and songs
Adapted by Jonathan Moscone and Preston Lane, with sound design and additional orchestrations by Bruce Richardson
An adaptation of the Dickens classic with song and dance.
Produced by Dallas Theater Center (1999-2003)
SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED
A theatrical song cycle
Lyrics by Mark Campbell
Music by Debra Barsha, Mark Bennett, Peter Foley, Jenny Giering, Peter Golub, Jake Heggie, Stephen Hoffman, Lance Horne, Gihieh Lee, Steve Marzullo, Brendan Milburn, Chris Miller, Greg Pliska, Duncan Sheik, Kim D. Sherman, Jeffrey Stock, and Joseph Thalken
To license, contact Barbara Hogenson at 212-874-8084.
A solo work that propels a smart, resilient, wry, and ultimately romantic gay New Yorker through the heartaches and triumphs of love in the big city. Mark Campbell’s lyrics on the endlessly surprising experience of urban romance have been set by an eclectic roster of today’s musical artists. Michael Winther premiered this funny, sexy, elegiac, ironic work.
New York Theatre Workshop (2005) Directed by David Schweitzer
BECOMING MEMORIES
A play with music
by Arthur Giron.
Published by Samuel French
A richly textured portrait of small town America from 1911 to the present, the play follows five families through three generations.
I HATE HAMLET
A play with music
By Paul Rudnick
Published by Dramatists Play Service
A young and successful television actor relocates to New York, where he is offered the opportunity to play Hamlet onstage, but there’s one problem: He hates Hamlet. His dilemma deepens with the entrance of John Barrymore’s ghost, who arrives intoxicated and in full costume to the apartment that once was his.
Premiered on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre in 1991.