Agnus Dei

Missa Brevis No. 2 for choir and piano was commissioned by and written for the Dr. Carol Krueger and the Valdosta State University Chamber Singers. The work is a sequel to my Missa Brevis for choir and chamber orchestra written in 2005 for my good friend and colleague Russell Robinson and was given its premiere performance in Carnegie Hall. Both compositions share a love for American folk/popular music and specifically that of the 1960’s and ‘70’s. My childhood was spent in the village of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin (20 miles west of Milwaukee) where our family was active members of a progressive Catholic Church that embraced the reforms of Vatican II. Imagine tambourines, folk and electric guitars, drums, flutes, songs like Day by Day and The Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, nuns and priests in technicolor garments and large vibrant banners everywhere. That optimistic and embracing feeling of community has had an enormous impact on my compositions and of course, personal and spiritual beliefs.