Choral Composition ContestWe are delighted to announce the winner of the inaugural ACDA-PA Choral Composition Contest. A good number of submissions were received and the judges were very pleased with the standard and ranges of styles presented. This year, the winning composition is: "Deus meus" The following composition was highly commended: "Since we loved" Jamie will receive a $1,000 check, and his composition will be performed at the ACDA PA Fall Conference being held at Zion United Methodist Church in York from October 21-22, 2011. It is hoped that delegates will have a chance to read through Stephen Caldwell's "Since we loved" at the Fall Conference. Information regarding the 2012 Choral Composition Contest will be posted online in the fall. A Few Words About "Deus Meus" by Jamie Dawson Wilcutts: I wrote Deus Meus, an SATB a cappella work, specifically for the ACDA-PA 2011 Choral Composition Competition. It came very quickly and after submitting the work, I finished two more movement creating the work CANTATA: DEUS MEUS. I decided on Psalm 22 because I was thinking about Maundy Thursday/Stripping of the Altar and the mood it invokes. (Psalm 22 is chanted at this time and during the Good Friday service.) My interest in words as articulation led me to choose the Latin text. Also, there would be no copyright problems. (I can be rather pragmatic at times.) The harmonic structure grew out of my current fascination with unresolved non-harmonic tones - dissonances that constantly attempt to resolve into harmonies that have moved on to different structures. Most of the piece is very accessible and is written in step-wise motion. The key makes the tenor's tessitura high but the piece can be performed a half step lower if needed. It is a challenging work but can be effectively performed by choirs both amateur and professional. Jamie Dawson Wilcutts Jamie Dawson Wilcutts has been a Choirmaster/Organist for 40 years and has been writing music for as long. He studied organ with John Holtz, Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford; Robert Plimpton at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church and participated in Master Classes with Anthony Newman and Marie-Claire Alain. Mr. Wilcutts has held Director of Music/Organist positions at the Nevil Memorial Church of St. George, Ardmore, PA, St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Newtown Square, PA, locum organist at First Presbyterian Church of Phila. More recently, he has substituted at the Philadelphia Cathedral (Episcopal) and held an interim position at St. Mary's, Hamilton Village, The Episcopal Church at Penn. Jamie as been commissioned by the L'Alt Baroque Quartet, Hartford CT, The Fairmount Brass Quartet, Philadelphia, PA, The Choirs of St. Peter's Church in the Great Valley, Paoli, PA, and St. Paul's Episcopal Church, |
