November 22, 2016
Arrowhead Chorale recently launched a national Choral Composition Competition, seeking a unique composition from an emerging composer – and a 27-year-old from Southern Pines, North Carolina was selected as the winner!
Composer, conductor and educator Matthew Lyon Hazzard’s score was chosen out of more than sixty entries. His winning composition “Did You Never Know” is set to poetry written by Sara Teasdale. It will be performed during Arrowhead Chorale’s February concerts titled “Choral Creations: Craig Carnahan and a Composition Competition.”
Arrowhead Chorale’s Artistic Director Dr. Stanley Wold, and former project director of the American Composers Forum and Minnesota composer Craig Carnahan selected the winning composition.
“Hazzard’s score showed the most consistent and distinctive harmonic and melodic relation to the text, and his technical requirements best suited the present voices in Arrowhead Chorale,” said Wold. “We are thrilled to perform his composition this season.”
The participants were required to be at the earliest point in their careers, with limited performances and awards, and no more than a handful of commissions. Hazzard, a high school choral director in Snow Hill, North Carolina, will receive a cash award of $500, plus a stipend to help defray expenses to attend the Duluth concerts. Hazzard’s music has been performed internationally, garnering performances and awards, and he has been praised for his “exquisite text-setting and clear understanding of choral voices,” with his music being described as “a stunning landscape of sound.”
In addition to Hazzard’s score, the Arrowhead Chorale commissioned a work by guest composer Craig Carnahan. Coincidentally, the piece is also set to poetry by Sara Teasdale and will be performed during the February concerts.
Over the past 25 years, Carnahan has received 50 commissions for original compositions. His music has been heard in performances by the Dale Warland Singers from St. Paul, MN, and the Minnesota Boychoir from St. Paul, MN, as well as numerous performances nationally. His music has been described as “absorbing, richly textured and emotionally stirring” by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Choral Creations: Craig Carnahan And A Composition Competition
Friday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 12 at 3:00 p.m.
Concert Venue: Sacred Heart Music Center
Tickets are available: http://arrowheadchorale.com/tickets.php