May 2010-1 (May Frost)

May Frost (mp3) (pdf)

A busy last few weeks, highlighted by a visit to Texas last weekend to hear my Louisville Suite performed by the Dutch mandolin orchestra ONI+. My new friends from the Netherlands did a wonderful job of playing my piece and even allowed me to sit in on mandola for one performance. I was also treated to an impromptu acappella rendition of the theme from the "Shakertown" movement of my Heavens On Earth suite as we were riding in the van late one night.

Another recent highlight is the award that my friend Tom Bourcier received on May 1 from the Iowa Motion Picture Association for "Best Original Music Score". Violinist Paul Docken, Tom and I, under Tom's direction, created some improvised source music that Tom then used to craft the score for this fine film. You can read about Tom's "Iowa Oscar" here.

"May Frost" was begun back in September but was only finished a couple of weeks ago, not long before our final hard freeze of the so-called Spring. We actually had a very mild April this year which made the recent cold, rainy weather all the more unpleasant. I've included the harmony part I made up today so you can play this with your friends!