A DAY OF SUNSHINE THE LONGFELLOW CHORUS DIRECTED BY CHARLES KAUFMANN (CD)

… Suspense was added to the concert by the after-concert announcement of the Cantata Finalist in the 2009-2010 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition. The orchestra and chorus performed sections of "A Day of Sunshine" by Keane H. Southard and "Suspira" by Marcus K. Maroney. Both were highly professional and well-orchestrated compositions, the first in a breezy, sometimes jazzy style that evoked Longfellow's love of nature and wide-open spaces, and the second an intimate rendering of the poet's more ghostly side. Since it was too hard to choose between the two, prizes went to both composers. Other prize winners whose Longfellow settings were performed at the concert were: Elaine Hagenberg, 2009-2010 Award of Distinction in Choral Composition for "A Day of Sunshine"; Martin Westlake, Prize in Choral Composition for "The Haunted Chamber"; Christopher Wicks, Chorus Director's Prize in Solo Song Competition for "Snow-Flakes"; Byron Page, Award of Distinction in Solo Song Composition for "The Little Moon"; and David Walther, Chorus Director's Prize in Choral Composition for "Alone Gd. (sic) Sufficeth." —Christopher Hyde Review