Commission from Howard Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music and the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership

My latest commission is from the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music and the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership. The piece will be for SATB vocal quartet and piano 4-hands, and will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Women's Right to Vote in New York State.

I am setting the humorous poems of Alice Duer Miller, a brilliant writer from the early 20th century. The premiere will take place at Eastman on March 5, 2017.

AIDS QUILT SONGBOOK CD RELEASED

"An Aids Quilt Songbook" - Sing for Hope CD was released on December 1, 2014. This CD is a terrific compilation of amazing new songs, most composed specifically for this CD - performed by a stellar cast of artists. I feel honored to be part of this project, for which I re-envisioned one of my most popular Dickinson settings, "If I..." — from my "Four Dickinson Songs." I created a new version for baritone, clarinet and piano. I have worked with the wonderful baritone Randall Scarlata for many years, but this was the first time I had worked with the incomparable Anthony McGill, now principal clarinetist of The New York Philharmonic. It was a thrilling experience.

The songs on this CD run the gamut in mood — from playful to sorrowful to hopeful. All of the artists donated their time and talent — and all proceeds from this album go to amfAR, the Foundation for Aids Research. Please consider buying this CD for yourself or a friend to help a most worthy case. To purchase, please click here.

Huffington Post feature on "The Three Feathers"

On October 14, 2014, Susan Dormady Eisenberg's feature on "The Three Feathers" appeared on the front page of The Huffington Post. Click here to read the article. Susan Dormady Eisenberg is such a terrific writer!

The Three Feathers Premiere, October 17, 2014

The Three Feathers, my first children's opera, was commissioned by the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech. The premiere is scheduled for October 17, 2014 at 7:30 pm with additional performances on October 18 and 19, 2014, at the Moss Arts Center in Blacksburg, VA. Please click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

The story is based on a Grimm's fairy tale, and is brilliantly retold by librettist Dana Gioia. The opera takes place in two worlds, each a reflection of the other. Dana writes: "The upper world is a kingdom of daylight, reason and reality. The underworld is a kingdom of shadows, dreams and magic. Each world has its king. Each king is surrounded by a court that challenges his rule — rather ruthlessly in the upper world, quite comically in the underworld. Each world has a lead character — Princess Dora in the upper world (since she will bring in the new rule as her father prepares for his own departure), and the Frog King in the underworld. The opera explores how these two kingdoms, which is to say reality and dream, meet and influence one another."

I started composing the opera in April 2013 and completed the orchestrations in June 2014. Scored for a chamber orchestra of 16 players, the music follows the dramatic arc of the libretto and is thus tuneful, dramatic and appropriately spooky.

Director Beth Greenberg will bring these mysterious and fanciful worlds to life, and Scott Williamson, of Opera Roanoke, will conduct. The production is a collaboration with Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts, Opera Roanoke and the Blacksburg Children's Chorale.