Immensely satisfying! … to arrive at 74 and find that the new music I am writing is enthusiastically welcomed, rehearsed, performed and recorded by superb musicians who are younger than my children!

The piece I hope you’ll let me share with you today is a case in point.

It is titled “Vocalise” -- a piece for wordless soprano --which I wrote in February, scoring it for soprano and piano, and dedicating it to my young friend Heidi Middendorf whose amazing voice you will hear shortly. She is magnificent. She sings with passion and intelligence. What a voice. And she is a lovely person, too!

In March I added a flute, oboe and cello part specifically so that three other fine young musician friends could be included: flutist Julie Morris, oboist Yo Shionoya and cellist Michael Ronstadt. That was the version, with Beth Troendly (yet another friend) playing piano, that was performed in the worship service at our dear old Mt. Auburn Presbyterian, here in Cincinnati, on June 16.

There is a youtube of the worship service at the website listed just below this paragraph. “Vocalise” begins at 49:45.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-iCZTxazw8

These same musicians met again to make a recording of the piece to be featured on a forthcoming CD of my music.

But you needn’t wait for the issuance of the CD to hear the recording. You can hear it right now. Click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on that link.