wfn.org | [ENS] Episcopal composer Hurd honored at Rejoicensemble's 20th

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

April 5, 2005 - Tuesday to Note & To Read

Episcopal composer Hurd honored at Rejoicensemble's 20th anniversary

by Daphne Mack

[Episcopal News Service] Internationally renowned composer and organist
David Hurd will be honored at the 20th anniversary of Rejoicensemble on
April 10, 4pm at St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, New York.

Hurd has written over 100 compositions and 55 hymns, antiphons and
service
music, found in Hymnal 1982, Lift Every Voice and Sing I and II, and
Wonder,
Love and Praise. He has been on the faculty at General Theological
Seminary
since 1976 and currently serves as professor of church music and
organist.

"David Hurd is one of the most prolific, published African-American
composers in the country," said Carl MaultsBy, founder and executive
artistic director of Rejoicensemble. Yet he remains "largely unknown to
both
the African American and general public."

MaultsBy said this made him the "perfect candidate" to reflect
Rejoicensemble's 20-year mission.

Rejoicensemble is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to
commissioning and presenting works of African-American composers as well
as
increasing the general public awareness of the cultural significance of
sacred music of the African Diaspora. It was founded in 1984 by MaultsBy
in
response to an inquiry by Harry Belafonte for a choral group to close
his
movie "Beat Street." The ensemble's repertoire runs the gamut of musical
styles from chant to spirituals to gospel to sacred jazz to anthems and
art
compositions.

He said the event will include performances by the ensemble and the
premiere
of a Hurd composition commissioned especially for Rejoicensemble called
"In
Honor of Martin."

"He wrote it in recognition of the anniversary of the assassination of
Dr.
Martin Luther King," said MaultsBy.

This event is free and open to the public but a free-will offering will
be
taken. For further information call 212-613-0038 or go to
http://www.rejoicensemble.org.

Note: The following titles are available from the Episcopal
Book/Resource
Center, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY  10017; 800.334.7626 or
212.716.6118; http://www.episcopalbookstore.org/

To Read: TRUMPET DESCANTS: for 101 Noteworthy Hymns composed and
arranged by
Lorna Tedesco (Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, New York, 2004,
254
pages, $35.00.)

>From the publisher: Are you a church musician or a pastor working with
a
good amateur trumpeter-perhaps a high school student-or with a
professional
on occasion? If so, then this book is for you. Lorna Tedesco has done a
brilliant job of bringing together two descants for 101 familiar and
beloved
hymn tunes-from seasonal songs and carols to traditional favorites for
the
regular Sundays of the church year.

Dr. Lorna Tedesco has Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctor of Musical Arts
degrees, all in piano performance. She has been actively involved in
church
music for 30 years and for 12 years was pianist for the Charleston,
South
Carolina, Symphony Orchestra. She is currently music director at Christ
Episcopal Church in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. This book of descants
reflects Dr. Tedesco's rich and extensive understanding of orchestral
writing.

To read: A HYMNTUNE PSALTER: Gradual Psalms the Season after Pentecost
by
Carl P. Daw, Jr. and Kevin R. Hackett, (Church Publishing Incorporated,
New
York, New York, 1998, 27 pages, $24.00.)

>From the publisher: Responsorial psalmody for congregation and
cantor/choir; Psalms and Antiphons appointed for Lectionary Years A, B,
C;
Congregational antiphon tunes based on familiar hymns; Psalm verses set
to
simplified Anglican chant; Appendix of Antiphons for cut-and-paste
copying.

Carl P. Daw, Jr. is a priest, college professor, musician, and widely
published hymn writer. He served on the text committee of The Hymnal
1982,
and was later chair of the Standing Commission on Church Music. He is
currently Executive Director of the Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada.

Kevin R. Hackett is a priest, hymn writer, and member of the Society of
St.
John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His hymn tunes have
been
published in Wonder, Love, and Praise: a Supplement to The Hymnal 1982,
and
in collections of other churches.

-- Daphne Mack is staff writer for Episcopal News Service.

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