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MUSIC COMPOSED FOR ARIZONA CENTENNIAL NOW AVAILABLE AND FREE FOR PUBLIC USE

(PHOENIX, AZ) – After August 23, 2010, original choral music and band music composed by some of Arizona's best composers to celebrate the Arizona Centennial is available for public use. The choral piece, Turquoise and Thunderstorms, is composed by James DeMars with librettist and noted poet Alberto Rios. A piece for band, symphony, and orchestra, Arizona Centennial Overture, is composed by Dr. Sy Brandon. The works may be downloaded from the Arizona Commission on the Arts website at http://www.azarts.gov/programs/arizona-centennial-projects/ and performed copyright free through December 2012.

These well-known artists were commissioned by the Arizona Commission on the Arts in early 2010 to create music specifically in celebration of the Centennial of the State of Arizona. Committed to providing arts opportunities to all Arizonans, Robert Booker, Executive Director of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, emphasized that the commissioned music be appropriate for a wide variety of musicians and singers so that the works can be used and enjoyed as widely as possible by the public.

"It is important," Booker said, "that these original musical compositions can be performed by high school, college/university, community, faith-based, and professional or semi-professional ensembles. The Centennial is a celebration of and for the entire state, and all Arizonans should have access to these scores."

Dr. Brandon's Arizona Centennial Overture is created and arranged for any type of concert band or orchestra in any community across the state, and the DeMars/Rios collaborative choral work Turquoise and Thunderstorms, may be performed by mixed choirs with accompaniment from piano or organ with variations for men, women, and a cappella.

Booker said of the compositions, "They reflect various aspects of Arizona's history and offer a way to celebrate through an art form that is accessible to residents and visitors of all ages and in all communities across the state. We are pleased to offer these wonderful compositions as part of the Arizona Centennial Legacy Project program."

Composer James DeMars's choral works have been performed by the New York Choral Society, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Wuppertal Orchestra (Germany), and the Phoenix Symphony among many others. He has written pieces commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Heard Museum, Flinn Foundation, Art Renaissance Foundation, and the European-American Foundation. As a conductor, DeMars's performances include the national premiere of his composition An American Requiem at the Kennedy Center, and national televised performances at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He holds a doctorate from the University of Minnesota and currently teaches composition at Arizona State University.

Librettist Alberto Rios is the author of several collections of poetry, including books that have been nominated for the National Book Award and won the 1981 Walt Whitman Award, selected by Donald Justice. He has been recognized with numerous awards, including six Pushcart Prizes in both poetry and fiction categories, an Arizona Governor's Arts Award and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Since 1994, Rios has been Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, where he has taught since 1982.

Dr. Brandon, a resident of Cottonwood, is professor emeritus of music from Millerville University, Millerville, Pennsylvania, where he taught for 24 years. His work has been recorded by the Czech National Symphony, the Philharminia Bulgarica, and the Kiev Philharmonic. His commissions include the Boise Philharmonic and the York Symphony Orchestra. He has been recognized with numerous awards including the New England String Ensemble Competition, WITF-FM (Harrisburg, Penn.) Classical Composition Contest, and the annual ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) Special Award. His music has been performed live and via broadcast in the United States and abroad, on National Public Radio, Animal Planet, and MTV's Never Before Seen.

These well-known artists were selected through a juried process in early 2010, led by a Governor-appointed Commissioner of the Arts Commission and the Vice President of Programs from the acclaimed American Composers Forum. Funding for the commissioned works comes from the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission and the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

To download the compositions or for more information on this project, visit the Arizona Commission on the Arts website at http://www.azarts.gov/programs/arizona-centennial-projects/. The compositions are available for free (and free of copyright fees) to any and all choral, band, and orchestral ensembles until December 31, 2012, which is the end of the year of the Centennial celebration. After that, they are subject to copyright permissions and fees.

News Archive

The news room archive includes press releases, information about Legacy Projects and legislation related to AHAC's mission.

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