press release

Luke Mayernik's Five Graces Psalter is a collection of Responsorial Psalms for the entire three-year Lectionary cycle, and a welcome and worthy addition to the repertoire of Lectionary Psalms. The award-winning composer and organist has crafted memorable settings infused with harmonic freshness and melodic appeal—settings that bear the weight of the emotion and liturgical importance of the psalms.

When did you start composing?

As a child, I started taking piano lessons around the age of 8.  In just a few short years, I was already re-arranging and discovering chord substitutions for all of the piano music Beryl Flemming (my piano teacher) would assign to me.  Every Wednesday evening I would to her house for my weekly lesson, excited to share my "improvements" of classical/contemporary

E. C. Schirmer is pleased to welcome a new addition to our opera catalog. Evangline is a chamber opera based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem of the same name, scored for soloists, piano, violin, and narrator. A tragic story based on historical and real events, this opera is an accessible addition to any catalog.

Evangeline tells the story of the expulsion of the Acadian people from Nova Scotia from 1755-64. Forced into exile by the British, the Acadians were separated from one another, traveling the United States and abroad searching for loved ones. Longfellow wrote his poem in 1847, focusing on the plight of young Acadian woman Evangeline. She is betrothed to her childhood sweetheart, Gabriel. However, before they have a chance to marry, British soldiers force residents of her town to leave, causing their separation. The opera follows Evangeline as she searches for Gabriel.

E. C. Schirmer is thrilled to announce two new additions to our opera catalogue. After Life (2015) by Tom Cipullo, libretto by David Mason, is a chamber opera in one act for soprano, mezzo, and baritone set in World War II Paris. Michael Ching’s Buoso’s Ghost (1996) is a comic sequel in one act after Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Both works have received widespread attention from the opera community.

Jonathan Girard led the UBC Symphony Orchestra and Choirs in a performance of Stephen Chatman’s newly released major work for SATB Chorus divisi, timpani and percussion soli, and orchestra, A Song of Joys. The performance was presented as part of the 20^th Anniversary of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on April 8, 2017. Galaxy Music is pleased to offer this work on our website and through music retailers worldwide.

Program notes by Tara Wohlberg:
A Song of Joys was commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Society with assistance from the Canada Council. The 21-minute work in seven movements, premiered in Calgary on May 2, 2014, was originally conceived as a companion work to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Based on fragments of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of