American composer David Avshalomov just took first place in the International Orange Chorale of San Francisco’s 2016 choral composition contest with “O Euchari“, his full-voiced ecstatic a cappella setting of a mystical text of Hildegarde von Bingen about a little-known Frankish saint. It was commissioned by a choir in Portugal; you can hear a recording of a reading rehearsal on his website here: http://www.davidavshalomov.com/musical-works/chorus/
(For icing on the cake, the second piece he submitted to them, “Uhuru,” on an anti-slavery poem of William Blake, also got an Honorable Mention.)
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Stephanie Henry says
Congratulations, David. Again!
The piece after Hildegaard sounds intriguing…to me, anyway.
One of these days when I have a choir willing and able to expand their repertoire, I will look you up.
Meantime, be well.
Stephanie Henry