I attended a rehearsal of my Variations on a Hymn Tune with the Philadelphia Sinfonia this past Saturday, and was terrifically impressed. The young people in this group are working on a very high level and they have obviously put in a lot of time and effort on my piece. Conductor Gary White was able to concentrate more on musical character, shape and expression, rather than the mechanics of the piece. He works well with the group, with a nice balance of challenging and supportive comments and an efficient, focussed rehearsal style.

I’m very grateful to Gary and the Sinfonia for bringing this piece to life, especially since the piece has lain dormant since the initial performances by students of the Council Rock School District in Bucks County, PA. You can hear the Philadelphia Sinfonia play my Variations on a concert being given this coming January 24 at 3:00 pm. The concert will be held at the Temple Performing Arts Center, 1837 Broad Street in Philadelphia, and the program also includes the Elgar Cello Concerto with soloist Derek Barnes, and the Firebird Suite of Stravinsky.

You can find an excerpt from the score of the Variations here.