egillis@manager
Mon, 07/10/2023 - 22:29
Edited Text
** Premiere Performance **
Gray's Elegy, written around 1750, came at a time when poetry was
beginning a romantic revolt. This revolution, in varying degrees, can
be found in the work of Gray's contemporaries such as James Thompson
and William Collins. The neo-classic master Samuel Johnson wrote of
the Elegy: "The 'Churchyard' abounds with images which find a mirror
in every mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo."
It was these images and sentiments which began to lure Peter Hazzard to
the setting of the poem to music. The original 32 stanzas were narrowed
to 24 and two of them were rewritten to allow for better musical ex-
pression. The work took a total of nine months to write.
Peter Hazzard wishes to acknowledge the help of Brian 0'Connell,
Chairman of Berklee's Voice Department, Stephen Prosser, Thomas R. Martin
and Doug Getschal in preparing the Men's Chorus. Special thanks go to
Dr. James Harper, Chairman of Berklee's Academic Department, for his
invaluable help in the adaptation of the text.
THE SOLOISTS
Deanna Dustin Kidd has been a member of the Berklee Faculty for five
years. She earned a Bachelors Degree at the University of Lowell, and a
Master of Music in Voice at Boston Conservatory of Music. Ms. Kidd has
worked in all forms of vocal music from solo recitals and Broadway
musicals to Grand Opera, performing Carmen with Boris Goldovsky. While
at Berklee, she has performed excerpts from The Messiah, and the Faure
Requiem with the Berklee Concert Choir under Brian 0'Connell. Her per-
formance of the Elegy is Ms. Kidd's first with the Berklee Concert Band.
Thomas Russell Martin joined the Berklee Faculty three years ago
after obtaining a degree in Theater Arts from Boston College and a B.M.
from Berklee. The Elegy is his second performance with the Berklee Con-
cert Band; his first being the portrayal of Mephistofeles in the 1978
production of Peter Hazzard's "The Death of Faust". Mr. Martin, whose
career includes:a great deal of American musical theater experience, was
most recently seen in a cameo appearance in the Berklee Musical Theater
Workshop's summer 1979 production "Break a Leg", which he also directed.
In addition to teaching voice, Theater production, vocal arranging and
ensembles, Mr. Martin is Assistant Chairman of the Voice Department.
THE COMPOSER
Peter Hazzard's compositions now number over fifty and are written
for a variety of media. They have been performed throughout the United
States. His most recent commission was a Clarinet Concerto for the
State University of Alabama. Locally, Mr. Hazzard has written for the
M.I.T. Concert Band, The Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, The Concord
Band and of course the Berklee Concert Band. Mr. Hazzard has been on
the Berklee Faculty for nine years and has been Chairman of the Music
History and Analysis Department since 1978.
Gray's Elegy, written around 1750, came at a time when poetry was
beginning a romantic revolt. This revolution, in varying degrees, can
be found in the work of Gray's contemporaries such as James Thompson
and William Collins. The neo-classic master Samuel Johnson wrote of
the Elegy: "The 'Churchyard' abounds with images which find a mirror
in every mind, and with sentiments to which every bosom returns an echo."
It was these images and sentiments which began to lure Peter Hazzard to
the setting of the poem to music. The original 32 stanzas were narrowed
to 24 and two of them were rewritten to allow for better musical ex-
pression. The work took a total of nine months to write.
Peter Hazzard wishes to acknowledge the help of Brian 0'Connell,
Chairman of Berklee's Voice Department, Stephen Prosser, Thomas R. Martin
and Doug Getschal in preparing the Men's Chorus. Special thanks go to
Dr. James Harper, Chairman of Berklee's Academic Department, for his
invaluable help in the adaptation of the text.
THE SOLOISTS
Deanna Dustin Kidd has been a member of the Berklee Faculty for five
years. She earned a Bachelors Degree at the University of Lowell, and a
Master of Music in Voice at Boston Conservatory of Music. Ms. Kidd has
worked in all forms of vocal music from solo recitals and Broadway
musicals to Grand Opera, performing Carmen with Boris Goldovsky. While
at Berklee, she has performed excerpts from The Messiah, and the Faure
Requiem with the Berklee Concert Choir under Brian 0'Connell. Her per-
formance of the Elegy is Ms. Kidd's first with the Berklee Concert Band.
Thomas Russell Martin joined the Berklee Faculty three years ago
after obtaining a degree in Theater Arts from Boston College and a B.M.
from Berklee. The Elegy is his second performance with the Berklee Con-
cert Band; his first being the portrayal of Mephistofeles in the 1978
production of Peter Hazzard's "The Death of Faust". Mr. Martin, whose
career includes:a great deal of American musical theater experience, was
most recently seen in a cameo appearance in the Berklee Musical Theater
Workshop's summer 1979 production "Break a Leg", which he also directed.
In addition to teaching voice, Theater production, vocal arranging and
ensembles, Mr. Martin is Assistant Chairman of the Voice Department.
THE COMPOSER
Peter Hazzard's compositions now number over fifty and are written
for a variety of media. They have been performed throughout the United
States. His most recent commission was a Clarinet Concerto for the
State University of Alabama. Locally, Mr. Hazzard has written for the
M.I.T. Concert Band, The Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, The Concord
Band and of course the Berklee Concert Band. Mr. Hazzard has been on
the Berklee Faculty for nine years and has been Chairman of the Music
History and Analysis Department since 1978.
