Works
Gimpel the Fool (1975-80), Opera in Yiddish. Libretto by I.B.Singer. The 92nd St Y, May 1979. Amy Kaiser conductor, Dan Bredemann, director. Revised version, March 1980. English version, April 1985, Dan Held director. Final revision, 2003. 2 hours. Published by MMB. More . . .
Music for Buried Child (1980). Reed College, November 1980. Barbara Litt, violin. 3’. More . . .
Joycesketch I (1981). Merkin Hall, March 1981. Nadine Asin, flute. 3’.
Joycesketch II (1981). Reed College, April 1981. John Graham, viola. Recording: CRI. Published by MMB. 5’. More . . .
Joycesketch III (1981). Alice Tully Hall, October 1981. New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, George Manahan, conductor. 10’.
Divertimento from Gimpel the Fool (1982). Chamber Music Northwest, July,1982. David Shifrin, clarinet; Theodore Arm, violin; Fred Sherry, cello; William Doppmann, piano. CD by Delos, 1989. 20’. Published by MMB. More . . .
The Lass of Aughrim (1983). Chamber Music Northwest, July 1983. Lucy Shelton, soprano; Nancy Allen, harp; Ik-Hwan Bae, violin; David Shifrin, clarinet. 15’. More . . .
Two Prayers (1983). Alice Tully Hall, November 1983. David Shifrin, clarinet; William Doppman, piano. 6’. More . . .
Sacred Service for cantor, choir, organ, and chamber orchestra (1983). Congregation Beth Israel, Portland, OR, December 1983. Cantor Judith Schiff, soprano; David Schiff, conductor. Subsequent performances by the University of Connecticut chorus and orchestra, Cantor Roslyn Jhuniver, soprano; Virginia Hancock, conductor. One hour and 15’. More . . .
Suite from Sacred Service (1984). Chamber Music Northwest, July 1984. Judith Schiff, soprano; Ransom Wilson, flute; Yoshinori Nakao, clarinet; Theodore Arm, violin; Eriko Sato, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Hamilton Cheifitz, cello. CD by Delos, 1989. Published by MMB. 25’. More . . .
Wedding Service for cantor and piano (1984) Written for the wedding of Andrew Schiff and Susan Manheim. Premiere June 1984 in Syracuse, NY.
Peace (1984). First Unitarian Church (Portland), October 1984. Choir of the First Unitarian Church; Nathan Sanders, organ; George Anne Ries, flute; Mark Slegers, conductor. 6’. More . . .
Scenes from Adolescence (1987) for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano. Premiere 29 June 1987, Chamber Music Northwest. James Walker, flute; David Shifrin, clarinet; Ik-hwan Bae, violin; Warren Lash, cello; Victor Steinhardt, piano. Delos CD. Published by MMB. 30’. More . . .
Hallel for Cantor, Choir and Organ. Commissioned by Congregation Emanu-el of San Francisco. Premiere San Francisco, 30 April 1988. Roslyn Jhuniver Barak, soprano. 5’. More . . .
Gimpel-Suite for Violin and Piano (1988). Published by MMB. More . . .
Slow Dance for large orchestra (1989). Commissioned by the Oregon Symphony. Premiere , 4 March 1990, James DePreist , conductor. Published by MMB. 35’. More . . .
Stomp for Orchestra (1990). Commissioned by Concordia. Premiere, 8 November 1990, Alice Tully Hall. Marin Alsop, conductor. Recorded by the Baltimore Symphony, David Zinman, cond. for Argo. Published by MMB. 8’. More . . .
Kedusha for Cantor, Choir and Organ (1991). 5’. More . . .
Shtik for bass trombone and jazz quintet (1992). Premiere, Manhattan School of Music, February 1992. David Taylor, solo bass trombone. Recorded for New World Records. Published by MMB. 10’. More . . .
Solus Rex for bass trombone and chamber ensemble (flute, oboe d’amore, horn, bass, piano, percussion). Commissioned by Chamber Society of Lincoln Center. Premiere 4 December 1992, Alice Tully Hall. David Taylor, solo bass trombone. Published by MMB. 20’. More . . .
Speaking in Drums for timpani and string orchestra. Commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra. Premiere 27 January 1995, The Minnesota Orchestra, Christopher Seaman, cond., Peter Kogan, timpanist. Published by MMB. 20’. More . . .
Psalm 121 for SATB chorus. Commissioned by the American Guild of Organists. Premiere 16 June 1995, Portland Oregon. 5’.
Zinman Freylakh for orchestra. Commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra in honor of the sixtieth birthday of Maestro David Zinman. Premiere 10 July 1996. Published by MMB. 90 seconds (as per the commission).
Bridge City. Commissioned by the Oregon Symphony. Premiere 3 December 1996. Murray Sidlin, conductor; Curtis Salgado, solo. Published by MMB. 15’. More . . .
Vashti, or the Whole Megillah. A Purim shpiel for mezzo-soprano, clarinet and piano. Commissioned by the Gold Coast Chamber Music Festival. Premiere 12 January 1997, Delray Beach Florida with D’Anna Fortunato, Paul Green and William Wolfram. Published by MMB. 35’. More . . .
4 Sisters: Concerto for Jazz Violin and Orchestra. Premiere 1 December 1997, Cambridge, England. William Street, violin; Peter Britton, conductor. American premiere Detroit Symphony, 28 January 2004, Regina Carter, violin; Christoph Poppen, conductor. Published by MMB. 25’. More . . .
Low Life for bass trombone and jazz orchestra. Commissioned by the Manhattan School of Music. Premiere, November 1998, Manhattan School Jazz Ensemble, David Taylor, bass trombone. 12’. More . . .
New York Nocturnes for violin, cello and piano. Premiere, Chamber Music Northwest. 26 June 2000. Published by MMB. 25’. More . . .
Pepper Pieces for string quintet. Commissioned by Hollis Taylor. Premiere, Lewis and Clark College, 12 November 2000. 10’. More . . .
Longview Local for woodwind quintet. Commissioned by Reed College in honor of Richard P. Wollenberg. Premiere, Reed College, 6 February 2001. 6’.
After Hours, five encores for flute and piano. Commissioned by Nadine Asin and Thomas Van Straaten. Premiere, Aspen Music Festival, 9 July 2001. Published by MMB. 20’. More . . .
DZ fingers for piano, commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival in honor of David Zinman’s 65th birthday. Premiere, Aspen, 11 July 2001 by Anton Nel. 1’.
Canti di Davide, concerto for clarinet and orchestra. Premiere, David Shifrin, solo, with The Virginia Symphony, Wes Kenney, cond. Norfolk Virginia, 6 October 2001. Published by MMB. 25’. More . . .
Singing in the Dark for alto saxophone and string quartet, commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest. Premiere 4 July 2002 by Marty Ehrlich and the Miami String Quartet. Published by MMB. 30’. More . . .
All About Love for mezzo-soprano, tenor and chamber ensemble, commissioned by Chamber Music Northwest. Premiere 1 July 2004 with Milagro Vargas and Leodigario del Rosarioß. Published by MMB. One hour. More . . .
Four Seasonal Interludes (from All About Love) for flute, clarinet, violin and cello. 10’.
Canzona for brass, percussion and strings. Commissioned by the Seattle Symphony. Premiere 6 January 2005, Gerard Schwarz, conductor. Published by MMB. 12’. More . . .
Havdalah Service for cantor, flute and piano. Written in honor of Cantor Judith Schiff's twenty-five years at Congregation Beth Israel. Premiere, December 2005 with Cantor Lawrence Avery, Linda Bailey, flute, David Schiff,piano.
Singing in the Dark, Version for alto saxophone, string orchestra and percussion (2005). Premiere February 2006: Marty Ehrlich, saxophone, Metropolis Ensemble, Andrew Cyr, conductor. Published by MMB.
All About Love, Version for chamber ensemble (Flute, clarinet, guitar, accordion, piano, percussion, string quartet. Premere October 2006: Hai-Ting Chinn, mezzo-soprano; Thomas Glenn, tenor. Metropolis Ensemble, Andrew Cyr conductor. Published by MMB.
RJ meets ED meets LJ for violin solo. Premiere April 2006, Ron Blessinger, violin. Published by MMB.
Infernal for orchestra (after Stravinsky). Commissioned by the Seattle Symphony. Premiered May, 2006. Recorded by the Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz, conductor. Published by MMB.
Nonet (2007) for string quartet, bass and four clarinets. Premiere: Chamber Music Northwest, July 23, 2007. Published by MMB.