World Premiere at All City Concert

The All City Music Festival showcased the wonderful music programs in the city schools, as it does every year. The Festival, hosted by Wesleyan in the ice hockey arena, students from all of the public schools in the City, starting with the 4th grade bands and ending with the high school band and chorus. The crowd was bigger than ever, and the stands of the rink were packed with fans of the schools' musicians.

Marco Gaylord was the effusive master of ceremonies, bubbling enthusiasm and inspiration over what the teachers and students in the City accomplish. He thanked Superintendent Frechette, the Board of Ed, and the City for their support of the music program. Frechette in turn called Gaylord the "hardest working person in music today." Mayor Giuliano also spoke, he expressed his awe at the performances by the musicians, and he thanked Frechette for his support of the music program.

The highlight of this year's Festival was the world premiere of a piece by Glenn McClure, Dear Mother Earth: Letters to the Planet. The piece was commissioned by Wesleyan as part of its Feet to the Fire program, which brings together science and the arts to examine critical environmental issues. McClure composed an oratorio based on letters which children wrote to the planet. McClure, in remarks before the performance, said that these letters, which came from elementary schools in Middletown, Italy, Ghana, Nicaragua, and other countries around the world, contained two messages, "Thanks for the beauty," and "Our responsibility is to take care of her." The concert was being streamed live to Italy, Ghana, Thailand, and Nicaragua; an archive of the concert is HERE

While the lyrics were inspired by the children's letters, the music was driven by scientific data. McClure translated data on a local river, collected by Wesleyan faculty and students, into melodies and recurring themes with the assistance of Wesleyan Math faculty.

The All-City 4th and 5th Grade Select Chorus, with High School strings players, performed the opening oratorio, Dear Mother Earth. The piece was difficult, with complex rhythms and multiple distinct parts, the musicians did a masterful job. It was a wonderful performance.

The complete Oratorio will be performed on April 23rd, at 7PM in Wesleyan's Crowell Music Hall. This performance will also include selected students from the concert last night. If this performance is half as good as the All City performance, it promises to be a concert you should not miss.

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Note: In the archived video of the concert, the first 9 minutes are the sound check, skip to the end and a second streaming video starts. Dear Mother Earth starts at about 29 minutes in this second video.