A BRIEF INTRODUCTION ON "O ROSE OF MAY" (COLLINS)

---UPDATED DECEMBER 28, 2020 W/ VIDEO TRANSCRIPT---

It's Midwest Clinic week!! We're so excited to meet all of you who will be attending this year's conference.

This Thursday at 1pm, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Wind Symphony will be giving the world premiere of MCI composer Harrison J. Collins's "O rose of May," a brand-new work for concert band that was commissioned as part of a joint consortium with fellow MCI composers Caleb Hammer and Josh Trentadue. Watch below to learn more about Harrison's new piece, and be sure to check out the concert later this week!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Hi! My name is Harrison J. Collins; I am the composer of O rose of May, a new work for wind ensemble that will be performed in just a few days at The Midwest Clinic by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wind Symphony, conducted by the one and only Alex Kaminsky. I’m very excited for the performance!

I’m very proud of the work - it’s inspired by “Hamlet,” the Shakespearean play, and the music is kind of a meditation on Ophelia and how she could be a very happy character removed from the sad stuff of this play, but, through no action of her own, is dragged through the conflict and unfortunately meets a very dark fate because of it… it’s fun stuff!

So, I really wanted to capture the thrill and emotion of that journey, and write a work that was worthy of representing Shakespeare’s art. I hope that my listeners will pick up on it and really get the thrill of the work and feel how gripping it is, and perhaps (if they have not already) be curious to go read “Hamlet” for themselves.

I want to give a quick shout-out to everybody that has supported this piece - I’m very grateful for them. [To] everyone who’s joined in the consortium, I can’t thank them enough. I also have to thank Caleb Hammer and Josh Trentadue for being a part of this consortium with me; I think it was a very fun thing to do and I’m grateful for the opportunity. And, of course, my thanks goes out to every single member of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Wind Symphony for bringing this piece to life, and to Alex Kaminsky for conducting it.

​I’m very excited for the concert! I hope you’ll be there, and if you are, I hope that you enjoy the work!

Millennium Composers Initiative

We are a group of composers based all around the world actively providing new experiences for audiences, performers, and artists everywhere. Creating fresh and engaging new music for all types of ensembles and media, we strive to push the limits of what defines music and art through experimental, conventional, and interdisciplinary means.

https://www.mcicomposers.com
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