Almost 20 years after Langston’s Lot, my first song cycle on the poetry of Langston Hughes, my dear friends and colleagues Gail Levinsky and Jackie Edwards Henry asked me to create a second set. This time, they requested Hughes poems that would reflect a female point of view. Fortunately, Langston provided some fine choices! As before, this cycle provides seven movements involving a broad selection of themes, as provided by Hughes himself. The hope for a better day, despite t

With Organist Tony Williams, after the concert My association with the Southeastern Composers Forum goes back to 1990, when I was a new arrival at Mississippi State University. I have always appreciated this regional organization’s commitment to new music and its acceptance of many different compositional styles. One of my special memoires was helping to sponsor the group’s annual conference at MSU, back in 1999. Once a member, always a member; over the years, I have taken ti