On Friday, February 28th, the CMS-Southern Chapter/SCSMT Joint Conference in Nashville, TN presented a Composers Concert with works selected from all over the country. The concert took place at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music in Turner Hall.
Among the fabulous works presented that night, Alan Goldspiel’s composition, Golus I, opened the 8:00 p.m. concert. The piece written for flute, clarinet, and piano was skilfully performed by Laura Clapper (flute), Lauren Wright (clarinet), and Kris Carlisle (piano).
Goldspiel commented that the performance was fantastic and spot on! “I so much appreciate that the musicians volunteer to perform on composer’s concerts and that they do so at such a high level.”
When asked about his inspiration for the piece, Goldspiel stated:
“The word golus is Yiddish for exile and it refers to the diaspora of the Jewish people. Diaspora Studies, in general, reflect on overcoming tremendous hardship, the ongoing growth of the diasporic phenomenon, and the cultural, social, political, and economic contributions of such peoples to their new homeland hosts. The musical work Golus I reflects on the tragedy and courage of all exiled peoples and, in some very small way, seeks to emotionally represent that life-altering experience. It is the first in a series of works that takes the notion of exile as inspiration and commentary.”
Other composers whose works were presented that evening were Michael Boyd, William Price, Kyle Vanderburg, Daniel Morel, Valentin M. Bogdan, Traci Mendel, Hyowon Bong, and Darleen Mitchell.
The Session Chair for the event was Valentin M. Bogdan from Mississippi University for Women.