Working with Vermont's Composers
Since 2005, Social Band has made it part of our mission to perform and promote music written by local composers.
We released an exciting recording of home-grown music with the Vermont Composers Project CD in 2005, and we have continued to commission and perform locally composed choral music ever since. Click here for a complete composer list and links to their web pages.
Projects by season:
"Deep Midwinter: Songs from Winter's Heart"
(New CD! December 2009)
Songs for winter's season in Social Band's trademark style featuring newly-composed works by Peter Amidon, Betsy Brigham, Billy Drislane, and Thomas L. Read.
"Veni Creator Spiritus: Come Creator Spirit!"
(Spring 2009)
Social Band explores the creative process, including three new choral works penned by Vermont composers Sara Doncaster, John Harrison and Pete Sutherland.
Read press release
"While I Labor: Songs of Work"
(Spring 2008)
Featuring new compositions by David Gunn, Colin McCaffrey, Jeremiah McLane, Thomas L. Read, and Pete Sutherland.
Read press release
Composer statements
"Idle and Blessed: Exploring Rest in a Restless World"
(Fall 2007)
Featuring new works by Vermont composers Tom Cleary, Sara Doncaster, Michael Hopkins, Don Jamison, Michael Kellogg, Will Patton and Liz Thompson.
Read press release
"The Vermont Composers Project" (2005)
An exciting program of new choral works commissioned from 25 diverse Vermont composers. We released our Vermont Composers Project CD with many selections from the project in November, 2005.
Composers included Mary Alice Amidon, Peter Amidon, the late Rachel Bissex, Betsy Brigham, Patti Casey, Tom Cleary, Susan Comen, Sara Doncaster, Billy Drislane, Jon Gailmor, David Gunn, John Harrison, Michael Hopkins, Seth Houston, R.W. Keller, Jorge Martin, Anna Patton, Troy Peters, Thomas L. Read, Robert Resnik, Katie Shimizu, Moira Smiley, Stephen Spitzer, Pete Sutherland, and Liz Thompson.
Social Band’s 2005 Vermont Composers Project was supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Vermont Community Foundation Arts Endowment Fund, by a generous gift from the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund, and by the many gifts from our patrons.
Press release
2005 Composer bios
2005 VCP performance schedule