• Curtis Bryant has begun work on music
for a new Sony PSP game entitled StreetKix
Freestyle Challenge. The new game under
development by Hoplite
Research and Ilusis
Interactive Graphics, will feature
freestyle soccer duels scored to hip hop, punk
& metal, and electric Asian styles.
Bryant is collaborating with composer and
drummer E. M.
Watson to produce over an hour of new
interactive game music for duels, game bosses
and mini-games. This is Bryant and
Watson's first collaborative composition project
in the game music
category.
• December 17, 2011 –
Saturday, 8:00 PM, The Atlanta
Schola Cantorum, directed by John Whitt,
featured Curtis Bryant's a cappella motet "The Lamb" on a
program of polyphonic vocal music on the theme of
"Angels and Shepherds." Bryant's composition
is a setting of William Blake's poem of the same
title from "Songs of Innocence." The concert
was given at St.
Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Atlanta.
• January 24, 2011 – Monday,
8:00 PM, Soprano Chery
Brendel performed Curtis Bryant's cycle of
three Biblical songs, the "Song of Songs"
in a doctoral recital in the Ramsey
Recital Hall in the Performing Arts Center
at the University of Georgia. Ms. Brendel
was accompanied by pianist Mary Beth Wickes and
flutist Emily Harbin.
• October 17, 2010 – Sunday,
4:00 PM, FAITH
PARTNERS FINAL CONCERT. A joint performance of all programs from
Curtis Bryant's
Atlanta Faith Partners Residency
sponsored by the American Composers Forum was held
at First
Presbyterian
Church, Atlanta, Georgia. Choirs and
instrumentalists from three Atlanta congregations, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, directed
by David Hansen, Cathedral of Christ the King,
directed by Kevin Culver, and First Presbyterian
Church, directed by Will Breytspraak, participated
in the concert. Organists Tim Wissler and
Sarah Hawbecker assisted. Featured works
included the complete "Redeemer Evening Prayer – A
Lenten Vespers," including the "Prelude and
Postlude: Fugue and Toccata on FA-SOL-LA RE" for
organ solo, "I Lift My Eyes" (Psalm 121),
"Canticle of Mary" and "Canticle of Simeon," and
two Glorias. Two additional psalm settings
for choir and organ, "How Long, O God" and "I Sing
of Light," as well as the "Hymn of Wisdom" for
choir with brass quintet, organ and percussion
were featured. The vocal works on the
program included original lyrics by four different
poets with ties to Atlanta: William Allen, Stephen
Bluestone, Doug Cumming and Marcia King. The
St. Cecilia Consort gave a repeat performance of
Bryant's "Fantasy on Divinum Mysterium" for
orchestra. Craig Carnahan, Vice President of
Programs for the American Composers Forum
delivered the opening remarks. The
performance marked the conclusion of Bryant's
two-year residency in the Faith Partners Program,
which was created to enable religious institutions
to select a composer to create original musical
works appropriate for use in the worship service
of participating congregations. The three
Atlanta congregagions were chosen on the basis of
their interest in and commitment to performing new
music, their diversity, and their potential
congruence.
• May 13, 2010 – Thursday,
6:00 PM, Squires Recital Hall, Lee
University, Cleveland, Tennessee.
Soprano Kerry Wallen will perform Curtis Bryant's
"Song of Songs,"
three Biblical songs for soprano, flute and piano
on a graduate
voice recital.
• May 9, 2010 – Sunday, 12:00
Noon, WORLD PREMIERE of "I Sing of Light," a choral
adaptation of Psalm 104 for women's choir (SA),
music by Curtis Bryant, text by Stephen
Bluestone. The four-minute work will be
performed by the Schola
Nova (Women's Choir), directed by Kevin
Culver during the noon mass at Cathedral
of Christ the King, Atlanta, Georgia. This
work culminates the array of liturgical
compositions created by Bryant for the Atlanta
Faith Partners Residency sponsored by the American
Composers Forum.
• April 25, 2010 – Sunday,
4:00 PM, Bryant's choral setting of Stephen
Bluestone's text "Holiness
Everywhere" will be featured on a program
of music by Georgia composers given by The
Choral Guild of Atlanta, directed by Clair
Maxwell. The concert will be held at
Northside Drive Baptist Church, 3100 Northside
Drive, Atlanta, GA. Tickets are $15.
• April 1, 2010 – Thursday,
7:00 PM, Covenant
Presbyterian Church organist John Coble will
perform Curtis Bryant's "Agnus Dei" in a keyboard
realization as the prelude for the Maundy Thursday
Tenebrae service.
• March 19, 2010 – Friday,
7:30 PM, Curtis Bryant's "Divertimento for
Strings" will be a featured work on a
program by Georgia State University School of
Music. The University
Symphony Orchestra directed by Michael
Palmer will premiere
the four-movement, 16-minute work for string
orchestra at the Rialto Center for the Arts.
Admission is free.
• February 28, 2010 – Sunday,
9:00 AM and 11:15 AM, the WORLD PREMIERE of Curtis
Bryant's "Fantasy
on Divinum Mysterium," for orchestra will
be performed by the St. Cecilia Consort directed by Will
Breytspraak. The performances
will be featured in the morning worship services
at First
Presbyterian
Church, Atlanta, Georgia. The six
minute orchestral fantasy on the Gregorian hymn
was composed for the 2008-2010 Atlanta Faith
Partners Program sponsored by the American
Composers Forum for which Bryant is resident
composer.
• January 30, 2010 – Saturday, 7:00 PM,
Two of Curtis Bryant's musical settings of poetry
by Stephen
Bluestone were given performances at the
retirement celebration for Professor Bluestone at
the historic Woodruff House on the campus of
Mercer University, Macon, Georgia. Guest
artist, soprano Arietha
Lockhart teamed with pianist Carol Goff in a
splendid performance of "The Laughing Monkeys of Gravity,"
a song cycle based on Bluestone's book of the same
title (Mercer University Press, 1995).
Members of the Mercer Singers, directed by Stanley
Roberts then performed Bryant and Bluestone's
choral work "Holiness
Everywhere" with guest violinist Conrad
Thomas. The piece is a lyrical adaptation of
a medieval poem by the Jewish mystic Yehudah
Halevi (1075-1141). The composition is
published by Transcontinental
Music Publications, New York.
Bluestone, who now lives in New York, served as
professor of literature and film studies at Mercer
for over 30 years. "The Laughing Monkeys of
Gravity," a study on the great comedians of early
film, including Laurel and Hardy, Lou Costello,
The Three Stooges, and Charles Chaplin, was
originally composed in 2004 for a chamber ensemble
of flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, percussion,
violin, cello, piano and coloratura soprano.
Ms. Lockhart gave the world premiere in that year
with faculty members of the Mercer University Townsend
School of Music.
• November 15, 2009 – 10:30
AM, the WORLD PREMIERE of "How
Long, O God," a choral setting of Psalm
13 by Curtis Bryant to a poetic rendition by
Marcia King will take place at the Cathedral
of Christ the King in Atlanta. The
collaboration is the next in a series of works
composed for the Faith Partners Residency Program
sponsored by the American Composers Forum.
The Cathedral
Choir will perform under the direction of
Kevin Culver and organist Tim Wissler.
• October 19, 2009 – Curtis
Bryant's "FunFare,"
a fanfare for brass instruments and percussion was
a featured work at the Investiture Procession and
Ceremony of Dr. Mark P. Becker, seventh president
of Georgia State University. The public
event took place at 2:00 PM in the Georgia State
University Sports Arena.
• September 29, 2009 – NEW
YORK RECITAL: Bryant's "The Marriage of
Heaven and Hell," a song cycle for
bass-baritone and piano was a featured work on a
recital by Atlanta baritone James
Robinson and pianist Jo Kroger at 8:00 PM at
Saint Peter's Church, 619 Lexington Avenue (at
54th Street). The text of the five songs is
taken from the 1793 mystical book "The Marriage of
Heaven and Hell" by William Blake. Bryant
composed the song cycle in 1983 for American
singer Peter Harrower.
• September 13, 2009 – The
WORLD PREMIERE performance of Curtis Bryant's "Hymn of Wisdom"
for chorus SATB, brass quintet and organ was given
by First
Presbyterian
Church, Atlanta, Georgia. Charles
Whittaker directed the performance with Diane
Whittaker at the keyboard. The text for
"Hymn of Wisdom" is a collaborative adaptation of
Proverbs 8:22-36 by Bryant and poet Doug
Cumming, professor of Journalism at
Washington and Lee University. The
composition is the next in a series of new sacred
choral works by Bryant in the 2009-2010 Atlanta
Faith Partners Residency sponsored by the American
Composers Forum.
• September 10, 2009 – "Horns
for Haiti" founder, organist John Coble joined Dr.
Michael R. Brown, trumpet in a benefit concert
featuring Curtis Bryant's "Introit and
Recessional" at First United Methodist
Church, Starkville, Mississippi. A second
performance was given in Atlanta at Covenant
Presbyterian Church on September 13, 2009 at 1:00
PM. Horns
for Haiti is a non-profit group that
seeks donations of new or used band instruments
for music programs in Haiti. For more
information visit the Covenant
Presbyterian Church website.
• TRAVEL – This summer opened a new
chapter in my world exploration with trips to
Europe and to China.
May 7-21 – EUROPE – Nancy and I celebrated our
30th anniversary with a dream vacation to France
and Germany, spending time in Burgundy, Alsace and
the Mosel and visiting our friends in Strassbourg
and Trier. A highlight of the trip was a
concert of vocal music of the Notre Dame School at
Notre Dame in Paris. This is where
counterpoint and harmony began. Great
friends, great music, great food and great
wine. Who could ask for anything more?
July 18-August 7 MY CHINA ADVENTURE – My
60th birthday present from my wife was a trip to
China. The other excuse
for going was the solar eclipse of July 22, which
was viewable in Shanghai (if it hadn't been
raining). I traveled with veteran eclipse
chaser Mike Froman, who had prior experience
travelling in China. Our itinerary took us
to Shanghai, Yunnan province, Sichuan, and some of
China's ancient capitals, including Xi'an,
Luoyang, Kaifeng, and Nanjing. We visited
some of China's ancient wonders, including Shilin
(the Stone Forest), Tiger Leaping Gorge, the Giant
Buddha of Leshan, The Terracotta Army, and the
Longmen Grottos. I took this video in the
Bell Tower in the Old City of Xi'an.
Performances are given several times daily in
traditional costumes with traditional Chinese
instruments and featuring the great bells.
Click projector
to play video. For a day by day detail of
our adventures in China please visit our blog: http://www.declipsechina.blogspot.com/
• April 5, 2009, 7:30 PM –
Curtis Bryant's "Song
of Songs," three Biblical songs for
soprano, flute and piano were featured on a Senior
Recital given by soprano Laurel Aberle. The
performance was given at Georgia State University
School of Music, Kopleff
Recital Hall.
• April 1, 2009, 7:00 PM – World
premiere of Curtis Bryant's new Lenten
Vespers Service: "Redeemer
Evening Prayer" at the Lutheran
Church
of the Redeemer, 731 Peachtree Street, NE,
Atlanta, Georgia. The 25-minute musical
"service of light" includes the Hymn of Light,
Thanksgiving for Light, Psalm 121, Magnificat,
Nunc Dimittis and Gloria, as well as an organ
prelude and postlude. Additional services
featuring some of the above selections were held
on Wednesdays during Lent: March 4, March 11,
March 18, and March 25, all at 7:00 PM. The
service music is in partial fulfillment of the
Atlanta Faith Partners Residency sponsored by the
American
Composers Forum. Bryant collaborated
with several Atlanta poets in the creation of
poetic settings of traditional texts. They
include Marcia King and Bill Allen as well as Doug
Cumming, professor of journalism at
Washington and Lee University. The
performing forces include choir, organ, flute and
handbells.
• November 16, 2008, 8:15 PM –
Curtis Bryant's "The
Lamb" was featured on a Tuesday evening
performance by the University
of West Georgia Concert Choir and Chamber
Singers, directed by Dr. Kevin Hibbard. The
concert took place in the Townsend Performing Arts
Center and was free to the public.
• October 26, 2008, 3:00 PM –
The world premiere of Curtis Bryant's "Alien Landscape"
for two pianos, eight hands was featured on a
piano ensemble program at Powder Springs Baptist
Church, Powder Springs, Georgia. The program
was sponsored by the Greater Marietta Music
Teachers Association (GMMTA) in
cooperation with Southern Keyboards of Marietta,
GA. The GMMTA commissioned Bryant to create
the new composition for intermediate piano
students as the featured work for this
concert. The use of the extreme range of the
keyboards and the landing of NASA's Mars Phoenix
at the time he was working on the composition gave
Bryant the idea for the title of the 3-minute
piece.
• ATLANTA FAITH PARTNERS RESIDENCY –
Curtis Bryant has been chosen as the
Composer-in-Residence for the Atlanta
Faith Partners project sponsored by the American
Composers Forum. Beginning in
September, he will work with three Atlanta
congregations – Cathedral
of Christ the King, First
Presbyterian
Church, and Lutheran
Church of the Redeemer – to write new works
unique to each congregation, as well as several
pieces that all three will share. The
participating congregations were chosen on the
basis of their interest in and commitment to
performing new music, their diversity, and their
potential congruence. Established in 1992,
the Faith Partners residencies are emblematic of
the American Composers Forum's efforts to build
bridges between composers and already existing
audiences that have lacked exposure to
contemporary music but are highly receptive to
it. Several congregations that participated
in the program have continued to commission new
works with their own funds following the
conclusion of the residency period, indicating
that the program has sparked a durable enthusiasm
for new music.
• June 20, 2008, 7:30 PM – The
opening scene from Curtis Bryant's opera "The Anarchist"
was featured Friday on a program of the Harrower
Summer Opera Workshop at Georgia State
University. The scene was directed by David
Grabarkewitz with musical direction by Nina
Shuman. Baritone Stephen McCool and tenor
Wesley Morgan were the featured soloists.
The libretto of "The
Anarchist" by Allen
Reichman is an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's
1907 novel "The
Secret Agent."
• May 8, 2008 – Bryant's "Ragtime" for
string orchestra received a performance by the
Lovinggood Middle School orchestra, directed by
Barbera Secrist. The performance was given
at Hillgrove High School in Powder Springs,
Georgia. Ragtime is published by Neil
A. Kjos Music Company in San Diego.
• March 30, 2008, 3:00 PM – Cantare
Youth Choirs of Atlanta directed by Paulette
Sigler performed Bryant's Jubilate Deo
on their Spring Concert at Mt. Zion United
Methodist Church, 1770 Johnson Ferry Road in
Marietta, GA. An encore performance will be
given on Tuesday, April 1 at 7:00 PM at Sandy
Plains Baptist Church, 2825 Sandy Plains Road,
Marietta, GA.
• March 23, 2008 – Easter
Sunday – The Unitarian Universalist Congregation
of Gwinnett (UUCG)
Adult Choir directed by Kevin
McKinney performed Curtis Bryant's "The Lamb," an
a cappella
setting of the William Blake poem from "Songs of
Innocence." Bryant composed "The Lamb" in
2003 for the Gregg Smith Singers after attending
the Adirondack Festival of American Music.
The score is published by Lux
Nova Press.
• March 9, 2008 – Performance of Bryant's
"Fantasy
on American Themes" by
the Etowah
Youth Orchestras, Gadsden, Alabama, directed
by Michael R. Gagliardo.
• March 1, 2008 – PERFORMANCE IN AVERY
FISCHER HALL. Curtis Bryant's "Fantasy
on American Themes" was performed at the
National
Orchestra Cup Festival held in New York's Lincoln
Center. The White Pine Middle School 8th
Grade Orchestra of Saginaw, Michigan, Directed by
Iris Haynes will feature Bryant's "Fantasy"
on their program at this prestigious event.
• February 23, 2008 – PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF
SCHEDULE! – Bryant's Sonata for Violin and
Piano was featured on the closing concert
at the SCI
National
Conference in Atlanta at Georgia State
University School of Music, Kopleff Recital Hall
(8:00 PM). Violinist Christos
Galileas will be joined by pianist Brandt
Fredriksen in the performance of the three
movement work.
• January 25, 2008 – Curtis Bryant's "Fantasy on American
Themes" was one of the featured works on
a program at the 2008 Michigan Music Conference in
Grand Rapids. The White Pine Middle School
8th Grade String Orchestra of Saginaw, Michigan,
directed by Iris Haynes was guest performing group
at the conference. The young musicians will
be giving a second performance of "Fantasy" on
March 1 in Avery Fischer Hall in New York at the
National Orchestra Cup Festival.
• January 13, 2008 – Bryant
completed the musical score for a new short film "A Dark Gift" produced and directed by Nicholas
Lance for the Georgia Tech Campus Movie
Fest. The dark drama features several
arrangements of Bryant's Nocturne for piano.
To view this film and another short by Nick Lance
click the mini-projector: 
• November 13, 2007 – Performance of
Curtis Bryant's "Fantasy on American Themes" for
string orchestra by the Murfreesboro
Youth Orchestra, Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
• April 24, 2007 – The
Department of Music at the University of West
Georgia performed Curtis Bryant’s cantata "The Builders"
on a centennial choral concert at the Townsend
Center for the Performing Arts with the UWG
Concert Choir & Chamber Singers and the UWG
Wind Symphony, directed by Kevin
Hibbard. Bryant’s setting of "The Builders"
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was commissioned in
1989 for the dedication of the Performing Arts
Center.
• ATLANTA PREMIERE:
April 17, 2007 – The Atlanta premiere of Curtis
Bryant’s "The
Laughing Monkeys of Gravity," a song
cycle based upon poems from the collection by
award winning Atlanta poet Stephen
Bluestone was featured in a piano and
voice only performance on the neoPhonia Concert
Series at Georgia State University. The cycle is also scored for
soprano with a chamber ensemble of flute, clarinet
& alto sax, percussion, violin, cello and
piano. Former GSU School of Music faculty
member Chery
Brendel sang the challenging soprano part in
this cycle with Lisa Leong taking on the equally
challenging piano part. The text depicts
some of the legendary film comedians, including
Laurel and Hardy, Lou Costello, the Three Stooges
and Charles Chaplin. The program, directed
by Dr. Nickitas Demos, was performed in the
Kopleff Recital Hall on the Music for Our Time
series.
•
March 18, 2007 – Dr. Michael R. Brown, trumpet joined
organist John Coble in a performance of Curtis
Bryant's Introit
and Recessional for Trumpet and Organ in
the 11:00 AM service at Covenant
Presbyterian
Church in Atlanta. The team of Brown and
Coble performed the Georgia premiere of Bryant's
Introit and Recessional last year at the American
Guild of Organists Members' Recital on March 14,
2006 at First Presbyterian Church, Marietta,
Georgia. Dr.
Brown is head of the Department of Music
Education and Professor of Music at The
Mississippi State University in Starkville,
Mississippi. John
Coble is Organist and Director or Music at
Covenant Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.
• Feb 18, 2007 – Feature Article in Atlanta
Journal-Constitution on Atlanta composers
(including Curtis Bryant) by Pierre Ruhe.
• November 30, 2006 – Dr. Tom Gibson led
members of the GSU Pep Band and GSU Brass and Jazz
ensembles in a recording of a new basketball theme
song by School of Music part-time instructor
Curtis Bryant. Bryant composed the song,
entitled "Go
Panthers!" for use as title and credits
music for upcoming game broadcasts. The song
is scored for live performances by the Pep Band at
Panthers games. Digital audio editing was
completed by GSU School of Music student Michael
Reddick in the Center for Audio Recording Arts
facilities. It is anticipated that Bryant's
new theme song will be used for the 2007-2008
season broadcasts on CSS (Comcast Sports South),
produced by Chris Davis.
• OPERA
NEWS: "The Anarchist"
November 17, 2006 – A new scene from
Curtis Bryant’s opera-in-progress
"The Anarchist"
received a performance by students of Georgia
State University School of Music on the Fall
Opera Scenes showcase in Kopleff Recital
Hall. Soloists included Katie
Baughman, Maria McDaniel and Melanie
Czaykowsky. The scene was directed by W.
Dwight Coleman, coordinator of voice and opera
studies, and Peter Marshall provided musical
direction. The libretto, by New York
forensic psychiatrist Allen Reichman, is based
upon the 1907 novel “The Secret Agent” by Joseph
Conrad. Two additional scenes from "The
Anarchists" received staged performances at the
Harrower Summer Opera Workshop, June, 2005 and in
the Opera Scenes Recital at Georgia State
University, November, 18, 2005, directed by W. Dwight Coleman. Click here
for a sample aria "Stevie,
My Darling," sung by soprano Sindhu
Chandra Geidd with pianist Peter Marshall. More
samples can be heard on the Opera Page.
• PREMIERE
OF "In a Dream"
March 26, 2006 – Curtis Bryant's "In
a Dream" for chorus SSA(B), band and orchestra
received a world premiere at Ridgeview Middle School located in Sandy Springs, Georgia. The 6-minute composition was
commissioned for the celebration of the school's
20th anniversary. The work is a setting of
an original text by Bryant highlighting the
school's strengths in its diversity.
• "A Peasant's Hope" at
WYSIWYG Film Fest
Bryant scored this
medieval tale produced by Pet Project Films with an
ensemble of Atlanta based musicians. It was
recently featured in a San Francisco film
festival.
•
CURTIS
BRYANT RECEIVES 7th EMMY NOMINATION
Atlanta, Georgia - May 6, 2005 - "Briars in the Cottonpatch"
received two regional EMMY nominations as part of
the annual Southeast EMMY competition. The
nominations were announced in May by the Southeast
Chapter of NATAS (National Academy of Television
Arts and Sciences). "Briars" received nominations
in two individual categories:
•
WRITING - Michael Booth
• MUSIC
COMPOSITION – Curtis Bryant
"Briars" also aired nationally on PBS in February, 2005 as
part of Black History Month. (To see a
schedule of national listings click here.)
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