As part of this celebration, I composed a piece for Plymouth, New Hampshire, entitled Voices of the Lakes - A Choral Fantasy for Youth Choir. This seven-movement work was performed as a school assembly program on April 17, 18, and 19, and in a concert setting on May 11, 12, and 14. (To see an outline of the piece, with texts, go here. To hear an excerpt from the last movement and a message from the composer on the PBS web site, go here.)

I found out about the Continental Harmony project almost by accident. While searching on the Internet, I came across the American Composers Forum (ACF). The description of the project looked interesting, so I sent an e-mail asking for more information.

The ACF sent me a Continental Harmony brochure. One community from each state had submitted a proposal for a new piece of music. Many different kinds of music were listed there: choral, orchestral, percussion ensemble, jazz, solo voice, and more. Since the rules stated that I was allowed to apply for up to three projects, I looked through the descriptions and chose three that best suited my style: one proposal called for a piece for youth choir (New Hampshire); the other two were for adult choir (Kentucky and Illinois).

I wrote letters to each of the three communities, telling them about me and how I would go about writing a piece for them. Included with each letter were recordings of some of my compositions, along with sheet music, concert programs, letters of recommendation, and reviews.

After I sent my letters, it was difficult to wait! I didn't know how much of a chance I had at getting chosen, since there were over 1000 applications sent in by other composers. I knew I'd be happy with any one of the three, although I hoped for the New Hampshire project; my wife and I had taken a vacation there in 1994, and we wanted to go back some day. Also, I had really enjoyed writing a piece for a youth choir festival a few years ago, and I was hoping for another chance to do something like that.

So when I got the phone call telling me that the community of Plymouth, New Hampshire, had chosen me to compose a piece for the Friends of the Arts Youth Choir, it was one of the best days of the year!

One of the really fun things about this project was that I got to visit Plymouth several times. I made good friends, saw some beautiful sights, and had a great time working with the musicians.