Photo: Composer Lewis Nielson (right) explains his inauguration composition to Mary Adams and Richard Graham, director of the School of Music. Photo by Rick O'Quinn.
By Lisa Bartholow
Musical entertainment at the inauguration ceremony for President Michael F. Adams will convert the president's name into music.
Chorale and Fanfare was written for the University of Georgia Wind Symphony by music professor Lewis Nielson to celebrate the inauguration. All musical materials are based upon the translation of Adams's full name into musical notes and resultant pitches from the major and minor triads occurring above those pitches. The president's name appears in its entirety as a melodic line a few times in the course of the work.
Nielson says the work is "in a very accessible style, but not without moments that will challenge the listener."
Dwight Satterwhite, director of the Wind Symphony, says the ensemble has had the honor of premiering several new works recently but this one is a bit different.
"It is very personal to produce the work of a colleague," he says, "especially the work of our distinguished theory professor."
Nielson joined the UGA School of Music in 1979, and he is currently professor and chairman of music theory and composition as well as the founder and director of the UGA Contemporary Chamber Ensemble.
His compositions have been performed throughout the United States and Europe. Recently, his Fantasia for solo percussionist and chamber orchestra was performed by the Lake Placid (N.Y.) Sinfonietta and by the American Composer's Orchestra in New York City. The Fresno (Calif.) Philharmonic and the UGA Symphony have both performed Nielson's Concerto for Solo Percussion and Orchestra.
His new orchestral work, Crosscurrents on the Vertical River, was recorded by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra of Bratislava (Slovak Republic) and his Procession for large orchestra will be recorded by the Czech Radio Orchestra in Prague (Czech Republic).
His chamber music and electronic compositions are also widely performed and recorded, including his Fantasies for Soprano Saxophone and Tape and Surrealistic Portraiture for soprano saxophone and piano, both written for and recorded by UGA professor of saxophone Kenneth Fischer.
Nielson studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and Clark University in Massachusetts, and received his Ph.D. in music theory and composition from the University of Iowa. A member of the American Composers Alliance, he has received numerous grants and awards for his work.
