Share Album:
Music in the Listening Place
Brad Holmes composer
Eric Whitacre composer
Michael Slayton composer
Maurice Ravel composer
Alf Houkum composer
Eliza Gilkyson composer
Jonathan Dove composer
David Dickau composer
Vanderbilt Chorale | Tucker Biddlecombe conductor
We welcome Tucker Biddlecombe to the PARMA Recordings family with the debut of Music In The Listening Place, a collection of choral works performed by the Vanderbilt University Chorale and conducted by Biddlecombe. Biddlecombe demonstrates masterful programming in his ability to curate a modern listening experience based on mostly classical texts. Of particular note is Three Songs of Faith, an elegant collection of settings of e.e. cummings texts by Eric Whitacre. In a similar vein are the delicate Trois Chansons of Maurice Ravel. A particular gem is Three Settings of Ezra Pound, composed by PARMA artist Michael Slayton. Eliza Gilkyson’s “Requiem” is unlike any other. Sweet and nostalgic, this hymn for the departed draws innocence from the youthful voices of the Chorale. Another highlight is David Dickau’s exquisite setting of If Music Be the Food of Love, through which the Chorale expresses remarkable balance and dynamic facility. Also included on the album are several text settings by composer Jonathan Dove; an arrangement of the traditional Indodana, as well as settings by Alf Houkum, Daniel Read, and James Mulholland.Truly, Biddlecombe captures the joy and sophistication of all things choral with this enchanting recording.
Listen
Artist Information
Tucker Biddlecombe
Tucker Biddlecombe (Ph.D.) is Director of Choral Activities at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. There he conducts the Vanderbilt Chorale, and Symphonic Choir, and teaches courses in Choral Conducting and Music Education. He also serves as Director of the Nashville Symphony Chorus, the offcial vocal arm of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Biddlecombe is a veteran teacher and a passionate advocate for music education. Ensembles under his direction have performed to acclaim at state and division conventions of ACDA, and he is active as a guest conductor. A native of Buffalo New York, Biddlecombe is a graduate of SUNY Pots dam and Florida State University, where he completed doctoral studies in choral conducting and music education with André Thomas. He resides in Nashville, TN with his wife Mary Biddlecombe, Artistic Director of the Blair Children’s Chorus.
Michael K. Slayton
Michael K. Slayton is an American composer who has written works in a cross-section of musical genres, with specific emphasis on chamber music. His continuing dedication to the value of artistic exchange has afforded him opportunity to partner with distinguished performers all over the world. His music, published by ACA, Inc. (BMI), is regularly programmed in the U.S. and abroad, including Chemnitz, Seitz, Leipzig, Droyssig, and Weimar, Germany; Graz, Austria; Paris,Tours, and Marquette-lez-Lille, France; Kristiansund, Norway; Aviero, Portugal; Brussles, Belgium; Johannesburg and Potchefstroom, South Africa; London, UK; and New York, NY.
David Dickau
Dr. David Dickau is a choral conductor and composer residing in Mankato, Minnesota where he is Director of Choral Activities at Minnesota State University, Mankato. As a part of his duties, Dr. Dickau conducts the Concert Choir and teaches conducting and composition. Dr. Dickau holds advanced degrees in Choral Music from Northwestern University (Evanston IL) and the University of Southern California (Los Angeles CA) where he studied with Morten Lauridsen and Rodney Eichenberger. He has taught choral music on both the high school and college levels and has conducted community and church choirs.
