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Orchestral Works

Aqua (Hommage à Jacques Yves-Cousteau)

Composed 1999
Duration 6 min 30 sec
Instrumentation 2 (pic)-2-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, hp/str
Commissioned by Robert and Elizabeth Shepley
First Performance Virginia Symphony; JoAnn Falletta, conductor, Norfolk, Virginia, 30 January 1999

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Composed 1997
Duration 17 min
Instrumentation Alto solo, chorus and orchestra
2 (pic)-2-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp, 4 perc, hp/str
Text Martin Luther King, Jr., Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Francis of Assisi, Dag Hammarskjöld, Raoul Wallenberg
Commissioned by Gustavus Adolphus College
First Performance Gustavus Choir, Orchestra, Christ Chapel Choir and Lucia Singers; Snapp/Aune/Kazarow/Shew; Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN, 5-7 December 1997

Blue Liberty

Composed 1997
Duration 4 min 30 sec
Instrumentation Orchestra: 3-3-3-3/4-3-3-1//timp, 4 perc, hp/str
Commissioned for the Minnesota Orchestra and the City of Plymouth by the Plymouth Civic League with funding from the Builder's Consortium in honor of the dedication of the Hilde Performance Center at the 30th anniversary of Music in Plymouth 2002
First Performance Minnesota Orchestra; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor, Twin Cities metro area, MN, 1-7, July 2002

Flower of the Earth
(Homage to Georgia O'Keefe)

Composed 1987
Duration 15 min
Instrumentation 1-2-0-1/2-0-0-0/str
Movements I. The White Calico Flower
II. Black Cross: New Mexico
III. Sky Above Clouds II
IV. Evening Star III
(Movements available separately)
First Performance Minneapolis Chamber Symphony; Jay Fishman, conductor, Minneapolis, MN, 8 July 1988

For the Time Being

Composed 1985
Duration 10 min
Instrumentation 2 (pic)-1-2-1/2-1-1-0/timp, perc, pf/str
First Performance Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis; Robert Bobzin, Minneapolis, MN, 15 December 1985

Litanies for the Living

Composed 1983
Duration 15 min
Instrumentation SATB chorus/ 2 (pic)-2 (e hn)-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, hp/str
Text Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder
First Performance Minnetonka Choral Society and the Westminster Festival Chorus; Peter Hendrickson, conductor, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN, 12 April 1992

Madeline Island: Sanctuary in Blue

Composed 2005
Duration 7 min
Instrumentation String orchestra and percussion (wild ricing sticks and two stones)
Commissioned By The Madeline Island Music Camp for their 20th anniversary (with funding provided by Fred & Gloria Sewell)
First Performance The Madeline Island Music Camp String Orchestra; Vartan Manoogian, conductor; LaPointe, Wisconsin; 2 July 2005

Mahkato Wakpa (Blue Earth River)

Composed 1992
Duration 17 min
Instrumentation 2 (pic)-2-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, hp/str
First Performance Mankato Symphony Orchestra; Dianne Pope, conductor, Mankato, MN, 11 October 1992

Mustang
(in tribute to wild horses and burros)

Composed 1995
Duration 5 min 30 sec
Instrumentation 2 (pic)-2-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, hp/str
Commissioned by International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, with a Meet The Composer/Reader's Digest-Lila Wallace Commissioning Grant
First Performance Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra; Robert Bernhardt, conductor, Chattanooga, TN, 25 April 1996

Nine Surrealist Studies
(After Salvador Dali)

Composed 1985
Duration 18 min
Instrumentation 3 (pic)-3 (e hn)-3-3/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, pf, hp/str
Movements I. Illumined Pleasures
II. Three Young Surrealist Women Holding in Their Arms the Skins of an Orchestra
III. The Persistence of Memory
IV. Hand (Remorse of Conscience)
V. The First Days of Spring
VI. Evocation of the Apparition of Lenin
VII. Honey is Sweeter than Blood
VIII. Daddy Longlegs of the Evening — Hope!
IX. Skull With Its Lyric Appendage Resting on a Night Table Which Should Have the Exact Temperature of a Cardinal Bird's Nest
(Movements available separately)
First Performance Florida Orchestra; Tsung Yeh, conductor, Tampa Bay, FL, 6 November 1987

The Nobel Symphony

more about The Nobel Symphony: premiere recording and multimedia performance

Composed 2001
Duration 75 min
Instrumentation Mezzo-soprano, baritone, childrens' choir SATB chorus, and orchestra 3 (pic)-3-3-3/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, piano/str
Text Samuel Beckett, Pablo Neruda, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Albert Camus, Toni Morrison, Amartya Sen, Paul Samuelson, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Mother Teresa, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rigoberta Menchú, Dag Hammarskjöld, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela
Commissioned by Gustavus Adolphus College to commemorate the centennial of the Nobel Prizes
First Performance Gustavus Choir and Orchestra and Chapel Choir; Metropolitan Boys Choir; Patricia Snapp, mezzo-soprano; Michael Jorgensen, baritone; Warren Friesen, conductor, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN, 2 October 2001

On the Day You Were Born

VHS and CD recordings available

Composed 1995
Duration 18 min
Instrumentation Narrator and orchestra 2 (pic)-2-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, hp/str
Text Debra Frasier
Commissioned by The Minnesota Commissioning Club
First Performance Minnesota Orchestra; William Eddins, conductor; Jane Alexander, narrator, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN, 22 October 1995

On the Day You Were Born
(chamber orchestra version)

Composed 1997
Duration 18 min
Instrumentation Narrator and chamber orchestra
Text Debra Frasier
Commissioned by The Atlantic Classical Orchestra
First Performance Atlantic Classical Orchestra; Andrew McMullan, conductor; Debra Frasier, narrator, Vero Beach, FL, 19-20 February 1998

On the Day You Were Born
(chamber version)

see instrumental works

Sacred Stones (Symphony in Stone)

Composed 1993
Duration 23 min
Instrumentation 3 (pic)-3 (e hn)-3 (b cl)-3 (cbn)/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, hp/str
Movements I. Agate (Stone of Truth)
II. Turquoise (Stone of Life)
III. Jade (Stone of Wisdom and Justice) and Amethyst (the Healing Stone)
IV. Black Obsidian "Apache Tear" (the Protective Stone)" (Movements available separately)
First Performance Omaha Symphony Orchestra; Bruce Hangen, conductor; Omaha, NE, 28 October 1993

Symphony to the Prairie Farm

Composed 2002
Duration 20 min
Instrumentation 3 (pic)-3-3-3/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc/str, CD of crop circle sounds
Movements I. Winter: Ghosts of the Grasslands
II. Spring: Rows of Green on Black (Farms, Not Arms)
III. Summer: Night Pasture (All Cows Are Sacred)
IV. Fall: Field Dances and Harvest Waltz
(Movements available separately)
Commissioned by The Des Moines Symphony Orchestra
First Performance Des Moines Symphony Orchestra; Joseph Giunta, conductor, Des Moines, IA, 19-20 October 2002

The Tin Forest

Composed 2005
Duration 10 min
Instrumentation Narrator and Orchestra: 2(pic)-3-3-3/4-3-3-1/timp, 4 perc, hp, piano, guitar/strings
Text Helen Ward
Commissioned by Minnesota Orchestra
First Performance Minnesota Orchestra, Mischa Santora, conductor, R.T. Rybak, narrator; Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis Minnesota, 2 March 2005

The Tin Forest
(chamber version)

see instrumental works

Voice of the Everglades
(a Tribute to Marjory Stoneman Douglas)

recording available

Composed 2000
Duration 15 min
Instrumentation 2 (pic)-2-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, celesta, hp / str / CD of manatee vocalizations
Commissioned by The Naples Philharmonic Orchestra
First Performance The Naples Philharmonic Orchestra; Christopher Seaman, conductor; Clyde Butcher, narrator; Naples, Florida, 9-11 November 2000

A Voice Remembered
(In Memoriam Hubert H. Humphrey)

Composed 1986
Duration 15 min
Instrumentation 3 (pic)-3 (e hn)-3 (b cl)-3 (cbn)/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, pf/str
First Performance Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis; Robert Bobzin, conductor, Minneapolis, MN, 18 February 1988

We Are Met at Gettysburg

Composed 2002
Duration 18 min
Instrumentation Orchestra and Children's Choir — 2 (pic)-2-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp, 3 perc, piano/strings
Movements I. Honor and Sacrifice (composed by Amy Scurria)
II. Wounded Fields (composed by Heitzeg)
III. The Last Full Measure (co-composed by Heitzeg and Scurria)
(movements available separately)
Commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra
First Performance The Philadelphia Orchestra, Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor, Temple University Music Prep Children's Choir, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelophia, PA, 4 January 2003

Wounded Fields

Composed 2002
Duration 4 min
Instrumentation String Orchestra
First Performance Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä, conductor; Musikverein, Vienna, Austria, 12 February 2004

Wounded Fields
(String Quartet version)

see instrumental works

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