NoteWorthy
For immediate Release (October 7, 2019):
Contact: Judy Corwin, 541-760-2787, judy.corwin@comcast.net
Artistic Director: Steven Zielke, Oregon State University
Recording of David Maslanka Mass performed in Corvallis released by Mark Records
CORVALLIS, OR— Corvallis Repertory Singers is featured in a new recording of The David Maslanka Mass by Mark Records of Clarence, NY. The recording was released August 30, 2019 and includes acknowledgements of the musical performers: Corvallis Repertory Singers, Oregon State University’s Chamber Choir, the Oregon State University Wind Ensemble, and conductor Christopher Chapman (OSU Music Professor at the time). The combined choirs and instrumentalists gave the West Coast premiere concert of Mass at the OSU LaSells Stewart Center on April 20, 2017, with Mr. Maslanka in the audience and guiding rehearsals.
David Maslanka, (1943-2017), a modern composer, is known for his colorful and inventive wind ensemble compositions. He composed 130 major works, 40 of them for wind instruments. The Maslanka Mass followed his distinctive style.
OSU Choral Studies Director Steve Zielke recalls the grueling the weeks of 12-hour days of editing and sound mixing, sharing the challenge of balancing three choirs against the sound of wood winds and heavy percussion, “especially tympanis,” said Zielke.
“This is an epic piece and one of Maslanka’s most significant works,” he added. “Hearing the recording was a reward to sit back as musicians and listen to the final product. It was truly worth the effort.” Zielke said CRS and the Music Department will receive approximately 250 copies for sale to local audiences. It is also available through Amazon.
Maslanka was born in New Bedford, MA and resided in Missoula, MT until his death August 6, 2017. He attended the Oberlin College Conservatory where he studied composition with Joseph Wood. Maslanka spent a year at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and did masters and doctoral studies in composition at Michigan State University where his principal teacher was Herbert Owen Reed.
Founded in 2000, the Corvallis Repertory Singers includes nearly 50 area singers, many who have studied voice or are professional singers. In addition to Zielke, Raymund Ocampo serves as associate conductor. The singing group has been recognized for artistic achievement with funds from the Fred W. Fields Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation; the Oregon Arts Commission, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; and by the Benton County Cultural Coalition, with funds provided by the Oregon Cultural Trust.
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