The Score ...a recent letter from Maestro Joseph Eger
As president of the National Association of American Composers and Conductors (NAACP) in the 1970s, it was the responsibility of my Committee to choose those new American works to be performed in NY. We had to boil down our choices to about 12 out of hundreds.
Many composers continued through the years to ask me to look at their works. Though I'm well aware of the time, hopes, sweat and, yes, tears they invest in their compositions, I can, unfortunately, program only a small number that I see as works that deserve a hearing.
Among these, there are still fewer where, upon first looking at the score or hearing a CD, I get truly excited. The zenith of that experience was when the multiple award winning Marvin Hamlisch called one day asking me to look at his first classical manuscript, "Anatomy of Peace," for orchestra, chorus and solo voices. After turning just a page or two I was struck with the excellence of this piece. Soon we gave its New York debut in sold-out Carnegie Hall. It was a truly historic event.
I'm writing you now because I believe that you might have attended this concert or one of my others, and to tell you about a composer named Lon Van Eaton. When I listened to a CD he sent me of his "Ah! The Dance of Life," I again felt a buzz of excitement. Here was an innovative yet accessible, charming yet profound work that will find a ready audience among all ages, especially young people. It reminded me of such works as "Jesus Christ, Super Star," "Westside Story" and similar genre.
Lon's operatic, eclectic musical production merits widespread support. It could well become a "hit" of our time.
Joseph Eger, Conductor, Symphony for United Nations, symphonyun.org