OCTOBER 13, 2019
Jerry Casey:
Bird Raptures
Dr. Cheryl Coker, soprano,
Gayle Entredin, flute
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PROGRAM NOTES:
(Poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti)
The beautiful poem calls the sun to wake the skylark and the moon to wake the nightingale. I listened to the calls of these two birds and tried to imitate them and make them a part of this work. The skylark always appears in the bright Lydian mode; the nightingale, in the darker Phrygian mode. The first and third stanzas are set in a somewhat similar fashion while the middle stanza has a slightly different character. The nightingale is the true thrust of the poem.
STATEMENT OF FAITH:
I was raised in a Christian home and joined the local Baptist church at an early age. Active in church activities all through elementary and high school I also was active in the Baptist Student Union when I went to college. Surrendering my life for full time Christian service, I became a summer missionary in San Francisco, California, in anticipation of attending Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary that fall. But an experience that summer made me realize that all my life I had been attempting to earn my salvation by trying to “be good enough.” Only when I finally realized that I was a sinner and needed to trust in Christ’s atoning death for my sin did I fully give my heart to Him. This decision had to be made public. Thus the pastor baptized the summer missionary to acknowledge her true experience of salvation.. I have tried to be a true Christ follower ever since. I am so thankful that “if we confess our sins to God, He can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.” (I John 1:9) We serve an amazing, loving God who is worthy of all praise.
BIO:
Jerry Casey, Naples, Florida, who composes music in all genres, was named a 2018 semi-finalist in two categories of The American Prize: Composer/Choral and Chamber Vocal. A scene from her chamber opera, Pilate’s Wife, was performed at the Society of Composers, Inc. Region VI Conference at University of Texas-Arlington, in 2017. Her work, Bird Raptures, for Soprano and Solo Flute was presented on Cheryl Coker’s faculty recital at Millsaps College, Jackson, MS, in early 2019. She was the featured guest composer for the McConnell Arts Center Chamber Orchestra, Worthington, Ohio, Antoine Clark, director. who performed her work, The Musicians of Bremen, in 2015. O Death, Rock Me Asleep (Soprano/Solo Violin) was featured at the International Alliance of Women in Music annual concert in 2012 at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Mrs. Casey released a CD, Yet, I Will Rejoice, which features her choral and vocal chamber music including five tracks by the Otterbein University (Westerville, Ohio) Concert Choir, Gayle Walker, director. Autumn was performed on the choir’s tour of China. Seven (A Suite for Orchestra) and Gli intrighi d’amore (The Intrigues of Love) for Woodwind Quintet and Narrator were released on an MMC CD. She was awarded the 2009 Marilynn Etzel Piano Commission by the Iowa Composers Forum (ICF). Her composition, Out of the Depths, was premiered at the ICF Festival at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa. Her compositions have been performed widely in the United States, at the 13th London (England) New Winds Festival as well as in Slovakia and Spain. She has received the ASCAPLUS Award for 18 years. Mrs. Casey has degrees from Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, California. She was on the faculty at University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, Kentucky, and was an adjunct teacher at Edison Community College, Ft. Myers, Florida.