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Carson Cooman: ‘In Beauty Walking’ - Orchestral Works / Leah Crane, soprano; Chloé Trevor, violin
Posted by Paul Ballyk on Mar 19, 2015 in Contemporary | 0 comments
I had not encountered the music of American composer and organist Carson Cooman prior to picking up his most recent release on CD, 2014’s In Beauty Walking. After thoroughly enjoying this selection of music for string orchestra and deciding to recommend it on Expedition Audio, I set about learning more about this fine composer.
Carson Cooman was born in 1982 in Rochester, New York. Now only in his early 30's, he has produced an astonishing catalog of compositions with opuses numbering over 1,100. His ouevre encompasses a wide variety of genres ranging from music for solo piano, organ, and chamber ensembles to works for choir and orchestra, as well as three chamber operas. The present album, released on British/American label Divine Art, brings together four works for string orchestra, two of which include parts for violin solo and a third featuring a soprano soloist. Though Mr. Cooman does not shy away from the occasional piquant harmony where it serves his creative objectives, on the whole this is consonant, melodic music that falls easily on the ear. From the delicate, reflective beauty of the lullaby "Cradle Song" to the ebullient elation of "The Eagle's Song" and the halting wonder of "Aria" from the Sinfonia Concertante, Cooman's music is uplifting, inspiring and beautiful to hear, and yet remains fresh and interesting, never approaching the trite.
A wide variety of influences are apparent in Cooman's music, but among the most significant are folk music and historical classical music models. On this album alone, Cooman draws inspiration from Native American, Celtic, African, Scottish and Far Eastern origins among others. He is also inspired by music ranging from the Renaissance and Baroque eras through the Romantic period and to modern times. Another prominent characteristic of Cooman's music is somewhat more difficult to describe, but reflections on the natural world are central to it, as are feelings of calm and happiness, hope, peace and a certain humility that is woven into every bar. In a word, I would describe it as spiritual, and somehow I have the feeling the composer himself would not object to this description.
I've neglected to remark on the superb performances for too long. Conductor Kirk Trevor has long championed Cooman's music - a quick search for their two names on HBDirect.com yielded five matches. Mr. Trevor leads the distinguished Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra and two splendid soloists grace the performances, soprano Leah Crane and violinist Chloé Trevor.
If your tastes in contemporary music tend toward the harmonically challenging, this disc may not be to your liking. However, if you're intrigued by my description of the music and enjoyed the album samples, I believe you will relish the entire program.
As well as being a very busy and highly regarded organist, teacher and music consultant, Carson Cooman is one of America's most prolific and gifted composers. His work retains the best of traditional forms in a modern and personal idiom; here, he has produced a body of lyrical works which are truly Romantic and pastoral but never soft or shallow. Exquisitely scored, these works tell of the beauty of the world we so often take for granted or pass by.
CD program:
In Beauty Walking (song cycle)
Sinfonia Concertante (violin/orch.)
Symphony of Light (orchestra)
Folk Fantasies (violin/percussion/orch.)
Source: Divine Art
 Carson Cooman |
Carson Cooman, composer Carson Cooman (b. 1982) is an American composer with a catalogue of works in many forms, ranging from solo instrumental pieces to operas, and from orchestral works to hymn tunes. He is in continual demand for new commissions, and his music has been performed on all six inhabited continents. Cooman’s music appears on over 25 recordings, including ten complete CDs on the Naxos, Albany, Artek, and Zimbel labels. Cooman’s primary composition studies have been with Bernard Rands, Judith Weir, Alan Fletcher and James Willey. As an active concert organist, Cooman specializes exclusively in the performance of new music. Over 130 new works have been composed for him by composers from around the world, and his performances of the work of contemporary composers can be heard on a number of CD recordings. Cooman is also a writer on musical subjects, producing articles and reviews frequently for a number of international publications. He serves as an active consultant on music business matters to composers and performing organizations. Source: Naxos |
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Leah Crane |
Leah Crane, soprano Leah Crane received her Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with renowned soprano Virginia Zeani, and received additional coaching from Alice Hopper. While at IU, she appeared as soloist in a wide range of oratorios, cantatas, and studio opera productions, including the complete role of Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Following her musical studies in Bloomington, Ms. Crane embarked on an extensive musical career as both vocal soloist and choral artist. The many groups with which she has appeared as soloist include the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Arts Chorale, New World Youth Symphony Orchestra, VOCE, Fishers Chamber Players, Lafayette Bach Chorale, and Encore Vocal Arts in repertoire including Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream , Bernstein’s Mass , Orff’s Carmina Burana , Rutter’s Mass of the Children, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 , Handel’s Messiah , Mendelssohn’s Elijah , and Haydn’s The Seasons. In addition to her many musical pursuits, Leah Crane is also a licensed clinical social worker, having earned a graduate degree in Social Work from Indiana University. Source: Divine Art Profile
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 Chloé Trevor |
Chloé Trevor, violin Silver medalist of the 2008 Ima Hogg Competition, Chloé Trevor, is one of the rising stars on today’s international violin scene. She has appeared as a soloist with several of the world’s finest orchestras, including the Dallas Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Slovak State Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Teplice Philharmonic, and the Orquestra Sinfônica da USP in Brazil. She was a protégé of Arkady Fomin in Dallas, TX and received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University. Source: Divine Art Profile |
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Kirk Trevor |
Kirk Trevor, conductor Conductor Kirk Trevor has served as music director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (1985 – 2003), the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra (1988–2015), and the Missouri Symphony (since 2000). Trevor trained at London’s Guildhall School of Music, graduating in cello performance and conducting. He has guest conducted over forty orchestras in twelve countries. His debut with the London Symphony Orchestra was in January 2003 and his Carnegie Hall debut in 2007. Trevor is one of the most recorded conductors of the past decade with over fifty recordings of new American music with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava, plus twenty recordings with other orchestras for the EMI, Koch, Albany, Fatra, Crystal and Carlton Classics labels. Trevor is becoming widely recognized as one of the leading conducting teachers in the world. He has been a master teacher for the American Symphony Orchestra League as well as the Conductor’s Guild. In 1991, Trevor co-founded and has been Artistic Director of the International Workshop for Conductors held in the Czech Republic for a month every summer. IWC is the world’s largest conducting school, each year training over 80 conductors from 20 countries. He has released previous discs of Carson Cooman’s music on the Naxos, Artek, and Zimbel labels. Source: Divine Art Profile |
 Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra |
Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra The home of the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra is Zlín, a town in the east of the Czech Republic. With a population approaching one hundred thousand, it is a modern industrial centre, owing its development to the BATA company, the founder of which, Tomáš Bat’a, succeeded in successfully combining his entrepreneurship and his philosophy of life. Established in 1945 as the Symphony Orchestra of Bata National Enterprise, the orchestra has been known under various names, early in 1989 becoming the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra has worked with a number of distinguished conductors and since the 2008–2009 season the principal conductor has been Stanislav Vavřínek. The repertoire of the orchestra includes a wide range of symphonic works of different periods and a considerable number of contemporary compositions. Cooperation with radio and television stations together with recording companies have become a regular part of the orchestra’s work. Source: Naxos |
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Carson Cooman: Adam Lay Ybounden, for chorus and organ (2004)