FEATURED WORKS:

Bittersweet Rag
(for Piano)

Four Preludes
(for Piano)

Hesitation
(for Violin and Celesta)

Music for Tympani
(for Alto Flute, Trombone and Piano)

Slink
(for Solo Flute, Alto Flute or Bass Flute)

Seven Songs
(for Soprano and Piano)

Dandy Man
(for Soprano and Flute)

FEATURED COMPOSER:

Stephen Chatman

Berandol Music is pleased this month to feature the works of Stephen Chatman, Professor and Head of Composition at the University of British Columbia. The winner of numerous composition awards and 2007 JUNO nominee, Dr. Chatman is recognized internationally for his choral, orchestral and piano music. Recorded works include two choral collections, Due North and Due West, a chamber music collection, Vancouver Visions, and his acclaimed instrumental/orchestral work Proud Music of the Storm. Crimson Dream and Tara's Dream are two more of his compositions often played by great orchestras.

Stylistically, Chatman's earlier pre-1982 music is termed modernistic, complex and atonal, heavily focused on colour and tone painting. Later compositions are more influenced by traditional musical styles and hence are viewed as more 'popular' and 'accessible' reaching out to a wider audience. "Bright, expressive, eminently accessible fare that's easy on the ear and good for the soul" writes one music critic.

Piano students find much that is colourful, imaginative and highly playable in Dr. Chatman's numerous volumes of piano music such as the series Amusements: Books 1, 2 and 3. Advanced pianists will find lots to challenge and delight them in pieces like Bittersweet Rag and Four Preludes, two of our featured works this month.

For much more about this 'dean of B.C. music' and his repertoire, go to www.drstephenchatman.com, his excellent and rewarding website.