CFAMC LISTENING PAGE  #29: James R. Geiger

A monthly musical offering by a composer member of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers. Both your listening and comments are encouraged.

MARCH 18, 2007

"Out of the Depths" performed by Lorraine Miller, flute and Mike Sekelsky, percussion

PROGRAM NOTES

Written in the winter of 2004, this piece was originally intended to be the second movement of a flute sonata, but something about this piece stood out so much in my mind that I convinced myself to make it a work in itself. The title comes from the first verse of Psalm 130 in the Bible (“Out of the depths I cried to Thee, O Lord.”) The echoes of the marimba give the feeling of isolation as the piercing cry of the flute harkens its arrival from the depths of the darkness. I wanted to convey to the listener the anxiety we feel as we live in this present world of ours and the highs and lows we experience in life. The Third Chair Chamber Players premiered it at the University of Nebraska-Kearney in the spring of 2006.

STATEMENT OF FAITH BY THE COMPOSER

My life verse is I Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
The Lord has blessed me with the gift of music and I use that gift to minister to others. I thank Him for being my Savior and coming into my heart at the tender age of nine. I know that when I die I will be with Him in Heaven. Every day I live on Earth is a blessing and a gift, and I try every day to walk in the image of Christ and be a great Christian example.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE COMPOSER

James Geiger (b. 1977) is currently the band director and percussion coordinator at West Laurens Middle School in Dublin, Georgia. A native of Palatka, Florida, Mr. Geiger received the B.M. in Music Education and Music Composition from Georgia Southern University. After teaching in the Georgia public school system for a few years, he accepted the position of Graduate Teaching Assistant in Theory at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he received the M.M. in Music Composition in 2005. His teachers include Kenneth Jacobs, Sonny Walden, Michael Braz, and David Mathew. His music has been performed at many SCI and CMS conferences in the Midwest and Northeast U.S., and recently part of an art exhibit in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Besides his duties as a band director, he stays busy as music coordinator and pianist at Northside Baptist Church in Dublin, Georgia, where he attends with his wife and daughter.

- - -  SOLI DEO GLORIA!  - - -

For comments, e-mail James directly at: jgeiger77@yahoo.com
To visit James' webpage: http://www.societyofcomposers.org/user/jamesgeiger.html

If you are a member composer interested in submitting a composition for an upcoming monthly CFAMC listening page, please contact Bill Vollinger at: WilliamVollinger@aol.com

For further information, to become a member of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers, to renew your membership, or to participate in the CFAMC e-mail discussion group, visit the CFAMC website at http://www.cfamc.org

For recent CFAMC Listening Pages, go to the following links:

February 2007: Warner Hutchison
"Apocalypse"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1656

January 2007: William Rogers Price
"de profundis"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1648

December 2006: Brandon Kreuze
"Ubi Caritas"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1647

November 2006: Seth Colaner:
"Man in Brass"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cfamc/message/1640

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Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers
New Music. New Life.
website: http://www.cfamc.org
e-mail: cfamc@cfamc.org
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