COMPOSER PROFILE
Mr. Conn (b.1961 in Logansport, IN.) is an accomplished composer, pianist, record producer, and liturgical musician. A graduate of Butler University, Mr. Conn received a BA in Music and also holds a degree in Interior Design.
He started composing and working as a liturgical musician at age 14. His music is grounded in tonality encompassing both instrumental and vocal works. Mr. Conn's music, ". Is an example of the New Spirituality". (American Record Guide)
Mr. Conn founded Classical Angst Publishing & Records in 1997 to promote works of other living composers as well as his own musical compositions. The credo of his company is "to dispel the belief that the only good composer is a dead composer".
Mr. Conn currently resides in Barrington, IL. He is a native of Winamac, IN. and has lived in L.A., Indianapolis, and Chicago. He is a member of A.S.C.A.P., Chamber Music America, N.A.R.A.S., N.A.C.USA (National Association of Composers, USA), and the Chicago Composers Forum.
Television and Radio:
Appeared on PBS affiliate WNIT, South Bend/Elkhart, 1999
"Meet The Composer/Words and Music", NPR-affiliate, WVPN, 2002
Awards and Commissions
ASCAP Plus award, 2002
Italian choral work, 1998 commission
Print Reviews and Interviews:
Pioneer Press, 2001, 1999
Express, 2002
Windy City Times, 2001
American Record Guide 1997, 1999, 2001
CD Catalog:
Vocalnetics, 1997
Intense Measures, 1999
Making The Streets Safe For Classical Music, Again., 2001
Currently:
President of Classical Angst Publishing & Records
Liturgical musician for: St James Parish, Arlington Heights, St. Thomas, Palatine, St. Francis, Lake Zurich, and St. Alphonsus, Rolling Meadows.
Working on, first opera, symphony, piano concerto, and violin concerto
REQUIEM BACKGROUND
Requiem for chorus and orchestra was originally begun in 1992. I wasn't pleased with the direction it was heading in so I put it aside. I came back to it a couple years later and scrapped all but the opening for the chorus. Again, I worked on it for a few months and didn't like the direction in which it was headed so I put it aside. Finally in 1997, I decided to tackle the project and finish it. I followed the lyric outline for Mozart's Requiem and wrote the vocal parts first with orchestration notes interspersed in the manuscript. I then went back and deciphered my hieroglyphics for the soloists and chorus and expounded upon my orchestration notes. It took about six months to compose the final score and then another six months to enter it all into Finale publishing software.
The reason I wrote a requiem was that all the great composers had written such a mass and my music tends to be dark, heavy, and intense. What could be more dark and intense then a mass for the dead?
An astronomical amount of work went into getting this piece recorded. Mary Ann Beatty, soprano soloist happens to be a Latin teacher and she spent a great deal of time with me on the text. Thomas Yang, violinist, met with me to go over the score and plan a strategy on how to approach rehearsals and recording sessions. He also suggested William Chin to conduct the work. Thomas, Bill, and I met and revised our strategy while coordinating our calendars for the best time to rehearse and record. The first set of dates ended up not working out due to musician's schedules. We went through the process again and came up with an October date which was conducive to the vocalists, musicians, and Our Lady of the Waysides sanctuary schedule.
We set up a rehearsal for the soloists and one for the chorus both with piano accompaniment. The instrumentalists had their own rehearsal before we went into combined rehearsals. Recording sessions lasted four hours over two nights due to the complexity of the work and a lighting mishap the first night which set us back a half hour. John Towner, the engineer on all of my recordings, set up a stereo mix which worked great for editing the takes. Twenty-three musicians have a tendency to over power twenty vocalists. John and I spent approximately twenty hours in the studio editing and mixing the project. Now after almost twelve years of composing and saving my pennies, the Requiem is finally recorded.
Read more...