Vist her web site for more information.

 Annual Updates

2009

The composer writes, “The big news for this year is the June 1, 2008, release of my CD
--- but Joy Comes in the Morning: Choral Music of Margaret S. Meier by Albany Records . The album features my cantata A SOCSA Quilt, performed by the Ars Brunesis Choir and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra. This is about the horror of childhood sexual abuse and the hope and joy experienced in recovery and healing. The CD also has two a cappella choral pieces written expressly for the album: After Great Pain (text by Emily Dickinson) and Lifelong (text by Christina Rosetti), performed by the international award winning Chamber Singers of Mt. San Antonio College under the direction of Bruce Rogers. The Chamber Singers, with brass quintet, complete the album with Te Deum; composed in 1987, this is an English translation of the 1500 year old Latin text.”

PREMIERES

Jelly Suite received its west coast premiere June 1, 2008, at a Mt. SAC Chamber Winds concert, presented by flutist Karin Kantenwein, clarinetist Margaret Worsley, bassoonist Cameron Dominguez, and the composer as pianist.

PERFORMANCES

Pianist Rebecca Rollins presented Morning in the Garden, June 22, 2008, Contrapuntal Hall, Brentwood, CA.   

PUBLICATIONS

For the Slow Footed Organist with Rather Nimble Fingers; organ solo, 12 hymn variations and arrangements for the in-between seasons; self-published.

2008

 
Margaret Shelton Meier received her 18th composition award from the ASCAP Standard Awards Panel (1990 through 2008). Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Brandon, accompanied by the composer at the piano, premiered three of the four songs in the song cycle Life’s Best Gifts at a Los Angeles National Association of Composers, USA (NACUSA) House Concert on December 3, 2006. The texts are poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, known as the “Father of African American Poets.”

Premieres

Organist Wilbur Held introduced Variations on ‘Southwell’ February 27, 2007, at a Pomona Valley (CA) Musicians’ Club concert; on the same program soprano Woo Young Lee sang the two Mary Magdalene songs from Meier’s Three Marys in Four Songs, accompanied by the composer. The same program was repeated March 10 as part of the Mt. San Antonio College Music Department Showcase. 

Performances

Organist Frances Norbert presented Romantic Passacaglia as part of a concert titled “Music She Wrote,” March 19, 2006, at Trinity Church-Episcopal, New Orleans, LA; and on June 19 at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church, Scottsdale, AZ. Mezzo-soprano Eileen Squillo and pianist Louise Earhart performed the Christmas song “Mary, Mother of Jesus,” from Three Marys in Four Songs on a December 2 Dominant Club Rancho Boca de Santa Monica concert.

Publications

Hymns for the “In-Between Times”; arrangements of a wide variety of 12 non-seasonal hymns for organ that can be easily adapted for piano; available through the composer’s web site: www.meiermusic.com.

2007

Premieres

The commissioned work Jelly Suite, a tribute to the beauty and wonder of jellyfish, was presented January 21, 2006, by commissioning artist, pianist Barbara Rogers, with flutist Michele Frisch, clarinetist Jan Scholl, and bassoonist Cheryl Kelley, Northwestern College Faculty Artist Concert Series. A SOCSA Quilt, a cantata on the subject of childhood sexual abuse and recovery, was given its premiere on June 17 by the Ars Brunensis Chorus and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Andreas H. Baumgartner, Philharmonic Hall, Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Performances

Gary Toops joined the composer in a piano duet version of Kartonyal Procession, Mt. San Antonio College Music Department Showcase. Trinity Toccata was presented by organist Ronald Sider at Grace United Methodist Church, Harrisburg, PA. Two songs from Eight for Emily (Dickinson) were heard in a performance by Keiko Clark and James Wilson, NACUSA concert, Culver City, CA. Kimball Wheeler, accompanied by pianist Frank Basile, performed two Mary Magdalene songs from the song cycle Three Marys in Four Songs in recital at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, Mar Vista, CA. God With Us: 2000 Years, a Christmas cantata, was presented December 24 by the combined choirs of Bell United Methodist Church, Rowland Heights, CA, under the direction of Sunny Lee Byun.