Join us June 22–26 for the Temple University Wind Conducting & Teaching Workshop! 🎶
Grow your conducting, refine your rehearsal skills, and connect with fellow educators.
Featuring Dr. Patricia Cornett, Dr. Matthew Brunner, and Dr. Sarah McKoin (Texas Tech University).
https://boyer.temple.edu/conductingworkshop
The semester is quickly coming to an end! Our final concert is THIS COMING TUESDAY, April 21st at 7:30pm in TPAC. Streaming services will be available closer to the event!
We are CBDNA bound! With a performance at the University of Massachusetts on Friday, March 20th, we are getting excited! Grateful to collaborate with fellow faculty Jay Krush to premiere his new piece, Kenjockety, featuring euphonium player Michael Fahrner. The program featuring works by Puts, Copland, Grainger and more!
OUT TODAY! I’m happy to share news of today’s release of the world premiere recording of Emma O’Halloran’s new tenor sax concerto Only Moments to Live. I recorded it nearly a year ago with my brilliant colleague Trish Cornett conducting the Temple University Wind Symphony. It is a gentle, breathtakingly beautiful piece that unfolds like a blossoming flower. The work is unique in that Emma entrusts the soloist with improvising/co-composing most of the solo line. I spent 2-3 months living with a midi recording of the band part to test ideas and create a solo that is my own personal response to the theme of mindfulness that inspired the work. Once I felt satisfied with my solo part, I composed a two-minute prelude (for tenor alone) as a kind of index, foreshadowing much of the solo material that follows. The end of the prelude references the final descending motif from Claude Debussy’s iconic solo flute work, Syrinx, which is partly about transformation.
Only Moments to Live is Emma’s response to Kabat-Zinn’s book Full Catastrophe Living which uses the “Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness.” Unbeknownst to Emma, I read Full Catastrophe Living in 2013 while recovering from a serious case of pneumonia that landed me in the hospital and involved several months of recovery. So the piece hit home in a way I had not anticipated.
I wanted to thank Emma for making an essential contribution to the repertoire, and my wonderful collaborators Trish and members of the Temple Wind Symphony for their artistry. Thanks also to producer/engineer David Pasbrig, executive producer Dean Robert Stroker, and members of the consortium who co-commissioned the work. I can’t wait to hear what they do with it! The project was a true labor of love. Read more about it on my blog at matthewlevymusic.com/omtl
Listen to Only Moments to Live at ffm.to/tuws_ohalloran
@emmamohalloran@templewindsymphony@templeuniversitysaxophones@bcmdrecords@boyercollege
This Friday from @bcmdrecords : Only Moments to Live by Emma O’Halloran, performed by saxophonist Matthew Levy with the Temple University Wind Symphony, conducted by Dr. Patricia Cornett
Available for streaming and download on March 13.
Learn more about the piece, which received its world premiere right here at @templeuniv in Spring 2025: boyer.temple.edu/about/bcmd-records/only-moments-live
#BCMDRecords #NewRelease #NewMusic #WindBand
In 2025, we had the privilege of recording Only Moments to Live by Emma O’Halloran, featuring Matt Levy as tenor saxophone soloist.
We’re thrilled to announce that the recording will be available for preorder this Friday, February 20, with an official release date of March 13. This project represents months of thoughtful collaboration, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
WE’RE BACK!!! It’s Chamber Concert Season! An exciting program is upon us! Coming THIS WEDNESDAY, February 4th!! Streaming of the concert WILL be available!
TOMORROW IS THE DAY!! Hear this beautiful work, Mysterium by @jenniferhigdon1 , and more! November 13th, at 7:30pm at TPAC. Streaming of concert will be available!!!
