Premiere of "Tethered to the Stars" for singer and Wind Ensemble 
Amanda Powell, singer
Beth Hiser, narrator/guitarist 
Brendan Caldwell, conductor 
Baldwin Wallace Conservatory Symphonic Wind Ensemble 
Rev. Elyse Wagner Berry, poet

"Tethered to the Stars" is a musical setting of nine poems by Rev. Elyse Wagner Berry. The poetry beautifully bridges the realms of humanity and the celestial, painting a tapestry of powerfully sincere emotions. The music is presented as a mix of styles (opera, folk, jazz, pop, musical theatre) that reimagines the deity-made-human story from a woman’s perspective.

Tethered to the Stars

The music of Clint Needham has been described as “wildly entertaining” and “stunning, brilliantly orchestrated” by the New York Times, as well as “well-crafted and arresting... riveting” by the Herald Times. He has served as the Mellon Composer/Educator in Residence and Music Alive: New Partnerships Composer in Residence with the Albany Symphony, and the Knight Foundation Composer in Residence with the Akron Symphony. 

Clint has received commissions and performances by leading orchestras across the country including the Minnesota Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Omaha Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and the New York Classical Players, among others. Chamber ensembles including Alarm Will Sound, the American Brass Quintet, Chicago Pro Musica, Da Capo Chamber Players, Factory Seconds Brass Trio, Fifth House Ensemble, Hawthorne String Quartet, Hub New Music, and the President’s Own Marine Band Brass Quintet have given performances of his music across the country as well as in Europe, Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Australia. 

Clint’s music has been recognized with numerous awards including the Barlow Prize, Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Aspen Music Festival Jacob Druckman Prize, two ASCAP Morton Gould Awards, the William Schuman Prize/BMI Composer Award, and the Heckscher & Walter Beeler Prizes from Ithaca College. He has also been the recipient of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra’s Project 440 Commission and the Underwood New Music Commission from the American Composers Orchestra. 

As an educator, Clint serves as Composer in Residence and Professor of Composition at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. He holds degrees from the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music (BM) and Indiana University (MM, DM). He has also studied at the Aspen Music Festival as a Susan and Ford Schumann composition fellow and at the Wellesley Composers Conference. 

Clint’s music is published by the Theodore Presser Company, Manhattan Beach Music, and Triplo Press. Recordings of his works can be found on the Summit Records, New Focus Recordings, Beauport Classics, and Mark Masters labels as well as on recordings by the United States Air Force Band of the West, trumpeter Jack Sutte, and the American Composers Orchestra Digital Release Series.

https://www.clintneedhamcomposer.com