Performed by Maghan McPhee (soprano) and Valerie Dueck (piano) - recorded live. 

Christina Rossetti was a deeply religious poet and incorporated her Christian faith into many of her poems. While it does not contain any direct reference to God, her poem Who Has Seen the Wind? contains a double meaning. No one has seen the wind; neither has anyone seen God. But as we see the effects of the wind, we see the hand of God working in nature. The wind can take many forms, from a gentle, light, comforting breeze to a violent storm. God, also, is described as the one who can both create the storm and still it. I captured the extremes of the wind in this piece, from the gentleness of soft arpeggiated open chords to the turbulence of tremolos and rapid modulation, evoking a sense of mystery and awe and perhaps even fear. When the storm is over, peace and order are restored.

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Local Field

Eric Olson, oboe * Ellen Olson, viola
Free PDF score available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GfPxwDdn4r3sfGrJBEtBQwJUYpWRT65_/view 
& 
https://s3.amazonaws.com/data.instantencore.com/pdf/1010115/Fanfare-score.pdf

LEIN - Fanfare, for Oboe & Viola

This work was written for my sister who died in 2013 after a long illness. It is the 11th in a series of annual preludes.

Piano Prelude No. 11 (in Memoriam Julie - Bahr Kostelac)

I: Sajak Putik (Pure Verse)
II: Kita Gujah Lemah (We wobble along)
III: Siap Sedia (We're Ready)
Recorded/Premiered at the University of Kansas New Music Guild Concert 3/12/2018
Composer: Leslee Wood
Text: Chairil Anwar
Pianist: Klaus Nugraha
Tenor: Neal Long
Mezzo: Anna Patterson

Tiga Puisi Chairil Anwar by Leslee Wood

This is the premiere of a song cycle I wrote for my wife Mitzi Westra.  It is a setting of Wallace Stevens' famous set of poems "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird."  She is the featured mezzo-soprano here, along with pianist Greg Martin

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

"Strom" vom Album "Winterwende"; Jörn Peeck (vib), Thomas Höhl (p)

"Strom" for Piano and Vibraphone

I studied composition under Dr. Larry Bell and Howard Frazien in Boston, MA.  In composition, as in life, I explore the interaction between the old and the new, tradition and innovation, examining every nuance and implication of my experiences and musical ideas. Composer Walter Saul has described my work as "stunningly resourceful with scant material."

My works have been performed by the North-South Consonance in Manhattan, the Great Woods Symphony, and by saxophonist Lawrence Gwodz, as well as being included in the national conference of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers; the 2016 Rhode Island All-State Festival; the 2017 New Music Festival in Fitchburg, MA; and commemorative events at local churches. Additionally, my work has been featured on the radio program, "Music of Our Mothers." My piece for string orchestra, Daughter of the Stars, is a finalist in the 2020 American Prize composition competition in the pops/light-music division and will also be released on Ablaze Records' Orchestral Masters Volume 7, due out in Spring 2020.

I have been a musician all my life, starting with piano at the age of three and adding clarinet and saxophone later in my school years. I began accompanying at the age of eight, when I played with the children's choir as well as a young violinist at church. My musical training includes both classical and jazz, and I have experience working with vocal and instrumental soloists, choral groups, chamber ensembles, and musical theater pits. 

In addition to my work as a composer and collaborative pianist, I am the music director of Carolina Free Baptist Church and maintain a private teaching studio.

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Heather Niemi Savage

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