Simpson University music professor selected for ‘Finest Choral Composers’ CD
For Immediate Release
09.19.2013
REDDING, Calif. - An original composition by Simpson University music professor Dan Pinkston is featured on a new CD released by the American Choral Directors Association.
“Commissions” is a CD compilation recording that celebrates the first 10 years of the association’s Brock Composition Series, and “includes stunning compositions by some of America’s finest composers,” according to the association’s website.
Dr. Pinkston’s featured piece, “Nunc Dimittis,” won the Raymond W. Brock Student Composition Competition in 1999. At that time, Dr. Pinkston attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned two graduate degrees in music. He joined Simpson’s music faculty in 2001.
Pinkston’s composition is one of only two student works on the CD, said Scott Dorsey, director of education and communication at the American Choral Directors Association. The other pieces are commissioned works by world-renowned composers, including Daniel Pinkham, David Brunner, and Grammy winner Stephen Paulus.
During his tenure at Simpson, Pinkston has won several composition awards and composed two symphonies. “Symphony No. 1” premiered in November 2010 at North State Symphony concerts in Redding and Chico.
“Symphony No. 2” was commissioned and performed by the Shasta Symphony Orchestra in October 2012. It will be performed in April by the Juneau Symphony Orchestra in Alaska under the direction of North State Symphony conductor Kyle Wiley Pickett.
“Commissions” will be released through Naxos, the world’s largest distributor of classical music, Dorsey said. It can be ordered through the association’s website at acda.org.
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