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November 2006 - Naomi has been selected as one of 21 female composers by the Foundation for Women in Music (Fondazione Adkins Chiti:Donne in Musica), to have performances of two pieces for Brass Quintet, In Dulci Jubilo and I Saw Three Ships. These works are taken from two of Naomi's Christmas Carols of the same name, arranged by Life Mission Press Composer Julie Sibson. Performances will be on From Dec. 15-19, 2006, at various churches in Rome, Italy.

Download program in pdf format

Composer Naomi Stephan Wins Third Prize in the West Coast Singer's Composer Competition for her composition "Heavenly LA."

What Helene Whitson, President of the San Francisco Lyric Chorus has to say about Composer Naomi Stephan:

Helene Whitson, President
San Francisco Lyric Chorus
Co-Author, San Francisco Bay Area Chorus Directory
Founder, San Francisco Bay Area Choral Archive

Hi, Naomi!

Please forgive my not getting back to you sooner. We just finished our Lyric Chorus fall concerts, and I've been swamped. As I know YOU know, for those who run choruses and sing in them as well, concert day is only one day. One is either thinking about the upcoming concert or planning for the next one. Of course, thinking about music is not punishment!

I did receive the packet of music and the recording. I was absolutely blown away by your creativity! I hope you don't mind that I have been telling people about your music and sharing it with them. You certainly made the right decision in leaving academia.

I especially loved 'Mater in Memoriam.' I cannot tell you how much it affected me. My mom died this past July, and I've been doing rather well in coping, I think. When I listened to 'Mater in Memoriam,' it opened all the floodgates, and I could feel the depth of my loss. It also helped me to cope, too. The combination of the music and the poetry is extraordinary. Your work is a tremendous comfort, because it comes along with the listener through a grieving process. It not only is music for people who go to concerts and like music; it also is music that will help those who are grieving.

I look forward to learning of more works you are composing, and I hope you will be able to have more of it recorded. It is worthy.

Have a wonderful holiday season! I wish you much creativity in the New Year.

Cheers,
Helene

COMPOSER NAOMI STEPHAN WINS FIRST PRIZE IN THE SPIRITUAL CATEGORY AT THE 7TH INTERNATIONAL COMPOSER'S COMPETITION

The 7th International Composer's Competition JIHLAVA 2004, under the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, has just announced that Naomi Stephan has won First Prize in the Spiritual Category for her Ave Maria.

To download a sample copy of Ave Maria click here. To purchase a performance quality copy please e-mail Naomi Stephan.

The performance will take place within the Festival in Jihlava, and in other towns in the Czech Republic from June 24-28. The Prize consists of $370 (=10,000 Czech Kroners) plus room, board and lodging and inland transport for the Festival. The Festival represents the most important event involving choirs in the Czech Republic.

COMPOSER NAOMI STEPHAN AWARDED COMMISSION FROM SANTA FE WOMEN'S ENSEMBLE

Composer Naomi Stephan has been awarded a commission from the Santa Fe Women's Ensemble, Northern New Mexico's premier female choral group.

The original work will be an a capella composition, to be performed in the spring of 2004, at the Santuario de Guadalupe in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Santa Fe Women's Ensemble mission is to promote the recognition and appreciation of women's choral repertoire.

The City of Ventura Cultural Affairs Division has awarded Ojai composer Naomi Stephan a $5,000 Artist Fellowship grant to premiere her multi media memorial work Mater in Memoriam: For Irene to be performed in June, in Ventura, California.

Written for women’s chorus and chamber ensemble in eight pieces, Mater commemorates the composer’s mother, taking us on a many layered emotional journey from birth to death. “I emphasize the universality of love and grief for a loved one and present it in a joyful and celebratory way. The Fellowship helps me to fulfill my vision of a multi media piece involving the community as participants.”

In addition to the SSAA chorus, children from the Claddagh School of Irish Dance will dance an Irish Reel, and dancers from the Buenaventura Ballet will accompany two pieces with interpretive dance, while computer paintings for each piece, created by local artist Mary Ogle, will be projected on a screen. The poetry was written together with local Ojai poet Sue Carroll Moore. “This is truly a collaboration between a composer and her community,” Naomi said.

If any women singers wish to participate in this project, especially women singers, please contact the composer at 805-640-9118 or nstephan@lifemissionassociates.com

contact:

Naomi Stephan

Life Mission Associates
P. O. Box 182
Ojai, CA. 93024
805-640-9118
Fax: 805-640-9709/805-640-8582
www.naomimusic.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Naomi Stephan announces the Premiere of Mater in Memoriam: For Irene (MIMI)
- for SSAA, Flute, Oboe, Percussion, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano.

Funded by a grant from The Thanks Be to Grandmother Winifred Foundation, and set to original poetry by Sue Carroll Moore and the composer, Mater will be performed by the Washington Women’s Chorus under the direction of Donald Richardson, at the River Road Unitarian Church in Bethesda, Maryland on April 21, 2002, at 4 PM. Mater is part of a series, WOMEN’S WORKS IV, “Vibrant or meditative, on poems and prayers: works composed and sung by women from the United States and around the world.”

Intended as a Requiem for our time, MIMI is non liturgical, and deals with grief and loss of a mother, while reviewing and celebrating the composer’s relationship to her mother from the composer’s own birth to the death of her mother. It is nontraditional, non liturgical, funny, sad, nostalgic, joyful and introspective, weaving themes from Chorales, folk songs, opera, and carols which the composer shared with her musician mother.
For more information, Call 202-244-7367, or e-mail: wwcinformation@aol.com.

Glimmering Girl (from MIMI) - Sue Carroll Moore,ASCAP

And maybe I shall go with you, my glimmering girl
To the land of Glyn, to the land of Myrrh
Where cats wear gleaming fine faces and purple fur
And the daisies bend down singing lowly: murr, murr

And maybe we shall go there together my girl
Decked out in moth's wings and juniper fur
To the opera in the land of Myrrh
The one beyond reckon beyond call and ken
That harks back when

And maybe we shall go there my glimmering girl
In summertime, in bumblebee time

And maybe we shall go there, my glimmering, glimmering, girl