I've been meaning to write this update for a while - it's been 18 months now! Finally getting one of those "round tuits"!
Back on Friday October 18th, 2024, I had such an exciting and memorable day! It was the premier performance of my choral piece, "The Sacred Place", at Leighton Park School in Reading, Berkshire, England - the piece I had been working on since February of that year, 2024.
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| Leighton Park School Choir & musicians, directed by Rosemary Scales, performing my piece, "The Sacred Place" ~ Friday October 18, 2024 |
For more background on this story, see these two earlier posts:
1. Update on my composing commission ~ "The Sacred Place" (June 10th, 2024)
2. Returning to my Composing Career again (May 14th, 2024)
The performance on October 18th, 2024 was a satisfying culmination of all my hard work on the piece, over the year, as well as the hard work of the choir and musicians of Leighton Park School, and their director, Rosemary Scales.
Also, a group of film students at Leighton Park School interviewed me beforehand about my piece, so I got the chance to tell the whole story of it on camera, for their film project, as well as telling the choir and instrumentalists about it too.
Watch my interview HERE:
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| Me being interviewed by Leighton Park film students about my piece, "The Sacred Place" ~ Friday October 18, 2024 |
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| Me being interviewed by Leighton Park film students about my piece, "The Sacred Place" ~ Friday October 18, 2024 |
It was a lovely sunny day, and the opening ceremony for this beautiful building in Leighton Park School was nicely done, and felt like a momentous and historical occasion. I was so honoured to be a part of it.
My dear friend, Matthew Judd, who was then the Head of Leighton Park School, gave a very nice welcoming speech and introduced me as his "famous composer friend from Chicago!"
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| Matthew Judd (2nd from right), the then Head of Leighton Park School, giving his Opening Ceremony welcome speech and introducing me ~ Friday October 18, 2024 |
Watch the performance of "The Sacred Place" HERE:
The only video of the performance is the one I took with my phone. Unfortunately the school's "official recording" had some serious sound malfunctions! So this phone recording is all I've got!
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| Me recording the performance of my piece, "The Sacred Place" on my phone ~ Friday October 18, 2024 |
In addition to writing 8 voice parts for the choir, I also wrote 6 instrumental parts for this piece: piano, string quartet (two violins, viola and cello) and bassoon solo. They had a very talented bassoonist at the school, who was the first chair bassoonist in the UK National Youth Orchestra! So I was commissioned to write a bassoon solo specially for her.
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| Looking over the bassoonist's shoulder at the bassoon part I wrote specially for her, as part of the orchestration of "The Sacred Place". |
As I've explained in my earlier posts, the performance was for the opening ceremony of this majestic new building at the school, called Grove House, which had been completely renovated and transformed into a new 6th Form Study Centre, Lecture Theatre and Library.
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| The newly renovated Grove House, at Leighton Park School with me & my two "Aunties" in the foreground ~ Friday October 18, 2024 |
The new Lecture Theatre was dedicated to the memory of Ian Austin, a very special former student at the school, who had been tragically killed in a car accident at the age of 18, back in the late 1980s. His parents had bequeathed their estate to the school, to fund the opening of this special building in memory of their son. Although the history of Ian Austin was very tragic, the dedication of this new theatre in his name still felt like a joyous occasion, to honour his legacy and provide a wonderful place of learning for many new generations to come.
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| The sad story of Ian Austin, in whose memory this brand new lecture theatre is now named. |
What made this occasion even more special for me was that my two "Aunties", Jenny and Eileen were able to join us for the day! My husband Dave picked them up from their homes in Crawley, Sussex, and drove them to Reading for the day. They joined us for the whole event and were treated like VIPs. We took them out for dinner afterwards, too.
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| Auntie Jenny (left) & Auntie Eileen (right), my two precious "Godmothers" who have been a huge part of my life since birth. On the balcony of Grove House, October 18, 2024. |
I not only wrote the music, but I also wrote this poem (below), specifically for this occasion, which I then set to music.
The Sacred Place ~ A celebration of the restoration and reopening of Grove House
Words & music by Toria Burrell-Hrencecin, copyright (c) Victoria Hrencecin 2024
The poem:
My poem is about several things at once. Firstly, it is a celebration of the restoration and reopening of Grove House, the beautiful old building, renovated and modernized for today's students. And, it is also about several of the most important themes of Quakerism, since Leighton Park School is founded on Quaker principles. I was asked to focus mainly on the themes of Friendship and Silence, but I also decided to incorporate the themes of Harmony and Light as well.
Friendship: I have made references to old friendships which have endured with the passage of time (such as the friendship between Ian Austin's parents and Leighton Park school, and the friendship between me and Matthew). And I have made references to new friendships about to begin, within this new building. And it's about friendship in general, which imbues a place with life and spirit. It also gives a nod to Ian Austin himself - "a cherished soul" - to whom this building is dedicated in memory.
Silence: I have made references to silence: specifically the reverence, stillness and quietness of this place, which will become a library and study center. But I have also suggested that this can be the silence of spiritual worship, within which spiritual enlightenment can be found. There will also be moments of silence in the music itself, during which the music and words will resonate and echo, and allow the audience a moment to paus and breathe, which will reflect this reverence.
Harmony: I have also made references to harmony, which can be another word for "peace", one of the most important Quaker themes. But this is also a nod to the music itself, which binds all these themes together in harmony and unity.
Light: I've also put in the word "light", a reference to another important Quaker theme, which reflects the new light inside this new building and also the notion of spiritual enlightenment.
This poem was also very much inspired by a poem that Matthew pointed out to me - "The House of Silence", by Thomas Hardy. I loved this poem, and the idea that, if we can be silent enough, and open and aware, then we might be able to see or feel the spirits, or spiritual world around us, including phantoms of former dwellers within an old building.
The other satisfying thing about writing my own poem was that I could make it exactly the length I wanted for my choral composition; I could make the lines have exactly the right rhythm and rhyme scheme that would be appropriate to set to music, and I could choose words that would be aesthetically pleasing to sing. As a choral composer, I'm usually grappling with someone else's poetry or text. It was wonderful to have my own creative control over the text for once!
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| A glimpse of the score of The Sacred Place |
All in all, it was an immense honour, being commissioned to compose a choral work specially for this occasion, and I am deeply grateful to Matthew for giving me this wonderful opportunity.
Since this occasion, I have gone on to write new music! My latest composition is a song I wrote for my daughter Sophie's Graduation from Penn State University, in May 2026! I will be writing a separate new post about this very soon... Stay tuned!
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