On this episode, we feature four songs from The Iowa Composers Forum, a group for Iowa's classical composers. Each song was picked by the director, Brooke Joyce. He chose four songs he felt represented the range of styles that our classical composers use.

Brooke and I hope that you will enjoy this exploration into Iowa's classical music. If you do, then you might want to check out some of the shows that The Iowa Composers Forum puts on regularly. The latest, Winter Festival of New Music, will be at The University of Iowa School of Music, in Iowa City, on Feb 10th. More information and links are listed below!

Before I go, I just thought I'd let you know that you can listen to and/or get the score for many classical pieces by Iowa composers on their website! Just hit where it says "Catalog"! Here's the link - http://www.iowacomposers.org/?page_id=112

Information on The Iowa Composers Forum:

The Iowa Composers Forum (ICF) was founded in March of 1987 in Des Moines by seven composers who wished to create an environment for the performance and dissemination of music composed by Iowans. Over the intervening years, the ICF has presented more than 100 concerts and tour recitals of works by member composers. These concerts have featured the performances of over 800 works of new music, including works by student composers from the elementary, middle, high school and collegiate level. The ICF has commissioned many new works, both unilaterally and in partnership with other organizations such as the Iowa Music Teachers Association and the Iowa Choral Directors Association. The ICF sponsors its own annual student composition competition, open to students studying at the collegiate level and earlier.

Each year, we offer:

- a concert series in the fall

Information on their upcoming festival in February:

The Iowa Composers Forum will host a one-day Winter Festival of New Music in Iowa City on Saturday, February 10. Two concerts will be offered at 3 pm and 7:30 pm in the Concert Hall of the Voxman Music Building on the UI campus. These two concerts will feature new music by composers from across Iowa and the environs, including two young composers commissioned specifically for this festival. Performers include UI faculty, students, and the CNM ensemble.

The Iowa Composers Forum's home page:

http://www.iowacomposers.org/

The Iowa Composers Forum on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/IowaComposersForum/

TRACK LISTING:

For more information on each track and the artists, click on the link below the track.

Opening - Iowa Music Showcase Theme (classical version) by Jess Vee (Jessica Villegas)

(http://iowamusicshowcasesongs.blogspot.com/2017/06/opening-and-closing-iowa-music-showcase.html)

Song 1 - "Charlottesville" written and performed by Brooke Joyce

(https://iowamusicshowcasesongs.blogspot.com/2018/01/ep-06-song-1-charlottesville-written.html)

Song 2 - "In the Dragon’s Mouth" written and performed by Eric McIntyre

(https://iowamusicshowcasesongs.blogspot.com/2018/01/ep-60-song-2-in-dragons-mouth-written.html)

Song 3 - "The Shriek of Silence" written by Logan Larson and performed by Lisa Neher and Abbie Corrine

(https://iowamusicshowcasesongs.blogspot.com/2018/01/ep-60-song-3-shriek-of-silence-written.html)

Song 4 - "Aus tiefer Not" written by Jeremy Maas and performed by Gregory Peterson

(https://iowamusicshowcasesongs.blogspot.com/2018/01/ep-60-song-4-aus-tiefer-not-written-by.html)

Closing - Iowa Music Showcase Halloween Theme 2 by Jess Vee (Jessica Villegas)

(http://iowamusicshowcasesongs.blogspot.com/2016/10/ep-34-iowa-music-showcase-halloween.html)

All songs, artwork, and photography are copyrighted by the performers, composers, artists, and photographers, and used by their kind permission.