World Premiere in the Netherlands... March 23, 2013: Altena Brass, the award-winning regional brass band centered around Werkendam in the Netherlands, will present the world premiere of Nancy Galbraith's Euphonic Blues for Brass. The annual Easter concert will take place at the historic Fort Altena, and will be led by the band's founding director Jan Gerrit Adema.

At their 2010 Easter concert in Brakel, the band performed Galbraith's Luminosity, which was premiered in 2008 by Pittsburgh's River City Brass Band, conducted by Denis Colwell. The orchestra arrangement for Euphonic Blues was premiered in 2012 by the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert that celebrated the 150th anniversary of the CMU School of Music, under the auspices of the school's department head, Denis Colwell.

• Matthew Galbraith: management & web design
• Brief Bio (pdf) or Brief Bio (MSWord)
• Program notes for each of Nancy's compositions

• Recent and archived press articles and reviews
• Curriculum Vitae
• Carnegie Mellon University School of Music

Contemporary Ballet Premiere in the Pittsburgh... February 22, 2013: Whispers of Light: A Story of Hope presented by Bodiography Contemporary Ballet was presented in two performances ath the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh. The two-act contemporary ballet, choreographed by Founding Artistic Director Maria Caruso, features an original score by composer Nancy Galbraith, and was written in a collaboration between the two artists. The ballet is an artistic tribute to The Highmark Caring Place, champions to the cause of grieving children. The subject of loss and bereavement is the focus of children who have utilized the services of the Caring Place. The ballet is an in-depth examination of the grieving process and emotional struggles that children feel when they have experienced the loss of a parent or loved one. It further examines the power of strategic coping mechanisms offered through the invaluable support system children receive at the Caring Place. The Caruso/Galbraith ballet is a journey of movement expression, finely woven together by Galbraith's original score, and embedded with a narrative of stories adapted from the personal accounts of some of the children served by the Caring Place. It is a poignant exploration of human loss, the strength to move forward, and the undeniable power of human connection.

O.U. Wind Ensembles Concert & Alumni Award... February 14-15, 2013: On Valentine's Day, three Ohio University wind ensembles performed four works by Nancy Galbraith, who received her Bachelor of Music degree from the school in 1972. The following day, Galbraith attended an awards gala where she was honored with the 2013 School of Music Alumni Award. Galbraith began her freshman year as a performance major in both piano and clarinet, but was encouraged to switch to composition by Dr. Karl Ahrendt, a composer and professor at the school. The concert opened at 7:30 PM at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on campus. The OU Wind Symphony, led by Andrew Trachsel, performed Febris Ver and Danza de los Duendes. The OU Symphonic Band will present with brightness round about it with conductor Richard Suk, and the OU Flute Choir was led by Alison Brown Sincoff in a performance of Streaming Green. BTW, both of Galbraith's daughters — Dr. Amy Galbraith Ogburn (1998, Oboe Performance) and Dr. Sarah Galbraith Bond (1999, Microbiology) — received their undergraduate degrees at OU, as did the composer's sister and brother-in-law, Joan and Ronald Giles.

World Premiere: "Effervescent Air"... November 18, 2012: The Carnegie Mellon Baroque Ensemble's founding director Stephen Schultz will hand over the podium to conductor Daniel Curtis for the premiere of Nancy Galbraith's "Effervescent Air" which will feature Schultz performing on his notorious electric Baroque flute. Luz Manriquez will also be featured on the piano along with a full complement of Baroque Ensemble strings and two percussionists. The concert will be broadcast, and streamed, live on WQED-FM from Carnegie Mellon's Alumni Concert Hall in the College of Fine Arts building. LINKS: Stephen Schultz photo • Stephen Schultz web site • Carnegie Mellon University School of Music

April 22, 2012 – World premiere of Nancy Galbraith's "Four Nature Canticles" in Chatham, NJ:
"Four Nature Canticles," by Nancy Galbraith, was premiered by Lyrica Chamber Music and the Kent Place Singers on Sunday April 22 in Chatham, New Jersey. The new work features musical settings of poems by Emily Dickinson, Robert Browning, James Joyce, and Robert Frost. Scored for treble chamber choir and chamber orchestra, "Four Nature Canticles" was commissioned by Lyrica Chamber Music as part of its 25th anniversary celebration. The premiere was led by Lyrica's Co-Artistic Director Adam Waite. The female chamber choir, directed by Dr. Edel Thomas, hails from the Kent Place School, an elite girls' academy in Summit, New Jersey. Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Alex Weston also composed a work for the concert – his "Piano Concerto" was performed by pianist David Kaplan. Both Galbraith and Weston were in attendance. The concert program featured a who's who of Carnegie Mellon University School of Music alumnae, including Waite and Weston, who both studied composition with Prof. Nancy Galbraith, Luis Casal (viola), Holland Jancaitis (organ), Michelle Nicklas (soprano), and Leena Waite (violin).
ADDITIONAL LINKS: TEXT ONLY press release • Program notes by Adam Waite • Subito Music article

PHOTO: Carnegie Mellon School of Music Alumnae (by Martha Tablewight)

L-R: Jancaitis, Casal, Nicklas, Galbraith, A. Waite, L. Waite, Weston • Hi-res image

CD release: "Nancy Galbraith: Other Sun" on Centaur Records (CR 3106)... January 3, 2011: The album features four new compositions by Nancy Galbraith performed by Stephen Schultz (electric Baroque flute), Cello Fury (electric cellos), and other Pittsburgh-based artists. The album is available for purchase on Centaur's web site and numerous on-line retail stores. LINKS: Complete Album Info & Audio Samples • Press Release • Stephen Schultz photo • Stephen Schultz web site • Cello Fury photo • Cello Fury's web site

Choral / electric flute premiere in Chicago monastary... March 2, 2010: St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Illinois near Chicago, was founded in 1885 by a new order of Benedictine monks to serve the large population of Czech and Slovak immigrants in the American mid-west. Today the abbey serves a more eclectic community in and around Lisle. It's expansive campus includes the large monastic community at the abbey, Benedictine University, and an elite high school, Benet Academy. To celebrate its 125th anniversary, the Benedictine's have commissioned Nancy Galbraith to compose Lumen Christi, a 30-minute sacred work that was premiered at the Abbey on March 2, 2010. The premiere was conducted by Thomas Octave, and performed by the superb Benet Academy Madrigal Singers, organist Josie Merlino, and world renowned Baroque flutist Stephen Shultz. Schultz's electroacoustic performances have been featured in three other recent Galbraith premieres: Other Sun (2009), Night Train (2008), and Traverso Mistico (2006). This was the third concert at St. Procopius Abbey featuring the music of composer Nancy Galbraith. In 2007 "A Concert for Peace in the Holy Land" presented the world premiere of Galbraith's oratorio Novena, and in 2008 the combined choirs of Benet Academy presented the Pittsburgh composer's epic God of Justice. Both concerts – also led by conductor Octave – were presented to raise funds and awareness for the Beit Benedict Peace Academy in Jerusalem.

"O Magnum Mysterium" in Arkansas... December 3 thru 18, 2009: Every year since 1964, Arkansas' Hendrix College Choir has presented its Candlelight Carol Service, which is modeled after the Service of Lessons and Carols celebrated annually at King's College in Cambridge, England. This year their program will include Nancy Galbraith's O Magnum Mysterium. Under the direction of Dr. Nancy Fleming, Professor of Music at Hendrix College, the choir will present five concerts at the school's Greene Chapel in Conway, Arkansas from December 3 thru 6, followed by a brief tour that will take them to St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas (December 17) and Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas (December 18). The work was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Camerata for its 2007 Christmas concert series.

Electric flute premiere in Pittsburgh... November 22, 2009: World renowned baroque flutist Stephen Shultz and Pittsburgh's celebrated electric cello ensemble Cello Fury will present the premiere of Nancy Galbraith's latest electroacoustical composition "Other Sun." The premiere is included on the program of the Carnegie Mellon Baroque Ensemble's concert at Kresge Recital Hall on the CMU campus in Pittsburgh on Sunday Novemember 22 at 5:00 PM. The concert will be recorded, and broadcast on WQED-FM at a later date. Schultz is a professor of music at Carnegie Mellon University, and director of the Baroque Ensemble. Last year Schultz and Celloforte premiered Galbraith's "Night Train" which also featured electroacoustical effects on the flute. The work was later recorded at the studios of Audible Images, and will be released on Galbraith's new CD in early 2010.

Sacred Songs & Interludes in New Jersey... November 21, 2009: The Ars Musica Chorale, conducted by music director Robert Long, will perform Nancy Galbraith's choral suite "Sacred Songs & Interludes" at Westside Presbyterian Church in Ridgeway, New Jersey on Saturday November 21 at 7:00 PM. One of New Jersey's premiere choral ensembles, Ars Musica presented Nancy's "Magnificat" in June 2007. In 2005, Long also led his chamber choir Seraphim in a performance of "Magnificat" in St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University. Robert Long has enjoyed a quite an impressive career in the NYC area in the past decade. You can read his bio on the Ars Musica web site, where you may also purchase tickets ($20) online. "Sacred Songs & Interludes" was featured on a recent recording by the Pittsburgh Camerata led by music director Rebecca Rollett.