The AMP

"I have a dream..." I want to change the American people for the better. I want to bring them into a new standing of integrity, morality and spirituality. Of course, this is almost impossible for me to do. There may be a way though. It is through music.  Plato said "In order to take the spiritual temperature of an individual or society, one must mark the music." If I change the music... I change the people!

Therefore, this is the beginning of the American Music Project (AMP). The goal of AMP is to bring American music to a higher level, and in turn bring the American people to a higher level. If you Google "American composers" and listen to the things that are currently being written you will find that they are most often atonal, nonsensical, and just plain ugly. AMP is going to change all that. It is going to bring back the "American Sound" that is found in Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, Conni Ellisor's Blackberry Winter, and Dvorak's 9th Symphony. It will recreate the simple beauty of American folk tunes such as I Come With Joy as well as The Old Folks at Home by Stephen Foster. Lastly it will encourage American composers to redefine the "American Sound" broadening its scope while remaining true to the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the principles of freedom in God's Word.

So here is an invitation. If you compose music, will you join me in this project? There will be a landing pad for all this music sometime within the next 12 months. Take the time between now and then to rediscover American music as it truly was...and invite your composing friends to join our project.

Here is one of my compositions: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G (sounds prestiges, does it not?). It doesn't exactly have that "American Sound", but it's a step in the right direction. In the folder are the MIDI files for all three movements and a PDF of the score. It started as a one movement essay, but it expanded into a concerto. It is intended to be played in a church, so as I composed I tried to bring across the message of the titles. Hope you enjoy it!