Dordt University Wind Symphony - Music with Friends (2021)

Music with Friends is much more than a title representing a singular connection to the music on the disc, but is an all-encompassing description of everything that has enabled this music and this recording to come to fruition. Initially, the title was created to describe the content of the CD, all music by composers that are in some way connected to Dordt University, either through their friendship with the DUWS directly, having studied at DU, or their personal friendship with me as the conductor. As the project manifested, this title took on much more than just a content description. Music with Friends is now a representation of all facets of this disc. The recording engineer, Mark J. Morette, has become a close personal friend of all of the musicians, production team, and myself. After spending multiple long days with us, the co-producers (Michael Butler, Wayne Oquin, Dan Sailer, and Logan Childress) developed a deep personal connection with the members of the DUWS. The members of the ensemble became even closer to each other than before. Twelve-hour recording days led to the sharing of deeply personal musical experiences and developed friendships that were already meaningful into relationships that will last a lifetime. As the verse above states, each of us have worked in many ways to make our fellow musicians better both musically and in our life walk with Christ. This disc and the music made during its creation was the conduit to help deepen the relationships of all that took part, both with each other and with God.