Kappa Kappa Psi
& Tau Beta Sigma
Electronic Newsletter
Volume 3, Number 5
October 16, 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

• KKPsi & TBS Announce Special National Commission Project

1. Kappa Kappa Psi & Tau Beta Sigma Announce National Commission
by Lt Col Alan Bonner, USAF (ret.), National Executive Director

Monday, October 15, 2001 Kappa Kappa Psi & Tau Beta Sigma National Band Fraternity & Sorority Commissioned Composer Donald Grantham to write a Wind Band work to Commemorate the "Lives Lost, Heroes Found, and the Enduring Spirit of America" after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center & Pentagon.

The National Officers of both Councils strongly felt that we needed to take this important step in our on-going tradition of commissioning works for bands, and they expressed great excitement to be able to secure the talents of Donald Grantham to create a work that would touch the soul of America as indeed the aftermath of the attacks have done to our country.

KKPsi National President Kirk Randazzo and TBS National President Sylvia Halbardier made it clear that this project is one that belongs to all of our members, and they encouraged every single chapter to participate in raising funds to reach our goal of $10,000 to fund this commission. All KKPsi & TBS chapters are invited to send contributions to the National Headquarters and earmarked, "KKPsi & TBS Special Commission Fund". The campaign to raise these funds will be
on-going until May 31, 2002. All alumni members, Local Associations of the National Alumni Association, friends & colleagues in the band world, and brothers & sisters in the music fraternal community are also invited to contribute to this special commission project.

A number of details as to premiere performances and how we will handle recognition of those who contribute will be announced following the National Council Meeting in January 2002. We anticipate that the premiere performances will take place in September 2002. For all who contribute, rest assured we will clearly recognize all of you in an appropriate and grateful manner! However, we felt that this was too important not to let you know immediately of this new national project.

For those who would like to know more about Donald Grantham, his biography follows:

Composer Donald Grantham is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes in composition, including the Prix Lili Boulanger, the Nissim/ASCAP Orchestral Composition Prize, First Prize in the Concordia Chamber Symphony's Awards to American Composers, a Guggenheim Fellowship, three grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, three First Prizes in the NBA/William Revelli Competition, two First Prizes in the ABA/Ostwald Competition, and First Prize in the National Opera Association's Biennial Composition Competition. His music has been praised for its "elegance, sensitivity, lucidity of thought, clarity of expression and fine lyricism" in a Citation awarded by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. In recent years his works have been performed by the orchestras of Cleveland, Dallas, Atlanta and the American Composers Orchestra among many others, and he has fulfilled commissions in media from solo instruments to opera.

His music is published by Piquant Press, Peer-Southern, E. C. Schirmer and Mark Foster, and a number of his works have been commercially recorded. The composer resides in Austin, Texas and is Professor of Composition at the University of Texas at Austin. With Kent Kennan he is co-author of THE TECHNIQUE OF ORCHESTRATION (Prentice-Hall).

For more information about Donald Grantham, please refer to the following website: http://www.piquantpress.com/index.html.

ATTN: District Governors/Counselors/Officers/Chapter Presidents...Please ensure widest possible delivery to all chapters & members in your respective districts! All NewsNotes On-Line issues are available on-line at http://www.kkytbs.org/newsnotes.html.

There are a number of new leaders in the fraternity & sorority, so please help me make sure I have all the appropriate, correct email addresses. If you notice one is in error, I would appreciate your letting me know!

Many thanks,

Lt Col Alan Bonner, USAF (Ret.)
National Executive Director