This
site is optimized for
1024x768 display using
Opera 9.x or
above
Spring 2008
April 2008 news update (via YouTube)
Fall/Winter 2007-08
Duo for flute & tuba and Five Miniatures for flute & euphonium
are now available from FluteWorld.com. Please let us know if
you schedule a performance of either of these compositions.
The Music For Winds album is listed as an Editor's Pick
at CD Baby and is now also available at eMusic.com.
Dr. Gaines has received an ASCAPlus Award for 2008.
Spring 2007
Dr. Gaines announces two special commissioning
opportunities, starting June 3rd, by way of eBay charity
auctions to benefit Music For All. Read the details at
the David Gaines MySpace blog.
April 2007 news update (via YouTube)
Plans are now under way for a performance of The Lion of
Panjshir in Japan, where Ambassador Haron Amin, the narrator
at the premiere performance in 2004, is posted as
Afghanistan's ambassador to Japan.
Winter 2006-07
March 2007 news update (via YouTube)
You can now access a guestbook at this website where you
can leave messages or comments related to the music of
David Gaines. Click here to access the guestbook.
The Common Tone podcast is back and new episodes will be
recorded with the first of the new series coming along at the
end of February. You can download it via RSS feed at the
new Common Tone website and blog, at numerous podcast
sites around the web, and via iTunes.
Dr. Gaines has received a commission for a major new work for
Seattle baritone saxophonist James DeJoie which will take
the form of a concerto for baritone saxophone and chamber
orchestra, possibly the first composition of its kind ever
written. It wll be recorded in fall 2007 by the Slovak Radio
Symphony Orchestra under principal guest conductor Kirk
Trevor for a 2008 release on MMC Recordings, the same
label that released the first David Gaines CD in 2002.
The Music For Winds CD is now available for listening as a
collection of complete streaming files at the online radio station
Last.FM, for purchase at CD Baby, and for digital downloading
at iTunes. You can write reviews or enter comments about the
music at those sites as well.
Fall 2006
The Music Esperanto League (Muzika Esperanto-Ligo), an
international organization for people interested in both music
and the international language Esperanto, has awarded
David Gaines the title of Honorary President in recognition
of his service over the years to the promotion of Esperanto
through music.
Summer 2006
You can now hear the Music of David Gaines orchestral CD
stream online with the MUSICMATCH Jukebox, a media
player/online music store/streaming radio station similar to
Rhapsody, iTunes, Pandora, etc. You can also elect to
purchase the CD as a collection of MP3 files, download them
to your computer, and burn them to a CD-R. The Music of
David Gaines CD contains Dr. Gaines' Symphony No. 1
("Esperanto") and Concerto for Euphonium and Orchestra.
Dr. Gaines is busy working with composer Karen Amrhein on a
piano reduction of his concerto for euphonium and orchestra.
Winter 2005-06
There is a DG page now at MySpace.com where you can
add him as a MySpace Friend if you're a MySpace member
(it's free). Go to www.myspace.com/davidgainesmusic. You'll
also find a blog there where he'll be posting thoughts on
music and the performing arts.
Dr. Gaines, in his alter ego as an animal welfare activist and
ferret enthusiast, was named 2005 Small Animal Volunteer of
the Year at the Fairfax County Animal Shelter in Fairfax,
Virginia!
The Common Tone podcast is no more, but the six episodes
that were produced are still available - see the links below. Also,
you can still get Common Tone merchandise at Zazzle.com.
Spring 2005
A new online podcast co-hosted by Dr. Gaines, entitled
Common Tone, features discussion of modern classical music
with a fair amount of irreverent humor mixed in. It's available
for downloading at the Common Tone weblog and iTunes.
Winter 2004-05
The Ehsan Aman concert scheduled for last December (see
"Summer 2004" below) has been rescheduled for
June 11th, 2005 at George Mason University's Center for the
Arts in Fairfax, Virginia.
The performing arts web site MyAuditions has added
Dr. Gaines as one of their resident guest artists.
Dr. Gaines is continuing work on a new chamber music
composition, Another Solstice, with mezzo-soprano Kimball
Wheeler (see under "Summer 2004" below). He is also involved
as keyboardist and songwriter with a new progressive rock
project that is producing an album of songs and instrumental
pieces in honor of the 80th anniversary of The Great Serum
Race of 1925 (this remarkable mission brought antitoxin by
dogsled to Nome, Alaska to end a diphtheria outbreak in that
isolated town).
Summer 2004
The government of Afghanistan invited Dr. Gaines to Kabul
to speak at the events commemorating the third anniversary of
the death of their national hero (and the subject of Dr. Gaines'
second symphony), Ahmad Shah Massoud.
concert band, and The Lion of Panjshir (Symphony No. 2)
for narrator and symphonic band -- is released as of July 20th
and may be ordered here at this web site (credit cards or mail
order) or at the Verda Stelo Music store at CafePress.com
(credit cards only).
A brief biography of Dr. Gaines now appears in Esperanto in the
Internet's premier open content encyclopedia, Wikipedia, and is
linked from the section on Esperanto music. Out of the dozens
of languages into which the Wikipedia is translated, Esperanto
is one of only 13 in which 10,000 or more articles have been
written.
Radio station KMFA 89.5 FM in Austin, Texas recently featured
the Symphony No. 1 ("Esperanto") on Stephen Aechternacht's
Symphony At Seven program.
A word from David Gaines about his next composition: "I've
started preliminary work on a chamber music piece inspired by
Solstice for soprano, flute, percussion, and piano by my first
teacher at Peabody, Jean Eichelberger Ivey. Entitled Another
Solstice, it will be for this same instrumentation and is in honor
of Dr. Ivey. The text will be all original, mostly in English but I do
plan on writing one of the movements in Esperanto as well. I've
decided to break with my long-standing tradition of not
discussing the details of new compositions before they're
finished by posting updates on the progress of this piece to my
weblog ("blog"). More details about this to follow."
--DG, 6/11/04
Afghan pop music legend Ehsan Aman brought Dr. Gaines on
board in June to do the string and wind arrangements for a
major concert on December 18th at George Mason University's
Center for the Arts (in Fairfax, Virginia) to promote Ehsan's new
CD, due out at the end of August.
Dr. Gaines has been awarded his fifth annual Standard Award
from ASCAP and will be teaching Survey of Western Music
Literature, an introductory course in music history, at University
of Maryland University College this fall.
Winter 2003-04
The Orquesta de Cámara Municipal de Rosario in Rosario,
Argentina will perform the Elegy for strings as part of the
opening of its 2004 concert season.
The premiere performance on February 11th of The Lion of
Panjshir (Symphony No. 2) in Baltimore was recorded for
future broadcast to Afghanistan on Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty.
Radio Polonia, the national shortwave radio service of Poland,
recently interviewed Dr. Gaines about his Symphony No. 1
("Esperanto") for future broadcast on their Esperanto service.
The Peabody Wind Ensemble will premiere The Lion of
Panjshir (Symphony No. 2) for narrator and symphonic band in
Baltimore on February 11th, 2004. This is the first composition
honoring the life of the slain Afghan resistance leader
Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Dr. Gaines will be teaching Jazz: Then & Now, a jazz history
course, for University of Maryland University College for the
spring 2004 semester.
Summer/Fall 2003
The University
of Maryland University College
has appointed Dr.
Gaines to the rank of
Adjunct
Associate Professor. He will be
teaching The Impact of
Music
on Life for the Fall 2003
semester.
Spring 2003
from ASCAP.
Fall/Winter 2002-03
The Master
Singers of Virginia will present the
American premiere of Dr. Gaines' Povas Plori Mi Ne Plu for
unaccompanied SATB choir in April & May 2003.
Esperanto
magazine will publish Dr. Gaines' obituary
for Lou Harrison,
the
distinguished American composer and Esperantist who passed away on
February 2nd at the age of 85, in the March 2003 issue.
Dr. Gaines,
along with author Sebastian
Junger, was one of the featured speakers on September 8th at the Embassy of Afghanistan's
memorial service in Washington, D.C. marking the anniversary of the
assassination of Ahmad Shah
Massoud.
Summer 2002
The charge d'affaires at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, The Honorable Haron Amin, has graciously spent two afternoons with Dr. Gaines in May and June to provide first-hand, detailed background information on his friend and mentor, Ahmad Shah Massoud, Afghanistan's national hero and the subject of Dr. Gaines' forthcoming second symphony. Mr. Amin enthusiastically supports the project and offered the endorsement and cooperation of the Embassy. The Peabody Wind Ensemble will premiere the symphony in Baltimore in February 2004.
The orchestral CD is now also available on the web at Olssons Books & Records, Barnes & Noble, and TowerRecords.com. You can also purchase it in person at any Olssons, Borders Books & Music, Barnes & Noble, or Tower store (ask to special order it if it's not in stock - the catalog number is MMC2113).
At the
end of May, Dr. Gaines was awarded his third annual Standard Award from
ASCAP.
Winter/Spring 2002
Amazon.com has set April 30th, 2002 as the release date for the David Gaines orchestral CD at its web site. The album also continues to be available directly from MMC Recordings.
The London Esperanto Club, one of the oldest and most distinguished in the world, has invited Dr. Gaines to be a guest speaker at their 100th anniversary festivities in 2003.
Dr. Gaines has begun research for his second symphony, to be scored for concert band and based on the life and tragic death of the legendary Afghan resistance leader, Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Fall 2001
The compact disc of Dr. Gaines' orchestral music is now available online from MMC Recordings for $14.95 plus shipping. It includes world premiere recordings of the Euphonium Concerto and the Symphony No. 1 ("Esperanto") taken from recording sessions in the Czech Republic with the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra in October 2000 (see below under Winter 2000-2001 for more information). The CD will soon be available in wide release at standard retail outlets such as Borders Books & Music and Amazon.com, and will remain available for purchase online through MMC Recordings.
Dr. Gaines was recently invited to collaborate with musicians and present lectures, in both English and Esperanto, at Samarkand State University and Samarkand School of the Arts in Uzbekistan. More news on this possibility as details emerge and safe travel circumstances permit.
Summer 2001
Ralph Nader's office in Washington, D.C. has asked Dr. Gaines to prepare material on culture and the arts, as they relate to increased citizen involvement in community and civic affairs, for Citizen Works, the new Nader organization which has taken over from the Nader/LaDuke 2000 presidential campaign.
Dr. Gaines recently received his second annual Standard Award from ASCAP.
The
orchestral CD (see below) has been queued up for manufacturing sometime
in July.
Look for a summer 2001 release date now.
Spring 2001
Dr. Gaines was asked to participate in a benefit concert entitled "Amazing@Grace" for the Heifer Project at Grace Church in The Plains, Va. on April 1st, 2001. He will premiere a new work for euphonium and electronics.
From the
Heifer Project web site: "Heifer Project International combats hunger,
alleviates poverty, and restores the environment by providing
appropriate livestock, training, and related services to small-scale
farmers worldwide. Heifer Project helps people utilize livestock as an
integral component of sustainable agriculture and holistic
development."
Winter 2000-01
Clarinetist Luana Proffitt of the Loudoun Concert Band has commissioned Dr. Gaines to write a new work for Eb contra-alto clarinet and piano. She will premiere the piece in spring 2001 in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Loudoun Art magazine, in its November/December 2000 issue, features a full-length article by Christopher Mare entitled "The Universal Languages of David Gaines."
T he
world premiere of the David Gaines Symphony
No. 1
("Esperanto") for mezzo-soprano and orchestra took place in
October
at Philharmonic Hall in Olomouc, Czech Republic. Vit
Micka conducted the Moravian Philharmonic
Orchestra with the American mezzo Kimball Wheeler (acclaimed for
her 1998 recording of Benjamin Lees' Symphony No. 4 on the
Naxos label) singing.
Dozens of Esperantists from across the Czech Republic were in the
audience
to hear this piece of musical history -- the first performance ever of
a symphonic work using text in the international language Esperanto.
The CD
recorded prior to the Olomouc concert has been edited and mastered and
is now
in the final production stages. Tentative release date is late spring
2001. Featured works include the Symphony No. 1 as well
as the Concerto for euphonium and orchestra, with
Vit Micka conducting the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra and soloists
Kimball Wheeler (mezzo-soprano) and Jiri Vydra (euphonium). The disc,
to be released on the MMC Recordings label, will
be available at all Tower Records, Barnes & Noble, and Borders
Books
& Music locations worldwide, plus all Olsson's Books & Records
locations in the Washington, D.C. area. You will also find it on the
Web
at amazon.com,
borders.com, cdnow.com,
towerrecords.com, olssons.com,
MMC Recordings, and by mail
order from MMC Recordings. Please
remember that you can special order it from your local retailer if it
is not in stock.
If you'd
like to see a catalog of the music of David Gaines, or have any other
questions, just write.
You
may obtain
information on Dr. Gaines' publishing company, Verda Stelo Music, or
on performing rights for his compositions by writing to ASCAP (the American Society of
Composers, Authors, and Publishers).