Dan Forrest, Jr.
- For the politician with a similar name, see Dan Forest.
| Dan Forrest | |
|---|---|
 Dan Forrest, 2007 | |
| Born |
January 7, 1978 Elmira, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Bob Jones University, University of Kansas |
| Occupation | composer |
| Employer | Beckenhorst Press |
| Religion | Christian |
| Website | http://www.danforrest.com/ |
Daniel Ernest Forrest, Jr. (born January 7, 1978) is a composer, pianist, and music editor.
Biography
Dan Forrest was born in Elmira, New York and received a B.Mus. and an M.Mus. in Piano Performance from Bob Jones University and a D.M.A. in composition from the University of Kansas. He has studied composition with Joan Pinkston, Dwight Gustafson, James Barnes, and Alice Parker.[1] Forrest's compositions include choral, instrumental, orchestral, and wind band works. His church music appears in the catalogs of ten publishers, including Hinshaw, Hal Leonard, Beckenhorst, Shawnee Press, and Chorister’s Guild.[2]
Forrest's choral works have received the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer’s Award, the ACDA Raymond Brock Award, a Meet The Composer grant, and the ALCM Raabe Prize. His “A Basque Lullaby” for wind band was included in Volume 8 of the Teaching Music Through Performance In Band series. Forrest's music has been performed in leading venues including Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, and on NPR’s “Performance Today.”[3] A review in The Salt Lake Tribune referred to Forrest's "superb choral writing" and gave as an example his arrangement of "The First Noel," which it said was "full of spine-tingling moments." [4] Forrest's Requiem for the Living (2013) received more than a hundred performances world-wide within a year of its composition, including performances in Canada, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and multiple performances at Carnegie Hall.[5]
Forrest is an associate editor at Beckenhorst Press, has a choral series in his name with Hinshaw Music,[6] and serves on the editorial board of The Artistic Theologian.[7] He served as chairman of the department of music theory and composition at Bob Jones University from 2007 to 2012.[8]
Awards
- 2004 John Ness Beck Foundation, first place (with noted composer John Rutter taking second place).[9] His winning composition, a choral setting of "The King of Love My Shepherd Is" has sold over 40,000 copies.[10]
- 2005 American Choral Directors Association Raymond Brock Composition Competition. His winning piece, "Selah", was premiered at the ACDA convention in 2006.[11]
- 2006 Vanguard Voices Choral Composition Contest, First Prize, Emerging Composers category. His winning piece, "You Are The Music," was premiered in June 2007.[10]
- 2006 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award for selected movements from Words From Paradise, an extended work for a cappella choir. He was presented his award at Lincoln Center.[10]
- 2009 John Ness Beck Foundation, first place.[12]
- 2009 Raabe Prize, Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, for his In Paradisium[13]
- 2009 Frank Ticheli International Wind Band Composition Contest, Finalist.[14]
Notable Performances
- On February 11, 2007, Forrest's "Arise, Shine!" was given its world premiere at Carnegie Hall.[15]
- On Christmas Day 2008, National Public Radio featured Forrest's "Carol of Joy" on Performance Today.[16]
- In May 2009, Forrest's "Arise Shine" and "You Are The Music" were performed at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall.[17]
- On March 24, 2013 Forrest's "Requiem for the Living" was premiered as a commissioned work by The Hickory Choral Society, in honor of the organization's 35th anniversary. Members of this Society subsequently joined in the initial performance of the work at Carnegie Hall within a year from the date of debut.
- In November 2014, the "Requiem for the Living" was given its regional premiere by the Voices of the Commonwealth and the Northern Kentucky Youth Sinfonia in Newport, Kentucky.[18]
References
- ↑ Beckenhorst Press bio.
- ↑ Forrest website.
- ↑ Teaching Music Through Performance in Band vol. 8. According to the composer's website, nearly a million copies of his choral works are in print. Forrest website.
- ↑ Salt Lake Tribune review, December 3, 2011.
- ↑ Paul Hyde, "Greenville Chorale presents Forrest's soaring 'Requiem,'" Greenville News, October 12, 2014; Forrest website. A review written for the Greenville News called the work "highly accessible, with soaring melodies and luminous harmony" that reminded the reviewer of Aaron Copland, John Rutter, and James Horner. Greenville News, October 21, 2014, 5A.
- ↑ Hinshaw Music website
- ↑ The Artistic Theologian website.
- ↑ Forrest website.
- ↑ John Ness Beck Foundation winners.
- 1 2 3 Vanguard website.
- ↑ Brock awards
- ↑ Beck Foundation website.
- ↑ ALCM Raabe prizes
- ↑ Ticheli contest.
- ↑ Carnegie Hall program. The Shawnee Mission East Choraliers, under the direction of Tracy Resseguie, performed "Arise, Shine!" on the same program with Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna (1997).
- ↑ "Carol of Joy" was performed by The Brigham Young University Choirs and Orchestra with conductor Ronald Staheli at the Harris Fine Arts Center, Provo, Utah, and in October 2008 the University of Utah Singers released a Christmas album titled "Carol of Joy", which featured the song. See University of Utah combined choirs concert performance video of "Carol of Joy"
- ↑ Forrest website. The same month "You Are the Music" was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
- ↑ "On November 16, 2014 The Voices of the Commonwealth and the Northern Kentucky Youth Sinfonia wowed the Greater Cincinnati area with a magnificent performance."