Monday, March 8, 2010
For Brian J. Nelson, his pieces as a composer are like his children. He spends a great deal of time nurturing his work to make it reach its full potential — just like he would with a child.
Brian J. Nelson thanks the audience for attending his concert and CD release at the Corpus Christi Catholic Church Sunday afternoon. The CD, entitled “Vocalise,” is his second release in the last 12 months, and features a representation of his output from chamber to choral to sacred music.
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Matthew Herren - Violoncello
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The Lord Has Done Great Things For Us
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Psalm 100
Nelson, a composer and KU doctoral student, held a concert Sunday at Corpus Christi Catholic Church to release his newest CD — two years in the making — called “Vocalise.”
The church’s pews were packed with attendees who came to hear Nelson and the other artists featured on the CD.
Nelson, 42, has been composing music for 30 years. He grew up playing the piano and the tuba, for which he received a full scholarship to the University of Michigan. He said composing after playing instruments for so many years was a natural outflow of his musical interests.
“Being a composer is a fundamental need to communicate,” he said.
He added that one of his teachers liked to say that composing wasn’t a career, but an obsession.
Nelson’s “obsession” with composing and his musical style stems from his upbringing in the church, where his father was a pastor.
Nelson’s musical style includes chamber, choral and sacred music.
Cesario Fernández, a visiting scholar at the University, was in attendance at the concert on Sunday. He said he heard Nelson’s music on campus, liked it, and decided to go to the concert release.
“This is the type of music I have in my car,” he said. “I am enjoying it very much.”
Jeremy Khon, a good friend of Nelson’s, said he had learned a lot about sacred music by listening to Nelson’s CDs.
“Brian’s an artist,” Kohn said. “Everything he does comes from his love of music.”
Nelson’s pieces will face some competition from come July when his wife Marita — whom he met on www.CatholicMatch.com — gives birth to their first child.
Nelson said he sings and plays instruments to his wife’s belly.
“Music is a language that we know and understand,” he said.
— Edited by Becky Howlett
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