I Count It All Joy (printed copy)
$3.75
“I Count It All Joy” celebrates the wonder and happiness in life, even through times of struggle.
Clements High School Chorale Women; Janet Menzie, Conductor
Southwestern Region: American Choral Directors Association Conference
Description
Description
Voicing: SSA choir, violin, harp, piano
duration: 3 minutes
Level: 3
This piece is dedicated to a very special young woman who lost her life way too early: Heather Michelle Menzie. She was a violinist, and the violin part in this song represents her. My favorite musical moment in the entire song is at the very end, in the last four measures, when the tonality shifts to an F major chord, a chord that has not yet been heard in the piece. The violin floats up and away at this moment, signaling her ascent, and the piece ends with a beautiful flourish from the harp and piano.
Program Note
“I Count It All Joy” celebrates the wonder and happiness in life, even through times ofstruggle. This piece is dedicated to a very special young woman who lost her life way too early:Heather Michelle Menzie. She was a violinist, and the violin part in this song represents her. Myfavorite musical moment in the entire song is at the very end, in the last four measures, whenthe tonality shifts to an F major chord, a chord that has not yet been heard in the piece. Theviolin floats up and away at this moment, signaling her ascent, and the piece ends with abeautiful flourish from the harp and piano. -Jocelyn Hagen (2019)
About the Commission
Clements High School Chorale Women have been selected to perform at theSouthwestern Division of the American Choral Directors Association (SWACDA) conference inMarch 2020 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The conference is the premier choral music educatorconference in the Southwestern United States. The Clements HS Chorale Women, conducted byJanet Menzie and Ryan Bogner, is the first high school choir in Fort Bend ISD selected toperform for this prestigious convention. The Clements HS Choir’s remarkable success alsoincludes the Clements HS Chorale’s invitation to perform at the 2020 Texas Music EducatorsAssociation Centennial conference this February.
In honor of this auspicious performance, Fort Bend ISD Department of Fine Arts hascommissioned a work from nationally renowned composer Jocelyn Hagen. The work is entitledI Count It All Joyand is in memory of Heather Michelle Menzie, daughter of the ChoraleWomen’s conductor Janet Menzie. Heather Michelle Menzie (8/18/1991-5/13/2015) had twopassions—the violin and research science. She was a second year doctoral student at theUniversity of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and her work continues to live on inthe research being done and in the Heather Menzie Endowed Memorial Fund and the HeatherM. Menzie Endowed Excellence Fund for FRI.
The composition,I Count It All Joy, is scored for SSA Chorus, violin, harp, and piano.The text, the music and the texture of the instruments beautifully weave a song that celebratesthe life and work of Heather Michelle Menzie. The text chosen is 1 James 2-4, NIV “Consider itpure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you knowthat the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that youmay be mature and complete, not lacking anything,” selected for its emphasis on perseveranceand joy amidst life’s trials
I Count It All Joy will receive its Houston premiere on March 2nd, 2020, at Christ Church Sugar Land at 7 PM. The concert will also feature the Garcia MS Varsity Treble Choir, conducted by Kelsey Appleby. Garcia MS is the first FBISD Middle School Choir invited to perform for the SWACDA Conference as well. The SWACDA premiere of I Count It All Joy will be on Friday,March 6th at 3:45 PM at the Robinson Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Text
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
1 James 2-4, NIV
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