Steven Bryant

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Text by Kevin Dunlop

This massive work was commissioned for the combined Mixed Chorus, Male Chorus, Female Chorus, Symphonic Band, and String Orchestra of the 2000 Arkansas All-State Convention. Just under 650 people, in all. I conducted the premiere, and must say this was a truly unique experience.

Program Note

Though somewhat dark and dramatic in character, A Million Suns At Midnight is ultimately a hopeful, optimistic work, evoking the struggles of humanity to grow, achieve, and evolve, finally overcoming our fear (and its most common manifestation: violence ) to transcend our physical and mental boundaries. The arrival of the the year 2000 provided a potent marker for this transcendance. The pace of societal and technological evolution in the world is accelerating exponentially, and we seem to be on the threshold of truly revolutionary changes in the way the human species (co)exists. The potentials genetic manipulation, nanotechnology, and computers powerful enough to be called conscious (projected by Ray Kurzweil, Hans Moravec, and others, to occur within the next three decades) may provide us with the ability to either provide food and shelter for every person on the planet, or destroy its human habitability altogether. When this level of power is available to common individuals, we must all become more than common individuals. We must ensure that the million suns at midnight are not those of fiery destruction, but of a bright hope.

Commissioned by: ASBOA for the 2000 Arkansas All-State Convention

Premiered

Version 1: SATB Chorus, Symphonic Band, String Orchestra
Premiered Saturday, February 19th, 2000, Pine Bluff Convention Center Arena, Pine Bluff, AR.

Version 2: SATB Chorus, Symphonic Band (no strings)
Premiered May 9th, 2002, Fairborn HS Chorus and Band, Steven Bryant, cond.

Technical Info

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