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A LETTER FROM YZABETH |
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ABOUT THE COMPOSITION A Letter from Yzabeth, a six-movement suite for solo piano composed by Carl Schroeder, was inspired by scenes and characters from the composer's 2023 novella A Letter from Yzabeth. The movements are titled "Someone You Knew Long Ago," "Fortress in the Fog," "Everything is Improbable," "A Christmas Visit," "Abigail's Improvisation" and "Amidst the Hydrangeas." The novella A Letter from Yzabeth is a sequel to the 2000 novel The Fenn and Zorro Letters, co-written by Carl Schroeder and Mari Kempton. Schroeder has composed a set of two piano pieces inspired by that novel. |
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Carl Schroeder (b. 1982) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, composes music for concert band, orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and solo piano that often draws inspiration from American history, current events, natural surroundings and memories. His large ensemble music has been performed by nearly 50 concert bands, orchestras and choirs, including the Air Force Band of Mid-America, Minnesota Youth Symphonies and Ukraine’s Chamber Choir Kyiv. He has written commissioned works for the City of Lakes Community Band, Cornell University Symphonic Band, Minnesota State Band, Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Southwest Wind Ensemble, Three Rivers Conference Honor Band, Valley Winds, Wells Fargo Chorus and other ensembles and individuals. His published compositions include the concert band work Spin, the choral work Two December Carols and the piano solo 88 Keys, and six CDs of his music have been released. He is also the author of two books in the Fenn and Zorro series of novels told through correspondence. A 2005 graduate of St. Olaf College, he studied composition primarily with Timothy Mahr and Peter Hamlin. He composed A Letter from Yzabeth in the summer of 2023. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MORE ON A LETTER FROM YZABETH
A NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER Yzabeth Anderson-Nichols grew up hearing her father Zorro Anderson’s many fantastical stories—among them the tales of a legendary correspondence with his childhood pen pal Fenn Crispus-Wellsby. After Zorro’s passing, Yzabeth mails a letter to Fenn and receives an unexpected response that opens doors to new mysteries, friendships and discoveries from the California shoreline to the Connecticut swamp—as the strange case of a vanished family could unearth secrets from everyone’s past. Click here for more information and to purchase the books A Letter from Yzabeth and The Fenn and Zorro Letters. – Carl Schroeder, December 2023
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