When Dr. Gordon Ring’s Faculty Composition Recital began in the Molnar Recital Hall on Oct. 20, it was surprising to see that it didn’t begin with the conductor speaking about the pieces. It began with a short piece of bombastic music as their prelude entitled, “Glass Sky Prelude” had its premiere performance, almost sounding like the intro for a film studio or a big action sequence.
As soon as the piece ended, the performers removed their stands and instruments from the stage before the conductor came back out to formally introduce himself as Dr. Gordon Ring, professor at Longwood and the conductor of the Longwood Wind Symphony since 1989.
“It’s unusual to have a concert playing music written by people who are still alive,” he stated, giving the audience a moment of laughter. He then continued a short explanation that all of the music was written by himself, and throughout the performance, he would often give short explanations on the pieces before they were performed. An anecdote on small egg shakers gave a piece entitled "Shaker Tunes" some context with Dr. Ring performing some pieces, such as the aforementioned egg shaker piece.
There were a variety of pieces performed, from the bombastic opening piece to a hymnal psalm. "Psalm 42" was written in 2005 but revised just this year, and was performed by Dr. Ring on the piano, Kirsten Vis on clarinet, Tiarrah Crouch on flute and Lise Burrs as the soprano vocalist.
Following the psalm piece, was "Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano," written in 2003 performed by Longwood professors- alto saxophonist Charles Kinzer and pianist Lisa Kinzer. The two performers prior to the performance also explained their roles, how they knew Dr. Ring and even the basics of the type of piece they were about to perform.
The entire night had an air of formal causality to it. In his opening moments, Dr. Ring invited people to search for him on SoundCloud to download and listen to some of his pieces. He even told an amusing story about John Williams and Steven Spielberg.
“Spielberg and Williams had just finished watching “Schilndler’s List” with its music for the first time, and when it ends, both men are in tears and Williams turns to Spielberg and says ‘You know, you really need a better composer for this film.’ Spielberg replies, ‘I know, but they’re all dead.’” Dr. Ring said as the audience laughed.
The event almost didn’t even feel like a concert or a formal setting. It just felt like this man was proud of what he had accomplished, and he wanted to share it with the audience. It helped that the pieces were enjoyable and that the audience was glad to have had a chance to listen.
Dr. Gordon Ring- music professor at Longwood University and Wind Symphony conductor speaks to the audience, trumpet in hand, before performing a series of original works.
Dr. Gordon Ring plays the piano with soprano Roxanne Cook on vocals for "Slumber, My Darling."
Dr. Gordon Ring performs solo with egg shakers for his original 2013 piece, "Shaker Tunes."
Dr. Gordon Ring conducts musicians for the world premiere of his original 2016 piece, "Fanfare for the Citizen Leader."
