The Grand Erie Canal (2007, arr. 2008)
For children's chorus and orchestra, a children’s operetta commissioned by the Albany Symphony Orchestra for its outreach program.
Duration: 25 min
The Grand Erie Canal is a children’s operetta based on the story of the Erie Canal. The five songs highlight various aspects of the canal’s development, beginning with “The Grand Canal”, an upbeat song that introduces the idea of a canal connecting the east and west. “Worker’s Song” is a jazz/rock-influenced song depicting the hard life and long days of the canal workers, followed by “Life of the Canal”, a wistful waltz sung by a land-bound child watching the canal boats float by. “Mule’s Lament” gives voice to a hardworking mule that longs to run free in the meadows, and “The Wedding of the Waters” celebrates the long-awaited completion of the canal.
The Grand Erie Canal is the result of a two-year collaboration in 2006-07 with students of George Washington and Poestenkill Elementary Schools in the Averill Park District (NY) and their teacher, Martha Bove. The original version featured children’s chorus, clarinet, cello and piano; the chamber orchestral version was completed in 2009. Special thanks to Maestro David Alan Miller, the Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Music Alive program of the American Symphony Orchestra League and Meet the Composer for their support of this project.
