In Friday (6/15) Tulsa World (Oklahoma), James D. Watts Jr. writes, “Eight deaths started Callen Clarke on the journey toward ‘Life.’ About five years ago, Clarke read a news account of a mass shooting—a young man walking into a store in Omaha, Neb., with an automatic rifle and opening fire. The fact that someone could show such disregard for human life—even his own, as the shooter committed suicide—disturbed Clarke profoundly. ‘And the fact that this happened so close to home made it impossible for me to tell myself that such a terrible thing only happens “somewhere else,” ’ said Clarke, who lives in Edmond [Oklahoma]. ‘I felt the need to do something to counter all that, something would celebrate life for the precious thing it is.’ So Clarke, a composer and musician, began work on what he calls ‘Life Symphony,’ a full-scale orchestral work that will have its world premiere Saturday as part of the OK Mozart International Festival’s Grand Finale Concert. … Last year, the festival premiered his ‘Wiley Post: Tone Poem for Violin and Orchestra,’ with Oklahoma violinist Kyle Dillingham as the soloist. Dillingham will also be featured in ‘Life Symphony,’ a work that is designed to represent the progress of human life from conception to death—and beyond.”
Posted June 18, 2012
