R. Christopher Teichler, Composer: News

I have four performances of THE FIRST NOEL scheduled for this fall; 3 with orchestra and 1 with Band. As soon as I have more info on dates and times I will post them.

Please make a note of my new mailing address:

R. Christopher Teichler, Composer
P.O. Box 6643
Aurora, IL 60598

Thank you!

I am in the preliminary stages of recording my music. If you are interested in becoming a donor for this effort, please visit the Products and Publishers page.

I was surprised to see how long it has been since I've written any news. There has been a lot going on! I had two pieces premiered this summer and got a new teaching job for the fall.

ELEGY FOR JOHANNES BRAHMS was commissioned by Sandra von Valtier, and performed at a private concert on July 12, 2008. "Vows," from an unfinished work entitled WEDDING SUITE, was commissioned for and premiered at the wedding of David McNeil and Chelsey Anderson, two of my Trinity students.

In addition to my work at Trinity and West Suburban Community Church, I will begin teaching some classes at DePaul University in Chicago this fall. I am absolutely thrilled about this opportunity, and look forward to meeting many new and wonderful musicians.

As always, I will be posting new recordings as they become available. Thank you!

Here is what I have confirmed for the upcoming year so far(2008 - 2009):

Grace Church of DuPage - Warrenville, IL: Christmas carol arrangement for choir and orchestra; carol TBD.

Blackhawk Middle School - Bensenville, IL: My alma mater! Original work for concert band.

I will post more info as soon as it is available.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008, was the premier of my most recent work, 'LIV' FOREVER, at Still Middle School in Aurora, IL. The piece was commissioned to honor the memory of an orchestra member who tragically died in a car accident. I still cannot put into words how the experience affected me, other than that it was truly moving. I have never felt more inadequate as a composer; not because of the quality of the piece that I had written, but for the reason that it was written. However, I am very proud of the work, and I hope and pray that it will be a lasting tribute to Liv and the people that loved her.

My new piece THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS will be premiered this week at Downers Grove North High School in Downers Grove, IL. Click here for more details.

My setting of WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS for SATB and piano is now available from Kjos Music. Please visit www.kjos.com or your local music dealer to obtain the piece. I will soon be posting a new recording. Thank you!!

I have uploaded a new recording of my orchestra piece PROMENADE. It is from the Trinity Community Philharmonic Orchestra concert from this past November.

The piece is scored for the following instrumentation:

2121.2031.Triangle, Sus. Cymbal, Piano, Strings

I received a phone call late this morning from a friend of mine, informing me that WMBI, Chicago radio 90.1 FM, was broadcasting my arrangement of THE FIRST NOEL. Imagine my excitement and surprise! I knew it was going to happen, but still, the experience of going to the radio, turning it on and hearing MY music was quite a thrill! It wasn't a CD, it was live radio! Quite exciting for me. My parents were in town visiting us for the holiday, and I was very glad that they could take part in the experience. My wife, who has heard the piece too many times to count, was just as thrilled as me.

The overall experience was one of both pride and humility. I'm sure that I'll have many pieces broadcast over the radio in the coming years, but today was special. It was the first time, it was a piece that I am extremely proud of, a piece which has been very moving to many people. I will always remember this.

P.S. This great moment was immediately followed by a complete dismantling of the Green Bay Packers by my beloved Bears! What a day!!

Grace Church of DuPage in Warrenville, IL will be having a Christmas concert on December 16 at 6PM that will feature three arrangements of mine. THE FIRST NOEL, originally for choir and band, has been re-orchestrated for choir and chamber orchestra. A new arrangement of LO HOW A ROSE E'ER BLOOMING for choir and orchestra will be premiered, as will NIGHT DIVINE, a fantasy on "Cantique de Noel," more commonly known as "O Holy Night." Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, and I hope to see you there!

I am very excited to announce two upcoming commissions after the new year. One is for the combined middle schools of the Downers Grove School District in Downers Grove Illinois. The second is for Still Middle School in Aurora, IL. The Downers Grove commission is for orchestra and chorus, while the Still Middle School commission is for orchestra.

I am very excited to begin working on these projects! Special thanks goes to Lisa Rose and Dawn Pakkabier for making these happen.

What a great experience the conference was! I met some great people and made some good new contacts. Everyone was very kind and gracious, and more than willing to be helpful. This was a great step for me to take, and will hopefully lead to more opportunities down the road. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Today was the first day of exhibiting at the WMEA conference in Madison, WI (there's PACKERS stuff everywhere!!?!). My friend Steve Kroeze and I have been manning the "Teichler" booth today, and will again tomorrow.

I have scores of almost all of my pieces available for people to look at and full length recordings of them to listen to if they wish.

I'm hoping to get some exposure of my music to more people, and I think that this will help. Those who stopped and listened/looked at my music spoke very favorably!

One more day tomorrow, then back to Chicago in the afternoon. I'll let you know how day 2 went as well!

Promenade, the piece I wrote for the wedding of my friends Steve and Alison, will be performed on the Trinity Community Philharmonic Orchestra on November 2, 2007. The concert is 7PM at the Arnold T. Olson Chapel on the campus of Trinity International University. Other pieces will include music of Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. $8/$5.

Yep, I've got a blog. Doesn't everybody? If you're interested it's at http://composerchris.wordpress.com/. Mostly I'm using it to share my thoughts on music today.

TRN has SINFONIETTA included in their newest orchestral catalog. The score and parts look great! They will be selling it for $50. Please tell any of your friends/colleauges about this piece!!

I had a new piece performed at church today; a setting of PSALM 113. I scored it for chamber orchestra and soprano. It went well; Sarah, my wonderful wife, was a last minute substitution for the soprano part, and she nailed it! I was so proud of her, she never ceases to amaze me!

OK, so I was going to journal everyday, but time got away from me! In summary, all of my visits went really well. I visited Hill, Still and Granger middles schools this week, talking about LEGACY, and about composing in general. The students were so receptive! They have great teachers in a great program. LEGACY will be performed on Saturday May 20 at Waubonsie Valley High School around 2:30. Please come!

On Saturday May 19th, LEGACY will be performed at the Aurora Fine Arts Festival by the orchestras of Hill, Still and Granger Middle schools and the 9th grade orchestras of Waubonsie Valley HS. Each day this week I will visit one of these schools and work on the piece, talk about composing, and get to know the students. Today I visited Waubonsie; it was my first time back since MEET THE ARTIST back in May. It was nice to be back and see familiar faces. Mr. Will Burck continues to be a great supporter and teacher to me! I've learned a lot about writing for strings from him.

Tomorrow I visit Hill Middle School in Naperville, IL. More later....