Lane Powell of Harmony has been awarded the 2016 Established Artist grant through the Southeast Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC)! Individual artists are eligible to apply for this award every three years. Mr. Powell last received this award through the McKnight Foundation back in 2013. Since that time, the composer has completed six other private concert band commissions for Minnesota schools. All of them were created to highlight and honor a specific cause or group in Minnesota.
This project is a concert band composition titled “Spiritual Reflections.” The piece will be between four to five minutes in length and be contemporary in nature. The music and accompanying program notes will celebrate the story of where we live in the 11 county SEMAC region, the band programs and parent support groups that play a vital role in our area schools and communities, and the spirit of the students and other musicians who are part of these groups.
The music is to be based on the concept of light reflections on the water, reflections of the positive attributes in school music groups, and the spiritual reflections of those in the school and community.
This idea was created after the composer learned of the anniversary of the Lake City Band and Band Parent Group and the untimely death of one of its band members during their summer marching season, Kaite Goihl.
Throughout these events, the community and band have demonstrated a shining spirit in their resilience. This is a way to honor this community, while providing an outlet for other communities in the SEMAC region to do the same with their own performances at a later date.
All school band programs in the region will receive a copy of the score and parts to supplement their school music libraries free of charge.
The capstone event will be a world premiere performance of the work by the Lake City High School Concert Band on Thursday, March 23, 2017. The collaborating director from Lake City is Mr. Paul Holland.
“I am extremely humbled to receive this award,” Powell said, “and am eager to collaborate with Mr. Holland and the Lake City community on this project. Special thanks and recognition should go to the Southeast Minnesota Arts Council and local arts boards for their continued support of the creation of new art in our area.”
“Music composition is something I enjoy doing in my free time. It provides an outlet for my creativity. Some people read, write journals, paint, etc. – I write music for bands, while hoping to help other people in any way I can.”
Mr. Powell is employed at Harmony Enterprises, a global waste solutions company in Harmony, Minn.