A close friendship between two musicians has led to a multitude of Georgia premiers being held at Kennesaw State, the latest of which occurred last week.
KSU’s guest composer Andrew Boss premiered his work, “Toward the Hour Arises First Light,” for the first time in Georgia during a wind ensemble concert at KSU’s Morgan Hall in the Bailey Performance Center on Feb. 7, 2019.
The concert also featured KSU faculty cello soloist Charae Krueger, who Boss said is an extraordinary musician and introduced more to the concert. Boss also said that it was an honor to be represented not just by students of the KSU School of Music, but also by such a talented KSU faculty member.
The concert is the third time that Boss’ music has premiered at KSU thanks to his good friendship with the Director of Bands, Dr. David Kehler. Boss said that Kehler has been extremely supportive throughout his career, having premiered one of Boss’ works almost every year for the last three years.
The two met in 2014 when Kehler was livestreaming a symphony composed by Boss for wind ensemble during its premiere at the University of Texas. After hearing the piece, Kehler decided to take Boss’ work to a music conference in Charleston, South Carolina, where the piece was premiered for the College Band Director’s National Association. Since then, the two have collaborated on various projects.
“The close friendship Dr. Kehler and I share makes our collaborations so much more enjoyable and brings out the best in each of us in our music making,” Boss said.
Boss said that while it can be nerve-wracking to put his work in the hands of another director, that was not the case for this KSU premiere. Because “Toward the Hour Arises First Light” is a smaller work, Boss said he was not prone to getting as nervous as he might with a more difficult piece. Boss said that he felt extremely comfortable in this instance and was excited to simply enjoy the music.
He said that the piece is inspired by a sunrise as the sun’s rays first illuminate the sky in the early morning. The piece travels through time as the day turns from light to dark while the music’s tone goes from lush and lyrical to dark and ominous.
Boss said that hearing his music come to life after putting such hard work into creating it never gets old. He said that while making music that he loves is always rewarding, it is particularly special to see it being enjoyed by so many other people.
“There are just some things in the language [of music] that I simply cannot express in any other form,” Boss said.
To learn more about Boss’ work visit bossmusicstudios.com and to learn more about the KSU School of Music visit arts.kennesaw.edu.
