Please DONATE to help with maintenance and upkeep of the Wind Repertory Project!

My Soul to Keep

From Wind Repertory Project
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Julie Giroux

Julie Giroux


Subtitle: Dedicated to Everyone Touched by Gun Violence


General Info

Year: 2019
Duration: c. 7:30
Difficulty: III+ (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Julie Giroux
Cost: Score and Parts (digital) - "Free for everyone. Forever." Download here.


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra Alto Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Glockenspiel
  • Vibraphone

SATB Choir


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

It is with great joy and with great sorrow that I finally get to announce what has been in the works for over two years.

On October 13, 2019 My Soul to Keep will premier with a 150-piece band and 150-piece chorus. The location will be The Plaza Live Orlando, 425 North Bumby Avenue, Orlando Florida at 4 pm. This will take place at the LGBA [Lesbian and Gay Band Association] National Convention in Orlando, the city where the second largest mass shooting in our country took place. The LGBA event is where ALL are accepted, celebrated and loved.

The massacre that took place the day I married my wife on our 20th anniversary, the day 49 people lost their lives and 53 were injured. The day we almost changed our wedding until Kay said the words "If we change our wedding, he wins." The day 49 people's stories came to an end.

My Soul to Keep will be FREE of cost to everyone. Forever.
Let me repeat, My Soul to Keep will be FREE of cost to everyone. Forever. Free to play-free to download-free for everybody.

It is a hymn in emotional style and will be playable with either a wind band or a wind band and SATB chorus. grade level 3+ - easy 4. I also hope to complete a Grade 5 wind ensemble version as well. If you would like to perform this work on the same day it premieres, the same weekend you will be able to do so.

This work has been extremely difficult to compose and it seems like there has been a shooting every day that I've been working on it. The violence has to stop. Mental Illness awareness and care must be a priority.

The place you will download the complete work and files will be on my website Juliegiroux.org. as soon as it is finished. Please consider premiering the work with us.

We are our brothers keepers. We are our sisters keepers.
Your soul is mine to keep safe. My soul is yours to keep safe.
Please join me in celebrating the glory & memories of the lives lost and forever changed by gun violence.

I leave you the final lyrics of the last few measures of "My Soul to Keep."

Some will watch.
Some will pray
 All will bear my soul away.

If you live in the Orlando area, please consider attending the concert and singing with us because the audience will get to add their voices to ours!

I saved this announcement for the first day of Pride Month. It is so very sad that it is in the wake of another tragic mass murder, in a country where mass murder is commonplace.

- Program Note by Julie Giroux


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • University of Kentucky (Lexington) Concert Band (Josh Gillen, conductor; Cynthia Lawrence-Calkins, soprano) - 17 October 2022
  • Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts (Murfreesboro) Wind Ensemble (Denny Hawkins, conductor; Daniel Shirley, tenor) – 25 June 2022
  • University of Portland (Ore.) Wind Symphony (Patrick Murphy, conductor; Sarah Maines, soprano) - 19 February 2022
  • Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro) Symphonic Band (Denny Hawkins, conductor; Will Perkins, tenor) - 31 October 2020
  • Mississippi State University (Starkville) Wind Ensemble (Julie Giroux, conductor; MSU State Singers) - 4 March 2020 (86th Annual ABA National Convention)
  • Texas A&M University (Lubbock) Symphonic Winds (Travis Almany, conductor; Century Singers) – 1 March 2020
  • University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Symphonic Band (Randall O. Coleman, conductor; Alexis Davis-Hazell, soprano) – 20 February 2020 (CBDNA 2020 Southern Division Conference, Natchitoches, La.)
  • University of Miami (Coral Gables) Frost Symphonic Winds (Steven Moore, conductor; Melissa Martinez, soprano) – 16 February 2020
  • University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Symphonic Band (Randall O. Coleman, conductor; Alexis Davis-Hazell, soprano) – 1 February 2019
  • Young Harris College (Ga.) High School Honor Band (Andrea DeRenzis Strauss, conductor; Carli LeJuene, vocal) - 18 January 2020
  • Eastman (N.Y.) Community Music School Music Educators Wind Ensemble (Bill Tiberio, conductor) – 20 October 2019
  • LGBA National Band - 12 October 2019 (Orlando, Fla.) *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

Retrieved from "https://www.windrep.org/index.php?title=My_Soul_to_Keep&oldid=411556"