Preparing a concert of newly composed works could be a trickily-tricky task now and then. Loads of things could go off beam. To be 100-and-10 % ready, I recited the wise words by Chinese educator/philosopher Confucius that “success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure,” and nested myself in a secured corner in a café 28 days, 4 minutes, and 33 seconds before the concert, jotting down countermeasures for every foreseeable-and-unforeseeable issues. Everything. I jotted down everything, not aiming for a successful event, but hoping that composers who I have been given the privilege to work with will get to enjoy the concert of new music as, from my own perspective, an opportunity to share their life experience and thoughts through musical works.

On the day of the concert, after driving 523.18 miles from Chicago back to Seward, Nebraska, I quietly listened to what they have to say, with a big smile.

Sonata for Five Buckets | 2010 | Scott Dinslage

Joe Beran, Scott Dinslage, Paul von Kampen, Nicholas Jerome Lee, Michael Palomaki: bass drum

Here We Go | 2010 | Nicholas Jerome Lee

Theron Jenkins, baritone; Julia Gremmer, violin; Joel Heckmann, viola; Katie Wollman, piano

Remember Now | 2010 | Music by Chase Reihmann & Lyrics by Cody Jeffries

Lindsey Auten, Caledonia Gerth, Megan Heidemann, Holly Petersen: soprano; Julia Gremmer, Rebecca Kaaz, Bethany Kuhnle, Katelyn Wollman: alto; Robert Cody, Eric Gross, Andrew Saenz, Andrew van Velson: tenor; Charles Chaveriat, Paul von Kampen, Nicholas Jerome Lee, Michael Palomaki: bass; Chase Reihmann: piano; Theron Jenkins: conductor