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Jaylon Sims

Z. Randall Stroope (1953-present), a renowned American composer, conductor, and lecturer, has written over 95 pieces; among his most-famous works  are the Lamentaciones de Jeremias, The Pasture, I Am Not Yours,  and Inscription of Hope. His compositions sell more than 200,000 copies each year. In the United States, his compositions are standard repertoire for advanced high school, honors, and university choral ensembles.

Biography
Stroope received his masters in voice performance at the University of Colorado (Boulder) and his doctorate in conducting at Arizona State University. . In an electronic publication, Stroope states that even though he had dabbled in composition since the age of ten, it was until he wrote The Cloths of Heaven, and Inscription of Hope, that he began to gain recognition. He states, “I was quite fortunate to have written some works that found great attraction across the country. That sort of catapulted my career compositionally. I was soon being asked to write pieces and conduct those works with the groups that commissioned them. Through conducting, you learn about what works in composition. Both aspects of my career took hold, and I’ve never looked back. I’m busier today than I’ve ever been.”

In addition to composing music and guest conducting, Stroope serves as the Associate Professor of Conducting and Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Oklahoma State University. He also heads the Oklahoma State University Concert Chorale and Chamber Choir. Previous to OSU, Stroope held similar positions at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.

Mentors and contemporaries
Cecil Effinger and Normand Lockwood, mentors of Stroope, are well-respected American composers. Effinger's Little Symphony No. 1 and Four Pastorales, arguably Effinger's most recognizable pieces, are performed by many ensembles across the U.S. and abroad. Normand Lockwood won the prestigious Prix de Rome, a scholarship given the select students within the arts, which allowed him to study in Rome. Both Effinger and Lockwood were students of Nadia Boulanger, a student of Gabriel Fauré one a of the greatest french composers of the twentieth century. Nadia Boulanger, a frustrated composer, became one of the most influential music theory teachers of the twentieth century, one of her first pupils being American composer Aaron Copland. Stroope credits Boulanger for his mentors' support of his creativity saying, “Efficiency of writing would be the main thing I took from my studies with Effinger. Boulanger didn’t try to replicate herself through her students; she let them be successful in their own way. As a result, Lockwood and Effinger were very open to different styles of music in my writing. It wasn’t a cookie cutter approach to composition.”

Morten Lauridsen, a contemporary of Stroope, is the professor of composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and has been for more than thirty years. From 1994 to 2001 he held the position the composer-in-residence at the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Lauridsen, composer of works such as O Magnum Mysterium, Sure on this Shining Night, and Les Chansons des Roses, was named "American Choral Master" by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2007, President Bush awarded him the National Medal of Arts in a White House ceremony. The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government. While Stroope taught at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, Lauridsen did a residency and The Rowan University Concert Choir performed Lauridsen's works. During the concert, Morten Lauridsen was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Rowan University. Since then, Stroope and Lauridsen have continued to engage in collaborative projects. In November 2010, Lauridsen did a residency at the Oklahoma State University similar to that at Rowan University.

Compostions

 * American Christmas/American Rhapsody
 * An American Te Deum
 * A Child is born in Bethleham
 * Cantus Natalis
 * Caritas et Amor
 * Chi la gagliarda
 * Dies Irae
 * Fanfare from Cantus Natalis
 * Fanfare of the Kings
 * Gaudete!
 * How Can I Keep From Singing?
 * I carry your heart with me
 * Inscription of Hope
 * I Will Lift Up My Eyes
 * Invocation
 * Joshua
 * Lamentations of Jeremiah
 * Lux Aeterna
 * Magnificat
 * May the Lord Bless you and Keep you
 * My Little Lamb
 * Opera Choruses: Set I
 * Opera Choruses: Set II
 * Opera Choruses: Set III
 * Oraculo
 * The Conversion of Saul
 * The Pasture
 * There is no Rose
 * Tu Solus
 * What Shall we do will a Drunken Sailor

Books
Stroope contributed to the book Composers on Composing along with composer such as René Clausen, Gwyneth Walker, John Rutter and Morten Lauridsen. In this book, Stroope speaks on his experiences with composing, strategies for composing and instructing young composers. Stroope reveals that it is easy for him to write difficult and technically challenging multi-voiced pieces, but writing a simple four-part voiced SATB piece takes him much longer. Stroope recalls his mentor Normand Lockwood saying,“You must always write with the essence in mind. It is easy to write with a lot of notes. But it takes a master to say the same with only a few notes, where every note counts.”

Awards and honors

 * Australian-American Fulbright
 * Douglas R. McEwen award for National Choral Excellence

Externel links

 * Z. Randall Stroope
 * Oklahoma State University Department of Music
 * An interview with Northwest ACDA Women’s Choir Conductor Z. Randall Stroope