Inside Montecito California

SBCC Concert Choir at Kylemore Abbey, Ireland: “Barter”

The Santa Barbara City College Concert Choir presented their forth and finale concert on their 2008 Performance Tour to Ireland organized by Incantato on Thursday, June 12 at the magnificent Gothic Church at Kylemore Abbey. The singers under the direction of Nathan Kreitzer enchanted the audience with their full program titled "Songs of the Old and the New World". This videoclip features the world premier of "Barter" by Michael Eglin. Michael Eglin (b. 1975), originally from Niagara Falls, New York, earned his Bachelor of Music degrees in piano and composition from the State University of New York, Fredonia School of Music before moving to Santa Barbara to pursue a phd in composition at the University of California campus there. Active as a conductor and singer as well as a composer, Mr. Eglin presently serves as Director of Music and Organist at El Montecito Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara. His work Barter won the 2008 Young Composers Competition sponsored by the Pacific Chorale in Orange County, California. He writes: "The figure of the American poet Sarah Teasdale (1884--1933) is one of grand and exquisite writing and also great personal tragedy. Her poem "Barter" is filled with beautiful imagery of all that life has to offer, lovely things which however come at a price. The music for Barter was written in memory of another lovely young woman whose life was ended before her time: my sister Sonya, who passed away from cancer exactly 70 years after Teasdale. Sonya ...