Excerpts in QUICKTIME, MP3 or REALPLAYER format as noted

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

SYMPHONY NO. 1

[3333 4331 Timp Perc (2) Str] three movements. The second movement, Larghetto, won an Edward Benjamin prize for quiet music.

It was subsequently recorded by the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, Howard Hanson, conductor, on the Mercury album “Music for Quiet Listening.”

An early performance of the symphony (12/11/60) took place at a Composer’s Conference in Dallas, Texas, with the Dallas Symphony conducted by Donald Johanos.   “…a fresh gushet of melody… and sophisticated skill.” (John Rosenfield, Dallas Morning News 12/12/60).

BOP-A-DEEDLE!

[3322 4331 Timp Perc (4) Solo Perc, Str]; 12 min.

For Afro-Caribbean percussion and orchestra. Commissioned by Louis Vuitton on its 150^th anniversary. Premiered on April 4, 2004 by Russell (Baba Sango)

Robertson and the Hawaii Youth Symphony Orchestra, Henry Miyamura, conductor.

FANTASY ON A QUIET THEME for Chamber Orchestra

[1111 2110 Perc (1) Hp Str] 8 min. Music Sales/G. Schirmer

Premiered by the Eastman Philharmonic Orchestra, Howard Hanson, conductor, at the Inter-American Music Festival, Washington, D.C. 4/27/61.  Recorded by the Atlantic Symphony (CBC Symphony SM 241), Klaro Mizertt, conductor.

“A beautifully unpretentious FANTASY ON A QUIET THEME by Canada’s Neil McKay opened the program…” Paul Hume in the Washington Post 4/29/61.

VOICE

THE DEAF MEN AND THE DIVA, poem by William Leyerle,

for Coloratura Soprano and Chamber Ensemble
[fl, cl/bs cl, vla, db, hp, perc] or Piano; 10 min., Leyerle.

"The vocal line contains every vocal style in the soprano repertoire... The mood throughout is one of pedantic solemnity betrayed by the music into absolute hilarity... This piece is the ultimate inside joke - a marvelously witty caricature of the voice teaching profession turned loose on unsuspecting singers...,"  Judith Carman, Journal of Singing.

HONOLULU (I fell in love with)

Popular song, words and music by Neil McKay.

Arrangements: piano-vocal; male glee club (a capella); SATB and piano;

SSA and piano; concert band with baritone (voice optional); jazz ensemble and tenor voice; symphony orchestra and baritone (see above under Orchestra).

Recording by: Kamehameha Alumni Glee Club

        Dorothy Gillett, director

LAZY MAN’S SONG (1966) 3 min. Poem by Po Chu-i.

Performed by William Pfeiffer, baritone, and Ruth Pfeiffer, piano

        in Orvis Auditorium, Honolulu 10/31/66.   

Kubla Khan (1977) 16 min.

The musically surrealistic adaptation incorporates jazz, folk song and asian tonal elements

Performed by Clare Hamamoto and faculty ensemble

        in Orvis Auditorium, Honolulu 4/17/78.   

Concert Band

GAMELAN GONG

Commissioned by the Curriculum Research Center, University of Hawai'i.

"...the purpose of the composition is not to recreate the authentic sound of a Balinese gamelan ensemble, but rather to represent its overall effect using the elements of Western instrumental music," C.R.G., Instrumentalist.
"...you captured the excitement of Balinese music, the coloration, the rhythmic vitality, should I say the ethos? What a master of instrumentation you are!," Hal Rutan, principal horn, Duluth Symphony.

Koto and Orchestra

VOICE OF THE PHOENIX,

Concerto for Koto and Orchestra based on Yatsuhashi's 'Midare, 16 min., Marnie.

Commissioned by Ricardo Trimillos for performance with the Reading, PA Symphony Orchestra, Sidney Rothstein, conductor. "The audience liked it, judging by the applause at the conclusion," Gary Trollinger, Reading Times.

COMIC OPERA

RING AROUND HARLEQUIN

Comic Opera, libretto by Grady Smith.  Five performers with piano or orchestra. 35 min., Marnie.

First performed at the Matinee Musicale, Duluth, Min. 3/15/66, and again at the Fine Arts Festival, University of Wisconsin, Superior 6/2/66.
Performed in Orvis Auditorium, Honolulu (4/24-26,67), and again in 4/10/78. Also performed at the New York City Director’s Festival, University of Washington,Seattle, John Hagen, producer 3/4/85

    "! smash !"   (Gladys Hildebrandt, Duluth, MN.) ". . . openly farcical in the Italian commedia dell arte tradition . . . joyful inanity . . ." Lee Winters, Honolulu Advertiser.

Woodwind Quintet

FIVE BY FIVE (1998) Five Miniatures (fl, ob, cl, hn, bsn) 8 min. Music for Winds

First performed by the Spring Wind Quintet at Christ Church,
Kailua, Hawai'i 10/22/01, and again at Lutheran Church of Honolulu

Saxophone Quartet

FOUR BY FOUR (1998) Four Miniatures for Saxophones

Bb Clarinet and Basset Horn or Bass Clarinet

CONNEXIONS (1998) Four Inventions for Bb Clarinet and Basset Horn or Bass Clarinet

Written on commission from the Office of Research Relations of the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Performances by Scott Anderson, clarinet, and James Moffit, basset horn (1991 and by Scott Anderson, clarinet, and Joshua Ranz, bass clarinet (1999) in Orvis Auditorium, Honolulu.

String Quartet and Clarinet

ODE TO AQUARIUS (2009) For solo Bb Clarinet and String Quartet

“Aquarius,” a mosaic created by artist Tadashi Sato in 1970, is displayed in the rotunda of the Hawai’i State Capitol building in Honolulu.  On its restoration in 2009, Tadashi’s sister, Keiko, commissioned the composition “Ode to Aquarius.” in celebration.

Premiered by James Moffitt, clarinet, and the Galliard String Quartet in Paliku Theatre, Kaneohe and the Doris Duke Theatre

String Quartet

String Quartet

Written at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH.

Premiered at the 4^th Annual Symposium of Contemporary Music, University of Kansas, Lawrence. by the Chicago Fine Arts Quartet.
    “This work is an immediately communicative one…lyrical melodic lines and driving rhythms---delicate handling of subtle sonorities…” H.E. Smother, Lawrence Journal World 4/10/62.