Adam Sovkoplas

To contact the composer, please email at: a.sovkoplas@uky.edu (please include "SCI" in the subject line so as not to be confused with junk mail)

LIST OF WORKS
All works are available for purchase through the composer unless otherwise specified. For duration and program notes, see bottom of page.

BRASS WORKS

Orvieto Trumpet Fanfare (2008)
-for trumpet ensemble in five parts

Commonwealth Fanfare (2007)
-for trumpet ensemble in five parts

March Romantique: Carpe Diem (2004)
-for brass octet with percussion

Quartet No.1: Berg (2004)
-for 2 trombones and 2 tubas

CHORAL/VOCAL WORKS

God Is Our Refuge (2007)
-for SATB a cappella

Christ the Lord is King (2006)
-for 10 voice chorus
--or--
-for SATB with organ

ELECTRONIC WORKS

Onward and Upward (2005)
-electronic composition

Three Electronic Poems (2007)
-electronic composition

Train Racer (2005)
-electronic composition

PERCUSSION WORKS

Marimba Sonata No. 1 (2007)
-for three performers on one five-octave marimba

Percussive Waters (2004)
-for percussion trio

PIANO AND ORGAN WORKS

Lamentation (2008)
-for organ

George Frederic Handel (2006)
-for two manual organ (no pedals)

A Day in the Life (2006)
-for piano

Prelude and Canon and Fugue (2005)
-for organ

Time (2005)
-for upright piano

An American Elegy (2003)
-for piano

WIND ENSEMBLE/CONCERT BAND WORKS

Centennial Fanfare (2009)
-Concert Band

WOODWIND WORKS

Attack of the Killer Space Gerbil (2009)
-for sax sextet (SATTBBs)

Saxocaphony (2009)
-for solo sax (SATB) with piano acc.

Indigo Flux (2006)
-for woodwind quintet with theatrical lighting

Sorrow (2005)
-for flute with piano accompaniment

WORKS FOR OTHER ENSEMBLES

Danza de la pasion (2005)
-for piano quintet with trumpet in Bb

CLICK HERE TO SEE MUSIC SAMPLES

COMPOSER BIOGRAPHY:
Adam Sovkoplas was born in Brownsville, Texas, on January 16, 1982. He holds a BA in Music from the University of Texas at Brownsville where he studied composition with Richard Urbis and a MM in Theory and Composition from Sam Houston State University where he studied with Dr. Trent Hanna and Dr. Thomas Couvillon. In 2009, Sovkoplas earned the Graduate Certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy from the University of Kentucky. Sovkoplas has been awarded the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers scholarship, won the 2nd Annual SHSU Phi Mu Alpha/Fisher Tull Composition Contest, and the CMS South Central Chapter Outstanding Student Composer Award in 2006. Sovkoplas's works have been performed throughout the United States as well as in the United Kingdom (2nd Annual Festival of New Organ Music, London) and Italy (Orvieto Musica Festival). Sovkoplas is currently working on his DMA at the University of Kentucky in Lexington under the instruction of Mr. Joe Baber. In 2007, Sovkoplas founded the Central Kentucky Student Chapter of SCI and has organized the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd annual Kentucky New Music Festivals.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

2010 SCI REGION VI CONFERENCE
I am pleased to announce that my recent composition Marimba Sonata No. 1 (2007) for three performers on one five-octave marimba has been selected to be performed by the KSU percussion ensemble as part of the SCI Region VI Conference to be held March 24-27, 2010. This will be the world premiere of this work in its entirety (one movement was performed at a conference in 2008). They are also considering programming my Orvieto Trumpet Fanfare (2008) for trumpet ensemble in five parts.

BUY TRAIN RACER !!
The one-minute version of Train Racer is now available for purchase as part of the 60x60 (2004/2005): Midwest Minutes CD released by Vox Novus. It can also be purchased as an MP3 through several online stores including Yahoo, Amazon, and i-Tunes.

RECENT EVENTS AND PAST PERFORMANCES:
An American Elegy was performed on and Rondo was premiered at the 1st Annual Kentucky Composers Invitational concert as part of the 3rd Annual Kentucky New Music Festival which took place at the University of Kentucky October 19-26, 2009.

The Orvieto Trumpet Fanfare and the Commonwealth Fanfare were performed on the Music of the 21st-Century concert as part of the 2nd Annual Kentucky New Music Festival which took place at the University of Kentucky November 9-14, 2008.

On October 11, 2008 Sorrow was performed on one of the concerts of the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers National Conference at Indiana Wesleyan University.

George Frederic Handel was premiered in one of the "lively pre-concert discussions" dealing with the performance of new music at the 2nd Annual Festival of New Organ Music in London in October, 2008.

The one-minute version of Train Racer is now available for purchase as part of the 60x60 (2004/2005): Midwest Minutes CD released by Vox Novus. It can also be purchased as an MP3 through several online stores including Yahoo, Amazon, and i-Tunes.

The UK Trumpet Ensemble under the direction of Mark Clodfelter premiered my Orvieto Trumpet Fanfare at the Orvieto Musica festival in Italy in June, 2008.

The third movement of my Marimba Sonata No. 1 was premiered as part of the 2008 SCI Region VI Conference/Sam Houston State University Contemporary Music Festival on April 18, 2008 at 10:30am.

On February 20, 2008 the UK Trumpet Ensemble under the direction of Mark Clodfelter commissioned me to write a fanfare to be premiered at the Orvieto Musica festival in Italy this summer. The UK Trumpet Ensemble will be attending the festival for the first time this year. In response, I have composed the Orvieto Trumpet Fanfare.

My Three Electronic Poems were premiered at the Haunting Harmonies of the 21st-Century concert as part of the 1st Annual Kentucky New Music Festival which took place at the University of Kentucky October 9-12, 2007.

On April 20, 2007 the Central Kentucky Student Chapter, SCI hosted a performance of the 60x60 (2005/Midwest Minutes) as part of the Niles Gallery Series. The event The event included three separate wall displays including windows media visualizer, a pwer point presentation fo the program notes for each work, and a clock synchronized to the program.The program opens with my electronic composition: Train Racer.

On April 15, 2007 the UK Trumpet Ensemble premiered my Commonwealth Fanfare for trumpet ensemble in five parts at a Friends of Music Salon Series concert.

On February 20, 2007 I founded the Central Kentucky Student Chapter of the Society of Composers, Inc. Which at the time of this entry includes parties from the University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, Centre College, Morehead State University, Transylvania University, and Asbury College.

In September of 2006, I began work on a collaborative project with Louise Epperson. Mrs. Epperson has written the script for a musical titled Harmony (see synopsis at bottom of page) which I am setting to music.

As of September of 2006, I am now working as a typesetter/transcriber/arranger for Alan Publishing Group. My function is that of a Ghost Writer and my name does not appear on any of the scores I work on for them. To date, I have contributed to the composition of Bethlehem Tonight.

On May 13, 2006, I graduated from Sam Houston State University with a MM in Composition.
My Graduate Recital, Music of the 21st-Century, took place on April 23, 2006 at the First United Methodist Curch in Huntsville, TX. The concert featured the premieres of Christ the Lord is King, Prelude, Canon and Fugue, and Onward and Upward. The program also included Sorrow, Train Racer, Time, and Danza de la pasion.

On April 10, 2006 the Rio Bravo Percussion Ensemble performed Percussive Waters as part of their concert at the University of Texas at Brownsville. In addition, I taught a Master Class on minimalism and its use in Percussive Waters that morning.

On April 5, 2006 as part of the 44th Annual Contemporary Music Festival hosted by Sam Houston State University, Sorrow for flute with piano accompaniment was re-premiered in its heavily revised version.

As part of the College Music Society South Central Chapter and NACUSA Texas Chapter Joint Conference held March 8-11, 2006 at Texas State University, Time was performed with its visual counterpart for the first time. During the conference, I was awarded the CMS South Central Best Student Composition Award for Time.

After being selected for inclusion in the 60x60 (2005/Midwest Minutes) project, Train Racer has received performances as part of the project at Lewis University in Romeo, Illinois (September 30, 2005), the EMM Festival at Kansas City Kansas Community College in Kansas City, Missouri (October 21, 2005), The University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois (November 10, 2005), the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota (November 16, 2005), and the St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri (May 6, 2006).

At the Sam Houston State University Phi Mu Alpha Student Composition Recital on May 3, 2005, Danza de la Pasion received its premiere. Quartet No. 1: Berg was played as well and was awarded the 2nd Annual SHSU Phi Mu Alpha/Fisher Tull Composition Award.

Time, for upright piano, premiered on February 22, 2005 as part of the 43rd Annual Contemporary Music Festival hosted by Sam Houston State University.

Graukopf the Ringmaster, the first movement of an incomplete work for wind ensemble, was premiered on April 3, 2004 at the Symphony in the Park and All That Jazz adult literacy fundraiser held by the University of Texas at Brownsville.

CENTRAL KENTUCKY STUDENT CHAPTER, SCI

Founded on February 20, 2007 the Central Kentucky Student Chapter is unlike the usual student chapters. This chapter is not affiliated with a particular university. Rather, it is an area-wide student chapter open to all undergraduate, graduate, and private students in music who are studying in the central Kentucky area. Our purpose is to promote, perform, and create new music. Our first meeting took place on Sunday, March 4 at 1:30pm in the Niles Gallery of the Fine Arts Library at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. If you are interested in joining, please contact:

Adam Sovkoplas
Central Kentucky Student Chapter, SCI
UK School of Music
105 Fine Arts Building
Lexington, KY 40506-0022
a.sovkoplas@uky.edu (please include "SCI" in the subject line so as not to be confused with junk mail)

CKSC met on Monday, April 2, 2007 at 7:30pm in study room # 9 of the Fine Arts Library on the campus of the University of Kentucky to discuss planning a concert for the fall semester. After much discussion, it was decided that we will hold a New Music Festival of no fewer than three concerts: AN electronic music concert, a Modern Classics concert of works by well known contemporary composers, and a concert associated with a call for scores. The third concert will include a section dedicated to Kentucky composers. This festival will be held in mid-October of this year.

On April 20, 2007 the Central Kentucky Student Chapter, SCI hosted a performance of the 60x60 (2005/Midwest Minutes) as part of the Niles Gallery Series. The event The event included three separate wall displays including windows media visualizer, a pwer point presentation fo the program notes for each work, and a clock synchronized to the program.

On May 1, 2007 the CKSC announced their intentions to organize the Kentucky New Music Festival and issued three calls for scores. The first call was an open call for the “Haunting Harmonies of the 21st-Century” concert, the second call was for a Percussion Ensemble work, and the third was for a Wind Ensemble work. Between the three calls, more than 150 pieces of music were received from over 70 composers from 28 different states in the US and from Australia, Canada, Germany, and Italy.

Wind Ensemble Composition Competition Results Congratulations goes out to Kristopher Maloy whose work "Emerging Light" was selected as the winning work.

Percussion Ensemble Composition Competition Results: Congratulations goes out to Jay Batzner whose work "Concerto for Timpani" was selected as the winning work and will be performed by the award winning UK Percussion Ensemble in the Spring semester. Congratulations also goes out to Carl Schimmel whose work "Serving Size 4 Bunnies" was also selected for performance.

The first KENTUCKY NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL organized by the Central Kentucky Student Chapter, SCI was held October 9-12, 2007 Concerts included:
60x60 (2007) Midwest Minutes - Electronic Music Concert October 9
Modern Classics Concert October 10
Haunting Harmonies of the 21st-Century Concert October 11
EKU Composers’ Forum October 12

On October 11, 2007 The CKSC, SCI invited Dr. Thomas Couvillon of Eastern Kentucky University to give a lecture: Symbolism in Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin The following day, October 12, 2007 the CKSC, SCI sponsored a concert performance of Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin in its entirety (Greg Partain, piano and Hunter Henlsey, tenor).

PROGRAM NOTES

The following notes are arranged alphabetically. If you are looking for a particular ensemble, please reference the list on the left hand side of this page.

A Day in the Life for piano duration: 5 minutes 30 seconds completed: 2006: This programmatic work is depicting A Day in the Life of an imagined jazz performer. The piece has two movements which explore both his Lazy Days and his Crazy Nights. Naturally, the piece is in a jazz style filled with seventh chords, common tone and chromatic chord progressions, and written out improvisatory features.

An American Elegy for piano duration: 6 minutes completed: 2003: This piece was originally written as an emotional response to the events of September 11, 2001. It is built using several motives each representing different reactions: shock, disbelief, anger, sadness, determination, self realization, patriotism, etc. These motives frame the use of the Star Spangled Banner which is transformed and nearly lost through octave displacement. The presentation of the last phrase of the anthem comes in an almost dream-like state in the upper most range of the piano and represents a longing for resolution and an end to chaos. The final pitch of the piece, also the final note of the Star Spangled Banner, implies hope through despair. These same feelings run their course through the hearts, minds, and souls of everyone who faces devastation, tragedy, war or the like and create sympathy and empathy that bind us together as the human race.

Harmony a musical duration: not available completed: this is a work in progress: In 1826, a keelboat named The Philanthropist made its way down the Ohio River and up the Wabash carrying 40 highly motivated, well educated and talented persons eager to try a new egalitarian way of life in a utopian society at New Harmony, Indiana. Among the passengers were William Maclure and Marie Fretageot. Present day, in an old library, Josephine, a graduate student researching for her dissertation, reads through more than 400 letters between this wealthy entrepreneur spending the later years of his life trying to establish a new system of education and the love of his life, a married French woman who has become the most successful advocate of his school. As the letters take on a life of their own, Josephine, Marie and William become friends across time, and the May/December relationship of Marie and William influences Josephine's quest for fulfillment as two courageous women, each in a different time, actively pursue their desire to love and be loved.

March Romantique: Carpe Diem for brass choir (2 trumpets, 2 horns, 2 trombones, bass trombone, and tuba) and percussion (crash cymbals, snare drum, and bass drum) duration: 2 minutes completed: 2004: From March of 2002 until May of 2004, I was the music director for the MCJROTC Drum and Bugle Corps at James Pace High School in Brownsville, TX. Since the band used two-valved brass instruments, I was usually forced to transcribe or completely rewrite any music I wished to have performed and thus gained much experience with marches... particularly those of John Phillip Sousa. My inspiration for this work came from this experience.

Onward and Upward an electronic composition duration: 5 minutes completed: 2005: This work incorporates the narration of a poem of the same name written by myself in 1999. The poem is about a creature that spends its whole life trying to escape from a deep whole in which it is trapped. Once it finally reaches the top, it's so exhausted that it loses its grip ad begins to fall back into the depths of darkness. Needless to say, this piece is very metaphorical. Nearly all the sound effects, from the wind blowing to the water droplets in the cave, were produced by myself orally or manually and then manipulated through the use of Digital Performer.

Percussive Waters for percussion trio including Timpani, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Marimba, and Rain Sticks duration: 9 minutes 45 seconds completed: 2004: This work uses minimalism to portray the transformation of water through its many stages. Each of the four movements represents a different form of water and has a different minimalist idea flowing through it. The movements are also based on different modes: I. Phrygian Glacier, II. Lydian River, III. Dorian Mist, and IV. Locrian Rain. I believe this combination of modes and minimalism creates a haunting and hypnotic appeal.

Quartet No. 1: Berg for 2 trombones and 2 tubas duration: 4 minutes 51 seconds completed: 2004: After studying dodecaphony, I decided I wanted to write a twelve-tone work that strictly adhered to its principals. However, I also wanted to create a piece that was attractive to the ear. After much listening, I decided that Berg’s works were closest to what I wanted to achieve. I built a row and created my matrix. Then, using pivot points, overlapping rows, and simultaneities, I created a work that I believe is both pleasant to the ear and maintains the principals of dodecaphony and atonality.

Sorrow for flute with piano accompaniment duration: 3 minutes 45 seconds completed: 2005: This programmatic work depicts a young girl coming home from school after experiencing her first real heartbreak. She goes to her room and begins to weep over her lost love. Her crying becomes sobbing, and her mother, hearing from another room, comes to investigate. The daughter pretends everything is fine, but after her mother leaves, she begins sobbing uncontrollably. Eventually, she collapses on her bed, clinging to a picture of her lost love and cries herself to sleep.

Three Electronic Poems an electronic composition duration: 3 minutes 32 seconds completed: 2007: This piece is comprised of three short electronic works each based on a different poem. The poems and music were created at the same time and were cross-influenced. The first poem midnight is accompanied by the first musical composition music for midnight. The second poem (and musical composition) is titled Ghost Whispers, and the third is ALIEN-NATION.

Time for upright piano duration: 11 minutes 59 seconds completed: 2005 available for purchase through Gold Branch Music, Inc.: Based on aspects of time, this piece has a strict tempo of 60 beats per minute. I. Clock represents the twelve strokes of a grandfather clock. The constant eighth-note represents the ticking of seconds on II. Tick-Tock. III. Jaws of Time introduces death, the monster that brings the cessation of time, and is represented by a tri-tone phrase and the masticating sound caused by beating the damper pedal. In IV. Out of Time, the motives slowly accelerate until they spin out of control and end in an abrupt halt. The duration of this piece is exactly 11 minutes and 59 seconds. Time runs out before the twelfth hour alluding to the initial twelve strokes of the grandfather clock.

Train Racer an electronic composition duration: 2 minutes 10 seconds completed: 2005: This is a programmatic work depicting an automobile racing a train to a railroad crossing. The listener starts with the train leaving the station. After passing several road crossings, the listener will hear the revving of an automobile engine entering the foreground. At the last minute the vehicle hit’s the brakes, but it is too late. The train, unharmed in the crash, fades into the distance and the listener is left near the wreckage. As the train fades away, the listener is passed by emergency vehicles with blaring sirens speeding to the rescue. This work began as an orchestral concept but I could never find the right combination of instruments to produce the desired effect. It wasn’t until I began experimenting with electronic music at Sam Houston State University that this piece truly blossomed.

Compositions
Sorrow - for flute with piano
Sorrow - for flute with piano.mp3 - complete
This recording of Sorrow (a flute solo with piano accompaniment) was performed by students at Sam Houston State University as part of my Master's graduate recital. To see program notes for this piece, click here.
*Quartet No. 1: Berg* - for 2 trombones and 2 tubas
*Quartet No. 1: Berg* - for 2 trombones and 2 tubas.mp3 - complete
This recording of my tuba/trombone quartet was performed by students from the University of Texas at Brownsville as part of my senior recital. To see program notes for this piece, click here.