Former president inspires musical collaboration

"I had written a piece for our music students to perform, requiring the narration of every U.S. soldier killed in the Vietnam War," he said. "I was invited to present the piece as a mobile audio installation -with music performed by UNG students and narrations from our upper administration, faculty, students, and staff - beginning at the Lincoln Memorial and ending at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. At this event, and spending time at the memorial, I felt inspired to continue the ideas I had."

Peoples then visited historical sites in Georgia (Chickamauga, Kennesaw Mountain, New Manchester textile mill, Fort McAllister, and Fort Jackson) and out of state (Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Appomattox) jotting musical ideas. He then fleshed out the center of the piece - voice and piano using the lyrics of the Thirteenth Amendment - and then scored all the other parts with UNG faculty in mind, he said.

"Everything from campaign lyrics of Lincoln vs. McClellan to poetry by George Moses Horton after the president's assassination," he said.

The composition has reached an international stage and was awarded a silver medal by the Global Music Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Contemporary Classical Composition in March. It originally premiered at UNG for the A Little Night(hawk) Music Concert Series and has since been presented at universities, historical Civil War sites, and other venues throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. The works were recorded by UNG faculty and staff (a collaboration among music and English Department faculty and staff) and released as an album.