Enid Sutherland

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Enid Sutherland received Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in cello and
composition from the University of Michigan, where she studied composition
with George Wilson and Ross Lee Finney. She subsequently turned her
attention to performing and to the study of historical performance
practices and became one of America's best known exponents of the viola da
gamba and early cello, specializing in the solo and ensemble repertoires
of the high Baroque and early Classical periods. She has appeared
frequently in concerts across America, Canada, and Asia and on National
Public Radio broadcasts as a soloist and chamber music player. For many
years she has taught viola da gamba and baroque cello at the University of
Michigan. She has toured internationally with several early music groups,
including the Ars Musica Baroque Orchestra, for which she has also served
as guest Music Director. She founded and directed the Ann Arbor Consort of
Viols and The Sutherland Ensemble. She is currently a member of the
Atlantis Trio with violinist, Jaap Schroeder, and pianist, Penelope
Crawford. The trio recently recorded Schubert's complete works for piano
trio on the Wildboar label.

Sutherland began composing in early childhood, and in high school studied
composition with Joseph Brye and Homer Keller. In 1994, armed with wide
experience gained through performing, she returned to composition. Since
that time she has received several commissions, and her works have been
performed across the United States.


NOTES FOR "ALPHA"

In February, 1999, Charles Raines, Director of Music at Christ Church
Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, suggested that I consider writing a
piece in celebration of the millennium. When I asked him where I might turn
for inspiration or ideas, he promptly said, "Read the Book of Revelation!"
He then went off for a vacation in the Palm Springs desert. When he
returned, the piece was ready. Alpha is my immediate and secular response
to the reading of this dazzling prophecy of apocalypse.

I am pleased to dedicate this work to Charles Raines, not only because he
gave me the idea, but also because of his long-standing devotion to
bringing music of all kinds-sacred and secular, old and new-to life.

Notes by Enid Sutherland


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