Packer Choral Program Hosts Composer-in-Residence Malcolm Dalglish

Thanks in large part to a generous seed grant from the Parent Association Enrichment Fund, in addition to support from all three divisions and the arts department, Packer was able to welcome Malcolm Dalglish as its composer-in-residence in the spring of 2005.

An accomplished composer and hammer dulcimer player, Mr. Dalglish drew from his extensive background in choir, theater, folk, and music, as he worked with Packer music students from the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools.

On a visit in March, Mr. Dalglish enthralled students from the Pre and Lower School with his interactive musical storytelling full of animal voices, which encouraged audience participation and listening skills.

During choir practices in the Middle and Upper Schools, he encouraged students to improvise vocally as they rehearsed his song “Sail Away.” “Sometimes the best versions of this song happen at the party afterward,” he told students, “so don’t let that happen this time.”

Mr. Dalglish assisted choral director Elizabeth Parker in preparation for the Spring Choral Concert on Wednesday, May 25 in the Chapel. The May performance featured more than two dozen pieces by twelve separate student choral groups.

Concluding the program was the world premiere of an original piece written by Malcolm Dalglish specifically for the combined choruses of Middle and Upper School Packer students. “The Brink” told the story of a scary, but exhilarating night Mr. Dalglish spent at age 15, “marooned on a narrow ledge at 13,000 feet,” with a group of inexperienced rock-climbing friends.

Malcolm Dalglish has been commissioned to write over seventy pieces for various choirs around the globe; most of his work celebrates the beauty of the natural world: story ballads, mouth music, songs of trees, birds and animals, lullabies, laments, old hymn, and dance songs.

Elizabeth Parker called the experience immensly valuable for the entire Packer community. "From his assembly program to the commissioned piece, our students were given a unique opportunity to witness and experience the living art of music composition,” said Mrs. Parker. “It heightened our students' music-making and brought the entire program to another level."