There are two thousand nine hundred seventy-seven stories, and more, to tell about September 11, 2001. A San Antonio singer and composer have gotten together to tell one: about Mychal Judge, chaplain for the New York City Fire Deptartment on 9/11.
Stations of Mychal is a song cycle for tenor, viola, and piano. San Antonio tenor singer Richard Novak, who spearheaded the project, joined us along with the composer, Kevin Salfen, the librettist, Rick Davis, and the pianist, Joey Martin, to give us a first listen to the new release, and talk about it.
Says Novak, "Stations of Mychal is a 14-song cycle based on the life, ministry, and death of Father Mychal Judge, the FDNY fire chaplain who was killed on 9/11. ... Through this project we got to meet... people who knew and loved him."
The ensemble performed the work for the New York City Fire Department on the 20th anniversary, September 11, 2021, and it's been performed internationally.
Tenor, piano, and viola is an unusual kind of ensemble. (The recording's violist, Ames Asbell, was unable to join today.) Pianist Joey Martin calls it "the essence of collaboration," remembering when "we got to bring it to life the first time" as a "really terrific" and "fascinating" experience.
Composer Salfen says he hopes to be able to perform it again in San Antonio. "One of the things that we've been thinking a lot about is the possibility of adding choreography," and "if we do that then I'd love to have it performed again at my home university, the University of the Incarnate Word."
Stations of Mychal has just been released on Centaur Records. It’s now available digitally, on streaming platforms, and a physical CD will be printed later in the year.
