"I have been introduced to an interesting composer named George Quincy. He was born in Oklahoma and is proud of his Choctaw heritage. Having received two degrees from, and having taught at, The Juilliard School, he garnered wide experience in the performance arts. Not least of all his talents is composing; and he has sent me two CDs of his non-vocal works.

I am reminded of the composer Alan Hovhaness, who discovered the music of Armenia, burned all his earlier pieces, and then integrated Armenian harmonies into his works. Quincy is fascinated with his Choctaw traditions, but is equally comfortable with other musical influences.

For example, there is on the Troy label a CD titled “Choctaw Nights: Chamber Music of George Quincy,” as played by the New York Five. It contains three pieces, the first of which is “Choctaw Nights,” in five movements: “Fanfare for a Choctaw Soul,” “Trio for a Comet,” “Snowy Io,” “Europa” and “Jupiter.” It compares favorably with Holst’s “The Planets,” but its idiom is entirely different. Quincy writes that he has always combined the myths of Greece and those of his tribe."

Get the Story:
Frank Behrens: New music — with a Choctaw strain (The Keene Sentinel 1/12)