THANKS FOR VISITING MY WEBSITE!
Welcome! This site features music that I have written and provides information about my teaching. Just click on the individual pages to hear recordings, see sheet music, read teaching policies, or just to check on what’s going on in my musical life. I’d love to know about your musical life, too, and to get feedback about anything on this site, so feel free to write to me at asher.rick@gmail.com. Thank you!
CHECK OUT THESE RECORDINGS!
One of the most exciting an accomplished choirs in the Seattle-Tacoma area is The Wellspring Ensemble, directed by my friend Evan Norberg. Evan asked me to write a “novelty” piece for the group. I found that Winnie the Pooh had just entered public domain so I chose to set a section from that much loved book. Prior to performing the piece, Evan and two other members of the Ensemble produced a studio recording of it. They captured the mood and intent of the piece perfectly. Here is their recording of Winnie-the-Pooh Goes Climbing. https://soundcloud.com/rick-asher/winnie-the-pooh-goes-climbing?si=5dd53768098d48539598384c3e08dfc3&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
One of the great honors of my life was serving as Composer in Residence for the superb Seattle-based choir, Choral Arts Northwest, led by Robert Bode. As part of that role Robert asked me to set words of the revered American naturalist, John Muir.
Here are recordings of the six sections of my suite, In the Heart of the Mountains. The texts are by John Muir, and can be found on this file: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W7Nsvzyc0N-kSjLqfiwvGMw0rqxH8vfiB9YG-44O2Vs/edit
Nature’s Literature https://soundcloud.com/rick-asher/natures-literature
Mountains Holy as Sinai https://soundcloud.com/rick-asher/mountains-holy-as-sinai
The Wing Scars the Sky https://soundcloud.com/rick-asher/the-wing-scars-the-sky
Wind https://soundcloud.com/rick-asher/wind
Earth Hath No Sorrows https://soundcloud.com/rick-asher/earth-hath-no-sorrows
In Every Mountain Day https://soundcloud.com/rick-asher/in-every-mountain-day
A LITTLE EARLY CHRISTMAS?
Here is a recording of Choral Arts Northwest singing May the Peace of Christmas on their concert in December, 2018. I wrote it originally as a solo and later arranged it for SATB.
May the Peace of Christmas https://soundcloud.com/rick-asher/may-the-peace-of-christmas
PERSONAL NOTES
Our daughter, Emily, continues to amaze us with her career in NYC, playing traditional jazz and swing and leading her own group, “Emily Asher’s Garden Party.” She’s not only a super trombone player but also a foxy singer. www.emilyasher.com
BTW: Huge thanks to my wife, Jocelyn, for designing the banner for this site! She scanned in some of my tunes, added her great piano illustration, then worked with colors and a calligraphic flourish. See lots more of her work and read her blog at www.jocelyncurry.com.
On my SOLO SONGS page I have uploaded the sheet music to the song that I wrote for Jocelyn twelve years ago, entitled “A Simple Love Song.” If you’re interested in seeing it you’ll find it on my Solo Songs page. I also arranged it for four-part men’s choir – let me know if you’re interested in seeing a PDF of that arrangement.