I am very happy and honored to recommend to you the music of Wally Kleucker. For at least three years now, I have been performing his music as a choral conductor mainly in the Unitarian Universalist circles.

... I am particularly attracted to the the freedom that he takes with his choices of melodic and harmonic language, sometimes unexpected and even daring. More specifically, he speaks in two different languages when he feels appropriate: 1) His own sophisticated inner voice, or 2) the voice of UUism and his own American culture. It is the simplicity of the latter category which many volunteer choirs may find enormously useful.

...There is a wide range of difficulty levels in "Seasons Come Dancing", and therefore, something for every kind of choir. I find his piano accompaniments to be particularly interesting, and they often provide the right balance, support, and sometimes even a welcome contrast to the vocal parts.

...I think much of Wally's choral music blends in so perfectly with any other style or genre of music in a concert or in a service, not because of its popular appeal, but because of its honesty and humanity. A certain directness and humility that he has chosen to display, where the listener always comes first, is rare among composers who have the training of his stature (Wally was a student of Einojuhani Rautavaara in Helsinki, Finland, who happened to have been a student of Jean Sibelius!).

I look forward to performing Wally's choral music for years to come, and I also look forward the many new works that will come from his prolific pen!

Michael Holmes

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