Latest news: South Dakota Symphony to Premiere SDG-commissioned Piano Concerto by Jacob Bancks
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The premiere performances of Jacob Bancks' piano concerto, Lumen de Lumine, will be presented by the South Dakota Symphony on March 15 and 16, 2008, under the direction of Delta David Gier, Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony and Associate Artistic Director of Soli Deo Gloria. Bancks' new work is written under commission from SDG for pianist William Phemister, the project's chief architect, lead sponsor and concerto soloist. According to Phemister, Bancks is an exceptional musical talent whose work is, "on the cutting edge of creativity." Bancks intends to imbue his new work with a Christian spiritual core. "A good deal of inspiration for Lumen de Lumine comes from the Easter Vigil Mass of the Roman Catholic Church", said Bancks. "This service is extremely complicated (I speak from experience, as Director of Music at St. John Berchmans Church in Chicago), but also extraordinarily beautiful. Many facets of this Mass will make their way into my concerto, but perhaps the most immediate is the rebirth of the 'Alleluia,' which is left unsung throughout Lent. The singing of this powerful, holy, ancient word for the first time in six weeks is, for me at least, a very moving moment." In a recent letter to SDG contacts, Maestro Gier revealed the origins of SDG's collaboration with Bancks.
I first met Jacob in 2003, while guest conducting at Wheaton College. He was a student then, and sat at the front of the viola section in the conservatory orchestra. At that time he told me that he was going on to the Eastman School of Music for a Master's degree in composition. I, of course, had no idea that our paths would cross again, musically, within a short time. The next year I began my work in South Dakota and found out that Jacob was originally from Sioux Falls and had studied with one of my key orchestra members. As I became familiar with Jacob's work, it was evident to me that his was a unique voice which would develop significantly. He is now a doctoral student at the University of Chicago where he has been named a Century Fellow. Last fall I was in Minneapolis for a series of composer readings with the Minnesota Orchestra. Each year, as part of a very competitive process, the orchestra receives over 200 orchestral scores from young composers hoping to be included in this program. The South Dakota Symphony is planning to extend this program by reading the "honorable mentions" with our orchestra. Interestingly enough, as I was sitting in rehearsal in Minneapolis, I was brought a box full of last year's honorable mentions. I reached into the box, and the first score I pulled out was a piece by Jacob Bancks! I wasn't particularly looking for a sign, but this at least signaled to me that we were on the right track. About a year ago, one of Jacob's former piano teachers, William Phemister, informed me that he intended to commission a work from Jacob to commemorate his retirement. Dr. Phemister asked if I would be willing to premiere the new work with the South Dakota Symphony, with himself as soloist. I heartily agreed, then brought the idea to the directors of SDG and together we decided to partner with Dr. Phemister to make this idea a reality. Commissioning a purely instrumental work is a bit unusual for SDG, though not without precedent. Several years ago we commissioned George Arasimowicz’ Window Rock: Peter’s Dawn, an orchestral tone poem inspired by the life of the Apostle Peter. Jacob intends his piano concerto to be an homage to Olivier Messiaen, whose music, both concert and liturgical, always maintained a sacred focus. In keeping with this, the inspiration for the new piece comes from a description of Christ found in the Nicene Creed: Lumen de Lumine, translated from the Latin as “light from light”. I look forward to working closely with Jacob in the creation of this work, and to his homecoming to Sioux Falls for its initial presentation.
Jacob Bancks finds the music of Olivier Messiaen "thrilling and highly original." Addressing the Messiaen
connection, the composer notes, "I chose Messiaen's outstanding wind ensemble piece Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum (“I look for the resurrection of the dead”), with title drawn from the Nicene Creed, as a tangent for my own work. That said, I certainly wouldn’t encourage anybody hearing my concerto to listen for Messiaen’s influence, and I’m very consciously avoiding Messiaen-invoking 'gimmicks'. His music is full of distinctive characteristics which are, superficially at least, very easy to mimic: birdsong, Indian rhythms, 'modes of limited transposition'. In my opinion, these are pitfalls for any composer who admires his work. And anyway, I find his artistic approach as imitable as his music, distinguished by, in his words, 'self-control, respect for others, a sense of wonder of that which is created, meditation on the mystery, and the search for Truth.' This attitude, aside from any specific musical influence, is what I hope to draw most from Messiaen." 
The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra will present Bancks' new work with pianist William Phemister. Performances will take place at the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Sciences in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The program will also include Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem. For tickets click here or contact the South Dakota Symphony by phone at 1-866-681-7376. Jacob Bancks has received commissions from the New York Youth Symphony, the Annapolis Symphony, the Hanson Institute for American Music, the International Double Reed Society, the Lute Song Project, the Eastman Philharmonia, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Commission Project, OSSIA New Music, the Dakota Academy for Performing Arts, and Augustana College Theatre. He is a winner of the 2006 BMI Student Composer Award, a Century Fellowship (University of Chicago), the Howard Hanson Orchestral Prize (Eastman), first prize in the Minnesota Music Teachers’ Association annual competition, has been nominated for the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize and was recently named a Jacob K. Javits Fellow by the U.S. Department of Education.
