Prelude on "Samanthra" (publ. 2003)

Brian K. Muzas (b. 1974) - Prelude on "Samanthra" (publ. 2003) for organ

This atmospheric prelude is based on a tune from Southern Harmony (1835) often paired with the text "His voice as the sound of the dulcimer sweet."

Brian K. Muzas earned a B.S.E. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University in 1996, an M.S. in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology in 1998, and both an M.Div. in pastoral ministry and an M.A. in systematic theology from Seton Hall University in 2003. Subsequently ordained a Catholic priest, Father Muzas served in parishes, taught both computer science and international relations at Seton Hall, co-chaired an NGO conference planning committee at the United Nations, and earned a doctorate at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. His academic interests encompass diplomacy, international security, defense systems, and ethics. As a musician, Father Muzas has studied various keyboard instruments (piano, harpsichord, organ) under Paul M. Somers, William Matthews, Donald Dumler, Philip Dietterich, and Donald McDonald and is a member of the American Guild of Organists. He has been organist (regular, associate, or substitute) at over eighteen Catholic and Protestant churches in New Jersey and California, and has played recitals at Saint Patrick's Cathedral (New York City), Union Chapel (Martha's Vineyard), Saint Walburga Monastery (Elizabeth, NJ) and in Minsk and Smolensk in the former Soviet Union. Father Muzas also has experience as an accomplished baritone, a choral conductor, a music director, a liturgist and a commissioned composer. Part of his seminary activity took him to the Holy Land and to Rome, where he was involved in a concert at Saint Ignatius Church and sang with the Schola at Solemn High Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica and for a papal audience.

Published by CanticaNOVA Publications (http://www.canticanova.com) in "Three Hymn Tune Preludes"