The Inside Story: Christopher J. Hoh and DASHING VOL. 3

Navona Records presents DASHING VOL. 3, a festive assortment of new works inspired by the signature sounds and staples of the holiday season. Comprising stories, nods to classic holiday tunes, and an underlying current of wistful nostalgia, this installment of the DASHING series keeps the spirit of holiday music alive with new compositions and arrangements of well-known favorites. Featured on the album is Christopher J. Hoh and his piece For the Children or the Grown-Ups, a Christmas choral piece for a listener of any age to enjoy.

Today, Christopher is our featured artist in “The Inside Story,” a blog series exploring the inner workings and personalities of our composers and performers. Read on for a story from his time in the Balkans where a programmed piece of his accidentally turned “avant garde…”

When did you realize that you wanted to be an artist?

As a tyke, I learned from my mother to make up music. She was an elementary teacher and singer who had composed her own wedding prayer and some children’s songs. So it was natural I would improvise at the piano, which evolved into composing. I accompanied, sang, and listened a lot as a teenager and thought “I can do that.” Later on, I realized I had to compose, like breathing or eating. I drifted away from music in college, but my first diplomatic post brought me back. In 1984, the English-speaking church in Lima, Peru needed a choir director and I jumped in, first arranging and then composing for the forces at hand. It’s been part of my life ever since, wherever I went in the world. In 2003 I returned home from three years in Bosnia. Although busy with my government day job, I launched a systematic effort — building a website, joining ASCAP, self-publishing, networking, marketing. People encouraged me, even though I was small-scale and “emerging.” That’s when I realized being satisfied as a composer was not only writing music for friends or my synthesizer, but sending it out and collaborating with others. 

What was your most unusual performance, or the most embarrassing thing that happened to you during a performance?

Two memorable moments spring to mind. A touring choir of friends came to the Balkans when I lived there. The first concert in Sarajevo included a couple of my Sarton settings, which are challenging. The under rehearsed group didn’t exactly nail it. A local friend said something like “I didn’t realize your music was so modern!” Well, it was more avant garde that night than intended! Another was recording From Heaven There Came A Sound, a new-agey, multilingual anthem with children’s chorus on the Pentecost story of tongues of fire and speaking various languages. Very dramatic stuff. We were recording it, but somehow the date got miscommunicated to the children’s group. So they came another evening and sang with headphones playing the tracks for adult choir, piano, and percussion. I was mortified about the screw-up, but the kids thought it was very cool to do what they’d seen pop idols doing; and the result was terrific. 

If you could spend creative time anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Any place calm and close to nature would be fine. I prefer to have a keyboard and computer handy, but can manage with pencil and paper and my mediocre voice. I live in a metropolitan area, but look at trees by my study windows, with birds, owls, foxes, and rabbits nearby. Deer and squirrels too, but to me they are pests. That said, Austria was special in the years I was there. There’s music in the air, and it’s an inspiration going to haunts of major composers from Heinrich Isaac to Arnold Schoenberg, not to mention Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, etc. along the way. I fantasize about a studio in a cabin by the sea or a lake, but these days I’m too busy to get away. 

What is your guilty pleasure?

Only one? Seriously, I enjoy 60’s and 70’s “easy listening” for lack of a better term. I have a bunch of Henry Mancini albums and love his work along with mid-century covers of jazz standards and radio hits from film scores. It’s not background music for elevators, but finely wrought miniatures. First, tuneful, giving the melody pride of place. But terrific arranging, harmonization, orchestration, and playing. Think of Born Free, Moon River, The Pink Panther, Romeo & Juliet Love Theme, Midnight Cowboy. It wouldn’t surprise me if people are playing these in a couple centuries, like Puccini today. But maybe they’ll just fade away; either way, I’m happy to hear them. 

What was your favorite musical moment on the album?

The fourth verse is special. This simple song tells a story — adults playing with the kids’ toys — and after three verses the listener gets the idea. Then comes a little commentary with dampened notes and staccato tones on the vibraphone. That delights me and I hope others do too. There are a couple small musical allusions too; not inside jokes but rather hidden “Easter eggs.” I enjoy those too, but won’t give them away here! 

Is there a specific feeling that you would like communicated to audiences in this work?

Just “have fun!” And don’t feel guilty. That’s what the adults are doing in this story. I wrote the piece to be singable and easy. OK, you need a good vibraphone player if performing that way, but you can substitute piano and/or multiple mallets and then the accompaniment is simple too. The holidays can be stressful, especially for musicians. School holiday programs walk a minefield finding acceptable repertoire that can be learned in time and sound good. So I’d like to think For the Children or the Grown-Ups? solves a problem for conductors and helps us all to embrace the childlike joy of the holiday season.