Press

Sights and Sounds at the Crossroads
“But the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for the final piece, the premiere of Douglas Buchanan’s Crossroads. Composer Buchanan, who was raised in Dallas, has a lifelong connection to Dallas’ homeless population: his father was Executive Director of the Stewpot, and the younger Buchanan volunteered there as a teen. Thus it seems a natural fit that he would compose a piece that DCS could perform with the Dallas Street Choir, a group comprised of homeless and disadvantaged Dallasites, founded and directed by Jonathan Palant….If the purpose of the evening was to remind us of the individual personhood of the homeless, I can hardly think of a better way to achieve that purpose.”

People in need raise voices in 'a Baltimore choir of hope'
“One of the most impressive examples I’ve come across of musicians helping people in need is Voices Rise: A Baltimore Choir of Hope in Southwest Baltimore organized by Peabody Conservatory alums, Douglas Buchanan and Benjamin Buchanan.”

Prizes for composer Douglas Buchanan, photographer Torrance Hall
“Buchanan [is] a prolific composer with a richly layered style…”

St. David's Episcopal offers all-Michael Hersch program, including world premiere
"The music series at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Roland Park, a series offering admirable variety and depth of repertoire, devoted an evening last weekend to works by the extraordinary composer Michael Hersch. In addition to two cello works, the program offered the world premiere of his 1997 a capella choral piece ‘From Ecclesiastes’….the expressive weight of the music, the sense of inner drama, impressed greatly. So did the assured, nuanced singing by the Choir of St. David’s and the Bridge Ensemble, led with a keen sense of mood, dynamics and pacing by Douglas Buchanan (he runs the remarkable series).”

“[At] the annual Orkney Composers’ Course concert, one of the most satisfying aspects…was the sheer diversity and variety of creative thinking displayed by the eight emerging composers whose music was performed. A wide range of skills was on show too. Some pieces…were notable for their structure; others, such as Ri Marannan by Douglas Buchanan, for their ability to get under the skin of their core material…”

“Douglas Buchanan’s Eingang is a setting of three sensual, highly atmospheric poems with music to match. The slippery string sounds and wild vocal leaps in the opening ‘Eine Buhne’ exerted a strong pull, as did the fugal interlude between the last two songs and, in particular, the lyrical, chordal closing moments that suggested a gentle landing in a tonal zone.”

“The orchestra’s annual Young Composer’s Competition winner was Douglas Buchanan’s Malleus, an orchestral work inspired by the Salem Witch Hunts. Now a student of Michael Hersch, Buchanan shares his teacher’s sense of creative imperative: Malleus clearly needed to be written with all manner of orchestral upheaval. Pedal-to-the-metal percussion eventually made way for a humble, hymnlike tune played by the winds, reminding you of the pious bedrock on which this sorry piece of American history was born.”

“[T]he spectacular vocal piece “Goblin Market” (based on the poem by Christina Rossetti)....was even a bit scarier – and more ethereally beautiful – than it sounds....[U]nder Buchanan’s intense conducting, Elisabeth Halliday, Bonnie Lander, and Robert Maril sang Rossetti’s disturbing poem beautifully.”

Weekend review roundup 1: Peabody Symphony Orchestra
“Buchanan has a knack for summoning massive sonic blows, reminiscent in impact of the kind John Corigliano can unleash. The hammering passages in the taut score are filled with terrific orchestral color and wieght, not to mention feeling….The composer’s eventful score is not all percussive outbursts; a contrasting passage that pits fragile piccolo phrases floating above ominously rumbling basses has an especially haunting quality…This is very clear, personal music.”