The Vocal Department has commissioned a piece of music from renowned choral composer Z. Randall Stroope to honor and commemorate the memory of our three lost fathers. As many of you know, the vocal department experienced immense grief and sadness this fall as three of our students lost their fathers during a two month period. As a way of coping with the losses and marking this great loss in time, the students decided to have a piece commissioned that could serve as a lasting memory to these lost fathers. Our students first choice was composer Z. Randall Stroope and he accepted the commission. The money for the commission was raised during the Madrigal Dinner and we have been notified by Dr. Stroope that the piece is finished. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival and will announce soon when the premiere of the piece will take place. Here is the paragraph that will appear in the inside cover of the piece: During the fall of 2007, three members of the Cypress Lake Center for the Arts Vocal Department lost their fathers. All three men were full of spirit and humor and lived life to the fullest. Robert Watt, the father of senior Cheyanne Watt, lost his three month battle with brain cancer on August 29th. Rob Watt was a fun-loving man who was a friend to everyone that ever met him. On October 4th, John Kelley, father of junior Breanna Kelley, was vacationing with family in Hawaii and passed away after receiving an incorrect prescription from his doctor. John Kelley was an adventurous soul who visited all 50 states and never missed an opportunity to share his latest joke. Kenneth Dozier, the father of sophomore Kendra Dozier, suffered a stroke at work on November 12th. Kenneth Dozier had a child-like love for life and always played like one of the kids. This has been a powerfully emotional time for these students and their families. In order to help process our deep sense of loss, we commissioned this piece inspired by our desire to celebrate and honor the lives of these fathers. We hope you will help us transcend our sorrow while we observe the spirit of humanity in this music. We look forward to performing this new work and honoring these lives lost much too soon.