Rhythm lies at the heart of his music
Local composer's latest work to premiere at music educators convention
by Sahely Mukerji, The Gazette
March 8, 2000

The happiest day in Joseph Jay McIntyre's life was when he auditioned for a solo part for Leonard Bernstein and got it. Today, composer McIntyre, whose new work will premiere March 10 at the Music Educators National Conference, names Bernstein as one of his bigger influences.

"The 'Echoes of a Forgotten Dream' [the new composition] is a musical adaptation of an old Czech folk tale," McIntyre said. "It is about a man and a woman from two faraway lands miraculously finding themselves in each other's dream and instantly falling in love."

McIntyre, born and brought up in Silver Spring, was himself a member of Montgomery County Youth Orchestra, which will perform his new piece at the MENC national convention in Washington, D.C., on March 10 and at J.H. Blake High School on March 12.

Coming from a family not particularly musical, McIntyre started singing in church choirs when he was 8.

"My father was a lawyer and an amateur trumpet player, " McIntyre said. "He loved Dixieland music. My grandmother was an organist for the church and played the piano in silent movies. That's as far as music goes in my family. None of my four brothers are into music. So, I don't know what got into me."

McIntyre auditioned and was accepted in the Berkshire Boy Choir in Massachusetts when he was 10. While performing at Berkshire as a boy soprano, he came in touch with Bernstein.

"It was 1971, and the Kennedy Center had opened that year," McIntyre said. "Bernstein wrote the 'Mass' for the [Kennedy Center] opening and 20 of us were selected from the Boy Choir to participate. There was also a solo part in the composition."

McIntyre auditioned for the solo part along with two other boys, and all three were chosen to sing.

That was the happiest time in 12-year-old McIntyre's life, which soon turned to saddest. After the Kennedy performance McIntyer found out that his singing career was over.

"I realized I wouldn't be able to sing as a boy soprano any more because my voice started changing," he said.

McIntyre took to percussion once his singing career came to an end. He graduated from Northwood High School and double-majored from the University of Maryland, College Park, in percussion performance and music education.

After graduation, McIntyre started his musical career as a percussionist, before turning into a composer in the last few years. He played timpani for the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, of which he is a founding member, and the Millbrook Symphony. He also played percussion for the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and is the extra percussion at the National Symphony Orchestra.

McIntyre wrote his first composition, "Spirits of Nature," for Shizumi Dance Theater in 1987.

"I draw inspiration for my music from Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Bulgarian and many other musical styles from around the world," McIntyre said. "And from the classical genres like Bernstein, Aaron Copelan, and even from popular music like ELP [Emerson, Lake and Palmer] and Pink Floyd."

The integral part of McIntyre's music is rhythm. "The music I write now is all very rhythmic," McIntyre said. "Rhythm to me is harmony. The timing of notes to me is melody."

Shizumi Shigeto Manale of Shizumi Dance Theater, who has known McIntyre for 13 years, agreed. "Joe uses very interesting rhythms, even in quiet pieces like the 'Missa Brevis,' " she said. "That is what is unique about his music."

McIntyre wrote music for several Shizumi Dance Theater performances, Manale said. "I introduced him to Japanese and Asian music," she said. "I took him to Japan with me, where he stayed with my mother who is a Japanese folk musicologist. She introduced him to the Japanese flute and the silence that comes in between Japanese music. "He is a very talented musician," Manale added.

Barry Tuckwell, world-renowned French horn player and retired music director of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra, described McIntyre's music as "very personal, and accessible to the listener."

"I have known and worked with him for 16 years, and his music is good on the ear and to the heart," Tuckwell said. "He's an exceptional musician and a talented timpanist who's still developing his musical language."

McIntyre wrote "Salute!" for Tuckwell's farewell from the Maryland Symphony Orchestra.

Olivia Gutoff, music director for Montgomery County Youth Orchestras Inc. and conductor of the senior youth orchestra, had a similar opinion. "Joe is a sensitive and excellent musician, " she said. "He writes idiomatically for instruments. He captures the best of each musical instrument in the orchestra."

Gutoff, who has known McIntyre for 15 years, commissioned him to write "Echoes for a Forgotten Dream" specifically for the MENC convention. "It's a very reflective piece of music," she said. "It starts out slowly and simply, and builds in energy and becomes more complex. The kids liked it from the very first day, which is very unusual for any piece these days."

McIntyre, 42, said he looks forward to hearing the piece performed for the first time. "I am honored that Olivia Gutoff and Montgomery County Senior Youth Orchestra has given me the opportunity to write this new piece and chosen to premiere it at the MENC national convention," he said. "For me, it is like a dream come true."