A 55 minute work for four vocal soloists, mixed choir and orchestra. Excerpts from four poems by seminal American poet Walt Whitman from his series Drum Taps, written during the Civil War, provide a changing view of war from a 19th century American perspective: from excited anticipation of a quick and heroic experience, to a somber reflection on the human cost of war. Interspersed amongst these are five poems by writers from other lands and other times- perhaps not coincidentally places where the US has been involved in wars: Vietnam, China, the Middle East and Europe. The vocal soloists for the piece are well-known Puget Sound area singers: Janeanne Houston, soprano, Melissa Plagemann, mezzo soprano, Stephen Rumph, tenor and Barry Johnson, baritone. The Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West and University Chorale will join the University Symphony Orchestra onstage, directed by Jeffrey Bell-Hanson. Gregory Youtz, Composer. PLU Choirs, Orchestra and Faculty Vocal Soloists. Mozart: Piano Concerto in C Minor, No. 24, Oksana Ezhokina, soloist. For a brief video on the premiere with comments by the composer and orchestra director, please visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9byvIsxJgqQ