Patricia M. Long is often described as a Neo-Romantic composer, but her music sometimes defies classification, when several works contain elements of smooth jazz or a sudden surprise touch of David Gilmore/Pink Floyd-style electric guitar.
Indeed, her music bridges the classical and the contemporary. However, she is neither intimidated nor impressed by the discordant, clashing sounds that parade today as experimental, or avant-garde, music, and she looks forward to a time in which the enduring and truly great music of this era will emerge.
In the meantime, in contrast to many other modern-day composers, she writes tuneful, melodic lines that soar among tasteful harmonic structures. She is known and respected for creating serious, thought-provoking concert music that is accessible to general audiences and friendly to the human ear.
Patricia’s music education began at age 5 with piano studies that she continued through her junior year at Baylor University. Her formal education in music literature, theory, and history was completed at Baylor University and The University of Texas at Austin.
In composition and orchestration, however, she is self-taught and has studied extensively the written scores and recorded music of major composers from all periods. Many of her own compositions, particularly her choral works, have been performed in both the United States and Europe.
Her best-loved works include four symphonies, two masses set in English, Latin, and Greek, and two orchestral suites (one for piano, orchestra, and special percussion and another composed especially for young children.)
Among these works are short pieces for piano and numerous songs in several genres (secular, sacred, and folk). A multi-talented artist, she has also self-published a novel and two small volumes of poetry and short stories.
Patricia’s discography includes a commercially available CD of her Mass in E-Flat “Millennium,” the original version of which was recorded in 1998 with the renowned Texas Boys Choir, Laudate, and the Westlake Chamber Ensemble.
This plenary mass, in its final form with expanded orchestration and a new Credo movement, was successfully premiered in 2010 under the baton of Dr. Barry Scott Williamson, conducting an 80-voice choir and an orchestra made up of members of the Austin Symphony and the Austin Lyric Opera.
Maestro Williamson plans to premiere several of Long’s new works in spring of 2024, including her poignant Symphony No. 4, dedicated to the frontline medical teams of the COVID-19 pandemic, and her delightful, interactive Suite for Young Children.