Thursday, June 12, 2008

Composer Joseph Martin Inducted as National Patron

Choral Composer and pianist Joseph Martin was inducted as a National Patron of Delta Omicron on June 12, 2008 at his home in West Hills, Texas. International President Jonny Ramsey conducted the induction ceremony and was assisted by Nu Province President Jennifer Mizell of Arlington, Texas and Past National First Vice President Carol Anne Koehl of San Antonio, Texas. Also present at the induction were his wife Sue and children Jonathan and Aubrey and his longtime lyricist and friend J. Paul Williams. Following the ceremony and a tour of his home and composing studio, the induction party and the Martin family retired to a local restaurant for a luncheon in Mr. Martin’s honor.

Joseph Martin earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina and a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of Texas, Austin. While at Furman University, he was accompanist for choral director and composer Milburn Price, and, inspired by Price’s teaching, Martin began to compose.

Joseph Martin taught for five years in the Piano Pedagogy Department of the University of Texas. Joseph has performed solo piano recitals and has been the featured artist with symphony orchestras in the United States and Mexico. As winner of the Nina Plant Wideman Competition, he performed with the Guadalajara Symphony Orchestra. Though he continues to perform in concert, he now devotes his efforts to playing in churches and for conferences of church musicians.

His first solo piano recording American Tapestry was nominated for a Dove Award. This album, along with his other recordings (Songs of the Journey, Celtic Tapestry, and A Christmas Tapestry), has been enormously popular in the sacred and secular markets. He has recorded for Yamaha's Disklavier series and has composed hundreds of commissioned works.

Since his first choral publication in 1987, Joseph Martin has written and published over 1000 pieces. His choral anthems, cantatas, piano solo albums, and pedagogical materials have sold over 10 million copies worldwide making him one of the most published and performed composers of church music ever. Martin began his association with Shawnee Press in 1990 as a writer and now serves as Director of Sacred Music Publications and Mark Foster Music. His composition The Awakening has become standard repertoire for high school and college choirs having sold over 500,000 copies since its initial release. The composer of over twenty-five choral cantatas, Martin's writing has been embraced by churches the world-over. His composition Pieta was recently awarded a prize for excellence by the John Ness Beck Foundation.

Along with Mark Hayes and David Angerman, Joseph Martin has co-authored a fully graded, progressive piano method for the Christian student called Keys for the Kingdom. His major works include sixteen choral cantatas and Song of Wisdom, a choral tone poem based on the best-selling children's book Old Turtle.

His music can be heard in such diverse locations as Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Lawrence Welk Theatre in Branson, Missouri, and in hundreds of worship services in churches across the United States and Canada. Martin is currently working on his newest choral composition Covenants which will be published within the year.