The Pioneer Valley Symphony, here conducted by its music director Paul Phillips, has given the premieres of four works by Zeke Hecker: "Landscapes," "Icebreaker," "Elijah Variations," and "Symphony #1" The composer is principal oboist (third row from rear, second from right).*

Dan Farina (trumpet), Jean Jeffries (horn), and Ben Smar (trombone) gave the premiere of the Trio for brass instruments.

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Emily Baehr, soprano, and Christina Haan, piano, gave the premiere of "At Wren House," five songs to poems of Alicia Hokanson, in Cincinnati in January 2011. In 1987 Miss Baehr sang the premiere of a previous Hokanson/Hecker cycle, "Crosscut."

Soprano Judith Milardo (left) and clarinetist Gwen Winkel take a bow after performing "Tzu Yeh" and "Songs to Poems of e.e. cummings" in Hartford, Connecticut. Originally written for soprano and oboe, the songs were transcribed for clarinet for this performance.

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The Variable Winds (left to right: Kimi Hasegawa, Zeke Hecker, Jean Jeffries, Diane Lipartito, Karen Bressett) performing "Quotidian" for woodwind quintet.

Zeke Hecker and George Soulos rehearsing Hecker's 2009 Sonata for Oboe and Piano, a work dedicated to Soulos.

Kristen Carmichael-Bowers singing the premiere of “Property” with Ken Olsson conducting the Guilford Festival Orchestra, September 2, 2012

Rebecca Hartka and Gregory Hayes, who gave the premiere of the Sonata for Cello and Piano in September 2012.

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"The Forest" in its premiere performances at the Amato Opera, with a cast of adults and children directed by Irene Frydel Kim. Sets by John Kim, costumes by Rineke Akkerhuis.

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Poster for "Double Exposure" by James Brisson

Ann contemplates her childhood photograph, and the mysteries of time and self, in "Double Exposure"

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The Graduate Student (Christine Voytko) seduces the Poet (John Iverson) in "Bemused."

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The Muses as Frat Boys in the Poet's English class

The Muses as Reporters interview the new U.S. Poet Laureate.

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Tony Grobe as the indignant Operagoer, Louise Krieger as the haughty Helene, and Tim Levesque caught in the middle as the lift operator Felix in the revival of "The Lift"

Tony Grobe as the Watchmaker in "The Lift"

Love scene from the original production of "The Lift," with Louise Krieger and Kario Pereira-Bailey

Poster for the original production of "The Lift" by James Brisson

Cindy Ritter as Barb, Jessica Gelter as Lisa,
and Michael Duffin as Jack, a complicated
love triangle in "Now and Then"

Jerry Noble, Lisa Woods, and Teri LaFleur,
who commissioned and premiered the miniature musical comedy "United" here at
the Memorial Hall Museum, Old Deerfield,
Massachusetts, July 2014.

Pianist Inesa Sinkevych and cellist Rebecca
Hartka commissioned Four Portraits for Cello
and Piano and premiered them in a series of
three performances, the third here at Columbia
University, June 2015.

Martin (Michael Duffin) shows off his elegant house to Laura (PJ Cooke) in “Not For Profit,” for which elegant Bass Hall at the Monadnock Center for History and Culture in Peterborough, New Hampshire, served as the perfect venue.

The Wistaria Quartet -- Wayne Smith (cello), Delores Thayer (viola), Kaila Graef (violin), and Sarah Briggs (violin) -- gave the premiere of String Quartet #2 at the Tuesday Morning Music Club in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Rebecca Hartka and Inesa Sinkevych performing “Four Portraits” (2015)

Premiere of Symphony #5, Bennington Vermont, May 2016, Michael Finckel conducting the Sage City Symphony.

Soprano Adriana Ruiz at Florida International University, May 2017, singing “The Magi” and “Leda and the Swan” from “Three Yeats Songs.”

The Windham Orchestra Brass Quintet in Wilmington, Vermont, September 2018.

Alex Liu, clarinetist, plays “Passing Fancies” with the composer conducting Collegium Lawrenceville, the Lawrenceville School, New Jersey, April 2018.

Tom Gregg and Yi-Ling Lin performing “That Same Light,” Boston Conservatory, November 2019.

Two productions of “Profile” — the first in Westminster West, Vermont, November 2018, with Kathryn Tolbert and Adrienne Major.

The second production of “Profile” — Belfast, Maine, March 2019, by the Belfast Maskers, with Carlton Smith and Maggie Machaiek.

Amy Cann and John Iverson (in one of his five roles) in “Move” — Guilford, Vermont, November 2019.