World Premiere of "It's a Long Way" by Dr. Ryan Murphy

Directed by our guest conductor and composer, Dr. Ryan Murphy, at the Viewmont High School Inaugural Symphony Chorus Concert, April 23, 2024.
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"It’s a Long Way" was commissioned by the Viewmont High School Performing Arts Department for the inaugural performance of the Viewmont Symphony Chorus, a collaborative ensemble consisting of students from Viewmont High School orchestra, choirs, and bands.
The text is representative of the students that perform this work as they are preparing or ready to launch and pursue their dreams. The music outlines a voyage at sea and musically demonstrates the swelling sea, rolling tide, and distant horizon.
Text by William Stanley Braithwaite:
It’s a long way the sea-winds blow
Over the sea-plains blue-
But longer far has my heart to go
Before its dreams come true.
It’s work we must, and love we must,
And do the best we may,
And take the hope of dreams in trust
To keep us day by day.
It’s a long way the sea-winds blow-
But somewhere lies a shore-
Thus down the tide of Time shall flow
My dreams forevermore.