(12 Dec 2013) VOICE-OVER SCRIPT:
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STEVEN SAMETZ HAS COMPOSED DOZENS OF PIECES, INCLUDING THIS ONE.
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THE LEHIGH UNIVERSITY MUSIC PROFESSOR IS NOW READY TO TAKE ON ONE OF HIS MOST PERSONAL WORKS YET � A MUSICAL RESPONSE TO LAST YEAR'S MASSACRE AT SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT. SAMETZ GREW UP ABOUT 20 MILES AWAY.
SOUNDBITE: Steven Sametz, composer:
"I know well what it was like to grow up in a small Connecticut town and in what should have been for all a really beautiful time of life."
SAMETZ RECENTLY WON A $25,000 PRIZE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT, BASED ON HIS IDEA THAT MUSIC CAN AID THE HEALING PROCESS. THE WORKING TITLE: "A CHILD'S REQUIEM."
SOUNDBITE: Steven Sametz, composer:
"So I'm on this journey now that I am looking to create a libretto using small children's words because I think that is the voice I am trying to capture, the peer group of those most affected at Sandy Hook."
HE'S SEEKING INSPIRATION FROM ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL KIDS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, ASKING THEM TO SUBMIT PICTURES AND WORDS THAT EXPRESS THEIR IDEAS ABOUT TRAGEDY AND LOSS.
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ONE OF THE FIRST SUBMISSIONS CAME FROM LITTLE JESSICA STONE IN PENNSLYVANIA PICTURING WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE.
SOUNDBITE: Jessica Stone, 7 years old:
"You go to a very happy place."
JESSICA'S MOM SAYS THE PICTURE GREW OUT OF A FAMILY DISCUSSION.
SOUNDBITE: Mary Stone, mother:
"That was kind of very sweet, coming out of the mouths of babes, talking about heaven and all the toys are there and there's no more pain."
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SAMETZ HOPES HIS REQUIEM FOR NEWTOWN'S DEAD WILL BE A SMALL COMFORT TO THOSE LEFT BEHIND.
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MICHAEL RUBINKAM, ASSOCIATED PRESS, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA
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