Seattle jazz composer and saxophonist Steve Griggs won a Longfellow Chorus Award of Distinction in the 2010 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition. The award winning composition set the poem “Moonlight” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for solo tenor voice and piano. Charles Kaufmann, Director of the Longfellow Chorus states, “Moonlight is a highly original Longfellow setting that matches our wish to present differing styles of composition. The choice of text and combination with this particular style of textural setting are unique.” The piece may be performed at the Longfellow Birthday Concert, February 27 and 28, in Portland, Maine.
Steve Griggs composed seven new works for his Bumbershoot 2009 performance, was featured as a soloist on the 2009 Bungie/Microsoft video game Halo 3: ODST, set poems of Seattle sculptor James Washington for gospel soloist, and is arranging the works of Heitor Villa-Lobos for jazz chamber ensemble.