•Sherr's Inspirational Summer Aaron Copland. Irving Fine. Laurence Sherr. The inscribed wooden plaques hang in neat rows in Kirby Cottage at the prestigious Macdowell Artist Colony in New Hampshire. When KSU Composer-in-Residence Dr. Laurence Sherr was selected to add his name to these hallowed ranks, he actually was in a bit of quandary—his summer was already jam-packed with creative opportunities. First, thanks to a grant awarded him by the KSU School of Graduate Studies, he traveled to Florida State University to work with flutist Christina Guenther on a work she commissioned after performing on Sherr's "Dhammapada Verses" at Florida State's Festival of New Music. Then, Sherr was scheduled to go to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, where he had been awarded another residency fellowship. However, Dr. Sherr is not one to let an opportunity like the MacDowell residency slip past just because the schedule is a bit arduous. Instead, he traveled from Florida to New Hampshire to Virginia with very brief stops in Atlanta in between. "I just had time to unpack and re-pack," he says. "In fact, I didn't even call anyone while I was home." But the tight schedule proved to be very rewarding, productive and relaxing. According to Sherr, the Macdowell Colony allows artists to focus on their work. Each painter, musician, composer or writer, is provided a private studio in the woods well removed from everyone else. In the mornings, Sherr would have breakfast with the other resident artists and then walk a mile to his studio. A lunch basket was delivered discreetly on his doorstep. Then, he would walk back to the main house for dinner. In the evenings, one or another resident would present a work or host an open studio. But, if the creative inspiration was really flowing, Sherr could stay at his cottage studio all night, sleeping on the bed provided for him there. Sherr says he usually worked ten to twelve hours a day without interruption. Although he occasionally worked on the piano Copland had played before him, Sherr usually connected his electronic keyboard to his computer and continued working on Guenther's piece. He also engaged in a long-distance collaboration with baritone Daniel Gale on "Fugitive Footsteps," a choral composition which Sherr will premiere with Gale singing the baritone solo at the Kristallnacht Commemoration Concert on Nov. 5 at The Temple in Atlanta. "I would send my work to Gale, who is a Jewish Cantor, and he would e-mail me notes for revision," Sherr says. "This collaboration was crucial for this work because I want it to have a cantorial flavor without being too liturgical." At the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sherr continued working on both of these compositions. "Being able to go to Florida and work one-on-one with the artist who will premiere that piece in Spring 2003 was invaluable," Sherr says, with special recognition to Graduate Dean Teresa Joyce for giving him that opportunity. "Then, to be able to continue working in these wonderful artist colonies truly was a terrific experience. There were no distractions, just me and the music." Undoubtedly, Sherr's already extensive catalog of works will continue to grow and future composers will one day be as inspired to see his name on the wall of Kirby Cottage as Sherr was to see Copland's.