The Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, with soprano Yende, performed “Amazing Grace.” The performance is receiving praise from all corners of the world, and the stunning rendition of “Amazing Grace” was arranged by a lifelong resident of the Dayton area.
Tim Berens, who lives just south of Bellbrook, is a veteran of the orchestral pops world with more than 35 years conducting and arranging professionally. He’s also played more than a thousand gigs in the Dayton area — at bars, clubs and theaters.
He began his career as a guitarist and banjoist for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra in 1983, and has been arranging for the CPO since the 1990s. His arrangements were soon on the radar of other ears; commissions from conductors and orchestras across the country started flooding in.
His works are performed hundreds of times per year around the world, as well as in acclaimed venues like Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. His arrangements have been heard on every continent but Africa and Antarctica. Until they form the Antarctica Philharmonic Orchestra, Berens quips, he doesn’t expect to get any performances in the South Pole.
He has currently written 350 arrangements.
Credit: Matthew Zory
Credit: Matthew Zory
Berens, along with his wife and business partner Louise, the orchestral copyist for the arrangements, founded the Berens Pops Library to publish and license out Tim’s compositions.
On the Monday before Thanksgiving, an order came in for “Amazing Grace” from the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra. It was several days later they found out it was being played at the reopening of Notre-Dame.
“We just kind of jumped for joy at that,” Berens said. “I can’t think of a higher profile classical music concert in history. There might have been one, but I can’t think of it. I know that every classical musician on the planet wanted to be a part of this show. Just from the list of stars who did it — Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma — it’s quite a thrill to even have my name in the end credits with that list of musicians.”
For Berens, the biggest thrill of all was having his piece be conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, who is widely considered to be the finest living conductor. Dudamel was only 26 when he became the music director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Adding in Pretty Yende’s operatic pipes, the performance of “Amazing Grace” has garnered international praise.
The arc of the composition starts quietly, builds but never reaches a climax. There’s a powerful point about two-thirds of the way in, which then gradually fades until the ending chord. The emotional impact is gentle, but pries the listener open. The orchestra swells into a bed for Yende’s vocals in the final, intimate moments: “Grace will lead me home.”
The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Neal Gittleman, with Dayton soprano Minnita Daniel-Cox premiered the Berens’ arrangement of “Amazing Grace” in 2022.
“Arranging is a very strange profession in that it’s absolutely essential for an orchestra to function properly,” Berens said, “And nobody knows what the heck it is.”
The musicians know, orchestra management knows and the people who inherently think about music know. Berens explains it like architecture: most will admire the beauty of a building, not the fact that somebody designed it.
“If you do your job correctly, they just think about the story,” Berens said. “And if I do my job as an arranger right, people don’t think about the arrangement. They think about music that they just heard. And that’s what’s so satisfying about this. That people just are moved by this gorgeous music, and don’t even need to understand the role I played.”
The Berens Pops Library currently has rentals out to 21 different orchestras, which will perform the works over Christmas.
Last February, the Berens’ edition of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” was played at Carnegie Hall to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the composition. They also recently received an order for the same piece, which will soon be performed in Hong Kong.
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