Forgotten Plague is composer David Conley's first feature length film score. It is scored for full chorus, piano, synthesizer, acoustic-electric guitar, cello, violin, viola, and double bass. The choir features singers from the world-renowned Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. The album begins with ‘A Glimpse of Tomorrow’. Heavy, tortured chords are struck repeatedly, followed by unrelenting delays in the guitar. They are the unheard cries of the victims of CFS, their monotonous, inevitable defeats. When the last, dissonant chord rings, a faint melody can be heard on the piano, the main theme of the film, symbolizing the struggle to live, to rise, but to inevitably fall; the struggle of victims with ME/CFS. The dark, thick, uncommon soundscape reveals to the listener the gravity of 'Forgotten Plague' in ‘The Journey to Walden’. The melody returns, low in the cello, representing Ryan Prior’s initiative to fight for ME/CFS. The theme of relentlessness can be heard in the unchanging arpeggios in the piano, a common thematic device used throughout the soundtrack. The gravity and weight is stripped away in ‘Before I was Sick’. A piano and cello communicate together to create a state of suffered, emptiness, a fleeting cry for help. ‘Whitney’ is dedicated to Whitney Davis and the entire Davis family. Whitney Davis is a sufferer of ME/CFS, and has been bed-ridden for months. This is the first time the listener is introduced to the choir. The choir seemingly appears out of thin air, skillfully singing lilting, lamenting melodies that symbolize the desperate, hushed cries of the victims ME/CFS, paired with cascading melodies in the cello and piano, representing the desperate pleading of the victims family. The choir is led by a moving cello solo performed by Kathleen Crawford. 'Over Waters and Horizons' was written by David and his close friend, violist Melissa Loga. An acoustic guitar & piano accompanies Loga’s viola which sings soaring, hopeful melodies, alternating with otherworldly echo and delay effects to cultivate a joy-filled, peaceful sound world unfamiliar to the audience. A drone enters in ‘A not too distant memory’ as well as a sparse, improvisatory piano which represents the memory of when life was once good, no matter how faint that memory may seem now. The piano part slowly envelopes into thick, passionate chords, the developing of the memory, the yearning for it. This is followed by a dramatic downward spiral into ‘Up is a Long Way Down’, which utilizes several synthesizers to create electronic avant-garde effects to symbolize the dark, twisted history of ME/CFS, after minutes of dissonant, panning sounds and improvisatory piano, it suddenly releases into a deep, much needed calm. The brooding weight of the documentary is revealed in ‘A Counter Friction to Stop the Machine’ which after a pulsating, foreboding piano/synthesizer duet a lifted and spirited sound world is achieved, symbolizing the scientific efforts to help stop ME/CFS around the globe. ‘Find Your Eternity’ represents the slow but certain rise of hope, the gathering of all the sufferers that are working together now more than ever to find a cure for this grievous disease. They choir sings with unrelenting power and precision, crafting passionate choral soundscapes embodying the community of ME/CFS victims and more importantly embodying their voices. Their now collective voice though once quiet, is louder and more powerful than ever in history, which the choir gloriously epitomizes in an unforgettable finale. The choir is accompanied by piano, synthesizer and two cellos, performed by Athens, GA musicians Esther Tonea and Henry Adams. The relentlessly descending motif that has plagued the documentary finally ascends in the voices and cellos, epitomizing the eventual end to this fight to the eventual defeat of ME/CFS. In ‘Yet Still She Wept’, the relentless churning of the piano arpeggios return along with the main theme of the documentary played by a cello. Together they remind us that this fight isn’t over, that ME/CFS still plagues its victims world wide, and with that knowledge we have the duty and responsibility to ensure that those victims are never again forgotten. Film Synopsis: Ryan Prior’s life imploded October 22, 2006 when he was struck down by a disease that dozens of doctors were powerless to diagnose, let alone treat. Against great odds, he becomes a reporter and ventures to tell the story of his suffering and improbable recovery. He is shocked that millions globally remain sidelined by the same disease, many bedridden for decades. Forgotten Plague is a journey into the hidden world of myalgic encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome). It is a chilling tale of our medical system’s failures in addressing many chronic, complex diseases. Yet it is also a riveting story of science’s remarkable ability to transform medicine and improve human life itself. Album Credits: Westminster Choir College Singers Music by: David Conley Conductor: David Conley Score recordist: David Conley Score Recordist: Eric Roeper Score Recordist: Jonathan Adams Sound engineer: Eric Roeper Mixing and Mastering: David Conley Westminster Choir College Singers: Eric Roeper Tiffany Ho Betsy Kowal Temple Hammon Kanisha Feliciano Lauren Michelle Lazarri David Lawn Aimee Raucher Matthew Van Dyke Taylor Halpern Sami Goldberg Mercedes Chan Dominic Lam Sachi Aoki Will Doreza Matthew Coules Hunter Thomas Lawerence Jay Besch Emily Sung Tyler Cesario Zachary Beeksma Mark Loria Joel Michalchuk Justin Langford Emily Johnston Marissa Curcio Katherine Caughlin Moira Gannon Instrumentalists: Melissa Loga, viola Henry Adams, cello Kathleen Crawford, cello Esther Tonea, cello Special thanks to Westminster Choir College. About the Composer: David Conley is a composer, conductor and singer based in Princeton, NJ. He is the composer for The Blue Ribbon Foundation's upcoming documentary 'Forgotten Plague', releasing worldwide in the fall of 2015. He is currently scoring the music for the upcoming documentary 'Set Them Free', releasing in 2017. He is currently working on an untitled television sitcom and an upcoming short film. He has written commissioned works for Choir and is a frequent arranger for collegiate a capella groups. David is an avid songwriter and producer. He has performed with a with a vast variety of bands and musicians, and has written music for ensembles across several genres from rock to classical to funk to electronic dance. He has mixed and mastered recordings of local rock bands, singers, and instrumentalists. He mixed and mastered recordings of the award-winning Westminster Choir, Westminster Kantorei, and the Westminster Summer Choral Festival Chamber Choir, to name a few. He was responsible for recording, mixing, mastering, and performing the soundtrack of the 'Forgotten Plague'. He has performed several roles in operas including Trouble in Tahiti, Gianni Schicchi, Hotel Casablanca, Carmen, Les Contes D'Hoffman, and several others. In 2010, David performed in the European debut of Mark Adamo's Little Women in Brugge, Belgium. He is a regular wedding, funeral, and event singer. David has performed with several world-renowned choirs including The Hodgson Singers, the 2014 grand prize winners of the Ave Verum International Choral Competition in Boden, Austria. From 2014-2015 he was a section leader of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and while a section leader he performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of Westminster Kantorei, a 2014 finalist for The American Prize in Choral Music. He is currently the graduate assistant of the Westminster Choir, the premiere ensemble of Westminster Choir College and the professional choir-in-residence at Spoleto Festival USA. The ensemble has been hailed by the New York Times as "remarkable for its precision, unanimity, and power." David was the graduate assistant of the 2015 Westminster Summer Choral Festival, and is the conductor at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Princeton, New Jersey. David received his Bachelor's Degree in Vocal Performance from The University of Georgia and is currently pursuing his Master's Degree in Choral Conducting at Westminster Choir College. © David Conley 2015. All Rights Reserved.