Composer Patrick Beckman teamed with Daniel Smith, poet and dairy farmer, to create a new work, Song of the Earth, which depicts an image of life in our daily world. Beckman's musical setting of the poetry reflects the rich diversity of American music as we enter the new millennium. Elements of gospel, jazz, and rhythm & blues, sung by an ensemble of three hundred voices, combine with the antecedents of European musical heritage to create a uniquely American voice.