This setting of the traditional “Hail Mary” prayer takes a new approach, employing a lullaby rhythm in F minor. The voices become a haunting plea for forgiveness and intercession. The piano accompaniment provides support for the singers while still maintaining its own voice.
Composer’s Note: “The Red Wheelbarrow,” an innovative environmental/imagist poem I first read as a teenager, struck me as an alluring and joyful means to immerse in a commission by Austin’s Inversion Ensemble for their Planet Home project. The score blossomed during a fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a pastoral setting that […]
“Shenandoah” is a new, rich arrangement for women’s voices. The piano accompaniment is optional but does provide support and some additional harmonies. Your women’s choir or trio will find “Shenandoah” to be well worth the effort. This piece is an excellent concert choice and would also be very appropriate for contests, festivals, and literary events.
This is a straightforward setting for choir and organ/keyboard of an Appalachian carol found by John Jacob Niles (1892-1980). Niles was an American composer, singer, and collector of traditional ballads. He discovered this carol in Mayfield, Kentucky in 1933. Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s, […]
This popular spiritual has been arranged for SATB and piano duet (4 hands, one piano). Uplifting AND fun to sing, with a very exciting accompaniment. There are multiple optional, short solos. A great time will be had by all!
In this fresh, sparkling take on a beloved hymn tune, a perpetual motion accompaniment drives a whirlwind celebration of beauty in the world around us and our ability to perceive it.
“Prelude and Cherubic Hymn” was commissioned by the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin, to mark the 25th anniversary of their annual Advent services held in Berlin Cathedral. It was performed by joint choirs, drawn from students, parents and faculty, and choir members of the American Church in Berlin on 29 November 2017. The piece […]
The cumulative rhyme, “The House that Jack Built” follows a series of connected objects, animals, and people, from the titular house through to an unrelated “farmer sowing his corn.” This setting features a light, skipping melody that slows down periodically to linger on the developing romance between the “maiden all forlorn” and the “man all […]
