SSS+SATB a cappella 6 min duration Wanderlied is the third movement from my five movement work “Barren Cabin, Tin Roof” written for the Elmer Iseler Singers (Lydia Adams). The EIS premiered the work in April, 2023. This a cappella version was arranged for Chroma Vocal Ensemble (Mitchell Pady) with funding from the Ontario Arts Council 2024 Text by Marjorie Pickthall [in public domain] O, would I had a swallow’s wings, for then I’d fly and find it; O, would I had a swallow’s heart, for then I’d love to roam! With an orchard on the hillside and an old, old man to mind it, O, there I’d lift my lo ..read more

SATB with Piano 4 min Commissioned by Columbus Academy, Ryan Jenkins Text by Raymond Knister Publisher: TBD, score available Sept. 2024 Wind’s Way – Raymond Knister I shall sing with the whoop of the wind When the strong wind comes playing, And tall corn twists and clover shakes And white-leaved trees are crying For the way of the wind with city smoke It’s dark care spun into sky With white, bent sails on a rising bay, And rapturous swallows shot by, For its way with field-scent, voices, road-dust, Girl’s hair on my cheek to sting, With manes of running pasture horses: For wind’s way with my h ..read more

Written for Lydia Adams and the Elmer Iseler Singers Mixed Chorus, Piano, Flute, Clarinet, and Violin 5 movements, duration total aprx. 30 mins Email me for score and performance material Texts by Marjorie Pickthall, in public domain. The Complete Poems of Marjorie Pickthall. MCCLELLAND & STEWART: TORONTO (1936) I. “Ebb Tide” Out of the winds’ and the waves’ riot, Out of the loud foam,
 He has put in to a great quiet
 And still home. Here he may lie at ease and wonder
 Why the old ship waits,
 And hark for the surge and the strong thunder Of the full Straits, And look for the fishing fleet ..read more

SATB and Alto Saxophone 3 min duration Text by James Joyce Commissioned by The Choral Scholars ofUniversity College Dublin Desmond Earley, Artistic Director please email me for score information and availability “My Soul, Arise” utilizes an ABA form, where the B section temporarily transports the listener to a dream-like state; the music here features a duet between Alto Saxophone and Soprano, while the remaining voices blur into the background as if we are either half- awake or half-asleep. The Alto Saxophone gesture throughout the work uses a variety of motivic ideas from short fragmentary u ..read more

(S)SA and Piano [two part voices with option descent, accompanied] 3 min duration text by Leslie Grant Scott, adapted by the composer Commissioned for the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir in celebration oftheir 50th Anniversary, with support from 3 Rivers Federal Credit Union Not for sale until Fall 2023 “I Have Heard the Music There” for two part treble voices, optional descant, with piano is a lyrical work that utilizes a reoccurring motif which grows and varies. The developing variation- like use of this theme speaks to the image or notion of growth; the growth of a tree, of a person, or a choi ..read more

SAB and Piano S(S)A and Piano T(B)B and Piano, this version commissioned by Newman Sound Men’s Choir, premiered Nov 2022. 4 min duration text by Marjorie Pickthall (public domain worldwide) Email me for score purchase ($2 per member in the ensemble) A note on voicing: this composition is flexible, for equal voiced groups, it works in a 2 part, or 2 part with optional third; it also works well as a SAB for mixed groups, this work is very accessible both the piano and vocal lines. Text: excerpt from “Brading” by Marjorie Pickthall [in public domain] Here, where the legions parted; Here, where th ..read more

SATB and Piano Accessible, 3 min 30 s duration Published by SBMP The Gift to Sing”, the inaugural piece in the Jamie Hillman Choral Series, is a setting of the poem of the same name by revered African American poet and civil rights leader James Weldon Johnson. Matthew Emery’s (b. 1991) unique ability to tell a story through song is perfectly coupled with Johnson’s hopeful and inspiring words on the power of singing to overcome grief, strife, and adversity. The work utilizes a somewhat varied strophic form, though phrases are slightly varied and developed. Different textures are created so tha ..read more

SSA a cappella 2 min duration Text by Rabindranath Tagore Commissioned by the Chorus Niagara Children’s Choir. Amanda Nelli, director This work consists of phrases which are woven together which allow for moments of intermingling and blossoming. The phrases grow larger and longer which reflects the ever changing landscape of what it means to live during Covid-19. The short phrases are winding, and use a lydian pitch collection to further suggest both stability and instability. The work uses canonic imitation to repeat gestures and fragments therein, there is also a juxtaposition of moving and ..read more

SSA a cappella 2 min duration Text by Rabindranath Tagore Commissioned by the Chorus Niagara Children’s Choir. Amanda Nelli, director The opening is densely woven, with lines weaving and clashing, these intermingling gestures slowly become clearer, gradually fading away into uncluttered statements; a metaphor for the poem, and for life in general during the pandemic. The main gesture of the work has a range of a 5th to accommodate all ranges of singers and tessitura. The theme is treated canonically at various points of intervals allowing for moments of togetherness, flourishing and tension. D ..read more

SATB A cappella Text by Carl Sandburg [excerpt, PD in Canada] 3 min [please email for score/review score] Commissioned by Dr. Jennifer Lang for the University of Saskatchewan’s University and Community Chorus Text is an excerpt of a poem by Carl Sandburg, and freely adapted by the composer. The original poem is in the public domain. text: “People singing; people with song mouths connecting with song hearts; people who must sing or die; people whose song hearts break if there is no song mouth; these are my people.” This composition is inspired by the idea that what joins us in our humanity is o ..read more