new works & voicings
SA, TB, or SATB Chorus with piano or harp & piano
7' | Graphite | Text: Julie Kane
"Who will teach me to play / those strings that ring like bells / but cut like knives?"
The Sallow Harp recounts a lost history: the old Irish harp tradition of playing brass- or silver-stringed instruments. Kane's poem explores the relevance of old traditions to today, even as she mourns music lost to time.
SSA or SATB Chorus with string quartet and flute
18' | Graphite | Text: Diane Thiel
The two poems of Charting the World, both written by contemporary poet Diane Thiel, share a common theme: the wonder of watching a child acquire a new language. In “The First Sea,” language opens new worlds to children, unfolding fears and dreams alike. In “Counting Two,” it’s an adult perspective that shifts as a child learns to count to two. In both poems, we travel to different worlds.
SATB Chorus, Baritone Soloist & Piano, or
SATB Chorus, Baritone Soloist & String Quartet
12' | Graphite | Text: Brendan Constantine
In Brendan Constantine’s text for The Opposites Game, a teacher asks their students to name the opposite of each word in a line of poetry by Emily Dickinson: “My life had stood a loaded gun.” When the students arrive at the last word, they confront what may be an unanswerable question: What is the opposite of a gun?
SSA or TTB Chorus & Piano | 6.5' | Graphite | Text: Dale Trumbore
"Teach me how to swallow a fate defined by the absence of you."
For the Daughter I May Never Have contemplates whether or not to have a child in a piece that is by turns funny, poignant, and heartfelt.
SSAA or SATB Chorus | 3' | Boosey & Hawkes | Text: Stacy Gnall
Newly available for SATB Chorus, Flare is constantly in motion, a rhythmic race "through trees with bursting limbs" that drives toward the last line: “big brother, I am catching up to you.” This piece was commissioned by the 32 choruses of the ACDA Women's Commission Consortium.
