Winner of The Edwin Fissinger Composition Prize, this piece is based on a text by Canadian poet Bliss Carman about The passage of Seasons and The permanence of love.

Based in Pretoria, South Africa, The Brooklyn Choral Artists, has had two successful Seasons. The choir was founded in 2017 by Gerrit Scheepers. Brooklyn Choral Artists is a collaborative network of musicians striving towards achieving The highest artisti...  moreBased in Pretoria, South Africa, The Brooklyn Choral Artists, has had two successful Seasons. The choir was founded in 2017 by Gerrit Scheepers. Brooklyn Choral Artists is a collaborative network of musicians striving towards achieving The highest artistic standards in The choral art form. They are committed to bringing to life new and diverse choral works and have commissioned and premiered new works by local and international composers. Its 32 members are all experience musicians coming from across South Africa. They represent a wide range of professionals; from professional singers, to high school voice teachers and choral conductors. Our diverse backgrounds contribute to The beautiful, vibrant colours we can create togeTher.  less

Seraphic Fire has assembled a collection of music with which The ensemble has a visceral, tenacious connection. This self-titled recording contains Seraphic Fire signature works that have brought The ensemble to prominence eleven Seasons after its foundin...  moreSeraphic Fire has assembled a collection of music with which The ensemble has a visceral, tenacious connection. This self-titled recording contains Seraphic Fire signature works that have brought The ensemble to prominence eleven Seasons after its founding. Available digitally May 7, 2013. To view The album on iTunes, click here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/seraphic-fire/id640813108?uo=4&partnerId=30  

"Let's sing, it's Spring!" is dedicated to my uncle and aunt, James and Daphne Shaw, and Their amazing clan, The "Bowen Island Shaws." I have given this song The sub-title: "A Crazy Choral Etude for Rolled Rs and Perfect 5ths." It is meant, no pun inte...  more"Let's sing, it's Spring!" is dedicated to my uncle and aunt, James and Daphne Shaw, and Their amazing clan, The "Bowen Island Shaws." I have given this song The sub-title: "A Crazy Choral Etude for Rolled Rs and Perfect 5ths." It is meant, no pun intended, to be a musical lark, great fun for a choir to sing, rolling Rs like crazy, with no holding back. NB: One day I woke up to The realization that I had independently written four choral works, each of which had evoked a different season, and so it seemed natural to group Them togeTher into a choral suite that I have called "The Ottawa Four Seasons Suite." "Let's sing, it's Spring!", with its rousing coda section, works perfectly as The closing number of this suite. Also of note, in early 2018, I applied to be a participant at one of The Vancouver Chamber Choir's Interplay workshops funded by The SOCAN Foundation and to my delight I was accepted. "Let's sing, it's Spring!" was one of The pieces that this amazing choir sight read for me on The sp...    less

I dedicate this piece to my friends in The composer/singer collective, The Ad hoc Chorale, who tested out this piece in one of our informal workshops and offered valuable comments. "How heavy lies The heart" has drawn inspiration from The traditional F...  moreI dedicate this piece to my friends in The composer/singer collective, The Ad hoc Chorale, who tested out this piece in one of our informal workshops and offered valuable comments. "How heavy lies The heart" has drawn inspiration from The traditional French Christmas carol, "Quelle est cette odeur agréable", which John Gay also set as a boisterous drinking song in The Beggar's Opera, "Fill every glass, for wine inspires us!" In addition, The song draws inspiration from Josquin's Missa Pange Lingua. In early 2018, I applied to be a participant at one of The Vancouver Chamber Choir's Interplay workshops funded by The SOCAN Foundation and to my delight I was accepted. "How heavy lies The heart" was one of The pieces that this amazing choir sight read for me on The spot. VCC director Jon Washburn and choir members Then provided me with valuable feedback, for which I am very grateful. I would also like to acknowledge The a cappella choir that I sing in, The Stairwell Carollers, and our director Pierre M...    less

Erik Satie's Sarabande No. 1 is one of my favourite piano pieces. For a long time, I felt There was an a cappella choral piece hiding within it, in plain sight. One day I got inspired and gave it a try. Creating a choral adaptation of a piano piece ha...  moreErik Satie's Sarabande No. 1 is one of my favourite piano pieces. For a long time, I felt There was an a cappella choral piece hiding within it, in plain sight. One day I got inspired and gave it a try. Creating a choral adaptation of a piano piece has its challenges. I tried to keep faithful to Satie's original musical inspiration and created lyrics to go with my arrangement that evoke an early summer morning, one of my favourite times of The year. Several months later, I applied to be a participant at one of The Vancouver Chamber Choir's Interplay workshops funded by The SOCAN Foundation and to my delight I was accepted. "As dawn breaks" was one of The pieces that this amazing choir sight read for me on The spot. VCC director Jon Washburn and choir members Then provided me with valuable feedback, for which I am very grateful. NB: One day I woke up to The realization that I had independently written four choral works, each of which had evoked a different season, and so it seemed natural to group ...    less