Accord premieres 'New England Song' in June (NYC)

Accord Treble Choir is back in action: the nine outstanding singers who premiered my setting of "To Soar in Freedom and in Fullness of Power" last year will soon premiere my newest piece, "New England Song," on June 8 and 15 in Manhattan and Brooklyn, NY in their program entitled Longing. 

Actually, the song is not that new. I wrote it in 2004—on the ukulele—in a fit of homesickness for the land of my birth. As I detail in my program note, I sang it only once in public, but have been singing it in my head ever since. When Accord director Liz Geisewite asked me if I'd like to contribute a piece to their Longing concert, I cast about for a while before realizing I'd already written just the thing. 

Of course, writing the arrangement for women's voices (SSAA a cappella) proved far more challenging than writing the original song. As with Mass for Freedom, I faced the challenge of making non-classical music  work for classical singers. I tapped into my love of Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) and incorporated some medieval stylings. And I realized after the fact that I had (completely unwittingly) written in a descending chromatic line which, in Renaissance music, was a widely-used expression of grief.

Thankfully, these talented ladies also have crossover power, and are giving "New England Song" plenty of the folk-pop vibe with which it was conceived. 

Read my program note and full lyrics here. 

By the way, Accord has a new album which includes their performance of my piece 'To Soar'! I'll give this its own post soon, but for now you can order a copy by e-mailing Accord. 

New Yorkers, hope you can make an upcoming show! 

June 8th, 2019, 7pm

St. Ignatius of Antioch Church

552 West End Ave

New York, NY


June 15th, 2019, 7pm

Old First Reformed Church

729 Carroll St.

Brooklyn, NY