by Kile Smith | Jan 1, 2026 | new music, Uncategorized
“Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather,” Jesus said, and a big, slow wheel of them circled over my 2025. This time last year my health was draining away. Lyme disease, we thought, or hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s, so the...
by Kile Smith | Dec 15, 2025 | Choral music, new music
Donald Nally reminded me a few days ago that The Crossing and I have been collaborating for 17 years. Ever since Piffaro, The Renaissance Band put us together for Vespers, we’ve plowed this field o’music together. I’m astonished at, and gratified by...
by Kile Smith | Nov 10, 2025 | Anthem, Choral music, church music, new music, Spirituality
There’s a Land Beyond the River. SATB, piano, 3′, 2021. Traditional gospel text, new music. The long, involved, and (to me) interesting history behind this work is here. Here’s the text: There’s a land beyond the river That we call the sweet forever,...
by Kile Smith | Nov 7, 2025 | Choral music, Christmas song, church music, hymn, new music
Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Christopher Jackson, 8 Dec 2024, First Presbyterian Church, Bethlehem, PA Score video Jesus, Call Thou Me. SATB (opt. descant) hymn, 2′, 2024. Commissioned by the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Christopher Jackson, Artistic Director and...
by Kile Smith | Nov 5, 2025 | Choral music, new music
The Gift to Sing (James Weldon Johnson). SATB, piano, 4’30”. Commissioned by Dolce Canto, David Edmonds, Missoula, MT, for their 25th Anniversary. Premiered 25 Apr 2026, St. Ignatius Mission Church, and 26 Apr 2026, St. Francis Xavier Church, Missoula, MT. The...
by Kile Smith | Oct 11, 2025 | Choral music, new music
Let All the Strains of Joy (Tagore). 2025, SATB, 6′. Premiered 18 Oct 2025 by The Crossing, Donald Nally, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and 19 Oct, First Presbyterian Church, Germantown, Philadelphia. Available at MusicSpoke. Joy, the...
