Kile Smith
Composer“There is no other music like this.”—Craig Hella Johnson
News
The Dawn’s Early Light
The Singing Guitar, 2022 GRAMMY nomination for Best Choral Performance. Thanks to Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, LAGQ, Douglas Harvey, Texas Guitar Quartet, Austin Guitar Quartet, Estelí Gomez, Delos Music, Andreas Meyer, Nico Muhly, Reena Esmail. The Dawn’s Early Light, text by 19th-c. Native American Sarah Winnemucca.
Intrada, for Six Horns
Fanfare commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music for the Curtis Horn Studio, directed by Jennifer Montone and Jeffrey Lang, premiere 1 Dec 2021
Ave Maris Stella
Kile’s new setting of this renowned 8th-century hymn, commissioned by Piffaro, the Renaissance Band, premiered October 2021 with Variant 6. “Held the audience spellbound”—Broad Street Review. “Endlessly inventive … dramatic … three-dimensional gestures”—David Patrick Stearns
The Bremen Town Musicians,
for orchestra
CD: English Symphony Orchestra, narrator Gemma Whelan, conductor Kenneth Woods. 2022 concerts: Salt Lake City Symphony, Philadelphia Sinfonia. Original violin, cello, narrator version on the Philadelphia Orchestra chamber series. Performances Brazos Valley Sym Orch, Philadelphia Sinfonia
Variations on a Theme of Bartók,
for piano (2022)
30 variations for the 30th Anniversary of the Community Music School, Collegeville, PA, commissioned for the formidable pianist Milena Urban, premiere 23 Apr 2022.
New Work for Santa Fe Desert Chorale (2023)
Acclaimed professional chorus Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Joshua Habermann, Artistic Director, selects Kile as their 2023 commissioned composer.
There’s a Land Beyond the River
Clarinet and piano premiere as an encore by Ricardo Morales, 2021. Available for violin/piano, viola/piano, mandolin/strings, flute/organ, and solo violin settings.
New Work for Chor Leoni (2024)
Major new work for internationally known Chor Leoni Men’s Choir of Vancouver, Canada, with the new 9-voice ensemble of all-star soloists, the Leonids, led by Erick Lichte, Spring of 2024.
The Star-Spangled Banner
Hal Leonard octavo of this new, original, and moving setting of the words of the national anthem, for SATB, piano, and opt. cello, 5’30”. The fifth movement of The Dawn’s Early Light.
The Arc in the Sky
2020 GRAMMY Nomination, Best Choral Performance, The Crossing, Donald Nally. “Maybe his best piece yet”—Philadelphia Inquirer.
Alleluia
SATB, 6′. Published by Hal Leonard. Recorded by the Vocal Arts Ensemble, Cincinnati, Craig Hella Johnson. Premiered by Philadelphia’s Central High School Choir.
The Consolation of Apollo
SATB, bass drum, crotales, 35′. Boethius, and the Apollo 8 astronauts seeing the Earth rising over the moon for the first time. More than 50 performances.
At a glance
2 Oct. “There are not many songs” from The Arc in the Sky. Piedmont Singers, VA, Helena von Rueden
3 Oct. “There are not many songs” from The Arc in the Sky. Piedmont Singers, VA, Helena von Rueden
8 Oct. Ave Maris Stella. Premiere. Piffaro, Variant 6. Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral
9 Oct. Ave Maris Stella. Premieres. Piffaro, Variant 6. Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
10 Oct. Ave Maris Stella. Premieres. Piffaro, Variant 6. Immanuel Church Highlands, Wilmington, DE
14 Oct. A Child’s Afternoon. Anna Meyer, fl, Erik Meyer, org, First & Central Presbyterian, Wilmington, DE
17 Oct. “There are not many songs” from The Arc in the Sky. Piedmont Singers, VA, Helena von Rueden
24 Oct. The Dawn’s Early Light, excerpts. Fresno City College Singers, Julie Reyes Dana, Fresno State Choral Festival
4 Nov. Online conference with Fresno City College Singers, Julie Reyes Dana on upcoming performance of The Dawn’s Early Light
14 Nov. Holy Mountain. Grace First Presbyterian Church, Long Beach, CA, Stan DeWitt
17 Nov. The Dawn’s Early Light. Fresno City College Singers, Julie Reyes Dana
1 Dec. Intrada, for Six Horns. World premiere. Curtis Institute of Music
10 Dec. Rise Up Shepherd, and Follow. Pittsburgh Camerata, Mark A. Anderson, Pittsburgh, PA
12 Dec. Rise Up Shepherd, and Follow. Pittsburgh Camerata, Mark A. Anderson, Shadyside Presbyterian, Pittsburgh, PA
17 Dec. Now Ys the Tyme of Crystymas and Alleluia. PhilHarmonia, Mitos Andaya Hart, German Society of PA, Philadelphia
18 Dec. Rise up, Shepherd, and Follow and I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Wisconsin Chamber Choir, Robert Gehrenbeck, Luther Memorial Church, Madison, WI
20 Dec. Rise Up Shepherd, and Follow, with orchestra. Premiere. Choral Arts Society of Washington, Scott Tucker. Lincoln Center, Washington, DC
24 Dec. Rise Up Shepherd, and Follow, with orchestra. Choral Arts Society of Washington, Scott Tucker. Lincoln Center, Washington, DC
Featured Video
April Showers. Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson, artistic director: soprano Stefanie Moore, mezzo-soprano Laura Mercado-Wright, tenor Dann Coakwell, baritone Simon Barrad, Austin Haller, piano, Thomas Burritt, drums, and Utah Hamrick, bass. Premiered 11 June 2021. Video starts at 27:49.
About
photo credit: A. J. Waltz
The music of Grammy-nominated composer Kile Smith is hailed internationally by critics, performers, and audiences for its strong voice, sheer beauty, and “profoundly direct emotional appeal.” Gramophone called the “sparkling beauty” of Vespers “spectacular.” The Philadelphia Inquirer called it “ecstatically beautiful,” American Record Guide, “a major new work,” Audiophile Audition, “easily one of the best releases of the year of any type… a crime to pass up” … more here…
The English Symphony Orchestra releases The Bremen Town Musicians with Gemma Whelan, narrator. Ricardo Morales premieres There’s a Land Beyond the River, for clarinet and piano. The Arc in the Sky with The Crossing received a 2020 Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance, and the Canticle / Alleluia CD by Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble helped win the 2020 Classical Producer of the Year Grammy for Blanton Alspaugh. Hal Leonard publishes The Star-Spangled Banner, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, and Alleluia. A Birch in Winter, which includes Kile’s Where Flames a Word, won the 2020 Estonian Recording of the Year for Voces Musicales. The Dawn’s Early Light, Ave Maris Stella, The Book of Job, The Arc in the Sky, Where Flames a Word, The Consolation of Apollo, Vespers, Conspirare, the L.A. Guitar Quartet, Piffaro, Variant 6, iSing Girlchoir, Choral Arts Society of Washington … more here…
TEN NEW CDs • With The Arc in the Sky, The Crossing and Donald Nally were nominated for the 2020 Grammy Best Choral Performance. Canticle and Alleluia with the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati helped win the 2020 Classical Producer of the Year Grammy for Blanton Alspaugh. The Dawn’s Early Light was released 2020 by Conspirare with the L.A. Guitar Quartet and cellist Douglas Harvey. Where Flames a Word, In This Blue Room, Canticle, The Arc in the Sky … more here…
RECENT PERFORMANCES • 2021 saw The Bremen Town Musicians on the Philadelphia Orchestra Our City, Your Orchestra series and at Mt. Gretna with violinist Juliette Kang, cellist Priscilla Lee, and narrator Charlotte Blake Alston. The English Symphony Orchestra released a video of the orchestral version of Bremen in 2021 with Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones) as narrator. The Arc in the Sky moved from The Crossing’s Philadelphia premiere and CD to London with the Cantus Ensemble, New York with the Ghostlight Chorus, Cincinnati with the Vocal Arts Ensemble, and the Northwestern University Chorale. The Consolation of Apollo, Where Flames a Word, Spirituals for Piano Trio … more here…
RECENT PUBLICATIONS • Of the Father’s Love Begotten for choir, organ, and brass premiered at Westminster Choir College and is published by GIA. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and Alleluia published by Hal Leonard. MusicSpoke … more here…
SELECTED COMMISSIONS • American Guild of Organists, Philadelphia Chapter • Association of Anglican Musicians • Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church • Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston • Choral Arts Society, Philadelphia • Choral Arts Society, Washington, DC • Chor Leoni • Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia • Community Music School, Trappe PA • Conspirare • The Crossing • Jane Flanders Estate • Gaudete Brass • Greenville University • Helena Symphony • iSing Girlchoir • Jupiter Symphony • Khorikos • Knox Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati • Latin Fiesta • Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra • Louisiana State University • Lyric Fest • Mélomanie • Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia • Network for New Music • Newburyport Chamber Music Festival • Orchestra 2001 • Pennsylvania Girlchoir • Piffaro, The Renaissance Band • Presbyterian Church of Barrington, Ill. • Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill , Philadelphia • Relâche • Santa Fe Desert Chorale • Singing City • St. Joseph’s University • Southeastern Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra • Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra • University of New Mexico • Ursinus College • Vocal Arts Ensemble, Cincinnati • Westminster Choir College
