Kile Smith
Composer“His voice is unlike any other”—Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare
“sublimely … ecstatically beautiful”—David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer
News
Canticle and Alleluia
2020 Grammy, Classical Producer of the Year, Blanton Alspaugh
The Arc in the Sky
2020 Grammy Nomination, Best Choral Performance, The Crossing, Donald Nally
The Consolation of Apollo
More than 50 performances
Where Flames a Word
2020 Estonian Recording of the Year, Black Birch in Winter
Alleluia
Published by Hal Leonard, 2020
The Dawn’s Early Light
Premiered by Conspirare, L.A. Guitar Quartet. CD release 2020. Text by Sarah Winnemucca and Francis Scott Key.
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. A Birch in Winter, which includes Kile’s Where Flames a Word, won the 2020 Estonian Recording of the Year for Voces Musicales (now Voces Tallinn). 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…
SIX NEW CDs • The Dawn’s Early Light to release 2020 by Conspirare with the L.A. Guitar Quartet. The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati released Canticle and Alleluia and helped win the 2020 Classical Producer of the Year Grammy for Blanton Alspaugh. The Crossing and Donald Nally with The Arc in the Sky nominated for the 2020 Grammy Best Choral Performance, which they commissioned and premiered 2018. Where Flames a Word, In This Blue Room, Canticle, The Arc in the Sky … more here…
PERFORMANCES • After The Crossing brought out the CD and brought down the house at the 2019 Chorus America national conference in Philadelphia, The Arc in the Sky moved 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, And Good in Every Thing, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day … more here…
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… (Photo credit: A. J. Waltz)
Performances, events
2 Jan. Fleisher Discoveries podcast. Louis Gesensway, Four Squares of Philadelphia
6 Jan. Alleluia published by Hal Leonard in the Craig Hella Johnson Choral Series
12 Jan. The Arc in the Sky. Vocal Arts Ensemble Cincinnati, Craig Hella Johnson
17 Jan. American Spirituals, Book Two. WRTI broadcast, Kevin Gordon, 4:15
19 Jan. A Child’s Afternoon. Anna Meyer, fl, Erik Meyer, org, St. Paul’s Lutheran, Glenside, PA, 3:00
26 Jan. Canticle, Vocal Arts Ensemble, Craig Hella Johnson, produced by 2020 GRAMMY Classical Producer of the Year, Blanton Alspaugh
26 Jan. A Birch in Winter CD with Where Flames a Word, Voces Tallinn, David Puderbaugh, 2020 Estonian Recording of the Year
1 Feb. Interview on Brad Lacey’s The Great Message, WPHT 1210 AM Philadelphia, 5 AM
3 Feb. Fleisher Discoveries podcast. William Grant Still, Darker America, Danzas de Panama
23 Feb. A Child’s Afternoon. Anna Meyer, flute, Erik Meyer, organ, Deerfield Presbyterian, Deerfield, NJ, 4:00
3 Mar 2020. In This Blue Room. Lauren McAllister, mezzo, Ben Flanders, baritone. Cincinnati
16 Mar. “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” from Vespers. “Listen Adventurously,” Alan Muirhead, WORT-FM, Madison, WI
4 Apr. “She Sees She Dresses Her Subjects” and “Reading Others” from In This Blue Room. Molly Biddle, mezzo-soprano. Haverford College, 7:00
25 Apr 2020. The Consolation of Apollo. Westminster Williamson Voices, James Jordan. Cathedral Basilica, Philadelphia
24 May 2020. The Consolation of Apollo. Portland State Chamber Choir, Ethan Sperry
12 Jun 2020. The Arc in the Sky. et al., Kevin Neel, Boston
14 Jun 2020. The Arc in the Sky. et al., Kevin Neel, Boston
11–18 Jul 2020. The Consolation of Apollo. Portland State Chamber Choir, Ethan Sperry. 12th World Symposium on Choral Music, Auckland, New Zealand
Feb. Vespers. Virginia Chorale, Piffaro
