Kile Smith

Composer

 

 

“There is no other music like this.”—Craig Hella Johnson

“Our jaws just dropped”

Joan Kimball, Co-Founder, Piffaro, the Renaissance Band

“One of our most important composers”

Craig Hella Johnson, Artistic Director, Conspirare

“He knows how to generate an emotional life out of a few tiny notes—and that’s the only thing that matters”

Donald Nally, Conductor, The Crossing

“Kile Smith is reshaping the choral repertoire”

Cincinnati Movers & Makers

“Sublimely ... ecstatically beautiful”

David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer

“At the top of his craft ... advancing the choral art form”

George Case, conductor

“Smith’s vocal writing is eerily beautiful”

Boston Classical Review

“There is no other music like this. Utterly unique.”

Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare

The Arc in the Sky: “maybe his best piece yet”

David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer

The Arc in the Sky: “Masterful ... exhilarating ... emotionally charged ... Smith has set a new standard for himself. Strongly recommended.”

Jonah Pearl, The Classic Review

The Arc in the Sky: “a masterpiece of emotional expressivity and spiritual revelation”

Michael Caruso, Chestnut Hill Local

The Arc in the Sky: “shimmering music that never quite goes where you think it will”

Jennifer Hambrick, WOSU Public Media

The Arc in the Sky: “a great explosion of energy ... rich and expansive ... real zest in both music and performance”

John Quinn, MusicWeb International

April Showers: “So incredibly beautiful ... such a joy to sing”

Simon Barrad, baritone

Canticle: “Achingly beautiful”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Canticle: “The writing for voices is exquisite ... contemplative, playful, devotional, exuberant, and sensual.”

Andrew Quint, The Absolute Sound

“His music attracts and inspires a broad spectrum of listeners — from serious classical musicians to lovers of blues, folk and jazz”

Craig Hella Johnson, Artistic Director, Conspirare

Vespers: “like no other music”

Miami Herald

Vespers: “a major new work”

American Record Guide

Vespers: “almost preternaturally beautiful”

Philadelphia City Paper

Vespers: “one of the finest concerts I’ve heard in at least the last decade”

Chestnut Hill Local

Vespers: “spectacular”

Gramophone

Vespers: “ecstatically beautiful ... a sanctuary ... the Magnificat contains a minor miracle”

Philadelphia Inquirer

Vespers: “altogether gorgeous and haunting”

Buffalo News

Vespers: “a magnificent achievement ... fresh, vibrant ... bursts with the invention that characterizes the best music”

Fanfare

Vespers: “a crime to pass up ... easily one of the best releases of the year of any type ... profoundly direct emotional appeal”

Audiophile Audition

Vespers: “worldwide buzz ... exceptionally beautiful ... sneaks up on you, like a velvety cocktail, and then you are hooked”

Philadelphia City Paper Top Ten Classical

Deo Gratias: “almost giddy ... richly gratifying ... recalls Hugo Distler, but with a lighter heart and a natural exuberance”

Choral Journal

“His voice is unlike any other”

Craig Hella Johnson, Artistic Director, Conspirare

The Consolation of Apollo: “Top Ten… a highlight of the year”

TheaterJones, Dallas

The Consolation of Apollo: “will inspire your singers and audience to new heights”

David Montoya, California Choral Directors Association

“The piece I personally found most compelling was Kile Smith’s ‘Yes, it’s beautiful’ from The Consolation of Apollo ... stunning”

South Carolina Music Guide

The Bremen Town Musicians: "fun...a spritely, high-spirited score by Kile Smith"

Fanfare

Reflection, for organ: “Six minutes of pure musical bliss that brought tears to this reviewer’s eyes”

The Diapason

Alleluia: “going to be a staple of the choral repertoire”

Craig Hella Johnson, Artistic Director, Conspirare

A Child’s Afternoon: “spontaneous sounds of delight from the audience ... every time. We are lucky to have this piece.”

Anna Meyer, flutist

A Child’s Afternoon: “a slow burn ... the same delighted reaction ... every time I perform this piece. The anticipation ... is palpable”

Anna Meyer, flutist

American Spirituals: “among the very best examples of that type of composition that I’ve ever heard, bar none”

John McLaughlin Williams, conductor, violinist

Where Flames a Word: “an important world premiere … feels completely right in spellbinding ways I never imagined”

Philadelphia Inquirer

“The Waking Sun is a hit”

Philadelphia Inquirer

“Immediate appeal due to his melodic gift ... not forced or artificial”

Fanfare

Fanfare on Ein feste Burg: “Smith’s bristling variations ... exploded into life”

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Red-tail and Hummingbird: “excellent … distant kinship to Monteverdi’s Orfeo overture … more rapid and dense”

Philadelphia Inquirer

A Song of Sonia Sanchez: “the most dramatic piece of the evening … a deafening performance, physically and emotionally”

Temple University News

A Song of Sonia Sanchez: “one of the most powerful pieces of the evening”

Latinoamérica, Philadelphia

Two Laudate Psalms: “natural, un-ostentatious simplicity ... near-invisible touches ... The God-is-in-the-details adage holds true”

Philadelphia Inquirer

Next

13 Mar. Nirakar, excerpts from the opera. Erica Schuller, Bella Voce. Woman’s Athletic Club Ballroom, Chicago
18 Mar. Susquehanna. Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra, Sheldon Bair, Bel Air, MD
25 Mar. The Bremen Town Musicians. New Saint Andrews College, David Erb, Moscow, ID
23 Apr. The Bremen Town Musicians. Benedictine College, Brian Casey, Rachel Dannar, Narrator, Atchison, KS
23 Apr. Narrator, Casey at the Bat (Randol Alan Bass), Delaware Valley Wind Symphony, Colleen Sweetsir, Holland, PA
PREMIERE 7 May. In the Midst of Life, text from Book of Common Prayer. William Ferris Chorale, Christopher Windle, Chicago
20 May. The Bremen Town Musicians. Salt Lake Symphony, Robert Baldwin
8 Jul. The Arc in the Sky. Reading Bach Choir, Daniel Mahoney, Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton, England
PREMIERE 23 Jul. Northland, poems by Claude McKay. Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Joshua Habermann

News

Grammy nominations
The Dawn’s Early Light. 2022 Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance, The Singing Guitar – Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare, Austin Guitar Quartet, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Texas Guitar Quartet, Douglas Harvey, Estelí Gomez — Chicago Tribune Top 10 Classical Album, 2020 — WRTI Best of 2020 Album — Apple Music Featured New Album — Qobuz Grand Selection
The Arc in the Sky. 2020 Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance, The Crossing, Donald Nally
Canticle. Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble, Craig Hella Johnson, helped win 2020 Classical Producer of the Year Grammy for Blanton Alspaugh

Commissions, performances (Complete Calendar here)

Nirakar. Opera for soprano, mezzo, chorus. Two scenes, Erica Schuller, Bella Voce, Andrew Lewis, Chicago, 11 Mar 2023
In the Midst of Life, text from Book of Common Prayer. William Ferris Chorale, Christopher Windle, Chicago, 7 May 2023
Northland, poems by Claude McKay. Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Joshua Habermann, 23 Jul 2023
The Book of Job. Opera for bass-baritone and chorus. Co-commission, Conspirare, The Crossing, 2023/24 season
New Work. Chor Leoni, Erick Lichte, Vancouver, Canada, 2024
New Work. The Choristers with orchestra, David Spitko, Bucks County PA, 2025
Alleluia. SATB, 7′. Italy tour with Serenades Choral, David Hayes, Paulo Faustini, Jul 2022
The Arc in the Sky. SATB, 66′. Riga Project Choir, Christopher Walsh Sinka, Latvia, Oct 2022 • Reading Bach Choir, Daniel Mahoney, England, 8 Jul 2023
April Showers. Calliope’s Call, Marblehead 1 Oct, Boston 2 Oct 2022
Ave Maris Stella. SSATTB, 7, instr. Piffaro, the Renaissance Band with Variant 6, Oct 2021, Philadelphia. “Audience spellbound”—Broad Street Review. “Endlessly inventive … dramatic … three-dimensional gestures”—David Patrick Stearns
Canticle. SATB, 3 cellos, perc, 66′. West Coast premiere, Choral Arts Initiative, Brandon Elliott, 21 May 2023
Christmas and Magic. Premiere, duet version. Evangelia Leontis, soprano, Megan Roth, mezzo-soprano, Julia Carey, piano, Calliope’s Call, Boston, 2 Dec 2022.
Christmas and Magic. Premiere, “band” version, Calesta Day, David Nobles, the DePue Brothers Band, St. Cecilia School, Fox Chase, Philadelphia, 14 Dec 2022
The Consolation of Apollo. SATB, perc, 35′. New England Conservatory, Jordan Hall, Erica Washburn, 17 Nov 2022 • The Lotus Project, Alicia Brozovich, NJ State Museum Planetarium, Trenton, 3 Dec 2022, 28 Jan 2023
The Dawn’s Early Light. SATB, Cello, Four Guitars, 19′. Modern Notebook, Tyler Kline, WUSF, Tampa FL, 3 Jul
Go Forth into the World in Peace. 4’30”. Knox Church, Cincinnati, Earl Rivers, 11 Sep 2022
In the Midst of Life. SATB, 15′. William Ferris Chorale, Christopher Windle, Chicago, 7 May 2023
Jubilate Deo, for chamber orchestra. Premiere. Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra, Sheldon Bair, Bel Air MD, 22 Oct 2022.
Jubilate Deo, for string orchestra. Premiere. Temple University Prep Annual Concert, Aaron Picht, Philadelphia, 17 Dec 2022
Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow. SATB, orchestra, 4′. Kennedy Center, Dec 2021, Choral Arts Society of Washington, D.C., Scott Tucker
Sometimes It Happens So. Baritone, piano, 17′. Five-song cycle, the estate of poet Jane Flanders
There’s a Land Beyond the River. 3’30”. Blue Line String Quartet, Holy Trinity Lutheran, Abington PA, 27 Jul 2022 • Doris Hall-Gulati, clarinet, and string quartet, Wayne (PA) Presbyterian, 18 Sep 2022
Thirty Variations on a Theme of Bartók. Piano, 35′. Milena Urban, piano, 30th Anniversary commission by Community Music School, Trappe PA, 23 Apr 2022
Where the Mind Is Without Fear. SATB, 4’30”. University of New Mexico Concert Choir, David Edmonds, 22 Apr 2022

New Publications
Alleluia. SATB. Hal Leonard
The Bremen Town Musicians, for narrator & orchestra; for narrator & for violin, cello. MusicSpoke
Everyone Sang. SATB. MusicSpoke
Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow. SATB, piano. Hal Leonard
The Star-Spangled Banner. SATB, piano, opt cello. Hal Leonard
There’s a Land Beyond the River. clarinet/piano, violin/piano, viola/piano, string quartet. MusicSpoke
Soon to be released: The Arc in the Sky (complete) and from it, Jerusalem as a separate octavo, from ECS Publishing

Recordings
The Bremen Town Musicians, for orchestra. On the CD Fiddles, Forests, and Fowl Fables with Gemma Whelan, narrator, Kenneth Woods, conductor

About

Kile Smith’s critically-acclaimed music has received three Grammy nominations and is hailed nationally and internationally for its strong voice, sheer beauty, and “profoundly direct emotional appeal.” He’s been commissioned by The Crossing, Conspirare, Piffaro, Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Chor Leoni, Helena Symphony, Choral Arts Society of Washington, Lyric Fest, Westminster Choir College, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Newburyport Chamber Music Festival, the Pennsylvania and iSing Girlchoirs, Choral Arts Washington, Choral Arts Philadelphia, Gaudete Brass, and many others. Kile’s first opera, The Book of Job, co-commissioned by The Crossing and Conspirare, premieres in Philadelphia and Austin in the 2023/24 season.

The Singing Guitar (Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson) including Kile’s The Dawn’s Early Light with the L.A. Guitar Quartet and cellist Douglas Harvey, received a 2022 Grammy nomination for Best Choral Performance. The English Symphony Orchestra released The Bremen Town Musicians with Gemma Whelan, narrator, on CD. The Philadelphia Orchestra featured Bremen in their “Our City, Your Orchestra” chamber music series. Ave Maris Stella was commissioned and premiered by Piffaro, the Renaissance Band in 2021 with Variant 6. Ricardo Morales premiered 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 CD by Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble helped win the 2020 Classical Producer of the Year Grammy for Blanton Alspaugh. Hal Leonard publishes Alleluia, Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow, The Star-Spangled Banner, and I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. Kile’s Where Flames a Word helped Voces Musicales win the 2020 Estonian Recording of the Year.

Major choral works are heard in New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Canada, England, and New Zealand. Gramophone called Vespers “spectacular” and Audiophile Audition, “easily one of the best releases of the year of any type… a crime to pass up.” Westminster Choir sang The Consolation of Apollo in 2022, continuing its run of over 50 performances. Ten CDs with his music have been released since 2018. Kile has also been performed by Seraphic Fire, The 24, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Sofia Philharmonic, the Grand Rapids and Delaware symphonies, Orchestra 2001, and Network for New Music. [Photo Credit: A. J. Waltz]

Longer bio here …

Featured Video

Where the Mind Is Without Fear. SATB, 4’30”. Text by Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), from Gitanjali (Song Offerings), No. 35 (1912). Commissioned by the University of New Mexico Concert Choir, Dr. David Edmonds, Conductor. Premiered by them 22 Apr 2022.