String Quartet | Kile Smith • composer

Looking for the ‘Harp’ Quartet

by Kile Smith | Apr 20, 2011 | Classical music, String Quartet

I didn’t see it, and only read about it later from pundits, but I empathized with Sarah Palin when she apparently booted a question from Katie Couric a couple of years ago. She was asked to name a book she was reading, I believe, and hemmed and hawed in place...

Newburyport summer preview

by Kile Smith | Jan 26, 2011 | new music, String Quartet, Vocal music

I will be the composer-in-residence in the lovely environs of Newburyport, Massachusetts August 13-20, 2011. David Yang, Artistic Director of the Festival, has assembled, as always, a stellar cast of musicians, and they’ll perform a new piece of mine for...

Kronos Quartet

by Kile Smith | Mar 1, 2010 | CD Reviews, My CD Reviews, new music, String Quartet

My latest CD mini-review for the WRTI E-newsletter. You can read all my CD reviews here. Kronos Quartet: 25 Years various composers Nonesuch It’s been twelve years since this was released, but as we pull further away from the 20th century, we may consider just what...

The Best of All Possible Worlds

by Kile Smith | Mar 24, 2009 | Classical music, Music Composition, New Compositions, String Quartet

The sufferings of the world and the desperation of a hopeless love conspire to drag Candide from naïve optimism to resigned skepticism, yet, even in the face of Voltaire’s ridicule he clings to the belief that this is, in fact, the best of all possible worlds. That...

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News

UK PREMIERE The Arc in the Sky. Reading Bach Choir, Daniel Mahoney, Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton, England

16 Jul. There’s a Land Beyond the River. Eric Anderson, euphonium, Rae Ann Anderson, organ. St. Paul’s Lutheran, Glenside PA

20 Jul. Where the Mind Is Without Fear. withonevoice, Brian J. Winnie, Western Illinois University, Macomb IL

21 Jul. Where the Mind Is Without Fear. withonevoice, Brian J. Winnie, Fourth Presbyterian, Chicago

PREMIERE 23 Jul. Northland. Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Joshua Habermann, Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Premiere

25 Jul. Jubilate Deo, for string orchestra. Elizabethtown College Music Camp, Sheldon Bair

29 Jul. Northland. Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Joshua Habermann, Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

4 Aug. Northland. Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Joshua Habermann, Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

22 Aug. Jubilate Deo, for string orchestra. Abington Festival Strings, Abington Presbyterian, Abington PA

15 Sep. “Conversation in the Mountains” from Where Flames a Word released as a single, Choral Arts Initiative, Brandon Elliott

PREMIERE 23 Sep. “Veni Sancte Spiritus” and “How Fair the Bright and Morning Star” (Wie schön leuchtet) from Vespers. New versions with organ. Transept, Timothy Campbell, Cathedral of St. Joseph, Sioux Falls, SD

25 Sep. Talk and presentation on Northland. Southampton Square Club, Masonic Village at Warminster, PA

3 Oct. Jerusalem from The Arc in the Sky. Utah Valley University Chamber Choir, Reed Criddle, UVU Norda Center, Orem, UT

7 Oct. Jerusalem from The Arc in the Sky. Utah Valley University Chamber Choir, Reed Criddle, Utah All-State Choir Concert, Mormon Tabernacle, Salt Lake City

PREMIERE 14 Oct. Sometimes It Happens So. Benjamin Flanders, baritone, Sonya Szabo Reynolds, piano. ChamberPalooza, Cincinnati Art Museum

16 Oct. Jubilate Deo, for string orchestra. Armstrong High School (MN), Kevin Martin

28 Oct. “Why did they all shout” from The Arc in the Sky. University of Michigan Chorale, Sandra Snow, East Lansing, MI

9 Nov. There’s a Land Beyond the River. Megan Carroll, flute, Graeme Burgan piano. Trinity Orthodox Presbyterian, Hatboro, PA

13 Nov. Jubilate Deo, for string orchestra. Robbinsdale Area All-District Festival, Kevin Martin, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis

3 Dec. Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow. Blue Ridge Singers, Jeffrey Alban, First Baptist, Winchester VA

8 Dec. Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow. Blue Ridge Singers, Jeffrey Alban, Front Royal Presbyterian, Front Royal VA

19 Dec. Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow. Blue Ridge Singers, Jeffrey Alban, Trinity Episcopal, Upperville, VA

21 Dec. “How Fair the Bright and Morning Star” (Wie schön leuchtet) from Vespers. New version for SATB, organ. Transept, Timothy Campbell, Cathedral of St. Joseph, Sioux Falls, SD

21 Dec. Red-tail and Hummingbird. Blair Bollinger, Curtis Institute Brass, Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Chicago

PREMIERE 10, 11 May 2024. Wireless. Chor Leoni, Erick Lichte

27 Jun 2024. TBD. The Crossing, Donald Nally, Month of Moderns 2, Awbury Arboretum, Germantown, Philadelphia

Recent CDs

The Bremen Town Musicians. English Symphony Orchestra, Gemma Whelan, narrator, Kenneth Woods, conductor. Fiddles, Forests, and Fowl Fables.

The Arc in the Sky. The Crossing. 2020 Grammy nomination, Best Choral Performance

Canticle and Alleluia. Vocal Arts Ensemble. 2020 Grammy, Classical Producer of the Year, Blanton Alspaugh

In This Blue Room, other songs. Lyric Fest

A Child’s Afternoon. Fantasmagoria. Anna K. Meyer, flute, & Erik Meyer, organ

The Nobility of Women. Mélomanie

The Stars Shine, from The Consolation of Apollo. The Same Stream

Vespers. Piffaro, the Renaissance Band, and The Crossing

Where Flames a Word. The Crossing

Where Flames a Word. Voces Tallinn. 2020 Estonian Recording of the Year

Where Flames a Word. Khorikos

Where Flames a Word. Chicago Chamber Choir

Selected publications

The Star-Spangled Banner. SATB, piano, opt. cello, 5’30”. Hal Leonard

Alleluia. SATB, 6′. Hal Leonard

The Consolation of Apollo. SATB, perc, 35′. MusicSpoke

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day. SATB, bells, 3′. Hal Leonard

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. SATB, org, 3′. Concordia.