String Orchestra | Kile Smith • composer

American Romantics 2: Bird, Chadwick, and Foote

by Kile Smith | Apr 30, 2018 | American music, Classical music, Fleisher Collection, String Orchestra, WRTI

We keep one composer and swap out two from last month’s American Romantics program on Discoveries from the Fleisher Collection. The two new composers are two Arthurs—Bird and Foote—and we’ll hear music they first wrote for other purposes. Arthur Foote’s Theme and...

The Strange Genius of the Adagio for Strings

by Kile Smith | Nov 2, 2015 | Classical music, Orchestral Music, String Orchestra, String Quartet, WRTI Arts Desk

[First published in WRTI’s Arts Desk 2 Nov 2015] Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings didn’t start out the way we know it now. In this feature for WRTI, I look at the inescapable strangeness of this work that is now one of the most heard and most moving pieces in the...

The Red Book of Montserrat premieres at Kimmel

by Kile Smith | May 17, 2013 | Dance Music, Early Music, New Compositions, new music, Orchestral Music, String Orchestra

I could hardly have been happier at the premiere of The Red Book of Montserrat last night at the Perelman Theater in the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia. This newest string orchestra work is a 20-minute suite commissioned by the Philadelphia Sinfonia, Gary White, music...

Thrilling to hear Three Dances in its new version for strings

by Kile Smith | May 13, 2013 | new music, Orchestral Music, String Orchestra

On Saturday, May 11th, Aaron Picht conducted the Temple University Music Preparatory Division Youth Chamber Orchestra in the premiere of the new version of my Three Dances. It was the closing concert of the Festival of Young Musicians, held at the Church of the Holy...

Premiere of new Three Dances

by Kile Smith | May 11, 2013 | new music, Orchestral Music, String Orchestra

I’m looking forward to the premiere of the new version of my Three Dances tonight. Aaron Picht conducts the Temple University Music Preparatory Division Youth Chamber Orchestra at the Festival of Young Musicians, Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square,...

The Red Book of Montserrat

by Kile Smith | May 5, 2013 | Dance Music, Early Music, New Compositions, new music, Orchestral Music, String Orchestra

The Red Book of Montserrat is a suite for string orchestra commissioned by the Philadelphia Sinfonia, the excellent youth orchestra Gary White directs. It sets five of the ten songs from the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, the 14th-century book of music and texts from...

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19 Aug. “When the stars begin to fall” from American Spirituals, Book Two. David Bennett, cello. Sixth Presbyterian, Pittsburgh

16 Sep. “Conversation in the Mountains” from Where Flames a Word. The Crossing, Philadelphia Fringe Festival

19 Sep. “Conversation in the Mountains” from Where Flames a Word. The Crossing, Park Avenue Armory, NYC

20 Sep. “Conversation in the Mountains” from Where Flames a Word. The Crossing, Park Avenue Armory, NYC

11–13 Oct. The Consolation of Apollo. Red Shift, Trey Davis, cond. College Music Society Conference, Vancouver

13 Oct. The Stars Shine from The Consolation of Apollo. Auckland Youth Choir

20 Oct. The Stars Shine from The Consolation of Apollo. Choral Arts Society of Washington, two performances

3 Nov. my son my son. Khorikos. Shrine Church of Saint Anthony of Padua, 154 Sullivan Street, New York City.

Dec. The Consolation of Apollo. Red Shift, Trey Davis, cond. Baton Rouge

7 Dec. The Consolation of Apollo. Ars Nova Singers, Thomas Edward Morgan, cond. St. John’s Episcopal Church, Boulder

9 Dec. The Consolation of Apollo. Ars Nova Singers. St. Paul Community of Faith, Denver

13 Dec. The Consolation of Apollo. Ars Nova Singers. St. John’s Episcopal Church, Boulder

15 Dec. The Consolation of Apollo. Ars Nova Singers. First Congregational Church, Longmont

20 Jan 2019. New commissioned work. Arcadian Trio. Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pa., 3:00

20 Jan 2019. The Consolation of Apollo. Charlotte Symphony Chamber Choir, Davidson, NC

27 Jan 2019. New commissioned work. Arcadian Trio. First Presbyterian Church, Moorestown, N.J.

12 Feb 2019. The Consolation of Apollo. Charlotte Symphony Chamber Choir

10 Apr 2019. New commissioned work. Arcadian Trio. Penn State Abington, 7:30