String Orchestra | Kile Smith • composer

Jubilate Deo, for string orchestra

by Kile Smith | Jan 18, 2020 | new music, Orchestral Music, String Orchestra

Jubilate Deo, for string orchestra. 2020, 5’30”. Premiered 9 May 2020 by the strings of the Temple University Music Preparatory Division, Temple University Performing Arts Center, Aaron Picht conducting. This is a transcription for string orchestra of my...

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,...

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At a glance

1 Dec. Intrada, for Six Horns. World premiere. Curtis Institute of Music

1 Dec. Fleisher Discoveries: Chou Wen-chung and the Fallen Petals

5 Dec. “Jerusalem” from The Arc in the Sky. Advent Lessons and Carols, St. Mary’s, Richmond, VA, Ryan Tibbetts

5 Dec. Two Meditations on Freu dich sehr. Erik Meyer, Abington Presbyterian, Abington PA

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

8 Jan 2022. POSTPONED The Bremen Town Musicians. Salt Lake Symphony, Robert Baldwin

22 Jan. POSTPONED April Showers. Calliope’s Call, Marblehead, MA

22 Jan. The Stars Shine from The Consolation of Apollo. The LOTUS Project, Alicia Brozovich, Trenton, NJ

23 Jan. POSTPONED April Showers. Calliope’s Call, Boston

23 Jan. The Bremen Town Musicians. Philadelphia Sinfonia, Gary White. Kile Smith narrating

24 Jan. The Bremen Town Musicians. Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra (TX), Marcelo Bussiki

23 Apr. Variations on a Theme of Bartók. Milena Urban, piano, Community Music School 30th Anniversary, Trappe, PA

25 Mar. The Dawn’s Early Light. Louisiana State University Choir, Trey Davis

7 May. Jubilate Deo, for string orchestra. Temple University Prep Annual Concert, Aaron Picht, Temple Performing Arts Center

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.