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 17 Dec 2022 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

16 Feb. The Dawn’s Early Light. Charlotte Master Chorale, Kenney Potter, First UMC Charlotte NC

19 Feb. There’s a Land Beyond the River. Grace Presbyterian Long Beach CA, Stan DeWitt

22 Feb. Monstra te essem matrem (SSA, harp) from Ave Maris Stella. iSing Girlchoir, Jennah Delp, ACDA National Conference, Cincinnati

5 Mar. Canticle. Choral Arts Initiative, Brandon Elliott. West Coast premiere.

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

25 Mar. The Bremen Town Musicians. Harford Youth Orchestra, Brian Folus, Sheldon Bair, narrator, Bel Air, MD

28 Mar. The Three Graces. Oliver Talukder, oboe, Martina Adams, horn, Yoonsoo Yeo, cello, Marguerite Cox, double bass, Michelle Cann, piano, Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia

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

5 May. In the Midst of Life. William Ferris Chorale, Chicago, Christopher Windle. Premiere. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Chicago, 7:30

7 May. In the Midst of Life. William Ferris Chorale, Chicago, Christopher Windle. Premiere. Wicker Park Lutheran, Chicago, 3:30

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

23 Jul. Northland. Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Joshua Habermann. Premiere

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.