Par GILL JOANNA. This work is a reflective setting of a popular blessing used regularly in both church services and within choral concerts. Scored for unaccompanied mixed choir, the four parts are often divided to create an eight-part texture. The main melodic interest is carried in the soprano line over a supporting line of six parts provided by the lower voices. Within this short setting a variety of beautiful shifting choral combinations are used: sopranos and tenors against altos and basses, sopranos against altos, tenors and basses and finally alto and tenor lines which lead into the concluding six-part texture ending on a radiant E major chord spread over three octaves. Within these voice combinations we hear a choral texture which spans just the interval of a perfect fifth to the concluding three octave final chord, creating a wide palette of choral sound in a short space of time. Joanna herself says the following about this work: I wrote “The Lord’s Blessing” in 2018. That year, I had been on tour to New York with the London Symphony Chorus and we got the privilege to spend a day with the Westminster Choir College. At the end of the day they sang a blessing over us and I thought it was such a beautiful moment. So as soon as I got home I wrote a short blessing that I imagined would be sung at the end of a concert as a blessing over the audience. I dedicate it to the LSC./ Répertoire / Choeur Mixte SATB a Cappella

from Chapel Music: five diverse songs for chorus and orchestra. Par SCHWANTNER JOSEPH. Chapel Music is a work of celebration to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Alice Millar Chapel and Religious Center at Northwestern University. The texts are drawn from a variety of religious and secular sources. The work opens with a processional, with the sopranos leading the chorus through the hall to the stage. A brass quintet is positioned offstage throughout the piece before rejoining the orchestra in the final movement. Singers perform various percussive roles, including the use of clapping, hand bells, tambourines and maracas./ Recueil / Choeur Mixte SATB a Cappella

Par ARTHUR GEORGE. A serene setting for choir which features a simple step like melody with a beautifully flowing solo soprano line above. The musical setting uses two lullaby-like rhythmical ostinatos which run right throughout the work to shape the musical line. The music covers a wide dynamic range in a short space of time rising gently only to fall back down until it fades into nothing. The work features a rich harmonic palette of sound throughout using a mixture of parallel tenths, block chords to choral clusters./ Répertoire / Choeur Mixte SATB a Cappella