A Scattered Light in Winter

SKU: GI.G-1118

A year ago, Westminster Williamson Voices joined a consortium called “The Scattered Light Consortium” along with Jo-Michael Scheibe at USC (the USC Thornton Chamber Singers) and Jamie Glasgow (The Glasgow School of Art Choir). I was attracted to the concept not only because of the composers who are dear friends, but because the pieces were set to poems by one of America’s greatest poets, Dana Gioia. When the two works arrived from composer Sarah Rimkus and Thomas LaVoy, I had, as they say, “the wind knocked out of me.” While both poems could be interpreted using a broader life perspective, they spoke to me and the choir in ways that were immediately deep and profound. Both poems provide light and hope to all of us who are living through this change at Westminster into something unknown. And then, shortly after this recording was completed, the pandemic struck and we were in isolation from our music-making family. We were thankful that we were able to complete this recording.   All of the music on the CD reflects our hope for the future as we climb a crooked ladder leading to, hopefully, a brighter new time for our beloved college, and our lives beyond the pandemic. Our desire is to see a glimmer of light behind what seems a very closed door. This CD offers music for personal reflection, with the hope that these sounds can provide for each of us “scattered” new light.   CONTENTS: In the Bleak Midwinter, Steve Pilkington • Kit Smart's Carol, Gerald Custer • Improvisation on Coventry Carol, Sam Scheibe, Christian Koller, Guillermo Passarin, Alex Tomlinson • Solitude, James Whitbourn • The Stars Now Rearrange Themselves, Thomas LaVoy • The Burning Ladder, Sarah Rimkus • Salvation to All That Will Is Nigh, Anthony Maglione • Brightest and Best, Sarah Rimkus • Coventry Carol, John Frederick Hudson • Magnificat, Peter Relph • Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent, Sam Scheibe.