Meet Me Here, music and text by Craig Hella Johnson
This piece, Meet Me Here, comes from a concert length work I composed called “Considering Matthew Shepard.” As a stand-alone piece, Meet Me Here can be sung in a wide variety of contexts. In the context of the larger work, it is a pivotal movement which takes a first step from a difficult story and asks the question "Where do I go from here?".  At its core, Meet Me Here, is a folk style hymn which invites the participants to be open to meeting at a place which may seem difficult or painful and to be open to discovering the healing and joy which can be experienced when we lay down the "ancestral sorrow" we may have been carrying for generations and open ourselves to finding the healing together, excluding no one.

Meet me here
Won’t you meet me here
Where the old fence ends and the horizon begins
There’s a balm in the silence
Like an understanding air
Where the old fence ends and the horizon begins

We’ve been walking through the darkness
On this long, hard climb
Carried ancestral sorrow
For too long a time
Will you lay down your burden
Lay it down, come with me
It will never be forgotten
Held in love, so tenderly

Meet me here
Won’t you meet me here
Where the old fence ends and the horizon begins
There’s a joy in the singing
Like an understanding air
Where the fence ends and the horizon begins.

Everyone Sang, music by Kile Smith , text by Siegfried SassoonSiegfried Sassoon’s “Everyone Sang,” was written at the end of World War I. This poem is brimming over with relief and delight, the celebration that happens after having traveled through a difficult time together—in his case, World War I, in ours, the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The piece uses the​ ​concept of a leader “lining out” a phrase, which is also used in Sacred Harp and other traditions.​These solo introductions are for any high voice. I put non-aligning rhythms and elaborations into the voices, inspired by the pibroch style of bagpipe playing.  The sound of free heterophony is what I wanted to capture: many voices singing one melody, each in its own way, all at the same time. The sonic image is similar to a flock of starlings swarming over a field—flowing, hovering, shifting, swooping—all moving individually but all moving as one.  It’s in four parts, and again, from the Sacred Harp tradition, for much of it, the top three parts can be sung by any male or female voice in any octave. So, it employs styles that may be unfamiliar to some, but they are grassroots styles.​

Everyone Sang
Everyone suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom,
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark-green fields; on – on – and out of sight.
Everyone’s voice was suddenly lifted;
And beauty came like the setting sun:
My heart was shaken with tears; and horror
Drifted away … O, but Everyone
Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

Ritual, Jake Runestad
Ritual is a rhythmically-driving sonic narrative that uses a created language for colorful timbral effects.  The title alludes to societal rituals that persist for the sake of tradition, but necessitate deeper reflection and reconsideration.  The drums and chorus rage with a gritty intensity, while a lone soloist offers a softer, more thoughtful perspective. Despite the soloist’s attempt at change, their voice is ultimately overtaken by the power of tradition and the chorus and drums drown out any alternative perspective.

I Will Go, music by Jeffrey Derus, text from Ruth 1:16-17, Proverbs 30: 18-19, Psalm 139:6
I Will Go speaks to anyone curious about how powerful love, nature, and the divine are. In everyday life we often stop to wonder how something happens with no explanation. That pull towards someone when we fall in love, the intuition nature has in navigating the wild, and the everlasting question of… what is the meaning of life? The SATB chorus offers the narrative of these questions as the solo violin takes the form of the guide or the unknown wisdom. The lasting impression is the profound feeling of awe and wonder. We may never know the answer to why there is such beauty in our world, but we have the chance to live within that beauty.

I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live.
Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
I will die where you die and be buried there.
There are three things that amaze me–
no, four things that I do not understand:
How an eagle glides through the sky,
How a snake slithers on a rock,
How a ship navigates the ocean,
How a man loves a woman.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me to know,
Too great, for me to know!

A Journey of Your Own, music by Saunder Choi, text by Brian Sonia-Wallace and Joey Vargas
As I reflected on the the idea of home for a City called Heaven, I realized January 2022 will mark 10 years since I left Manila for the US, in pursuit of music, education, and even liberation from the environment I grew up in. The idea of home as a physical location has dissolved and transformed into something else — a community, a family you’re born into or one that you’ve chosen. I now feel at home in Los Angeles, amongst friends and loved ones, as I once did in Manila, amongst family. For this reason, I invited two poets to collaborate with on this project, one from an old home and one from my new. Joey Vargas and I met as choristers in the Philippine Madrigal Singers. He is one of the most gifted writers and theater artists back in the Philippines. Brian and I met when I was a grad student at USC, and collaborated on some art songs. He is now a published author and the poet laureate of West Hollywood, and an Academy of American Poets fellow. Each of us shared a place, a story, overlapping in intertwining convergence in our individual journeys. Whatever your story is, wherever your journey leads, may it be of your own choosing — always leading with love and courage.

Look up, call everywhere heaven,
a journey’s a name you can claim as your own.
Journey on, & keep crossing oceans
— an ocean’s a mirror: no happy hereafter,
just the here that you’ve sown.
A journey of your own.
Journey on, & keep crossing oceans
— an ocean’s a mirror. Search for somewhere to name as your own. Look ahead,
call everywhere heaven: no happy hereafter, just the here that you’ve grown.
A journey of your own.
-Brian Sonia-Wallace

ang lahat ay paroroon at paririto
tungo sa kung saan
patungo, sa dulo;
ang paglalakbay ay paghahanap,
paghahanap ng hangganan —
paghahanap ng hangganan
ng paglalakbay, ng paghahanap;
pagdating sa dulo: muli,
ang lahat ay paroroon at paririto.
-Joey Vargas

Blessed Be!, music and text by Melanie DeMore
“Blessed Be!” is a celebration of life that uses the “tree of life” metaphor to joyfully express our gratitude for human connection–to generations that have come before us and those yet to come.
Melanie DeMore shares the following, when talking about her inspiration for the text in “Blessed Be!”

“Trees are shelter. Trees are sanctuary and symbols of antiquity and strength. Trees are the living embodiment of the passage of time. They endure scarring and disease, and they become gnarled and creaky, yet they remain steadfast. They can grow despite the changes happening around them. Trees live in harmony with their surroundings much longer than humans do. They are always an inspiration, especially in winter when their skeleton forms can be seen against the pale sky.”


Blessed Be!
Blest, Be, Blessed Be the Living Tree.

Blessed Be the Tree of Life
that grows within you and me.
Steady and true,
Rooted in love.
Shelter and peace
Below and above.

Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt!, music by Heinrich Schütz, text Psalm 100
Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt!
Dienet dem Herrn mit Freuden; kommt vor sein Angesicht mit Frohlocken!
Erkennet, daß der Herr Gott ist!
Er hat uns gemacht, und nicht wir selbst zu seinem Volk
und zu Schafen seiner Weide.
Gehet zu seinen Toren ein mit Danken,
zu seinen Vorhöfen mit Loben;
danket ihm, lobet seinen Namen!
Denn der Herr ist freundlich, und seine Gnade währet ewig
und seine Wahrheit für und für.

Ihr Bruder, leiben Bruder Mein, music and text by Johann Schein
Ihr Bruder, lieben Bruder mein,
Last uns heut all fein lustig sein.
So trinken wir so singen wir,
So schlingen wir das gute bier,
Zu Ehren unserm Wirt,
Der uns so wol traktirt.

Ay’bobo Pou Yo, music by Sydney Guillaume, text by Gabriel Guillaume
Poètes et musiciens, acteurs, chanteurs et farandoles,
Artistes de partout, venez sous la Coupole.
Venez! En avant! Ay’bobo pou yo, n’ap honore yo!
Les rideaux sont ouverts et la scène est en liesse;
Coryphée, entonnez un beau chant d'allégresse!
“Mèsi, ayibobo pou tout konpozitè yo!
Mèsi, ayibobo pou direktè yo tou!”
Depi solèy leve jouk nan labrin di swa,
Y’ap simen kè kontan, y’ap simaye lapè.
Ils sèment dans nos cœur la joie de l’harmonie,
Le sens de la mesure et le goût de la vie.
Pou bèl misyon sa yo, n’ap di ayibobo pou yo!
La musique et l’amour à jamais nous éclaire,
Et le monde partout resplendit de lumière.
Limyè la jistis, limyè lamitye,
Limyè la dignite, limyè limanite.
Ala yon bèl bagay lè kè tout moun kontan!
Mizik avèk lanmou se pi bèl eritaj!
Mèsi, ay’bobo pou yo! Bravo pou yo!

All Seems Beautiful to Me, music by Eric Whitacre, text by Walt Whitman        
In August of 2020 Colonel Don Schofield, commander and conductor of the United States Air Force Band, reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in writing a piece for his choir, the Singing Sergeants.  He was hoping that I might write about togetherness and community, themes that would be essential as we began to think about a post-pandemic world. 

I remember looking through my little library of poetry books, looking for inspiration, and taking from the shelf a well-worn copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.  I have always loved this book and have returned to it countless times to remind myself how beautiful the world is how much good there is in people.  By chance, I turned to the 5^th section of the epic poem Song of the Open Road and immediately knew I had found the perfect words for the occasion.

I believe deeply in the way Whitman sees the world, full of hope and optimism.  And I, too, think ‘all seems beautiful to me.’  Sometimes that beauty is so overwhelming as to make my heart ache with gratitude.

Above all, this exquisite line encapsulates what I wish for people everywhere:
“You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you.”

From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of imaginary lines
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute.
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself from the holds that would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space.
The East and the West are mine, and the North and the South are mine.

I am larger, better than I thought,
I did not know I held so much goodness.

All seems beautiful to me,
I can repeat over and over to men and women
You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you,
I will recruit for myself and you as I go,
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,
I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,
Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.

Fire from Elements, Katerina Gimon
Elements is set of choral works that abstractly depict the four classical elements and explores the wide range of capabilities of the human voice - from overtone singing, to vocal percussion, to colorful vocal timbres. Elements features no 'text' (at least not in the traditional sense), rather a series of syllables generated through improvisation meant to evoke the sound and energy of each element.

Fire is a fun, lively, and energetic work incorporating vocal percussion, body percussion, nasal singing, calls, nonsense syllables, as well as optional percussion.

Wade in the Water, Traditional Spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan
Many slave songs and spirituals had secret meanings used to carry important messages to the enslaved trying to escape to freedom.  Harriet Tubman used the song Wade in the Water to tell escaping slaves to get off the trail and into the water to make sure the dogs slavecatchers used couldn’t sniff out their trail.  People wading through water did not leave a scent trail that dogs could follow.

God’s a gonna trouble the water.
Wade in the water,
Wade in the water, children,
Wade in the water.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

See that host all dressed in white,
God’s gonna trouble the water.
The leader looks like the Israelite.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

See that band all dressed in red,
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Looks like the band that Moses led.
God’s gonna trouble the water.