March 2025

Performed by the 2022 National Youth Choir of Canada/Chœur national des jeunes du Canada 

Conductor: Dr. Jean-Sébastien Vallée
Composer: Carmen Braden*

*Canadian composer

Make Me a World

Crooked by Nature by Carmen Braden (NYCC/CNJC 2022)

In the Woodlands

The opening extract from Eos and Tithonus for chamber orchestra by Coreen Morsink, played by the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse conducted by Bruno Mantovani, September 13, 2024, Recording produced for France Musique, at the Auditorium Saint-Pierre-des-Cuisines, Toulouse, France as part of the Finals of the Unanimes! Composition Competition.

Full Score available from the Canadian Music Centre at: cmccanada.org/shop/81836/
Full Recording of the work and the Unanimes! Concert at: www.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/p…an-2024-6161552

Opening extract Eos and Tithonus for Chamber Orchestra by Coreen Morsink L'orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse conducted by Bruno Mantovani

Woodwings
I. Bobolink
II. Hermit Thrush
III. Winter Wren
IV. Snow Geese
V. Night Owls

by Emily Doolittle
performed by Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra

1st 01 Woodwings I. Bobolink  (KENNETH WOODS ESO)  (48k 24b)

     Inspired by ancient folk tales about lost immortal spirits, Lamia(Latin word for vampire) is a dramatic choral composition that captures dark images and emotions.

     The text is sung in broken Latin words, it paints a surreal scenario: full moon above rising water; shimmering stars radiates against the pitch black sky; a mystical figure Adia (a character borrowed from the ancient myth La Loba’s wolf woman)wanders into eternal darkness. The music follows the journey of this mysterious being and unfolds in four stages: searching, grief, transformation, and condemnation. The double choirs are used in an imaginative way: one choir symbolizes the inner voice of the supernatural being, the other choir acts as an observer or commentator, provides a distinctive voice that echoes and reacts to the first voice, sometimes in a vigorous manner. The piano accompaniment is intense and colorful. It supports the voices and creates a lush harmonic palette.


Lamia Polish Radio Choir

A beautiful live recording of “I Had No Time to Hate” (Gerda Blok-Wilson) by the Da Capo Chamber Choir, led by conductor Leonard Enns, recorded in April 2024 in Kitchener, Ontario. The piece is available through Cypress Choral Publishing: https://cypresschoral.com/composers/gerda-blok-wilson/i-had-no-time-to-hate/

The speaker in the poem contemplates the brevity of life and the certainty of death and urges us not to waste our precious time and energy on hatred, but instead to focus on cultivating love, even in small acts.  I am so grateful for the performances so far including the beautiful premiere by the Vancouver Chamber Choir (Kari Turunen), September 2021.

www.gerdablokwilson.ca

#LiveMusic #ChoralExcellence #DaCapoChamberChoir #LeonardEnns #CypressChoralPublishing #KitchenerOntario #VancouverChamberChoir #IHadNoTimeToHate #LoveOverHate



I had no time to hate - Da Capo Chamber Choir

“Meadows of Heaven” (2025) is inspired by a poignant excerpt from Longfellow’s Evangeline (1847). 

During the summers of 2021 and 2023, moments at my daughter’s Cape Egmont cottage on Prince Edward Island—set against the vast Atlantic Ocean—ignited my fascination with Acadian history and literature.

Drawing from these inspirations, the work incorporates these stirring lines from Evangeline:
“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.” I have experimented with harmonies and textures to create a celestial and ethereal mood.

Though Longfellow was not Acadian, his epic narrative vividly recounts the journey of Evangeline—the Acadian girl in search of her lost love, Gabriel—amid the poignant backdrop of the Acadian expulsion. The demo recording, performed by the Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir, captures a timeless, otherworldly atmosphere, inviting listeners to a realm of reflective twilight and transformative moments.

Perfect for programming in reflective, twilight settings or themes of winter, rebirth, renewal, hope, and transformation.

www.gerdablokwilson.ca


Meadows of Heaven 2 (BLOK-WILSON)

composer: Stephanie Martin
poet: H.W. Longfellow
publisher: Cypress Choral Music
visit cypresschoral.com to learn about the composer and study the score while you listen

BUY THE SHEET MUSIC

The Arrow and the Song

Rise up, my love (2017)
SSAATBB a cappella
Publisher: Manuscript
Duration: 3:35

Written for Spiritus Chamber Choir, Calgary AB, and their director Tim Shanz. This is a setting of the famous text from “Song of Solomon” alongside text from “Ubi Caritas” and “Set me as a seal.”

Visit www.laurahawley.ca to view the full text.

Rise Up My Love

"Insects and Machines" 
Commissioned by the Red Bank Chamber Music Society 
World Premiere:  American String Quartet, May 5, 2019 in Red Bank, NJ

String Quartet No. 4 (2019)

Recorded Live at the Rolston Recital Hall, October 18th, 2019 as part of the Musicians in Residence Program at the Banff Centre concert series.

Inni means Bison in Blackfoot. This song was composed about the presence and disappearance of the Bison on the plains. The composition was supported by the Coastal Jazz Society Indigenous Artist in Residence in 2017.

Flute, Alto Flute - Jessica McMann
Viola - Karen Shepherd
Piano - Beverley McKiver
Composer: Jessica McMann

Recording: The Banff Centre for the Arts

Inni

Association of Canadian Women Composers

The ACWC is a professional organization for Canadian women composers, their supporters, and the performers of their music.

March 2025

ACWC / ACC