Commissioned by Cantilena Women's Chorale, Jennifer Kane, conductor. First movement of a tripartite work confronting the devastating effects of climate change. Text by Greta Thunberg. Text by Barbara Dening. Miriam Anderson, Taylor Iverson, Danya Clevenger and Giselle Wyers, performers. Jeff Rice, audio engineer. Contact wyersg@uw.edu for perusal score

Fire in the Garden: A Climate Change Trilogy: "Our House is on Fire"

Commissioned by Cantilena Women's Chorale, Jennifer Kane, conductor. Second movement of a tripartite work confronting the devastating effects of climate change. Text by Denise Levertov and from The Bible. Text by Barbara Dening. Miriam Anderson, Taylor Iverson, Danya Clevenger and Giselle Wyers, performers. Jeff Rice, audio engineer. Contact wyersg@uw.edu for perusal score

Fire in the Garden: A Climate Change Trilogy: "Who Can Utter?"

Commissioned by Cantilena Women's Chorale, Jennifer Kane, conductor. Third movement of a tripartite work confronting the devastating effects of climate change. Text by Barbara Dening. Miriam Anderson, Taylor Iverson, Danya Clevenger and Giselle Wyers, performers. Jeff Rice, audio engineer. Contact wyersg@uw.edu for perusal score.

Fire in the Garden: A Climate Change Trilogy: "A Prayer for the Earth"

A Roof and A Bed was commissioned and premiered virtually by the Portland Lesbian Choir in June 2021, under the direction of Mary McCarty. Composed in three parts utilizing texts by houseless women (courtesy Whit Publishing). Orchestration by Pax Ressler. Contact wyersg@uw.edu for perusal score
Text:
"And then on one perfectly ordinary day, we walked through the house which had been solid between our feet like stone. We never came back. We learned that on one perfectly ordinary day, life can change forever.  Your head aches, your stomach growls, just keep walking. Throat parched, mouth dry, just keep walking. Stomach hurts, head pounds, just keep walking. Vision blurs, sounds are senseless, just keep walking. Muscles weaken, whole body hungers, road weaves under feet, just keep walking. There's a park, maybe some rest. Cop comes, just keep walking. Where do I go when the shelters are full? The alleys are dangerous, an alley so cold. When will someone give us more space? How can I get a decent job when no one has room? A shelter seems to help only those with special needs, but no room for me. A roof and a bed, a place to bathe, just so I can go to work. Without a place to get clean, I cannot get ahead. Please help me enjoy all that you have. A place of warmth and safety from the danger outside. Maybe I'll sleep in a cardboard box- Please! Please understand I want the same things as you; a job, a home and maybe someone to love.

A Roof and A Bed by Giselle Wyers

Commissioned by Seattle Pro Musica's TTBB chorus, Karen Thomas, conductor. The text is from a Shakespeare sonnet celebrating the transforming, edifying power of the intimate bonds of love. This recording is from the live premiere in Seattle in 2018.

Sonnet 29 (When in Disgrace)

The premiere of the piano/SATB version of Song Has a Bird for Rhythm from the larger work, "And all Shall be Well". David Puderbaugh conducts the University Choir from U of Iowa.

Song Has A Bird For A Rhythm (SATB/piano version)

This track is from the album Climb and is available for purchase on CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/universityofwashingtonch

Climb

This track is from the album Climb and is available for purchase on CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/universityofwashingtonch
Order through Santa Barbara Music Publications.

Love Song by Giselle Wyers

Laulu Algus

Giselle Wyers' composition "Ave Maria" sung by the University of Washington Chorale. Order through earthsongs publications. Recorded by Bill Levey.

Ave Maria by Giselle Wyers

Giselle Wyers conducts her composition "After the Winter".  This work is also available in an a cappella version. Order through Santa Barbara Music Publications.  Recording credit Jeff Rice.

After the Winter by Giselle Wyers

Performed by Cascadian Chorale who commissioned this work in 2014.  Gary Cannon conducts; full album called "Welcome Home".  Poetry by Stephen Crane. 
Order directly from composer. 

A Lantern Voice by Giselle Wyers

Dolce Canto Chamber Choir, guest conducted in live concert by Giselle Wyers (prepared by Artistic Director Peter Park).

You Sing by Giselle Wyers

Commissioned by Corner Canyon HS, Utah, March 2016.

Surge, Illuminare by Giselle Wyers: Corner Canyon HS Live 2016

Commissioned by Hobart and William Smith Colleges Cantori in 2016, Robert Cowles, director.  This recording is performed by University of Washington Chorale, Giselle Wyers, conductor.

And Love Be Written on Running Water by Giselle Wyers

Within the Circles of our Lives will soon be released with Santa Barbara Music Publishing (Winter 2016).  Performed here by Anacrusis of University of Washington. Premiered and commissioned by the A capella koor Cantabile of the Netherlands, Margriet van Vlierden, conductor.

Within the Circles of our Lives by Giselle Wyers

World premiere performance, March 3, 2017.  Commissioned and performed by the University of Washington Chamber Singers, conducted by Dr. Geoffrey Boers.  Serena Chin, pianist.

Wyers A Field of Hosannas live UW Chamber Singers 2017

A Field of Hosannas by Giselle Wyers

Ave Maria by Javier Busto, performed by UW Chorale live 2017

Recorded live by University of Washington Chamber Singers, Geoffrey Boers, director, 2011.  A few revisions have been made to the score since this initial performance.

The dark around us come by Giselle Wyers

Performed by University of Washington Chorale, Giselle Wyers, director.  Commissioned by the Hobart and William Smith Colleges Cantori, 2016. Text by Ferlinghetti.

Resonant Streams: And Love Be Written On Running Water

Performed live on May 23, 2018 by University of Washington Chorale, conducted by Giselle Wyers.

Wyers Sometimes I Choose A Cloud (Movement 5, And All Shall Be Well)

Performed live by the University of Washington Chorale on May 23, 2018, Giselle Wyers, conductor.

Song is the Infinite Time of Times (Movement 2, And All Shall Be Well)

From Oregon Repertory Singer's latest CD, Shadows on the Stars, Ethan Sperry, conductor.

Wyers_A Lonely Land_ORS

A Lonely Land by Giselle Wyers

Live performance, 2019, with Cascadian Chorale, string quartet and piano. Gary Cannon, conductor.  
Czeslaw Milosz “Encounter”
We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.
A red wing rose in the darkness.
 
And suddenly a hare ran across the road.
One of us pointed to it with his hand.
 
That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive.
Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.
 
O my love, where are they, where are they going
The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles.
I ask not out of sorrow but in wonder.

Byrd & Wyers (2019-03-24)

Wyers - And All Shall Be Well - "Encounter" (Mvmt 1)

Cascadian Chorale's 2019 live performance with string quartet and piano. Gary Cannon, conductor.
Michel Khalil Helayel ”Song Has a Bird for Rhythm”
Song
Has a bird
For rhythm
 
Song
Lives in blue sky
 
Birds never abandon song
 
Song
Birds who carry
Story lines from our hands
 
Birds who record
Their symphony
In the seeds of days to come
 
Song
Is the rhythm of the wind
The high seas of nostalgia
 
Song
Runs through the veins
Beats in the ground of words

Wyers - And All Shall Be Well - "Song has a bird for rhythm" (Mvmt 4)

Cascadian Chorale's 2019 live performance with string quartet and piano. Gary Cannon, conductor.
William Stafford “Sometimes I choose a cloud”
Sometimes I choose a cloud and let it
Cross the sky floating me away.
A bird unravels its song and carries me
As it flies deeper and deeper into the woods.
Is there a way to be gone and still
Belong? Travel that takes you home?
Is that life? –to stand by a river and go.

Wyers - And All Shall Be Well - "Sometimes I choose a cloud" (Mvmt 5)

Cascadian Chorale's 2019 live performance with string quartet and piano. Gary Cannon, conductor.
Michel Khalil Helayel  ”It is in song”
It is in song
That we take
Life’s pulse
 
It is in song
That the horizon
Creates the face of the world
 
Song
Is rebellion against death
A foray into the heart of time
Spread throughout time
To divine immortality
 
Song
May be a putting to death
Of dying times
A rupture that shatters history
And aims at a new beginning for the world.

Wyers - And All Shall Be Well - "It is in song" (Mvmt 6)

Cascadian Chorale's 2019 live performance with string quartet and piano. Gary Cannon, conductor.
 T.S. Eliot “We Shall Not Cease”
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
Through the unknown, remembered gate.
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always---
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

Wyers - And All Shall Be Well - "We shall not cease" (Mvmt 7)

Recorded by University of Washington Chorale, Giselle Wyers, conductor, on their CD, "Resonant Streams". 
Purchase CD here http://www.msrcd.com/catalog/cd/MS1642. 
Miriam Anderson, percussion.

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