such lush colors, Saunder! And Kit Navarro rocked! :)

Text by Jonathan Eichman, written for the Mastersingers of Lexington and cellist Rhonda Rider.

Weather Patterns  5. Rain

Last Man

Adárna (2015)
composed by Saunder Choi
text by Joey Vargas

performed by the USC Thornton Symphony 
Donald Crockett, conductor
Kit Navarro, soprano

As with most Filipino children, I learned the folklore of Íbong Adárna (Adarna Bird) when I was very young: the piece is a grade-school staple in the Philippine literature curriculum, and during Buwán ng Wíka (Month of the Philippine Language), the story is told through film, theater, television, and more. 
  
The inspiration for this piece came from an undergraduate Stravinsky analysis course. Coincidentally, the Boston Symphony Orchestra had programmed Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol during the same week that we were studying it. The stunning performance of Russian soprano Olga Peretyatko, and her swift and agile coloratura passage, had me in such awe that I wished to adapt this Hans Christian Andersen tale, but using a version that feels closer to home. I asked a colleague from the Philippine Madrigal Singers, theater director and writer Joey Vargas, to write a poem for the Adarna bird to sing. 

Íbong Adárna tells of the story of a royal family in the kingdom of Berbánia, where the three princes - Don Pedro, Don Diego, and Don Juan – each embark on their own journey to capture the Adarna bird, whose song is the only cure for what ails King Fernando, their father. Don Pedro embarks on the journey first. He meets an old hermit along the way who asks him for help, but Don Pedro refuses to help him.  When nightfall comes, Don Pedro reaches the tree where the Adarna bird perched. The bird flies by, sings the prince to sleep, and poops on him, turning him into stone. Don Diego, who leaves soon after Don Pedro, suffers the same fate. Finally, when Don Juan embarks, he meets the old hermit and chooses to help him. The old hermit returns the favor by aiding Don Juan in capturing the bird, allowing Don Juan to successfully return to Berbánia to save his father. 
  
Adárna is a tone poem for high soprano and orchestra. It is written as a submission to the USC Thornton School of Music’s New Music for Orchestra competition, and fellow Philippine Madrigal Singers alumna, soprano Maria Christina Navarro. 

track mastered by Jett Galindo at The Bakery



CHOI- Adárna (2015)- USC Thornton Symphony (with Kit Navarro, soprano)

Luz is a 4 piece song cycle composed by Saunder Choi with lyrics by Mary-Alice Daniel. 

Singing one of my Dad's favorite songs for his birthday. Happy birthday, Dad!

Have I Told You Lately (Van Morrison cover)

Music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Recorded November 9, 2016 in NY NY
Piano and vocals: JRB

Drafts

Hope (JRB)

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Winterreise, D. 911 
"Gute Nacht" 

Eric Christopher Perry, tenor 
Sergio De Iudicibus, piano

Phillips Academy, Andover 
May 2016 

www.ecpmusic.com

Schubert: Winterreise, D. 911. "Gute Nacht"

An accessible, uplifting arrangement of the Robert Lowry tune of the same name, set for choir and piano. Completed in February 2017 and premiered at the first "Music in Worship" session of the National ACDA Convention (sightread by 500+ participants accompanied by pianist MacKenzie Reed) on March 8, 2017.

National ACDA Music in Worship (3/8/17)

How Can I Keep from Singing? (arrangement) — choir and piano

Blossom (花开): an orchestral suite of Chinese Flower Songs
arranged and orchestrated by Saunder Choi

Saunder Choi: Blossom (花开)- an orchestral suite of Chinese Flower Songs

Demo track for a recent arrangement of Lucio San Pedro's Sa Ugoy ng Duyan. 

Vocals by Saunder Choi and Jett Galindo
Arrangement by Saunder Choi
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Jett Galindo

Sa Ugoy ng Duyan Demo (San Pedro) - arr. Saunder Choi

Saunder Choi: Ghastly Crew

Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer who has written a wide variety of works, from contemporary classical instrumental, vocal and choral works to jazz charts and popular music arrangements.

As a composer, his works have also been performed, programmed, recorded and read by the USC Thornton Symphony, Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Philippine Madrigal Singers, the Crossing Choir, the LA Master Chorale, USC Chamber Singers, Peninsula Women’s Chorus, Kalistos Chamber Orchestra and the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium Chorus. He has been commissioned by the L.A. Choral Lab, Andrea Veneracion International Choral Festival, Salt Lake Choral Artists, SYC Ensemble Singers of Singapore, Choral Arts Initiative, University of the East Chorale, University of Visayas Chorale, etc. As an arranger and orchestrator, Saunder has written Tony-Award winner Lea Salonga, the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, Maestro Gerard Salonga, the Tim Janis American Christmas Carol Show at Carnegie Hall, Jose Mari Chan, Ballet Philippines, and the Hong Kong production of Pippin.

He sang tenor and was one of the resident composers of the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers, joining them in several national and international goodwill tours, international music festivals and concerts. He also sang with the First Church in Boston Choir, the Boston Choral Ensemble and the USC Chamber Singers. As a conductor, he directed the Philippine Cultural College Annex Campus Youth Choir from 2006-2011, leading them to participate in local Philippine choral festivals and competitions. He currently sings with the L.A. Choral Lab and founded Lore Vocal Ensemble. He also serves as the choir director at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in North Hollywood and teaching artist for Pacific Chorale.

Born in Manila, Philippines, he holds a Bachelor of Arts major in Communication Arts degree from the De La Salle University-Manila and a Bachelor of Music in Composition, minor in conducting from the Berklee College of Music. He completed his Master of Music in Composition at the USC Thornton School of Music, where his primary composition teachers were Ted Hearne and Donald Crockett. He also took orchestration classes with Stephen Hartke and Andrew Norman. In the past, he has studied composition with Andrew List, and Vuk Kulenovic, and had master classes with Chen Yi and Robert Kyr. He studied conducting with Larry Livingston, Isaiah Jackson and Francisco Noya. His works are published with Santa Barbara Music Publishing and Earthsongs. Select works are also distributed by MusicSpoke.

CHOI- Adárna (2015)- USC Thornton Symphony (with Kit Navarro, soprano)

Musicmanchoi

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