A brief choral blessing, which can serve as a lovely introit, written in honor of Anita Coulthard.

God, In Our Waiting

The world premiere of But the bridge...it's unforgiving... for Wind Band and SATB Choir composed by Trevor Frost and lyrics by Ellie Clark. Performed by the Lebanon (NH) High School Band and Choir, conducted by Dominick DeFrancisco.

But the bridge, it's unforgiving... was commissioned by Emma Cooke, Dominick DeFrancisco, and the Lebanon High School Choir and Band and gave the world premiere on May 17, 2023 at the Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

But the bridge, it's unforgiving...(Live)

I’m super excited to share my latest release, an original setting of “Little Child of Long Ago” by Canadian poet Marjorie Pickthall, for SATB choir with piano accompaniment. 

This piece invites both choir and audience to reflect on the timeless wonder of the Christmas story, making it a heartfelt addition to any choral repertoire—perfect for community and high school choirs.

Digital copies are available through Sheet Music Plus https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/little-child-of-long-ago-22805538.html and Sheet Music Direct https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/1578808/Product.aspx 

Thank you to Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir - Virtual Singers for the beautiful recording!

Listen to the full recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djEo4JDoAlg Please subscribe for more wonderful listening!

Little Child Of Long Ago - Gerda Blok-Wilson

Moment for Morricone
This timeless film music brings a feeling of the Wild West. Director Sergio Leone gave a simple yet effective development of the story, which touched many people. 'Once Upon a Time in the West', has long been considered one of the best westerns of all time. The composer of the film’s music was the Italian, Ennio Morrocone. He composed for many other films (eg The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) as well as other classical orchestral music. This arrangement is a medley of three different themes from 'Once Upon a Time in the West' and two themes from 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'.
https://www.molenaar.com/details/1/11174/en

Moment for Morricone (Arr. Johan de Meij) - Ennio Morricone

SATB Choral setting of the Christina Rossetti poem, performed by the University of Arizona Symphonic Choir, under the direction of Elizabeth Schauer.

Strange Voices Sing Among the Planets, for SATB Choir

This is a piece I am working on for percussion ensemble and SATB choir. I have wanted to utilize my strange composition style in a choral setting many times and this is a kind of foray into it, combining complex elements of percussion ensemble music and the tonal aspects of standard choral repertoire into one unique piece. 

Though I am about eight minutes into, it is still incomplete. However, I haven't uploaded anything in a while because I have been too busy with school to write much, so I wanted to show my friends and followers that I am actually still writing music haha.

The piece's name is a play on the phrase "as above, so below", and is even onomatopoeic in places - almost a madrigalism at times, as well. The percussion (ground) is written at the top of the score, while the choir (sky) is written at the bottom of the score. They take turns on the reins of the dominant melodies and tone colors and so the piece regularly reverses the placement of "sky" and "ground", thereby reversing standard roles of voices and percussion.

Though far from complete, I hope you enjoy what I have here. Let me know what you think!

Ground Above, Sky Below

This Advent motet for SATB choir and piano uses a rarely used Latin text describing the birth of Jesus.  This piece is available for purchase at justinekoontz.com.

Translation:
Wonderful mystery revealed today: 
Natures are renewed: 
God is become man. 
That which he was remained, 
and what he was not he assumed: 
Suffering neither mixture nor division. 

Performance by Butler University Chorale, Dr. Eric Stark, director, with Michael Scherperel, piano.

Mirabile Mysterium, for SATB choir and piano

One of my compositions performed by the Drury Singers in Drury's Stone Chapel.

Drury Singers - Agnus Dei - SATB Choir

A Letter from the End of Days deals with the aftermath of climate change. What happens to us? To our homes? To our community? To our world? Are we too late? Poet Malachi Black challenges us with his poem, A Letter from the End of Days (Come in. Clean the House. We have Died.), from which the text for this setting is based. In four sections within this one continuous movement, A Letter for the End of Days speculates on the impact of our choices. The viola, representing time and earth, precedes us, and hopefully, will last beyond humankind.
A Letter from the End of Days is commissioned by the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Ann Arbor, Benjamin Cohen, director.

A Letter from the End Of Days

Gerda earned a Bachelor of Music (UBC), Professional Teaching Certificate (UBC), Kodály Teaching certificate (VAM), Master of Education (U of Calgary)-Kodály music. 

She is founding director of the 110 member Vancouver CanSing Choirs (Youth/Adult), conductor for SelfDesign home schooling choir, Artist-in-Residence for St Patrick’s Chamber Choir and provides support for grade 8-12 choir.    

 Recently, Gerda offered choral development for Simon Fraser, Lord Tennyson Choirs, original musical theatre at General Wolfe, and conducting development for the BC Kodály Association-Douglas College.

 Gerda’s career has included performance tours in England, New York, across Canada, commissioned choral pieces by Raminsh, Telfer and Bosma and performance honours at Carnegie Hall (Missa Brevis by Raminsh), Ottawa (Unisong Festival), Musicfest Canada (Calgary/Vancouver/Ottawa), Performing Arts BC and National Festivals.  She has conducted the BC Music Educator’s Honour Elementary Choir and her choirs have been   demonstration choirs at festivals including Musicfest Canada and BC Performing Arts Festival.

Gerda was conductor for the award-winning Bel Canto Choirs (Prince George), PG Jazz, Cantata Singers, PGSSHigh School choir.  She served as Music Resource Teacher for SD#57 and taught summer music education courses at UNBC.  She has 4 mini-musicals published by THEMES AND VARIATIONS and continues to arrange and compose music for choirs. 

Molenaar Edition is a publisher of sheet music for Concert Band, Fanfare and Brass Band. Molenaar Edition also has its own CD label, MBCD, that releases 3 to 4 CDs , a year.

The company was founded in 1933 by Pieter Jan Molenaar under the name Molenaar’s Muziekhandel. In the 1970s, his sons Jan and Bob joined the growing company. The name was changed to Molenaar’s Muziekcentrale, and later to Molenaar Edition BV.

Dr. Trevor Frost is a freelance educator, conductor and composer based in Nebraska. Frost received his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Wind Band Conducting with a related area in Composition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His duties at UNL included work with the Ensemble Performance Lab, Symphonic Band, Campus Band, the Big Red Express pep bands, and the Cornhusker Marching Band. Prior to joining the team at UNL, Frost served as the music director at Paul Elementary School in Wakefield, New Hampshire creating a band, chorus, and general music program. He received his Master of Arts in Music: Music Conducting degree from the University of New Hampshire in 2021, and his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire in 2016. Frost remains active as a composer receiving commissions from the New Hampshire Youth Band, the University of New Hampshire Wind Symphony, the Keene State Concert Choir, Lebanon High School (NH), and Pittsfield High School (MA). Frost was also selected as one of six composers for the “Composing in the Wilderness 2023 Lake Clark” program led by Composer-Adventurer Stephen Lias.

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