En la noche entraremos (In the Night We Shall Go In)
SATB chorus a cappella + div. • ca. 3'30''
artist: International Orange Chorale of San Francisco
publisher: MariValverde.com MVC-131

EN LA NOCHE entraremos
a robar una rama florida.

Pasaremos el muro,
en las tinieblas del jardín ajeno,
dos sombras en la sombra.

Aún no se fue el invierno,
y el manzano aparece
convertido de pronto
en cascada de estrellas olorosas.

En la noche entraremos
hasta su tembloroso firmamento,
y tus pequeños manos y las mías	
robarán las estrellas.

Y sigilosamente,
a nuestra casa,
en la noche y la sombra,
entrará con tus pasos
el silencioso paso del perfume
y con pies estrellados
el cuerpo claro de la primavera.

Text: Pablo Neruda

•

IN THE NIGHT  we shall go in
to steal a flowering branch.

We shall climb over the wall
in the darkness of the alien garden,
two shadows in the shadow.

Winter is not yet gone,
and the apple tree appears
suddenly changed
into a cascade of fragrant stars.

In the night we shall go in
up to its trembling firmament,
and your little hands and mine
will steal the stars.
		
And silently,
to our house,
in the night and the shadow,
with your steps will enter
perfume's silent step
and with starry feet
the clear body of spring.

translation: Donald D. Walsh

Copyright © 2013 Mari Esabel Valverde. All rights reserved.

Image: "Sublime Purple Night Sky" by Vincentiu Solomon on Unsplash

En la noche entraremos (SATB)

"There Will Be Stars"
Music by Laura Nevitt
Poetry by Sara Teasdale

Performed at Source Song Festival on August 12, 2022
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Corissa Bussian, soprano
Eric McEnaney, piano

There Will Be Stars

Unbound Angels
Joseph Gregorio, composer | Text by Mohja Kahf
Published by Areté Music Imprints
www.aretemusicimprints.com
Catalog no. 1234

Commissioned and performed by the South Bend Chamber Singers
Nancy Menk, conductor
Kevin Vaughn, piano

Unbound Angels | Joseph Gregorio

Reformation Cantata

When Benjamin Perry and Bart Dahlstrom approached me about writing a cantata for Reformation Day, I was excited to utilize my Christian Reformed Church (CRC) upbringing and my faith journey since youth. I reread why Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of a church, stating what he believed should be reformed about the church, and I found myself asking, “what do I want to reform about the modern church?” The songs that follow are arrangements of hymns and original compositions inspired by scripture and other Christian writings that began to answer this question for me. They talk about rediscovering what the actual purposes of the church are, letting God lead us and work through us, changing as we grow and learn, and loving God, others, and ourselves unconditionally and completely. The music is diverse in genres and allows opportunities for choir, SATB soloists, congregation, organ, piano, and possibly even guitar and other instruments if deemed appropriate. Finally, the United Methodist Church offers a beautiful theological reason for its observance of Reformation Day that I thought would aid in the performance of this work:
“Our roots are deep in the Anglican tradition: Both John and Charles Wesley were priests in the Church of England. There are a number of reasons we should observe the day. The themes of the Reformation remain the great themes and principles of our own faith today. The great schism that occurred in the church remains with us. Our fractured denominations have entered into dialogue and cooperative activities that have brought us closer together. Today we may observe Reformation Day with a sense of moving toward unity and community. It is an opportunity to repent of the sins and excesses of the past and to celebrate our common faith, even if we still cannot celebrate a common ritual and sacrament. Reformation today can represent healing of old wounds as, together, we all work to build and strengthen Christ's church and love one another as Christ has loved us.”

Songs:
“The Church’s One Foundation” by Samuel Sebastian Wesley & Samuel John Stone, arr. Kelvyn Koning (organ with congregation)
“Be Still and Know” by Kelvyn Koning (choir with piano)
“Return to Your Roots” by Kelvyn Koning (bass solo with piano & optional guitar)
“Oaks of Righteousness” by Kelvyn Koning (choir with piano)
“Lead Me, Guide Me” by Doris Akers, arr. Kelvyn Koning (organ with congregation)
“Loaves & Fish” by Kelvyn Koning (tenor solo with alto solo, choir, & piano or guitar)
“Ecclesia semper reformanda est: The Church Must Always Be Reformed” by Kelvyn Koning (choir with soprano, tenor & bass solos, piano & optional guitar)
“Heaven” by Kelvyn Koning (soprano solo with piano)
“I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light” by Kathleen Thomerson, arr. Kelvyn Koning (organ with congregation)
“Adonai El Roi: The God Who Sees Me” by Kelvyn Koning (alto solo with piano & optional guitar)
“Oh, How He Loves You and Me” by Kurt Kaiser, arr. Kelvyn Koning (organ with congregation)
“I Am Fully Known” by Kelvyn Koning (choir with piano)


4. Oaks of Righteousness

United in Song • solo voice or SATB chorus a cappella • ca. 2'30''
Artist: Lawrence University Viking Chorale
publisher: MariValverde.com MVC-173

THE BLUE, THE RED, the white, the black, the brown,
And all the colors in-between,
Women and men and everyone who breathes
Can sing along with me:
We dream of a land of a world
Brave enough, proud enough to be
United in song
To fight for justice and peace.

Your god, my god, our right to believe, or not—
We all eat from an earth that’s green.
All bodies, all minds, the young, and elderly,
We all want to be heard and seen.
We dream of a land of a world
Brave enough, proud enough to be
United in song
To fight for justice and peace.

Text: Mari Esabel Valverde

Copyright © September 2017 Mari Esabel Valverde. All Rights Reserved.

Fall Concert 2018

United in Song: An Anthem for Our Time (SATB)

"Ale" - Laura Nevitt, Edgar Allan Poe
Performed by Nightingale Vocal Ensemble
May 10, 2019
Saint Peter's Episcopal Church, Cambridge, MA

Prayer of St. Francis • SATB chorus and piano • ca. 3'
artist: Emory Mastersingers
publisher: MariValverde.com MVC-111

LORD, make me an instrument
of your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
And where there is sadness, joy.
Oh, divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born
to eternal life.

text: Francesco d'Assisi

Copyright © 2013 Mari Esabel Valverde. All rights reserved.

Image: "St. Francis in Ecstasy" (ca. 1650) by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto)

Prayer of St. Francis (SATB)

"For Beauty" (2002) - Laura Nevitt
Text by Emily Dickson

Laura Nevitt, soprano
Jane Nevitt, piano

Laura Nevitt Senior Voice Recital

For Beauty

V.1 
It’s all over the afternoon news 
Words you’re speaking, didn’t have to choose
Between life or death 
Or the ones you have left.

You need to sit down 
Like a child in a china shop 
Wrecking ball with your hands aloft
Wreaking havoc with your slightest touch

It doesn’t matter what your intent was 
Colonizers were all auspicious

CHORUS
Till they weren’t.
The mask fell and it hurt to
See all the wounds and bruises
Left on us by you
It’s still felt though
The scourge of your deluded daydreams
Laid upon the earth, water, sky, and stream
Land’s still bleeding

So don’t tell us what to do 
We know this land better than you do.

V.2
There so many things you have to unlearn 
Your own heart and history 
To grapple with and turn 
You come here and take and take and take
Till you’re gorged on us
Then you wipe your mouth and leave 
Like the plunderers you are so

What does it matter what your intent was? 
Colonizers seemed so auspicious

CHORUS
Till they weren’t.
The mask fell and it hurt to
See all the wounds and bruises
Left on us by you 
It’s still felt though
The scourge of your deluded daydreams 
Laid upon the earth, water, sky, and stream
Land’s still bleeding

So don’t tell us what to do
We love this land better than you do.

BRIDGE
Oh take a seat, listen and learn 
Fall on your knees, ashes and burning 
There’s no turning for you 
Till you reckon and burn these truths
Into your heart then let it out 
In the work of your hands, we’re gonna shout it 
That everything else can change
Well then, so can you

It doesn't matter what your intent was 
Colonizers were auspicious

CHORUS
Till they weren’t.
The mask fell and it hurt to
See all the wounds and bruises
Left on my people by you 
It’s still felt though
The scourge of your deluded daydreams
Laid upon the earth, water, sky, and stream
Land’s still bleeding

So don’t tell us what to do 
We know this land better than you do
Don’t you tell us what to do
No, this land never needed you. 
                ~~~

Writer & composer: Joella Ranaivoson
Vocals & Guitar: Joella Ranaivoson
Producer: Joella Ranaivoson
Engineering & Mixing: Toky Ar at Lovasoa Sound Studio, Antsirabe, Madagascar

COLONIZERS

"Ale" 
Music: Laura Nevitt
Text: Edgar Allan Poe

Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, May 2019
Kelvyn Koning
Fran Daniel Laucerica
Jennifer Muñoz
Laura Nevitt
Benjamin Perry

Ale - Laura Nevitt

Our first studio album, Sonic Visions, recorded in September 2020 in the Shatto Chapel at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.

Michael Alfera, artistic director
Tali Tadmor, accompanist
Jett Galindo, recording, mixing, and mastering engineer
Gerald White, album producer

4. Oaks of Righteousness

Kelvyn Koning Music

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