Performed by Chandler Middle School in 2022
Conducted by Laura Keefover

Text from an unknown Jewish writer, found on a wall in a concentration camp during WW2:

“I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
And I believe in love,
even when there’s no one there.
And I believe in God,
even when He is silent.
I believe through any trial,
there is always a way
But sometimes in this suffering
and hopeless despair
My heart cries for shelter,
to know someone’s there
But a voice rises within me, saying hold on
my child, I’ll give you strength,
I’ll give you hope. Just stay a little while.

May there someday be sunshine
May there someday be happiness
May there someday be love
May there someday be peace….”

I Believe

"Free" was composed by Kelvyn Koning in 2022 for the First Parish in Needham, UU choir. This performance was recorded by the West Michigan Choral Lab (https://linktr.ee/wmcl?fbclid=IwAR0q6T3A2hFCXDpGL_CFEvCz6aLhwjHD5rfyyDutmfzsuZitQA1Pb-8HTV0) at East Church UCC in Grand Rapids, MI.

Piano - Kelvyn Koning
Solos - Carlos Lemagne, Rachel Quillian
Vocalists - Rachel Quillian, Bri Johnson, Ashley Meyers-Petro, Kelvyn Koning, Carlos Lemagne, Khari Neal, Jack D. Reeves, Doug Chu, Judah Weeks

“Free” by Kelvyn Koning

I need a place to call home,
Somewhere that I can let go
Of the tensions I hold
That are crowding my soul.
I need a place to be heard,
I need a space to be seen,
And I need a warm, loving shoulder
On which I can lean.

Let me be free to love.
Let me be free to dance.
Let me be free to hold somebody’s hand.
Let me be free to sing.
Let me be free to breathe.
Let me be free to have a family.
Let me be.

I’ll be your place to call home,
Somewhere that you can let go
Of the tensions you hold
That are crowding your soul.
I’ll be your place to be heard,
I’ll be your space to be seen,
And I’ll be a warm, loving shoulder
On which you can lean.

You can be free to love.
You can be free to dance.
You can be free to hold somebody’s hand.
You can be free to sing.
You can be free to breathe.
You can be free to have a family.

I won’t let you fall to the wayside because I don’t understand.
I won’t let you fall to the shadows when you need a helping hand
Because I need you and you need me to be.

You can be free to love.
You can be free to dance.
You can be free to hold somebody’s hand.
You can be free to sing.
You can be free to breathe.
You can be free to have a family.
You are free. / Let me be. / You can be.
You have a place to call home.

Free

“The Three Goddesses” by Kelvyn Koning
performed by Nightingale Vocal Ensemble in January 2023
at the Museum of Modern Renaissance in Somerville, MA

Note from the Composer:
What initially drew me to the painting that inspired “The Three Goddesses” was the simultaneous individuality and community of the three depicted characters. Each had a distinct color scheme and even element to my view. At first, I thought of fire, water, and earth, but when I considered a sense of teamwork and the abundant growth around them, I thought of the sun, the rain, and the earth working together to grow a garden. Without each of these unique aspects of nature, the cycle of life would not be possible. This made me think of seasons in our lives - some sunny, some rainy, some earthy - and how each of these seasons serve to shape and grow us. Furthermore, I thought of how different types of people working together can accomplish many beautiful things, a frequent observation in my life and work. In the music, you’ll notice that the sopranos and altos sing in three-part harmony as the goddesses, while the tenors and basses sing in three-part harmony as the sun, the rain, and the earth. The piece itself features different seasons in the verses, chorus, and bridge, but the overall quality displays the distinct parts working together like a dance.

Text:
It takes the sun, the rain, the earth
To make a garden grow.
Each goddess holds her worth,
In fruitfulness to show.

The sun to give her light,
Her shining rays of hope,
To lift our spirits high,
And give us strength to cope.

The rain to quench our thirst,
To wash what isn’t clean,
To heal our hearts of hurts,
And keep us fresh and green.

The earth to hold us fast,
And grant us space to be,
Her kind embrace will last,
Her love is wild and free.

Each season has its worth,
Each goddess has her time,
Some moments filled with mirth,
Some gardens full of grime.

Without the other two,
No goddess can succeed,
But three can make a garden
From just the smallest seed.

The Three Goddesses

This song was written and recorded by Kelvyn Koning in 2016 for an earlier draft of "The Prince and the Painter" by Rebecca Wright and Kelvyn Koning, though this song ended up being cut from the show. Cover art by Adam Gurczak.

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Lyrics:

Verse 1 (Ylber):
If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it,
Does it make a sound?
If I sing and no one hears me,
Do I have a voice?
Or can they hear me
And their ignorance is just a choice?

Verse 2:
If the leaves fall from a tree and no one sees,
Is it still autumn?
If I paint and no one ever sees,
Am I still a painter?

Pre-Chorus:
If the things I say and the things I see are different from everyone around me,
Does that make me invisible to them?

Chorus:
I see colors, colors in my mind
I see colors, but they are color-blind
I see colors, the loveliest of hues
I wish they could see my colors true,
But we have different points of view

Bridge:
What’s your excuse?
Say I’m implausible
Shut down my views,
Make me inaudible
You’ve got no clue
That I’m applaudable
I have something to give

Pre-Chorus

Chorus

Verse 3:
If I leave and no one misses me,
Should I have the gall?
I see colors and I love them all

Colors

"Sonya Alone" from Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy, performed by Kelvyn Koning.

Sonya Alone

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)


1. The Church's One Foundation

3. Return to Your Roots

4. Oaks of Righteousness

5. Lead Me, Guide Me

6. Loaves & Fish

7. Ecclesia semper reformanda est - The Church Must Always Be Reformed

8. Heaven

9. I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

10. Adonai El Roi - The God Who Sees Me

11. Oh, How He Loves You and Me

12. I Am Fully Known

Written by Kelvyn Koning, performed by Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, conducted by Elijah Botkin on May 3, 2025 at Old South Church in Gordon Chapel.

https://www.kelvynkoning.com/choral-music.html

I wrote this piece in the autumn of 2024 for Nightingale Vocal Ensemble’s 2025 “Renaissance Reimagined” concert. They asked me to write a piece inspired by Palestrina’s beloved Renaissance motet, “Sicut cervus.” Palestrina wrote this gorgeous Latin setting based on Psalm 42:1, so I decided to start with the Latin and then include more text based off of Psalm 42 in English. My piece has two main sections that recur, one of which has a more classic choral sound, and the other of which has a more contemporary choral sound. You may also hear that my piece is inspired by the staggered entrances of the different voices from Palestrina's version, although I've opted to have more homophonic sections to help the audience understand the text. Like many of the Psalms, this text covers a range of emotions from longing and sorrow to hope and dedication.

Text:

Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum,
ita desiderat anima mea, ad te, Deus.

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul longeth after you (longs for you).
My soul, it thirsts for you.
My soul, it longs for you.
I pour out my soul as I remember joys of old.
Where are you?

My soul, it thirsts for you.
When will we meet again?
My tears have been my food
every day and night.
Why am I downcast? 
Why so disturbed?
I will hope in you
and praise you still.

Deep calls to deep
in the roar of your waterfalls;
All your waves sweep over me.
Why have you forgotten me?
Your love directs me,
your song is with me,
both day and night;
you are my life.
Amen.

Psalm 42 (Sicut Cervus)

I composed this song in 2015 and performed it at my Senior Recital at Calvin College with Angela Dieleman, Naomi Hansen, Ben Feikema, Rachel Quillian, and Nathan Stripp.

Psalm 55 Lord I Trust In You

Even When It Hurts
I wrote this choral arrangement based off Psalm 15 for a Psalm-writing competition. In reading the Psalm, the line “the one who keeps their oath even when it hurts” stuck out to me. I reflected upon how rare it is to find people who keep their promises and remain faithful to each other even when it hurts, as human relationships inevitably do. I thought the self-sacrifice and loyalty in this text was beautiful and so tried to emphasize the beauty and pain in the music, without being too musically complicated so that a church choir could find it accessible.
Performers: Casey Kunmann, soprano; Xavier Durden, tenor; Marcus Schenck, bass; Kelvyn Koning, countertenor, piano

Even When It Hurts (Psalm 15)

Chôros No. 5, “Alma Brasileira” - Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer known for using a unique and “exotic” style, particularly with his frequent use of Brazilian elements in his music. He is associated with Brazilian Modernism and nationalism in his composition, which he exemplifies in Chôros No. 5, composed in 1925. Even the title “Alma Brasileira” (meaning “Brazilian Soul”) shows nationalism. This solo piano piece is one of fourteen pieces comprising what is collectively titled Chôros, with pieces ranging from solos for guitar, piano, or voice to ensembles for chorus with orchestra or multiple orchestras, with varying lengths up to over an hour (Chôros No. 5 being one of the shorter members of this series).
The piece is in simple ternary form (ABA), with a slow and pained, soulful beginning and conclusion, and a faster and more rhythmically intense section in the middle. Despite this common European musical trait, however, the piece is characteristic of Brazil in its use of sensuous rhythmic delay created by overlaying two different rhythmic patterns, the accompaniment in the pianist's left hand which is taken from the popular Brazilian dance type called maxixe, and the sentimental melody reminiscent of parts of Brazil.
-Kelvyn Koning, 2018

Videography/Production - Robert Boisselle
Special thanks to Pat Fisch!

Chôros No. 5, Alma Brasileira - Heitor Villa - Lobos (performed By Kelvyn Koning)

Soprano - Casey Kunmann
Piano - Kelvyn Koning

"Die Through Pain" is a song cycle of three art songs for soprano and piano, set to texts by Emily Dickinson. The name of the cycle comes from the last word in each song respectively, also nodding to some of Emily Dickinson’s favorite themes in poetry. The word “pain” appears in the song cycle three times, each time on the same note, but with a different chord or accompaniment beneath it, to indicate that often as humans we keep returning to our same places of pain, but for new reasons or with new perspectives.

In the first song, “The Heart Asks Pleasure – First,” Dickinson shows a progression of a heart in desperation, seeking first pleasure, then only to avoid pain, then anodynes (drugs) to kill the pain, then to sleep, and finally death. To match this downward spiral, the entire song is a ritardando, gradually slowing from pleasure to a peaceful death.

“While We Were Fearing It” describes a familiarity with fear, to the point where fear almost seems fair. The word “fear” is always on a Gb in this piece, and the word fair is on an F#, which sounds the same but looks different, perhaps like the narrator’s experience. Several of the words in this poem evoked the image of a bride’s wedding anxiety, such as “fear & fair,” “fitting,” “knowing it is here,” “trying on,” and “wearing it a whole existence.” Though a wedding is perhaps not Dickinson’s original intended meaning, tritones are a frequent interval in this song, mimicking the perfect fourth of the famous “Here Comes the Bride” interval, though slightly off-kilter. This text also used the word “it” repeatedly, and so this word always returns to the same pitch in this song to show obsession and anxiety.

Finally, “Pain Has an Element of Blank” discusses confusion with time. The narrator is pain, which is the first and last word of the text. The soprano sings a palindrome (the second stanza being the same pitches as the first in reverse) to reflect pain’s confusion with beginning and ending, and displaying a return back to the pain from the beginning of the song. The piano, however, plays exactly the same material in both stanzas to emphasize the infinity and repetition of pain, although pain comes into a new light as the same pain is accompanied by different perspectives.


Texts:

“The Heart Asks Pleasure – First”

The heart asks pleasure first,	
And then, excuse from pain;	
And then, those little anodynes	
That deaden suffering;	
 
And then, to go to sleep;	        
And then, if it should be	
The will of its Inquisitor,	
The privilege to die.	

“While We Were Fearing It”

While we were fearing it, it came—
But came with less of fear
Because that fearing it so long
Had almost made it fair—

There is a Fitting—a Dismay—
A Fitting—a Despair
'Tis harder knowing it is Due
Than knowing it is Here.

The Trying on the Utmost
The Morning it is new
Is Terribler than wearing it
A whole existence through.

“Pain Has an Element of Blank”

Pain—has an Element of Blank—
It cannot recollect
When it begun—or if there were
A time when it was not—

It has no Future—but itself—
Its Infinite contain
Its Past—enlightened to perceive
New Periods—of Pain.

*Recorded at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Fall 2017

Die Through Pain Song Cycle

This is a choral piece I wrote and performed in 2019 with my vocal ensemble, Nightingale (https://www.facebook.com/NightingaleVocalEnsemble/), setting the words of Siegfried Sassoon:

“Everyone Sang” - Siegried Sassoon

Everyone suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom,
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark-green fields; on - on - and out of sight.
Everyone's voice was suddenly lifted;
And beauty came like the setting sun:
My heart was shaken with tears; and horror
Drifted away ... O, but Everyone
Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

Everyone Sang

This is a choral piece I wrote and performed in 2019 with my vocal ensemble, Nightingale (www.facebook.com/NightingaleVocalEnsemble/).


“Birds of a Feather” - Kelvyn Koning

Birds of a feather always stick together.
Birds of a feather: wingmen forever.
Birds of a feather always stick together.
Birds of a feather: wing friends forever.

Murmuration of starlings,
Ostentation of peacocks,
Convocation of eagles,
Exaltation of larks,

A rookery of penguins,
A rafter of turkeys,
A bevy of quail,
A bevy of swans,
A gulp of cormorants,
A gulp of swallows,
A kettle of hawks (hawks mate for life),
A charm of finches,
A bouquet of pheasants,
A flamboyance of flamingos,
A gaggle of geese,

Pandemonium of parrots,
Pod of pelicans,
Parliament of owls,
Pitying of doves,
Paddling/raft of ducks,
Peep of chickens!

Birds of a feather always stick together.
Birds of a feather: wingmen forever.
Birds of a feather always stick together.
Birds of a feather: wing friends forever.

A watch of nightingales,
A tiding of magpies,
A scold of jays,
A clamor of rooks,
A colony of seagulls,
A mustering of storks,
A ubiquity of sparrows,
A descent of woodpeckers,
A wake of buzzards,
A conspiracy of ravens,
A mob of emus (emo emus),
A siege of herons,
A murder of crows!

Some birds prey (Amen)
And some birds sing (do re mi fa sol),
Some birds can’t fly (like penguins)
Even though they have wings,
But we still love them because they’re birds,
And birds gotta stick with their herds.

Birds of a feather always stick together.
Birds of a feather: wingmen forever.
Birds of a feather always stick together.
Birds of a feather: wing friends forever.
Avian menageries.

Birds of a Feather

From the musical "Happily Ever Aftermath" by Amberly Soto and Kelvyn Koning. This song is sung by Cinderella, who is coming to terms with the fact that her husband, Prince Charming, is gay.

Cindy (Cinderella) - Bonnie Zwigard
Charlie (Charming) - Gabe Huston
Book/Dialogue - Amberly Soto
Composer/Lyricist, Piano - Kelvyn Koning
Director - Melissa Zeller
Music Director - Andrew Gaffney
Choreography - Madeline Miller

No One Has to Know

A solo piano piece written and performed by Kelvyn Koning. "Komorebi" is a Japanese word that roughly translates to "the light that filters through the trees."

"Komorebi" ~haiku by Kelvyn Koning
Sunlight streaming through
The sighing reach of branches,
Longing leaves aglow.

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