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

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)

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

Psalm 42 (Sicut Cervus)

Kelvyn Koning Music

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