Chor Leoni to Premiere Two New Major Choral Compositions at EARTH AND AETHER

Chor Leoni will present the premiere of two groundbreaking choral compositions exploring humanity’s story at Earth and Aether: the archaeology of soul and sky, on stage St. Andrew’s-Wesley United (1022 Nelson St) on May 11, 2024 at 4:00pm. Funded by the Diane Loomer Commissioning Fund, Chor Leoni commissioned two of the world’s sought-after choral composers, Melissa Dunphy and Grammy-nominated Kile Smith, to write a pair of companion pieces for the choir. Chor Leoni will be joined by long-time collaborators, harpist Vivian Chen and saxophonist Julia Nolan for this one-time-only singing experience.

“We’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to collaborate with these two incredible composers and bring these meaningful pieces to life,” says Artistic Director, Erick Lichte. “These new works give us a chance to examine how we live on this planet and bring listeners to a greater understanding of our human past, present, and future.”

Dr. Melissa Dunphy’s composition, "The Things We Leave Behind”, serves as a poignant exploration of humanity's legacies buried beneath the Earth’s surface and how they might appear to future civilizations. Throughout the work, Dunphy contrasts stories of the past with stories humanity is currently creating, from the stone-age Willendorf Venus to mass-produced novelty mugs, and tiny man-made particles embedded in a lake bed.

“Wireless”, Kile Smith’s new work that offers a unique perspective by exploring our earliest radio broadcasts and transmissions between 1896 to 1920, how they may speak to individuals today, and how an extraterrestrial culture might first encounter humanity. Referenced throughout the piece are workaday transmissions such as “Can you hear me?” and “Hello. Test, one, two, three, four,” to emergency calls from the Titanic, to popular songs, opera arias, and one impromptu suffragist’s speech. 

“Like an archaeologist, these remains and historical recordings will be musically and poetically examined for clues as to how fragments from our lives might represent our humanity, culture and values. By projecting into the future, we can also imagine how future civilizations might interpret and understand our current values, for better or for worse,” adds Lichte.

Born to refugee parents and raised in Australia, Dr. Melissa Dunphy immigrated to the United States in 2003 and has since become an award-winning and acclaimed composer specializing in vocal, political, and theatrical music. Dunphy has a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Pennsylvania, a B.M. in Theory and Composition from West Chester University, and is a lecturer in composition at Rutgers University. In 2024, Dunphy was awarded an Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts. She was the recipient of a 2020 Opera America Discovery Grant for Alice Tierney, an opera commissioned by Oberlin Conservatory which premiered in 2023 at Oberlin and Opera Columbus. 

The music of Kile Smith has received three Grammy nominations and is hailed nationally and internationally for its strong voice, sheer beauty, and “profoundly direct emotional appeal.” Leading choral conductor Craig Hella Johnson has called Kile “one of our most important composers … his voice is unlike any other. Utterly unique.” Kile has been commissioned by a number of choirs, including The Crossing, Conspirare, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and many more. His major choral works are heard throughout the US and in Canada, England, and New Zealand. 

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