for SATB Chorus unaccompanied Words by Mary Elizabeth Frye: Public Domain Music by Stanley M. Hoffman © Copyright 2018 by Stanley M. Hoffman. www.stanleymhoffman.com All rights reserved. The poem above is sometimes called “I Am” due to its repet...  morefor SATB Chorus unaccompanied Words by Mary Elizabeth Frye: Public Domain Music by Stanley M. Hoffman © Copyright 2018 by Stanley M. Hoffman. www.stanleymhoffman.com All rights reserved. The poem above is sometimes called “I Am” due to its repetition of the phrase. Was the poem inspired? The Hebrew name for God, YHWH, means “I am” or “I am that I am.” And there does seem to be something magical about the poem, as it was written by a woman who, to our knowledge, had never written a poem before. Mary Elizabeth Frye was an orphan with no formal education. In 1932 she and her husband hosted a young Jewish woman, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who was fleeing the Holocaust. When she received news that her mother had died in Germany, the heartbroken houseguest told Frye in despair that she had never had the chance to “stand by my mother’s grave and shed a tear.” Frye found herself composing the poem above on a ripped-off section of a brown paper shopping bag. She said the words “just came to her.”  less

"Suite de Lorca" by Einojuhani Rautavaara. Text by Federico García Lorca. Performed by the Chamber Singers ensemble of The Girl Choir of South Florida on Friday, May 18, 2012, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Artistic Directo...  more"Suite de Lorca" by Einojuhani Rautavaara. Text by Federico García Lorca. Performed by the Chamber Singers ensemble of The Girl Choir of South Florida on Friday, May 18, 2012, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Artistic Director: Wallis Peterson. Translated Text: 1. Cancion del Jinete (Song of the Horseman) Cordoba. Distant and alone. A black nag, the giant moon, and olives in my saddlebag. Even if I know the way, I never will reach Cordoba. Over the plain, through the wind, a black nag, the bloody moon. The Reaper is watching me from the tall towers of Cordoba. Oh, such a long road! Oh, my valiant nag! Oh, the Reaper awaits me before I ever reach Cordoba! Cordoba. Distant and alone. 2. El Grito (The Scream) The arc of a scream curves from hill to hill. Ay! From the olive trees, a black rainbow over the blue night. Ay! Like a viola's bow, the scream has made the long strings of the wind vibrate. Ay! (The people of the caves put their ...    less

"Come, Pretty Love", Shaker song, arr. Joan Szymko. Recorded live on Friday, May 17, 2013, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Concert Choir ensemble of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic D...  more"Come, Pretty Love", Shaker song, arr. Joan Szymko. Recorded live on Friday, May 17, 2013, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Concert Choir ensemble of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Director: Wallis Peterson. Oh my pretty Mother's home Sweeter than the honey in the comb Come, come, pretty love, come come come Come, come, pretty love, I want some  

"Stand Still" by Dan McGrath, arr. Gayle Giese. Recorded live on Friday, May 16, 2014, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the combined choirs of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Director: Wa...  more"Stand Still" by Dan McGrath, arr. Gayle Giese. Recorded live on Friday, May 16, 2014, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the combined choirs of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Director: Wallis Peterson, Accompanist: Gayle Giese, Violin: Allen Giese.  

"The Singing Place" by Joan Szymko. Text by Lily A. Long. Recorded live on May 15, 2015, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Concert Choir ensemble of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Dir...  more"The Singing Place" by Joan Szymko. Text by Lily A. Long. Recorded live on May 15, 2015, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Concert Choir ensemble of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Director: Wallis Peterson, Accompanist: Gayle Giese. Cold may lie the day, And bare of grace; At night I slip away To the Singing Place. A border of mist and doubt Before the gate, And the Dancing Stars grow still As hushed I wait. Then faint and far away I catch the beat In broken rhythm and rhyme Of joyous feet,— Lifting waves of sound That will rise and swell (If the prying eyes of thought Break not the spell), Rise and swell and retreat And fall and flee, As over the edge of sleep They beckon me. And I wait as the seaweed waits For the lifting tide; To ask would be to awake,— To be denied. I cloud my eyes in the mist ...    less

"Nada te turbe" by Joan Szymko. Text by Saint Teresa of Avila. Recorded live on May 7, 2016, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Concert Choir ensemble of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Director: Wall...  more"Nada te turbe" by Joan Szymko. Text by Saint Teresa of Avila. Recorded live on May 7, 2016, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Concert Choir ensemble of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Director: Wallis Peterson, Cello: Stephanie Jaimes. Nada te turbe nada te espante todo se pasa. Dios no se muda. La paciencia todo alcanza Quien a Dios tiene nada le falta Solo Dios basta. Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you, All things are passing. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God is enough.  less

Kyrylo Stetsenko "Praise the Lord, O my Soul" Performed by Pektoral Chamber Choir (Kyiv, Ukraine). Art Directior - Andriy Karpinets. (Fragment of the concert at Moskow Easter Festival 27th April 2012, at Cathedral of miraclemakers Cosma & Damian in S...  moreKyrylo Stetsenko "Praise the Lord, O my Soul" Performed by Pektoral Chamber Choir (Kyiv, Ukraine). Art Directior - Andriy Karpinets. (Fragment of the concert at Moskow Easter Festival 27th April 2012, at Cathedral of miraclemakers Cosma & Damian in Shubin (Moskow)). Our SoundCloud page: https://soundcloud.com/pektoral-chamber-choir/ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PektoralChoir.Ukraine  

"Carmel Highlands" by Daniel Kallman. Text by Janet Loxley Lewis, from "The Selected Poems of Janet Lewis". Recorded live on Friday, May 16, 2014, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Concert Choir...  more"Carmel Highlands" by Daniel Kallman. Text by Janet Loxley Lewis, from "The Selected Poems of Janet Lewis". Recorded live on Friday, May 16, 2014, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Concert Choir ensemble of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Director: Wallis Peterson, Accompanist: Gayle Giese. Below the gardens and the darkening pines The living water sinks among the stones, Sinking yet foaming till the snowy tones Merge with the fog drawn landward in dim lines. The cloud dissolves among the flowering vines, And now the definite mountain-side disowns The fluid world, the immeasurable zones. Then white oblivion swallows all designs. But still the rich confusion of the sea, Unceasing voice, sombre and solacing, Rises through veils of silence past the trees; In restless repetition bound, yet free, Wave after wave in deluge fresh releasing An ancient speech, hushed in tremendous ease.  less

"Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, arr. Roger Emerson. Recorded live on May 3, 2015, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Chamber Singers and Men's Auxiliary ensembles of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Dir...  more"Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, arr. Roger Emerson. Recorded live on May 3, 2015, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Performed by the Chamber Singers and Men's Auxiliary ensembles of the Girl Choir of South Florida. Artistic Director: Wallis Peterson, Accompanist: Gayle Giese. Now I've heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don't really care for music, do you? It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah You say I took the Name in vain I don't even know the Name But if I did, well really, what's it to you? There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah I did my best, it wasn't much I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you And even though it all went wron...    less

Christmas Oratorio Part I, No.1 J. S. Bach (1685-1750) BWV 248, Vocal score by Gustav Rösler Performed on our annual concert, Nov 18, 2018 At the Aula Simfonia Jakarta