Catalog Category: Youth Chorus

Community Songbook (free download)

Description The community songbook is a collection of songs and short pieces that I’ve written over the years for communities. This collection is licensed under Creative Commons, and is available for free download (see sidebar to download) This volume contains: More songs will be added as they are written. You do not need any permission/clearance … Read more

Behta Jaa (from Sŭnaao) – (version for 2 treble voices)

Program Notes (see the full version of Sunaao for program notes) Text (by Reena Bhansali) III. Behta Jaa Na-daal khud pe tu zyaada zorBhool jaao duniya ka yeh saara shorNadi ke saath behta jaaHavaa ke saath uṛta jaa Don’t be too hard on yourselfForget the noise of the worldGo on flowing with the riverGo on … Read more

The Love of Thousands (SSAA version)

*note: the SSAA version on this page is the same music as above in a different arrangement. There is also a 12-voice treble version which is much longer. If you are looking for the more popular version, this is it. Program Notes This is one of those stories that has the aura of a myth, … Read more

If the River Leaves Without Me (SATB)

Program Notes Something that looks brave on the outside doesn’t always feel brave on the inside.  Sometimes what that feels right to us on the inside can separate us from the flow of everyone and everything around us. And yet, we are still compelled to take that first step away from the familiar, well-trodden path … Read more

If the River Leaves Without Me (SSAA)

Program Notes Something that looks brave on the outside doesn’t always feel brave on the inside.  Sometimes what that feels right to us on the inside can separate us from the flow of everyone and everything around us. And yet, we are still compelled to take that first step away from the familiar, well-trodden path … Read more

Dhire Dhire (version for SATB)

Program Notes I am constantly drawn to the ‘dohe’ (couplets) of Kabir. His statements are pithy but their meanings are vast. They have been set and sung for hundreds of years in the Hindustani classical tradition, and they seem to meet each generation of performers and listeners in a unique way.  This tiny couplet is … Read more

The Love of Thousands (SATB version)

Program Notes This is one of those stories that has the aura of a myth, but sometimes these little miracles happen to each of us. One afternoon in the summer of 2018, I was at the Corona Institute for Women, a women’s jail just outside of Los Angeles doing a concert of some of my … Read more

Ram Tori Maya – 2-part treble choir

Please note: the recording above is the original, for two Hindustani singers and string quartet. When a recording becomes available of this version, it will be posted here. Program Notes This bhajan arrangement (based on a tune by Ninu Majumdar, with words from the ancient Indian saint-poet Barabas) has a message that is so relevant … Read more

Sunāō (सुनाऔ)

Program Notes Sunaao is a set of three pieces designed to introduce young choirs to the Hindi/Urdu language. Aao beckons us to share our musical traditions with one another, exploring changing open vowels. Khattar Pattar uses a distinctive style of Hindi/Urdu onomatopoeia to describe how we sometimes let our thoughts run out of control. Behta … Read more

Jahaaṅ

Program Notes Jahaaṅ translates roughly to, “the place where…” It is this sense of both distance and possibility that I wanted to convey in these arrangements of folk songs from different states and languages within India. Each of these songs touches on the feeling of ‘home’ in a different way. Mor Bani Thanghat Kare (Gujarati) … Read more

Listen

Program Notes When I worked with Urban Voices Project, a choir on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, I met a man named Brian Palmer. He used to say, “One act of love, I know for sure, is to listen.” We lost Brian a few years later, suddenly and unexpectedly. And as I struggled to … Read more