C o n c e r t s
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After the premiere of Wintertide, a wonderful performance!
Picture credit: Ron Anderson @ SDPProductions
2023
Jan
29
The Compline Choir
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral,
Seattle, WA, 9:30 PM, also available via radio or Internet streaming
—Reprise of Lord, it is night
Premiered in October 2021 by The Compline Choir, Lord, it is night is scored for men's voices (divisi up to six parts) and organ. The text comes from the "Night Prayer" section of A New Zealand Prayer Book - He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa. The text and history of how it came to be written can be found here.
FEB
18
In All My Songs is scored for women's choir and piano and is a setting of a Sara Teasdale poem titled "It Will Not Change" that is infused with the idea that love, and the poetry that is inspired by it, will live on in song. The music is tonal with colorful harmonies, some jazz-based. Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), an American lyric poet who often focused on themes of love, the beauty of nature, and life’s final transitions, was considered to be one of America’s finest women poets. This setting is from a poem included in her work "Flame and Shadow" that was released in 1920.
mar
11
12
March 11 – 7:30 PM, First First Congregational Church of Bellevue
March 12 – 3:00 PM, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
—Performance of Only the heart will hear
Only the heart will hear evokes the winter season with a sprightly tune that segues into a richly harmonic middle section, which then returns to the up-tempo melodies that began the piece. The work features six-part writing (SSATBB) and a piano part that is a reduction of the original chamber orchestra accompaniment. The text is based on poems by the late Northwest poet, Gordon E, Abshire.
Jun
10
All My Songs for You is a three-movement work commissioned by Ancora, scored for women's choir and piano, that sets Sara Teasdale poems, all from her 1920 work Flame and Shadow. The choir premiered the final movement ("In All My Songs") on their Transient Glory concert in February 2023. The music is tonal with colorful harmonies, some jazz-based. Sara Teasdale (1884–1933), an American lyric poet who often focused on themes of love, the beauty of nature, and life’s final transitions, was considered to be one of America’s finest women poets.
Jun
10
Seattle First Baptist Church, 8:00 PM, Seattle, WA
​—Performance of Curve of Gold
Curve of Gold is scored for Soprano, SATB (some divisi), and piano. It is a meditation on love's journey as we seek, find, and sometimes lose our way. This setting of Sara Teasdale poems explores love's journey through four vignettes. The set opens with the tale of ephemeral love, comparing the eternal cycles of the moon to the brevity of love. The second movement expresses how another's love transforms our common experience and sets the shared surroundings "delicately alight." The third movement contemplates love's loss, and the memories of kinder times. The final movement describes how we can carry love as a beacon, a lamp, through the darkness as life reaches its journey's end.
2022
Apr
25
26
Utah Chamber Artists
Salt Lake City, UT, 8:00 PM
—Premiere of When All Falls Silent
When All Falls Silent is scored for SATB voices and is a rich work that combines a fluid approach to tonal centers with many instances of divisi. The sound is intended to embrace the singers and the audience with warmth and depth. The beautiful poem leads us finally to ask, what can we hear when we are quiet enough to listen?
May
1
Roane Choral Society
and Oak Ridge Chorus
First United Methodist Church,
Oak Ridge, TN, 3:00 PM
—Performance of Weathered Days
Weathered Days is scored for SATB chorus, and in this performance will be accompanied by strings. The settings of these five haiku-like poems written by Gordon Abshire form a narrative in which the first three poems are tinged with melancholy as leaves are torn from branches, memories languish, and plum blossoms offer fragrance even to the one who breaks the branch. But in the final two poems the piece turns toward dawn and shimmering light, and the dark night passes. Rich timbres underline the spare lines of poetry and the compositional style shifts between homophonic and polyphonic passages throughout the piece.
jun
11
Songs for Genie is scored for unison and two-part treble voices and piano. It includes Marmalade Maddy (a humorous, heartfelt, and playful unison piece for young singers), The Fog (a simple and serene work for intermediate singers that uses flowing vocal lines above a fluid piano accompaniment that mimics the rolling swirls of fog itself), and Tyger, burning bright (a dynamic and rhythmic work for intermediate to advanced singers that sets the famous William Blake poem).
SEPT
26
Utah Chamber Artists
Salt Lake City, UT, Time TBD
—Premiere of Sandburg Songs
Sandburg Songs is scored for SATB voices, strings, and piano and sets four poems by the American poet Carl Sandburg with warm and rich harmonies. The themes are love and remembrance, longing and fulfillment.
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From the Utah Chamber Artists' website:
Over the years Utah Chamber Artists has been fortunate to collaborate with some of the best choral composers working today. We are going to showcase their music in our September concert. One of our most recent commissions is a piece called “Sandburg Songs” by Seattle composer Donald Skirvin. We are delighted to premiere this piece at our September 26 concert along with music by British composer Tarik O’Regan, Latvian composer Ä’riks Ešenvalds, and American composers J.A.C. Redford and Christopher Bradford.
2021
The Compline Choir
St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, 9:30 PM, also available via radio or Internet streaming
—Premiere of Lord, it is night
Oct
24
Lord, it is night is scored for men's voices (divisi up to six parts) and organ. The text comes from the "Night Prayer" section of A New Zealand Prayer Book - He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa. The text and history of how it came to be written can be found here.
2020
​
The following concerts and others have been canceled for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Stay safe and take necessary precautions. The music is temporarily silenced, but the voices will return and sing once more.
. . . about to bloom
Vocalise
Concert to be rescheduled because
of restrictions due to the pandemic.
—Performances of Winter's Cloak and Unseen Buds
TBD
In the . . . about to bloom concert, Vocalise premieres Winter's Cloak (text by Joyce Rupp), a work scored for a cappella women's ensemble. Also to be premiered is Unseen Buds (text by Walt Whitman), a work scored for soprano and piano.
TBD
The concert is being rescheduled because of the pandemic crisis. For its first concert in 2020, L.A. Choral Lab presents a program of textural, spectral, aleatoric, and spatial choral compositions in a warehouse in south Los Angeles. Included in this concert is Ancient Roses, Movement I of the three-movement , double-chorus a cappella work Echoes from the Heart.
2019
Feb
23
24
Scored for soprano solo, mixed chorus, and piano, Canticles of Crimson was commissioned by Kirkland Choral Society in honor of their 30th anniversary season. Poems by the American "Poet of the People," Carl Sandburg, are set in this five-movement work, which explores the realities and dreams of lovers, the cycles of life from birth to death, and the hope that love will touch our lives with a thousand beautiful memories. Renowned soprano soloist, Tess Altiveros, will sing the solo in this world premiere, making it the second world premiere she has sung that was written by the composer.
Feb
23
24
Larimer Chorale ​
Ft. Collins, CO
—Performance of Sometimes, for eternity
Scored for chorus and solo violin, Sometimes, for eternity is an ode to those whose lives were well-lived in music. The setting is direct and accessible, employs rich harmonies, and is constructed with careful attention to voice-leading. A requiem of sorts, the piece ends with the lyric “Each dawn: a song sparrow on my headstone trilling lux aeterna. Not for me; but not minding if I'd listen sometimes for eternity.”
Emerald Ensemble
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
Seattle, WA
—Performance of Autumn Equinox: The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee
Jul​​
11
Scored for a cappella chorus, Autumn Equinox: The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee sets the poetry of N. Scott Momaday. This setting describes the various delights the poet finds in the natural world and with which he identifies (e.g., "I am a feather on the bright sky / I am the blue horse that runs in the plain . . .") The quick tempo and constantly shifting rhythmic structure follows the poem rather than forcing the words into a predictable and regular time signature. This creates a feeling of wonder and excitement that culminates in the ecstatic proclamation, "I am alive!"
University Unitarian Performances
Dec
8
Scored for mixed chorus, handbells, and piano, Winter Peace, A Lullaby is a calm, meditative piece, a lullaby that describes a quiet winter’s day and evening that drifts into a winter’s rest. There are no large, dramatic climaxes, only a sense of calm that comes when snow falls, the fire crackles, and the winter night is filled with crystal stars.
Additional concerts in 2019
Upcoming concerts also include performances of There will come soft rains (a cappella) and Dona eis requiem (men's chorus version with piano). Dates and places may be added later for these concerts.
2018
Sounds and Sweet Airs
Feb
11
Mar
11
17
18
Seattle Pro Musica
-
St, John's Episcopal Church, Olympia WA
-
Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood WA
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Seattle First Baptist Church, Seattle WA
-
Faith Lutheran Church, Redmond WA
—Premiere of Fear no more
Seattle Pro Musica will join more than two dozen of Seattle’s performing arts organizations to celebrate William Shakespeare’s impact on Western culture. Its concert Sounds and Sweet Airs will present choral settings of poetry and prose by the Bard of Avon–including newly commissioned works by Northwest composers Jessica French, Don Skirvin, and Giselle Wyers. Scored for SATB a cappella chorus and titled Fear no more, my work is a setting of the threnody from the play Cymbeline.
Feb​​
14
This concert features the beloved Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzer and Neue Liebeslieder Waltzer song cycles as well as art songs. The program includes my concert aria Through Love’s Eyes for baritone and piano, the first movement of the three-movement song cycle “Love, Madness, and Mystery” that sets soliloquies from two additional Shakespeare plays. This first movement recounts some of Shakespeare’s observations about love from several of his plays. This premiere is sung by renowned bass-baritone Scott Kovacs.
MAY​​
5
Opus 7
University Congregational United Church of Christ, 8 PM
Seattle, WA
—Performance of Weathered Days
Opus 7 celebrates the musical contributions of some of our region’s most prominent choral composers. My piece, Weathered Days, received its premiere at this concert. This popular biannual event features choral works by Northwest composers, including Opus 7’s Composer-in-Residence John Muehleisen, and Opus 7’s Student Choral Composition Awards Program winners.
Montessori School of Dayton concert
Late​​
NOV
Seventh & eighth-grade chorus
Montessori School of Dayton
Dayton, OH
—Performance of Summer Storm
The seventh & eighth-grade chorus will be performing Summer Storm, a movement from the larger work, Four Songs of the Seasons, under the direction of Sarah Oliver.
Dec​​
7
8
9
The Esoterics
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7 December 2018 | St Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Seattle
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8 December 2018 | Holy Rosary Catholic Church in West Seattle
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9 December 2018 | St. John’s Episcopal Church in Olympia
—Performance of Places, like music and There will come soft rains
ADŌRŌ | The reimagined prayer | The wish within silence concert features music by Mason Bates, Joseph Gregorio, Donald Skirvin, and Christina Whitten Thomas. The Esoterics reprises Places, like music, its commissioned work from the 2016 concert, TEASDALE: Across the endless spaces. This year-end concert marks the end of the 25 anniversary year for The Esoterics and the conclusion of its year-long musical exploration of secular versions of sacred forms.
2017
MAR​​
25
Boston Choral Ensemble
First Church
Cambridge, MA
—Performance of Clear evening
In this highly unusual and innovative program, BCE invites its audience to experience changes in a pattern in color through a multi-sensory concert. Presented like a gourmet tasting menu in this concert, music will ravish the ear, scratch-and-sniff cards will evoke a multitude of smells, projected images will relate to and enhance the music, and there will even be the opportunity to combine music and taste!
Alchemy
May​​
1
Utah Chamber Artists
Libby Gardner Concert Hall
The University of Utah
—Performance of Alchemy
Alchemy – Donald Skirvin
Rejoice in the Lamb – Benjamin Britten
Neue Liebeslieder Walzes Op. 25 – Brahms
Alchemy is described as a magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value. Donald Skirvin bases his work on poems by Sara Teasdale and points out that “just as the ancient practice of alchemy endeavored to turn dross into gold, this setting of Teasdale’s poems traces a series of poetic and musical transformations along life’s journey.” Rejoice in the Lamb by Benjamin Britten also employs a little alchemy by creating a litany from common place things such as animals, nature, and even letters of the alphabet.
May​​
11
14
18
Boston Choral Ensemble
Charles Hayden Planetarium
Museum of Science, Boston, MA
—Performance of Clear evening
We're pleased that our fourth concert this season returns to the Charles Hayden Planetarium at Boston’s Museum of Science for a visual and aural feast entitled Cosmos. Our music by Ä’riks Ešenvalds, Randall Stroope, Robert Schumann, and others will be made visible by a series of projections on the planetarium’s dome. The concert will include the world premiere of a new work by Stacy Garrop, winner of our 2016 commission competition.
Made in Washington
May​​
20
Kirkland Choral Society
Bastyr University Chapel
Kenmore, WA
—Performance of Curve of Gold
KCS’ season finale celebrates the work of some of our finest local composers, including Morten Lauridsen, Melinda Bargreen, Donald Skirvin, Vijay Singh, Giselle Wyers, John Muehleisen, Reg Unterseher, and Karen Thomas. This concert also features the winner of our 2017 Young Composer Contest.
Sept
24
Boston Choral Ensemble
Charles Hayden Planetarium
Museum of Science, Boston, MA
—Performance of Clear evening
CfA Solar Storm/COSMOS Choral Ensemble Planetarium Event, a one-of-a-kind, private planetarium experience, including a science presentation on solar storms narrated by Dr. Kelly Korreck, followed by a choral performance, COSMOS, by the Boston Choral Ensemble, featuring space-themed music and images.
Oct​​
14
Kirkland Choral Society
First Baptist Church of Seattle
Seattle, WA
—Performance of Curve of Gold
KCS will reprise its performance of Curve of Gold with Holly Boaz as the soloist. KCS is the final choir to perform in the GSCC Festival at around 8:20 PM, just before the closing Festival Sing.
Oct​​
27
Vocalise Women's Ensemble
The Chapel in the Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, WA
—Premiere of Ave Maris Stella
Vocalise, a new women's ensemble dedicated to performing and recording living composers' works, is having its inaugural concert—Out of the Box—on Friday, October 27 at The Chapel in the Good Shepherd Center. National and international composers whose music will be performed include Stef Conner, Joshua Fishbein, Donald M. Skirvin, Rita Ueda, Reg Unterseher, and Philip Wharton.
2016
DEC​​
17
Northwest Girlchoir Fresca at Meany Hall, UW, Seattle
—Performance of Winter Circle
DEC​​
9
10
Seattle Choral Company with Ancora Women's Choir at St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle
—Premiere of Wintertide
DEC​​
2
3
4
The Esoterics
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12/2 St Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Seattle
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12/3 Holy Rosary Catholic Church, West Seattle
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12/4 Christ Episcopal Church, Tacoma, WA — A Skirvin/Teasdale concert of 18 a cappella works written for The Esoterics, including 3 premieres.
MAY​​
6
7
8
North Star Vocal Artists
Various venues in and around the North Bay area in California
—Performance of ...stars to hold
Back & Forth
MAY​​
2
Utah Chamber Artists
Libby Gardner Concert Hall
The University of Utah
—Premiere of Winter Scenes
Utah Chamber Artists wraps up its celebratory season by looking ahead in a concert called "Back & Forth," May 2, 2016. Barlow Bradford, the choir, and orchestra will premiere four new works commissioned on the occasion of the ensemble's silver anniversary. Audiences will be introduced to music by internationally acclaimed composers Eric Barnum, Donald Skirvin, Dale Warland and a new piece by Utah composer Christopher Bradford, written for choir and crystal goblets.
Miscellaneous 2016 performances
Various national and international performances for which locations are known of Winter Circle or The Ships of Yule in Thorndon, Wellington, NZ; Salmon Arm, BC, CA; Belle Haven, VA, US; Bangkok, Bangna, TH; Belle Haven, VA, US; and Saint Louis, MO, US.
Additionally, multiple performances in unspecified locations (publisher does not report chorus or location for tracking purposes) of Sometimes, for eternity; Only the Heart Will Hear; The Ships of Yule; and Clear Evening.