Refuge (2023)
SATB choir, trombone, piano
c. 6 minutes
text by members of the Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir and Sara Teasdale
Cover art © 2023 by Olive Graves. All Rights Reserved.
Commissioned by the Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir, Anna Doering, director
Premiered by the Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir, Anna Doering, director
John Glenn High School, Bay City, MI, 10 May 2023
c. 6 minutes
text by members of the Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir and Sara Teasdale
Cover art © 2023 by Olive Graves. All Rights Reserved.
Commissioned by the Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir, Anna Doering, director
Premiered by the Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir, Anna Doering, director
John Glenn High School, Bay City, MI, 10 May 2023
My process of composing Refuge (2023) began in conversation with Anna Doering and the Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir. In talking with the ensemble, I was immediately struck by their strong sense of community and love for making music with one another. The text of Refuge reflects this. Inspired by a stanza from Sara Teasdale’s “Refuge” (1917) that highlights the healing power of singing, members of the choir responded to one of two prompts. The first of these prompts asked students to pose a question about something that worried them. In the second prompt, students completed a sentence pulled straight from Teasdale’s poem that began, “With my singing I can...”
The final text of Refuge combines the students’ responses. At the center of the text and at the most climactic moment of the work, the choir sings the stanza from Teasdale’s poem:
For with my singing I can make
A refuge for my spirit’s sake,
A house of shining words, to be
My fragile immortality.
Following this, the choir repeats a variation on Teasdale’s first line and a half, yet the “I” statements have been replaced by first-person plural: “With our singing we can make a refuge.” The piano and trombone gradually fade out and join the choir in singing. The work ends a cappella, with hope and determination to use one’s voice to create safe spaces through music.
Refuge was commissioned by the Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir, directed by Anna Doering. My thanks go to Olive Graves for creating the beautiful cover art to this score, and to the entire Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir for participating in the creative process and bringing this music to life.
Text
What if I choose the wrong thing?
What if I don’t succeed?What if people think I’m weird?
What if I’m forgotten?
Why do I always get scared if I can remember things?
Why is it so hard to say goodbye?
Why do I psych myself out when I know it perfectly?
Am I good enough at what I love to do?
How do I make myself proud?
With my singing I can be my true self.
With my singing I can express how I feel.
With my singing I can make a difference.
With my singing I can leave everything behind.
With my singing I can transport myself to another world.
With my singing I can be free.
With my singing I can make
A refuge for my spirit’s sake,
A house of shining words, to be
My fragile immortality.
With our singing we can make a refuge,
A home.
The final text of Refuge combines the students’ responses. At the center of the text and at the most climactic moment of the work, the choir sings the stanza from Teasdale’s poem:
For with my singing I can make
A refuge for my spirit’s sake,
A house of shining words, to be
My fragile immortality.
Following this, the choir repeats a variation on Teasdale’s first line and a half, yet the “I” statements have been replaced by first-person plural: “With our singing we can make a refuge.” The piano and trombone gradually fade out and join the choir in singing. The work ends a cappella, with hope and determination to use one’s voice to create safe spaces through music.
Refuge was commissioned by the Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir, directed by Anna Doering. My thanks go to Olive Graves for creating the beautiful cover art to this score, and to the entire Bangor Township Schools Varsity Choir for participating in the creative process and bringing this music to life.
Text
What if I choose the wrong thing?
What if I don’t succeed?What if people think I’m weird?
What if I’m forgotten?
Why do I always get scared if I can remember things?
Why is it so hard to say goodbye?
Why do I psych myself out when I know it perfectly?
Am I good enough at what I love to do?
How do I make myself proud?
With my singing I can be my true self.
With my singing I can express how I feel.
With my singing I can make a difference.
With my singing I can leave everything behind.
With my singing I can transport myself to another world.
With my singing I can be free.
With my singing I can make
A refuge for my spirit’s sake,
A house of shining words, to be
My fragile immortality.
With our singing we can make a refuge,
A home.