Music

Since 2023, St. Luke’s has sponsored a Call for New Sacred Choral Works, inviting composers from around the world to submit new music for use with our choir and instrumentalists during our worship services. We, like many church and community choirs, are small but mighty, so our call for scores focuses on works in three parts (SAB) with sacred text from any faith tradition. Our call for the 2024-2025 season just closed, but look for our next call in the spring of 2025!

Past Winners

Joseph Fong, God of All Creation
fongmusic.com
Joseph Fong (born 1974) studied piano with Gabriel Kwok in his native Hong Kong and holds a Licentiate diploma in piano performance from Trinity College London. He studied music composition with Jonathan Berger at Yale University, where he earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Joseph’s setting of Lauda Anima Mea Dominum (Psalm 145:2), for women’s chorus and organ, won First Prize in the University of Notre Dame Magnificat Choir Composition Commission Competition in 2020. His composition Oh, That I Were As In Months Past (based on Job 29), for unaccompanied mixed choir, won First Prize in the Notre Dame Basilica Schola Composition Commission Competition in 2021. His Nine Vignettes for Carillon won Second Prize in the 2021 Franco Composition Contest organized by The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA). His Four Reflections for solo carillon won First Prize in GCNA’s 2023 Franco Composition Contest. Both compositions were published by the GCNA. During 2023-2024, in addition to the premiere of God of All Creation, Joseph’s compositions Dark House (set to Tennyson’s poem, for unaccompanied mixed choir) and O Magnum Mysterium (for mixed choir and piano) will receive their premiere performances in Massachusetts and Missouri. Joseph resides in New York with his wife and three daughters.

Taleya Jordan, Bring Justice
taleyajordanmusic.com
Taleya Jordan is a vocalist who specializes in a wide range of musical styles including classical, jazz, musical theatre, church music, and pop music. Her extensive repertoire includes notable performances in prestigious events such as the Mozart Opera Workshop and her featured soloist role in Vivaldi’s Gloria. In addition to her stage presence, Taleya has showcased her talent in various musical theatre productions, taking on notable roles such as Mrs. Bedwin in “Oliver,” Cabaret Performer in “Wilber’s Disco Inferno of Love,” and Ethel McCormack in “Footloose.” Beyond her stage performances, Taleya actively engages in music composition and voice instruction, offering her expertise through her private studio. Taleya’s artistic vision extends beyond mere entertainment, as she envisions a powerful fusion of activism and music within her choral compositions. Her works aim to elevate pressing societal issues by employing captivating melodies, evocative harmonies, and thought-provoking lyrics. By adopting the perspective of the younger generation, Taleya effectively amplifies their voices and illuminates their unique challenges, presenting them as the guiding force of our collective future. Through her music, Taleya Jordan aspires not only to foster a deep connection with performers but also to inspire them to become passionate advocates for transformative change.

Anselm McDonnell, Psalm 16
www.anselmguitar.co.uk
Anselm McDonnell is an Irish/Welsh composer based in Belfast who has composed over eighty pieces for orchestra, chamber groups, choirs, soloists, and electronics. His music has been performed in thirteen countries and he has been commissioned by some of the top new music ensembles in the UK/Ireland, such as the London Symphony Orchestra (where he is a Jerwood Resident Composer for 2023-24), BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Crash Ensemble. His music features on nine CDs, including two self-released albums: Light of Shore, and Kraina (early 2024). In June 2023 he had portrait concerts dedicated to his music in Bangkok, and Chiang Mai, Thailand, by the TACETi Ensemble. His music has been played at the National Concert Hall Dublin, LSO St. Luke’s, Wigmore Hall, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, and in early 2024 his music will be played in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. His compositions have been described as “abrasive and compelling”; (Irish Times), “bristling with energy”; (GoldenPlec), “an overall sense of anarchic
freedom”; (Journal of Music) and “perhaps the contrasts and complexities that it contains are a musical reflection of the multi-layered nature of what it means to be a composer in a community as complex as Northern Ireland.”; (Robert Hugill)

Mary Lou Prince, On the Holy Mountain
http://marylouprincemusic.com/
Mary Lou Prince is a composer, conductor and performer. After formal study of composition in the United States and a year in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, she lived in Japan for over two decades, working with Japanese instruments and theater forms. Her work for Japanese koto and shakuhachi won national composition awards and was performed in festivals and on “Noh” stages in Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe and Kanazawa. She was commissioned to compose new music for Geisha musicians, theater, film and a TV documentary that was shortlisted for an Emmy Award. Her music has been broadcast over numerous media including the BBC, NHK in Japan, and NPR. She has composed two symphonies, a chamber opera, solo and chamber music and choral music. Her choral song cycle Songs of the Earth was featured at the Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City and she was commissioned to write the theme song for the Parliament opening ceremony. Topaz, for string orchestra and harp was performed by Sinfonia Salt Lake and in Tucson at the “Nadia Boulanger and Her Students Festival.”

Fahad Siadat, Prière
www.fahadsiadat.com
Fahad Siadat creates interdisciplinary pieces exploring the intersection of creative and religious practices that “border on being a spiritual journey” (LA Dance Chronicle). His work is described by the press as “evoking wonder, desire, and terror” (Off Broadway), “hypnotic” (Backstage) and having “a sophisticated harmonic vocabulary” (San Diego Story). Fahad is the director of the Resonance Collective, a multifaceted organization which explores and expands our definition of sacred music through the creation of original works, the curation of the Golden Thread Concert Series, and empowering other creative artists to tell their own sacred stories through the N.E.O. Voice Festival, a week-long celebration of new music for the voice. He is also the director and singing member of LA’s premiere new music vocal ensemble HEX, an award-winning sextet described by the LA Times as “a luminous ensemble of singers”. Fahad maintains a robust performing and recording schedule, and has performed as soloist with such groups as LA’s groundbreaking opera company The Industry, and the Grammy Award-Winning ensemble PARTCH, as well as on recordings for artists such as Toby Twining, Daniel Lentz, and Jeonghyeon Joo. As a composer Fahad is regularly commissioned to compose for concert music ensembles, dance companies, and theater troupes including: Theater Dybbuk, Rosanna Gamson/World Wide, Monmouth University, Cor Cantiamo, Northeastern State University, the award winning Armada Films, Jacksonville Dance Theater, the California EAR Unit, New Century Players, and the TOCCATA Orchestra. His music has been performed in Europe, China, and across the United States. Fahad holds degrees from Vanderbilt University and the California Institute of the Arts, from which he received the degree Doctor of Musical Arts.