Second Psallite CD to release Fall 2017

The eagerly anticipated release of  the second Psallite CD is just around the corner. Under the direction of Eric A. Johnson, the excellent Cor Cantiamo chamber choir has completed the recording, and production is now in the good hands of the esteemed Abbey Road Studios in London for preparation of an extraordinary CD.

The forthcoming Psallite II CD will feature ten choral works from SDG’s Psalms Project. This new collection of contemporary choral works represents some of today’s foremost composers, including:

Three Pulitzer Prize-winners:
Aaron Jay Kernis
Paul Moravec
Yehudi Wyner

Two composition professors:
Robert Beaser (The Juilliard School)
James Lee III (Morgan State University)

Two women composers:
Victoria Bond (USA)
Roxanna Panufnik (UK)

Three composers from additional countries:
Richard Dubugnon (France)
John Metcalf (Wales)
Sven David Sandström (Sweden)

Eric Johnson with engineer Donald Fraser from Abbey Road Studios (London) recording Paul Moravec’s “I Will Fear No Evil” for Psallite II

“The Psallite II CD contains many exciting compositional voices and colors. Roxanna Panufnik’s Love Endureth, for example, captures a fascinating mix of dramatic text setting while weaving in elements of Spanish Sephardic chants. Richard Dubugnon’s Psalm 10 encompasses the anger, frustration and exploration of the power of the Divine found in Psalm 10. John Metcalf’s Laudate is simply transcendent. We are thoroughly enjoying the sacred spaces created as we work through this stunning music.”
—Eric A. Johnson, Founding Artistic Director, Cor Cantiamo

CONTENTS

Song of the Ascents [Ps. 121]
 Robert Beaser

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place [Ps. 84]
 Victoria Bond

Psalm 10
 Richard Dubugnon

Glorious Majesty [Ps. 104]
 Aaron Jay Kernis

Psalm 111
 James Lee III

Laudate [Ps. 150]
 John Metcalf

I Will Fear No Evil [Ps. 23]
 Paul Moravec

Love Endureth [Ps.136/135]
 Roxanna Panufnik

God Be Merciful [Ps. 67]
 Sven David Sandström

The Lord is close to the heartbroken [Ps. 34, 68]
 Yehudi Wyner

Cor Cantiamo

CHOIR

Cor Cantiamo is a professional touring chamber choir in residence at Northern Illinois University, founded with the mission to perform and promote contemporary choral music and foster new composers for the art form. The ensemble has performed at American Choral Directors Association, National Collegiate Choral Organization, and The National Association for Music Education conventions, as well as at Avery Fisher Hall Lincoln Center.

Eric A. Johnson

CONDUCTOR

Founding Artistic Director Eric A. Johnson, D.M.A., is Director of Choral Activities at Northern Illinois University. Internationally, Johnson has served as a guest conductor of the Clare College Chapel Choir, Cambridge, England, taught at Makumira University, Tanzania, the Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and directed guest choral residencies at Canterbury and Worcester Cathedrals. He is active nationally as a clinician and leads master classes in conducting. Dr. Johnson has collaborated with many leading composers of our time including Morten Lauridsen, and has commissioned new works from Sir John Tavener, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, and Stacey Gibbs.