PASADENA CHORALE
CHORUS & COMMUNITY
LISTENING TO
THE FUTURE
2018 Archives
NEW MUSIC BY
KATHERINE BEGGS, SAMUEL CHRISTOPHER,
CELIA DEMING-BERNSTEIN & TIFFANY SHI
COMPOSER MENTOR
NILO ALCALA
"Amazing Grace" by Katherine Beggs
"Loch Lomond" by Celia Deming-Bernstein
"Tower of Light" by Tiffany Shi
"Inside" by Samuel Christopher
"America The Beautiful" by Tiffany Shi
"Móðir mín í kví, kví" by Samuel Christopher
"Ave Maria" by Katherine Beggs
"Looking For Answers" by Celia Deming-Bernstein
ABOUT THE COMPOSERS
KATHERINE BEGGS
composer
I am seventeen years old and I will be a senior at Westridge School in the fall. At the start of this program, our first mentor Reena said something that really stuck with me throughout this process. She explained that when you hear an original composition, you are hearing a piece of the composer’s soul. That statement truly inspires me and my efforts to convey my most true self through the music I write.
TIFFANY SHI
composer
My name is Tiffany Shi and I just completed my junior year at San Marino High School. Alongside the endless support of my family, friends, and teachers, I've dabbled and played with different types of music all my life, and there's just this really empathetic and powerful connection you see with music and audience, a sort of tangible intimacy that you can almost feel, and that's something I try my best to keep in mind when I compose -- a desire to connect with others through music and create something that wills people to really feel. I'm endlessly and incredibly grateful to the Pasadena Master Chorale as well as our mentors for this opportunity.
CELIA DEMING-BERNSTEIN
composer
I am an eleventh grader at Pasadena Waldorf High School, a small school in Altadena. Being at an art school, art is and has been an important part of my life. I’ve done many different kinds of creative work, ranging from singing and playing the cello to all kinds of visual art. When this opportunity to write choral music came up, I was very excited. This is my first time making a finished composition for a choir.
SAMUEL CHRISTOPHER
composer
Born in 2000, Samuel J. Christopher is an active composer, pianist, and double bassist. He currently studies with composer Jordan Nelson at the Colburn School, and will be pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music with a focus on composition at Yale University this coming fall. In 2017 Samuel premiered his piano trio Forgiven with the Sunset ChamberFest’s Young Composers’ Workshop. That year he also premiered and conducted Verona, an original work written for the La Salle High School Concert Band. In addition to these, he has written several works for solo piano, concert band, and double bass ensemble.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER MENTOR
NILO ALCALA
composer mentor
Nilo Alcala's compositions and arrangements have been performed in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, He is the first Philippine-born composer to receive the Copland House Residency Award (2016-2017), and be commissioned and premiered by the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Master Chorale at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Alcala's awards also include the POLYPHONOS Young Composer Award from The Esoterics (Seattle, WA), the 2nd Prize Asian Composers League Young Composer Award (Israel), and Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honor) from Philippine President. As Asian Cultural Council grantee, Alcala is also a Billy Joel Fellow at Syracuse University where he earned an MMus in Composition. He holds a BM in Composition at the University of the Philippines, graduating Magna cum laude, and was member and composer-in-residence of the Philippine Madrigal Singers which premiered his works in international competitions such as the Florilege Vocal de Tours (France) and the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (Italy).