A key component of our work at Friends of the Vox is to commission choral composers and provide a platform for their music. Discover our recent commissions here.
Our Commissions
Being Me
Composed by Joanna Gill
Text by Joshua Everett
This piece was specially commissioned for a collaborative concert featuring Concentus Women's Chorus from Rochester New York and Vox Anima Chamber Choir, and received its World Premiere performance on Sunday 9 July 2023 in St Augustine’s Chapel, Tonbridge.
It was composed by Joanna Gill, a Scottish award-winning composer, based in London & published by Universal Editions. The text comes from a poem by Joshua Everett, and explores the struggle that many of us face with our mental health, whether on a personal basis or seen through our family and friends. We were delighted that Joanna was able to be with us in the audience, and all members felt honoured to share this special piece and moment together.
In the Bleak Midwinter
Arranged by Dan Forrest
Poem by Christina Rossetti
A magical carol setting that transports the listener into Christina Rossetti’s beloved Christmas text written in London (listen for the subtle hints of Big Ben!). Ethereal melodic echos eventually build to soaring vocal lines before giving way to a tender final stanza of “What can I give him, poor as I am…”. An intimate yet deeply moving arrangement for SATB or SSA voices with piano.
It was commissioned by members of Vox Anima Chamber Choir for their conductor, James Meaders. Vox Anima Chamber Choir were thrilled to perform the World Premiere in St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Yalding, Kent on Saturday 17 December 2022.
LUX: The Dawn from on High for Upper Voices
Composed by Dan Forrest
“LUX: The Dawn From On High” is Dan Forrest’s third major work for SATB chorus and orchestra. This commission saw Dan arrange the work for Upper Voices. Vox Anima Chamber Choir gave the World Premiere performance on Sunday 30 October 2022 in St Augustine’s Chapel, Tonbridge. Their role as lead commissioner on this exciting project was only made possible by the generous legacy of Alan Dyson.
This five-movement work explores various facets of LUX (Latin for “light”), in texts ranging from ancient liturgical chant to scripture to modern secular love poetry. The music of LUX, written in 2018, was inspired thematically and spiritually by these profound texts; visually by the light in the Reims Cathedral in France and at the Poulnabrone Dolmen in Ireland; and musically by a variety of sources from ancient chant to modern minimalist composers.
The title invokes the dual meaning of the text of the first movement, where the light of dawn gradually ascends into the sky, yet the light of the world descends from the sky- a “Dawn from on High”. As a whole, the five movements trace a symmetrical journey through time - from ancient prophecy, to today (“even after all this time”), and then back again; or from another perspective, from a day’s dawn, through the sun’s high point in the sky, and then to the setting of the sun on the horizon at the end of day.