The Frederick Chorale, of Frederick, Maryland, performed Jenni Brandon’s “We Are Home” for SSAA choir, percussion & piano in two performances on Sunday, May 22, 4 p.m and Monday, May 23, 7:30 p.m. Both performances were at the Frederick Presbyterian Church, 115 W. 2nd St., Frederick, MD 21701

The Frederick Chorale celebrates the indomitable human spirit and the achievements of women choral composers in their return to public performance! Led by new artistic director Heidi Ackerman, the Chorale will perform a diverse array of works by composers including Judith Weir, Rosephanye Powell, Carol Maillard, Carol Barnett and Jenni Brandon.

Jenni Brandon’s We Are Home (SSAA choir, percussion, piano sheet music) was commissioned by Vox Femina, Los Angeles under the direction of Dr. Iris Levine. Iris approached me to write this piece to fit onto their themed concert “Half the Sky: Hear Our Voices,” and in particular to fit the section of the concert that spoke of “Home.” Because this would be a very personal piece for Vox, I asked Iris to have the women write me stories, poems, haikus, and anything else that helped them describe what “home” meant to them in singing with Vox. What I got was an incredible collection of texts, written from the heart, about their experiences and the joy that came from being a part of this singing community. I began to take phrases, words, and ideas from these texts and draw them together to create the text that I used in this piece. Although I wrote the final text, it is a compilation of the voices of these women. More universally, however, this piece reflects what it means to be a part of a community – to share something important and to come “home.”

The premiere of this work took place on Saturday, March 22, 2014, at Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles, California. It was an honor to write this piece for Iris and the women of Vox.