Featuring new pieces from
Saunder Choi & Timothy Hoekman!
Citizens of the Neon Republic
Saunder Choi
SATB div., vibraphone, & double bass (view Parts; see practice tracks)
Difficulty: 4
Duration: 5-10 min.
A choral work imagining an AI’s inaugural address after winning the presidency, using AI-generated “victory speeches” as source text to probe the line between technological optimism and dystopian unease.
Loveliest of Trees
Timothy Hoekman
SA chorus & piano
Difficulty: 2
Duration: less than 3 min.
These musical settings attempt to capture the sometimes folk-like, sometimes deep and sophisticated qualities of A. E. Housman’s well-known poems. The three songs in this newsletter work together well as a set, but each can also be sung individually.
Our Streets, A Symphony Again (SATB), by Saunder Choi
SATB & piano; also SSA | Difficulty: 3 | Duration: 5-10 min.
When I Was One-and-Twenty, by Timothy Hoekman
SA chorus & piano | Difficulty: 2 | Duration: less than 3 min.
Payapang Daigdig/Silent Night, by Saunder Choi
Tenor solo, SATB, & piano | Difficulty: 2 | Duration: 3-5 min.
The Lent Lily, by Timothy Hoekman
SA chorus & piano | Difficulty: 2 | Duration: less than 3 min.
Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and choral artist whose works have been performed internationally by various groups. As an arranger and orchestrator, Saunder has written for Tony-Award winner Lea Salonga, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, etc. Saunder believes in music as advocacy, using the media as a platform for diversity, equity, inclusion, justice. His compositions are focused on narratives and conversations surrounding immigration, racial justice, LGBTQ+ advocacy, climate justice, and representations of his identity as a Filipino-Chinese. He is currently Director of Music at Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica and a teaching artist with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Composer Timothy Hoekman has written in many genres and has works published by Theodore Presser, Colla Voce, Plymouth Music Company, Recital Publications, and Classical Vocal Reprints. He was recently announced as the winner of the Delta Omicron 2025 Triennial Composition Competition for his Bagatelles for Clarinet and Piano. Hoekman is Professor Emeritus of Vocal Coaching and Collaborative Piano at Florida State University. He is a highly experienced performer, teacher, and coach, having performed as soloist and collaborative pianist in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe. He was on the music staff of Glimmerglass Opera (now called Glimmerglass Festival) in Cooperstown, NY, from 1988 to 2011 and has also worked for South Georgia Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Opera Grand Rapids, and the Peter Harrower Summer Opera Workshop. From 2012 to 2024, he served as a lieder coach for the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. He has served as adjudicator for vocal, piano, and composition competitions.
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