There's a happy flowering of new performances of my music coming up. First, as I mentioned in my last post, Nothing Gold is premiering my song cycle Like a Petal in Seattle on February 21. Second, I recently learned that my longtime choral home and first compositional outlet, IOCSF, will be reprising my e.e. cummings setting “i like my body" at their spring 2026 concerts, June 5 in San Francisco and June 7 in Berkeley; save those dates and stay tuned for more!

If you happen to be in Paris this June, you can also come see my European premiere! A new conductor friend I met last year has put my “Oseh Shalom” on her program of Jewish music. Details of venue, location etc TBD but the dates to save are June 11, 13, 14, and 18.

And finally… maybe there'll be, or have been, some other performances of my stuff? The thing is, I get notifications from my publication websites (JWPepper MyScore and ArrangeMe) when I sell copies, but I don't always get corresponding communications from the ensembles that purchased them about when they intend to perform them. So: if you bought some copies of “Hanukkah Blessings” on September 17, or “Oseh Shalom” on September 19 (not the same as the French performance above, this was a purchase from Australia), or “Lecha Dodi” on December 30, would you mind letting me know your concert info so we can help each other get the word out? Thanks very much!

A couple of months ago I had a wonderful conversation with a dear friend about a new group she was co-founding: the Seattle-based octet Nothing Gold. That led to a discussion of contemporary music that might fit their February program… and here I am, writing a set of pieces for them! Specifically, a set of three meditations on ephemerality called "Like a Petal", on texts by Sara Teasdale, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Robert Frost. The final movement, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, sets the famous Frost poem that gives the group its name.

I'm energized and inspired to be writing music on a theme I care a lot about-- longtime followers will see the philosophical connection to “All is Mere Breath," for example-- and especially for such a high-quality and brand-new ensemble. This is my first performance in Seattle, and I plan to attend if the logistics work out; Seattle-area folks, you can already buy tickets. I hope to see you there!

I've now had several requests for an online libretto for Hakol Hevel, my COVID memorial cantata which premiered in 2023, so I've put up a Google Doc which should be world-viewable here. The libretto has English translations and transliterations of the Hebrew text for each movement. Enjoy!

I'm going to be at the Chorus America national conference in St. Louis on Thursday and Friday of next week (June 5th and 6th). On Thursday afternoon I will have a table at the Composer Showcase, with perusal scores of several of my pieces available. Stop by and say hi if you're there!

I want to particularly highlight three new pieces of mine which I've published in advance of the conference:

1. my 20 minute, three movement cantata Lovingkindness, setting texts from several different traditions as well as my own reflections;
2. a deeply felt, 6 minute piece called We Remember Thee expressing my anguish and hope around present-day tribal conflicts;
3. and a short, rousing, wonder-filled Gerard Manley Hopkins setting, The Starlight Night.

All are as yet unperformed-- your ensemble could be the first. But the First Readings Project made an excellent demo recording of The Starlight Night recently which is a good representation of how I've been thinking compositionally lately; enjoy!

Last fall, the wonderful NYC-based ensemble Choral Chameleon recorded several of my recent pieces and brought an incredible level of polish and expressive force to all of them. I've put these up on Bandcamp for your listening pleasure: nicholasweininger.bandcamp.com is the homepage, and the individual tracks are:

• Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor
• Lecha Dodi
• Alleluia
• Hanukkah Blessings
• Oseh Shalom

The last of these, Oseh Shalom, now graces the sitewide player in the left nav. Enjoy!