Michael Kaulkin (he/him) is active as a composer and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. His choral, orchestral and chamber works have been performed around the world, and his music has been described as “exceptionally beautiful on all counts.”
Photo: Bartók’s teaching studio. Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest, Hungary.
WHAT’S NEW
New Recording
TUMBALALAYKA has being performed around the world by choruses of all sizes and types. Here French vocal quartet Æsthesis performs this Yiddish folksong arrangement in a promotional video for their album O Do Not Move. Tumbalalayka is one of the most performed and beloved Yiddish folksongs. This choral setting employs the use of instrument-like sounds imitating the strumming of the balalayka, a Russian folk instrument similar to a guitar.
New Publications
NEAPOLITAN CAROL for SATB Choir and Piano now available directly from the composer
This arrangement of the Neapolitan Christmas carol, sometimes known as "Canzone d'i Zampognari," or "Carol of the Bagpipers", was written for the San Francisco Bach Choir in 2021. It tells the story of the starry night when Bethlehem was visited by three strangers from far away. Sung here in the original Neapolitan language, there is also an optional English text written by the composer.
REDBIRDS is published by Colla Voce as part of the Ruth Dwyer Choral Series. Commissioned by the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE), this piece for children’s choir and piano was premiered by the national children’s honor choir at the OAKE national conference in 2022. Poem by Sara Teasdale (1884 – 1933).
Opera Scene Reading
West Edge Opera included a prototype scene from proposed opera LILITH in their SNAPSHOT showcase of works in progress.
FEATURED WORKS
String Quartet No. 1
A finalist for The American Prize for Chamber Music, String Quartet No. 1 (”City Walks”) is a single-movement work (12'30") exploring a variety of stylistic and emotional zones, from a sweeping, mournful – almost cantorial – cello solo at the beginning to lively scherzo finale.
Cycle of Friends
Soprano solo, SATB choir, and chamber orchestra ・25’
Cycle of Friends is a lush, emotional journey through five texts taken from such diverse sources as Tang Dynasty poetry of China, Sappho and Emily Dickinson, each dealing in its own way with the universal theme of friendship.