Stephen Mallon is a composer, vocalist, video editor and digital artist with a background in architecture and theater design. His early exposure to choral music as boy soprano turned into a lifelong passion. Many of his choral compositions are settings of his own poems. In addition to writing for choral and instrumental ensembles, he has created experimental music and art noise using found sounds, digital synthesis, pattern generators and home-made instruments. He lives in southeastern Pennsylvania where he sings with Bucks County Choral Society and Cordus Mundi. Stephen is also the winner of the 2023 ACDA Composition Focus Prize!! Below are links to his compositions and more about the ACDA/Focus Prize.

Here's a link to Stephen’s page on JWPepper/MyScore 
https://www.jwpepper.com/myscore/smallon

Here's a link to the ACDA/Focus Prize page 
https://acda.org/focus-prize

Additional compositions by Stephen -

My Glasses Fog Up Over You - Premiere Performance by Cordus Mundi
https://youtu.be/IDUlrpz9jqU

Rick was truly shocked and dismayed at age 6 when he was advised that, no, he had actually not written the Triumphal March from Aida and that someone had beaten him to it. Shaking off this disappointment by age 8 or so, Rick went on to play in & write several songs for numerous rock n’ roll bands, jazz bands, and recording projects.

Over multiple decades as a church musician - singer, conductor, composer, administrator - Rick’s offertory anthems, communion music, service music, and incidental music have played a significant role in worship at St. Paul’s Episcopal Churchin Burlingame, CA and Church of the Messiah in Gwynedd, PA. Additional works include a variety of songs, choral and instrumental compositions and arrangements for various ensembles.

Of his first piece for Cordus Mundi, Rick says, “Christmas Shells presented itself during a couple of solitary, introspective, meditative, beach-walking days between Christmas and New Year’s in 2009. Although the piece was first sung at Church of the Messiah services as Supplication, a gradual anthem employing another more sacred text, this performance utilizes the original words and sentiment.”

Here is a link to the Premiere Performance of Christmas Shells by Cordus Mundi https://youtu.be/FbaZIqufJsw

Jason Gersh studied music theory and history at Haverford College and the University of North Carolina at Chapel. His musical interests are eclectic, but he is especially drawn to the rich vocal and choral tradition of England. More specifically, the styles and compositional techniques of William Byrd, Henry Purcell, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Benjamin Britten are significant influences on Gersh's compositions. 

The piece Gaudeamus Hodie (Let Us Rejoice Today) was composed in December 2020, written in honor of the approval of the first COVID vaccine. This was a moment of great celebration, as it marked the promise of returning to in-person socializing and music-making. However, it was also bittersweet given the damage that was done to so many lives and livelihoods. The chord progressions reflect both the sweet and the bitter. 

The piece Kaddish is a setting of an English translation of a traditional Hebrew mourning prayer. It was composed in January 2022 to commemorate the death of Gersh's maternal grandmother. The musical style is drawn from early baroque, with touches of modernity.

Here are links to the Premiere Performances of each piece by Cordus Mundi

Gaudemus Hodie https://youtu.be/FbaZIqufJsw

Kaddish https://youtu.be/FuEN2A289Ck