Vocal / Choral
Between Earth and Sky
A cappella chorus and percussion
Music by Timothy Sullivan · Text by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
Commissioned by the Bell’Arte Singers with support from the Laidlaw Foundation; premiered October 18, 2003. The six-movement cycle joins voices and percussion in a ceremonial journey through earth, water, desert, mountain and sky.
Six movements
II. Lake
III. Desert
IV. Mountain
V. Sky
VI. Returnings
Programme note
Between Earth and Sky is a prayer song and a ceremonial journey through Beginnings, Lake, Desert, Mountain, Sky and Returnings. Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm’s text and Timothy Sullivan’s music bring voices, breath and percussion into a shared acoustic space shaped by creation, wilderness, memory and renewal.
The percussion—rattles, shakers, bells, hand drums, floor drums and bass drum—is played by members of the choir, making the ensemble itself both singer and ritual instrument.