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On the creative process: “An artist is never poor.” This empowering quote (from my favorite film Babette’s Feast) expresses what I love about the creative impulse: the ability to see big possibilities in small things. All it takes is a little moment in time -- the observation of a single, compelling human interaction -– and one can say “there’s a song in there.” All it takes is one melodic idea to clothe the first phrase of a poem, and the rest of the setting can begin to unfold. I also love that this unfolding never has to be forced. Rather, it is a receptive listening that enables one to sense, little by little, what else is needed for the creation to be complete. With patience and attention to the significance of the smallest detail, the music comes into being. It is like the slow blooming of a flower, which would not even exist without the artist having “seen” its possibility. As Georgia O’Keeffe says, in another favorite quote of mine: “Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven't time - and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time.”
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BIG NEWS! The Nairobi Chamber Chorus will perform the Kirchner arrangement of the Kenyan song "Wana Baraka" at the Diamond Jubilee Pageant celebrating Elizabeth II's 60-year reign, in performances at Windsor Castle the evenings of May 10 - 13. Performing groups from Commonwealth countries were auditioned by Pageant director Simon Brooks-Ward, who personally selected "Wana Baraka" to be one of three pieces the Kenyan choir will sing. UPCOMING PERFORMANCES: Friday, March 30th (8 pm) at USC's Alfred Newman Recital Hall, the Oriana Women's Choir, conducted by Rachel Surden, presents the premiere of a recent ACDA-sponsored commission, the Hebrew folk song arrrangement, LeShana Haba'a BiYerushalayim. For more info: usc.edu Saturday, March 31st (8 pm) and Sunday, April 1st (7 pm) at Los Angeles' Disney Concert Hall, the Los Angeles Master Chorale presents Bach's St. John Passion. Grant Gershon, conducting. Tickets and information: lamc.org _____________________________________________________________________
In addition to composing, songwriting has become a career focus for Kirchner in recent years. His songs combine emotional warmth with carefully crafted lyrics, and are written in a range of styles including bluegrass, folk, country, gospel and jazz. Kirchner's bluegrass and country songs can be heard on the CD Meet Me on the Mountain, and his original jazz tunes are featured in club and concert performances of the Shawn Kirchner Quartet. Kirchner also maintains an active performing career as a singer and pianist. A tenor with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, he sings regularly with the Chorale and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall and at the Hollywood Bowl in collaborations with the world's leading conductors and composers. Under the Master Chorale’s music director Grant Gershon, he has sung in several projects with Steve Reich, including two recordings for Nonesuch Records and a performance at Lincoln Center in honor of the composer’s 70th birthday. His solo appearances with the Master Chorale include work with Meredith Monk, Ariel Ramirez’ Missa Criolla, and Arvo Part's Miserere. Kirchner's work as a pianist includes performances with the Master Chorale at Disney Hall and on tour as well as free-lance work in recitals, concerts, and studio sessions. Before moving to the Los Angeles area, he was a vocal coach/pianist in Chicago, and played for Neil Rosenshein’s studio at the Lyric Opera’s Center for American Artists. Initially trained in classical music, his improvisational skills now encompass many styles. Kirchner's growing list of TV/Film credits includes his work as music director/arranger for the 2004 CBS Christmas Eve special Enter the Light of Life, and his singing on such feature film soundtracks as Avatar, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Horton Hears a Who, National Treasure II: Book of Secrets, Lady in the Water, License to Wed, the Lorax, Race to Witch Mountain, Sex in the City II, The Rite, and X-Men: First Class. Long active as a church musician, Kirchner is pianist/organist/composer-in-residence at the La Verne Church of the Brethren in La Verne, CA where he shares music leadership of a thriving program with fellow LA Master Chorale singer, conductor, and music educator, Nike St. Clair. He has served as music coordinator for several National Youth Conferences as well as providing leadership for many other Church of the Brethren national and regional events. Kirchner was raised with his triplet brother and sister in Cedar Falls, Iowa. His principal piano teachers were Joan Smalley and George Katz, and Susan Beasley and Graeme Cowen were his mentors in choral music. He studied at Manchester College, where he earned a BA in Peace Studies under Kenneth Brown, and was mentored in songwriting by the poet/songwriter Steve Kinzie. He spent his junior year abroad, studying Chinese language, literature, history and music at the Dalian Foreign Language Institute in Dalian, China. He earned an MA in Choral Conducting from the University of Iowa, where he studied with William Hatcher and Richard Bloesch. In recent years, Kirchner has been mentored in choral arranging and music philosophy by Alice Parker.
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