Roots & Rivers

The Desert Chorale's newest commercial album, Roots & Rivers, brings together stories and music rooted in the universal human experience of overcoming adversity, of journeying from darkness into light. Composers Reena Esmail, Jocelyn Hagen, Shawn Kirchner, Shawn Okpebholo, and Kile Smith have written fresh and imaginative choral music especially for your Santa Fe Desert Chorale.

At the heart of the album is The American Road by Nigerian-American composer Shawn E. Okpebholo. In this new large-scale work, Okpebholo reimagines folk songs and spirituals—including an original by Rhiannon Giddens—that both honor the pain and resilience of the past and inspire hope for the future.

Kile Smith’s Northland infuses the poetry of Harlem Renaissance writer Claude McKay with jazz, blues, and melodic lyricism to describe the Jamaican immigrant’s experiences in his new home.

The bilingual work Caminante (Traveler) by Jocelyn Hagen exemplifies both musically and poetically the miracle of all kinds of people coming together as fellow travelers.

The Tipping Point by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail combines Western and Indian musical techniques to describe the constant struggle between darkness and light, and that miraculous moment of light tipping the scale.

A special “Desert Chorale arrangement” of Shawn Kirchner‘s beloved Sweet Rivers in Eb major allows our sopranos to soar to a high C.