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Composer Page for Michael Kaulkin

michael-kaulkin

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.”

Popular among Kaulkin’s choral works are the Yiddish folksong arrangement “Tumbalalayka,” which is included on French vocal quartet Æsthesis’s 2022 album O Do Not Move, and “The Noble Art of Music,” a 2-minute choral fanfare among the pieces composed for San Francisco Choral Artists while serving as their Composer-in-Residence in 2017-18. He is the 2020-21 winner of the Organization of American Kodály Educators’ (OAKE) Ruth Boshkoff Composition Prize, resulting in the commission of “Redbirds” for children’s choir, which premiered by an honor choir at OAKE’s 2022 national conference. It is now published by Colla Voce Music. Larger-scale choral works include “Cycle of Friends” for soprano solo, SATB chorus and chamber orchestra, and “Most This Amazing,” for SATB chorus, two pianos and percussion.

Kaulkin is on the Musicianship and Composition faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory Pre-College Division. An avid adopter and adapter of the Kodály Method in teaching Musicianship, he has also served on the faculties of summer Kodály programs at Holy Names University and Portland State University. His innovative online musicianship teaching resources and services are available through his website Turn On Your Ears, and he teaches private composition lessons.

A native of Washington, D.C., Kaulkin studied composition with Joseph Castaldo at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, followed by 3 years’ post-graduate study at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, under the tutelage of composer János Vajda and choral conductor István Párkai. He earned his Master of Music degree at the San Francisco Conservatory, where he studied composition with Conrad Susa. He has served on adjudication panels for American Composers Forum Subito grants, SFCM choral and art song composition competitions, and the Béla Bartók International Choral Competition in Debrecen, Hungary.

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Neapolitan Carol – Voicing: SATB  Instrumentation: Piano  Performance Length: 2:30  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Traditional Neapolitan carol, with English version by the composer  Language: Neapolitan, English  Seasonal/Liturgical Use: Christmas  Descriptive Terms: Christmas, Wonder, Storytelling, Childbirth, Stars, Night, Sky  First Performance: December 04, 2021 : San Francisco Bach Choir, Magen Solomon, Calvary Presbyterian Church, San Francisco    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 133/1805~2023-Q3)
Redbirds – Voicing: SA, TB, OR 2 MIXED GROUPS  Instrumentation: Piano  Performance Length: 4:45  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Sara Teasdale  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Nostalgia, Memories, Birds, Rivers  First Performance: March 05, 2022 : OAKE National Children’s Choir, Ruth Dwyer, Pittsburgh, PA    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 133/1615~2022-Q1)
The Noble Art of Music – Voicing: SATB  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 1:55  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Martin Luther  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Fanfare, Music, Singing, Uplifting  First Performance: Dec 09, 2017: San Francisco Choral Artists, Magen Solomon, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, California    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 133/807~2018-Q2)
Tumbalalayka – Voicing: SATB  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 2:30  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Traditional  Language: Yiddish  Descriptive Terms: Folksong, Fun, Instrument, Jewish, Riddle  First Performance: Mar 12, 2016: San Francisco Choral Artists, Magen Solomon, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, CA    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 133/631~2017-Q2)
Cycle of Friends – Voicing: SSAATTBB  Solo(s): Soprano  Instrumentation: Flute, Oboe, Harp, Percussion, Trumpet In C, Clarinet In B-flat, Horn In F, Strings, Bassoon  Performance Length: 25:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Sappho, Meng Hao Jan, Emily Dickinson, Li Po, Traditional Aztec  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Friendship, Global, Poetry  First Performance: May 03, 1996: The Music Group of Philadelphia, Sean Deibler, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 133/134)
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