Nay’s News June 2026

Jun 11

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Ah, June. The longer days, the warmer nights, the strawberries and bumblebees… what gifts of the season! The summer solstice is almost here and I’m doing my best to savor the increasing light.

Funny thing is… choral conductors are often thinking about the winter holidays at this time of the year, because there is some downtime for dreaming up the winter concert programming. Someone just ordered scores for my “Winter Solstice” SATB piece yesterday. I’m also finishing up winter music commissions during the summer so they are ready to go for choirs once fall begins. It’s always a fun irony to be working on songs with carol melodies and snowy soundscapes after coming in from the vegetable garden all sweaty, iced tea close at hand.

FEATURED SCORE

Let’s just keep the irony going and have Winter Solstice be the featured score for June! This is one of my few a cappella pieces. After many years of participating in holiday choral concerts, I noticed the lack of songs about the winter solstice. This is a soulful event that can be celebrated by people of any faith. It was important to me to contribute a piece to the holiday repertoire that could be universal but also wintry and evocative. $3/copy.

“Winter Solstice” in particular demonstrates LaViolette’s mastery of choral writing, using beautiful suspended chords and ethereal high pedal notes to evoke a ruminative atmosphere." - Lowry Yankwich, Fanfare Magazine

SUMMER SOLSTICE WINS THE HEUSSENSTAMM!

To get us back to the season we are actually approaching, I’m thrilled to share that my piece Summer Solstice has won the 2026 ECCO/Heussenstamm Composition Contest, an annual blind-judged competition hosted by the California Choral Directors Association to discover new choral music.

As the winner, I’ll be attending their conference in July, and there will be a reading session of the piece with a room full of choral conductors! It is an incredible honor and a wonderful opportunity share this piece. I also get to present an interest session titled “Creative Repertoire Solutions: Team up with a Composer.”

Summer Solstice is currently unpublished, so please reach out if you are interested in programming it, and I can let you know as soon as it becomes available. Until then, enjoy this performance by West Salem High School Choir, directed by Cole Haole-Valenzuela:

UPCOMING SHOWS

July - September 2026
The Cider Janes
Lots of summer shows this year with my just-for-fun harmony-singing trio. We’d love to see you!

RECENT ADVENTURES

BRAVE LIGHT performed at OSAA Choir State Championships

What a thrill to not only have Brave Light programmed at the OSAA state championships last month, but to also play piano for the performance! So much thanks to the Oregon City High School Master Choir and their conductor Julia Voorhies for all that we have experienced together with this piece. What we’ve shared will forever be a highlight and cherished memory in my composing career.

(Brave Light is currently unpublished, so please reach out if you are interested in programming it, and I can let you know as soon as it becomes available)

Lullaby Project with the Oregon Symphony

I’ve loved being part of the Lullaby Project since 2017. Last month, we premiered the piece I co-wrote with J-beleen at the annual Oregon Symphony Lullaby Project concert! It was a moving experience creating the words and melody together, and an honor that she trusted me with her family story. After I arranged the music for the symphony musicians, J-beleen blew me away by bravely joining us on stage to perform. I purposely sang very soft so that her voice was featured. What a gift to hear her sing!

Friends, wherever this news finds you today, I hope you are enjoying the season and something musical! Thank you for being part of my journey. Hope to see you out there at a show!

With gratitude,
Naomi (Nay)

Naomi LaViolette