Ramona Luengen
Composer, conductor, educator
Website • Instagram • YouTube • Canadian Music Centre • Cypress Choral Music
Contact – choral@telus.net
Bio
Dr. Ramona Luengen is a well-respected Canadian composer, choral conductor and educator. She has composed extensively, especially in the choral genre, and her works have been performed by both amateur and professional choirs in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan (Performers) . Her music has been broadcast on CBC, BBC, WDR (Germany), WKRP (USA) and radio stations in Denmark, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.
Luengen’s opera for young audiences, based on Joy Kogawa’s novel Naomi’s Road, has received over 350 performances in communities and schools in both Canada and Washington State. Her Stabat Mater was awarded Outstanding Choral Composition of the Year and Outstanding Choral Event of the Year by the Canadian Association of Choral Conductors and Composition of the Year by Vancouver New Music. Her Piano Concerto was premièred to critical acclaim.
A former instructor at both the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University for over twelve years, Luengen taught courses in theory, composition, contemporary music performance and 20th-century music appreciation. As a conductor, she led the Phoenix Chamber Choir, Amabilis Singers, and Shaughnessy Heights United Church Choir for many years.
List of Works
All scores are available through composer’s website, unless otherwise noted.
For a full list of works, please visit the website.
Choral Music – Mixed Voices
A full list of SATB works is available here: Mixed Choir
Celebremus (2022) - SATB choir and piano (4:30)
Commissioned and premiered by the Orpheus Choir (Toronto, ON)
Original setting for treble choir and piano also available
In tiefen Nächten (2002, rev. 2022) – SATB a cappella (6:15)
Commissioned and premiered by Elora Festival Singers (Elora, ON)
Premiere of revised version: musica intima (Vancouver, BC)
Published by musica printima @ musica intima
O süsses Licht (2001) – SATB choir a cappella (7:00)
Premiere: Phoenix Chamber Choir (Vancouver, BC)
Based on the poetry of Edith Stein and begins with a portion of the
Lux aeterna sequence from the Requiem Mass.
Te Deum (2014) – SATB choir with organ (8:00)
Commissioned, premiered and recorded by Shaughnessy Heights United Church Choir (Vancouver, BC)
A shorter three-minute version can be extracted from the full-length score
You Who Bear the Light (2022) – SATB choir with piano (11:30)
Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light │Where the Light Begins │What Fire Comes to Sing in You
Commissioned by Amabilis Singers (New Westminster, BC)
Premieres: EnChor Choir (Vancouver, BC) and Amabilis SingersThree pieces based on poetry by Jan Richardson which, although conceived as a set, can be sung separately.
Choral Music – Treble Voice
A full list of SA works is available here: Treble Choir
Ave dulcissima Maria (2001) – treble choir a cappella (6:05)
Commissioned, premiered and recorded by Ariose Women’s Choir (Edmonton, AB)
How the Blossoms Are Falling (2008) – treble choir and piano (6:00)
Commissioned, premiered and recorded by Elektra Women’s Choir (Vancouver, BC)
Poetry by Joy Kogawa
Published by Cypress Choral Music
Night (2007│2022) – treble choir and piano │treble choir and string quartet (4:00)
Original version commissioned by Oriana Singers (Toronto, ON)
Arrangement with strings commissioned by Elektra Women’s Choir (Vancouver, BC)
Published by MorningStar/Galaxy Music @ Night
Salve Regina (1987) – treble choir with soprano or flute solo (6:10)
Commissioned and premiered by Elektra Women’s Choir for the group’s inaugural concert
Published by Cypress Choral Music
Stabat Mater (1995) – mezzo-soprano solo, treble choir, orchestra (80:00)
Premiered by Judith Forst, mezzo-soprano; Elektra Women’s Choir; Maria Bernardi, conductor. Broadcast on CBC Radio Two.
Latin Stabat Mater text and additional poetry by Akhmatova, Lasnier, Rilke, Sitwell and von Le Fort.
To Every Thing There Is a Season (2006) – treble choir and piano (6:30)
Commissioned, premiered and recorded by Cantores Celestes (Toronto, ON)
Published by Cypress Choral Music
Choral Music – Young Treble Voices
Three Easy Songs – unison treble voices and piano (4:00)
These three short pieces are suitable for very young singers
Published by J.W. Pepper
Orchestral
Piano Concerto (2005) – solo piano and orchestra (20:00)
Premiere: Jane Coop, pianist; CBC Radio Orchestra; Alain Trudel, conductor
Broadcast on CBC Radio Two
Discography
A Mother to Her Dead Child (from Stabat Mater)
“From the Diary of Anne Frank” (2000) - Judith Forst, mezzo-soprano; CBC Radio Orchestra; Mario Bernardi, conductor │ CBC Centrediscs
Ave dulcissima Maria
”Cantemus” (2002) - Ariose Women’s Choir (Edmonton, AB)
“Celebremus” (2011) - Calvin College Women’s Chorale (Grand Rapids, MI)
“Earth Tones” (2004) - Peninsula Women’s Chorus (Palo Alto, CA)
“A Woman’s Voice” (2003) – Aeolian Singers (Halifax, NS)
“Legacy” (2001) – Elektra Women’s Choir (Vancouver, BC)
“musica intima” (1998) – musica intima (Vancouver, BC)
How the Blossoms Are Falling
“All My Heart is Listening” (2014) – Elektra Women’s Choir (Vancouver, BC)
To Every Thing There Is a Season
“Women of Light” (2009) – Cantores Celestes Women’s Choir (Toronto, ON)
Missa Brevis
“A Woman’s Voice” (2003) – Aeolian Singers (Halifax, NS)
“Legacy” (2001) – Elektra Women’s Choir (Vancouver, BC)
“Joy Shall Be Yours” (2001) – Ariose Women’s Choir (Edmonton, AB)
“When Music Sounds” (2001) – Oriana Singers (Toronto, ON)
“Carols and Lullabies” (2000) - Peninsula Women’s Choir (Palo Alto, CA)
“Live in Copenhagen” (1997) – Phoenix Chamber Choir (Vancouver, BC)
O süsses Licht
“Live from Europe” (2002) – Phoenix Chamber Choir (Vancouver, BC)
Salve Regina
“Mary’s Song” (2014) - Ensemble Ylajali (Bodø, Norway)
“Heart’s Delight” (2013) – Lady Cove Women’s Choir (St. John’s, NL)
“Ave Maria (2005) – Calliope Voix de Femmes (Caluire, France)
“Ariose” (2000) – Ariose Women’s Choir (Edmonton, AB)
“When Music Sounds” (2000) – Oriana Singers (Toronto, ON)
“An Amabile Festival” (1993) – Amabile Youth Choir (Kingston, ON)
“Elektra” (1992) – Elektra Women’s Choir (Vancouver, BC)
Te Deum
“Gloria” (2014) – Shaughnessy Heights United Church Choir (Vancouver, BC)
“Spirit of Amabilis” (2000) – Amabilis Singers (New Westminster, BC)
“Live in Concert: Canada’s National Youth Choirs” (1995) – The 1990 National Youth Choir of Canada
“UBC Singers” (1984) – University of British Columbia Singers
‘’Chor Leoni’’ (2000) – Chor Leoni Men’s Choir (Vancouver, BC)