Like grief, like grace (2025): Music by Jeff Junkinsmith
Byrd Ensemble, directed by Markdavin Obenza
SRCD15
Release Date: October 27, 2025 (Digital Only)
iTunes, Spotify
 
THE BYRD ENSEMBLE
Markdavin Obenza, director
Jeff Junkinsmith, composer
 
01 Deux rondeau
02 Deux rondeux II
03 Tenebrae factae sunt
04 Kyrie
05 Gloria
 
Singers
Soprano: Julia Baker, Natalie Ingrisano, Margaret Obenza, Ruth Schauble
Alto: Teresa Clark, Sarra S. Doyle, Erica Dunkle, Sophia Nash
Tenor: Orrin Doyle, Sam Faustine, Carson Lott, Chad DeMaris
Bass: Clayton Moser, Evan Norberg, Matthew Peterson
 
Audio and Graphics produced by Markdavin Obenza for Scribe Records.
Recorded on June 27, 2025 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Seattle, WA
 
ABOUT THE MUSIC
 
The release of this new collection by Markdavin Obenza and The Byrd Ensemble is especially gratifying to me for a number of reasons. All of the pieces here were composed in the last two years. 
 
The first two tracks, Deux Rondeaux are settings of a pair of poems by Seattle poet, Edward Harkness. Ed’s poems are rich with imagery from nature and yet are imbued with a deep humanity that resonates with the reader in often unexpected ways. Deux Rondeax describe the bittersweet bond of love between partners who have weathered decades together and are confronting the inevitability of death. The final line of the second rondeau, “We’re brief as breath, like grief, like grace.” pierces me every time.
 
The centerpiece of the set, Tenebrae factae sunt, was commissioned by the Byrd Ensemble and premiered in April of 2025. I chose to set the two final utterances of Christ on the cross with a solo soprano, emphasizing His solitude in sacrifice as well as depicting the soul (anima) leaving His body at the final moment.
 
Finally, the Kyrie and Gloria complete my Missa Brevis, a project I’ve been working on for a while. The rest of it, Sanctus and Agnus Dei can be heard on last year’s Byrd Ensemble release, Waters of Babylon.
 
Junkinsmith is an American composer best known for his choral music. His harmonic and contrapuntal language draws on influences such as Josquin and Dufay, as well as Bartok, Keith Emerson, early Genesis, Stravinsky, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, along with Ian Anderson and James Taylor. Jeff’s music has been performed extensively in the US and Europe, most recently at Canterbury Cathedral in London. His work for piano four-hands, Rashomon, was performed to enthusiastic audiences in Eastern Europe and in the United States. In addition to his composerly pursuits, Junkinsmith has enjoyed a long and successful career as a pianist for ballet and modern dance classes. Over the course of a forty-five year journey, he has worked with the likes of Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp, Martha Graham Company, Paul Taylor Company, and Violette Verdy. He currently works at Pacific Northwest Ballet.