Why Record?
When I knew that it was time for me to bid goodbye to teaching at Edison High School, I wanted to find a way to memorialize that chapter of my life. See, for me teaching high school was about helping instill a love of beautiful and thought-provoking music into a new generation of young people. But not only that, it was also about being there for them on a personal level and showing them that music has the capacity to explore what makes us human. In my philosophy, not much is as concrete as my belief that, when a choir trusts each other, the sound is greatly influenced.
Towards the end of my tenure at Edison, I found that the students had the trust as an ensemble, and relatedly, a sound, that I wanted to capture. I knew that this choir was special and this chapter was something I needed to be able to return to, and so, the project started to take shape in my mind.
I have always been a fan of engaging with music that is new and addresses our current lived experience. Maybe it is my personal situation of rooming with a composition major in college and his (not always asked for…) influence on my open-mindedness, or perhaps it was watching Donald Nally work with the Crossing and seeing him navigate a difficult time in our lives with COVID. (Of which he did so with, what appeared to be, clarity – something that felt particularly in short supply at the time.) See, it makes sense that telling stories closer to our chest can have a greater impact, but is something that our ensembles do not often get to do. Within this art form, one that’s work revolves around telling stories through the catalyst of music, we almost always are telling other people’s stories, not our own original ones.
And so, I have always particularly liked engaging with repertoire that tells stories from our time, with messages that are told firsthand. Despite not having the compositional voice to put my concepts to page musically, what I could do was write my words and have those I trust set them to music.
Rain
With that, the first project began taking shape: Rain. One thing many people do not know about me is that I love to write, and love spending time with poetry. But as a young artist, it is hard to honor your artistic voice through mediums that are outside of your principal discipline. I know how to be creative as a performer, but through the formation of a text and commission — that is pushing beyond my musical discipline, and thus scary.
When actually writing, I knew for the story to feel ours, it must be something high school singers could both conceptualize and relate to deeply. I settled on Rain as a “metaphor for pressure” and how pressure can be both a good motivator, but, when it becomes too much, can also feel crippling. Once said metaphor was fleshed out and the full text took shape, I knew Sam’s compositional voice would make for something special; especially with his capacity for aleatoric treatment and his remarkably gifted harmonic movement*(See footnote 1).
We first sang the composition in 2023 and I was so pleased with the project the first time; the students engaged with it in a way that felt genuine. However, with the day-to-day shuffle of the year getting away from me, I was so disappointed we were not able to record. I knew we would one day.
Journey On
As the 2024 commencement approached, it came time for me to consider graduation music, and I returned to my thoughts of what tone I would like to close the year on. And as always, I struggled. See each year our school sang the national anthem and one, well… anthem – forgive the church musician in me. Said anthem was my job to choose for a very full Rutgers Athletic Center of which sits 6000. After a few hours of coming up short, I decided that commissioning something could allow us to have something that we could return to each year that had deep meaning to our community. Shortly after, I sat down with my then fiancé, now wife, Allie Lisner, and began piecing together a text that we thought touched upon the high school experience. We toyed with content like: feelings of uncertainty, dealing with others moving on and graduating, the recognition that your end of this chapter is coming to an end, making friends, losing them; all while interweaving our school mascot, an eagle, soaring, spreading our wings, and, as we fondly actually say at EHS, leaving the nest. And so, it felt fitting, albeit admittedly cheesy, to include that. I thought for a graduation, the movie track fairytale sound was the right idea both substantively, and situationally, and so, Casey Gorab was my first choice. I thought her delivery of something that felt simple while also honoring the complexity of the high school experience was without flaw.
Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle
The third commission, which is really an adaptation, began while working with Gary Gavula at Immaculate Conception Church (ICC) in Somerville. Gary serves as Director of Sacred Music at ICC and while working under his direction I was exposed to his vast choral output.* (See footnote 2) Gary is remarkable at writing, and his Bring a Torch Jennette Isabella written for SATB choir was always a favorite of mine. However, this year, I really was hoping to do something in French with my Trebles and, with this being one of my favorite carols, and with me having a remarkably talented auditioned treble choir, I told Gary, “They are great and you could put it in a bunch of parts – they can handle it.” and they sure did! (Despite some whining over the French.)
Shenandoah
I was deeply moved hearing the student’s clarity and emotional connection to Shenandoah. The choirs’ sound was the sound that I have wanted in a choir for my whole life. See, the choir loved each other, they trusted each other, and they were telling a story that felt like it was ours – the result was a sound that I can say is the proudest sound of any ensemble I have stood in front of to date. Like the commissions, Shenandoah’s story was very ours, with the text centered on longing to see homeland, especially with me needing to face the reality that the musical home I have built will not be my home much longer and the student’s needing to face I would no longer be their teacher. I knew that Edison will always hold a place in my heart, but coming to terms with the impermanence of that was something that was very difficult. I needed this preserved – if not for a public recording, at least for myself.
Looking Back (and Forward)
So, the commissions came to be for different reasons – but all out of wanting to do good work at Edison High and tell stories that felt like ours. When I knew that I was going to grad school and only a few months remained, I had to capture this chapter with a recording: one I can come back to, reflect on, and appreciate the time I spent and the growth.
Fast forward several months and all the details were in place. With the thanks of my wonderful Student Teacher Kai Cleary, who helped location scout, the remarkable work of Andrew Jaworksi’s recording skills, and Victoria Borrelli’s wonderful musicianship behind the keyboard, I can say I am so proud of this work.
As we approached the recording day, we had some tenors and basses drop out due to health and other travel plans. As a result, and considering the permanence of this record, I was happy to invite three friends from Westminster to bolster the choir a bit. For that, I thank the amazing Kev Schneider, Jon Hartwell, and Matt Marinelli for their artistry!
The recording day itself was long consisting of: A 9:00 AM call time with a bus ride to Rutgers, a morning recording session, a pizza lunch, and an afternoon recording session, and a bus ride back to EHS by 5:00 PM. Nonetheless, this long day resulted in some of the work I am most proud of to date, distributed for the world to see.
After several round of edits and the remarkable work of Andrew Jaworksi, I truly am thankful for this work.
In closing, I am deeply honored and grateful to have invested in this work, as it allowed the students and me to preserve something that was honest, human, and intimately ours. Long after these students have graduated, long after I have moved on to new chapters, and long after the day-to-day memories begin to soften around the edges, these recordings will remain. They will remind me not only of how this choir sounded, but of who these students were, how students found their voices, and the stories we were fortunate enough to tell together. I hope that, years from now, these students might stumble back upon these recordings and hear our trust and sound preserved into something that was honest, human, and intimately ours.
Josh Lisner – July 2026
Footnotes:
* I love all of Sam’s music, but his O Magnum Mysterium is remarkable and for sure worth a listen. Available through GIA!
** Gary’s music includes works that are beautiful and nuanced (his Regina Coeli) and works that are hauntingly bitter (his Stabat Mater). Despite much of his output being for his private use, his music is remarkable.
*** All proceeds from the streaming of these recordings promote the growth of students in the Edison High School Choir program through scholarships and program needs, while also supporting my continued work as a conductor, educator, and artist.