Tawnie Olson A.D. ’00 says it was “a thrill” to hear Yale Schola Cantorum perform her carol “I Saw a Stable” in Woolsey Hall on Dec. 8 after being commissioned by Oxford University Press to compose a piece for the new Carols for Choirs 6 compiled by David Hill and Bob Chilcott.
Tawnie said the carol was “performed beautifully, with every detail of the score respected thoroughly and musically.”
She composed the carol in the sweltering August heat of 2021 when there was no possibility of a choir meeting in person to sing it through for her.
“At that point I had trouble believing I would get to spend Christmas with my parents again, and could not even dream of a day when I would be allowed back into a packed Woolsey Hall to hear Schola sing my piece, and so many other lovely works from Carols for Choirs 6, with integrity and sensitivity. I am so grateful for this Advent experience of a long-deferred hope at last fulfilled.” Listen to the carol here.
