Faith is the bird that feels the light
A sweet and soulful affirmation on darkness, light and faith
Music: Elizabeth Alexander
Words: Rabindranath Tagore
A soulful rendering of Rabindranath Tagore’s poetic aphorism on faith, featuring blues-inflected solos, varied choral textures, and a dazzling final chord. A favorite of high school and college choirs, and a popular programming choice for festival and All-State choirs.
“Just thought you might like to know how much my kids absolutely LOVE singing Faith Is the Bird. They are singing it constantly and tell me they sing it all the time at home too. We have had choir camp all this week, and they are just crazy about it.” Joy Hirokawa, Bel Canto Children’s Chorus (Red Hill, PA)
Details and Ordering Information
Composer Notes
When I began composing this song I didn’t know how it would end; in fact, I thought it would be significantly longer than it is. But after composing the first 10 bars of a small recapitulation, I stumbled upon a surprising and glorious six note chord, offering not resolution but possibility. I suddenly thought, “Good heavens, what if I stop right here?!” I was so astonished I had to get up from the piano and take a brisk walk around the block. Returning to the piano, I took a deep breath and drew a double bar line after what is one of my favorite endings of all time.
Performance Note: Why sure, this song may be certainly sung with folk/blues inflections! The solo may also be divided between more than one soloist if desired. This song works at a variety of tempos, but it loses some of its nuance when it gets too fast.
Faith is the bird that feels the light
And sings when the dawn is still dark.
Rabindranath Tagore
From Fireflies: A Collection of Proverbs, Aphorisms and Maxims
Performers
SATB
Premiere: Meeting House Choir of First Unitarian Society / Drew Collins (Madison, WI)
Choir of Aldersgate United Methodist Church / Kevin Lackie (Alexandria, VA)
Choir of Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston / Cynthia Young (Reston, VA)
First Church Boston Choral Ensemble / Gigi Mitchell Velasco (Boston, MA)
Humbolt Chorale / Rachel Samet (Arcata, CA)
SSA
Premiere: Unity Church Choir Women’s Ensemble / Elizabeth Alexander (St. Paul, MN)
21st Century Chorale / Martha Swisher (Chicago, IL)
AKSARA / Victoria Schneider. Interfaith Women of New Hampshire (Manchester, NH)
Amabile Choir / Sylvia Cauter (Bainbridge Island, WA)
Amherst College Women’s Chorus / Mallorie Cherenin (Amherst, MA)
Amherst Regional High School Hurricane Singers / Anita Cooper. Gold Medal All Stars Concert (Boston, MA)
Amherst Regional High School Hurricane Singers / Anita Cooper. Massachusetts Conductors Association Festival (Northborough, MA)
Ancora / Robert Geary (Berkeley & Lafayette, CA)
Anima Singers / Emily Ellsworth. Chorus America National Conference (Chicago, IL)
Anima Singers / Emily Ellsworth (Juneau and Eagle River, AK)
Anima Singers / Emily Ellsworth (Pretoria, George and Capetown, SOUTH AFRICA)
Anima Singers / Emily Ellsworth (Thessaloniki, GREECE)
Anima Singers / Emily Ellsworth (Vancouver, BC CANADA)
Ariana Women’s Chorus of Pennsylvania Academy of the Performing Arts / S. Katherine Shealy (Westchester and Paoli, PA)
Armstrong High School Women’s Choir / Stephanie Trump (Robbinsdale, MN)
Austin High School Varsity Treble Choir / Adrian Rodriguez (Sugar Land, TX)
Battle Creek Girls Chorus Octavio Choir / Meredith Bowen (Los Angeles, CA)
Bel Canto Children’s Chorus / Joy Hirokawa (Bethlehem, Gwynned and Pittsburgh, PA; Leipzig, GERMANY)
Bella Voce and Women’s Ensemble of Acalanes High School / Bruce Lengacher (Lafayette, CA)
Bella Voce Singers / Jessica Corbin (Brooklyn, NY)
Bethel Choral Festival / Margaret Sabin (St. Paul, MN)
Calliope Women’s Chorus / Richard Carrick (St. Paul, MN)
Camerata D’Amici / Kristin Sponheim (South Salem, NY)
Canzona Women’s Ensemble / Cricket Handler (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Carillon Women’s Chorale / Karen S Nevins (Ann Arbor, MI)
Chamber Singers of the Christian Academy in Japan / Scott Ponzani (Tokyo, JAPAN)
Champlin Park High School Treble Choir / Margaret Sabin (Champlin Park, MN)
Chanteuses Vocal Ensemble / William Zinn. Music At Noon (Sacramento, CA)
Choir of Brookfield Unitarian Universalist Church / Lila Farrar (Brookfield, MN)
Choir of Camrose United Church / Darryl Dewalt (Camrose, AL CANADA)
Choir of Church of the Holy Spirit / Sue Ellen Echard (Harleysville, PA)
Choir of Community Church of Chapel Hill / Glenn Mehrbach (Chapel Hill, NC)
Choir of First Church and Parish in Dedham / Darry Dolezal (Dedham, MA)
Choir of First Unitarian Society in Newton / Anne Watson Born (West Newton, MA)
Choir of First Unitarian Univeralist Church in Newton / Anne Watson Born (Newton, MA)
Choir of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville / Jason Shelton (Nashville, TN)
Choir of First Unitarian Universalist Congregation (Ann Arbor, MI)
Choir of Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church / Beth Nakao Syverson (Costa Mesa, CA)
Choir of Unitarian Universalist Church of Farmington, MI / Diana Munch (Farmington Hills, MI)
Choir of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville / Ruth Lewis (Gainsville, FL)
Choir of Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva / Cynthia Spiegel (Geneva, IL)
Choir of Unitarian Universalists of Transylvania County / Teresa Sandoval (Brevard, NC)
Choirs of Duquesne University / Caron Daley & Joe Stuligross (Pittsburgh, PA)
Clemson University Women’s Choir / Anthony Bernarducci. Virtual Performance Video (Clemson, SC)
Columbus Women’s Chorus (Columbus, OH)
Concentus / Edna Yeh and Gwendolyn Gassler (Rochester, NY)
Daughters of Zion / Anne Matlack (Madison, NJ)
East Tennessee Belles of East Tennessee State University / Kathryn May (Johnson City, TN)
Edgewood College Women’s Choir / Kathleen Otterson. LunART Festival (Madison, WI)
ENCORE! / Randi Grundahl Rexroth. Rosedale Shopping Center Flash Mob (Roseville, MN)
Ensemble Laude / Elizabeth MacIsaac (Victoria, BC CANADA)
eVoco Women’s Ensemble / David Fryling (Bay Shore, NY)
Feinberg School of Medicine’s Docapella (Chicago, IL)
Fire / Linda Hanson (Charlottesville, VA)
Gettysburg College Women’s Choir / Rob Natter
Glenbard West High School Women’s Accapella (Glen Ellyn, IL)
Glenbrook North High School Cecilian Singers / Kelsey Nichols (Northbrook, IL)
Governor’s School East Chorus / Laura Sam (Raleigh, NC)
Halilasa Singers / Mary Cunningham (Lexington, MA)
Harmonia (Mahtomedi, MN)
Head-Royce High School Choir / Bob Wells (Oakland, CA)
Hope College Women’s Chamber Choir / Jennifer Wolfe (Holland, MI)
Jenny Lind Singers / Michael Zemek (Rock Island, IL)
Lawton-Bronson High School Choir / Emily Jensen (Lawton, IA)
Lehigh Choral Arts / Hana Cai (Bethlehem, PA)
Lumina Women’s Ensemble (Minneapolis, MN)
Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center Swing Choir Tour (Springfield, Rockford, Bourbonnais and Oregon, IL)
Lux / Emily Allison (Demorest, GA)
Lyrebird Choir / Anika Kildegaard (Minneapolis, MN)
Maureen Forrester Singers of Wilfrid Laurier University / Elvira Froese (Caledon, ON CANADA)
Microscope Vocal Ensemble of Woodlands Academy / Kaitlin Donnelly (Lake Forest, IL)
Millbrook Community Festival Choir / Daniel Michael Koch (Millbrook, NY)
New Jersey Youth Chorus / Trish Joyce/Dan Malloy (Madison, NJ)
New York All-State Women’s Chorus (Rochester, NY)
Northwestern College Women’s Chorale / Mary Kay Geston (Collegeville & St. Paul, MN)
Peninsula Girls Chorus / Karyn Silva (Burlingame, CA)
Peninsula Women’s Chorus / Martin Benvenuto (Menlo Park & Palo Alto, CA)
Pine Bush High School Seraphim Choir / Nick Ruggeri (Pine Bush, NY)
Plainfield North High School Treble Choir / Monica Bertrand (Saint Charles, IL)
Princeton Girlchoir / Lynnel Jenkins (Princeton, NJ)
Radcliffe Choral Society (New Orleans, LA)
Rhodes Singers / Jason Bishop (Memphis, TN)
Riverside Singers / Nancy Grundahl. WomanVoice Consortium Concert (Milaca & Minneapolis, MN)
Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir / Nancy Menk (Detroit, MI, Notre Dame, IN, Toronto, ON)
Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir and Choirs of University of Guelph and University of Toronto / Nancy Menk (Guelph, ON CANADA)
Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir and Fort Wayne Children’s Choir / Nancy Menk (Fort Wayne, IN)
Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir, Ann Arbor Youth Chorale and Huron HS Bel Canto / Nancy Menk (Ann Arbor, MI)
Saint Xavier University Chamber Singers / Laura Bogan (Chicago, IL)
Selah / Alexa Doebele (Mequon, WI)
SingersMarin Les Etoiles / Jan Pederson Schiff (Cincinnati, OH, San Raphael, CA, Graz, AUSTRIA)
Sloan Creek Middle School Choir of Fairview, Texas / Christina Chapman. ACDA National Conference (Dallas, TX)
Southwest Women’s Chorus / Bill Paisner (Temecula, CA)
Spoleto Study Abroad Program Choir (Spoleto, ITALY)
St. Mary’s Academy Marian Singers / Kathy Briggs (Portland, OR)
St. Mary’s School Chamber Choir / Jennifer Moran (Raleigh, NC)
Stoney Creek High School / Brandon Ulrich
The Girlchoir of South Florida / Wallis Peterson. 10th Anniversary Concert (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
The Key of She of North Haven High School / Ashleigh Hahn. Heritage Music Festival (Montreal, QC CANADA)
The Pickup Sticks of First Unitarian Church of Victoria / Kristina Stevens (Victoria, BC CANADA)
Two Rivers Choir / Marybeth Hallinan (Monadnock, NH)
University of Louisville Women’s Chorus / Won Joo Ahn (Louisville, KY)
University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club amd Plymouth-Canton High School “Dulcissima” / Julie Skadsem (Ann Arbor, MI)
University of North Carolina Women’s Glee Club / Sue Klausmeyer (Chapel Hill & Durham, NC)
University of Northwestern Women’s Chorale / Stephanie Trump (St. Paul, MN)
University of PIttsburgh Women’s Choral Ensemble / Lorraine Milovac (Pittsburgh, PA)
University of Texas El Paso Women’s Chorus / Elisa Faser Wilson (El Paso, TX)
University of Virginia Women’s Chorus / Kae Renae Mitchell (Charlottesville, VA)
Visitation High School Choir / Rhonda Grundahl-Rexroth (Mendota Heights, MN)
Vivo Chamber Choir / Melanie Popejoy (Grand Forks, ND)
Voci Altissime / Emily Mercado (Salt Lake City, UT)
West Ottawa Select Women’s Ensemble / Pamela Pierson. ACDA Central Division Conference (Fort Wayne, IN)
West Ottawa Select Women’s Ensemble / Pamela Pierson. MSVMA Festival (Hudsonville, MI)
Westminster College Choir / Natasia Sexton (Fulton, MO)
Wheaton College Women’s Chorale / Mary Hopper (Wheaton, IL)
Wisconsin High School Women’s All-State Choir / Emily Ellsworth. (Eau Claire, WI)
WomanVoice Choir / Kathy Romey. WomanVoice Consortium (Minneapolis, MN)
Women’s Ensemble of Fauntleroy Church UCC / Bronwyn Edwards (West Seattle, WA)
Women’s HOPE Chorale of St. Louis / Leanne Magnuson Latuda (Saint Louis, MO)
Women’s Voices Chorus / Laura Sam (Chapel Hill, NC)
WOVEN / Allison Weaver (North Newton, KS)
Wright State University Women’s Chorale / Drew Collins. Mad River Vocal Arts Festival (Dayton, OH)
WSMA Treble Honor Choir / Julie Skadsem. Wisconsin School Music Association Choral Festival (Madison, WI)
Young Naperville Singers Chamber Choir / Angie Johnson. 25th Anniversary Gala (Naperville, IL)
