The Soundings repertoire is, above all else, eclectic! Denis draws on his uniquely broad musical background, ranging from folk to classical, to explore a wide range of genres, styles, and traditions that span the centuries from Medieval times through to contemporary compositions and arrangements. Soundings has covered a lot of musical territory in the last 17 years!
Composers from past times whose works we have featured have included Healey Willan, Benjamin Britten, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Camille Saint-Saëns, John Dowland, Thomas Tallis, Heinrich Isaac, Josquin des Pres, Orlando di Lasso, and J.S.Bach. We have also presented wonderful new pieces from contemporary composers such as Morten Lauridsen, Ola Gjeilo, Eric Whitacre, Jeff Enns, Don Macdonald, Umas Sisask and Stephanie Martin, as well as from contemporary arrangers that include Brian Tate, Stephen Hatfield, Bob Chilcott, Kirby Shaw, Diane Loomer, and Michael McGlynn. Recently Soundings has also been exploring the arrangements of the innovative pop vocal group Pentatonix.
As Denis is also a talented arranger and composer, his music has become a celebrated feature of the Soundings repertoire. Over the years he has written original compositions and settings of poetry by such diverse writers as Thomas Campion, Robert Bly, and the 8th Century Chinese poet Li Po, as well as arrangements of songs by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Lennon/McCartney, Billy Joel, The Beach Boys, Stan Rogers, and many others.
