Kevin Siegfried is an American composer, educator, and scholar of early American music whose work is especially known for its lyrical, accessible sound and deep engagement with folk, Shaker, and early-music traditions. He has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Capitol Hill Chorale since 2014, following several years of collaboration with the ensemble.
The Capitol Hill Chorale first performed Siegfried’s music in December 2007, having commissioned I Sing of a Maiden from his collection Three English Carols. In June 2011, the Chorale premiered Child of Earth, a cantata for Mezzo-Soprano, chorus, strings, and harp. To launch the residency, the Chorale premiered Siegfried’s Angels Hovering Round in their “Rivers of Delight” concerts in March 2014. Since then, the Chorale has commissioned and premiered dozens of his works, including the cantatas Child of Earth, Angel of Light, Music of the Spheres, and Appalachian Carols. Their long-running creative partnership was recognized in 2018 when the Chorale received a Chorus America/ASCAP Alice Parker Award for its innovative programming and collaboration with Siegfried.
Watch our video about the “Rivers of Delight” performances, featuring music from the shape note tradition.
A defining feature of Siegfried’s work is his fascination with American folk and Shaker music. His research into Shaker traditions has involved archival work and collaborations with the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake, Maine—the last active Shaker community in the United States. He has arranged numerous Shaker songs for modern choirs and incorporated these traditions into larger compositions, helping bring this relatively unfamiliar body of American music to contemporary audiences.
His music also draws on minimalism, medieval and Renaissance music, and other early-music traditions. His publisher, E.C. Schirmer, characterizes his work as expressive, lyrical, and accessible. His widely performed arrangement Lay Me Low was notably sung by the Joint Armed Forces Chorus at the state funeral of President George H. W. Bush.
Siegfried holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in composition from the New England Conservatory and has pursued additional musical study in France and India, including South Indian classical music. He has taught at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee since 2004, where he works in the Theater Division teaching music theory, songwriting, and piano.
For the Capitol Hill Chorale, Siegfried’s importance goes beyond being a composer whose works they perform. Their residency represents an unusually sustained composer–ensemble partnership, allowing the Chorale to commission new music over many years and to shape programming around Siegfried’s interests in American musical traditions.
Below, listen to the Capitol Hill Chorale singing “Vum Vive Vum” from Siegfried’s Angel of Light – a cantata based on Shaker themes premiered by CHC in 2015.