Kim André Arnesen, Composer
One of the most frequently performed contemporary choral composers, Kim André Arnesen (b. 1980), is a classical composer from Trondheim, Norway. Although he was an avid follower of MTV and a huge fan of The Cure at ten years old, he also studied classical piano, sang as a chorister in the Nidaros Cathedral Boys’ Choir, and received his education at the Music Conservatory in Trondheim. With a deep interest in baroque, contemporary classical, and popular music, his musical career could have ventured down many paths; however, choral music became his greatest passion.
Kim's first major work, Magnificat, was commissioned and premiered by the Nidaros Cathedral Girls' Choir. Released in 2014, the work received rave reviews from prominent magazines like Gramophone and Choir & Organ, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for 'Best surround recording'. His second album, 'Infinity: Choral Works', released in 2018, reached No. 2 on iTunes' best-selling classical albums and No. 6 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Albums Charts.
Euan Tait, Librettist
Euan Tait is a European writer of Welsh-Scots heritage, born in Berlin in 1968, and now living in Gwent, Cymru. He works as an educator with teenage and adult students, as well as a librettist and poet. He is currently developing online retreats for international participation, and is writing two books on spirituality, Lord Who Am I? and Music Souls.
His libretto work is international, with composers including Kim Andre Arnesen, Carson Cooman, Anselm McDonnell, Michael Bussewitz-Quarm, Paul Spicer, Janet Wheeler, Paul Carr, Craig Hella Johnson, Mark Buller, Jessica French, Sean Kirchner and John Mulheisen. Major projects include texts for Cooman’s 2019 oratorio As We Are Changed, for Spicer’s 2014 choral symphony Unfinished Remembering (Symphony Hall, Birmingham, UK), and Arensen’s 70 minute cantata The Wound in the Water (Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, 2016); other major works are the opera Under the Greenwood Tree (Dorset Opera, 2024) and Princeton Motets (Princeton University Chapel, 2024). His shorter texts include Flight Song, performed and recorded across the globe. There is an increasing range of recordings of his work with composers available.
Euan’s work explores themes of human brokenness and memory, of internal and external exile, of music as our companion through life, and of hope for healing. Further information can be found at Euan Tait - Retreat Leader, Trainer, Librettist and Poet and Euan Francis Barclay Tait - Wikipedia .
Cate Todd, Harpist
Cate Todd has been playing the harp since she was seven years old, and has performed and studied extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan. At the age of 17, Cate made her debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts. She has a degree in Harp Performance from the University of Utah, and has been a featured soloist with the Utah Symphony, the Central Pennsylvania Symphony, the Susquehanna Chorale, and the Master Singers of Northern Virginia. She is also a two-time top prizewinner at the American Harp Society National Competition.
Beyond performing and freelance work, Cate is a dedicated educator. She has completed the Suzuki harp teacher training and spent a summer in Matsumoto, Japan, studying the Suzuki Method firsthand under its founder, Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. Her teachers include ShruDeLi Ownbey of Utah and Mary Kay Waddington of Colorado. As a young harpist, she also studied with Susann McDonald in Indiana and Alice Chalifoux in Maine.
Cate has recorded two albums: Passacaille, a collection of solo harp works, and Nativity: A Celebration of the Savior’s Birth, a Christmas recording for harp and violin with violinist Amy Osmond Cook.
When she’s not practicing the harp, Cate can be found reading, doing yoga, or skiing in the mountains of Utah. She loves to travel with her husband, Michael, and their greatest joy is spending time with family, including their six children and six grandchildren.
