Shades of Blue: Skylark Vocal Ensemble Performs Bold New Commissions by Mark Van Overmeire

Skylark Vocal Ensemble, GRAMMY®-nominated choir renowned for its deeply affecting and technically superb performances, returns with a breathtaking new recording, shades of blue: choral music of Mark Van Overmeire. Released in 2025, the 40-minute recording includes two important world-premiere works by Belgian-American composer Mark Van Overmeire: Hereafter am I and Between the shadows.

Far from being a standard choral release, shades of blue is the product of an atypical and intensely symbiotic artistic process. Rather than commissioning a traditional setting, Van Overmeire invited Skylark into a realm of interpretive potential, where the group was invited to impose its own expressive mark upon the music. The result is an album that at once sounds rooted and exploratory—intimate and yet dangerous.

Hereafter am I invites listeners into reflection on legacy, identity, and connection across generations. Between the shadows looks inward, tracing a powerful emotional arc from vulnerability to empowerment. Both works showcase Van Overmeire’s distinctive sound: a marriage of minimalist texture, lyrical vigor, and percussive vocal timbre—all the more vital through Skylark’s sensitive and dynamic interpretation.

Artistic director Matthew Guard and the ensemble took this opportunity to experiment at the edges of their ability, even employing extended vocal techniques to explore new horizons in Van Overmeire’s music.

With shades of blue, Skylark advances the choral art form forward, showcasing bold new voices while cementing their position as one of America’s most innovative vocal ensembles.