Music Without Borders
Till MacIvor Meyn’s choral compositions reach an international audience.

Till MacIvor Meyn composed a challenging choral composition for the Singing Girls of Texas. He later traveled with the ensemble on the Nordic tour where the work, “Oculi in Astra,” premiered in Stockholm.
Music Without Borders
Till MacIvor Meyn’s choral compositions reach an international audience.
ON A MID-MARCH EVENING IN THE HEART OF STOCKHOLM, the Adolf Fredrik Church resonated with the celestial sounds of “Oculi in Astra,” an original choral composition by Till MacIvor Meyn, professor of music theory and composition. During the premiere performance by the Singing Girls of Texas from Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, the acoustics of the centuries-old cathedral allowed each note to dance and overlap, enveloping the audience in harmonies.
“It was nerve-wracking, but it was also a somewhat transcendent experience for me as a composer,” Meyn said. “They really connected with the music and really lived and breathed the Latin text and emotions.”
Meyn was able to accompany the ensemble on its Nordic tour courtesy of a travel grant awarded by Amy Tully, the Teresa Ann Carter King dean of the College of Fine Arts. Blaise Ferrandino, division chair and professor of music theory and composition, offered Meyn additional departmental funds to cover the remaining cost of his travels.
“It really does make a difference as a creative artist when you know that you’re supported,” Meyn said. “I could release any anxiety about how to cover this [trip] and instead focus on the creative aspect.”
CREATING ‘OCULI IN ASTRA’
Meyn’s collaboration with the Singing Girls of Texas, a high school ensemble of soprano and alto voices, came about naturally, as his daughter, Susanna Meyn, was a member. With a strong connection to northern Europe because of his German heritage, Meyn saw the Nordic tour as a fitting opportunity to write a piece for the group. Kerra Simmons, former artistic director of the Singing Girls of Texas, said she welcomed the chance for her students to learn a new work by a local professor.
Meyn began to create “Oculi in Astra” (“Eyes to the Stars”) by writing his text in Latin, both to imbue the piece with a sense of gravitas and to eliminate the potential distraction that can arise when a listener attempts to comprehend each word. Composing in Latin, he said, “frees up the audience to exist outside of the text and be more in the moment with the music.”
Meyn wrote the Latin text and English translation simultaneously, collaborating with Richard Leo Enos, professor emeritus and Latin scholar, to ensure the precision of the Latin. Using the word boundless — the theme of the Singing Girls of Texas’ Nordic tour — as his guiding principle, Meyn chose an ethereal theme for the piece.

Till Meyn wrote “Oculi in Astra” sans a key signature, tasking singers to modulate between central pitches.
By juxtaposing lines like “Oculi in astra tene” (“Lift your eyes to the stars”) with “Sed cave foveae quaerendi omnia videre” (“But beware the pitfalls of seeking to see all”), Meyn explores both the inspiring and cautionary aspects of following one’s dreams. Musically, the composition begins on an optimistic note before evolving into hauntingly ominous tones. The last section of the piece resolves on a joyous crescendo, opening with the phrase “Somnia tua inventa sunt in caelo sursum,” or “Find your dreams in the boundless sky above.”
With encouragement from Simmons and Susanna, Meyn incorporated advanced musical elements into the piece. “Compared to a lot of our other repertoire, it took significantly more time to polish and learn because it was so challenging for the singers,” Simmons said. She added that the work allowed her to teach her choir new compositional and theoretical skills.
Meyn wrote “Oculi in Astra” without a key signature, which challenged the singers to modulate between various central pitches. Keeping the harmonic target moving, he said, creates a feeling that the audience is traveling and evolving with the song.
Among other uncommon elements Meyn used in the piece are tone clusters, or complex harmonies. Unlike the frequently used triad, a chord consisting of three traditionally harmonious notes, Meyn’s dissonant chords make it more difficult for singers to find their own pitch. The Singing Girls of Texas, an auditioned ensemble that rehearses at least seven hours a week, were up to the task.
“Dr. Meyn’s piece provided us with a new perspective on the structure of choral music,” said Michelle Pearce, former Singing Girls of Texas president and member for six years. Pearce, who graduated from Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts last spring, began her journey as a TCU student in fall 2024. With aspirations to become a professional opera singer, she is majoring in vocal performance.
“I was already enamored by TCU and its music program,” Pearce said, “but working with Dr. Meyn solidified the confidence in my decision to attend.”
In April 2024, after the choir returned home, the Singing Girls of Texas performed “Oculi in Astra” at Meyn’s faculty recital in the Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU. Tully and Ferrandino were in the audience.
“ ‘Oculi in Astra’ was truly ethereal,” Tully said. “To be able to support faculty in their creative accomplishments and for the School of Music and TCU to be recognized on the international stage is incredible.”
A NEW PROJECT EMERGES
Fueled by the connections he made with artists in Denmark, Sweden and Finland, Meyn decided to create a choral piece influenced by Nordic folk music.
With the help of Kristine West, a Swedish folk musician he met at the Stockholm concert, Meyn began with a 1935 poem based on Walpurgis Night, a European and Scandinavian holiday that celebrates the transition from winter to spring yet embodies the eeriness of Halloween. To help Meyn learn the proper pronunciation and diction of the Swedish text, “Valborgsnatt” by Karin Boye, West sent him recordings of her fiancé reciting it.

“It was nerve-wracking, but it was also a somewhat transcendent experience for me as a composer,” says Till MacIvor Meyn (with his dog, Martin) of attending the premiere of his “Oculi in Astra.”
From the poem, Meyn composed the first of five songs in a choral cycle with the working title “Säsongsrunda,” or “Cycle of the Seasons.” Meyn set four additional Swedish poems to music, each embodying a different season, to round out the piece. The choral cycle begins with summer and ends with late spring.
Meyn’s composition will premiere at TCU in spring 2025, bringing the product of his creative journey back to the institution that made it possible. The Concert Chorale, TCU’s flagship choral ensemble, directed by Christopher Aspaas, division chair of choral activities and associate professor of voice, will perform the piece.
“It’s a really great feedback loop where I’m going out and experiencing the art of composition,” Meyn said, “and then I’m able to share that art with my students.”
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