Bless the Lord, O My Soul
From the O Antiphons to a new symphony on Psalm 103.
Dr. Michael Dodds
Professor of Music, UNC School of the Arts · Director of Worship, Music & the Arts, First Presbyterian Church of Winston-Salem
Dr. Dodds composed his previous choral symphony, I Will Exalt You (inspired by Psalm 145), for the 40th anniversary of Crisis Control Ministry in 2013. That work led to the feature-length documentary Blessed Unrest, narrated by revered actor Rosemary Harris. The film screened at the 2023 RiverRun Festival and has won more than a dozen awards on the international film festival circuit.
Voices & Instruments
Charli Mills
Soprano soloist featured in Michael Dodds's setting of Malcolm Guite's O Come Advent sonnets, performing alongside pianist Inara Zandmane.
Inara Zandmane
Collaborative pianist bringing Michael Dodds's settings of Malcolm Guite's Advent sonnets to life in performance.
Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra
62 players, conducted by Michael Dodds — anchoring all three Fall 2027 performances.
Festival Chorus & Guest Ensembles
Host church choirs and friends (75–100 singers), joined by a featured Gospel Choir and Children's Choir.
The O Antiphons
In these sonnets, Malcolm Guite responds poetically to each of the seven “O” antiphons — plainchants that since the sixth century have been sung before and after the Magnificat, Mary's song, on the seven evenings leading up to Christmas Eve. Boethius references these anonymous chants as early as c. 515 AD. Each antiphon invokes a Biblical title of Christ and concludes with a plea for Christ to come.
Read backward from the vantage of Christmas Eve, the first letters of the antiphons spell out ERO CRAS — “tomorrow I will be with you.” These antiphons inspired the Advent hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Taken together, these songs trace an arc from deep need to hope to fulfillment, from darkness to light.
O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti…
O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum…
O Oriens (O Dayspring)
O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae…
Main Work & Congregational Hymns
Choral Symphony on Psalm 103 (“Bless the Lord, O my soul…”) — for festival chorus and symphony orchestra, newly composed by Michael Dodds.
| “All Creatures of Our God and King” | orch. Rutter |
| “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven” | orch. Funderburk |
| “O God, Beyond All Praising” | orch. Proulx |