Original Music Samples
A Cappella
Song, arrangement, solo, and beatboxing by Solon Snider Sway. Backup vocals by The Whiffenpoofs of 2017. Nominated for "Best Original Song" by The Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA) for the 2018 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs).
Commissions
Solon was commissioned to write a piece for the world-renowned PRISM Saxophone Quartet (https://www.prismquartet.com/), performed in May 2015 at Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia, PA) and Symphony Space (NYC) as part of their Wall to Wall World Premiere Series. Listen to the live performances below!
In Fall of 2017, Solon was asked to write the music and lyrics for a song to be played at the dedication ceremony of Yale's brand new, $250 million residential college communities: Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin. Below you will see the first performance of the piece, at the dedication ceremony on October 6, 2017. The piece has been performed multiple times since, and is now the official "Pauli Murray College" song, to be played at the Pauli Murray College commencement ceremony each year.
Other Compositions
This is a song I wrote and performed as a preface to my older sister Sage’s wedding (2019), which was modeled on Plato’s Symposium.
"Hey," set to a poem of the same name by Langston Hughes, is a piece for violin, cello, and baritone (2016).
"Inverted Horizons" for Violin, Cello, and Viola (2012).
More music to be posted soon! To hear songs/see media from Solon's original musicals and other creative projects for theatre, click "Shows" below:
A Cappella Arrangements
The Yale Whiffenpoofs
These songs appeared on the 2017 Whiffenpoof album "On the Bumpy Road," which Solon produced and music directed. "On the Bumpy Road" was nominated for "Best Male Collegiate Album" by The Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA) for the 2018 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs) and Solon's original song "I'm Ready Now" (see "original music" section) was nominated for "Best Original Song." You can listen to the full album on bandcamp or spotify at the following links:
The Duke's Men of Yale
"Nothing Ever Hurt Like You" appeared on the CARA award-winning album "Golden Hour," which can be heard on spotify at the following link:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1CdtQlOkH9v1ZZVSs8ve6Z?si=JGY2uWD4SoW1kIRGpqsdsg
"I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free" appeared on the album "The Works," which Solon produced and music directed. One track from the album, "Helplessness Blues," was selected for Voices Only's 2015 Compilation album. You can hear the full album at the following link:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4ZNkVgbdLq1MTmRk8TDBFy?si=1GEi5eBBQ8G84jk-0evRNA
Orchestrations
More coming soon!
Original Video Game and Film Music
Video Game Music
Short Music clips (just four of hundreds created) from "Atlas: The Life of a Dog" by Storyboard Interactive:
Short Music clips from "Tasty Tasty Sheepies" by Storyboard Interactive - Written as part of Pewdiepie's 72-hour game design competition:
Film Scoring
Short Music clips from Yale Class Day Films (shown at Yale's Class Day Exercises)