Spanning multiple seasons and development phases, Transfigured Light (“the standout event of Vancouver’s spring music season” The Vancouver Observer), is an album of commissions by Canadian, American, and Chinese composers exploring dichotomies of transformation: death, rebirth, light and darkness. Stemming initially from concerts which paired Renaissance motets with newly-commissioned work, Transfigured Light aims to bridge the gap between past and present, bringing Arkora’s sound into a new version of the grand motet, albeit with microtonality, electric instrumentation, and the integration of post-rock, ambient, jazz, Carnatic into its foundations of choral and contemporary classical.

TRACKS
Side A
1. Curtis Andrews: Shantaleela Namostute (text: Andrews)
2. Fay Kueen Wang: Hypnotist (text: Wang)
3. Dorothy Chang: Blue (text: Tang Dynasty fragments)
4. Noah Meites: Le Splendide Hotel (text: Arthur Rimbaud, trans. John Ashberry)

Side B
1. Benton Roark: DY5T0PIΛ L05T
i. Where Endless Ages Roll (text: Sacred Harp, anonymous)
ii. A Thousand Faceless Moons (text: Roark) 
iii. The Range of Light (text: John Muir) 
iv. Elegia (text: Percy Shelley) 

CREDITS
Producer: Benton Roark
Artist: Arkora, featuring Dashon Burton and Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble
Mixing: Stephen Lilly at Mountain Fortress Audio
Mastering: Guillermo Subauste at Pacha Sound
Music Director: Kathleen Allan; Baritone soloist: Dashon Burton; Electric guitar: Brendon Randall-Myers; Piano: Wesley Shen; Synthesizer: Benton Roark; Percussion: Daniel Morphy; Violin: Jae-won Bang; Cello: Vernon Regher

and

Guest artist, Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble (Arianne Abela, Artistic Director)
Sopranos: Sherezade Pantaki, Adrianna Tam; Altos: Cecilia Duarte, Michael Walker; Tenors: Haitham Hadar, Noah Horn; Basses: Enrico Lagasca, Will Doreza

Recorded May 23, 2022 at Revolution Recording
Recording Engineer: Luke Schindler

Transfigured Light is available for pre-order at:

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, with whose generous support this album has been made possible.

TK581 © 2025 Redshift Music

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Arkora is a Toronto-based polyphonic fusion ensemble dedicated to bending and blending genres, styles, and disciplines, with a focus on contemporary vocal music. With previous projects described as “the standout event of Vancouver’s spring music season” (The Vancouver Observer) and “an experience of deep and darkling beauty” (The Austin Chronicle), Arkora has consistently delivered next-level concert experiences throughout its ten-year history through collaboration, commissioning, and innovation in concert performance. The concept for Arkora was born in 2012 in Vancouver at the premiere of the song cycle Songs from the Rainshadow’s Edge, a production involving co-founders and Co-Artistic Directors Kathleen Allan and Benton Roark. Arkora’s official debut took place at Newfoundland’s Sound Symposium festival in 2014, and the following decade continued with performances at Roulette in Brooklyn (presented by Ear Heart Music), the Salvage Vanguard in Austin (Church of the Friendly Ghost), Studio 16 (Fugue Theatre), Mountain View Cemetery (Redshift Music) in Vancouver, Open Ears Festival in Kitchener-Waterloo, Sound Symposium again, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Early Music Vancouver Bach Festival. Since moving to Toronto, Arkora has performed at Array Music (2023) and Hugh’s Room (2024), and has co-produced experimental music theatre works, The Sign of Jonas (a folk oratorio by Benton Roark and Luke Hathaway, 2023), and Eurydice Fragments (a chamber opera for non-binary voices, fusion ensemble, and VR technology in collaboration with re:Naissance Opera). Upcoming activities include a double LP album release of commissioned work (Transfigured Light), and a live performance at Kingston Road Village Concert Series: Transarcadia.