a boy & a boy (2022)

for SATB choir, a cappella

Published by Oxford University Press
Visit their website below to purchase copies!

Text: Matthew Stepanic (b. 1990)
Duration: 5 minutes
Difficulty: 3/4

Commissioned by Pro Coro Canada (Michael Zaugg, dir.). First performed by Pro Coro Canada in September 2022.

In early 2019, my friend and poet Matthew Stepanic set out alongside fellow poet Jason Purcell with the ambitious plan to open Glass Bookshop, a queer-focused bookstore & community space in Edmonton. As part of their fundraising campaign, I was able to commission a brand-new poem from Matthew—I asked him to write something unapologetically queer and romantic, taking inspiration from “A Boy and a Girl”, the poem by Octavio Paz famously set by Eric Whitacre. This setting of a boy & a boy was commissioned by Pro Coro Canada and Michael Zaugg in 2022. Matthew’s poem adapts the fresh imagery of the original to weave a new narrative of queer summer love becoming something more. My music is lush and direct, focusing on the beauty and emotional depth of this brief poem, and I hope that it will resonate deeply with audiences and singers alike. This score is dedicated to Matthew, with deepest respect and admiration, for his openness and generosity in our collaborations—I’m thankful to have now set 12 of his poems to music, and I hope to continue amplifying his beautiful queer artistry in the years to come.

Click here to see the complete score.

The audio below is a live recording of the premiere performance by Pro Coro Canada (Michael Zaugg, dir.) in September 2022.

Full Text


Stretched out on the ground: a boy & a boy.
The wind in the wheat; the wheat
in his teeth. He whistles Schumann
while the other sees his smooth image
in every cloud. His face a welcome
token in the blue sky. They savour
oranges & citrus kisses—
but only for the summer.

Stretched out across a theatre: a man & a man.
The past in his teeth; his tongue
in a memory. A symphony performs Schumann
while one recalls the shape of that face
like smoke in the sky. They savour
limes & gin kisses—both remembering
the taste of that summer.

Stretched out underground: two men.
The story in their bones; their bodies
in the dirt. He chose Schumann for the funeral
& looked for a signal in the sky. An unsmoothed face
in a cloud. Now, they savour silence,
give kisses to the earth under
a single engraved name.

© Matthew Stepanic, 2021. Used with permission.