Monica Hymas is an active composer and pianist based in Salt Lake City.

Monica Hymas is a collaborative pianist, choral singer, conductor, and composer in Salt Lake City.

Early teachers include Leonard Richter, Francine Kay and Peter Longworth. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brigham Young University where she studied piano with Scott Holden and choral conducting under Ronald Staheli.

Monica’s career highlights include:

Performance & Composition: Soloist and composer for the Southwest Symphony under Gary Caldwell.
Theater & Opera: Collaborations with J. Ryan Selberg’s Black Glove Cello Festival, multiple Tuacahn productions, and Dixie College choral and opera programs.
International Work: Performances with Dr. J. Arden Hopkin at the Conference of the Americas and surrounding venues, study in London with Evensong performances in Oxford, and a semester of piano study in Perm, Russia.
Recent Collaborations: UVU’s La Traviata and L’Importanza di essere Onesto, the BYU Trumpet Festival, and NextEnsemble.

A dedicated composer and arranger, Monica has created works for every choir she has led or sung with—from intimate church ensembles to the 90-voice BYU University Chorale. Her current choir at the Cathedral Church of St. Mark saw the recent premiere of her Magnificat. Her music has also been performed and recorded by Brevitas.

Notable Recent Premieres:

Sehnsucht — an art song setting of Anna Wickham’s poem, premiered by soprano Emily Nelson
Give Me Jesus — spiritual arrangement, premiered by soprano Mandi Barrus
Marian Prayers of St. Gertrude — chamber setting, premiered by NextEnsemble

Monica’s artistry blends a deep respect for tradition with an eagerness to explore new musical landscapes, making her a sought-after collaborator in Utah’s vibrant music scene and beyond.

Portfolio

  
      Year
      Compositions
    

  2006The Water is Wide, arr. 2 sopranos and orchestra
2009Still, Still, Still, soloists, SATB, piano
2010O, Say What is truth?, SATB, piano
2011For The Beauty of the Earth, SATB, piano
2015Nunc Dimittis, SATB, piano/organ
2016Lux Aeterna, SATB with piano/organ
2016His Eye is On The Sparrow, SATB unaccompanied
2017Themeless Variations for solo piano
2018Psalm 92, original choral setting
2019Sweet Rivers, SATB unaccompanied
2019Infinity Sister, song cycle for mezzo soprano and piano
2022Song of St. Clare, song for soprano and piano
2022Weary with Toil (Sonnet 27), song for soprano and piano
2022Magnificat, SATB unaccompanied
2023Sehnsucht, song for soprano and piano
2023Butch Cassidy Hops a Train, opera in one act for 2 sopranos, mezzo, tenor, two baritones, and chorus; piano, clarinet, violin, double bass
2024The Prayers of St. Gertrude, chamber setting for mezzo-soprano, violin and piano
2024Give Me Jesus, song arrangement for soprano and piano
2024When The Lord Was About To Take Elijah, chamber setting for tenor, clarinet, bassoon and piano
2024O Come All Ye Faithful, new choral setting, SATB unaccompanied

Notable Works

2006 - The Water is Wide, folk song arrangement premiered by Marta Burton and Jama Jandrokovic, sopranos, and the Southwest Symphony. Gary Caldwell, conductor.
2010 - Choral Hymn Arrangement: O, Say What is Truth? for BYU University Chorale.
2008-2011 - Choral Hymn Arrangements for Springville Young Adult Choir – “Still, Still, Still” and “For the Beauty of the Earth”
2016-2024 Works composed for/premiered by the Choir of the Cathedral Church of St. Mark, Salt Lake City
- Nunc Dimittis, 2015
- Lux Aeterna 2016
- His Eye is on the Sparrow, visitation of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, 2016
- How Can I Keep from Singing, 2020
- Magnificat, 2022
- O Come All Ye Faithful, a new setting, 2024
2017 - Themeless Variations for solo piano, commissioned by Jamie Johnson, Utah Valley University Dance Department.
2018 - Psalm 92, composed in 2010, recorded by Brevitas Choir, Matthew Nielsen conductor.
2019 - Song Cycle: Infinity Sister. Five settings of letter-poems by Emily Dickinson to Sue Gilbert Huntington Dickinson. Premiered by Aubrey Adams-McMilan, mezzo-soprano, and JJ Pena, piano, at Westminster College and Utah State University
2022 - Song of St. Clare, and Weary With Toil, I Haste Me to My Bed, (Sonnet 27) premiered by Melissa Gordon-James at Opera Contempo Premieres Concert
2023 - Sehnsucht, commissioned and premiered by Emily Nelson, soprano, Westminster University
2024 -The Prayers of St. Gertrude, chamber setting for Mezzo-soprano, Violin and Piano, premiered by Next Ensemble, Ogden UT.
2024 - Give Me Jesus, song arrangement for Mandi Barrus, premiered at Cathedral Church of St. Mark
2024 - March of the Women, arrangement of the Suragette hymn composed by Ethyl Smith, for Opera Contempo Women’s Month Concert Songs of the Goddess, Ogden, UT
2024 - Ascension Day, 2024: When The Lord Was About To Take Elijah, chamber setting for Tenor, Bassoon, Clarinet and Piano. Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Consecration of the Cathedral of St. Mark, on Ascension Day, 1874. Premiered by Christopher LeClyuse, tenor, Luke Pfeil, bassoon, Darren Thiriot, clarinet, and Monica Hymas, piano.