Composer & Lyricist Information
Hildegard von Bingen
(c. 1098 - 1179)
Hildegard of Bingen was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath who, during the High Middle Ages, was active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic and visionary. She was also a medical writer and practitioner.
She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, as well as one of the most recorded composers in modern history.
Alice Parker
1925-2023
Alice Parker was an internationally renowned composer, conductor and teacher, studied composition and conducting at Smith College and the Juilliard School where she began her long association with Robert Shaw. The many Parker/Shaw settings of American folksongs, hymns and spirituals from that period form an enduring repertoire for choruses all around the world.
Her list of published compositions has over five hundred titles, ranging from operas through song cycles, cantatas and choral suites to many individual anthems. She was commissioned by hundreds of community, school and church choruses, and her works appear in the catalogs of a dozen publishing companies.
Andrea Ramsey
b. 1987
Dr. Andrea Ramsey enjoys an international presence as a composer, conductor, scholar and music educator. An award-winning composer with nearly 200 works to date, she previously held positions at The Ohio State University and the University of Colorado Boulder before leaping into full-time guest conducting and composing. A product of public education and a first-generation college student, Andrea grew up in rural Arkansas, where she experienced firsthand the power of music to provide opportunities, a sense of community, and better understanding of our humanity. It is through the generosity of her many teachers and the state and federal funding of scholarships and fellowships that she is able to have the career and successes she enjoys today.
Raffaella Aleotti
(c. 1570 - c. 1646)
Raffaella Aleotti was an Italian nun, composer and organist. She was sent to Ferrara’s San Vito, a convent famous for fostering musical talents, at a very young age.
In 1593, she took over the direction of the concerto grande, the convent’s main ensemble that consisted of 23 singers and instrumentalists. A book of her motets was released and she became the first Italian nun to have published any music.
Gwyneth Walker
b. 1947
The music of American composer Gwyneth Walker is beloved by performers and audiences alike for its energy, beauty, reverence, drama, and humor.
A composer since age two, Gwyneth Walker has always placed great value on writing in a broad array of genres. More than 400 commissioned works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments, chorus, and solo voice have been created—all arising from the impetus of performers and collaboration with musicians.
Over the decades, she has traveled throughout North America to attend performances of her works and to meet her musician colleagues.
Jocelyn Hagen
b. 1980
Jocelyn Hagen composes music that has been described as “simply magical” and “dramatic and deeply moving”. She is a pioneer in the field of composition, pushing the expectations of musicians and audiences with large-scale multimedia works, electro-acoustic music, dance, opera, and publishing.
Her melodic music is rhythmically driven and texturally complex, rich in color and deeply heartfelt.
Hagen’s Compose Like A Girl initiative amplifies female-identifying composers.
Clara Schumann
(1819 - 1896)
Clara Schumann was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a 61-year concert career, changing the format and repertoire of the piano recital by lessening the importance of purely virtuosic works.
Schumann composed solo piano pieces, a piano concerto, chamber music, choral pieces, and songs.
Dolly Parton
b. 1946
Dolly Parton is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, with a career spanning 60 years, multiple music genres, and countless accolades. Her 49 solo albums and over 3000 song compositions have achieved unparalleled global reach. She is one of the most widely recognized and best-selling artists of all time.
Parton is one of an elite group of individuals to receive at least one nomination from all four major annual American entertainment award organizations: Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar, and Tony. She has received Kennedy Center Honors, National Medal Of Arts, and the U.S. Library Of Congress Living Legend Award.
Sarah Quartel
b. 1982
Sarah Quartel is one of Canada’s most internationally celebrated and widely performed living choral composers. Her music is programmed globally, and her commissions have premiered in spaces such as Carnegie Hall, Canterbury Cathedral, and the famed Church of the Rock in Helsinki.
Known for her fresh, exciting, and chorister-centred approach to music making, Sarah writes in a way that connects singer to singer, ensemble to conductor, and performer to audience.
Sara Teasdale
(1884-1933)
Sara Trevor Teasdale was an American poet known for her lyrical and romantic verse, particularly her love poems. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she was homeschooled until nine and later attended a private girls' school. She published her first poetry collection in 1907, Sonnets to Duse, and Other Poems, and went on to write several more collections, including Helen of Troy, and Other Poems (1911) and Rivers to the Sea (1915). Teasdale married in 1914 and later moved to New York City. She won the first Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1918.
Rosephanye Powell
b. 1962
Dr. Rosephanye Powell is celebrated as one of America’s foremost women composers of choral music, earning widespread acclaim for her exceptional contributions to the art form.
With a remarkable catalogue of works, her compositions have been performed, recorded, and premiered by world-renowned conductors and ensembles. Her music has captivated audiences in some of the nation’s most prestigious venues.
Among the many distinguished ensembles to bring her works to life are Cantus and the Grammy award-winning men’s vocal ensemble Chanticleer.
Elaine Hagenberg
b. 1979
Elaine Hagenberg is renowned for her ability to seamlessly weave lush harmonic landscapes, captivating melodies, and evocative piano and orchestral accompaniments.
Elaine’s compositional style is profoundly influenced by her connection to nature, beauty, and spiritual reflection. She crafts intricate musical experiences that connect listeners to both the complexity and awe of the natural world and the profound depths of shared human emotion.
Lyric Translations & Poems
O virtus sapientiae
O strength of Wisdom
who, circling, circled,
enclosing all
in one lifegiving path,
three wings you have:
one soars to the heights,
one distils its essence upon the earth,
and the third is everywhere.
Praise to you, as is fitting,
O Wisdom.
Ego flos campi
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight: and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me into the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: because I am sick of love.
A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
Abendfeier in Venedig
Ave Maria! Sea and sky are at rest,
Bells ring out from all the towers.
Ave Maria! Leave all earthly activity,
Pray to the Virgin, to the Virgin’s Son!
The angelic throng now is kneeling
With lilies wrapped around their staves,
And through the roseate clouds, the songs
Of blessed spirits float ceremoniously down.
There Will Be Rest - music by Frank Ticheli, poem by Sara Teasdale
There will be rest, and sure stars shining
Over the roof-tops crowned with snow,
A reign of rest, serene forgetting,
The music of stillness holy and low.
I will make this world of my devising
Out of a dream in my lonely mind.
I shall find the crystal of peace, – above me
Stars I shall find.
Requiescat - music by Andrea Ramsey, poem by Oscar Wilde
Tread lightly, she is near
Under the snow,
Speak gently, she can hear
The daisies grow.
All her bright golden hair
Tarnished with rust,
She that was young and fair
Fallen to dust.
Lily-like, white as snow,
She hardly knew
She was a woman, so
Sweetly she grew.
Coffin-board, heavy stone,
Lie on her breast,
I vex my heart alone
She is at rest.
Peace, Peace, she cannot hear
Lyre or sonnet,
All my life’s buried here,
Heap earth upon it.