Three More Women to Celebrate

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Dr. Joni Jensen is the Director of Choral Activities at Texas Women¹s University (TWU) in Denton, Texas. She received degrees from Brigham Young University and the University of Arizona and is a sought-after festival and all-state conductor/clinician. She is active as a composer, publishing with Walton and Hal Leonard, and is the editor of a series at Hal Leonard for advanced women’s choral music and is a Musical Director with Millennial Choirs and Orchestras.

Singing in a solo capacity has also been a large part of Jensen’s career. She has performed in both operatic and concert events and has particular expertise in baroque music and performance practice.

Jensen has research interests in vocal pedagogy in the choral setting, choral conducting technique, women’s chorus literature, choral arranging, and the choral music of Vaughan Williams, Britten, and Bach.

In an interview with PBS Wisconsin, Jensen stated that she is “very, very passionate about treble — or women’s — choral music, which has a reputation for being boring. There’s not as much variety; a lot of the compositions written for women’s voices tend to be pretty music like lullabies and love songs. And I’m like, Forget that.”

Jensen’s rollicking setting of the French folk song La Maumariee (J’entends le loup) features meter changing and body percussion to reflect the determination and 

liveliness of a girl who won’t let others dictate her love or her future.

The American writer Harriet Spofford was born in Calais, Maine in 1835. A widely published author in her time, her work is known for Gothic sensibility, rich description, and complex, unconventional female characters.

Her story In A Cellar appeared in The Atlantic Monthly when she was 24 years old; the editor, James Russell Lowell, at first rejected the piece on the grounds that a young woman could not have written it. The publication made her an overnight sensation and led the way to a successful 6-decade writing career in which she would publish prolifically in genres ranging through novels, essays, poetry, and travel sketches, in Harper’s Bazaar, Scribner’s, and other leading magazines. She died in 1921.

As set for women’s voices by composer Elaine Hagenberg, Spofford’s poem By Night evokes the wild, dramatic beauty of darkness and moonlight.

Says Hagenberg,

“In By Night, I imagined a dark and mysterious night beckoning a young woman to experience a thrilling adventure. A galloping accompaniment leads our narrator beyond her familiar walls, while the soaring vocal lines depict her breathless discovery of a bold and beautiful new world.

Because nature fills me with joy and peace equally, the contrasting middle section invites listeners into a moment of meditation through the “beauty born in its Maker’s thought.” 

Our heroine’s excitement cannot be contained, however, and the music rushes forth once more, painting a cinematic scene of wonder and awe.”

The American poet Sara Teasdale was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1884. 

From 1904 to 1907, Teasdale was a member of The Potters, a group of young female artists in St. Louis who published a monthly artistic and literary magazine, The Potter’s Wheel.

The literary journal Reedy’s Mirror published her early poetry beginning in 1907.

She visited Chicago in 1913 and met Harriet Monroe, founder of the influential literary journal POETRY: A Magazine of Verse, which would publish her poem Refuge in 1917.

Living in New York City from 1916, she received a Pulitzer Prize (then called the Columbia Prize) for Poetry in 1918 for her poetry collection Love Songs, helping establish her reputation as a gifted poet expressing the female perspective on romantic love.

She wrote several antiwar poems during World War I including the acclaimed There Will Come Soft Rains; overall, she published nearly 400 poems and 7 books of poetry.

She died in 1933.

This spring The Canticle Singers will perform a setting of Refuge by the composer Elaine Hagenberg. Hagenberg says,

“For me, singing has often been an expression of joy, but also a comfort during times of uncertainty or fear. In Refuge, the piano frantically races out of control, while the cello becomes the voice of heartache and despair. As the poetry unfolds, the choir sings of crushed dreams, confusion, and a yearning for help. But through song, we can turn our eyes from the surrounding darkness and lift our voices to offer comfort, beauty, and hope.”

Four Women You Should Know

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As a women’s chamber choir, the Canticle Singers strives to regularly perform works by women composers. Here are four composers we are highlighting in honor of National Women’s Day.

Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Kathleen Allan is a Canadian conductor, composer, and soprano soloist working in early, contemporary, and symphonic repertoire.

Her compositions have been performed, commissioned, and recorded internationally.

Allan has performed throughout the United States and Canada and has led orchestras including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and Early Music Vancouver.

The 2016 recipient of the Sir Ernest MacMillan Prize in Choral Conducting, she is the Artistic Director of the Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto and is a founding co-Artistic Director of Arkora, an electric vocal chamber consort dedicated to blurring lines between the music of our time and masterworks from the ancient repertoire. Additionally, she has received 2 Newfoundland Arts and Letters Awards for her compositions.

Allan did not at first consider a life in music, but had planned a career in engineering. According to the University of British Columbia website, she “had all but accepted a full scholarship to [University of] Waterloo for electrical engineering,” but decided to apply to UBC and “get music out of my system for four years. Yeah… That didn’t work at all.”

She furthered her education with a master’s degree in conducting from Yale University.

In an interview on the publishing platform Medium, Allan states “The folk music of my roots in Newfoundland influences everything I do.” 

This spring, The Canticle SIngers will perform Katheen Allan’s setting of the folk song The Maid on the Shore.

This rousing setting uses percussion and women’s voices to celebrate the triumph of a young woman on the shores of Newfoundland.

Ivette Herryman was born on the Island of Youth, Cuba in 1982.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in composition from the Higher Institute of Arts, Havana and a master’s degree in composition from Baylor University, from which she graduated with distinction.

She has composed for solo instruments, chamber and large ensemble, electronic media, sacred ensemble, film, and musical theater, and her work has been performed in Cuba, Mexico, El Salvador, and the United States.

Herryman is currently an Assistant Professor of Theory and Composition at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, NY.

The text of Ms. Herryman’s composition Sigue, performed this spring by The Canticle Singers, derives from a poem of the same name by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén (1902-1989).

The speaker asks a traveler not to mention him when walking by the house of a certain woman, and that the traveler not stop, even if she calls him.

The rhythm of the walking bass in the piano accompaniment is characteristic of the Cuban genre son, which blends Spanish and African elements.

Dessa is a singer, rapper, and writer who has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations.

Her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 entries on the Billboard charts. She contributed to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape: her track, “Congratulations,” has notched over 20 million streams. As a writer, she’s been published by The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio, and published a memoir-in-essays (My Own Devices, 2018) in addition to two literary collections.

As a speaker, Dessa has delivered keynote speeches and presentations on art, science, and entrepreneurship; guest lectures at universities and colleges across the US; and a TED Talk about her science experiment on how to fall out of love. 

She’s also the host of Deeply Human, a podcast created by the BBC and American Public Media. Dessa has been covered by Pitchfork, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. The LA Times says she “sounds like no one else.” NPR’s All Songs Considered calls her “a national treasure.” On the stage and on the page, Dessa’s style is defined by ferocity, wit, tenderness, and candor.

Jocelyn Hagen composes music that has been described as “simply magical” (Fanfare Magazine) and “dramatic and deeply moving” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul). She is a pioneer in the field of composition, pushing the expectations of musicians and audiences with large-scale multimedia works, electroacoustic music, dance, and opera. Her melodic music is rhythmically driven and texturally complex, rich in color and deeply heartfelt. A champion of the female spirit, many of her projects focus on the stories of women. She is a co-founder of Graphite Publishing and the band Nation, singing her heart out every chance she gets.

As a fierce advocate for gender equality and inclusivity, Hagen developed the initiative Compose Like A Girl to amplify female-identifying composers, help conductors diversify their concerts, and work toward more equality in music programming and commissioning. Through her podcasts, she engages in discussions with renowned composers like Reena Esmail, Chen Yi, and Rosephanye Powell. These conversations delve into the dynamics of opportunity, power, and privilege within the arts, advocating for female-identifying composers to embrace their unique artistic expression with confidence. The initiative also provides mentorship to emerging women composers, and highlights excellent work through her newly developed Compose Like A Girl Choral Series.

The composition Controlled Burn, presented this season by The Canticle Singers, is a collaboration between Dessa and Jocelyn Hagen that crosses the line between hip-hop and classical genres and speaks of the fire of life and the many “selves” within each of us born from the constant change that carries us through life.

Black History Month

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Celebrating African American Composers – Two Composers of Note

This spring, The Canticle Singers are looking forward to performing two works by Black composers: Now Let Me Fly by Stacey V. Gibbs, and Wanting Memories by Ysaye M. Barnwell.

The joyful Now Let Me Fly incorporates the traditional spiritual I’ll Fly Away and celebrates overcoming life’s challenges and obstacles. Wanting Memories expresses appreciation for the gifts our departed loved ones have given us, and how living out these gifts uplifts us in times of need.

Stacey V. Gibbs is an acclaimed composer, best known for arrangements of spirituals, whose works have been performed by such groups as The Fisk Jubilee Singers, The United States AIr Force Singing Sergeants, The St. Olaf College Choir, the Stellenbosch University Choir, and The King’s Singers. His work was performed at the 57th Inaugural Service for President Barack Obama. He made his conducting debut at Carnegie Hall in 2017 and formed the ensemble Stacey V. Gibbs & Just Music in 2018.

Ysaye M. Barnwell was destined to be a musician. Named after the virtuoso violinist, Eugène Ysaÿe, she has composed music for dance, choral, and film, and performed as a member of the Grammy Award-nominated ensemble Sweet Honey In The Rock. Ms. Barnewell holds degrees in speech pathology, cranio-facial studies, and public health. For over a decade, she taught at the Howard University School of Dentistry. A sought after clinician, conductor, singer, and actor, she is also a well-known author of the celebrated children’s books, No Mirrors in My Nana’s House (1998) and We are One (2008).

Ysaye M. Barnwell

A Love Song for Valentine’s Day

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Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair is a familiar American folk song with Scottish origins. As with many folk songs, more than one version is known; the tune most well known to us comes from John Jacob Niles (1892-1980), a folk song collector and composer also known for his composition, from traditional sources, “I wonder as I wander”. Famously recorded by Nina Simone in 1959, and performed again in this historic recording of 1969, the song is a favorite of folk artists, with notable versions by Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Rhiannon Giddens among many others.

Many versions of the lyrics exist as well, but all describe the beloved in superlative terms and express an ardent and devoted love.

This spring, The Canticle Singers will perform a setting of Black Is The Color by the contemporary American composer Nathaniel Adams (b.1986) that marries this simple, haunting melody to shimmering dissonances, some rich and some delicate, to establish a mood of melancholic longing.

Challenging to perform and exciting to hear, the setting has an expansive and almost sacred quality.

Nathaniel Adams – Composer

Nathaniel Adams is a New York-based composer, arranger, singer, and pianist fluent in a wide range of musical styles including contemporary, baroque, jazz, and Anglican chant.

His works, praised as “sophisticated and voluptuous” (Chicago Classical Review) have been performed internationally.

He is the composer in residence of the St. Charles Singers of St. Charles, IL and has received commissions from such groups as the Manhattan Chorale, the St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys (Manhattan), the men’s a cappella group Home Free, Cantamus of Iowa State University, the Swedish barbershop quartet Ringmasters, and the World Youth Choir.

Mr. Adams sings with The St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, Pomerium (specializing in early music), and Early Music New York.

Two Women of Note: Minnie Louise Haskins

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Minnie Louise Haskins – Poet of The Gate of the Year

Minnie Louise Haskins (12 May 1875 – 3 February 1957) was a British poet, educated in sociology, and an American lecturer at the London School of Economics. She taught Sunday school and became a missionary to India. In 1912, Haskins published a small volume of poetry, The Desert, to raise funds for her mission. This volume included the poem God Knows (1908). She added a preamble which evolved into the poem that today is known as The Gate of the Year.

King George read the opening lines of The Gate of the Year in his Christmas message of 1939,  as the country was in the early stages of World  War II.  After the King’s death, the Queen Mother had the poem engraved on bronze plaques at the entrance to the George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle, and in
a window at the Queen’s Chapel at the Savoy in London. The full poem was also read and printed in the Order of Service for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in 2002.

The earliest musical setting of The Gate of the Year was by Margaret Florence Spencer Palmer (1900 – 1987) in 1940 (a year following the King’s speech quoting the same poem) for solo voice and organ.  A later SATB setting was written by Richard Shepherd (1949-2021).  The Canticle Singers will perform a setting by Eleanor Daley (2004).

Two Women of Note: Eleanor Daley

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Eleanor Daley – Composer of The Gate of the Year

Eleanor Daley (b. 1955) was born and raised in Parry Sound, Ontario. Her father was a doctor, and her mother was a homemaker, amateur singer, and pianist. Daley’s earliest musical participation was in a rhythm band, followed by piano lessons starting at age five. Through middle and high school,  she played flute, and she began playing the organ for Sunday school in high school.  Daley earned her Bachelor of Music Degree in Organ Performance from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and she holds diplomas in piano and organ from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, and Trinity College, England. 

“Her choral works exemplify a balanced marriage between the text and the music, with singable soaring melodies. She has published over eighty choral compositions, has won numerous awards, and is commissioned extensively throughout North America with performances and recordings in Canada, the United States, South America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.”

CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 11 – An interview with Eleanor Daley by Hilary  Apfelstadt.

Says Ms. Daley about her path to composing:

“Composing began truly by accident, through necessity. My mother saw an ad for the Fairlawn music director position in a newspaper and told me to apply. There was only one book of introits in that church, and one day, I decided that I would go out of my mind if we did one of those introits again: so I started to write some for the choir. I realized that I really enjoyed doing this, and just for the heck of it, decided to write one every week. It turned out to be a great exercise for me (I have no idea how many I’ve written since, but it’s a lot!)… From there, I started writing descants, set the three-year lectionary of psalms, and pieces for the full choir. 

There were four women in the choir who sang beautifully together: so I started writing pieces for them, to be sung in the service (Rise Up My Love, Ave Verum Corpus, O My Dear Heart, Os Justi, This Sanctuary of My Soul, etc.)”

CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 11 – An interview with Eleanor Daley by Hilary  Apfelstadt.

Regarding the evolution of a composition:

“I almost always choose the text first, because if it doesn’t speak to me, I have no interest in setting it to music. Once the text is decided upon, the first thing would be a structural plan and hopefully, the germ of a melody, by which the rest of the work will evolve.”

CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 11 – An interview with Eleanor Daley by Hilary  Apfelstadt.

Eleanor Daley set the text for The Gate of the Year in 2004, when it was commissioned, performed, and recorded for the Alliance World Festival of Women’s Singing in Salt Lake City, Utah.

CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 51 Number 11 – An interview with Eleanor Daley by Hilary  Apfelstadt.

Hildegard von Bingen – Caritas Abundat

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Hildegard von Bingen (1098 – 1179)  was an abbess, composer, writer, philosopher, and mystic born in Bermersheim vor der Höhe, Germany.  She is considered one of the most influential women in medieval music and is sometimes referred to as the “Sibyl of the Rhine” or “The First Woman of Western Music.”

At an early age, Hildegard began to experience mystical visions, which she later recorded in her writings.  The tenth child in her family, she was tithed into the Catholic Church.  She joined a convent at the age of eight and became an abbess at the age of thirty-eight.  During her time as abbess, Hildegard founded two monasteries, wrote extensively on a wide range of subjects, and composed a large body of music.

Hildegard’s music consists of over 70 works. Her compositions were recognized during her lifetime and continue to be performed, studied, and rearranged today.  In addition to her music, Hildegard was a prolific writer of poetry, treatises on theology, medicine, and botany, and an autobiography.  She was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 2012, and she remains a revered figure in religious and musical history.

“Caritas Abundat” is a poem written by Hildegard von Bingen, set to music and arranged by Michael John Trotta. The text is adapted from Liber Divinorum Operum (The Book of Divine Works), to create a new text to express empowerment and grace.

The piece begins with a hand drum and four-part open harmony.  While the harmonies ebb and flow from dissonance to resolution, the violin part weaves in and out of the choral texture, providing counterpoint, emotional intensity, and a haunting, ethereal effect.  The drums accentuate the rhythmic vitality of the piece and give it a unique flavor, blending ancient and modern musical traditions to create a sound that is both timeless and refreshingly contemporary.

Sarah Quartel – As You Sing

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Sarah Quartel was born and raised in Great Britain in a family of musicians.  A typical day would feature mom singing arias in the kitchen while cooking dinner, and dad, a church choir director,  practicing his harpsichord in the basement.  Sarah recalls “I think I was eight years old before I realized that having a harpsichord in your basement was a bit of a unique thing.” 

In spite of her rich musical background, Quartel says that singing in choirs was her most profound influence as a composer, due to the unique marriage of text, melody, harmony, and careful pedagogy among her choral directors.  In her compositions, she emulates this care, while allowing us a glimpse of the heartfelt connections that she made by singing in a choral group.

“Choral music has this incredible way of bringing people together,” says Quartel.

Sarah started her songwriting in high school, singing her original works in cafes and coffee houses. She found that her harmonies and textures were well-suited for choral music.   At university, she began composing in earnest for the choral genre, and she had her first commissioned work, Snow Angel, published in 2017 while in her second year of college.  Since then, she has successfully published close to 30 choral pieces for a variety of voicings. 

For Sara Quartel, composing is “not only a job… it’s also something I feel very emotionally connected to.”

“As You Sing” by Sarah Quartel is a lively and rhythmic SSAA piece that incorporates hand drums as its sole accompaniment. The piece begins with a soloist or small group singing a brief melody, which is then echoed by the full choir. This call-and-response pattern continues throughout the piece, with various sections of the choir taking turns singing the lead melody.

The hand drums enter shortly after the choir begins singing, establishing a driving rhythm that propels the piece forward. The drums play throughout the piece, with occasional breaks or fills that add interest and variation to the accompaniment.

The harmonies in “As You Sing” are largely diatonic and straightforward, with occasional moments of dissonance or unexpected chord progressions. The piece is joyful and celebratory. This is well-suited to its theme of singing and making music together. The final statement of the melody builds with a gradual crescendo, never subsiding until it culminates at the very end of the piece.

Mari Esabel Valverde – Les Papillons, Le Colibri

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Mari Esabel Valverde is a Mexican-American composer based in Forth Worth, Texas. Born and raised in Texas, she began studying music at a young age. All her life, Mari has had a passion for foreign languages.  As a child, she wanted to study French, but her parents wanted her to understand the language of her heritage, so she first studied Spanish.  In high school, she began to study German lieder and French mélodie.  Today, she is proficient in French, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. Swedish is her next challenge.

Valverde’s music draws on her Mexican heritage and her experiences as a trans woman and a person of color. Her works often incorporate traditional Mexican instruments and folk music traditions, as well as contemporary classical techniques.  

Valverde has been commissioned by ACDA, the Boston Choral Ensemble, the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Seattle Men’s and Women’s Choruses, and the Texas Music Educators Association.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College,  a Certificate from The European American Musical Alliance in Paris, France, and her Master’s in Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. During her time at St. Olaf, Valverde was a member of the St. Olaf Choir under the direction of Dr. Anton Armstrong, to whom she attributes much of her growth and nurturing as a composer.  She also studied composition with Timothy Mahr during that time, and she earned opportunities to compose for band and chorus in her undergraduate years.

Says Mari, 

I aspire to create music that is humanist in message and sensual in expression. Dissonance is very purposeful and not to be overindulged. When composing for the voice, I put great care into setting a text.  Before drawing a single notehead, I memorize the text.  I sing it and sketch the composition with attention to articulation and breath.  My goal is to honor the text by ensuring clarity and space for the words and to extend its meaning in melody and harmony.

This Spring, The Canticle Singers will be performing two arrangements of French mélodie, originally set for solo voice by Ernest Chausson and arranged for treble choir by Mari Esabel Valverde:

“Le Colibri” is a setting of a poem by the French poet Leconte de Lisle (1818-1894).  Valverde’s setting of the piece begins with the hummingbird before it takes flight.  Throughout the piece, the voices dance, flutter, and weave in and out in a series of intricate, overlapping phrases.  The voices rise and fall seamlessly throughout the piece, which ends in a hushed, sustained octave unison, creating a sense of quiet wonder, awe, and unity.

“Les Papillons” features a text by the French poet Théophile Gautier (1811-1872).  Valverde’s arrangement is upbeat and playful, featuring lively rhythms and jaunty melodies that capture the flight of the butterfly (papillon) referenced in the poem.  The choral parts are homophonic but rhythmically syncopated.  The piece builds to a joyful climax before ending with a final phrase, and then the piano emulates the butterfly’s flight as it fades into the distance.

Faith Morgan Zimmer – I Am in Love

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Faith Morgan Zimmer is a choral composer, poet, singer, songwriter, illustrator, and pianist based in Minnesota.  She has a diverse background in music, having studied both classical and jazz piano as well as voice, choral conducting, and music theory.  Faith has childhood memories of sitting down at the piano after dinner and experimenting with musical hooks while transforming her thoughts into lyrics. In short, she cannot remember a time when she wasn’t creating and composing music.

Faith is rarely idle. As a Missouri State University student, she published three of her choral compositions while her band at the time, the Faith Morgan Band, also produced an album.

Says Faith:

I am passionate about writing songs I truly feel to the core of my being. Feelings I couldn’t explain without poetry and melody.  I feel that is what I am called to do, to create moments so beautiful it’s like heaven meeting earth.

Faith graduated from Missouri State University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition, and in 2021 with a graduate certificate in choral studies.  While at Missouri State, she studied with Dr. John Wykoff, Dr. Cameron LaBarr, and Susan LaBarr.  However, Faith’s most profound influence as a composer came from her studies with Alice Parker:

She showed me that I can rely on my ear and sense of melody.  That knowledge helped me find freedom in my writing.  It doesn’t have to be based on a theoretical math problem or calculation, but you can actually base it on beauty and simplicity.

In May 2019 Morgan earned her degree in music composition. Immediately following graduation, Morgan spent six months with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in South Africa, splitting her time between Cape Town, India, and Namibia. It is notable that this was during the pandemic. While she served as a missionary, she learned about herself as well.

I was able to find my identity, not based on my talents or anything. I feel that I can perform and compose again in a much healthier and holistic state of mind.

Faith’s choral works are published through Walton Music and have been recorded by the Missouri State Chorale.

Faith also records music as a singer-songwriter and leader of her newest band called Adamant Faith. In addition to composing, Faith paints commissioned visual art, writes poetry, teaches voice and songwriting, and leads worship at her local church. Faith lives with her husband, Sam, in Springfield, Missouri.

Says Faith, 

I might never have a five-year or 10-year plan, but I’ll simply go to the next thing I am called to do.

Faith’s arrangement of the American folk song “I Am in Love” begins with the soprano singing the open and somewhat stark melody, while soprano 2 sings a rhythmic augmentation of the phrase with a complementary melody. When the alto part appears, soprano 1 and 2 have joined in unison, so there are essentially two parts that expand again to three as the emotional tension grows and climaxes with the phrase “but love grows old”, and then decrescendos  with the words “fades away.” The latter part of the song is sung in hushed undertones with the ending repeating “I am in love” as the music gradually fades.  

This is the first of Faith’s arrangements that The Canticle Singers will have performed, but I have a feeling it won’t be the last.