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.  In 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.”

Sing, My Child was commissioned in 2016 for the International Choral Kathaumixw (kathaumixw.org), a 5-day international choral festival in British Columbia that featured 700 singers. Text and music are written by the composer; she evokes the joys and beauty of everyday life. The harmonies are tight and colorful in ⅞ meter, while the simplicity of the refrain calls for reflection and perseverance throughout challenging times.  In our first year back on the stage together, with the struggles of COVID and world crises, Sing, My Child is a reminder that there is always hope.

Sources:

An Interview with Composer Sarah Quartel by Tom Sabatino on August 13, 2019 – JW Pepper Cued in Newsletter Series
2021 Sarah Quartel (website)
Oxford University Press 2022

Susan LaBarr is a highly successful composer who, in her composing career of less than a decade, has completed commissions from all over the world. Having grown up with piano lessons and children’s choirs, she attended college as a piano major, and while she was successful, she soon realized that even though she loved music, a career in performance was not for her.  She was encouraged to continue in music, and she went on to major in theory in graduate school. After graduating with a Masters in Theory and no interest in teaching or accompanying, job opportunities were limited for her, but she was hired as a  receptionist in the Choristers Guild.  Eventually, she began editing music, and this ignited a spark within her that opened her path to composing.  It was her high school choral teacher who offered her first commission to write the school Alma Mater – two years after graduate school.  This was a success, and it awakened a love of composing. What followed was studying with Alice Parker, who became her mentor and close friend. Today, Susan continues to compose and edit full-time for Walton Music.  She lives in Springfield, Missouri, with her husband, Cameron, who is head of Choral Activities at Missouri State University, and their son, Elliot.

Susan’s compositions start with the text. Inspired by Alice Parker, she lives with the text for several weeks before adding rhythm, meter, or notation.   “I am so guided by the text which gives me the mode, key meter, and rise and fall of the melody.”  Her use of counterpart is also inspired by Alice Parker’s description as “the answering voice” which creates musical counterpoint as a conversation between voice parts.  This allows the composer to create a musical line that is meaningful for each part.

With a love for folk music, R&B, gospel, new broadway (for example, Jason Robert Brown), and Sarah Bareilles as one of her favorite writers, Susan’s structure is often like a standard pop ballad.  She is further influenced by the crisp choral writing of composers from Estonia and Scandinavia in the juxtaposition of joy wrapped in a cloak of sadness. 

Grace Before Sleep is a poem of gratitude by Sarah Teasdale that reflects this balance of joy and sorrow.  The piece opens in unison and culminates with richly-textured harmonies before a simple, introspective closure.  It mirrors a life journey, wherein we are often surrounded by beauty in times of our deepest pain and challenge.

Sources: 

Susan LaBarr, Santa Barbara Publishing, Inc. 2022
YOU TUBE Series – The Chorus Meets the Composer: Susan LaBarr; October 12, 2020 Alpharetta Community Chorus
Missouri State Bear Bulletin: Susan LaBarr finds her life-long passion at Missouri State; © 2013 Board of Governors, Missouri State University

Song of Miriam

Elaine Hagenberg is an accomplished pianist and singer. After earning her degree in music, she began raising her family of four children and composing while at home. Within the last decade, she has become a household word among choral artists, and she composes for a wide range of skill levels. Canticle Singers will be

performing her Song of Miriam in this Spring 2022 season as we venture out of our COVID isolation and re-explore our world together. This is significant because it is a piece about journeys, and within Elaine’s journey, it was the first piece from Elaine Hagenberg’s publications, from a poem by a woman, Rabbi Ruth Sohn, about the biblical character, Miriam, who is on an unknown journey of faith.

I happened upon Elaine’s FB post when she first published it:

“​​For my first official self-published piece, I took a risk and printed 4,000 copies of Song of Miriam.

Like Miriam, I feel like I’m often taking risks by stepping into the unknown. It takes courage to create and share my music…Then today I heard from the warehouse/shipping manager that this piece already needs to go to REPRINT and I couldn’t be more excited!

This reprint means 4,000+ young women are singing about being brave, overcoming their fears, and finding their unique voice in the world.

Let’s keep encouraging more singers, artists, teachers, conductors, and writers to be like Miriam. Step out in faith, ladies! You have something valuable to say and we WANT to hear you!”

Sources:

2020, Elaine Hagenberg (website)
Facebook Elaine Hagenberg, Composer – June 27, 2019
University of St. Francis, Community Contributor: Posted Fri, May 1, 2020, (1:24 pm CT)