Elaine Hagenberg’s music “soars with eloquence and ingenuity” (ACDA Choral Journal). Renowned for her ability to seamlessly weave lush harmonic landscapes, captivating melodies, and evocative piano and orchestral accompaniments, she offers a unique blend of artistic sophistication and universal appeal. With notable performances across the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Asia, her works are frequently featured at regional symposiums, national American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conferences, All-State festivals, as well as performance venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, the Vatican in Rome, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, and the upcoming Église de St-Sulpice in Paris. Elaine’s award-winning compositional style is profoundly influenced by her connection to nature, beauty, and spiritual reflection. Drawing inspiration from the vivid imagery and themes found in poetry, she crafts intricate musical textures that enrich her narratives and “pull at one’s heartstrings” (NY Concert Review), creating immersive experiences that connect listeners to both the complexity and awe of the natural world and the profound depths of shared human emotion. This is evident in her celebrated composition I Am the Wind, which earned first place in the American Choral Directors Association Brock Prize for Professional Composers. In addition to composing full-time, Elaine is a guest artist and clinician, seeking to foster meaningful connections through music and texts. Her recent and upcoming residencies and speaking engagements include ACDA conferences, Carnegie Hall Festivals, the Incanto Mediterraneo International Choral Festival in Milazzo in Italy, the Vox Anima London Choral Festival, and the Galway Choral Festival in Ireland. To learn more about Elaine, please visit: elainehagenberg.com
Hagenberg is a prolific writer. Having been commissioned for over fifty works in the past ten years, she has composed new music for the American Choral Directors Association, professional choirs, colleges, universities, community choirs, high schools, and churches.
The Canticle Singers will be performing Hagenberg’s “I Am the Wind,” which was commissioned by the National ACDA Women’s Choir Consortium, and named the winner of the 2020 ACDA Brock Competition for Professional Composers.
Elaine Hagenberg’s SSAA setting of “I Am the Wind” is a beautiful and evocative piece of music that captures the spirit of the poem by Zoe Atkins.
The piece begins with a subtle entrance of a cappella voices, then the piano enters with a simple accompaniment, while the melody is passed between the different voice parts, creating a sense of unity and harmony. The harmonies are lush and complex, with unexpected chord progressions and suspensions that add to the overall sense of wonder and awe.
The poem’s imagery of the wind is reflected in the music through the use of flowing melodies and dynamic contrasts. The choir sings with a sense of longing and nostalgia as if they are being carried away by the wind itself. Beginning with the phrase, “You are the light” there is a very gradual crescendo and building of energy which builds to the end without ever receding.
Says Hagenberg,
In this piece, poet Zöe Atkins compares her uncertainty to the wavering winds and shifting shadows, contrasting with the unchanging stars and secure land. This poetic tension is mirrored musically through rhythmic contrast and dissonant choral harmonies which highlight the power of women’s voices—joining together, offering strength, and, ultimately, soaring as one.