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About
Hailing from Alabama, Dr. Rosephanye Dunn Powell has been hailed as one of America’s premier women composers of choral music. She has an impressive catalogue of works published by some of the nation’s leading publishers and her works have been conducted and premiered by nationally-renowned choral conductors. Her writing style is accessible for singers of all ages, making her a popular composer featured on Honor and All-State Choir Programs. Whether writing a short octavo-length piece or an extended work, her knowledge of the voice, voice leading, and her gift for melody ensure a high-quality composition.
Powell sang in choirs and played the piano and saxophone as a child. She later went on to pursue a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Alabama State University, a Masters degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College and a Doctorate of Music in Vocal Performance from Florida State University.
Prior to entering the world of composition, Powell was an active performer and champion of the works of William Grant Still and African American Spirituals. She is heralded as an expert in both fields and served as an editor and writer of the introduction for an anthology of Grant Still’s art songs. Her academic writings have been published in the NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) and ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) journals.
An accomplished singer and voice professor, Dr. Powell’s research focuses on the art of the African-American Spiritual and voice care concerns for voice professionals (specifically music educators, choral directors, and choral singers). She travels the country and internationally presenting lectures, song demonstrations, and serving as a workshop clinician, conductor, and adjudicator for solo vocal competitions/auditions, honor choirs, choral workshops and festivals.
-Adapted by Megan Maloney from: http://rosephanyepowell.com/biography/
This profile was expanded by Bo Shimmin in 2021 as part of The Savvy Singer, an EXCEL Lab course at the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance and a collaboration with the Hampsong Foundation via the Classic Song Research Initiative.
Related Information
Songs
A Winter Twilight
Rosephanye Powell
Angelina Weld Grimké
Song Collection: Miss Wheatley's Garden
Dying
Rosephanye Powell
Spiritual
Song Collection: Then, Here, and Now
Healing
Rosephanye Powell
Spiritual
Song Collection: Then, Here, and Now
I Want to Die While You Love Me
Rosephanye Powell
Georgia Douglas Johnson
Song Collection: Miss Wheatley's Garden
Miss Wheatley's Garden
Song CollectionRosephanye Powell
Angelina Weld Grimké
Georgia Douglas Johnson
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Oppression
Rosephanye Powell
Spiritual
Song Collection: Then, Here, and Now
Protest
Rosephanye Powell
Spiritual
Song Collection: Then, Here, and Now
Songs for the People
Rosephanye Powell
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Song Collection: Miss Wheatley's Garden
Then, Here, and Now
Song CollectionRosephanye Powell
Spiritual
Videos
Recordings
Soul and Reconciliation
(Maria Thompson Corley, Jonathan Bailey Holland, James Lee III, Zenobia Powell Perry, Rosephanye Powell, Dave Ragland and Richard Thompson)
2022
View recording
"Singing Justice" Seminar Recital
(Margaret Bonds, Henry T. Burleigh, Maud Cuney Hare, Adolphus C. Hailstork, Lori Hicks, Hall Johnson, John Rosamond Johnson, Undine Smith Moore, Robert L. Morris, Robert Owens, Rosephanye Powell, Florence Price, Brandon J Spencer and Spiritual)
2022
View recording
An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs
(H. Leslie Adams, David N. Baker, Margaret Bonds, Charles Samuel Brown, Henry T. Burleigh, Valerie Capers, Harriette Davison Watkins, Adolphus C. Hailstork, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Undine Smith Moore, Camille Nickerson, Robert Owens, Zenobia Powell Perry, Florence Price, Rosephanye Powell, Dave Ragland, Hale Smith, Irene Britton Smith and Brandon J Spencer)
2021
View recording
Sheet Music
An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs - 60 Songs
Composer(s): H. Leslie Adams, David N. Baker, Margaret Bonds, Charles Brown, H. T. Burleigh, Valerie Capers, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Arthur Cunningham, Harriette Davison Watkins, William Dawson, Mark Fax, Bruce Forsythe, Antônio Carlos Gomes, Adolphus Hailstork, Jacqueline Hairston, Maud Cuney Hare, Jeraldine Herbison, Jonathan Holland, Sylvia Hollifield, Langston Hughes, J. Rosamond Johnson, Thomas Kerr, Lena McLin, Undine Smith Moore, Andre Myers, Camille Nickerson, Fred Onovwerosuoke, Eurydice Osterman, Robert Owens, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Zenobia Powell Perry, Rosephanye Powell, Florence Price, Dave Ragland, Nadine Shanti, Carlos Simon, Hale Smith, Irene Britton Smith, Brandon Spencer, Hilbert Stewart, Howard Swanson, George Walker, Aurelia Young
Song(s): Amazing Grace (H. Leslie Adams)
Christmas Lullaby (H. Leslie Adams)
Sence You Went Away (H. Leslie Adams)
The Heart of a Woman (H. Leslie Adams)
The Alarm Clock (David N. Baker)
The Negro Speaks of Rivers (Margaret Bonds)
Caring (Charles Brown)
Desire (Charles Brown)
Your Eyes So Deep (H. T. Burleigh)
Your Lips Are Wine (H. T. Burleigh)
Autumn (Valerie Capers)
Elëanore (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor)
The Willow Song (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor)
Minakesh (Arthur Cunningham)
Stars (Harriette Davison Watkins)
Out in the Fields (William Dawson)
The Refused (Mark Fax)
With Rue My Heart Is Laden (Bruce Forsythe)
Suspiro d’alma (Antônio Carlos Gomes)
If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking (Adolphus Hailstork)
Longing (Adolphus Hailstork)
Loveliest of Trees (Adolphus Hailstork)
Dormi, Jesu (Jacqueline Hairston)
Gardé Piti Mulet Là (Maud Cuney Hare)
I’ll Not Forget (Jeraldine Herbison)
Little Elegy (Jonathan Holland)
In Time of Silver Rain (Sylvia Hollifield)
The Founding Fathers (Langston Hughes)
This is My Land (Langston Hughes)
L’il Gal (J. Rosamond Johnson)
Soliloquy (Thomas Kerr)
Amazing Grace (Lena McLin)
The Year’s at the Spring (Lena McLin)
I Am in Doubt (Undine Smith Moore)
I Want to Die While You Love Me (Undine Smith Moore)
For a Poet (Andre Myers)
Chere, Mo Lemmé Toi (Camille Nickerson)
Gué, Gué, Solingaie (Camille Nickerson)
Mshila (Fred Onovwerosuoke)
Entreaty (I Am the Rose of Sharon) (Eurydice Osterman)
Could I but Ride Indefinite (Robert Owens)
Die Nacht (Robert Owens)
From the Dark Tower (Robert Owens)
The Lynching (Robert Owens)
The Secret (Robert Owens)
Madrigal (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson)
O Children of Men (Zenobia Powell Perry)
I Want to Die While You Love Me (Rosephanye Powell)
Spring (Florence Price)
The Sum (Florence Price)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (Dave Ragland)
Mangez, Boulez (Eat, Drink, Be Merry) (Nadine Shanti)
Prayer (Carlos Simon)
Troubled Woman (Hale Smith)
Why Fades a Dream? (Irene Britton Smith)
Dream Variations (Brandon Spencer)
Spring Song (Hilbert Stewart)
One Day (Howard Swanson)
I Went to Heaven (George Walker)
Norris Swamp (Aurelia Young)
Voice Type: 36 Songs are for High Voice - Medium to High Voice
24 Songs are for Medium - Medium to Low Voice
Miss Wheatley's Garden
Composer(s): Rosephanye Powell
Voice Type: Versions for High and Low
Purchase Information via Composer WebsiteThen, Here and Now
Composer(s): Rosephanye Powell
Voice Type: Versions for High and Low
Purchase Information via Composer Website