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Choral Commissioning Project
Our Choral Commissioning Project was originally launched and sponsored by The Cecilia Ensemble from Augusta, GA. Dr. Timothy Michael Powell and Jennifer Powell were both founding members of the choir. The commissioning fund became the basis for the Love Like Lily Foundation's Choral Commissioning Project.
The Choral Commissioning Project endeavors to support the creation of significant new choral works by connecting distinguished choirs at all levels with renowned composers and facilitating and funding collaborations. Please consider supporting the Choral Commissioning Project with a memorial gift or recurring donation by clicking our PayPal donate button below.
The Choral Commissioning Project endeavors to support the creation of significant new choral works by connecting distinguished choirs at all levels with renowned composers and facilitating and funding collaborations. Please consider supporting the Choral Commissioning Project with a memorial gift or recurring donation by clicking our PayPal donate button below.
2020-2021 Commissioning Project
The Love Like Lily Foundation is excited to announce
Mari Esabel Valverde
as our 2020-2021 commissioned composer, in a collaboration with
The University of South Carolina Concert Choir,
under the direction of Dr. Alicia W. Walker
Mari Esabel Valverde
as our 2020-2021 commissioned composer, in a collaboration with
The University of South Carolina Concert Choir,
under the direction of Dr. Alicia W. Walker
Mari Esabel Valverde, composer
We are thrilled to announce that we have selected Mari Esabel Valverde to compose our next commissioned work! This commission simply would not have happened without the continued support from our friends, family, and other supporters, all of whom have given so generously in memory of Lily Kate Powell. You are all helping fuel our mission to support the arts, art education, and to spread acts of kindness.
Please join us in giving Maria Esable Valverde a warm welcome!
Award-winning composer and singer Mari Esabel Valverde (b. 1987) has been commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Seattle Men’s and Women’s Choruses, and Boston Choral Ensemble among others and has appeared with Dallas Chamber Choir, Vox Humana, and EXIGENCE (Detroit). She was a featured composer at the 2016 Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses Festival, where her “Our Phoenix” was premièred by six collective ensembles from the United States and Canada. Her works are published by earthsongs and Walton Music and self-published. Fluent in Spanish and French, she actively studies Brazilian Portuguese and Swedish. She has translated numerous vocal works and documents including a phonetic guide of Ravel’s opera L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Based in North Texas, she taught voice at the high school level for over six years. Her former students have participated in All-State Choirs and State Solo Competition. She currently teaches singing and transgender voice training with TruVoice Lessons. She holds degrees from St. Olaf College, the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, France, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the American Composers Forum, and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
Please join us in giving Maria Esable Valverde a warm welcome!
Award-winning composer and singer Mari Esabel Valverde (b. 1987) has been commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Educators Association, Seattle Men’s and Women’s Choruses, and Boston Choral Ensemble among others and has appeared with Dallas Chamber Choir, Vox Humana, and EXIGENCE (Detroit). She was a featured composer at the 2016 Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses Festival, where her “Our Phoenix” was premièred by six collective ensembles from the United States and Canada. Her works are published by earthsongs and Walton Music and self-published. Fluent in Spanish and French, she actively studies Brazilian Portuguese and Swedish. She has translated numerous vocal works and documents including a phonetic guide of Ravel’s opera L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Based in North Texas, she taught voice at the high school level for over six years. Her former students have participated in All-State Choirs and State Solo Competition. She currently teaches singing and transgender voice training with TruVoice Lessons. She holds degrees from St. Olaf College, the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, France, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the American Composers Forum, and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
University of South Carolina Concert Choir; Dr. Alicia W. Walker, director
The Concert Choir is the select SATB ensemble at the University of South Carolina. The hallmarks of the ensemble are excellence, accountability, and community. With its long tradition of outstanding performances in South Carolina, across the US, and in major international venues, Concert Choir is the flagship ensemble of the Choirs of Carolina. The Concert Choir performs each semester in Columbia, as well as touring across the state of South Carolina, and beyond. International tours typically take place every other year, at the end of the spring semester. Concert Choir was established by beloved director Árpád Darázs, and came to international prominence during the 31-year tenure of Larry D. Wyatt. The long-standing tradition of excellence continues now under the baton of Alicia W. Walker.
List of Past Commissions, Projects, and Memorial Performances
2019: There Was a Time
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2019 Collaboration
Performing Choir The Davidson Chorale, Augusta, GA Director Phillip Streetman Composer Elaine Hagenberg The Music "There Was a Time" - Text from Ode: Intimations of Immortality by William Wordsworth |
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Youtube performance by the Frost Chorale, University of Miami;
Dr. Amanda Quist, conductor
Dr. Amanda Quist, conductor
The Davidson Chorale, Augusta, GA;
Phillip Streetman, director
The Davidson Chorale, conducted by Phillip Streetman, performs regularly at prestigious events and venues in their home state of Georgia, nationally, and internationally. The Chorale has performed with two-time Grammy winner Joseph Jennings, Tim Sharp, and Mack Wilberg. The Chorale has been honored with invitations to perform at Lincoln Center as well as GMEA, ACDA, and MENC conventions. In 2010, the Chorale performed by exclusive invitation on Easter Sunday at the famed St. Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany, the home church of J. S. Bach, and followed up with performances at the Vatican, St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center, winning the American Prize in Choral Performance in 2012.
Elaine Hagenberg; Photography by Justin Salem Meyer
Elaine Hagenberg’s music “soars with eloquence and ingenuity” (ACDA Choral Journal). Her compositions are performed worldwide and frequently featured at national and regional American Choral Directors Association Conferences, All-State festivals, Carnegie Hall, and other distinguished international concert halls from Australia to South America and throughout Europe. In addition to composing full-time, Elaine actively engages in bringing her music to life as the guest artist and featured clinician for professional conferences and festivals both in the U.S. and abroad as a composer, conductor, and accompanist of her work.With over fifty commissioned works, she has composed new music for the American Choral Directors Association, professional choirs, colleges and universities, community choirs, high schools, and churches. Elaine has music in print with various publishers including Oxford University Press, Hal Leonard, G. Schirmer, and Hinshaw Music. Currently, she publishes her sacred anthems with Beckenhorst Press and her concert music independently through Elaine Hagenberg Music.
2018: The Bless'd Above
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2018 Inaugural Collaboration
Performing Choir The Cecilia Ensemble, Augusta, GA Director Dr. Joel Scraper Composer Daniel Elder The Music "The Bless'd Above"- Text from the Hymn to St. Cecilia by John Dryden |
The Cecilia Ensemble, Augusta, GA; Dr. Joel Scraper, director
Recognized for clarity of tone and sensitive interpretation, The Cecilia Ensemble has established a reputation as a leading choral ensemble dedicated to historically informed performances. Founded in 2011, the core ensemble comprises twelve singers; however, the group will expand to meet the needs of the music it is performing. The Cecilia Ensemble has performed throughout the Southeast, and is the resident choral ensemble for the Symphony Orchestra Augusta, having collaborated for performances of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Flos Campi and Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B Minor. In 2015, TCE was in residence at the Moscow State Conservatory, performing in concert series throughout Moscow, Russia. Other appearances include Piccolo Spoleto (Charleston, SC), Westobou (Augusta, GA), and headline performances for professional music organizations such as the American Choral Directors Association and the American Guild of Organists
Additional Notable Memorial Performances
The following performances and projects were inspired by the life of Lily Kate Powell, but were not commissioned through the Project
2018: Tuvayhun: Beatitudes for a Wounded World
Kim Andre' Arnesen
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 Charles Anthony Silvestri
Performing and Commissioning Choir
2018 World Premiere The Manhattan Girls Chorus Director Michelle Oesterle 2019 Georgia Premiere First performance of SATB version The Oglethorpe University Singers Atlanta, GA Director Timothy Michael Powell Composer Kim Andre' Arnesen Lyricist Charles Anthony Silvestri The Music "Tuvayhun: Beatitudes for a Wounded World" Silvestri's libretto features "Song for a Lily," an acrostic poem using the words "Lily Kate Life Love" as a response to the text "Blessed are they that mourn" from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Tony sent the poetry to the Powell family as a gift shortly after Lily Kate's passing. Four of our family members attended the world premiere in NYC at his invitation, and he came to Atlanta to serve as poet-in-residence at Oglethorpe University for the Georgia premiere, conducted by Timothy Michael Powell, Lily's father. |
2019: Consider the Lilies: An Appalachian Requiem
- 10% of all proceeds from the commissioning consortium were used to support the Love Like Lily Foundation. Due to COVID-19, many premieres scheduled for 2020-2021 were postponed. The Cherokee Chorale, directed by Scott Martin, performed the first full performance in March 2021 in a live-streamed, socially distanced concert.
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Commissioning Choirs
Charleston Southern University Concert Singers, Charleston, SC - Dustin Ousley, director The Cherokee Chorale, Canton, GA - Scott Martin, director Mat-Su Community Chorus, Palmer, AK - Amber Sumner, director Creekview High School Choir, Canton, GA - Scott Martin, director First UMC of Union County Sanctuary Choir, Blairsville, GA - Jeff Bauman, director Martin Methodist College Choir, Pulaski, TN - Jennifer Adam, director McKendree United Methodist Church, Lawrenceville, GA - Nada Long, director North Idaho College Choral Union, Coeur d'Alene, ID - Maximiano Mendez, director Royston First United Methodist Church, Royston, GA - Karen Smith, director Scottsdale Community College Choir, Scottsdale, AZ - Adam Stich, director Shallowford Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA - Emily Floyd, director South Dakota School of Mines and Technology - University Choir, Rapid City, SD - Matthew Bumbach, dir. St. Andrew's Episcopal Church Parish Choir, Kansas City, Missouri - Thomas R. Vozzella, director St. James United Methodist Church, Atlanta, GA - Michael Ervin, director The Choral Society of Northeast Pennsylvania Bloomsburg, PA - Alan Baker, director University of South Carolina - Aiken Concert Choir, Aiken, SC - Joel Scraper, director Composer Timothy Michael Powell The Music "Consider the Lilies: An Appalachian Requiem" |