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Commissioned Composers

Diana Burrell

Organ and instruments: Phos

Diana Burrell, born in England in 1948, started her musical career as a violist. As a composer, Burrell’s body of work ranges from the string quartet Gulls and Angels (1993) to chamber ensemble pieces such as the vividly ritualistic dreamscape Barrow (1991), opera The Albatross, written in 1987 and premiered to great critical acclaim by Trinity College of Music in June 1997, and her dramatic and colorful Symphonies of Flocks, Herds and Shoals (1995-1996), which was a commission from the BBC, and was premiered in 1997 by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She is well known internationally both as a composer and lecturer, and has been featured at concerts and university campuses worldwide. Fresh and vital, her music is uncompromising in its integrity, while communicating directly to the listener. She has written of her need for “strong, rough-edged things, brave disrespectful shapes and sounds”, as much a reference to her love of modern architecture as a declaration of her compositional creed. She has succeeded in creating a unique, personal language which is both primeval and unequivocally of our time. Diana is the Artistic Director of Spitalfields Festival in London. She has also just started on a major new series of pieces for organ with various ensembles, which will be composed over the next five years in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music, which will host all first performances.

David Conte

New work for worship service: Psalm of Praise (Psalm 100)

David Conte (b. 1955) is currently Professor of Composition and Conductor of the Conservatory Chorus at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has received commissions from Chanticleer, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, the Dayton, Oakland and Stockton Symphonies, the American Guild of Organists, Sonoma City Opera and the Gerbode Foundation. Conte has composed five operas: The Dreamers; The Gift of the Magi; Firebird Motel; and America Tropical; (these last two commissioned by San Francisco theater company Thick Description, for whom Conte has been Composer-In-Residence since 1991); and Famous, based on the book Famous for 15 Minutes—My Years with Andy Warhol by Ultra Violet. He is also the composer of a musical, The Passion of Rita St. James, produced at the SF Conservatory in 2003. The Gift of the Magi has been produced by the Asheville Lyric Opera, Winnipeg Opera, Muddy River Opera Company, Greenburg American Opera, and Opera South. He has also composed songs for singers Barbara Bonney, Thomas Hampson and Phyllis Bryn-Julson. His work is represented on many commercial CD recordings.

A Fulbright Scholar in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, a Ralph Vaughan Williams Fellow, and an Aspen Music Festival Conducting Fellow, Conte earned his Bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University, where he studied with Ruth Inglefield and Wallace DePue, and his Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Cornell University where he studied with Karel Husa, Robert Palmer, Steven Stucky and Thomas Sokol. In 1982, Conte worked with Aaron Copland preparing a study of the composer’s sketches. He has taught at Cornell University, Keuka College, Colgate University and Interlochen. With composer Todd Boekelheide, Conte co-wrote the film score for the documentary Ballets Russes, shown at the Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals in 2005, (now available on DVD), and composed the music for the PBS documentary Orozco: Man of Fire in 2006, shown on the American Masters Series in the fall of 2007. His composition The Nine Muses, commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association for their National Convention, was premiered in 2007 in Miami. 

Eleanor Daley

New work for worship service: Fill Us Lord (David Adam)

Born and raised in Parry Sound, Ontario, Eleanor Daley received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Organ Performance from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and holds diplomas in piano and organ from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, and Trinity College, England. She has been the Director of Music at Fairlawn Avenue United Church (formerly Fairlawn Heights) in Toronto, Ontario, since 1982. During this time, she has established a thriving choral program for which much of her music has been composed, thanks to the continuing support and talent of her choirs. A prolific composer, Eleanor has a remarkable gift for melody. Her works are most notable for their sensitive interweaving of text and music. She has over 100 published choral compositions and is commissioned extensively throughout North America. Included in her unpublished choral works are dozens of anthems, twelve Missae Breves, three pageants, and hundreds of descants, introits, and psalm settings. Her compositions have been widely performed, recorded, and aired throughout North America, Great Britain, Europe, South Africa, and the Far East. Her works are published by 11 publishing houses in Canada, the United States and Great Britain, including Oxford University Press (US and UK), Alliance Music Publications Inc., Hinshaw Music, Rhythmic Trident Publishing, the Royal Canadian College of Organists, Santa Barbara Music Publishing Inc., Treble Clef Press, and Walton Music.

Rose Trilogy, commissioned by the ORIANA Women’s Choir of Toronto, received the National Choral Award for Outstanding Choral Composition of the Year in 2004. Requiem, recorded by the Amadeus Choir of Toronto in 2000 on their CD, Songs of the Spirit, received the same honor in 1994. The CD won the National Choral Award for Outstanding Recording in 2002, all awards being given by the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors (ACCC).

Commissioned works for Canadian Choirs include the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Amadeus Choir, the Bach Children’s Chorus, the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the Amabile Youth Singers, St. Marys Children’s Choir, the Cantabile Singers of Kingston, the Savridi Singers, the Vancouver Men’s Chorus and the Victoria Scholars, as well as numerous other community and church choirs. Eleanor was commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) to write a choral work for the 2008 Regional Conventions, the first Canadian composer to have received this honor. Other US commissions include the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, Florida, Texas Women’s University Choir, the Alliance World Festival of Women’s Singing in Salt Lake City, and the Texas Choral Directors Association. She has also written works for choirs in other states, including New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Missouri. European commissions include the Norbusang Festival in Bodo, Norway, the Touch the Future Festival in Germany, and Oxford University Press in Cambridge, England. Eleanor was invited to be the first Composer-in-Residence at the international choral festival, FESTIVAL 500, in July 2005, in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

As well as being a highly respected choral clinician in Canada and the US, Eleanor is a busy freelance accompanist. She has worked with numerous choirs, including the Toronto Children’s Chorus, the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, the Guelph Youth Singers, and St. Marys Children’s Choir. She has been the accompanist for The Bach Children’s Chorus, under Linda Beaupre’s direction since 1995, and was the accompanist for the Amadeus Choir, under Lydia Adams’ direction, from 1991-2005.

The CD Canticle to the Spirit, now in its fourth printing, was released to critical acclaim in November 2000. It features 23 original compositions, sung by the choirs of Fairlawn Avenue (formerly Fairlawn Heights). A second CD, entitled What Sweeter Music, featuring 21 of Eleanor’s Christmas choral compositions (also sung by her church choirs and currently in its third printing), was released in November 2003.

Craig Phillips

Solo organ: Three Sketches for Organ (Awakening, Midnight Dance, Féte)

Craig Phillips (b. 1961) is a distinguished and popular American composer and organist. His choral and organ works are heard Sunday by Sunday in churches and cathedrals across the United States and many of his works have been performed in concert throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

In July 2002, Dr. Phillips was featured as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance of his Concertino for organ and orchestra during the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Philadelphia. He has also appeared as soloist with members of the Eastman Philharmonia, the Oklahoma Symphony, the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, and Musica Angelica at the Corona del Mar Baroque Music Festival. Dr. Phillips has appeared as soloist at regional conventions of the AGO and at various venues across the United States. He has distinguished himself in a number of competitions, including First Prize in the 1994 Clarence Mader Competition for organ composition. He was a judge for the 2004 National Competition in Organ Improvisation at the National AGO convention in Los Angeles, and for the 2005 AGO/Holtkamp Award in Organ Composition.

Dr. Phillips has received numerous commissions from such organizations as The American Guild of Organists (for the National Conventions in Washington, DC, 2010 and Seattle, 2000, and for regional conventions Boston and New York, 2009 and San Diego and Binghamton, 2001), The Episcopal Church (for the 2006 General Convention), The Association of Anglican Musicians, Stellar Brass (USAF Academy Band), The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s (Pacific Palisades, CA), CoroAllegro of Wilmington, Delaware, The University of Iowa, Syracuse University, University of California at Riverside, Washington National Cathedral and many other churches and institutions. His secular works include a Concerto for Harpsichord and Chamber Orchestra, Concerto for Bassoon and Strings, A Festival Song for chorus and orchestra, a song cycle for soprano and orchestra entitled Songs of the Unknown Region, Suite for Organ, Brass Quintet and Percussion, two sonatas for organ, and a number of other chamber works. His works have received critical acclaim in journals such as Gramophone, Clavier, The American Organist, Cross Accent, and The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, and have been broadcast on National Public Radio’s Pipedreams. He has received numerous ASCAP awards, and a Meet the Composer grant for a work premiered at the Ojai Festival. His organ and choral works are published by a number of firms.  A Festival Song, a recording from Gothic Records released in 2004, features a sampling of Phillips' choral and instrumental works performed by All Saints’ Choir and Craig Phillips as organist. Other works have been recorded on the Arkay, JAV, Summit, and Pro Organo labels.

Dr. Phillips holds the degrees Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music, as well as  the Performers Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, where he studied with Russell Saunders. His Bachelor of Music Degree is from Oklahoma Baptist University, and his early musical studies were at the Blair School of Music in Nashville with Peter Fyfe.

Dr. Phillips is Director of Music at All Saints’ Church, Beverly Hills, California. He previously served for 20 years as Associate Director of Music and Composer-in-Residence at All Saints’, and was honored in 2008 with a PhillipsFest. He has accompanied the semi-professional choir of that church on several concert tours, and been featured with them on compact discs released by Gothic Records. He is a member of the American Guild of Organists, the Association of Anglican Musicians, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and serves on the board of the Clarence Mader Foundation. He resides in West Hollywood, California.

Rosephanye Powell

Choir, chamber orchestra and organ: The Complaint of Jeremiah

Dr. Rosephanye Dunn Powell, Associate Professor of Voice and Coordinator of Voice Studies at Auburn University, holds degrees from Alabama State University (B.M.E., summa cum laude), Westminster Choir College (M.M. in vocal performance and pedagogy, with distinction), and Florida State University (D.M. in vocal performance, University Fellow). Dr. Powell served on the faculties of Philander Smith College (Arkansas) and Georgia Southern University before going to Auburn.

Dr. Powell’s soprano singing has brought her, successfully, through recital, concert, and oratorio performances throughout the South and Northeast regions of the United States. She has distinguished herself as a researcher, interpreter and performer of solo vocal works by William Grant Still and the African-American spiritual. Dr. Powell is an internationally-recognized composer and arranger of choral music, currently published by Gentry Publications/Fred Bock Music, the Hal Leonard Corporation, and Alliance Music Publications. Her works are in great demand at schools, churches, and choral festivals throughout the world. In addition, her works have been premiered by renowned choral conductors, including Philip Brunelle, Bob Chilcott, Rodney Eichenberger, Albert McNeil, Tim Seelig, and André Thomas. Dr. Powell is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the College Music Society (CMS), the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). Dr. Powell is listed in the first edition of the international publication Who Is Who in Choral Music, released September 2007. She has been included in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and Outstanding Young Women in America in recent years. 

Roberto Sierra

Organ Concerto

For more than a decade, the works of American composer Roberto Sierra have been part of the repertoire of many of the leading orchestras, ensembles and festivals in the US and Europe. At the inaugural concert of the 2002 world renowned Proms in London, his Fandangos was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a concert that was broadcast by both the BBC Radio and Television throughout the UK and Europe. Sierra’s numerous commissions include works for many of the major American and European orchestras. International ensembles that have performed his works include the orchestras of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, New Mexico, Houston, Minnesota, Dallas, Detroit, San Antonio and Phoenix, as well as by the American Composers Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the Spanish orchestras of Madrid, Galicia, Castilla y León and Barcelona, among others. 

Commissioned works include Concerto for Orchestra, commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation and the Philadelphia Orchestra for the centennial celebrations of the orchestra; Concerto for Saxophones and Orchestra commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for James Carter; Fandangos and Missa Latina commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington DC; Sinfonía No. 3 “La Salsa”, commissioned by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Danzas Concertantes for guitar and orchestra commissioned by the Orquesta de Castilla y León; Double Concerto for violin and viola co-commissioned by the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Orchestras; Bongo+ commissioned by the Juilliard School in celebration of the 100th anniversary; and Songs from the Diaspora commissioned by Music Accord for Heidi Grant Murphy, Kevin Murphy and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

In 2003 he was awarded the Academy Award in Music by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The award states: “Roberto Sierra writes brilliant music, mixing fresh and personal melodic lines with sparkling harmonies and striking rhythms” Roberto Sierra was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, and studied composition both in Puerto Rico and Europe, where one of his teachers was György Ligeti at the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, Germany.