February 13, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MUSE, Cincinnati’'s Women'’s Choir
CONTACT: Rachel Kramer, NCTM, Associate Director
513-662-6690 (day or evening)
rkmlb1@earthlink.net

Hope Come True - The 12th New Spirituals Project
MUSE, Cincinnati’'s Women’'s Choir Presents 2nd in 25th Anniversary Concert Series

On April 5th and 6th, MUSE will present the 12th New Spirituals concert series, the 2nd concert series of the 25th Anniversary Season and the premiere of Hope Come True by Dr. Rosephanye Powell. In addition to Dr. Powell, MUSE will be joined by the Central State University Chorus - William Caldwell, conductor and Linda Tillery, Grammy award winning vocalist.

The combined voices of MUSE and the CSU Chorus will perform Hope Come True consisting of bold and expressive arrangements of traditional spirituals: "Keep Yo Lamps," "In Dat Great Gittin' Up Mo'nin,'" and "Study War No More." Two original works by Powell complement the set. The composer draws from the stunning poetry of Langston Hughes for "To Sit and Dream," and creates her own text for the movement "Hope Come True." MUSE, Linda Tillery and the Central State University Chorus will also perform concert sets and congregational singing will round out the program.

MUSE creates a new sound world in Hope Come True –combining the resonant messages of the traditional spiritual embodied in transcendent new arrangements, coupled with the original voice of Rosephanye Powell’s spirit-filled choral compositions.

Concert information:

Friday, April 4 8:00 p.m.
Preview Concert at Central State University, (Wilberforce, OH)
Saturday, April 5 8:00 p.m.
House of Joy; 5910 Hamilton Ave.; College Hill

Sunday, April 6 3:00 p.m.
House of Joy; 5910 Hamilton Ave.; College Hill

Suggested Ticket Price: $20.00 (sliding scale) $25.00 at the door

Tickets By calling MUSE 221-1118 or order on-line: http://www.musechoir.org

Ticket Outlets: College Hill Coffee Co., Shake It Records, Arts Consortium in Cincinnati; Sam & Eddie’s Open Books and Epic Books in Yellow Springs
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Fast Facts –

MUSE,– Cincinnati'’s Women’'s Choir
Founded in 1983 by Dr. Catherine Roma. 60 auditioned singers present three self-produced concerts and perform at more than 25 run-out and additional concert venues.
MUSE is a women's choir dedicated to musical excellence and social change. In keeping with our belief that diversity is strength, we are feminist women of varied ages, races, and ethnicities with a range of musical abilities, political interests, and life experiences.
We are women loving women; we are heterosexual, lesbian and bisexual women united in song. We commission and seek out music composed by women, pieces written to enhance the sound of women's voices, and songs that honor the enduring spirit of all peoples. In performing, we strive for a concert experience that entertains, inspires, motivates, heals, and creates a feeling of community with our audience.

The History of the New Spirituals Project
Out of the 19th century African-American struggle for freedom there emerged a body of songs called spirituals. In the early 1990s, several women gathered in the San Francisco Bay Area with a powerful idea. Elizabeth Min, director of the Redwood Cultural Work and Grammy award winning vocalist Linda Tillery imaged a project whereby newly created works, called new spirituals, would be composed by women of color.

Elizabeth and Linda envisioned newly created choral works that would capture contemporary issues in music, and forge the same elements of hope, courage, and perseverance of the 19th century spiritual. They encouraged composers to use any of the genres necessary to move the spirit, and thus field hollers, shouts, the blues, rap, gospel, game songs, spirituals, jazz, Afro Cuban, Latin, and moans all have been used in the eight commissioned suites of music.

MUSE was invited, along with the Harlem Boys Choir (New York City), the Temple University Chorus (Philadelphia), and the chorus from the University of Texas at Austin to perform these newly created works to give them greater national exposure.

After the four NEA commissions, the Redwood Cultural Work closed their doors (but the Oakland Youth Chorus is as vibrant as ever). It is only MUSE that has continued with the whole concept of the New Spirituals Project. MUSE has continued producing New Spirituals Concerts and over the years commissioned four significant suites by remarkable women with international reputations.

Central State University Chorus and William Caldwell
The internationally acclaimed Central State University Chorus is the official choir of Central State University, located in Wilberforce, Ohio. As Ohio’s only public historically black institution, Central State has served as a launching pad for many outstanding singers of international renown including Leontyne Price, Roberta Alexander and Nancy Wilson.

The Central State University Chorus consisting of students from all areas of the university, has a repertoire that encompasses all periods and styles including Black gospel music. The Chorus has performed with the Cincinnati, Cleveland and Indianapolis Pops Orchestras, across Europe and the United States and has four albums on the Telarc International label, one of which “Amen: A Gospel Celebration,” was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1994.

For 28 years the Central State University Chorus has been conducted by faculty artist William Henry Caldwell, associate professor of Music at Central State University and is chairperson for the Department of Fine and Performing Arts. He has performed as a baritone soloist throughout the United States and abroad. He performs regularly as a baritone soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and as appeared with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Caldwell has recorded on the Telarc label and has served as an adjudicator and guest conductor for the Ohio All State Choir. He has performed as a baritone soloist in Italy, Egypt, and Germany. Mr. Caldwell is a magna cum laude graduate of Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and holds the master of music degree in vocal performance from the University of Texas.

Dr. Rosephanye Dunn Powell
Dr. Rosephanye Dunn Powell, Associate Professor of Music, 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 The Florida State University (D.M. in vocal performance, University Fellow). Dr. Powell served on the faculties of Philander Smith College (AR) and Georgia Southern University before coming 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. Her oratorio performances include Haydn's Mass in Time of War, Vivaldi's Gloria, Handel's Messiah, and Israel in Egypt, Mozart's Requiem, and Saint-Saens' Christmas Oratorio. During her career, Dr. Powell has distinguished herself as a researcher, interpreter and performer of solo vocal works by William Grant Still, and the African-American spiritual. She has presented numerous recitals and lecture-recitals at churches, concert halls, universities and professional meetings around the country.
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.

Linda Tillery Native San Franciscan Linda Tillery, vocalist, percussionist, speaker, producer, arranger, teacher, and self-taught ethno-musicologist, has dedicated the last 16 years of her artistic life to the research, teaching, and performance of the great African American vernacular music. Tillery’s music reflects her eclectic interests and her restless inquiries into African American culture.
Her second solo recording, Linda Tillery, won a Bammy (Bay Area Music Award) for “Best Independently Produced Album” and Tillery was twice named “Outstanding Female Vocalist” at the Bay Area Jazz Awards. Tillery performed regularly with such popular Bay Area club bands as Rhythmus 21 (with Ray Obiedo and Bonnie Hayes), the Solid Senders (the Monday night house band at Boz Scaggs’ nightclub Slim’s) and the Zazu Pitts Memorial Orchestra. In 1990 she became a member of Bobby McFerrin’'s Vociestra, while a member of Voicestra, Tillery formed the Cultural Heritage Choir and performed regularly with her all female, Motown inspired band, “Skin Tight.” An articulate and provocative lecturer and workshop leader, Linda has presented master classes at many college and university campuses across the United States.