Biography
Rosephanye Powell has made a name for herself in the choral worlds of composition, singing, music education, and research study in the preservation and performance of African-American spirituals and gospel music. An avid choral clinician and an insightful adjudicator, she travels the world to share her expertise and her luscious soprano voice.
—Chanticleer (GRAMMY® Award-winning male vocal ensemble)
Composer
Dr. Powell’s works have been conducted and premiered by nationally and internationally-renowned composers, and have been premiered at distinguished halls around the country, including Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, and Spivey Hall. Dr. Powell’s works have been commissioned by professional choral ensembles, including Chanticleer, the Grammy award-winning men’s vocal ensemble.
Dr. Powell is commissioned yearly to compose for university choruses, professional, community and church choirs, as well as secondary school choruses. Her work has been auctioned by Chorus America and her compositions are in great demand at choral festivals around the country, frequently appearing on the regional and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, as well as Honor Choir festivals. Dr. Powell’s compositions include sacred and secular works for mixed chorus, women’s chorus, men’s chorus, and children’s voices.
Educator
Dr. Powell serves as Professor of Voice at Auburn University. She holds degrees from The Florida State University (D.M. in vocal performance, University Fellow), Westminster Choir College (M.M. in vocal performance and pedagogy, with distinction), and Alabama State University (B.M.E., summa cum laude). Dr. Powell served on the faculties of Philander Smith College (AR) and Georgia Southern University prior to her arrival at Auburn University in 2001. 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.
Commissions and Highlights
Recent commission and premiere highlights include: Love Will Make A Way (SATB) premiered by the Metropolitan Youth Chorale of New York at Lincoln Center, NY; Get Busy (SATB) premiered and conducted by the composer at Carnegie Hall, NY; A Christmas Medley (SATB), commissioned and performed by multi-Grammy award-winning Chanticleer; When I Sing (SSA), commissioned by the American Composers Forum CHORALQUEST series, amongst many other notable performances.
Commitments
Recent commitments include Melbourne International Singers Festival (AUS); the New York State School Music Association (Rochester); the Georgia Music Educators Association Conference (Savannah); Middle Tennessee Vocal Association Treble Honor Choir (Nashville); the World Choir Games (Cincinnati, OH); the Italian Feder Gospel Choirs Workshop (Milan, Italy); Alabama Music Educators Association High School Honor Choir (Montgomery); Samford University (Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts) (Birmingham, AL); South Carolina Music Educators Association State Conference (Charleston); AGO National Conference (Nashville, TN); Summer Sing Choral Workshop and Tuning at Tahoe Music Directors Workshop (Lake Tahoe, NV); and Capital Area Music Association (Harrisburg, PA).
Active Member of Organizations
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).
"Who's Who"
She was listed in the first edition of the international publication “Who Is Who in Choral Music,” and she has been included in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and Outstanding Young Women in America in recent years.
Living Legend Award
Dr. Powell has received numerous awards, including the “Living Legend Award” presented by California State University African Diaspora Sacred Music Festival in Los Angeles (2009).
The Word Was God
Still I Rise by Rosephanye Powell, sung by Vox Femina Los Angeles, Helen Mendoza and Allie Fukushima, soloists
Composed originally for treble choir, this piece has been one of the most popular selections in the Gentry catalog. Directors have been begging for an SATB voicing for years, and it is finally here. The title is the message, one of hope and resiliency. The gospel style writing includes a soloist, call and response lines, and builds to a glorious ending.