Commissioning Corner – Spring 2026

Joy in Defiance: A Synopsis of the ComposeHER, ConductHER Symposium and Festival at St. Olaf College

by Mari Esabel Valverde

To quote my new composer friend Ritika Bhattacharjee: “The vibes were immaculate.”

We are one week removed from the ComposeHER, ConductHER Symposium and Festival, and my engine is still running on the overhaul it was to my nervous system. Hosted by St. Olaf College’s Music Department and spearheaded by Dr. Therees Tkach Hibbard, the weekend brought together composers, conductors, music students, and area choirs to celebrate the contributions of women in choral music and of our allies.

Saturday, April the 25th, symposium day, was stacked with meaningful conversations. The morning launched with two podcast episodes of conduct(her), featuring two panels, recorded live with co-hosts Drs. McKenna Stenson and Kyra Stahr moderating, in person and remoting in, respectively. Panel one consisted of composers—Abbie Betinis, acclaimed composer and composition professor, Ritika Bhattacharjee, an early-career composer from Austin, Texas, Romina Soto-Solari, a senior St. Olaf composition major, and me. Panel two consisted of conductors—Amy Johnson, artistic director of See Change Treble Choir, Natalia Romero Arbeláez, Upper School choir director at the Blake School in Minneapolis, Kathy Saltzman Romey, seasoned artistic director of the Minnesota Chorale, Jen Terhune Streit, artistic director of LunART Choir in Madison, Wisconsin, and Maria Wilson, middle school choir teacher in the Osseo Area School District. Follow the conduct(her) podcast online to catch our episodes!

Over lunch, the composers and conductors intermingled with St. Olaf students, and from there we gathered for a reading session of newly composed treble choral works. In anticipation of this symposium, St. Olaf College initiated a call for scores, which received 60 submissions from composers under 31 in the United States and abroad to be reviewed by a panel of judges for reading and possible publication. Symposium participants, led by student conductor Obsa Kedir, either read through or listened to five selections:

“Âsrar mâdar” by Claudia Beroukhim (US)

“Morning” by Sophia Colpitts (Canada)

“Along the Eastern Shore” by María Domínguez (Spain, US)

“Wash Away” by Taleya Jordan (US)

“Affirmation” by Nathan R. Lange (US)

Symposium day rounded off with an inspiring masterclass with Kathy Saltzman Romey for St. Olaf students in choral conducting.

On Sunday, April the 26th, the festival began with a rotation of composer Q and A’s. Abbie Betinis and I enjoyed the opportunity to connect one-on-one with each of the five ensembles invited to perform, a diverse gathering:

Anima from Northfield Youth Choirs, conducted by Michelle Bendett

Cantabile of Minnehaha Academy, conducted by Karen Lutgen

See Change Treble Choir, conducted by Amy Johnson

Uno Vox from Northfield High School, conducted by Kyle Eastman

Voce from Maple Grove High School, conducted by Beth Hellstedt

The festival concert opened with a community sing of “Resilience,” a call to action from the Justice Choir Songbook with words and music by Betinis. Next, each of the invited choirs individually performed two or three songs, the first of which was the premiere of Ritika Bhattacharjee’s invigorating work “Tat Tvam Asi” (“That Thou Art”) sung in Sanskrit and English. Following the five choirs, the St. Olaf Manitou Singers—a non-auditioned treble ensemble of first-year students—conducted by Dr. Hibbard, performed their set, including Betinis’s “A Blessing of Cranes” and “Sul-lae-don-da” (“The Circle Spins”) by South Korean composer Hyowon Woo. These two works, along with “Songs for the People” by Reginal Wright later in the program, were all commissioned by ACDA’s Soprano-Alto Choir National Commission Consortium in which the Manitou Singers participated over several years.

After an intermission, Sue Stout, outreach coordinator for Ruth’s House of Hope, Inc., came to the mic to introduce the audience to her organization and ask for donations. Based in Faribault, Minnesota Ruth’s House provides emergency shelter and sober living spaces for women and families in the Rice County Area.

The Manitou Singers took stage again, and each individual invited choir combined with them, one after the other, for five joint performances. In this set, together with See Change Treble Choir, the Manitou Singers, assisted by pianist Henry Rye and violinist Maggie Bevans, were the third ensemble ever to perform my work “Hold the Vision to Our Hearts” on a text by Helen Keller. I originally composed this work for Keller High School’s varsity treble choir and their conductor Chi-Chi King for their performance as an invited choir at the Texas Music Educators Association annual convention in February 2014. Dedicated to Nora Wong, King’s mother and her musical inspiration, the piece speaks on grief, expressing how “our beloved ones,” the departed, live on reflected in our acts of love. With a tenaciously obtained second permissions contract with the text’s copyright holder, it was performed by the Minnesota All-State Soprano-Alto Choir in 2020; and with the text entering the public domain last year, my piece is reborn and prepared for publication. For me, at least, it was an important and stunning performance.

At last, the concert concluded with a most resonant performance of Jocelyn Hagen’s “Joy,” sung by all six choirs combined with the composer at the piano and conducted by Maestra Romey.

Allow me to thank everybody who showed up for one or all these events including our cis male allies. It takes collaborators to create a lasting impact. Because of ComposeHER, ConductHER, I had the chance to witness the transformative power of our collective efforts. Now, envision that time and place of radical belonging and keep writing, learning, teaching, daring, and making your voice heard. We will get there.

See below for the full program of the Festival of Songs.

Resilience	Abbie Betinis
Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art)	Ritika Bhattacharjee
Before I Buy a Gun	Andrea von Kampen
Keep Marching from Suffs	Shaina Taub, arr. Andrea Grod
Fire	Mary Goetze
Jong Jong Inai	arr. Tracy Wong
Mangwana Mpulele (My Child, Open for Me)	arr. Lana Walters
We Rise	MaryAnne Muglia
Never One Thing	May Erlewine, arr. Corie Brown
Be Like the Bird	Betinis
Wings	Little Mix, arr. Andy Beck
La Violette (The Violet)	arr. Susan Brumfield
The Falling Star	Mary Carpenter Davis
*A Blessing of Cranes	Betinis
*Sul-lae-don-da (The Circle Spins)	Hyowon Woo
Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit	arr. Rosephanye Powell
*Songs for the People	Reginal Wright
O Love	Elaine Hagenberg
Hope Lingers On	Lissa Schneckenberger
Where the Light Begins	Susan LaBarr
Hold the Vision to Our Hearts	Mari Esabel Valverde
Joy	Jocelyn Hagen

*Commissioned by ACDA’s Soprano-Alto Choir National Commission Consortium         

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about the author

Award-winning transgender Mexican-American composer, native of North Texas, Mari Esabel Valverde, whose music has been reviewed as “heart-stopping” (BBC Music Magazine) and “of shimmering beauty” (The WholeNote), has composed art songs, chamber music, and works for chorus, orchestra, and wind ensemble. Recent projects include commissions for the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses, Los Angeles Master Chorale, and the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club. Aspiring to create music that emboldens people to unlearn shame, her works center the voices of historically marginalized authors and address questions of gender, sexuality, social justice, and love of the natural world.