In my career as a singer, I’ve had the privilege of giving multiple world premier performances. The first major world premiere was creating the role of Mrs. Gibbs in Ned Rorem’s opera Our Town. The second was performing as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Edwin Penhorwood’s monumental oratorio, An American Requiem.
I’ve also had two composers write specifically for me, which is really lots of fun! James Gibson wrote “Bringing Light to Live through Love,” a tribute to the victims of the 2015 Paris attacks, which I premiered on MLK day 2016 in Pensacola, Florida. Jan-Willem van Herpen wrote me a song cycle called “Notes from the Private Life” with texts from Susan Sontag’s diaries, and I’m working to book that premiere.
Additionally, since 2012, I’ve consistently programmed the music of living composers on recitals, including works by Samuel Jones, Howard Keever, Raymond K. Liebau, james Q. Mulholland, Frank Pesci, James Sclater, and Luigi Zaninelli.
My most recent world premier performance was not as a soloist but as a member of the All Saints’ Episcopal Church choir in Atlanta, Georgia, led by Ray and Beth Chenault. Parishioner Frank Thomas commissioned composer Daniel Gawthrop to write an Easter anthem scored for mixed choir, brass quintet, timpani, and organ, “This Joyous Day.”
I had the delightful occasion to spend some time with Dan at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens the day before Easter, and I’ve been reflecting on the beautiful qualities exhibited by Dan and the other great composers I know.
First of all, I notice a confidence in the unique self as a musician. In Dan, this confidence is not expressed in egotistical or snobbish attitudes; rather, it is an openness and acceptance of things, music, and people as being good and right as they are.
I also notice a trust in the creative process. Whether it’s selecting the text, working with the form of a composition, molding and shaping melodic materials, or selecting the palate of vocal and instrumental colors, Dan has a deep trust in the wisdom of the intuitive sense.
Lastly, there is belief in the intrinsic value of the composition. Hand in hand with valuing the creative manifestation, there is also a belief that the work will grow into a life of its own, and this life is beyond the author’s control. I believe Dan mentioned that he thinks of his pieces like adult children. You love them and you let them go, allowing them space to do what it is they are appointed to do.
In fact, thinking 
through these characteristics of great composers, I believe these qualities describe any person engaged in a deep, full Life: confidence, trust and belief. And as such, these people become living examples through whom love flows.
There are many such living examples who surround me. You are too many to name; yet each of you reminds me to encounter Life with a sense of love and wonder and to move through each moment with courage and integrity. Thank you.