Rosephanye Powell — Five Words or Less

Rosephanye Powell serves as a Charles W. Barkley Endowed Professor and professor of voice at Auburn University. She teaches applied voice, art song literature, and vocal pedagogy courses. She conducts the women’s chorus and co-conducts the AU Gospel Choir. Powell holds degrees from Florida State University, Westminster Choir College, and Alabama State University. She served on the faculties of Philander Smith College and Georgia Southern University prior to Auburn University. Her primary performance and research areas are the African-American spiritual, the art songs of William Grant Still, and voice-care concerns for choral singers and directors. Powell has performed recitals and served as a clinician at venues nationally and internationally. Powell has been hailed as one of America’s premier women composers of choral music. She has an impressive catalogue of works published by leading national and international publishers, including the Hal Leonard Corporation, the Fred Bock Music Company/Gentry Publications, Oxford University Press, Alliance Music Publications, and Shawnee. She is commissioned yearly to compose for professional, university, community, church and 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 all-state and honor choir festivals. Praised for their rhythmic energy, colorful harmonies, and well-crafted vocal lines, Powell’s compositions include sacred and secular works for mixed, women’s, men’s, and children’s voices. She serves yearly as a conductor for all-state and honor choirs around the country. Additionally, she is a clinician and adjudicator for choral festivals, including Festival Disney.