In 2018 after my freshman year at Texas Christian University, I was invited to do a residency as a paid singer for Simpson College’s new 3-Summer M.M. program in Conducting. For the whole summer, I roomed with three other talented singers (Cameron Rolling, Jacob Lay, and Jared Campbell), and we formed our own little TTBB quartet.  We sang four-part tenor/bass music every night, and finally I decided to write my own piece for us to sing.  I have known about Emily Dickinson’s simple and beautiful poem entitled “Will There Really Be a ‘Morning’?” for a long time, and I knew I would set it one day.  I used this as my opportunity to write a TTBB choral piece.

The title of the piece presents such a deep question, and yet, there is a sense of simplicity and awe behind Dickinson’s words.  The music begins low and soft, as if the sun is still rising.