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Composer Page for Michael Bussewitz-Quarm

michael-bussewitz-quarm

The choral music of Michael Bussewitz-Quarm engages singers and audiences with the leading social and environmental issues of our time. She is passionate about effecting change through choral music on topics ranging from the health of the world’s coral reefs to the epidemic of gun violence in the United States to the global refugee crisis. She is an active advocate for the transgender community. It is her fervent wish to spread knowledge and understanding of the transgender community through guest speaking and by simply being present in the lives of the talented musicians and artists surrounding her. Bussewitz-Quarm made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a composer June 2023 with the performance of “Where We Find Ourselves” under the direction of Rodney Wynkoop.

Winner of The American Prize in Choral Composition in 2021, Bussewitz-Quarm’s works are performed by leading professional and educational choral ensembles across North America and around the world. Recent collaborations include the west coast premiere of “The Unarmed Child” by Eugene Concert Choir and Orchestra, “I’ll Fly Away” at the International Society of Contemporary Music’s New Music Days in Vancouver, BC, and “Nigra Sum” performed by The Duke University Chorale on their California tour. Her works have been rebroadcast on Public Radio East, KMUZ, and WCPE, with performances by Singers of New and Ancient Music, musica intima, the Gregg Smith Singers, the Duke University Chorale, the Esoterics and Te Deum, among other exceptional choral ensembles. She is published by Peermusic Classical.

Bussewitz-Quarm is currently commissioned by SingDemocracy250, created to present a musical odyssey commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, with performances by choirs in every state in July 2026. This journey will begin with the premiere of “US” for SATB choir and orchestra in 2025 in Philadelphia, where the Declaration was signed in 1776. Major concerts will follow in 2026 in New York City, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Washington, DC, all anchored by the Together In Hope Choir.

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Adoravit – Voicing: SATB DIVISI  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 3:50  Notation: Standard  Text Source: traditional Latin  Language: Latin  Seasonal/Liturgical Use: Christmas  Descriptive Terms: Peace, Comfort  First Performance: December 19, 2022 : Te Deum, Matthew Christopher Shepard, Village Presbyterian Church, Prairie Village, KS    Text SettingSource for Scores(P:E 800/1831~2023-Q4)
The Radium Girl – Voicing: SSAA  Solo(s): Small Group of Treble Voices  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 4:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Shantel Sellers  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Worker’s Rights, Women’s Rights, Justice  First Performance: December 15, 2019 : Nassau Symphonic Choir of Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, Louise O’Hanlon, Tilles Center Concert Hall, Brookville, NY    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 800/1813~2023-Q3)
Be Like Jane – Voicing: SSAA  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 5:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Michael Bussewitz-Quarm  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Hope, Perseverance, Courage, Determination  First Performance: January 11, 2023 : Wellington High School Valkyries Chorus, Bradford Chase, Tampa Convention Center    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 800/1738~2023-Q2)
I Am a Voice That Sings – Voicing: SATB  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 4:40  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Ronald W. Cadmus  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Joy Of Singing, Mental Health, Peace, Harmony, Warmth, Comfort  First Performance: December 27, 2022 : Rocky Mountain Chamber Choir, Clifford W. King, Salt Lake City, Utah    Text SettingSource for Scores(P:E 800/1680~2022-Q4)
Windshear – Voicing: SSAATTBB  Solo(s): Soprano  Instrumentation: Piano, Cello, Wind Gong  Performance Length: 13:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Shantel Sellers  Language: English And Western Abenaki  Descriptive Terms: Hope, Life After Loss, Climate Change, Native American Theme  First Performance: June 19, 2021 : New Hampshire Master Chorale, Dr. Dan Perkins, Plymouth, NH at the Rotary Amphitheater along the Pemigewasset River    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 800/1658~2022-Q3)
Would You Know Me By My Work – Voicing: SATB  Solo(s): Soprano (optional)  Instrumentation: Piano  Performance Length: 4:15  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Shantel Sellers  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Family, History, Work  First Performance: June 06, 2021 : Concert Singers of Cary, Nathan Leaf, Cary, NC    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 800/1607~2021-Q4)
Scars – Voicing: SATB  Solo(s): Alto Solo, Optional Tenor Solo  Instrumentation: Piano  Performance Length: 6:30  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Shantel Sellers  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Endurance, Perseverance, Strength, Change  First Performance: May 02, 2021 : Durham Choral Society and Duke University Chorale, Dr. Rodney Wynkoop, Durham, North Carolina (during pandemic of 2020)    Text SettingSource for Scores(P:E 800/1584~2021-Q3)
The Unarmed Child – Voicing: SATB  Solo(s): Soprano, Tenor (Hip Hopera)  Instrumentation: Chamber Orchestra  Performance Length: 48:12  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Requiem Mass, Shantel Sellers, Adrian Dunn, Christina Rossetti, Rabindranth Tagore  Language: English  Seasonal/Liturgical Use: Memorial Service, Remembrance, December 14, International Day Of Peace  Descriptive Terms: Memorial, Hope, Victims Of Gun Violence  First Performance: November 08, 2019 : Eugene Concert Choir, Diane Retallack, Beall Hall, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 800/1508~2020-Q4)
I’m Not Lost – Voicing: SSAA  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 4:50  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Chantal Sellers  Language: English, Western Abenaki, Odawan, Lakota, Navajo/diné  Seasonal/Liturgical Use: Memorial Services, Native American Appreciation  Descriptive Terms: Activism, Memorial, Mmiwg  First Performance: Mar 05, 2020: Central Bucks High School-West Women’s Choir, Joseph Ohrt, Hochstein School, Rochester, NY, ACDA Eastern Division Conference    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 800/1130~2020-Q3)
So it was I – Voicing: SSAATBB  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 7:00  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Euan Tait  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Hope, Peace, Stranger, Strength, War  First Performance: Oct 18, 2019: The Esoterics, Eric Banks, St Barnabas Episcopal Church, Bainbridge Island, WA    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 800/1069~2020-Q1)
To Avielle, On Her Fifth, Sixth Birthday – Voicing: SATB  Solo(s): Soprano, Tenor  Instrumentation: Piano  Performance Length: 5:44  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Chantal Sellers  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Activism, Gun Violence, Remembrance  First Performance: Sep 21, 2019: Long Island Voices, Michael Bussewitz-Quarm, St. Peter’s by-the-Sea, Bay Shore, New York    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 800/1036~2019-Q4)
Nigra Sum – Voicing: SSAATTBB  Instrumentation: Unaccompanied  Performance Length: 4:40  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Song of Solomon 1  Language: Latin  Seasonal/Liturgical Use: Advent, World Refugee Day, World Communion  Descriptive Terms: Awakening, Hope, Refugee, Sorrow, Spring  First Performance: Apr 28, 2018: Singers of New and Ancient Music, Allan Friedman, Chapel In the Pines Presbyterian Church, Chapel Hill, NC    Text SettingSource for Scores(P:E 800/819~2018-Q3)
My Name Is Lamiya: Don’t Call Me “Refugee” – Voicing: SATB  Solo(s): Optional Solos  Instrumentation: Piano  Performance Length: 6:05  Notation: Standard  Text Source: Lamiya Safarova  Language: English  Descriptive Terms: Advocacy, Determination, Perseverance, Refugee, Self-identity  First Performance: Oct 26, 2017: Western Carolina University Choir, Alison Thorp, Recital Hall of Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC    Text SettingComposer’s NotesSource for Scores(P:E 800/801~2018-Q2)
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