Composer: Elizabeth AlexanderDetailsFormat: Treble VoicesVoicing: SSAIncidental Divisi: S, S, ASolo Requirements: SAccompaniment: unaccompaniedNotation: standardPerformance Length: 3:00 Study Scores & Audio FilesStudy Score & Audio Order Printed ScoresPublisher: Seafarer Press / SEA-068-00 Order site / Alternate source of score: Seafarer Press / SEA-068-00 Texts & TranslationsLanguage(s): EnglishText Source: Rabindranath TagoreText: Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark. Programming AidsPerformance Difficulty: moderately easySeasonal Usage: SolsticeEquinoxDescriptive Terms: faithbirdlightdawndarknessAllow Excerpts: Composition is a single movementComposer’s Notes: A soulful rendering of Rabindranath Tagore’s poetic aphorism on faith, featuring a rich alto solo, jazz and blues inflections, and a dazzling final chord. Additional InformationDate of Completion: October, 2005Date of First Performance: Friday, October 21, 2005Premier Performance Data: Women's Ensemble of Unity Church-Unitarian (Elizabeth Alexander, cond), Unity Church-Unitarian, Saint Paul, MNAdditional Performances: Amherst Regional High School "Hurricane Singers" / Anita Cooper. Gold Medal All Stars, Symphony Hall (Boston, MA) Amherst College Women's Chorus / Mallorie Cherenin (Amherst, MA) ANIMA Singers / Emily Ellsworth (Pretoria, George & Capetown, SOUTH AFRICA) Battle Creek Girls Chorus / Meredith Bowen. Choir Tour of Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) Bel Canto Children's Choir / Joy Hirokawa (Pittsburgh, PA & Leipzig, GERMANY) Bella Voce and Women's Ensemble of Acalanes High School / Bruce Lengacher (Lafayette, CA) Bella Voce Singers / Jessica Corbin (Brooklyn, NY) Carillon Women's Chorale / Karen S Nevins (Ann Arbor, MI) Choir of Camrose United Church / Darryl Dewalt (Calgary, Alberta, CANADA) Choir of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville / Jason Shelton (Nashville, TN) Choir of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville / Ruth Lewis (Gainsville, FL) Choir of Universalist Unitarian Church of Farmington / Diana Munch (Farmington Hills, MI) Choir of Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church / Beth Nakao Syverson (Costa Mesa, CA) Choir of Community Church of Chapel Hill / Glenn Mehrbach (Chapel Hill, NC) Ensemble Laude / Elizabeth MacIsaac (Victoria, British Columbia, CANADA) Head-Royce High School Choir / Bob Wells (Oakland, CA) Wisconsin High School Women’s All-State Choir / Emily Ellsworth. Wisconsin Choral Directors Association (Eau Claire, WI) Hope College Women's Chamber Choir / Jennifer Wolfe (Holland, MI) Jenny Lind Singers / Michael Zemek ~ Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) "Microscope" Vocal Ensemble of Woodlands Academy / Kaitlin Donnelly (Lake Forest, IL) Northwestern College Women's Chorale / Judy Lennartson. Northwestern College (Saint Paul, MN) Saint Mary’s College Women’s Choir Nancy Menk (Guelph & Toronto, Ontario, CANADA) SingersMarin "les étoiles" / Jan Pederson Schiff. World Choir Games (Cincinnati, OH & Graz, AUSTRIA) Sloan Creek Middle School Choir of Fairview, Texas / Christina Chapman. ACDA National Conference (Dallas, TX) Stoney Creek High School / Brandon Ulrich (Fort Wayne, IN) The Pickup Sticks of First Unitarian Church of Victoria / Kristina Stevens (Victoria, British Columbia, CANADA) University of Virginia Women's Chorus / Kae Renae Mitchell (Charlottesville, VA) University of Michigan Women's Glee Club / Julie Skadsem. University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) University of North Carolina Women's Glee Club / Sue Klausmeyer (Durham, NC) Visitation High School Choir / Rhonda Grundahl-Rexroth (Mendota Heights, MN) West Ottawa Select Women's Ensemble / Pamela Pierson. ACDA Central Division Conference (Fort Wayne, IN) Westminster Women's Chorale / Natasia Cain. Westminster College (Fulton, MO) Wright State University Women's Chorale / Drew Collins (Dayton, OH) Young Naperville Singers Chamber Choir / Angie Johnson (Naperville, IL)