On this episode we focus on some songs of Rosephanye Powell and Betty Jackson King, both amazing women with some fabulous songs to their credit. All of these songs are sure to be accessible and exciting to audiences, while offering enough challenge to performers to make their songs worth digging into!

Our guest today is Dr. Sonya Baker, Professor of Voice at James Madison University. Sonya performs a lecture recital based on Marian Anderson's 1939 concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and helped curate a new song literature curriculum for NATS that can be downloaded from the NATS website, called Expanding the Canon.

Rosephanye Powell

Miss Wheatley's Garden (sung by Gracyn)

• I Want To Die While You Love Me 

Langston Dreams (sung by Aliyah)

• Hold Fast to Dreams
• I Dream A World

Then, Here, and Now (sung by Donovan)

• Oppression

Betty Jackson King (sung by Toni)
these songs are in A New Anthology of Art Song by African Composers

• Theology
• Compensation

Recorded at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music Recording Studio in Pittsburgh, PA, and Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

To compare Rosephanye Powell's setting of "I Want To Die While You Love Me" with the one from Undine Smith Moore, check out Episode 6 of this season!

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So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about its network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

For more information on Gracyn Blu, visit their website, or you can follow them on Instagram @gracynblu

You can follow Donovan Elliot Smith on his YouTube page.

Aliyah Quill is currently a senior at Carnegie Mellon University.

This episode is sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University. Learn more about CMU and apply today.