Compose Like A Girl

Compose Like A Girl Compose Like a Girl amplifies female-identifying composers & works toward more equitable programming.

06/04/2026

Welcome Nicole Schwartz Navratil to the Compose Like A Girl Choral Series!

Nicole’s work “Sing When Your Voice Shakes” is now available for flexible voicing a ca****la with optional piano and/or guitar. This piece conveys a spectrum of emotions, from reflective to powerful. Featuring text inspired by Minnesota leaders Jael Kerandi and Peggy Flanagan, “Sing When Your Voice Shakes” offers singers of all ages inspiration through its message, flexible design, and simple interplay of voices.

Purchase your copies today: https://graphitepublishing.com/product/sing-when-your-voice-shakes/

Check out Jocelyn and Patti Arntz’s conversation on teaching and writing for young voices, folk inspiration, and writing...
06/02/2026

Check out Jocelyn and Patti Arntz’s conversation on teaching and writing for young voices, folk inspiration, and writing music later in your career now by searching for the Compose Like A Girl Podcast wherever you stream your podcasts!

You may even be inspired to start writing music of your own 👀 Take Jocelyn’s advice, it is never too late to start writing music!

And if you want to feel even more inspired, take a peak at Patti's works "A Quilt of Snow" and "What Sweet Love" available for many voicings at graphitepublishing.com!

Nathalie Joachim joins Jocelyn on Season 2, Episode 18 of the Compose Like A Girl Podcast to discuss cultivating a “perf...
05/29/2026

Nathalie Joachim joins Jocelyn on Season 2, Episode 18 of the Compose Like A Girl Podcast to discuss cultivating a “perfectly imbalanced” creative life at the intersections of composition and performance.

"I really am a strong believer that being a great performer and composer does make me a better teacher in every way. And that being a great teacher and a great performer also makes me a better composer. And that they all kind of feed into each other in that way."
- Nathalie Joachim

Listen now wherever you stream your podcasts!

🚨 BIG NEWS! Gabriela Lena Frank won a Pulitzer Prize for her new symphonic work, 𝘗𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘳: 𝘈 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘺𝘵𝘩!📖 Read more abo...
05/05/2026

🚨 BIG NEWS! Gabriela Lena Frank won a Pulitzer Prize for her new symphonic work, 𝘗𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘳: 𝘈 𝘍𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘺𝘵𝘩!

📖 Read more about the piece here: https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/gabriela-lena-frank

🎧 Listen to the Compose Like A Girl Podcast, Gabriela Lena Frank: Self-Knowledge, Storytelling, and Not Sleepwalking Through Life: https://composelikeagirl.podbean.com/

CONGRATS GABRIELA!

Jocelyn talks with Alex Shapiro about writing from your gut and your heart, the compositional process behind her pieces ...
05/04/2026

Jocelyn talks with Alex Shapiro about writing from your gut and your heart, the compositional process behind her pieces Spark and Tight Squeeze, and how to prevent the gerbils in your mind from taking over your creative process.

🎧 Listen to Episode 17 now wherever you stream your podcasts: https://composelikeagirl.podbean.com/ !

SEASON TWO IS HERE!Jocelyn is joined by composers Mari Esabel Valverde, Shara Nova, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Alex Shapir...
05/02/2026

SEASON TWO IS HERE!

Jocelyn is joined by composers Mari Esabel Valverde, Shara Nova, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Alex Shapiro to explore language, identity, joy, grief, mentorship, and fearless creativity. They dive into what it means to make music from the heart, challenge oppression, and carve new paths forward.

🎧🎶 Listen now wherever you stream podcasts: https://composelikeagirl.podbean.com/
More episodes dropping all summer long!

01/22/2026

The ferocity and fire channeled in “Laufgrønstr” by Linda Kachelmeier will bring out every singer’s inner viking. The primal drum, compound meter, hand claps, extended vocal techniques, and colossal divisi conjure a scene from another time. A time of dragons, viking ships, crackling hearths, and legends. For advanced treble voices, “Laufgrønstr” will thrill audiences. “Heyi!!!”

Check out “Laufgrønstr” and many other new works from the Compose Like A Girl Choral Series now!!

12/20/2025

Sherry Blevins is a sought-after artist, award-winning composer, lyricist, as well as an award-winning music educator and conductor!

Sherry has three works published through the Compose Like A Girl Choral Series: the dynamic, imaginative, and intimate, “If I Call to You, My Love”; fun, saucy, and a little naughty, “When I Become an Old Woman”; and “Looking for Light” which shares a positive message of hope.

Sherry Blevins is the founder of the International Choral Composers Institute (ICCI) which is a 5-day immersive program dedicated to nurturing & instructing choral composers and lyricists of all levels while connecting them with real-world editors and publishers. Both virtual and in-person options available!

Learn more about ICCI: https://www.internationalchoralcomposersinstitute.org/

Watch the full ICCI interview with Jocelyn Hagen and Sherry Blevins: https://youtu.be/UxaKFlzW9es?si=uq1gE1x6BN4dwzTY

Check out Sherry’s works: https://graphitepublishing.com/publisher/compose-like-a-girl/

12/13/2025

Inspired by the Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones) in Portugal, Marybeth Kurnat composed a work that also takes the audience on a musical journey. Towering, colorful chords, swiftly changing keys, and creative meters all result in a rich and fascinating musical landscape.

Marybeth Kurnat (1987) is an emerging voice in choral music in the Chicago area. Her authentic compositional style, especially her harmonic language, is heavily influenced by her musical foundation as a jazz saxophonist. Her work, “I, Lover,” was the 2021-22 Winner of the Stephen Paulus Emerging Composer’s Competition. She was a 2023 Composition Fellow for the PREMIERE|Project Festival.

Marybeth holds a B.M. in Music Education from Northern Illinois University, and serves as a music educator in DeKalb, IL. She maintains an active performance schedule as a soloist and choral singer with several Chicago-area choirs.

Welcome Marybeth to the Compose Like a Girl Choral Series! Listen to the full recording of “for the sake of your journey” by Jeffrey Hunt and the St. Charles Singers now by visiting graphitepublishing.com!

“Unlost” by Abigail N. Lewis pulses with a wandering heart, searching for peace amidst the constant changes of life.Abig...
11/08/2025

“Unlost” by Abigail N. Lewis pulses with a wandering heart, searching for peace amidst the constant changes of life.

Abigail shares some insight on her piece, “It's about leaving a familiar place, and the fear that comes along with that; we ask: will I be forgotten? This piece was written for the Austin-based new music organization Inversion Ensemble and is set to a beautiful poem by a good friend of mine, Riley Craig. Riley and I have known each other since 7th grade when we met in choir. The text and music for ‘Unlost’ were written in the spring and summer of 2024, when both of us were graduating high school. For us, graduation meant leaving home and planting new roots elsewhere. People often fear leaving their places of solace; ‘Unlost’ is an acknowledgement of that fear of the unknown. It’s encouragement that despite the change in your life, the good that you have done for others will leave a lasting impact. ‘The flowers may forget your face, but they will remember your heart.’”

Check out this SATB choir with vibraphone and piano work now by visiting the Compose Like A Girl Choral Series at graphitepublishing.com!

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