Portland composer Judy A. Rose was recently approached by a friend who exclaimed, “Judy, you’ve made it.” Perhaps it was after In Medio Choir premiered Judy’s ten-movement cantata _Walk in

Beauty, Walk in Light_ last year. Or it could have been because her pieces were showcased at the 2020 Oregon American Choral Directors Local Reading Session. But Judy closed her eyes for a

moment after she relayed that story, and then gently shook her head. “No,” she said with her wry smile. “I don’t know what that means, but, no.” Judy is more likely to tell you, as she told

OAW in a recent conversation, she feels that as a composer she’s just getting started. She’s had successes, to be sure: works published with Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Gentry

really seems to understand the “story” behind the composition. In this past holiday season, when Portland Symphonic Choir performed Judy’s _I Found Me A River_, the Portland composer was

ecstatic as she took her bows. Perhaps it was the wonderful solo by Jasmine Johnson; perhaps it was PSC Artistic Director Alissa Deeter’s approach – about which Judy remarked, according to

Deeter, “I never ever would have thought of the things that you did.”  Listen to that Portland Symphonic Choir performance here: You have the opportunity to hear and to learn about the

creation of _River _when the Portland Symphonic Choir presents “Rising Together” on Sunday, June 22. In fact, you will get to hear four works by Rose in this unique PSC event, in which Judy,

and other composers, will share some of their creative motivation. Sponsor “This is art being made in real time,” Deeter said in recent conversation with OAW. “The spirit of the concert is

thinking more fully about what the choral composing community is offering, why a piece was made, what is it’s story.” The concert is also a final dress rehearsal: Judy’s concert pieces, and

others, will be recorded the following week. Judy’s works all have a story, and many of those stories come directly from Judy’s own life. She has captured moments when wind and frozen ice —

and hearts — brought Portland area trees to the ground.  Moments of joy, of yearning, of sorrow. Judy also reaches back to her childhood for the stories you can feel in her music. SUCH A

BADDIE! Judy A. Rose was born in Weirton, West Virginia. Memories of her first five years, which were spent in foster care, include the sounds and feelings of spirituals and gospel music —

joy from the congregants and musicians in the Black Baptist church. Life changed significantly when Irena, a single white woman living in Sacramento, became Judy’s adoptive mother and gave

her a home filled with music, including the classics and Broadway musicals. Irene, an accomplished pianist and violinist, was Judy’s first piano teacher.  We all have moments that we later

look back upon as formative, or at least eye-opening. For Judy, it was when her mother took her and her sister Lisa to Tchaikovsky’s _Nutcracker. _It was not the dancers that caught her

attention; it was the music, and the conductor who brought it to life.  Judy continued in the interview, revealing details of her early life – internalizing the spiritual and gospel music,

realizing she had perfect pitch, and about her foster care mother, Mama Essie. Then her face lit up, and she declared proudly, “I was born on Ella Fitzgerald’s birthday. El-la Fitz-gerald;

such a baddie!” Judy’s wide smile and sparkling eyes suggested that perhaps she herself had somehow engineered her April 25, 1966 arrival into the world. Or maybe it was karma. Now, before

venturing further, readers, you should know that having Judy refer to you a “baddie” — or another similar endearment — is one of her highest compliments. And, when face to face, “baddie”

comes with a beaming smile and a hug that connects heart to heart. That, like Judy Rose, is the real deal.  Irene met and married Bob Rose, and the family moved to Eugene, Oregon, where they

lived a short while before moving to La Grande, where there was steady work. Eastern Oregon would be Judy’s home through high school. Sponsor Judy continued her piano lessons, but was not

content to remain within the confines of notes on a page. Aided by her perfect pitch, she preferred to improvise –  to explore by ear. But have you heard Judy at the keyboard – accompanying

her high school students on solo-ensemble literature, playing full open choral score? She can play it all, from Schubert to Sondheim. Judy also enjoyed school athletics, especially

basketball. She shared that she was hurt when she was hatefully excluded from the basketball team, but a nurturing musical community at La Grande High School welcomed her in.  She was soon

thoroughly involved in the multifaceted music and stage offerings, and received support and encouragement from La Grande High School choral director Jay Michael Frasier.  “The first moment I

realized I would like to be a conductor was when Mr. Frasier, my high school teacher, had to be gone and asked if in his absence I would rehearse one of the choir’s pieces. It was like a

lightning bolt.” In addition to boosting her confidence, she said, Frasier also reintroduced Judy to spirituals; singing the spiritual arrangements of composer William Dawson was an

awakening. Years, later, in  2021, during a composing residency at Hedgebrook, Judy would write a tribute to Dawson’s 1934 arrangement of _Soon Ah Will Be Done. _Listen to Chemeketa

Community College sing Judy’s uplifting modern spiritual arrangement here:  OAW reached out to Frasier, a musician highly respected in Eastern Oregon and around the state for his 50 years of

teaching and community chorus directing. He was eager to email his recollections of his student Judy A. Rose: Sponsor > “When I first met Judy I was immediately struck by her enthusiasm

> for music, her outgoing personality and her talent,” he wrote. > “She was selected to be a member of the select A cappella choir, > and the even more select Swing (Jazz) Choir. 

Along with singing in > these two ensembles, Judy occasionally served as accompanist, > student director of the A cappella Choir, stage manager for the high > school musical, 

rehearsal accompanist for the high school musical, > and as an actress in stage productions.” Frasier knew some of Judy’s peers would remember their classmate, whom they honored –

actually crowned Queen of the Court – to represent La Grande High in the District’s annual “Music in May” festival.  “When I reached out to others in her class for their reflections on

Judy,” Frasier continued, “they mentioned her leadership, enthusiasm, talent, and … humor! Judy was always ready to add a little bit of humor to any of the activities that she was involved

in.” Frasier has also worked with Judy professionally when they attended workshops on gospel music in Portland. “Watching her successes now,” said Frasier, “and knowing that her time and

experiences at La Grande high school played a small part in her development, should make all of us in La Grande proud.” KEEP ON KEEPING ON Judy was accepted to Berklee College of Music in

Massachusetts but could not afford the tuition. After high school she worked to save up enough money to begin college classes at University of Montana, but after moving to Missoula the

following spring, she also began accompanying dance classes at the university and touring with Montana Repertory Theatre. “I was so young,” said Judy, “but I learned so much,” including how

she needed a more intimate university experience. She returned to Oregon’s Treasure Valley, where a full scholarship to Treasure Valley Community College allowed her to graduate with an

Associate of Arts Degree. Judy also found her way back to musical theater with TVCC’s Theatre Department. Sponsor “I wrote my first choral composition at Treasure Valley,” Judy said with a

laugh. “It was called _Come See the King_, and was for choir and flute.”  Does she still have it?  She does. “I never throw anything away. I tell my students you never know, there might be a

kernel there for a work in the future.” Judy wanted to be a teacher, and in that respect she has indeed “made it.” Watching her with students today, you might say she’s always been a

teacher. To get her teaching degree she moved to Portland, enrolled at Portland State University, and kept on keeping on. “I was on the ten-year plan at PSU,” Judy quipped. Taking classes,

taking jobs to pay for classes, more classes, and some valuable nurturing along the way. “I’ll start crying,” said Judy. “There were a lot of people who did a lot for me at PSU; it was just

such a baddie force.”  She recalls PSU Professor Bruce Browne saying, in front of the lab choir she was conducting, “You are going to be – already are – a fine conductor. Not only your

gesture but your feel for the music.”  “You didn’t cross Dr. Browne,” Judy remarked, “but I could always see the respect in his eyes.” Then Judy spoke gently about Professor Mary Kogen, to

whom Judy gives gratitude for nurturing and believing in her. In the early ‘90s Kogen, who died in 2022, was coordinating Portland State’s Summer Enrichment Music Camps and asked Judy to be

the choir director of the fourth graders. “I was an undergrad and she picked me. She believed in my abilities and was like a mother to me.” Judy currently teaches Lower (4th/5th Grade) and

Upper school music at The Catlin Gabel School in Portland, where her students learn about singing, songwriting, rock band and the joy of creativity. Prior to Catlin, Judy taught middle and

high music students in Portland Public Schools.  Sponsor “I’ve always wanted to do music differently; I actually had that experience as a kid,” Judy remembered. Her middle school music

teacher, Donald Newman, let the students work things out – experiment. “He was a person with a beautiful, kind-hearted spirit and he trusted our musicality. He gave me the foundation of

discovery and play.” It is telling that Judy’s recollections about her creative life always shift to stories of thanks for the people who helped pave the way. Nurturers, confidence boosters

and advocates. And Mia Hall Miller would turn out to be one of the fiercest advocates in Judy’s compositional career. “Mia Hall Miller is the reason I’m a published composer.” Miller is, you

guessed it, a baddie. Mia Hall Miller, founding and now retired Artistic Director of Pacific Youth Choir, remembers first meeting Judy in the 1990s, at First Presbyterian church in

Portland. In a recent email to OAW she wrote: “In her music and in her person I related to an authenticity of her soul and being.” As the two women shared stories of personal challenges, it

deepened their friendship. Miller was about to turn her dream of a Pacific Youth Choir into reality.  “At some point I asked Judy to send [me] music she was writing for choirs. _Yemaya

Assessu_ was one such piece. At that point there were about 100 in the PYC high school SATB choir, and I asked for permission to teach and perform it.” Judy attended the rehearsals and

performed on djembe in the premiere _Yemaya_ PYC performance. “I encouraged her to publish it.” Miller believed Judy was ready.  Judy heard Miller’s encouragement.  “But what I didn’t know

how to do then was ask for advocacy. And throughout my career I had been in the shadow of all dudes calling the shots. The dudes abide,” she laughed. But she made a few calls to folks who

might know other folks who knew about publishing. “Next thing I know,” wrote Miller, “I get a call from Santa Barbara Publishing House about [_Yemaya_] and sent off our first recording of it

with Judy on Djembe.”  _Yemaya Assessu, _Judy’s arrangement of a Yoruba chant, was published by Santa Barbara. It is dedicated to Mia Hall Miller. Choral directors in six states heard the

work when Miller programmed it for the Northwestern American Choral Directors Conference in 2022. In a final concert before her retirement from PYC, Miller programmed the soul-stirring work.

Watch that performance here. Sponsor Judy was learning about advocacy. Not only taking it when offered so graciously – performances, guest appearances, commissions and encouraging comments

– but advocating for herself. She networks with local conductors, sends her works to choral ensembles, promoting and believing in her own creativity. She maintains her own website, where she

not only posts her own performances but also advocates for others.  And Judy has learned that sometimes advocacy can come as frank advice. She credits Barbara Hawlow, founding and now

retired President of Santa Barbara Music Publishing, for teaching her how to present her pieces properly for publication. “She was hard on me,” said Judy, admitting that Gwendolyn, her

partner of 21 years — “my better angel and a model for amazing empathy and compassion” — sometimes consoled her after a publisher session ended in tears. Yet, said Judy, “Barbara didn’t have

to spend that time with me, but she did.” And Judy learned. “Yes, my mother was was hard on Judy, on [Portland choral composer] Joan Szymko, on everybody,” laughed David Harlow, current

SBMP president and Barbara’s son. “Because she wanted the best in their work.” He was pleased to share in recent conversation with OAW that “Judy is tremendous, and has been a joy for us to

work with over the years. She has an eye for putting words and music together. It’s quality music that gives you an emotional reaction; you feel it.”   Kim Stafford, Oregon’s Poet Laureate

from 2018 to 2020, agrees, and wrote in a recent email to OAW about his emotional reaction to hearing his poem _Resilience_ set to music by Judy Rose: “As a humble poet, I am accustomed to

seeing my work on the page, or hearing it read aloud. My world got bigger when Judy Rose chose to set my poem _Resilience_ for choral performance. And even bigger when she invited me to join

the chorus. Her ear for the rhythm of words, for the dynamic of voice shifting from solo to unison, and her inclusion of percussive snaps and stamps by the performers put me inside a song

that had been bare words in print. I was inspired by her skill, heart, devotion to bringing forth the sung meaning from words.” _Resilience_ was premiered at Cascadia Composers’ “Fearless

Lieder” event in 2024. Judy sang in that performance, conducted by Shohei Kobayashi, with poetry read by Stafford. Watch it here:  Sponsor Her friendship with Portland’s Grant High School

music teacher John Eisemann began when they were PPS colleagues. _Jubilant Day_, now also published by Santa Barbara, was written and gifted to Grant High School when Judy was teaching at

Lane Middle School. Hear Eisemann and students talk about the piece and about teacher Judy Rose: But the seed of _Jubilant Day_ came out of a moment in Judy’s life when she was viciously

targeted in a highway incident. “I immediately thought, ‘How can I write it out?’ When I arrived home, I wrote down the beginning line of the piece, ‘Each day begins and ends with me’.” She

wrote her feelings into her text:  “There’s a day in my heart that’s burning in my soul” and “evil can’t win unless you let it,” and into the unrelenting declaration of “I found me a

jubilant day.”  Willamette Master Chorus, which continued to sing virtually during the pandemic shutdown, chose to close its 2022 “Songs of Perseverance” virtual concert with Judy’s

_Jubilant Day_. Watch that performance here: WRITING IT OUT Judy described more moments that sparked her compositions. _I Found Me A River_, mentioned above, was conceived as a place of

solace to which Judy turned after the death of  Abdirahman Abdi in Canada in 2016. “Spirituals can be a salve,” said Judy. That piece is dedicated to Mamma Essie Brown and Aubrey Patterson

and West Linn High School Choir. She wrote, as a Washington ACDA commission, a triptych titled _Ode To The Wind, Moon, Trees, and the Rising Stars_ to commemorate the tragic ice storm of

January 2024. Here is the third movement, performed by Central Washington University’s Vox Divina: Sponsor Yes, Judy works through her feelings in her compositions. But she also turns to

nature as a solace, and for rejuvenation and to stop the noise. She is particularly fond of birds, and has captured many of them in photos. One of the menus on her website is  “Wild

Life/Nature Photos,” and it is there that you can meet this owl: such a baddie, right?  And the sounds of nature seem to come alive when Judy plays flute. In her original composition for

flute and piano, _You Are Not Alone In This World__, _Judy plays her Quiet Bear Native American style flute.  In the aforementioned “Fearless Lieder” event ,Judy improvised on flute as

Elizabeth Woody, Oregon’s Poet Laureate from 2016 to 2018, read “We Remember Our Relatives.”  Judy’s works are appropriate for varying levels and sizes of choral ensembles. _Om, Shanti, Om__

_was chosen by the California Choral Directors Associate Program Repertoire and Resources Chair for High School as an ideal piece for young singers. But in the past few years two of

Portland’s professional choirs have become advocates for Judy’s creativity by commissioning works for their choirs. First, as part of its 2023 “Portland Protests” series, Resonance Ensemble

commissioned Judy to set the words of poet Vin Shambry. The result, _Re-flec, _premiered in 2023, Judy’s first venture into setting the poetry of a local artist. About the piece, Judy wrote:

“It is crucial we take the time to reflect upon how we individually affect the whole of racism and injustice, so we may more fully understand collectively how we affect racism and

injustice.” Sponsor Read her full program notes here. And watch Resonance’s premiere performance of _Re-flec_ here: The second commission marked a collaboration with her good friend John

Eisemann. In Medio Choir commissioned a Judy A. Rose work that would be a modern response to Randall Thompson’s 1936  _Peaceable Kingdom_. OAW wrote about Judy’s _Walk in Beauty, Walk in

Light _after the premiere in June of 2024.   In Medio recorded _Walk in Beauty, Walk in Light _after the concert so the cantata could reach a wider audience than the packed house of friends

and students and supporters. Enjoy it here: Portland Symphonic Choir will perform “Rise Up Singing, Dancing,” the penultimate movement from _Walk in Beauty_, on its June 22 concert at Christ

United Methodist Church in Cedar Mill.  Tickets and more information about that concert are here.  “Rise Up” is a work that can stand on its own. It is uplifting, with a bit of jazz appeal

and some eye-popping fully bloomed chords. It is an appropriate contrast to the warning in Movement II, “Woe Unto You: Karma” in which Judy invokes the Golden Rule. But in Movement IV,

“Noises from the Multitudes,” explains Judy, “I am really talking about racism, and how badly we continue treating one another; about how quick people point out they are not part of an issue

and that it is on someone else. Silence is not golden. If we don’t speak to help our brother or our sister, silence is not golden.” Sponsor But in hurtful times, Judy believes we can find

peace. In Movement VI: “Hummingbird,” Judy hopes we all can find inner contentment and peace within ourselves. Her compositions have been noticed. Judy A. Rose has been included in a

recently published valuable choral  resource, _Choral Repertoire by Women Composers_, by Hilary Apfelstadt and Alan Troy Davis. The book highlights “the lives and music of more than 200

women choral composers spanning different time periods and geographic locations” (publisher notes). “Some women are not included in the book,” said Judy, hefting the weighty publication,

flipping to the index to cite a few of her absent colleagues. “I don’t know why.” But being in the “big blue book” is an honor that both humbles and thrills her. Judy’s energy is palpable;

she speaks directly but never unkindly. She beams with pride about the accomplishments of her students, speaks tenderly about those who have given her love and nurturing, and is reluctant to

tout her own “success.”  But she will talk at great length about the hummingbird. “Hummer can show you all of life’s treasures. You watch them going forward, backward, up, down. They play.

They are such baddies. Hummer is about the freedom to just be.” Judy lives in the hope that we can all walk in that light. *** Sponsor _The music of Judy A. Rose is published with __Santa

Barbara Music Publishing__. __Gentry Publications __and __MusicSpoke__._ _“Choral__ Repertoire by Women Composers” by Hilary Apfelstadt and Alan Troy Davis is available at the publisher

site, __GIA__, in bookstores and online._ _Visit __Judy A. Rose__ for more information, music video and wild life_.