Convention Clinicians

William C. Powell (Auburn University)
Dr. William C. Powell, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities, holds degrees from Alabama State University (B.M.E.), Westminster Choir College (M.M.E.), and Florida State University (Ph.D.). Dr. Powell was Director of Choral Activities at Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Arkansas, for eight years prior to coming to his current position at Auburn University in Fall 2001. Powell conducts the Auburn University Concert Choir, Gospel Choir, and Men’s Chorus, and teaches choral-related undergraduate, graduate, and distance courses in conducting, choral techniques, choral arranging, and choral literature.
Powell is noted accompanist and arranger. As a pianist, he has accompanied numerous vocal and instrumental performances, most of which were for his wife; soprano, composer, and Auburn voice faculty member, Dr. Rosephanye Dunn Powell. Powell’s choral arrangements are published by Hal Leonard Corporation and Gentry Publications/Fred Bock Music.
Powell is in demand as a choral conductor, adjudicator, presenter at conferences and workshops. Recently, he and his wife, Rosephanye Powell, were guest artists for the Ithaca College Gospel Music Festival held in March 2007. In December 2006, he was a guest conductor for the Christmas Candlelight Processional narrated by actor Edward James Olmos, at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Powell is invited to return as guest conductor for the 2007 Candlelight Processional.
In April 2006, Powell presented his debut conducting recital at Carnegie Hall in New York City where he led the New England Chamber Orchestra and choirs from around the United States in a performance of Haydn’s Te Deum, and Mozart’s Missa Brevis in B-flat. Additionally, Powell has guest conducted for several choral festivals and clinics throughout Alabama and in various parts of the country, some of which include the Arkansas All-State Male Chorus, the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) World Music Honor Choir, the Texas Conference Choir Clinic, and the PMEA Region IV Honor Choir. Powell has also conducted choirs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, and National Negro Spiritual Competition in Cincinnati, OH, where his ensemble received the 2nd place trophy.
As an adjudicator, Powell has judged for choral festivals at the district, regional, state, and national levels. Most recently, Powell served as a choral adjudicator for the 2006 Disney Honors Festival in Orlando, Florida, along with Rodney Eichenberger, Eph Ehly, Weston Noble, and Jing Ling-Tam.
As a conference presenter, Powell has given lectures at state, regional, national, and international meetings of organizations such as Music Educators Association, American Choral Directors Association, College Music Society, Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, and the National Society of Music in Technology.
An active member of the American Choral Directors Association, Powell recently served as the Repertoire and Standards Chair of the Committee on Ethnic and Multicultural Perspectives for the Southern Division. He also holds memberships with the Music Educators Association, the College Music Society, and the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP). He and his wife, Rosephanye, have two daughters: Camille and Kaitlyn.


Rosephanye Dunn Powell (Auburn University)
Dr. Rosephanye Dunn Powell, Associate Professor of Music, holds degrees from Alabama State University (B.M.E., summa cum laude), Westminster Choir College (M.M. in vocal performance and pedagogy, with distinction), and The Florida State University (D.M. in vocal performance, University Fellow). Dr. Powell served on the faculties of Philander Smith College (AR) and Georgia Southern University before coming to Auburn.
Dr. Powell’s soprano singing has brought her, successfully, through recital, concert, and oratorio performances throughout the South and Northeast regions of the United States. Her oratorio performances include Haydn's Mass in Time of War, Vivaldi's Gloria, Handel's Messiah, and Israel in Egypt, Mozart's Requiem, and Saint-Saens' Christmas Oratorio. During her career, Dr. Powell has distinguished herself as a researcher, interpreter and performer of solo vocal works by William Grant Still, and the African-American spiritual. She has presented numerous recitals and lecture-recitals at churches, concert halls, universities and professional meetings around the country. Her doctoral treatise, The Art Songs of William Grant Still, is considered an authoritative work on the subject, and her article "William Grant Still: His Life and His Songs" was published in the prestigious NATS Journal of Singing. Dr. Powell served as the editor and wrote the introduction for William Grant Still: An Art Song Collection published by William Grant Still Music. Her most recent article, "The African-American Spritual: Preparation and Performance Considerations" was published in the NATS Journal of Singing, May/June volume, 2005.
Dr. Powell is an internationally-recognized composer and arranger of choral music, currently published by Gentry Publications/Fred Bock Music, the Hal Leonard Corporation, and Alliance Music Publications. Her works are in great demand at schools, churches, and choral festivals internationally. Dr. Powell's works have been premiered by renowned choral conductors, including, but not limited to, Philip Brunelle, Bob Chilcott, Rodney Eichenberger, Albert McNeil, Tim Seelig, and André Thomas. Recent commissions include Rejoice!, for chorus, organ, trumpets, and timpani composed for the 50th Anniversary of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Auburn, Alabama (2007); Lullaby, a jazz ballad for women's chorus composed for Bella Voce Women's Ensemble, Las Vegas, Nevada (2007); Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit, arranged for The Sofia Chamber Choir “Vassil Arnaudov”- Bulgaria, Southeastern Europe (2006). Children of the Rainbow, an original work, composed for the Columbus (OH) Children's Choir and the 2005 Children's Choral Festival of African-American Music; Pete, Pete arranged for the Montgomery Academy Middle School Chorus for the 2005 Alabama Music Educators Association State Conference; Sicut Cervus composed for the 25th Anniversary of the Texas Collegiate Women's Choral Festival, (2004); Still I Rise composed for Vox Femina, Los Angeles, CA (2004); Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child arranged for the 35th anniversary of VocalEssence (Minneapolis, MN, 2003); I’m Gonna Let It Shine and Good News, two spirituals adapted and arranged for “The Spiritual for the New Millenium Project” at Penn State University (2002); I Dream A World, composed for the University of Arkansas Concert Choir (2001); Ebony Trilogy (E Oru O, Drinkin’ of the Wine, Spread the Love), composed for the Trumann State University Chorus (2000); The Promise Lives On ("Sing for the Cure"), commissioned by the Women's Chorus of Dallas and the Turtle Creek Chorale, for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (2000); and Three Psalms of David, composed for the 1999 Missouri Choral Directors Association Student Symposium.
Dr. Powell is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), the College Music Society (CMS), the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). Dr. Powell is listed in the first edition of the international publication Who Is Who in Choral Music, released September 2007. She has been included in Who's Who Among America's Teachers and Outstanding Young Women in America in recent years .