World-Renowned Composer Dr. Melissa Dunphy Visits Voices of Ursinus Ahead of Fall Semester Concert

Ahead of its fall semester concert, The Voices of Ursinus received a special visit from world-renowned composer Dr. Melissa Dunphy.

Dunphy traveled to Collegeville to work with the vocal ensemble during one of its rehearsals in Bomberger Hall Auditorium. The group, led by Director Nicole Snodgrass, will be performing Dunphy’s song “Halcyon Days” at its upcoming concert. The piece, originally commissioned in 2020 for the Grammy Award-nominated British choral ensemble VOCES8, draws on the themes from the challenging holiday season of 2020.

“It’s an absolutely stunning, emotional, deeply meaningful piece of music for anybody that went through COVID,” Snodgrass said.

During her visit, Dunphy not only worked with the group on the reflective piece but also explained the song’s meaning and purpose, which was shaped by the difficulties many faced during the pandemic.

“I knew we’d be workshopping her song and understanding her story, but I wasn’t too sure about the actual process of it,” explained senior Lizzy Hicks ’25, a senior member of the Voices of Ursinus. “She came in and was immediately super bubbly and friendly.”

The idea to bring Dunphy to campus came almost by chance. Having already selected the song for the fall semester concert, Snodgrass attended the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Convention in Providence, R.I. back in March. There, she met Dunphy.

“I knew she lived in Philadelphia, so I said, ‘Hey, you know it’d be really fun if you came to Ursinus and worked with us,’ and she said absolutely yes,” Snodgrass said.

Dunphy’s visit is a full circle moment for the Voices of Ursinus, who saw VOCES8 perform the song at Villanova University in October.

“It became much easier to resonate with the song, knowing who wrote it, the story behind it, where she was at when she wrote it, and the process of composing it,” Hicks said.

The upcoming fall semester concert will feature not only the Voices of Ursinus but also the debut of a new audition choir called the Ursinus College Singers. It’s also a significant event for seniors like Hicks, who did not get the proper senior concert send-off in high school due to the very pandemic that inspired “Halcyon Days”.

The Voices of Ursinus and Ursinus College Singers concert will take place on Saturday, December 7 at 4:00 p.m. in Bomberger Hall Auditorium. The concert will not only highlight music from Melissa Dunphy but will also feature music from prolific African American composers William L. Dawson and Victor C. Johnson, Canadian composer Sarah Quartel, Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, and classical composers W.A. Mozart, G.F. Handel. The choirs will perform songs featuring members of the Ursinus College Wind Ensemble and the Trinity Reformed Church UCC Bell Choir.