COMPOSITIONS

As a self taught composer, Del’Shawn has composed music for an array of instrumentation and projects. In March 2015, he premiered his new setting of The Songs of Songs for soprano, baritone, tenor, women's chorus, string trio, piano, organ, and trumpet. In 2016, he and renowned composer, Dr. Marvin Curtis were commissioned to compose music for a new musical for the Indiana Bicentennial. The musical was called, “A Place to be Somebody,” and it was based on the life of Charles Gordone, the first African American man to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 2018, he was one of 17 young African American composers from around the world that participated in the Voic(ed) project in Chicago, IL that premiered new works based social injustice, racial tension, and the experience of the African American man. Del’Shawn composition “Hymn to the Faeries” was accepted to the 2019 Midwest Music Research Collective Spring Symposium at the University of Kansas. His composition "Sunrise" that was premiered by the St. Mary’s College Women’s choir was a semi-finalist for the 2020 American Prize in Choral music. Currently, Del’Shawn is the only American in a new choral composition program between the Canadian Centre for Music and the new contemporary chamber ensemble, Babεl. Under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Emery, he is composing a new setting of Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop for Death for choir and piano that will premiere in September 2021. Del'Shawn was recently selected to participant in Great Plains Composition Workshop with Wichita Symphony Orchestra. During the workshop, he premiered a new composition for cello titled "A Mother's Cry". With a commitment to compose works that give a voice to the unsung stories of African Americans, Del’Shawn was recently commissioned by the Thompson Street Opera Company to compose a new work titled, "Mamie's Song," in honor of Mamie Elizabeth Til Mobley. She is the mother of Emmett Til. Her courageous decision to have an open casket for his funeral changed the course of the Civil Rights Movement. The new work will premiere in Dec 2020. Del'Shawn is also working on a new theatrical song cycle based on African American folklore with writer, J.D October that will premiere New York City virtually later this year. He is the also the lead composer for the musical adaptation for the award-winning book "Stars in the Sky," based on the stories of the first African American flight attendants. There will be a developmental reading in NYC later this year. Del'Shawn was selected as 1 of ten composers around the country to participate in the EMERGE workshop with the Julius Quartet, where they premiered his composition, "Memories". This new composition is dedicated to the beautiful souls that were lost during the Holocaust. Del'Shawn was one of ten black composers that was selected to participant in the inaugural NATS Composer Mentoring Program for Composers during which he had the opportunity to learn from celebrated composers Juliana Hall and H. Leslie Adams. He was also commissioned to compose a new art song titled, "We Wear the Mask," for the Cincinnati Song Initiative for their spring 2021 concert, “Let It Be New”. He was the guest speaker/composer at Webster University Music Department and University of Kansas in 2021. This art song won Calliope's Call 2021 Call for Scores. Del'Shawn was commissioned by Julia Carey and Megan Roth to compose a new piece for violin and piano titled, "An God Wept,". It premiered in Boston in June of 2021. His newly commissioned composition, "Why They Wanna Cage Us," recently premiered in the White Snake Projects Sing Out Strong: Incarcerated Voices concert in November 2021. Del'Shawn is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.