The Harmonium Choral Society has announced that Laurel Luke Christensen is joining the team as the new emerging composer-in-residence.

The 30-year-old commences her residency alongside composer-in-residence Mark Miller starting in January 2025.

“So much of this is due to socially mindful conductors, and composers, who intentionally seek out new composers like me, and advocate for us. Because I spent so many years stuck in a compositional cocoon, a certain amount of longing comes through in my music. I tend to write music that exists in a place of irresolution, conflicting feelings, and sometimes darkness, and I aspire to write music that functions, in part, as a means of advocacy,” Christensen, who holds a BM and MM in Music Education, said per an official press release. “Aesthetically, I enjoy playing with extended harmonies, aleatory, mixed and asymmetric meters, quartal and quintal harmonies, and modes. I design each piece to have a moment that ‘pierces’ and a moment that ‘thuds.’ I love the musical crystallization of mixed emotions, the process of working out its mathematical puzzles, and the play inherent in its creation. Every hour that I spend in a ‘room of [my] own,’ culling my own brain for ideas, is a gift that I hope I never take for granted.”

Christensen is also the winner of competitions held by Virginia Chorale and Siena College as well as the ACDA-PA Choral Competition. Her work has been performed by school, community, and professional choirs across the United States.

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