(Credit: Catherine Hancock)

Will Liverman has announced a new publishing relationship with Just a Theory Press.

The contract will begin with the release of three works in four editions, available now in print and as PDF downloads.

“Collected Songs” is published in separate volumes for high/medium voice and piano and for medium/low voice and piano. It includes original works, “Love Song,” and new arrangements of spirituals, plus selections from The Dunbar/Moore Sessions

Liverman began composing during the pandemic and his first song was a setting of Dunbar’s “A Golden Day,” commissioned by soprano Lauren Snouffer. From there he was increasingly drawn to Dunbar’s poetry and to the writing of Dunbar-Nelson, Dunbar’s former wife. The two volumes of “Collected Songs” share several songs, many of them offered in a choice of two keys, and each volume also includes songs not found in the other. The high/medium volume includes a duet setting of “There Is a Balm in Gilead,” and the medium/low volume includes “A Tribute to Mr. JFK” and “Birmingham Sunday.”

In a statement, Liverman said, “Though I’ve always loved writing music, I never studied composition and didn’t feel I had permission to create. That changed during the pandemic, when space and stillness invited me to explore. I began writing songs from a deep love of melody, text, and storytelling. I felt most fulfilled when combining those passions. A special joy in this project has been collaborating from the piano—returning to my first musical love. To shape these pieces from the keyboard, as both composer and performer, has made the experience deeply personal and creatively complete.”