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ABOUT
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Hope Is The Thing is a prize-winning choral setting of a poem by Emily Dickinson in which hope is portrayed as a little bird within the soul that keeps on singing, despite the toughest of trials.
The piece, by composer Barbara Cobham, was a winning entry in Corra Sound’s 2023 Call for Scores on the theme of female power, strength and survival. It was written as a tribute to the composer’s 14-year old niece, Safi, who was undergoing gruelling treatment for bone cancer at the time.
​​​Tragically, Safi lost her battle with cancer in March 2024. Originally conceived as a choral prayer for her recovery, Hope Is The Thing now honours her memory and her legacy. Her inner strength, courage, joy and sparkling spirit, despite all she went through, live on through the music - a reminder to us all never to give up, even during life’s toughest challenges.
"Music which soars like the little bird it was written for."
"A beautiful, enduring work."
"A piece which will stay with me for a long time."
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