Need A Little Hope?

These texts speak to the promise of hope.

Choral music brings us hope. All of us. Singer, conductor, audience, and community. Choirs bring hope to the world. As you might expect, poems and musical settings about “hope” cover a broad spectrum. Some songs are prophetic and strong, others are happy and playful. Some are sorrowful, but promise a new day, a proverbial spring. The overarching theme is one of positivity.

Hope is a promise. Even in the darkest of times, there is a promise of love, wonder, patience, kindness, justice, and peace.

Instead of writing introductions for the songs, we’re going to let the texts speak for themselves. The excerpts are like lightning bolts of the composition’s essence.

PS – It’s not too late! We’re commissioning Reginal Wright and Joshua Shank to write new pieces for Graphite, and we want you to be involved!

More info about joining our Consortium

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Selections for Mixed and Flexible Voicings

Help Just a Little

for solo, SATB choir, fiddle, guitar, and string bass
“Oh, the skies that we may brighten! Helping just a little.”

The Minstrel Boy

for SATB choir a cappella
“…all the bitterness of man must cease, and every battle must be ended.”

While I Breathe, I Hope

for SATB choir and piano
Also available in SSA version
“Hope is born here, hope is cradled, breathing itself, ready to rise with your breath…”

How Can I Keep From Singing?

for SAB choir and piano
Also available in 2-part mixed voices and unison versions
“No storm can shake my inmost calm…”

Life is Not a Garden

for SATB choir and piano, with opt. bass
Also available in SSAA version
“Life is not a garden, row after row, But nobody can tell me that my seeds won’t grow…”

I am Growing Flowers

for SSATB choir a cappella
“I am growing flowers in the darkest part of my heart…”

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Selections for Treble Voices

A Blessing of Cranes

for SSAA choir and piano
“No trembling before the task, simply this sweetness, Freedom from fear, receiving this heartbeat, receiving.”

Together, Unafraid

for SSA choir and piano
“We pass through a quiet grove, your hand in mine. I love the world’s beautiful imperfections.”

Looking for Light

for SSA choir and piano
“This is where the hurting ends. This is where the joy begins.”

A Green Voice

for SSAA divisi and piano
Also available in SATB version
“…listen as soft leaves unfold note by note…”

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Selections for Bass Voices

Lion Of the Heart

for TTBB choir and piano
Also available for SATB and piano
“Roar, lion of the heart…”

Stardust

for TBB choir, piano and percussion
Also available in SSA and SATB versions
“To sleep and dream without fear—Is justice this far away?”

The Promise That Tomorrow Holds Today

for TTBB choir with full orchestra or chamber ensemble
“I want to feel hope when it’s hopeless…”

Breathe in Hope

for TTBB choir and piano
Also available in SSAA and SATB versions
“We find the light.”

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Join Our Consortium!

We’re commissioning Reginal Wright and Joshua Shank to write new pieces for Graphite, and we want you to be involved! Reginal is a rising star and our 2024 cover story of Take Note. Josh is one of our longest-running and successful artistic partners since the beginning of Graphite Publishing in 2006.

Voicing: SATB no divisi and piano
Difficulty: 3. Ideal for high school and community groups
Length: 4-5 minutes
Cost per choir: $325 (buy-in for both pieces). Includes practice tracks!
Deadline to sign up: August 1, 2025
Score delivery date: August 15, 2025
Exclusive right to local premiere through June, 2026.

Curious to know what texts they’ve chosen to set? Click below to find out!

More Info & Sign Up!

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Our Contributing Editor

Jonathan Campbell, BA, MSM, DMA, currently serves as Director of Music at Zion Lutheran Church, Anoka, MN., and is a Contributing Editor for Graphite Publishing. His music publishers include Augsburg Fortress, Concordia, Morningstar, GIA, Sacred Music Press, and Falls House. He won first prize in the Morningside Choral Composition Contest and was also awarded a Faith Partner’s Residency with the American Composer’s Forum. Jonathan has served many churches, conducted the Chorale of the Honors Choirs S.E. MN for eight years, and has served on the faculties of Winona State University, Augsburg University, and Pomona College.