Equality: Choral Octavo SoundTrax CD

Hayes crafts this piece with a backbone of genuine conviction, using Maya Angelou's words to anchor the message rather than rely on musical bombast alone. The solo voice carries real weight in this arrangement, allowing your strongest singer to become part of the choir's statement rather than standing apart from it. The included modulation for standalone performance shows practical artistry; it's the kind of detail that transforms an already meaningful piece into something that builds to genuine catharsis.

Urgent and grounded. The gospel idiom gives the piece rhythmic energy and forward motion, but Hayes keeps it from feeling lightweight through his harmonic choices and the weight he places on the soloist's voice. There's a sense of voices gathering behind a conviction rather than voices celebrating a victory already won.

Any choir looking to program meaningful contemporary gospel with substance beyond the style. This works for high school and college ensembles that can handle the emotional weight of the text and the ensemble demands of gospel-influenced writing.

• Balance the solo voice so it speaks clearly without overwhelming the ensemble. The power of this piece depends on the solo feeling like it belongs within the larger choir, not above it.
• Shape the text with intention. Hayes sets Angelou's words to music, but the poem's rhythms and emphasis matter as much as the notes you're singing.
• If you're performing the alternate ending to connect with 'Like Dust I Rise,' mark those transition points in rehearsal early and drill them separately before combining pieces.
• The modulation at the close (in standalone performance) should feel earned, not sudden. Prepare your singers for the key shift by managing dynamics in the final refrain so the lift reads as climactic rather than jarring.

Open a concert that addresses social justice or contemporary issues; this piece will set a serious, purposeful tone that elevates everything that follows. If programming as a triptych with 'Like Dust I Rise' and other related works, the alternate ending makes it an ideal bridge between movements. It also stands alone effectively as a concert closer, particularly when you want to leave the audience with something unresolved and call-to-action-oriented rather than triumphant.

• Singing with stylistic authenticity in gospel-influenced idioms
• Ensemble balance when a featured soloist is integrated into choral texture
• Text interpretation and expressive delivery of contemporary poetry
• Managing harmonic complexity within a rhythmically driven arrangement
• Transitioning between tonal centers (modulation in the final section)