Cynthia Shaw
Singer/Pianist/Composer
Cynthia's a cappella choral composition, "Rich Man", set to a poem by Elizabeth Rooney from the book of Christian poetry, "A Widening Light, poems of the Incarnation", edited by Luci Shaw, has been performed by the following choral groups:
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NYC Choir of Holy Apostles Church conducted by Dr. David Hurd
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Church of the Ascension "Brown Bag Series" in Pueblo, Colorado, conducted by Ken Butcher
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C4 Ensemble conducted by Daniel Andor-Ardó
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C4 and New Jersey City University Concert Chorale combined choirs conducted by Dr. Robert Prowse
Poem Text
Rich man, rich man, who are you?
Do you seek the Christ child too?
In your palace and your court life is busy, life is short.
Have you time to go away, to find a baby in the hay?
Can you get your camel through, the needle's eye, as you must do?
Rich man, rich man you've come far,
where did you learn to trust a star
instead of turning to a King, to guide you in your wandering.
How did you grow wise in spite of all your kingly guise?
Who taught you to play your part to bring an educated heart
to the stable in the west so you could kneel and be blessed.
Come to the stable in the west, so you could kneel there and be Blessed.
To learn about performing "Rich Man" with your choir, please contact Cynthia.
Listen to "Rich Man" as performed by the choir of The Church of the Holy Apostles, conducted by Dr. David Hurd.
Follow the score and listen to "Rich Man" as performed by the choir of The Church of the Holy Apostles, conducted by Dr. David Hurd.
C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective sings "Rich Man" in concert on November 10, 2023 at St. Luke in the Fields, NYC
Conducted by Daniel Andor-Ardó
History of “Rich Man”
Many years ago I worked for the composer and conductor, Alice Parker, managing her not-for-profit choral organization, Melodious Accord. I was also featured as pianist on one of her recordings and sang with Melodious Accord in a couple of concerts and recordings. Since the office was in her apartment, I would constantly hear her working on her compositions. She would talk to me about how she worked with the combining of music and poetry and how the poems always told her what to write musically. I loved her compositional freedom, her style and when she played me sections of her newly composed pieces, she told me how the words of the poems inspired her. It was very exciting and very creative. Additionally, I also took a week-long composing workshop with her at Westminster Choir College where I also heard Robert Shaw rehearse the large chorus in residence that week.
Every year, Melodious Accord hosted a weekend-long Poetry and Composer workshop where composers and poets came together, talked about their works and about the melding of music and poetry. Alice would also lead singing workshops. I was so inspired by the collaborations that I picked up a poetry book by Elizabeth B. Rooney with the idea of writing my own choral piece. When I reader her poem, Rich Man, I knew I’d found my poem as it immediately spoke to me. At the time I was also singing at Church of the Holy Apostles in Manhattan under the direction of composer, organist and conductor, Dr. David Hurd. We performed many of his pieces and I was inspired by his compositional style and use of chord progressions. So Rich Man is an amalgamation of Alice’s style of writing and Dr. Hurd’s compositional vocabulary. It was later premiered at Church of the Holy Apostles, conducted by Dr. Hurd, and I sang in the choir. It has recently been sung by C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, conducted by Jacob Lyon. The piece is dedicated to both Alice Parker and Dr. David Hurd.
November 11, 2025