Coming Fall 2026...
- Courtney Jameson
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
It was never my dream to create an album.
Maybe it was the pressure of perfection and comparison...Or that I thought I wasn't "good enough"...
Post-COVID, I have been grateful to rediscover my love of singing. I graduated with my DM in 2020 and then took a 6-month break from singing. The desire wasn't there; the inspiration was lacking.
I moved to Memphis in 2021 and started adjunct teaching. I started performing more and finding the joy of making my own music - I let myself act more, try new repertoire, and even taught myself how to belt out showtunes.
As I began working full-time at the University of Kansas, I knew I needed to take big risks for (hopefully) big rewards. More recitals, more auditions, more performances.
And now? An album.
Based on a song by Margaret Bonds with poetry by Edna St. Vincent Millay, "I Know My Mind: Songs by Women Composers" will be a culminating creation of what I have learned so far. Not only musically, but as a teacher, performer, and human. And while the poetry is based on romantic love, the idea of knowing one's mind is a journey I am familiar with. The decisions I make define the road I travel and with whom.
You can join me here over the next few months leading up to the album's release for a look behind the scenes at the process, along with an in-depth look into my colleagues and partners for this album. I hope you will listen when the album premieres this fall and ponder your own journey through life.
I know my mind and I have made my choice;
Not from your temper does my doom depend;
Love me or love me not, you have no voice
In this, which is my portion to the end.
Your presence and your favours, the full part
That you could give, you now can take away:
What lies between your beauty and my heart
Not even you can trouble or betray.
Mistake me not — unto my inmost core
I do desire your kiss upon my mouth;
They have not craved a cup of water more
That bleach upon the deserts of the south;
Here might you bless me; what you cannot do
Is bow me down, who have been loved by you.
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
