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Hope (Let Us Cherish)
Abeni Janae
A reflection on gratitude, finding hope as a community.
for SATB div. choir and piano
Abeni Janae is a singer-songwriter, composer, keyboardist, producer, public speaker, and music consultant from El Paso, Texas. She is an Andress High School alumna and graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Commercial Music in Voice from the University of Texas at El Paso in December 2023. She recently completed her Master of Music Composition degree with honors from UTEP in May 2025. In January 2026, she returned to UTEP as an adjunct music theory professor.
Janae is an accomplished composer, as she has had her works premiered in places such as Leeds, England and Carnegie Hall. She is also the youngest composer under the internationally renowned sheet music publishing company Carl Fischer Music after her choral arrangement of the spiritual “Hold On, Just a Little While Longer” was published in August 2021.
Her performance credits in various musical settings include performing at Carnegie Hall with the UTEP Choral Union, taking part in a 10 – day performance residency in Leeds, England with the UTEP Chamber Singers, and performing in a wide variety of UTEP music student recitals as both a singer and keyboardist. She is the bandleader for the AJM Collective, a party band that plays various genres for different events, including the first annual El Paso Black Hall of Fame, and the first official Juneteenth Celebration events in El Paso in 2024 and 2025.
Janae was selected as one of UTEP’s Class of 2024 Top Ten Seniors, making her one of the few music majors to be selected in the university’s 50-year history of Top Ten Seniors. In 2024, she was selected to feature her story and promote the music department for the UTEP episode on the Amazon Prime TV show “The College Tour”.
As a public speaker, Janae has participated in a wide variety of panel discussions over the years that concern the youth, the arts, and the community here in El Paso. As a music consultant, she aids other musicians in preparing for their upcoming performances and recording sessions, as well as helping others to find the music that they need for their podcasts, productions, and events.
Composer’s Notes
The vocal style of this piece is contemporary – vowels should be neutral, not vertical/tall (ex. “Ah” should be sung like how it is in a pop song instead of a classical piece). The breaks at the rests should be clean, no lingering/hanging on to notes.
This piece is a reflection on gratitude, so the performance should embody what you all feel as individuals and as a collective when singing this piece together.
Thank you for choosing my composition for your choir! You may contact me at missabenijanae@gmail.com for any questions you may have about this piece.
– Abeni Janae
Text
Faith may break on reason, faith may prove a treason
To that highest gift that is granted by Thy grace; but hope!
Ah! Let us cherish some spark that may not perish
Ah! Some tiny spark to cheer us as we wander through the waste
A little lamp beside us to guide us where the path is rocky; where the road is steep
That when the light falls dimmer, still some God-sent glimmer may hold us steadfast forever
To the track that we should keep
Hope for the trending of it, for the ending of it
Hope for all around us.
– Arthur Conan Doyle
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