"The middle belongs to “‘Hope’ Is The Thing With Feathers”, by Jennifer Jolley, as Julietta Curenton’s airy flute and Colin Davin’s warm guitar add much to the thoughtful and harmonic climate."

"Much more modest is “Hope” Is the Thing with Feathers, Jennifer Jolley’s set of three Emily Dickinson poems for soprano, flute (Julietta Curenton), and guitar (Colin Davin). Dickinson is one of the most-frequently-set poets when it comes to English-language art songs, and the three selections of poetry here are scarcely unfamiliar, but Jolley does a good job of keeping the words understandable while creating an attractive aural background – especially in the title song, placed second in the sequence."

"Jennifer Jolley’s Hope is the Thing with Feathers for soprano, flute, and guitar sets three Civil War era Emily Dickinson poems in a straightforward scoring, with the guitar providing harmonic accompaniment and the flute alternating countermelodic and primary material with the voice. The opening song is a somber dirge built around modal harmony that accumulates intensity as the vocal line gradually ascends in register. The second movement title song is brighter, featuring a gentle arpeggiated figure in the guitar that subtly explores modal mixture and chromatic relationships with adjacent keys. “I Dwell in Possibility” opens freely with responsive material between voice and instruments, before it settles into a rolling 12/8 texture."