Written by two young students, the poetry of The Golden Queen sensitively and expressively tells the story of the life of a beautiful sunflower. The tender and colorful imagery evokes music that follows the growth, death, and rebirth of the sunflower. Supple lyricism is the main compositional feature of the piece, thereby encouraging young singers to make a connection with that most expressive part of themselves. ChoralQuest®, an exciting series of new music and accompanying curricula for middle-level choir, is a program published by the American Composers Forum. The series is designed to breathe new life into the available repertoire for choral students in middle school and junior high. At the heart of this program are new works written by a diverse group of leading American composers who have created challenging pieces that are a true departure from standard middle school repertoire. Based on the success of ACF's decade-long BandQuest® program, ChoralQuest has a residency component in which the composer works collaboratively with a middle school as they create their new piece. Visit www.choralquest.org to learn more about this innovative series, and email choralquest@composersforum.org to request a free downloadable audio catalog.