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Breathe (United States Premiere) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Emery

The Singing Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bob Chilcott

Amor De Mi Alma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Z . Randall Stroope

My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ēriks Ešenvalds, arr.

Selections from Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op . 52a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Johannes Brahms

Zion's Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glenn Koponen, arr .

If Music be the Food of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Purifoy

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Z . Randall Stroope

Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hans Bridger Heruth

He's Got the Whole World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ray Liebau, arr .

Kirkland Choral Society is grateful to receive support from 4Culture King County Lodging Tax

Kirkland Choral Society Seiko Inada Werts, Virtual Artistic Director

Bex Worrich, soprano John La Fond, tenor Jenny Hughart, alto Gus Blazek, bass

Doug Werts, tenorHandbells: Heather Arnold Susan Finn Michelle Lund Michelle Poage Doug Werts

Alex Ayala, ocarina Brandon Higa, tenor Marianna de Fazio, soprano

Premiere Online: May 8, 2021, 7:30 p .m . PST Available to stream: May 8 – 31, 2021

Piano duet: Cori Belle Seiko Werts

Heather Arnold, soprano Julianna Dutro, soprano

Dedicated to the memory of Anna Maria Almond, and all victims of COVID-19

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A Message from the Artistic Director

Dear Kirkland Choral Society Community,

Thank you for your continued support of Kirkland Choral Society during this history-making virtual season. I hope you are all safe and well.

Last year, just before the global pandemic began, KCS presented a timely program of music about community and love. Little did we know, it would be one of the last public choral concerts for well over a year. This year, during the first-ever virtual season in our 32-year history, we thought it appropriate to conclude with another program about love. This time, our focus is on the hope that we share for a return to music-making in the context of our beloved community. The program truly is the result of love--countless hours of behind-the-scenes effort by our singers, accompanist, and Interim Artistic Director, Seiko Inada Werts.

And I’m proud to say that our virtual concert includes the United States premiere of a work dedicated to all of the victims of COVID-19, a beautiful setting of the ancient words of Petrarch by Canadian composer Matthew Emery entitled Breathe.

I have been amazed and delighted to watch this project take shape, and I know you will enjoy it. May this virtual concert be a reminder of the love that we share through music, and the light of hope that will see us through any difficulty.

It is with great pleasure and pride that I introduce to you Kirkland Choral Society’s virtual season-finale, Love & Light.

Dr. Glenn R. Gregg Artistic Director

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Welcome to Love and Light, the final concert of Kirkland Choral Society’s virtual 2020-2021 season. The singers and leadership of KCS have persevered through the challenges of this past year with each others’ support, and we’re so happy to present the triumphant result: a concert that transmutes our collective struggle into the light of hope and joy.

Each week, singers in their separate homes rehearsed “together” using a carefully prepared video with warmups, insights into the music, vocal guide tracks, and online conducting. The rehearsal videos also included many encouraging words to keep spirits high as many shy choral singers watched themselves on camera and listened to their own solo voices! After every rehearsal, singers gathered on Zoom to refresh friendships and deepen KCS’s sense of community by sharing life events and relating personal stories of frustrations and breakthroughs, grief and laughter.

As a choir, as individual singers, and as audience members listening alone or in pods, we will keep looking ahead for signs that the clouds darkening our lives for the past year are lifting to let the light of hope shine down and heal our wounds. We have chosen the music for this concert to first acknowledge our losses, and then move ever forward to restore our souls through the pleasure and release of hearing joyful music, sung from the heart. If you find yourself crying, you are not alone. We hope that through our voices and harmonies, you can travel with us on a healing journey of musical transcendence.

Breathe Let this memorial composition, a work commissioned to honor the late mother of KCS alumnus David Almond, speak for all of us who have lost loved ones this past year. We breathe out, singing the powerful guiding words "Love, Wisdom, Courage, Tenderness, and Truth". We breathe in the soothing sweet rustling of leaves on the trees. A choir strives to breathe together. Breathe with us now as we share the love and light with you. (Please see the extensive comments about this piece on page 11.)

Program NotesBy Jody Harris and Seiko Werts

The Singing Heart This piece begins so tenderly, speaking to our hearts that have been opened by loss and uncertainty. The message of hope, peace and unity bursts forth expansively to celebrate how we can bring our divided world together through singing. The double choir is supported by handbells.

Amor De Mi Alma Pure love takes center stage now, as choir and piano perform this profound work set to a stunning 16th century love poem. The poet loves so intently that he wants to wear his love as "a garment for his soul.” This deeply emotive composition shows a rich harmonic language and lucid vocal passages that are both expressive and masterfully written. A joy to sing, the soaring harmonies exemplify the power of love to heal and inspire.

My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose This “melody, sweetly played in tune" features an ocarina solo evocative of the Scottish Highlands and two vocal soloists. It is believed that Scotland’s National Poet, Robert Burns, wrote and originally scored this song to be sung by his own wife, Jean Armour. What a gift of love, “like a flower blooming”!

Liebeslieder Waltzes These two pieces from the larger collection of 18 by Brahms are played on piano, 4 hands. So, you will hear only lovely tones, and not words. But as you are enjoying the pianists’ duet, you may hear an echo of some of the lyrics. “To live without love’s rapture is a bitter fate I would not suffer. Come, then, with your dark eyes, come, when the stars beckon!” …and… “Whoever has not learnt to sigh will learn it when he loves.”

Zion’s Walls A favorite of composer Aaron Copland’s, he reset this revivalist piece many times. This arrangement highlights the irresistible invitation to come sing and dance in the spirit of joy.

(continued on next page)

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SopranoHeather Arnold Elena Camerini Julianna Dutro ✧ Rebecca Evans ✧ Connie Hutchison Frida Kumar Audrey Kyle Candace McKenna ✧ Carmen Nemeth Michelle Poage Jane Rohrer ✧ Susan Shellooe ✧ Stephanie Smith ✧ Nickie WallaceHazel Wolf Bex Worrich

AltoPatty Anderson ✧ Ardyth BathHurst Laura Belcher Marianna de Fazio ✧ Susan Finn Sandy Joy Goldstein ✧ Jenny Hughart Suzanne Kagen Ida Kearney ✧ Michele Kefgen ✧ Karin Keis Cindy Klassen ✧ Michelle Lund Cathy McCarty Lil O'Shaughnessy ✧ Ann Osterberg ✧ Sandee Palmquist Mary Pneuman Sharon Sherrard ✧ Tommie Zabrowski ✧

Kirkland Choral SocietyBassAlex Ayala David Barber Gus Blazek Rick Commo ✧ Shawn Hargreaves ✧ Stuart Jennings Matthew Kearns Patrick Kennedy ✧ Dan Perry ✧ Peter S. Pesco Larry Saltz Paul Smetko

TenorJosh Elkin Brandon Higa ✧ John La Fond ✧ Ted Rhoades Douglas Werts ✧

Stuart Jennings, President Shawn Hargreaves, Vice President Susan Finn, Treasurer Michelle Lund, Secretary Heather Arnold Audrey Kyle John La Fond Candace McKenna Kim Van Allsburg Nickie Wallace

Board of Directors

Concert Storyboard Jody Harris

Narration David Almond

If Music Be the Food of Love Set in a flowing triple meter, this poetic setting based on a famous line from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has a sweeping, dramatic quality. This piece is a favorite of KCS, as music is indeed our Food of Love! “All my senses feasted are, though yet the treat is only sound.”

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square Originally written shortly before World War II, this song was re-popularized by The Manhattan Transfer in the 1980s. This challenging arrangement was adapted for this concert to feature the skills of an a cappella quartet. Strategically placed complex chords hint at deeper meaning and make this song an engaging listening experience.

Joy Four hands on the piano give great drive to this rhythmic, exciting, and dramatic piece, set to the poetry of Sara Teasdale. Almost operatic in its sweep, the music reaches an internal climax before returning to the initial theme, when, in the words of the composer, “the listener can hear that our ‘character' now sings these melodic lines with a tinge of pain in their heart; pain, however, that they’ve overcome.” “Now at last I can live!”

He’s Got the Whole World This a cappella, jazzy, sophisticated, and challenging arrangement of a popular spiritual is a thrill to sing. Relax and rejoice, do a dance, throw your hands to the sky! Don’t hold back your smile. You are cradled in love and light.

(Program Notes, continued from previous page)

✧ = Ensemble singer on "My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose"

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With over 100 auditioned singers, Kirkland Choral Society is one of the premier symphonic choral groups in the Puget Sound region. Now in its 32nd season, the Choral Society’s repertoire emphasizes the great masterworks for chorus and orchestra and includes a wide variety of fine repertoire, including music by the leading composers of our day. Recently, KCS has commissioned and performed the world premiere of significant new works by Kirke Mechem, Ola Gjeilo, Carol Barnett, Donald Skirvin and John Muehleisen. For the past seven seasons, KCS has maintained a partnership with one of Seattle’s finest chamber orchestras, Philharmonia Northwest, regularly performing the great works for chorus and orchestra at Benaroya Hall. The Choral Society also includes a Chamber Singers ensemble drawn from the larger chorus, performing unaccompanied

choral repertoire, and music suited to smaller ensembles and venues. For information about booking KCS singers for your event, corporate donations, auditions, volunteering, or group ticket rates, email president@KirklandChoralSociety.org. Visit us online at KirklandChoralSociety.org.

Artistic Director Dr. Glenn R. Gregg has been a professional in the field of choral conducting for over 38 years. He began piano lessons at age 8, and went on to study violin, trumpet, horn, oboe, and guitar, before focusing on piano performance at California State University, Northridge, earning a Bachelor’s degree in 1985. His first choral conducting position came in 1982, and he has been directing choirs professionally ever since. During his college years, Glenn also played keyboards with the band Entourage at various jazz clubs in the L.A. area, and in a live television performance on The Merv Griffin Show. In addition to his piano performance degree, Glenn holds a Master of Music in Choral

Conducting from CSUN where he served as the Graduate Teaching Assistant to John Alexander, and prepared choruses for performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1994, Glenn earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington, studying with Abraham Kaplan. Dr. Gregg began his relationship with Kirkland Choral Society in 1997 when the group was a small, non-auditioned chorus. He became Artistic Director in 1999, and under his leadership KCS has grown to become one of the finest large choral ensembles in the Puget Sound region, with a primary focus on the great masterworks for chorus and orchestra. Dr. Gregg is now in his 23rd season with KCS.

Associate Conductor Heather Arnold holds a Bachelor of Music degree with vocal emphasis from Old Dominion University, earned her Master of Education degree from Lesley University, and is a National Board Certified teacher. Mrs. Arnold has enjoyed serving as the Associate Conductor with KCS since 2007. This is her 27th year of teaching and she is the music specialist at Sunrise Elementary in the Northshore School District. She loves to bring her joy of music to young people, and previously directed the Prima Youth Choir with the Columbia Choirs organization. She enjoys being a guest soloist with local community and church choirs, as well as with KCS.

Accompanist Cori Belle’s collaborative work includes world premieres across the United States with the United Voices of Antioch; music directing at Second Story Repertory and Studio East; and choral accompanying. In 2018 Cori released her solo classical album, Commonplace Beauty, to critical acclaim. International Piano called it “a beautifully constructed programme.” Recently she appeared as soloist with Kirkland Civic Orchestra. Cori earned her Piano Performance degree from Grand Canyon University with additional studies at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She lives on Seattle’s

Eastside with her husband Corey and their three daughters.

Kirkland Choral Society

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Virtual Artistic Director

Virtual Artistic Director Seiko Inada Werts, a native of Hiroshima, Japan, graduated from Hiroshima Jogakuin University with a Bachelor of Arts in American and English Literature. During her 22 years teaching high school English in Hiroshima, she loved to write and direct musicals for her students, as well as directing her choir for adult women, Choir Iris. Seiko began singing during college and now is a soloist in great demand, performing in church, house, and solo concerts in Japan and the United States.

In 2010 Seiko moved to the Pacific Northwest where she joined Kirkland Choral Society as a soprano and quickly assumed more responsibility as occasional accompanist. She is also an accomplished arranger and a member of ASCAP. In 2015 Seiko was asked by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give a concert in Tokyo for female United Nations Ambassadors and spouses of ambassadors. Seiko is a multi-talented musician who thrives when working in collaboration with others. Seiko was selected to spearhead KCS’s first virtual concert to take advantage of her technological skill, warm inspiring personality, and impeccable musical sensibility.

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TextsBreathe (United States Premiere)Music by Matthew Emery Text by Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374) Translation by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1903

I saw how tears had left their weary traces Within those eyes that once the sun outshone, I heard those lips, in low and plaintive moan, Breathe words to stir the mountains from their places. Love, wisdom, courage, tenderness, and truth Made in their mourning strains more high and dear Than ever wove soft sounds for mortal ear; And heaven seemed listening in such saddest ruth The very leaves upon the bough to soothe, Such sweetness filled the blissful atmosphere.

Amor de Mi Alma Music by Z. Randall Stroope Text by Garcilaso de la Vega (1503-1536)

Yo no nací sino para quereros; Mi alma os ha cortado a su medida; Por hábito del alma misma os quiero.

Escrito está en mi alma vuestro gesto; Yo lo leo tan solo que aun de vos Me guardo en esto.

Quanto tengo confiesso yo deveros; Por vos nací, por vos tengo la vida, Y por vos é de morir y por vos muero.

Translation: I was born to love only you; My soul has formed you to its measure; I want you as a garment for my soul.

Your very image is written on my soul; Such indescribable intimacy I hide even from you.

All that I have, I owe to you; For you I was born, for you I live, For you I must die, and for you I give my last breath.

Donations to

Kirkland Choral Society are gratefully accepted at

kirklandchoralsociety.org/donations

The Singing HeartWords and music by Bob Chilcott

The singing heart is always open, it's beating out alive and free. The singing heart cannot be broken, singing for all eternity. Sing on, sing on, share in our common tongue. Sing on, sing on, voices and hearts as one.

A world that brings us all together, restores and sets the spirit free. A world that sings gives us forever, A vision of peace and unity.

Thank you

for viewing our second virtual concert!

KCS is hoping to present a live concert in December 2021.

If you would like to be notified when details become available,

please use the link below to join our mailing list.

kirklandchoralsociety.org/sign-up-for-kcs-emails

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TextsMy Love is Like a Red, Red RoseScottish tune Words by Robert Burns (1759-1796) Arranged by Ēriks Ešenvalds

O my Luve is like a red, red rose That's newly sprung in June; O my Luve is like the melodie That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun; O I will luve thee still, my dear, While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve And fare thee weel, a while! And I will come again my Luve, Tho' it were ten thousand mile.

Selections from Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52aby Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Piano Duet

1. Rede, Mädchen allzu liebes (Tell me, my sweetest girl)

2. Am Gesteine rauscht die Flut (The wildly lashed waves)

Zion's Walls

Revivalist Song Adapted by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) Choral arrangement by Glenn Koponen

Come fathers and mothers, Come sisters and brothers, Come join us in singing the praises of Zion. O fathers, don't you feel determined to meet within the walls of Zion? We'll shout and go round the walls of Zion.

If Music Be the Food of LoveMusic by John PurifoyWords from Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

If music be the food of love, sing on 'til I am filled with joy, for then my list'ning soul you move with pleasure that can never cloy. Your eyes, your mien, your tongue declare that you are music, everywhere.

Pleasures invade both eye and ear, so fierce the transports are, they wound, and all my senses feasted are, though yet the treat is only sound. Sure I must perish by your charms, unless you save me in your arms.

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley SquareWords by Eric Maschwitz (1901-1969) Music by Manning Sherwin (1902-1974) Arranged by Gene Puerling Edited by Phil Mattson

That certain night, the night we met there was magic abroad in the air, there were angels dining at the Ritz and a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

I may be right, I may be wrong, but I'm perfectly willing to swear that when you turned and smiled at me, a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

The moon that lingered over London town, poor puzzled moon he wore a frown, oh how could he know we two were so in love! The whole wide world seemed upside down.

The streets of town were paved with stars it was such a romantic affair, and as we kissed and said goodbye a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

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TextsJoyWords by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) Music by Hans Bridger Heruth

I am wild, I will sing to the trees, I will sing to the stars in the sky, I love, I am loved, he is mine, Now at last I can die!

I am sandaled with wind and with flame, I have heart-fire and singing to give, I can tread on the grass or the stars, Now at last I can live!

He's Got the Whole World

Original folk tune Arranged by Ray Liebau Edited by Jerry Jordan (1930-2011)

He's got the whole world in His hands; He's got the whole wide world in His hands.

He's got the little, tiny baby in His hands, He's got the children of the world in His hands, He's got the whole world in His hands.

He's got you and me, brother, in His hands, He's got you and me, sister, in His hands, He's got all of us sinners in His hands, He's got the whole world in His hands.

He's got the whole world in His mighty hand, He's got the oceans and this troubled land; He's got the sinners, losers and winners He's got them all in His hand.

He's got my sister and my brother and my father and my mother, all the people of the world in His hand. He's got the whole world in His hands. Oh, Yeah!

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"Breathe" United States Premiere"Breathe" was commissioned by Chronos Vocal Ensemble, Jordan Van Biert, conductor, with the participation of the Almond family and Kirkland Choral Society, Dr. Glenn R. Gregg, conductor.

It is dedicated to the memory of Anna Maria Almond, and all victims of COVID-19.

Composer Dr. Matthew Emery is a Canadian composer who “writes with an honesty which enchants” (Vancouver Sun). His music has been performed in twenty-six countries, and recent performance venues include the Great Wall of China, the White House and the Musikverein. Matthew has received over forty commissions and his music has been performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Elmer Iseler Singers, National Youth Orchestra of Canada, National Youth Choir of Canada, European Union Youth Orchestra, Orchestra London, the Art of Time Ensemble, Rolston String Quartet, Dennis Wick Canadian Wind Orchestra, and the Bach Music Festival of Canada Orchestra.

Dr. Emery studied at the University of British Columbia (B.Mus) and the University of Toronto (M.Mus, DMA). Matthew has received over thirty awards and prizes for his compositions and his work has been included on nineteen albums, including a Juno nominated disc. His over sixty publications are published by G. Schirmer, Boosey & Hawkes, Hal Leonard and many others.

Matthew Emery writes:This composition alternates homophonic chorale-like writing with a melody and accompaniment type writing in a ABAB form. The juxtaposition of these gestures alludes to the world at the time of composition; a world filled with uncertainty, chaos, strife, hope, compassion and love. At times the music is at odds with the dissonance or angularity of the musical phrase, at other times the music is lush, warm, and settled. The piece is a reminder that in the midst of turbulence and unknowns, may we hold dear the value of love, wisdom, courage, tenderness and truth. Thank you to the Kirkland Choral Society for their support, and for the United States premiere of "Breathe."

David Almond (a former KCS member and member of the Board of Directors) writes:The genesis for this commission was several years ago when I was rehearsing Morten Lauridsen’s "O Nata Lux" with KCS as part of the Chamber Singers. My mother (pictured below) was getting on in years and I knew that it wouldn’t be too long before our family would be celebrating her life. I decided back then that a suitable tribute would be a commissioned work dedicated to her. She had a lifelong passion for music and always enjoyed listening to the KCS recordings that I would share with her when we went for drives. That time came sooner than expected. I moved back to Edmonton in November 2019 to accept a new position and to be

closer to family. I enjoyed a few months with my mother before she died in May 2020 from complications of COVID-19, one of the early victims of the pandemic in Alberta. I had started my connection with the Chronos Vocal Ensemble shortly after moving back to Edmonton so it seemed like a logical step to contact Jordan Van Biert, the conductor, and propose a commission dedicated to my mother and all victims of COVID-19. Through

Jordan, I met Matthew Emery, an established choral composer. While working with Matthew and Jordan, I had some guidelines for both the music and text. Mostly, I wanted a secular text that was free from time and place. I was looking for words that expressed the complex set of emotions that a pandemic brings—the personal loss of loved ones mingled with the societal grief from an illness sweeping across the planet; text that would be relevant around the world and would be relevant 100 years from now. I also wanted music that could stand next to any other work in the choral repertory but wouldn’t be so difficult that only very advanced or professional groups could perform.

“Breathe” was written in two parts. KCS is performing the first part, which is based on text written by the Italian poet Petrarca, who penned the lines during the great bubonic plague of the 14th century. Part 2 will be based on text by a Palestinian Canadian poet – Natalie Fasheh – who passionately committed to this project and to the elements of timelessness and secularity. When both parts are eventually performed, there will be a connection of seven centuries, with both texts expressing the pain and hope that global pandemics bring.

Anna Maria Almond