Pennsylvania Academy of Performing Arts Ariana...

Pennsylvania Academy of Performing ArtsAriana Women’s and Orpheus Men’s Choirs

S. KATHERINE SHEALY CHRISTOPHER G. MCGINLEYDIRECTOR DIRECTOR

AND

PAPA is grateful to these program patrons. Advertise in our program next season by contacting [email protected].

Pennsylvania Academy of Performing Artswww.PAperforming.org

Our mission is to provide an environment that culturally enriches the community through exposure to the performing arts.

BOARD OF DIR ECTORS:

JANE BUATTI | PresidentKEVIN DEYOE | Vice President, Artistic DevelopmentJENNIFER SHEALY | Vice President, Business DevelopmentDAVID KOCH | TreasurerCHARLOTTE KROFT | Secretary

CONCERT ETIQUETTE:

The members of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Performing Arts strive to provide a program of musical excellence. For our mutual enjoyment of the concert, we kindly ask:

If you have a young child who begins to cry, exit the performance hall and return when (s)he has settled;

Wait for applause to enter or exit the performance hall;

Silence your cell phone and other personal electronic devices; and

Refrain from flash photography and video recording, as both are strictly forbidden and violate copyright law.

WITH OUR THANKS,

enjoy the performance

THE PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF PERFOR MING ARTS

Members

SOPR ANO IJane BuattiElizabeth GrothmannTheresa MossJessica SatryanRebecca ShealyJennifer Wright

SOPR ANO IIElizabeth BlakeElizabeth KretschmerJennifer ShealyLynn ShealyPatricia Spackman

ALTO IKarah BarristLucy BraunBarb DroseyJen FordSamantha HansonChristina HodessCharlotte Kroft

ALTO IILiz BliganGail BuschSandy EngelmanJoanne JenkinsBeth McAdooSue NewmanLiz Sickler

ARIANAWOMEN’S CHOIR

S. K ATHERINE SHEALYDirector

ALEXIS FORDAccompanist


Members

BASS IIRyan BattinLuke BauerleinTim MercerJake ReinsmithDave Shealy

TENOR IJim AlexanderGreg CarsonJeremy ClarkeRandy CornellAaron Shealy

BASS ICarl BliganJordan HodessDavid NatalieAndrew O’NeillSteve Wilburn

TENOR IIIan BowenKevin DeYoeJeff ElliottAndrew VenselJordan Wang

ORPHEUSMEN’S CHOIR

CHRISTOPHER G. MCGINLEYDirector

JODI BOHRAccompanist

WITH OUR gratitude PAPA’s sincere thanks is expressed to the following people and organizations:

Paoli United Methodist Church, The Church of the Holy Trinity, and The Church of the Good Samaritan for providing rehearsal and performance facilities;Uptown! Entertainment Alliance for their continued support of our organization;Choir Committee Members and PAPA volunteers who have donated time to help our organization run efficiently;Uptown! Entertainment Alliance and the Charles A. Melton Center for their partnership in the Nairobi Chamber Chorus collaboration, as well as the family and friends who opened their homes to the choir members;Wegmans for their donation to the Nairobi Chamber Chorus collaboration;Kevin DeYoe for providing audio recording equipment and services for the performances;Laura Mikowychok for program and marketing materials design; Rebecca Shealy and Roger Taylor for media outreach; Aaron Shealy for concert video recording and YouTube administration;Gail Habecker for donating her services as a guest accompanist during rehearsals;Linda Metzler for adding her cello accompaniment to “La Otra”;The Lower Providence Presbyterian Church for their donation of chimes for “Northern Lights”;The family of Tim Mercer for their donation of water glasses for “Northern Lights”; andMike & Marlene Quinn for hosting Orpheus Men’s Choir in Fenwick Island, DE.

Private Voice Instructionwith

S. Katherine Shealy

Refine your skills or discover new talent! Voice lessons for ages 12 and up

Contact Kate for more [email protected] / 484.459.0739

S. K ATHERINE SHEALYDirector of Ariana Women’s Choir

S. Katherine Shealy obtained her Bachelor of Music in Choral Music Education from the University of Delaware with Paul Head. During the summer of 2006, Ms. Shealy directed and led the Pennsylvania Academy of Performing Arts envoy of singers on a tour of four cities through China as part of the Fourth Annual Eric Whitacre International Choral Festival. Currently, she is the director of Masterworks, co-founder and co-director of Chamber Choir, an advanced ensemble that specializes in outreach performances throughout the community, and the founder and director of Ariana Women’s Choir. Ms. Shealy is currently pursuing her Master of Music in Choral Conducting at West Chester University as the graduate assistant to David DeVenney. She teaches voice privately in West Chester.

CHRISTOPHER G. MCGINLEYDirector of Orpheus Men’s Choir

Christopher G. McGinley received his formal choral training from Paul Head at the University of Delaware. He currently teaches general music, chorus, and music history at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, an Independent School for girls and boys in Chestnut Hill. There he serves as artistic director of Musica Mundi and oversees Players, the extracurricular theatre program in the upper school. Mr. McGinley is the founder and director of Orpheus Men’s Choir, assistant director of Masterworks, and co-founder and co-director of Chamber Choir. Chris has been proud to sing in, direct, or assist nearly every choir in PAPA.


Leadership

ALEXIS FORDAccompanist, Ariana Women’s ChoirAlexis Ford is a composer, conductor, music educator and accompanist. She has a wide variety of experience in both vocal and instrumental fields teaching college level music theory, conducting community choirs and orchestras, directing church ensembles and semi-professional chamber groups, accompanying choirs and private voice studios, and teaching 4th through 12th grade concert band. She received both her Bachelor of Music degree in Composition/Theory as well as her Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Delaware. In addition to her studies at the University of Delaware, Alexis has studied with world-renowned composers and conductors including David Lang, Eric Ewazen, James Jordan, Weston Noble, Dennis Shrock, Bruce Chamberlain, Charles Bruffy, Giselle Wyers, Rick Bjella, and Sandra Snow. Alexis has performed with a wide variety of musical groups throughout the years, touring across North America, Asia and Europe. She currently serves as Director of Music/Organist at Grace Lutheran Church in Hockessin, DE and maintains a private studio including students studying voice, piano, music theory and composition.

JODI BOHRAccompanist, Orpheus Men’s ChoirJodi Acker Bohr is the Lower School Music Coordinator at Germantown Academy and the Director of Music and Organist at Lower Providence Presbyterian Church. For three years she has accompanied for the summer PAPA choirs. From September, 2004 until July, 2011 she was the Associate Director and accompanist for the Pennsylvania Girlchoir. Jodi is a graduate of Westminster Choir College where she studied organ with Donald McDonald and accompanied many students and several choirs. She has accompanied numerous choirs and solo recitals, and was one of the staff accompanists for the Fred Waring Music Workshop from 1981 until 1985. She has two handbell pieces published and has composed several unpublished pieces.


Accompanists

THANK YOU TO OUR DISTINGUISHED VOLUNTEERS:SAMANTHA HANSON | Attendance Manager, ArianaBETH MCADOO | Social CoordinatorREBECCA SHEALY | LibrarianJODI BOHR | Concert Attire ManagerSUE NEWMAN | Fundraising CoordinatorPATTI SPACKMAN | Performance ManagerLIZ KRETSCHMER | Logistics SupportCHRISTINA HODESS | Advertisement CoordinatorLIZ SICKLER | Reception Coordinator

BENEFACTOR:AJ & Lenore Clark

Pete & Laura DeYoeKevin DeYoe & Becky Shealy

Bill & Gwen CarpenterPerry & Gail HabeckerKeith & Genie HibbardErik & Charlotte Kroft

Nancy J. LadyKevin & Kristen Loftus

Linda MetzlerMusic Training CenterVictor & Sally Vogel

Alan & Lorraine WarrenSteve & Connie WhiteRick & Sue Zackroff

PATRON:Ronald & Dorothy Baughman

Ivan DragoJoseph & Diane Jastrzembski

David & Donna KochIn Memory of Alfons & Elsa Rieger

In Memory of Herbert & Louise KroftLaurie Menna

Brett & Ann PleinesRose & Mike Tricoski

David & Karen ValentinoLouise A. Vogel

OUR SINCER E THANKS TO OUR

2013 SponsorsCORPOR ATE SPONSORS:

Johnson & Johnson

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE:Jane Buatti

David & Lynn Shealy

FOUNDER:Anonymous

Catherine G. McGinleyAlbert B. Murphy

FRIEND:Mr. & Mrs. Charles Ambrogi

Steven & Karen FoardJim & Gail Guterl

Peter & Carole LubinKaren & Mark Lukenda

AnonymousDorthy Oakley

Pamela B. SmythCharley & Kathy Parker

Linda SchneiderCarla Short

Debra SkrajewskiMaggie Tucker

To make a tax-deductible donation to PAPA, please see your ticket-taker or visit http://www.paperforming.org.

Thank you for your support of the performing arts!

PARTNERS IN SONGThe Pennsylvania Academy of Music performs with the Nairobi Chamber Chorus

On July 30, 2013, the sounds of African tribal languages, soaring vocals, and standing ovations could be heard outside the Charles A. Melton Arts & Education Center on Market Street in West Chester. Inside, choral singers from the Pennsylvania Academy of Performing Arts (PAPA) were joined in song with the Nairobi Chamber Chorus of Nairobi, Kenya to bring a night of music and friendship to the community.

In a partnership with the Uptown! Entertainment Alliance and the Charles A. Melton Center, PAPA hosted this renowned choral ensemble for a special summer collaboration. Says PAPA’s Vice President of Business Development Jennifer Shealy, “The mission of PAPA is to provide an environment that culturally enriches the community through exposure to the performing arts. We believe that this international collaboration does just that.”

The concert began with performances by PAPA’s Ariana Women’s Choir, directed by S. Katherine Shealy and Orpheus Men’s Choir, directed by Christopher G. McGinley. Comprised of singers from Chester County and the Main Line area, the groups featured selections from their summer program, Fire and Light.

Following PAPA was an enchanting opening from the Nairobi singers, who began at the back of the room with a stirring arrangement of “As I Went Down to the River to Pray,” made famous by American cinema. As the group walked toward the stage and surrounded the audience in sound, they began a program that journeyed back

SPECIAL FEATURE

and forth from American shores to African tribal villages. The music made its mark with both peaceful prayer songs and a range of exotic, rhythmic pieces — during which the group charmed the audience with subtle dance steps that brough the music to life.

Demonstrating an impressive choral versatility, the chorus also performed modern American arrangements by Eric Whitacre; the weavings of a classic “Shenandoah,” an ode to America’s natural beauty; and touched listeners with a haunting spiritual, “Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child.”

Founded in October 2005 by Ken Wakia, the Nairobi Chamber Chorus enables young Kenyans to participate in a musical forum from which they can build their careers and expand their knowledge and interest in the arts. Their repertoire ranges from African folk music to western classical pieces. Over 60 young people have participated, performing for such dignitaries as Queen Elizabeth II and performing artists Lady Smith Black Mambazo. Many Chamber Chorus alumni are now leading musicians in Kenya, performing and teaching music across the country and beyond.

To close the evening’s program, Orpheus director Christopher G. McGinley led the two groups in a joint piece, “Nimerudi Mashambani,” by David Zalo. This piece, explained McGinley, “was emailed to me by the Nairobi Chorus just a few weeks before the performance, in hopes that we might join together in a song that could be learned by both choirs.”

“We rehearsed just twenty minutes together before tonight’s performance,” said McGinley to the anticipating audience. “So, we hope you like this!”

“Making music with this group has been such an incredible experience,” McGinley continued. “The fact that we can be from opposite sides of the globe, and yet stand here together tonight and sing the same notes and the same words and make it all work together — that, that is the power of music.”

The group’s final number was met with a standing ovation, and followed by a toe-tapping ride home, as audience members enjoyed its lingering memory. The concert was an experience not to be soon forgotten.

The choirs invite you to have your own unforgettable experience with international music by supporting PAPA and the Nairobi Chamber Chorus. To be on the mailing list for future collaborations and catch the Chorus on their next American tour, visit each participating organization online: uptownwc.org, paperforming.org and nairobichamberchorus.org.

EXPERIENCE THE SOUNDSCAN THIS CODE TO EXPERIENCE THE JOINT PERFORMANCE OF “NIMERUDI MASHAMBANI” AT THE MELTON CENTER

This feature includes excerpts from news coverage by The Daily Local News (http://www.dailylocal.com) and West Chester Does (http://westchester.does.co). Photos courtesy of the Nairobi Chamber Chorus.

Northern Lights...........................................................................................Ēriks EšenvaldsAriana Women’s and Orpheus Men’s Choirs

Rebecca Shealy and S. Katherine Shealy, soloists

Hàsta Fulmínea ...................................................................................................Kentaro Satofrom Árbor Múndi

Come lume di notte in alcun porto............................................... Orlando di Lasso

Not heat flames up and consumes ........................................................Steven Sametz

Anthem ...............................................................Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus from Chess

Randy Cornell, soloist

Der Feuerreiter .....................................................................................Mathieu Neumann

Ave Maria.....................................................................................................Martin Völlingerfrom The Latin Jazz Mass

Singa Yesu Singa ...........................................................................arr. Lorenz MaierhoferUgandan Spiritual

La Otra ...........................................Poem by Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957)J. Michael Saunders

Ariana Women’s and Orpheus Men’s ChoirsJessica Satryan, soloistLinda Metzler, cello

Jerusalem Luminosa........................Poem by Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)Abbie Betinis

One For Frost, Two For Fire....................................................................Counting SongStephen Hatfield

Sechs Lieder, Op. 13......................................................Clara Schumann (1819-1896)Arr. Virginia Davidson

No. 3 LiebeszauberNo. 4 Der Mond kommt still gegangenNo. 5 Ich hab’ in Deinem AugeNo. 6 Die Stille Lotosblume

Elizabeth Kretschmer, soloist

Tutto Il Di Piango.................................Poem by Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)Vijay Singh

III

Faith is the Bird that Feels the Light ...............Poem by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

Elizabeth AlexanderBeth McAdoo, soloist

Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit...........................................................Traditional SpiritualArr. Rosephanye Powell

Elizabeth Kretschmer, Theresa Moss, Jessica Satryan, Rebecca Shealy

Nimerudi Mashambani......................................................................................David Zalo

Ariana Women’s and Orpheus Men’s ChoirsAs performed with the Nairobi Chamber Chorus during their visit on July 30th

program notes

NORTHERN LIGHTS Ēriks Ešenvaldstext by Charles Francis Hall

Charles Francis Hall was a 19th century American Arctic explorer. Though he started a career as a blacksmith, he became interested in the missing Arctic expedition of Sir John Franklin and was determined to sail north to learn the truth. He took several trips to the Arctic Circle throughout his life, dying of arsenic poisoning under mysterious circumstances during his trip to find the North Pole. The text of Northern Lights is drawn from a journal entry of one of his first experiences with the aurora borealis.

It was night, and I had gone on deck several times. Iceberg was silent; I too was silent. It was true dark and cold. At nine o’clock I was below in my cabin, when the captain hailed me with the words: “Come above, Hall, come above at once, Hall! The world is on fire!”

I knew his meaning, and, quick as thought, I rushed to the companion stairs. In a moment I reached the deck, and as the cabin door swung open, a dazzling light, overpowering light burst upon my startled senses!

Oh, the whole sky was one glowing mass of colored flames, so mighty, so brave! Like a pathway of light the northern lights seemed to draw us into the sky.

Yes, it was harp music, wild storming in the darkness; the strings trembled and sparkled in the glow of the flames like a shower of fiery darts. A fiery crown of auroral light cast a warm glow across the arctic ice.

Again at times it was like softly playing, gently rocking, silvery waves, on which dreams travel into unknown worlds.

HÁSTA FULMÍNEAKentaro Satofrom Árbor Múndi

Kentaro Sato is a Los Angeles/Tokyo-based award-winning composer, conductor, orchestrator, lyricist, singer and educator. His symphonic works have been featured in TV/Film media, game industry and international concert performing groups, such as the Philharmonia Orchestra of London and the Sydney Symphony. Sato was born in Hamamatsu, Japan, a manufacturing city known for musical instruments. He received a Master of Music in Choral Conducting with Distinction and a Bachelor of Music in Media Writing from California State University, Northridge.

It has happened instantlywithout announcement.A spear of lightning has pierced a treewithout sound.

In thunder and flame,the tree has fallenwith silenced scream.

Oh! Fate!Did it grow to be enkindled?Was its body large to invite spearing?

No answer has come.

COME LUME DI NOTTE IN ALCUN PORTOOrlando di Lassotext by Francesco Petrarch

The text of this madrigal is drawn from Petrarch’s Il Canzoniere, a collection of 366 poems composed between 1327 and 1368. The collection’s central theme is Petrarch’s abiding—and unrequited—love for Laura de Noves, the wife of Count Hugues de Sade. This poem is neither Petrarch’s most optimistic nor most desperate; it is unclear whether the narrator is sailing towards his love in the port or whether he merely glimpsed “the emblem of that other life” and sailed on.

As a light at night, burning in port,is seen on the high seas by any vesselif it’s not hidden by a storm or rocks,so, from above my swelling sails,I saw the emblem of that other life,and then I sighed towards my end.

NOT HEAT FLAMES UP AND CONSUMEStext by Walt WhitmanSteven Sametz

In 2007, the Male Choir Commissioning Consortium sent composer Steven Sametz a collection of Walt Whitman texts, which he extracted and assembled into We Two, a five movement work for male choir around the themes of first glances, first encounter, doubt, assurance, and joy. “Not heat flames up and consumes” is the fourth movement of the cycle.

Not heat flames up and consumes, Not sea-waves hurry in and out, Not the air, delicious and dry, the air of the ripe summer, bears lightly along white down-balls of myriads of seeds, Wafted, sailing gracefully, to drop where they may; Not these—O none of these, more than the flames of me, consuming, burning for his love whom I love!O none, more than I, hurrying in and out: —Does the tide hurry, seeking something, and never give up? O I the same; O nor down-balls, nor perfumes, nor the high, rain-emitting clouds, are borne through the open air, Any more than my Soul is borne through the open air, Wafted in all directions, O love, for friendship, for you.

ANTHEMfrom ChessBenny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeusalternate lyrics by David Maddux

Anthem is the Act 1 closing number from the musical Chess which premiered in London in 1986. Written by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus, it tells the story of two elite chess players, an American and a Russian, and deals with issues of nationalism, loyalty, and competition. David Maddux’ alternate lyrics in this men’s choir arrangement explore the duality of fire and light: the fire of rage that can burn and destroy, and the light of faith and hope, which can lead to victory.

No man, no madness though their sad power may prevail, can possess, conquer the dream I hold,they rise to fail.

Hope blazed eternal long before battle lines were drawn.When no flags flew, when no threat pursuedmy hope was born.

And you ask me how this dream lives through pain, death, and despair.Faith is the fire; hope is the prayer.Though rage burns in every tear from untold million goodbyes,Hope, unshakable hope, yet shines before my eyes.

How could I falter? Love leads me so.All healing eternal hope is all I know.Our awakening call to arms is born of hope.

DER FEUERREITERtext by Eduard MörikeMathieu Neumann

“In Lohgasse, where two rows of the most ancient buildings of our city are, you see a small house, narrow and pointed, and recently quite dilapidated; it is a locksmith’s workshop. But in the top part of the house there was once a young man who lived alone, and was rarely seen, except every time before the outbreak of a conflagration. When you saw him in a scarlet, reticulated cap—which stood out against his face deathly pale—restless at the small window, it was the surest sign that disaster was imminent. Each time, when the first sounds of fire arose, he rode on his lean nag down from the stable (and how Satan chased!), infallible to the place of the fire as if he first felt it in the mind.”

–Eduard MörikeLook out the window See that red cap again?Something strange must be happening,See how he rides back and forth.And what tumult takes placeAt the bridge, where the field ends. Listen! The fire bell is ringing: Behind the hill, Behind the hillThere’s fire at the mill!

Look! He gallops stark madly Through the gate, the Fire Rider,On the scrawny-ribbed horseOn a fireman’s ladder it seems!Cross-field! Through smoke and stuffy airRides he on, reaches the spot!While over there the bell keeps ringing: Behind the hill, Behind the hillThere’s fire at the mill!

He who so often sniffedThe red hen from miles around,With the holy cross’s beamBlaspheming addressed the fire —Woe! From the timber frameThe fiend grins in hell’s fire glow.God have mercy on your soul!

Behind the hill, Behind the hillHe’s raging in the mill!

It lasted not an hourThe mill collapsed in rubble; Yet that brash riderWas never seen thereafter.Folk and wagons in a flurryHead for home, away from horror; Even the bell’s clang fades away. Behind the hill, Behind the hill‘Tis on fire! —

Soon thereafter a miller foundA skeleton and cap as wellUpright at the cellar wallSitting on the bony mare:Fire Rider, with what calmnessYou ride in your grave!Whoosh! Down into ashes it falls. Rest you well, Rest you wellDown in the mill!

AVE MARIAfrom The Latin Jazz MassMartin Völlinger

Martin Völlinger was born in Fulda, Germany in 1977. Initially self-taught, he studied church music, voice, conducting, and improvisation in Regensberg and Zurich, and attended numerous international music courses. Since 2007, he has been working as the choral director and voice teacher with the Lucerne Boys’ Choir. Völlinger aims his music directly at people and their feelings, between traditional and modern music, and shows no reservation in the use of pop, jazz, and world music.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

SINGA YESU SINGAUgandan spiritualarr. Lorenz Maierhofer

Most Christian church music in Africa is based on a mix of western hymnody and local traditional music. Singa Yesu Singa is native to Uganda; the song is sung in Lunyoro and Lutoro, two local Bantu dialects, and it incorporates rhythm patterns and percussion native to the region. It is an upbeat, uplifting song of praise.

Sing and open to Jesus, let earth and Heaven burn in his fire!

LA OTR A (“THE OTHER WOMAN”)Jason Michael SaundersPoem by Gabriela Mistral

Gabriela Mistral, pen name of Lucila Godoy y Alcayaga (1889-1957), was a Chilean poet who won the 1945 Nobel Prize in Literature. She spent much of her life as an avid supporter of education reform, serving as both Mexico’s Minister of Education as well as a consul. La Otra appears in Lagar, the last book of Mistral’s poetry published while she was still living. The collection was written in 1943 after the suicide of her seventeen-year-old son. It is colored both by her grief for her son and her response to the devastation of World War II in Europe and the Americas. Jason Michael Saunders, a twenty-four year old composer from Oregon, expertly sets La Otra using an array of colors, angular melodic lines, and sharp dissonances to reflect the fierce imagery of Mistral’s fiery poem.

I killed a woman in me.I didn’t love her.

She was the flower flamingFrom the mountain cactus,She was the dryness and fire;Nothing could cool her.

Stone and sky she had Underfoot and around her;Never did she kneelTo seek the gaze of water.

Where she lay down to restShe withered the grassWith the heat of her breath,The ember of her face.

Her speech hardenedQuick as pitch,So no soft charmCould be released.

She couldn’t bow,The mountain plant,While I beside herBowed and bent.

I left her to die,Robbing her of my heart.She ended likeAn eagle starved.

Her wings stopped beating,She bowed down, spent,And her quenched sparkDropped in my hand.

Her sisters stillMourn her, accuse me,And the burning quicklimeClaws me as I pass.

Going by I tell them:“Look in the creekbeds,from their claysmake another fire-eagle.

If you can’t,Well then, forget her!I killed her. You, too,You kill her!”

JERUSALEM LUMINOSAAbbie BetinisPoem by Thomas à Kempis

Abbie Betinis, born in 1980, is a highly acclaimed composer of choral music. In addition to having works commissioned by such prestigious ensembles as the Dale Warland Singers and the Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, she serves as Composer in Residence for the Schubert Club and sings alto with The Singers-Minnesota Choral Artists. Of her piece Jerusalem Luminosa Betinis writes:

“Jerusalem Luminosa is an exploration of peace. The fifteenth century text is taken from a much longer poem celebrating Jerusalem and the unmeasured praises sung about its everlasting light. The music begins in a tranquil state. But what ensues is another vision of true peace: not an emollient peace, but one that engages actively in peace-making – of compromise, and of joy in collaboration. The voices ‘play tag,’ each part constantly trying to catch up with the other, lending and borrowing beats in order to align at cadences and partner at melodic peaks. The text concedes to the rhythmic compromising by allowing modifications to its malleable syllables. Thus ‘Jerusalem luminosa’ becomes ‘Luminosalem,’ and ‘Alleluia, Alleluia’ elides into ‘Allelui’Alleluia.” Another example of the textual cross-pollination is the final ‘Luminos’Alleluia.’ This last measure pairs a compromised text with a rhythmic unison, thus finally accepting the pacis visio (vision of peace). Today we know Jerusalem as a city shrouded in generations of controversy and war. Indeed, if there could only be some lending and borrowing, some geographical, moral, and religious compensation in that part of the world and everywhere, perhaps peace would be closer at hand. Jerusalem Luminosa premiered at L’eglise Saint Severin (Paris, France) in July, 2001.”

Alleluia.Jerusalem, city of light,Vision of true peace.Alleluia.All holy, all elegant,Is that which shows itself in thee.

ONE FOR FROST, TWO FOR FIREStephen Hatfield

Stephen Hatfield is a recognized leader in multiculturalism and musical folklore, an interest which informs many of his compositions including African Celebration, La Lluvia, and Las Amarillas. A native of Canada’s Pacific coast, Stephen Hatfield has lived most of his life in the rain forests of Vancouver Island where his father is blood-brother to the legendary Kwagiutl chief Jimmy Seawood. In addition to his choral works, he enjoys composing for the theater. Of his piece One For Frost, Two For Fire, Hatfield writes:

“One For Frost, Two For Fire is a merging of modern diction with the ancient forms of counting song, nursery rhyme, round, or catch, and the incantational folk songs that paid homage to the natural powers of this pecuiliar and beautiful world. The rhythms must lilt, with an extra swing given to the dotted quarters: a merging of sea chanty and courtly dance. The phrase ‘hey ho’ is both yearning and ironic; it alludes to such Shakespeare phrases as ‘with a hey ho, the wind and the rain,’ or ‘Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly, so hey ho the holly.’ In other words, life is so strange, so sweetly sad, that what can you do?”

One for frost, and two for fire,And three for everything I desire.Four for fear, and five for pride,And six for all I hold inside.Seven to hide and eight to show,And nine, ten so here I go.

Knock knock. Knock knock.Oh, I am the secret of my block.Who’s there? Who’s there?And who would care if I should vanish into air?Come on lemme know. Come on lemme know.Come on ev’rybody lemme know.

And hey ho for all I desire.For all I want, hey ho.

SECHS LIEDER, OP. 13Clara SchumannArr. Virginia Davidson

An art song is a vocal music composition setting of poetry, typically written for one voice and piano for use in concert repertory. In Germany, the great age of song came in the 19th century. German and Austrian composers had written music for voice with keyboard before this time, but it was with the flowering of German literature in the Classical and Romantic eras that composers found high inspiration in poetry that sparked the genre known as Lied, the German word for “song.”

Clara Wieck Schumann, 1819-1896, exceptional pianist and daughter of the famous Friedrich Wieck, met and fell in love with Robert Schumann when he began studying with her father. After a strenuous court battle caused by Herr Wieck’s disapproval of their relationship, the couple finally married in 1840. Inspired by her husband’s success as a composer, Clara began writing herself. It was in the early years of their marriage that she composed Sechs Lieder, Op. 13, setting the stunning poetry of Romantic literary greats Heine, Geibel, and Rückert.

Virginia Davidson, Conductor/Founder of the New York Treble Singers, has beautifully set these six art songs for women’s chorus, creating lush harmonies and new sonorities to further bring the text and music to life. Ariana Women’s Choir will be performing four of the six songs.

NO. 3 LIEBESZAUBER

Geibel

Love sat like a nightingaleIn the rosebush and sang.The wonderfully sweet melodyFloated through the woods.As it sounded, the perfumeOf a thousand flowers rose in the air,The treetops rustled softly,And the breezes grew calm;The brooks which had splashedDown from the heights grew silent.

The deer stood still as in a dreamAnd listened to the lovely sound.Brighter and ever brighter the sunPoured its light on flowers, woodsAnd valleys till they were bathed

In a golden red glow.As I wandered along my roadI also heard the melody,And, Oh, all the songs I have sungSince that day have been but its echo.

NO. 4 DER MOND KOMMT STILL GEGANGEN

Geibel

The moon rises quietlyWith its golden glowAnd lovingly puts the weary earth to sleep.The breezes carry to the sleepersA thousand thoughts of loveArising from devoted hearts.Down in the valley, lights sparkleIn the windows of my love’s house,But I stand alone in the darkAnd look out into the world.

NO. 5 ICH HAB’ IN DEINEM AUGE

Ruckert

I saw the lightOf eternal love in your eyesAnd heavenly roseBlooming on your cheeks.But when that light died outAnd the roses faded,Their reflection remained,Ever bright, in my heart.Never will I see your cheeksWithout the roses,Or look into your eyesWithout receiving that beam of love.

NO. 6 DIE STILLE LOTOSBLUME

Geibel

The silent lotus flowerRises out of the blue lake.Her leaves glimmer and sparkle,Her blossom is white as snow.The moon pours all its golden raysFrom heaven down into her lap.A white swan circlesThe flower on the lake,Singing so sweetly, so softly.He gazes upon her and pours himselfInto his soft, sweet song.Oh flower, lovely flower,Can you understand his song?

TUTTO IL DI PIANGOVijay SinghPoem by Francesco Petrarch

Tutto il di Piango is a contemporary madrigal in two parts, a setting of Italian writer Frencesco Petrarch’s dramatically disconsolate poem by Vijay Singh. Singh is an active composer, conductor, teacher, and clinician currently serving as Associate Professor of Music at Central Washington University. Although he specializes in jazz pedagogy and composition, his handful of traditional choral repertoire, including Tutto il di Piango, serve as stunning reflections of the text’s emotion and drama.

I.All day I weep; and then at night,When miserable mortals rest,I find myself in tearsAnd my misfortunes double,Thus I pass my time in weeping.In a sad humor I wear out my eyesAnd heart in grief;I am the lowest of all animals,For the loving arrows keep meAt every hour bereft of peace.

II.I am weary, since from one sun to the next,And from one shadow to the nextI have already spent most ofThis death called life.It is more for the fault of another Than for my misfortune that I grieve;Because living pity, and my faithful aid,See me on fire and do not help me.

FAITH IS THE BIRD THAT FEELS THE LIGHTElizabeth AlexanderPoem by Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta in 1861, where he was exposed from an early age to both Indian and Western culture and thought. A prolific writer of poems, stories, and novels, he is best known for Gitanjali, a book of poems about divine and human love. Tagore was also a musician and songwriter; two of his songs are now the national anthems of Bangladesh and India. The quote on which this song is based is taken from Fireflies, a collection of 256 epigrams and short verses from Southeast Asia. Composer Elizabeth Alexander whimsically sets Tagore’s text; listeners will hear the flutter of wings, the light wafting of feathers, and the determined soar of a bird taking flight.

Faith is the bird that feels the lightAnd sings when the dawn is still dark.

EV’RY TIME I FEEL THE SPIRITArr. Rosephanye Powell

A spiritual is a religious song that was first sung by slaves in America. Many are based on biblical stories. These songs served as a symbol of hope and community during a time of great oppression, and were often sung while working, socializing, or worshiping. Today, African-American Spirituals exist as an established genre of choral music that, despite nationality or race, singers love to learn and perform due to their uplifting and joyful messages in the face of adversity. Rosephanye Powell, Associate Professor of Voice at Auburn University and active arranger of spirituals and sacred choral anthems, has created a rousing arrangement of this well known traditional spiritual.

Refrain:Ev’ry time I feel the spiritMovin’ in my heart, I will pray.

Upon the mountain, my Lord spoke,Out of His mouth came fire an’ smoke.Jordan river is chilly an’ cold,It chills the body but not the soul.

Ain’t but one train upon this track,It runs to heaven an’ then right back.Looked all around me, it looked so fine,Then I asked my Lord if all was mine.

NIMERUDI MASHAMBANID. Zalo

“Nimerudi Mashambani was composed at a time when Kenyans were being asked to return to their rural homes after independence. The piece is the rhumba-influenced effort of acclaimed Kenyan composer David Zalo, who died in in 2007 at the age of 67. Zalo pioneered the use of rhumba into local choral music, which blends well with the afro-classical style of the ensemble who premiered the piece, the Nairobi Chamber Choir. Nimerudi Mashambani’s message resonates with a majority of Kenyan urbanites with a rural home.”

–adapted from Kenyan reporter Kamau Mutunga

Father, give me farmlandI will work with my handsto earn a living.

Father, give me farmlandI won’t go into the city to look for workthere is money in the farm.

City life is troublesome,full of debtsat noon,newspaper in hand and idling.City money is like salt,it melts away,it’s worthless, it’s useless.

I’ve gone back to my farmland,to tend my piece of land.

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