THE SEMINARY CHORUS - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary · Prof. Tiefel has directed the Seminary Chorus...
Transcript of THE SEMINARY CHORUS - Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary · Prof. Tiefel has directed the Seminary Chorus...
THE SEMINARY CHORUS James P. Tiefel, Director
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Auditorium ___________________________
December 13, 2015
Welcome to the Seminary
If you’ve visited us before, welcome back! If this
is your first time to our campus, we’re very
pleased to have you. We encourage you to walk
through our chapel, library, and classrooms
following the concert today. Exit the auditorium
via the east entrance and look for the tower.
When you walk under the tower you’ll see the
library entrance under the words Thy Word is
Truth. Students will be waiting with a Christmas
treat and ready to show you around.
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary has been standing
on this hill overlooking Thiensville and the
Milwaukee River for 87 years. The school’s story
doesn’t start here, however. The seminary had
more than 50 years behind it when it moved to
this 80 acre farm in 1928. Over its 152 year
history the seminary’s objective has always been
to train pastors who are qualified to serve the
congregations and mission fields of the
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. A more
detailed description on page 14 of this program
shares more of the seminary’s story.
Although students participated in singing
activities before the move to Mequon, the
Seminary Chorus as we know it today began in
the spring of 1931 when students organized
themselves as the Seminary Choral Society. The
group’s name changed over the decades, but its
purpose remains the same: to present the Word
of God in music to give glory to Christ and his
saving message to people.
For all its years the
Chorus has been a
volunteer organization.
The director announces
the first rehearsal, and
the students show up!
The choir rehearses
three times each week
during the school day. There are no auditions;
typically more than half the student body
participates. With only a few exceptions,
members of the Chorus have not had
professional music training, but have gained
their skills primarily in school choirs and
instrumental groups. All who enjoy the Chorus
today owe a debt of gratitude to thousands of
teachers who taught lively young boys to sing
and play in classrooms and studios.
The first campus
Christmas concert was
held in 1932, the year
after the choir was
founded. For 44 years
those concerts were
held in the small
chapel where the seminary family gathers for
worship each morning. When the chapel filled
to overflowing, the choir moved to the new
Calvary Lutheran Church in Thiensville in 1976.
The campus auditorium, dedicated in 1986, has
enabled the Chorus to welcome thousands of
people who return year after year to Christmas
at the Seminary.
The Chorus has the privilege of representing the
seminary in congregations affiliated with the
Wisconsin Synod throughout the country.
Besides regular appearances in Wisconsin, the
choir has presented concerts in 44 states and
several provinces of Canada. Concert tour
programs are recorded professionally, and the
choir’s CDs have carried its songs literally
around the world.
The men of the Seminary Chorus, along with the
entire seminary family, are pleased you chose to
worship with us today. It is our prayer that the
message of Christ’s birth, announced in
beautiful music, may touch your hearts and
encourage your faith and love.
James P Tiefel
Prof. Tiefel has directed the Seminary Chorus since 1985.
Christmas at the Seminary
Crying children may be quieted in the auditorium lobby.
Please silence cell phones and electronic devices.
The 3:00 p.m. concert is being streamed live on the Internet.
REJOICE, REJOICE, BELIEVERS Laurentius Laurentii (1661-1722)
HAF TRONES LAMPA FÄRDIG
K. Lee Scott, 2002
Chorus
Rejoice, rejoice, believers, and let your lights appear;
The evening is advancing, and darker night is near.
The Bridegroom is arising and soon is drawing nigh.
Up, pray and watch and wrestle; at midnight comes the cry.
Stand and sing
Be seated
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ADDRESS Prof. Paul O. Wendland
President of the Seminary
I ____________________
WELCOME, THOU KING OF GLORY Johann Rist (1607-1667)
Vincent Lübeck (1656-1740)
Oh, welcome, welcome, Bridegroom dear, thou King of highest glory;
Oh, welcome, Jesus, Lamb of God, I’ll sing thy praise forever.
In every hour of every day my heart will sing thy praise alway.
To save us from damnation thou wast made man for our salvation.
O noble deed! O glorious night! What love to us is given!
For us the Savior deigns to fight to conquer earth and heaven;
A man of might and power he came and fire and cloudburst held in rein,
‘Fore whom the heavens are shaking and all the hills are quaking.
O dearest Babe, O sweetest Child, most gracious is thy bearing.
Come, Brother, whom I hold more dear than all my wealth and living;
Come, enter though my heart today; come quickly from thy bed of hay.
Come, come to me, my Savior, and live in me forever.
I pray thee, blessed Bridegroom mine, my hope, my joy, and pleasure,
Thou noble Branch of David’s line, how shall I share with thee my treasure?
Ah, let me give my body and soul; in all things ever make thy way my goal;
I will be thine forever.
Praise, thanks, and glory, Jesus Christ, to thee in song I offer;
For as my brother thou wast born and all the world didst conquer.
Help me to cherish and to praise thee ever in this time of grace,
And then in heaven victorious I’ll praise thy name most glorious.
ALLELUIA Randall Thompson (1899-1984)
Alleluia
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NOW SING WE, NOW REJOICE Medieval Latin hymn
IN DILCI JUBILO
Kevin Hildebrand, 2002
The Chorus sings stanza 3
CHRISTMAS FANTASY Joel Raney, 2007 for Organ and Brass
Kenneth Rodrigue, organ
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II ____________________
ALL PRAISE TO THEE, ETERNAL LORD Martin Luther (1483-1546)
PUER NOBIS
Robert Denham, 2007
All praise to thee, eternal Lord,
Clothed in a garb of flesh and blood;
Choosing a manger for thy throne,
While worlds on worlds are thine alone.
Once did the skies before thee bow;
A virgin’s arms contain thee now,
While angels who in thee rejoice,
Now listen for thine infant voice.
A little child, thou art our guest
That weary ones in thee may rest;
Forlorn and lowly is thy birth
That we may rise to heaven from earth.
Thou comest in the darksome night
To make us children of the light!
To make us in the realms divine
Like thine own angels round thee shine.
All this for us thy love hath done,
By this to thee our love is won!
For this we tune our cheerful lays
And sing our thanks in ceaseless praise.
LUX AURUMQUE Edward Esch
Eric Whitacre, 2004
Lux,
calida gravisque pura velut aurum et canunt angeli molliter modo natum
Light,
warm and heavy as pure gold and the angels sing softly to the new-born Child.
WHAT CHILD IS THIS William C. Dix (1837-1898)
GREENSLEEVES
Jameson Marvin, 2007
What child is this who, laid to rest,
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing.
Haste, haste to bring him laud,
The babe, the Son of Mary.
So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh;
Come, peasant, king, to own him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone him.
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing.
Haste, haste to bring him laud,
The babe, the Son of Mary.
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O SAVIOR OF OUR FALLEN RACE Ambrose of Milan (340-397)
Adapted by Kristyn Getty
VENI, REDEMPTOR GENTIUM
Keith Getty, 2011
O Savior of our fallen race,
O brightness of the Father’s face,
O Son who shared the Father’s might
Before the world knew day or night.
Remind us, Lord of life and grace,
How once to save our fallen race,
You put our human vesture on
And came to us as Mary’s Son.
O Jesus, very Light of Light,
Our constant star in sin’s deep night:
Now hear the prayers your people pray
Throughout the world this holy day.
Come, thou Redeemer of the earth,
And manifest thy virgin birth:
Let every age adoring fall;
Such birth befits the God of all.
And we are jubilant today
For you have washed our guilt away.
O hear the glad new song we sing
On this, the birth of Christ our King!
O Savior of our fallen race,
The world will see your radiant face;
For you who came to us before
Will come again and all restore.
Let songs of praise your name adorn,
O Christ, Redeemer, virgin-born
Whom with the Father we adore
And Holy Spirit evermore.
Gregory Sitzman, violin
TELL ME, SHEPHERD Herbert Hyde
Thomas Savoy, 1999
Tell me, shepherd, what did you see
The night of the Christmas mystery?
We saw the angels of the Lord,
Gabriel’s lily and Michael’s sword,
We covered our faces and adored.
Deum laudent omnia.
Tell me, shepherd, what did you hear
The while you quaked with holy fear?
We heard hosannas in the sky,
“Glory, glory to God on high
And peace on earth both far and nigh.”
In excelsis gloria.
Tell me, shepherd, whither you went
And what the meaning of your intent?
We sought a King of David’s stem,
The angels went and we went with them
And running we came to Bethlehem.
O beata patria.
Tell me, shepherd, what did you find
As you came out of the cold and wind?
We found a Virgin in a stall
And in her arms a baby small,
The Son of God and the Lord of all.
Gaudete in saecula.
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ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT English carol
SUSSEX CAROL
Caleb Schmiege, 2015
Stand
Be seated
OFFERING Generous offerings at this Christmas concert
assist the chorus in its ministry around the country.
The choir will appear in WELS congregations in Illinois, Tennessee,
Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Indiana over the 2016 Easter break.
Thank you!
Three carols for Bluegrass Ensemble:
SILENT NIGHT, JOY TO THE WORLD,
and AWAY IN A MANGER Caleb Schmiege, 2015
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III ____________________
THAT HOLY NIGHT Chris de Silva, 2012
That holy night in Bethlehem, as prophets once foretold,
Poor shepherds watched their flocks that night in fields so dark and cold.
Then suddenly the shepherds heard bright sounds from heaven ring
That summoned all from dark to light, to join with heaven and sing:
Refrain (Chorus)
Great news of joy the angel sang to all the world that day;
The Sun of righteousness arose and came to light our way.
In humble manger we will find a Child of Peace, a King:
This holy birth we come to see, to praise God and to sing:
Refrain (All sing)
And so he came that glorious night, a light for all to see—
For wise, for simple, rich or poor, this Child will set all free.
We are his own, his witnesses, to tell his saving love,
So all around the great wide earth may voice his praise above:
Refrain (All sing twice)
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TODAY THERE IS RINGING J. B. Clausen
F. Melius Christiansen
Today there is ringing in praise of God—bells are a-chiming—
Salvation’s glad tidings by angels brought,
From Bethlehem’s manger are spread abroad.
On fallen snow the sunbeams glow in the valley.
There comes to the home a holy guest—bells are a-chiming—
Who opens the door will by him be blest
With mercy and life and refreshing rest.
On fallen snow the sunbeams glow in the valley.
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN Traditional spiritual
Stanzas by John W. Work
Robert A. Hobby, 2010
Sing the refrain with the Chorus:
The Chorus sings the stanzas of the hymn
While shepherds kept their watching
O’er silent flocks by night,
Behold, throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light. Refrain
The shepherds feared and trembled
When, lo, above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Savior’s birth. Refrain
Down in a lowly manger
The humble Christ was born;
And God sent us salvation
That blessed Christmas morn. Refrain twice
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Stand
M: Almighty God, you made Christmas to shine with the brightness of the true light. Grant that as
we have known on earth the wonder of that light, we may also behold him in all his glory in the
life to come; through your only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen. (spoken)
M: May he who by his incarnation gathered into one things earthly and heavenly, fill us with such joy
that comes with the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. And the
blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with
you always.
C: Amen. (spoken)
Be seated
LORD, WHEN YOUR GLORY I SHALL SEE Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676) WEDDING GLORY Carl F. Schalk, 1992
Lord, when your glory I shall see and taste your kingdom's pleasure,
Your blood my royal robe shall be, my joy beyond all measure!
When I appear before your throne, your righteousness shall be my crown;
With these I need not hide me. And there, in garments richly wrought,
As your own bride I shall be brought to stand in joy beside you.
POSTLUDE Behold, a Branch is Growing
From Heaven Above to Earth I Come
Once Again My Heart Rejoices
Euphonium Quartet
Compact discs of recent recordings produced by the Seminary Chorus, including the 2010 recording,
Christmas at the Seminary, are available for sale following the concert for $12.00.
Guests who desire to visit the seminary’s chapel, library, and classrooms are invited to exit the
auditorium via the east entrance, walk under the tower, and turn right toward the library entrance: Thy
Word is Truth. Enjoy a Christmas snack as students show you where they prepare for ministry.
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Concert Participants
Pre-concert carols Nathanael Plocher
Nathanael Jensen
Accompanists Nathanael Plocher, Darin Warnecke
Lloyd Harter, Caleb Schmiege, and Ryan Kolander
Instrumentalists Andrew Buschkopf, trumpet
Peter Plagenz, trumpet
Lucas Proeber, trumpet
Jared Natsis, horn
Caleb Schmiege, trombone
Isaiah Horn, euphonium
Ryan Kolander, euphonium
Nathanael Plocher, euphonium
Nathan Wordell, euphonium and tuba
Gregory Sitzman, violin
Samuel Jeske, guitar
Aaron Kristopeit, bass guitar
Caleb Schultz, percussion
Michael Schwab, percussion
Guest musicians Joey Schumann, pipes and flutes
Immanuel, Greenville, WI
Jack Boatman, violin
Grace, Milwaukee, WI
Lori Guse, viola
Morning Star, Jackson, WI
The Chorus thanks members of the seminary staff for all they do to make the annual
Christmas concert an enjoyable and faith-building ministry.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
O Savior of Our Fallen Race – Text © 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship. All rights reserved. Used by
permission.
That Holy Night – Text and refrain © 2012 GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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The Seminary Chorus
Tenor I Tenor II
Andrew Buschkopf Milwaukee, WI Jordan Bence Oconomowoc, WI
Samuel Jeske Milwaukee, WI Lloyd Harter La Crosse, WI
Aaron Kristopeit South Milwaukee, WI Joel Hering Rowlett, TX
Jared Natsis Saline, MI Michael Hollmann Hustisford, WI
Andrew Nemmers Allen, TX Isaiah Horn Mazeppa, MN
Caleb Schmiege Madison, WI Nathanael Jensen Ixonia, WI
Gregory Sitzman Hubertus, WI Paul Koester West Allis, WI
Hans Thomford Chesaning, MI Ryan Kolander** Brookfield, WI
Noah Willitz Frankenmuth, MI Wolf Parsons Box Elder, SD
John Paustian West Bend, WI
Tristan Paustian Racine, WI
Lucas Proeber Saginaw, MI
David Strucely Dallas, TX
Mark Swanson Vancouver, WA
Darin Warnecke Watertown, WI
Andrew Westra Columbia, TN
Nathan Wordell Kenosha, WI
Bass I Bass II
Benjamin Berger Slinger, WI Peter Janke Watertown, SD
Benjamin Birner Zambia, Africa Martin Johnston Watertown, WI
Alexander Eckert Eaton Rapids, MI Gunnar Ledermann Plymouth, CA
Scott Henrich St. John’s, Antigua Luke Miller Maryville, TN
Jackson Hunter Middleton, WI Peter Plagenz Manchester, WI
Ben Phelps Plymouth, WI Jacob Reich Lake City, MN
Micah Plocher Vassar, MI Daniel Rodewald Simpsonville, SC
Nathanael Plocher Vassar, MI Steven Saatkamp Milwaukee, WI
Timothy Priewe Milwaukee, WI William Schubert Rockford, IL
Matthew Proeber Janesville, WI David Spaude Antigo, WI
Matthew Rothe Oconomowoc, WI Paul Wilde Kenosha, WI
Caleb Schultz Spokane, WA Craig Wilke Fort Atkinson, WI
Michael Schwab Midland, MI Benjamin Zietlow Whitefish Bay, WI
Luke Thomford Chesaning, MI
Kurtis Wetzel* Kewaskum, WI
*President of the Chorus
**Vice president of the Chorus
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WISCONSIN LUTHERAN SEMINARY
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary is a post-graduate school owned and supported by the members
of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Since its founding in 1863, the school has had as
its specific purpose to offer theological training for men who desire to enter the pastoral
ministry. The seminary carries out this purpose by training all its students to preach and teach
the pure gospel of Jesus Christ and to carry out the work of the ministry in accordance with the
Holy Scriptures and in conscious agreement with the historical confessions of the Lutheran
Church. The seminary’s stated goal is to produce pastors who are
Confessional in stance
Evangelical in approach
Mission-minded in spirit
Culturally sensitive
Appropriately flexible, and
Zealous both to nurture and equip the saints.
Most of the students who attend Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary have been trained at Martin
Luther College in New Ulm, Minnesota, and many have attended our synod’s preparatory high
schools in Watertown, Wisconsin, and Saginaw, Michigan. At the seminary, students enroll in a
three-year program of classroom instruction. A fourth year, spent in a congregation under the
supervision of its pastor, precedes the senior year. The on-campus curriculum includes both
academic courses (scriptural, historical, and doctrinal studies) and professional courses
(preaching, worship, teaching, evangelism, administration, counseling, etc.). The seminary’s
Pastoral Studies Institute provides training for students from diverse ethnic backgrounds and
second career candidates who require a specialized curriculum. Students who successfully
complete the seminary’s course of instruction and are presented by the faculty as candidates for
the ministry are assigned to their first field of service by the presidents of the synod's twelve
districts. This year 91 students are attending classes on campus; 30 are serving as vicars.
Since 1929 the seminary has been located on a beautiful 80 acre campus in Mequon, a suburb of
Milwaukee. The primary campus buildings, chapel, classrooms, library, cafeteria, and
dormitories, are under one roof and are situated around a central park-like circle. This complex
was designed to resemble the Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther translated the New
Testament into German. A 1000 seat auditorium and gymnasium is located within a short walk
of the main complex. Members of the faculty live in homes on the campus.
The seminary also serves pastors who are active in WELS congregations through its Grow in
Grace Institute for Continuing Education; many are involved in an advanced degree program. The
campus hosts a variety of professional seminars, and faculty members are frequent speakers at
continuing education events both in the United States and on the synod’s world mission fields.
Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary is supported by the mission offerings of WELS congregations,
the tuition paid by its students, and private gifts directed to the seminary. Should you desire
more information about the seminary, please contact the mission advancement office at 262-
242-8100 or [email protected]. Find more information about Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary at
www.wls.wels.net.
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Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary 11831 North Seminary Drive Mequon, Wisconsin 53092 www.wls.wels.net