Fall Choral Concert

Choral Concert

Where the Horizon Begins

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

Big Sky

Kathleen Thomerson (b. 1934) arr. Peter Dennee

Seth Houston (b. 1974)

Lead With Love Melanie DeMore (b. 1954)

carthage chorale peter dennee, conductor melissa cardamone, accompanist

Damijan Močnik (b. 1968) (May God Grant Us a Good Evening) Danae Palmer, mezzo soprano

Bog daj dobro večer

The Bird’s Lullaby

Sarah Quartel (b. 1982)

Meet Me Here Craig Hella Johnson (b. 1962) Lexy Klawonn, clarinet; Katrina Briselden, violin; Cariss Kiehl, viola; Zoey Kurka, cello; Brian Dean, cello

carthage treble choir peter dennee, conductor melissa cardamone, accompanist

Pseudo-Yoik

O Nata Lux

To See the Sky

Wondrous Glow

My Lord, What a Mornin’

Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (b. 1963)

Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980)

Mari Valverde (b. 1988)

arr. Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949)

Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal Alice Parker (b. 1925) Lauren Hammes, soprano; Avery Morris, tenor

carthage choir margaret burk, conductor dimitri shapovalov, accompanist gregory berg, rehearsal accompanist

Matthew Agnew

Nicole Biba

Lorin Bucur

Sophia Choronzuk

Alejandro Claro

Hailey Cowan

D’Uandre Drain-Majors

Chloe Fenema

Jaida Fries

Katrina Gacek

Sydney Anderson Tiffany Borger

Allie Brizzee

Taylor May Bulanek

Essence Christian

Abby Ciesielczyk

Regan Conway Erin Davis

Frannie Drake

Tajaniah Drone Emma Eckes

Annika Erickson

Skylar Farr

Faith Albright

Miguel A. Bartolome

Tessa Baty

Ella Bergfeld

Adam Blackwood

Nicky Caldwell

Aaron Carlson

Colin Campbell

Madi Crawford

Becca Culley

Brian Dean Nicholas Dekker

Colin Eagen

Emily Halfman

Kennedy Hancock

Emma Libecki

Massimo Manfredini

Ava McClure

Eamonn Moore Samantha Morphew Nathan Myers

Angel Paladini Emily Pichelman

carthage chorale

Pedro Rosales

Emily Roubik

Rachel Roy Emma Snider

Hailee Sundquist

Roman Tenuta

Austin Zepeda

Emily Jean Zerger

carthage treble choir

Grace Hanson Danielle Hastings Raelyn Hastings Claire Holston

Paityn Keller

Ally Kline Chloe Kroeger Taylor Kwasny

Tabitha Mani-Eapen Dakota Mathiason Eva Menzia

Tymberlyn Mlodzik Haruhi Murakami

Emma Murphy

Ellie Neybert

Kiera Notz

Danae Palmer Zoe Rabin

Kayla Raye Kelsey Spofford Mary Travis

Gracie Underwood Kristeria Wolf Mikayla Wright

Emily Jean Zerger

Madison Edge

Christopher Glade Jessica Golinski* Lauren Hammes

Thomas Hougen Rachael Jasien Norris Jones Nathan Koehlert Savannah Kroger* Jenna Meola Avery Morris Jada Moss Jack Myers

carthage choir

Katiann Nelson*

Lydia Ochoa Max Olsen

Samantha Pardo Katherine Pullam

Jonathan Rasmussen Joyce Reising Annaliese Ruhs

Shawn Runningen

Bryan Tamayo*

Shiloh Wheeldon

Aydan Wildman

Benjamin Young*

*denotes officers/librarians

program notes

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light: Both the text and music of “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light” were written by Kathleen Thomerson in 1966, and given the tune title HOUSTON as it was in this city where she received the inspiration for the hymn. The text alludes to no fewer than 30 scriptural references and is not only suitable as an anthem for general use, but is also appropriately sung at Epiphany or Ash Wednesday, and in the seasons of Christmas, Lent, and Easter.

I want to walk as a child of the light I want to follow Jesus God sent the stars to give light to the world The star of my life is Jesus

Refrain:

In Him, there is no darkness at all The night and the day are both alike The Lamb is the light of the city of God Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus

I want to see the brightness of God I want to look at Jesus Clear sun of righteousness, shine on my path And show me the way to the Father

I’m looking for the coming of Christ I want to be with Jesus When we have run with patience the race We shall know the joy of Jesus

Text: by Kathleen Thomerson (b. 1934)

Big Sky: In 1947, a popular Western novel by A. B. Guthrie was published called, The Big Sky. It dealt with the Oregon trail and the development of Montana from 1830. The title stuck and in 1967 it became one of the official state nicknames. Seth Houston was working at a guest ranch in Montana the summer after his freshman year of college and wrote the lyrics to this song. The “Big Sky” had not been characteristic that summer as it was riddled with a “cold and wet” climate. However, he went on to write the music in the Early-American shape note tradition that is characterized by hearty, raw, and natural singing with alternating homophonic and polyphonic passages with a pulse that is strong and march-like. Houston’s text is inspired by his love of nature and concern for the environment. His distinctive music enhances his great message: “the ocean and air, forest, hill, and plain, animal in flight, are in your care.”

When the way is clear, and sunlight shines, We pursue our way. With nary a fear we follow straight lines, Day after blinding day. But the path gets blocked and the sky turns black, Forcing us to pause, And leave, with shock, our narrow track For one with fewer flaws.

When the sky is blue and grass is green, We seldom check to see

If our pathway through this verdant scene Leads toward harmony.

Then danger shakes our selfish minds, We look to the sky, New lives to make, new paths to find; Listen to her reply:

“Live your lives,” says she, “with keen respect For your brothers of the earth. To be truly free, you must protect them With majesty and mirth. The ocean and air, forest, hill, and plain, Animal in flight, Are in your care, rejoice in the rain, And walk the way of light!”

Text by composer

Lead With Love: Melanie DeMore has traveled the world, was a founding member of the Grammy nominated vocal ensemble Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, and is constantly amazed by her life. But nothing is closer to her heart than bringing people together wherever she is to experience the healing power of music. Whether she’s performing solo, leading stick pounding workshops , doing residencies with choirs all over the country or teaching Sound Awareness to sixth graders, baby boomers, or senior citizens, one thing is certain: her mission is to make sure you unlock the key to experiencing yourself in all your glory and return home with the very same excitement and passion for living that she herself has.

Written in answer to a call for connection in troubled times, “Lead With Love” is about persistence, community, and moving ahead. “One foot in front of the other” is a metaphor for determination and forward motion. The composer, Melanie DeMore, speaks of “love warriors” like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and Gandhi - all of whom started their movements out of love for their people, not out of hatred of someone else.

Refrain:

You gotta put one foot in front of the other And lead with love Put one foot in front of the other And lead with love.

Don’t give up hope You’re not alone Don’t you give up Keep movin on

Lift up your eyes

Don’t you despair Look up ahead The path is there

I know you’re scared And I’m scared too But here I am Right next to you

Text

composer

program notes

Bog daj dobre večer: Damijan Močnik is an award-winning choral conductor and composer from Slovenia. He has led the France Prešeren Academy Choir, and since 1984 has conducted the Andrej Vavken Female Church Choir in Cerkje na Grenjskem, Slovenia. With these two choirs he has won several awards and international choral competitions. For the composition we sing today, “Bog daj dobro večer,” Močnik used three traditional Slovene folk song melodies from Bela krajina, a region in southeastern Slovenia near the border with Croatia. Two of the melodies are in a major key and the third is in a minor key. The composer’s intent was that this work be used as a processional. As the song of welcome progresses, two of the melodies, one in major and the other in minor, are sung as a round that combine into a unique cacophony that is reminiscent of a community gathering together in the village square for a celebration.

Močnik: Bog daj dobro večer

Text by composer

Bog daj dober večer, daj Bog, Marija dobro leto!

Dobro večer, kresno večer, daj Bog, Marija daj dobro leto!

Bog daj dobro večer

daj nam Bože dobro leto!

Dobro večer, kresno večer, daj nam Bože dobro leto!

Bog daj dober večer, daj Bog, Marija daj dobro leto!

Translation: May God Grant You a Good Evening Text by composer

May God grant you a good evening, may God and Mary grant you a good year!

Good evening, bonfire evening, may God and Mary grant you a good year!

May God grant you a good evening, may God grant us a good year! Good evening, bonfire evening, May God grant us a good year! May God grant you a good evening may God and Mary grant you a good year!

The Bird’s Lullaby: Canadian composer and educator Sarah Quartel is known for her fresh and exciting approach to choral music. Deeply inspired by the life-changing relationships that can occur while making choral music, Sarah writes in a way that connects singer to singer, ensemble to conductor, and performer to audience. Her works are performed by choirs across the world, and she has been commissioned by groups including the American Choral Directors Association, the National Children’s Chorus of the United States of America, and New Dublin Voices. Since 2018 she has been exclusively published by Oxford University Press, and she continues to work as a clinician and conductor at music education and choral events at home and abroad.

Inspired by the evocative words of poet E. Pauline Johnson, Sarah Quartel has created an energetic and fun piece for a cappella voices. Melodic elements and counter melodies are shared between the voices in a conversational style with playful, swinging syncopations, and a dancing scat-like accompaniment.

Sing to us, cedars; the twilight is creeping With shadowy garments, the wilderness through; All day we have caroled, and now would be sleeping, So echo the anthems we warbled to you; Swing, swing, And your branches sing, And we drowse to your dreamy whispering.

Sing to us, cedars; the night-wind is sighing, Is wooing, is pleading, to hear you reply; And here in your arms we are restfully lying,

program notes

And longing to dream to your soft lullaby; Swing, swing…

Sing to us, cedars; your voice is so lowly, Your breathing so fragrant, your branches so strong; Our little nest-cradles are swaying so slowly, While zephyrs are breathing their slumberous song. Swing, swing…

Text: E. Pauline Johnson (1861 -1913)

Meet Me Here: Renowned as one of today’s most influential voices in choral conducting, Craig Hella Johnson brings unparalleled depth of knowledge, artistic sensitivity, and rich imagination to his programs. As Grammy®-winning founder and Artistic Director of Conspirare, Johnson assembles some of the finest singers in the country to form a world-class, award-winning ensemble committed to creating dynamic choral art.

A composer and arranger, Johnson works with G. Schirmer Publishing on the Craig Hella Johnson Choral Series, featuring specially selected composers as well as some of his original compositions and arrangements. His works are also published by Alliance Music Publications. Johnson’s first concert-length composition, Considering Matthew Shepard, was premiered in 2016 by Conspirare and has since been performed by choirs across the world, most recently in Berlin and around the United States. Today we sing “Meet Me Here,” a movement from this larger work. Tonight’s performance is a premiere of the treble choir version of this movement arranged by Peter Dennee with permission from Craig. The movement is styled like a folk hymn with a beautiful text by Johnson that promotes healing and acceptance.

Meet me here, won’t you meet me here where the old fence ends and the horizon begins? There’s a balm in the silence like an understanding air where the old fence ends and the horizon begins.

We’ve been walking through the darkness on this long, hard climb, carried ancestral sorrow For too long a time. Will you lay down your burden, lay it down, come with me? It will never be forgotten, held in love so tenderly.

Meet me here, won’t you meet me here where the old fence ends and the horizon begins? There’s a joy in the singing like and understanding air where the old fence ends and the horizon begins.

Then we’ll come to the mountain,

we’ll go bounding to see that great circle of dancing, and we’ll dance endlessly. And we’ll dance with all the children who’ve been lost along the way. We will welcome each other, coming home this glorious day.

We are home in the mountain, and we’ll gently understand That we’ve been friends forever, that we’ve never been alone. We’ll sing on through any darkness and our song will be our sight. We can learn to offer praise again coming home to the light.

Text by composer

Pseudo-Yoik: Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (b. 1963) has spent the past twenty years as one of Finland’s most active choral composers, receiving commissions from such world-renowned groups as the Tallis Scholars, the King’s Singers, and Chanticleer. His primary training, however, is as a linguist; he is an Authorized Finnish-to-English translator, a title he has held since 1987. His choral compositions span a wide emotional gamut, from the epic lament Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae—composed in memoriam of the 1994 Estonia shipwreck in the Baltic Sea—to the zany satire presented here today: Pseudo-Yoik (1995).

A yoik, according to the composer, is most easily translated from the Saame language of northern Finland as a “song” composed of short, repetitive sections with a limited melodic range. What is not limited, however, is the rhythmic complexity of these patterns, which are developed with frequent changes of meter. You’ll hear both repetition and rhythmic complexity in Pseudo-Yoik; however, that is where the similarities with the original genre end. Mäntyjärvi’s goal in Pseudo-Yoik was to create an “impression of a stereotype” that has “nothing to do with the genuine Lappish or Saame yoik.” The choir sings Mäntyjärvi’s made-up Finnish-sounding gibberish syllables with a coarse, bright, “almost painfully nasal” sound in an attempt to satirize those who parody traditional Finnish music. This energetic, playful piece sheds light on the possibilities inherent in choral music to simultaneously function as classical art, cultural signifier, and humor.

O Nata Lux: Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) was a highly influential British composer of the Tudor era whose career and compositions reflect a time of great upheaval and religious turmoil in English history. As a composer employed by the Chapel Royal, his charge was to write church music that reflected the tastes of the monarch. However, he was employed by four very distinct British monarchs: Henry VIII, whose search for political power led him to break with Rome and form the Church of England; his young son, Edward VI, who was swayed by a growing wave of Protestantism; Mary Tudor, who reinstated Catholicism—and earned the nickname “Bloody Mary” in the process; and finally Elizabeth I, a Protestant who was known to quietly allow Latin-language music (if she approved of the composer).

“O Nata Lux” comes from the 1575 collection of works titled Cantiones Sacrae, a project Tallis undertook with his student and protegeé William Byrd. Tallis and Byrd had been granted a publishing monopoly by Queen Elizabeth, allowing them to be the sole publishers of music in England; however, this business venture was frightfully unsuccessful at the time. Nevertheless,

program notes

many works from this collection became standards for choirs across Britain (and eventually the English-speaking choral world). “O Nata Lux” reflects a synthesis of styles throughout Tallis’s career, embodying both the rich sonorities and Latin text common in his music for Mary Tudor and the Catholic Church as well as the direct, text-forward homophonic style he used for Protestant monarchs.

O nata lux de lumine, Jesu redemptor saeculi. Dignare clemens supplicum Laudes precesque sumere.

Qui carne quondam contegi Dignatus est pro perditis, Nos membra confer effici Tui beati corporis.

O Light born of Light, Jesus, redeemer of the world, with loving-kindness deign to receive suppliant praise and prayer.

Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh for the sake of the lost, grant us to be members of thy blessed body.

Text: 10th century hymn; translation from the Public Domain

To See the Sky: Minnesota-based composer Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980) has written music described as “simply magical” (Fanfare Magazine) and “dramatic and deeply moving” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul). From large-scale multimedia works, electro-acoustic music, dance, and opera to intimate choral works and classical solo vocal pieces, Hagen is at home in many genres. She is a sought-after collaborator around the world and has been commissioned recently by such prominent groups as Conspirare, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and the Chione Woodwind Quintet. She is a frequent collaborator with Minneapolis-based hip-hop artist Dessa, and she regularly performs as a vocalist with her husband (and fellow composer) Tim Takach as part of the band OneNation.

“To See the Sky” embodies the sensitivity to text, careful musical pacing, and exquisite sense of wonder that Hagen often evokes in her music. Her setting of Sara Teasdale’s poem “Leaves” begins with a gently lilting piano accompaniment, setting the stage for spacious, expansive melodies that prompt the listener to look upward. The repeated ostinati are hypnotizing in their simplicity, allowing the vocal lines to shine; the occasional sudden harmonic shifts act as musical kaleidoscopes, drawing particular attention to the emotional messages in the text: “...but a rustle of delight in the wistful heart of night” is a particularly fine example for which to listen. Hagen’s real genius, however, is her sense of musical pacing, most evident in the work’s conclusion. The lush harmonies of the choir fade into the distance while the piano gets the final word: sparse, widely-spaced final notes that somehow sound like the stars twinkling overhead.

One by one, like leaves from a tree

All my faiths have forsaken me; But the stars above my head

Burn in white and delicate red, And beneath my feet the earth Brings the sturdy grass to birth. I who was content to be But a silken-singing tree, But a rustle of delight

In the wistful heart of night— I have lost the leaves that knew

Touch of rain and weight of dew.

program notes

Blinded by a leafy crown

I looked neither up nor down— But the little leaves that die Have left me room to see the sky; Now for the first time I know Stars above and earth below.

Text: “Leaves” by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

Wondrous Glow: Mari Esabel Valverde (b. 1987) is a composer, vocalist, and pedagogue based in Texas. Her commissions for the American Choral Directors Association, the Texas Music Educators Association, the Gay and Lesbian Choruses Association, and the Boston Choral Ensemble, among others, have been performed at various venues and festivals throughout the country. A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the European American Musical Alliance in Paris, and St. Olaf College, she is a strong advocate for the trans community and currently teaches transgender voice training with the organization Your Lessons Now. As a professional singer, she is a member of the Dallas Chamber Choir and EXIGENCE (Detroit).

“Wondrous Glow” is the result of Valverde’s collaboration with poet Amir Rabiyah (b. 1978) who strongly claims their queer, trans, two-spirit, mixed race, and disabled identities in their work. Rabiyah’s writings “[explore] living life on the margins and at the intersections of multiple identities,” with common themes including living with chronic pain and illness, war, trauma, spirituality, healing, redemption and “[speaking] on silenced places.” In Valverde’s setting of Rabiyah’s poem “Grand Design,” the resilience of the human spirit and connection to the broader universe take center stage. Bold, imitative explosions alternate with lush, slowly unfolding harmonies to create contrast between the outward expressions of creative energy and the inner reflection central to the text. Images of galaxies, comets, and planets coexisting in humans themselves come to a musical apex at the text “let your mouth be a wondrous glow, your words a beacon” — a call to all listeners to embody their truest sense of identity, even when everything feels lost.

My Lord, what a morning: Composer and professional singer Harry T. Burleigh (1866–1949) was one of the earliest and most prolific arrangers of African American concert spirituals. Born in Erie, Pa, he displayed conspicuous musical talent early in his life; his grandfather taught him the slave songs that would shape his musical career. At age 26, he was accepted into the prestigious National Conservatory of Music, where he studied voice, counterpoint, harmony, and played bass in the orchestra. During his tenure as a student, Burleigh met Antonín Dvorák, who at the time was the director of the Conservatory. Burleigh introduced Dvorák to slave songs, which had a profound impact on him: Dvorák would go on to incorporate elements of these spirituals into his Symphony “From the New World” and his “American” String Quartet, saying “in the negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music.”

Burleigh was a prolific composer of art songs and arranger of spirituals for solo voice and piano. Burleigh’s choral arrangements arose as the result of the proliferation of groups following in the footsteps of the Fisk Jubilee Singers who wanted accessible, well-crafted arrangements of spirituals that would appeal to a broad base of singers and audiences alike. Unlike many other Black composers of the day, Burleigh was well-connected with publishing houses; because of his relationship with George Maxwell and the G. Ricordi Company, his music was distributed and performed widely during his lifetime.

program notes

“My Lord, what a morning” is emblematic of Burleigh’s style: direct, sincere, and impeccably constructed according to Western tonal processes. The spiritual itself has somewhat convoluted origins; however, pioneering American musicologist Eileen Southern (1922–2002) contended “My Lord, what a morning” arose from free African Americans in the North, where “freed from the supervision of white clergymen, [they] could conduct their religious services as they wished.” Scholar C. Michael Hawn of Southern Methodist University places the date of origin sometime between 1801 and 1867, most likely in Philadelphia. Its prophetic text, highlighted by the image of falling stars, has powerfully resonated as a symbol of both justice and hope tied to the biblical book of Revelation. Burleigh’s arrangement is both impossibly intimate and outwardly rhapsodic, true to its history and yet crafted for wide modern appeal.

Hark! I Hear the Harps Eternal: At 96 years of age, composer Alice Parker (b. 1925) occupies an honored place in American choral music history. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in organ and composition from Smith College, she studied choral conducting at the Juilliard School. While at Juilliard, she began her over 20-year association with Robert Shaw as coarranger for the Robert Shaw Chorale. Founded in 1948, the Robert Shaw Chorale was a benchmark ensemble noted for its homogeneity of tone, careful attention to diction and phrasing, and rhythmic precision; Parker’s many compositions for the group include arrangements of hymn tunes, spirituals, and folk songs that remain staples in the repertoire today.

“Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal” is perhaps one of Parker’s most well-loved arrangements. The hymn tune Parker sets, called Invitation, dates from sometime in the early- to mid-19th century, published first in William Walker’s 1835 hymnal Southern Harmony. It appeared for the first time paired with the “Hark, I Hear” text in William Hauser’s 1878 shape-note book The Olive Leaf. The text, attributed to F.R. Warren, speaks of “flood-crossing,” wherein a soul embarks upon a journey through water to eternal life in Heaven. With its sturdy yet vivacious rhythmicity, tuneful melody, and spirited text painting, “Hark I Hear” represents a fine example of both Parker’s careful attention to her source material and her compelling sense of compositional craft.

Fall Choral Concert

Sunday, Oct. 9 • 2 p.m.

A. F. Siebert Chapel

PAS: Joanne Polk

Tuesday, Oct. 11 • 7:30 p.m.

A. F. Siebert Chapel • Tickets required

Student Recital: Taylor May Bulanek

Thursday, Oct. 13 • 7:30 p.m.

Recital Hall

Frontline

Oct. 13-15 • 7:30 p.m.

Studio Theatre • Tickets required

Student Recital: Nicky Caldwell Saturday, Oct. 15 • 2 p.m.

Recital Hall

Student Recital: Austin Zepeda Sunday, Oct. 16 • 2 p.m. Recital Hall

Carthage Trio Monday, Oct. 17 • 7:30 p.m.

A. F. Siebert Chapel

Meet the Masters

Wednesday, Oct. 19 • 7:30 p.m.

Campbell Student Union Auditorium

Performing Arts Series: Lauren Jelenovich

Thursday, Oct. 27 • 7:30 p.m.

A. F. Siebert Chapel • Tickets required

Fine Arts at Carthage acknowledges that the land on which our building stands is part of the traditional Potawatomi, Sioux, Peoria, Kickapoo, and Miami peoples past, present, and future. These homelands reside along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes. We honor with gratitude the land itself, and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. Many Indigenous peoples thrive in this place—alive and strong, and this calls us to commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit as well.

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