The Fourteenth Season
2011-2012 PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S VOCAL ENSEMBLE
SHARON S H A R O N A. A . HANSEN, H A N S E N ,FOUNDER F O U N D E RAND A N DMUSIC M U S I CDIRECTOR DIRECTOR
EASTERN VOYAGES with Neil Bubke piano Gregory Flint, horn Andrew Swinney, Marta Kallenberger, and Emma Kaplan, horn
SLOVENIA: Kresnice
Eastern Europe: Folk Traditions of the People
MACEDONIA: Sto mi e milo
Slovenian folk song Macedonian folk song
UKRAINE: Two Folk Songs Вже весна воскресла (Vje vessna voskresla) Ягілочка (Yagilochka)
arr. Philaret Mikhailovich Kolessa
BULGARIA: Ерген деда (Erghen Djado) (Paula Tillen, soloist)
Bulgarian folk song, arr. Peter Lyondev
RUSSIA: Four Russian Peasant Songs Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) 1. У спаса в Чигисах за Яузою. Славна! (U spasa v Chigisakh za Jauzoju. Slavna!) 2. Овсен, Овсен, Овсен! Я тетерю гоню (Ovsen, Ovsen, Ovsen! Ja teterju gonju) 3. Щука шла из Новогорода (Shchuka shla iz Novogoroda) 4. Уж, как вышло пузище на репище (Uzh, kak vyshlo puzishche na repishche) Heidi Boyd, Meaghan Reider, and Christine Papania, soloists Gregory Flint, Andrew Swinney, Marta Kallenberger, and Emma Kaplan, horn Asian Voices: Great Loss and The Power of the Sea JAPAN: Mae-e (Forward) Text and Music by Kentaro Sato (Ken-P) Composed in memory of the Victims of the March 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan KOREA: Kashiri (Paula Garcia, soloist)
Tae Kyun Ham
INDONESIA: “Requiem” Eliza Gilkyson, arr. Craig Hella Johnson Composed in memory of the Victims of the December 2004 Tsunami in the Indian Ocean *
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INTERMISSION
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Eastern Europe: Folk Traditions Reinvented as Art Song Cycle CZECHOSLOVAKIA Moravian Duets (Opus 32, 1876) Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) 1. A já ti uplynu 2. Veleť, vtáčku 3. Dyby byla kosa nabróšená 4. V dobrým sme se sešli 5. Slavíkovský polečko malý 6. Holub na javoře 7. Voda a pláč 8. Skromná 9. Prsten 10. Zelenaj se, zelenaj 11. Zajatá 12. Neveta 13. Šípek April 14, 2012 • 7:30 PM PRE-CONCERT LECTURE AT 7:00PM
Fox Point Lutheran Church 7510 North Santa Monica, Fox Point, WI
A NOTE FROM THE MUSIC DIRECTOR: EASTERN VOYAGES Welcome to the last concert in our 14th Season. This year we’ve been journeying all around the world, and tonight we travel eastward. Our first stop is SLOVENIA. Slovenia is a small country with a very rich musical tradition, lying at the crossroads of the Romanic, Germanic, and Slavic World. In KRESNICE, groups of four girls sing in alternation with each other, overlapping the ends of their phrases. According to local expression, they are “chasing each other.” They sing from house to house, often wishing happiness and an abundant harvest to the dwellers. Next on the trip is MACEDONIA, a country located in the central Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991. The Macedonian folksong, STO MI E MILO, is typical in its asymmetrical rhythm in 7/8 time (123-12-12). The words express a wistful dream: “I’d love to have a little shop in the town of Struga, and watch the young girls of Struga go by . . .” The next port of call is the UKRAINE. The Ukraine is a country in Central and Eastern Europe. It has an area of 233,000 square miles, making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation. We are singing two folksongs collected in the late 19th-early 20th century by Ukrainian ethnomusicologist Philaret Mikhailovich Kolessa. Kolessa wrote scholarly works on Ukrainian and Slavic musical folklore. Kolessa also compiled collections of arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs, his own choral compositions, and other works. His numerous works constitute an important contribution to the study of Ukrainian folklore. The arrangements, Вже весна воскресла (SPRING IS HERE) and Ягілочк (YAGILOCHKA), are very much in the tradition of other well-known 19th- and 20thcentury folk song collectors (Bartók, Kodály, Vaughan Williams). We then travel south to BULGARIA. The Republic of Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic in Southeastern Europe. A very mountainous country due to its location in the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria ranks as Europe’s 14th-largest country. You will hear the Bulgarian folk song, ERGHEN DJADO, with its sharply accented rhythms, again in that asymmetrical 7/8 rhythm. This folksong was made famous by the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir, who actually appeared on the Johnny Carson show, singing this piece. (Check out the YouTube video of this – it is VERY interesting!) Last in this set, we travel to RUSSIA. At 6,592,800 square miles, Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. Russia has the world’s largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the second largest oil producer and second largest natural gas producer globally. Russia also has the world’s largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world’s fresh water. You are in for a special treat tonight as MCA performs Igor Stravinsky’s FOUR RUSSIAN PEASANT SONGS. These songs were composed for unaccompanied women’s voices between 1914 and 1917, while Stravinsky was in exile in Switzerland during World War I. This period was the height of Stravinsky’s “Russian” period, a time when he was deeply connected to Russian popular and folk musical idioms, when he was deeply connected to an ancient Russian peasant heritage that would soon be lost to Revolution. Many of Stravinsky’s works are influenced by Russian Folk Idioms and folk rituals. Stravinsky’s peasant melodies give the illusion of actual Russian folk music, but in reality, Stravinsky composed these melodies anew, influenced by memories of his upbringing and his roots, but not by pre-existing tunes. The texts are based on women’s ancient divination rituals used to forecast what a woman’s future might hold – abundance or joy, hardship or poverty. Stravinsky explains that “choruses of this sort were sung by the peasants while fortune-tellers read their fingerprints on the smoke-blackened bottoms of saucers” – somewhat akin to having one’s fortune read in tea leaves. Forty years later, in 1954 the composer added a “devilishly tricky accompaniment” of four horns, leaving the chorus parts relatively untouched. (I guess it isn’t that strange at all that a composer could change his mind after a stretch of forty years!) The unaccompanied pieces are rarely-heard, but to experience the version with horn is even rarer: for this reason, we are thrilled that my colleague Greg Flint, Professor of Horn at UWM, and three of his outstanding advanced students are joining us to present this special jewel this evening. 2 Milwaukee Choral Artists
A NOTE FROM THE MUSIC DIRECTOR: EASTERN VOYAGES (cont.) ***** Continuing around the world to the east, the Asian world was traumatized by two tsunamis of horrific proportion in the last seven years: • On Sunday, 26 December 2004, the greatest earthquake in the Indian Ocean in some 700 years occurred about 100 miles off the west coast of northern Sumatra Island in Indonesia. The earthquake generated a disastrous tsunami that caused destruction in 11 countries bordering the Indian Ocean, and resulted in many deaths. Sadly, most of the destruction and deaths were caused by the catastrophic tsunami waves it generated. Massive tsunami waves wiped out entire coastal areas across southeastern Asia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Myanmar and islands in the Andaman Sea and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. An estimated 280,000 lives were lost. Countless entire coastal communities were swept away, as well as many tourists on beach holidays who were caught completely unaware. • On Friday, 11 March 2011, the earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku occurred. It was the most powerful known earthquake ever to have hit Japan, and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world since modern record keeping began in 1900. The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 133 ft in Miyako in Tōhoku’s Iwate Prefecture, and which, in the Sendai area, travelled up to 6 miles inland. The earthquake moved Honshu 8 feet east and shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 4 and 10 inches. The tsunami caused a number of nuclear accidents, primarily the ongoing level 7 meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex, and the associated evacuation zones affecting hundreds of thousands of residents. On 12 March 2012, a Japanese National Police Agency report confirmed 15,854 deaths, 26,992 injured, and 3,155 people missing. How do people begin the healing process that comes with tragedy? JapaneseAmerican composer Kentaro Sato composed MAE-E as a song of hope and remembrance as those still living make their way through the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami. Korean composer Tae Kyun Ham wrote KASHIRI as a cry of utter desperation, an outpouring of grief in the realization that one’s beloved is gone forever. And Austin TX singer-songwriter Eliza Gilkyson penned REQUIEM as a quiet way to deal with her own personal feelings of grief as she watched the Indian Ocean tsunami unfold on TV. She invokes “mother mary,” lower case intended, as an invocation to mary as the divine feminine, the representation of compassion, in this simple, beautiful, and healing composition. ***** Musical nationalism refers to the use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity, such as folk tunes and melodies, folklore, rhythms, and harmonies inspired by them. Nationalism as a musical phenomenon is generally understood to have emerged part way into the Romantic era, beginning around the mid-19th century and continuing well into the twentieth. It initially began as a reaction against the dominance of the mainstream European classical tradition (that is, “German,” “Italian,” and “French” music) and later developed alongside the growing movements for national liberation and self-determination that characterized much of the 19th century. Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) was the most successful of the Czech nationalist composers. As a young composer, he was mentored by Brahms. Dvořák included Bohemian themes and elements in much of his music. The MORAVIAN DUETS, op. 32, is a song cycle of thirteen duets on Moravian folk poetry set with piano accompaniment, composed between 1875 and 1881. In the mid 1870s when Dvořák was not yet a well-known composer, he worked as a music teacher for the family of Jan Neff, a wealthy wholesale merchant. Neff and his wife were active and enthusiastic singers. With Dvořák at the piano, they often would sing Milwaukee Choral Artists 3
A NOTE FROM THE MUSIC DIRECTOR: EASTERN VOYAGES (cont.) solos and duets together with their children’s governess. Dvořák began to arrange the first Moravian Duets at Neff’s request. In March 1875 Dvořák composed the first volume of Moravian Duets. His sponsor, Neff, was very delighted with them and he therefore asked Dvořák to compose more duets, this time for two female voices, and Dvořák again agreed. The publishing of Moravian Duets represented very important turning point in the shaping of Dvořák’s career. In the autumn of the 1877 Dvořák enclosed an edition of Moravian Duets with his request for an Austrian State grant for “young, talented and poor artists.” One of the members of the Adjudicating Board in Vienna, Johannes Brahms, recommended the duets for publication to his German publisher Fritz Simrock. Brahms wrote in his letter to Simrock from 12 December 1877: “You will find pleasure in them as I did, and, as a publisher you will be especially delighted with their piquancy. Dvořák is undoubtedly a very talented man – and poor besides. I beg you think it over.” Simrock published the cycle at the beginning of 1878, not even paying Dvořák a fee! The first Simrock edition awakened such lively interest among the public that the cycle was published again in 1880. Simrock, encouraged by the immediate success of Moravian Duets, later asked Dvořák to write something with a dance-like character; Dvořák’s response was the Slavonic Dances, which established his international reputation and career. The MORAVIAN DUETS are a perfect example of how a composer uses what can be deemed “simple” material (folk poetry, images, and musical ideas) to create high art. This art song cycle is unusual in the repertoire for women’s voices, and we are thrilled to share it with you. And so, our evening closes, having come round full circle. All of us in MCA thank you for joining us. We sincerely love sharing FOC for Skyligh2-12.pdf 2/13/12 PM our music with you, and we hope to see2:29:34 you next season as MCA celebrates in grand style its 15th Anniversary.
BY WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
MAY 18 & 20, 2012
FLORENTINE OPERA COMPANY
WILLIAM FLORESCU | GENERAL DIRECTOR
www.florentineopera.org 4 Milwaukee Choral Artists
EW O EE N KE LY N ! D
291-5700 ext 224
O N
414
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A B O U T T H E M I LWAU K E E C H O R A L A R T I S T S Sara Louise Bitner is a graduate of Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) and holds a master’s degree in Speech/ Language Pathology from Indiana University. While at Augustana, she sang with the Augustana Choir and the Handel Oratorio Society. She has sung with the Madison Symphony Chorus, Bach Chamber Choir (Rockford, IL), and Conspirare Choristers. She sang as part of the choir-in-residence at the Canterbury Cathedral in August 2010. Sara also is a member of the Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee. Heid Boyd graduated summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She has recently appeared onstage at the Skylight Opera Theatre; as a concert soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; with Full Score Chamber Orchestra (Zion, IL); and at Fox Point Lutheran Church. An advocate of both new music and the art song tradition, Ms. Boyd frequently performs solo recitals throughout the greater Milwaukee region. She is the Development Manager at Next Act Theater and is in the voice studio of Connie Haas. Indra Brusubardis holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Music degree in music therapy from the University of WisconsinMilwaukee. For fifteen years, Indra has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus as soloist, professional core member, and ACE program presenter. She is a long time member of the Milwaukee Latvian
Choir, where she has been a soloist and featured in smaller ensembles. She has participated in Latvian Song Festivals in the United States, Canada, and Germany. She enjoys performing with the Oconomowoc American Legion Band, in area musical theatre productions, in the Waukesha Choral Union, and in concerts with her husband, Ernie, and their six children. Faith Danneil is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy, and holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Her first professional choral engagement was with Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, where she was a choir member and cantor. Faith was a member and soloist of the Cantus Angelicus Choral Society in Fairfield, Iowa, and later was part of the professional core of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus. Presently, Faith is soloist at The First Church of Christ, Scientist (Wauwatosa), and is a frequent soloist at the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee. Leslie Fitzwater has been performing in the Milwaukee area for more than twenty years, and has had a varied career encompassing opera, music theater, straight theater, mime, and cabaret. She has performed with most of the major groups in the area, including the Skylight Opera Theater, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Racine Symphony, Present Music, and the Florentine Opera Company. Leslie holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music from University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and teaches private voice lessons at Pius XI High School. Milwaukee Choral Artists 5
A B O U T T H E M I LWAU K E E C H O R A L A R T I S T S ( c o n t .) Jill Freese began her musical career as a child singing in Milwaukee’s Schola Cantorum. Since that time, she has performed with a variety of local musical and theatre groups both in Milwaukee and in Indiana. Jill received the Bachelor of Arts degree from Valparaiso University, where she sang under the direction of Eldon Balko, and the Master of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Jill is a professional speech pathologist at Easter Seals. Sponsored by Raquel and Andy Lauritzen
Canto Chorus Senior Singers Program, and was the 2011 winner of the Bel Canto David J. Tolan Meritorious Service Award. Other Milwaukeearea ensembles with which Andrea has appeared include the Master Singers of Milwaukee, Festa Vocale, Bach Chamber Choir, Bach Collegium Choir, and the Ad Hoc Ensemble; from 1992-2002 she was a professional core member of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church choir. A Licensed Practical Nurse for the past 31 years, Andrea is self-employed in elder care.
Elizabeth Holterman is a recent graduate in *Paula Garcia is a Vocal Performance founding member* from St. Norbert of MCA and has been College. There, she singing with participated in the Milwaukee area Chamber Singers, Women’s Concert choral groups for Choir, and Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and nearly forty years. was a member of “The Abbey Singers” She sang with the Milwaukee at St. Norbert Abbey. She was a Symphony Chorus and Chamber member of St. Norbert College’s Knight Singers for ten years and was a member Theatre and was the vocal music of the professional core. She was also a director of its 2011 production of performer and soloist with the Master Urinetown. She performed lead roles Singers of Milwaukee. She has with St. Norbert’s Opera Workshop, performed with the Skylight and has including Lucy in Gay’s The Beggar’s enjoyed many feature roles with area Opera, the Sorceress in Purcell’s community theater companies. She Dido and Aeneas, and La Périchole in holds a Bachelor of Science in Special Offenbach’s La Périchole. Presently, she Education from the University of is singing with the Milwaukee Choral Wisconsin – Stout, but has worked in Artists, the Milwaukee Symphony the financial services industry for the Chorus, and is an adjunct music faculty past twenty-nine years, the last eight member at Mother of Good Counsel with Northwestern Mutual. Catholic School, through the Pius XI Performing Arts Academy. *Andrea Goetzinger is a founding *Charmaine LaBelle member* of MCA. is a founding She is in her 29th member* of MCA Season as a member and serves as a of the Bel Canto soprano section Chorus of leader. She has Milwaukee, having served as alto also been an section leader since 1991. Andrea ensemble representative on the also serves as Assistant for the Bel MCA board. She received her 6 Milwaukee Choral Artists
A B O U T T H E M I LWAU K E E C H O R A L A R T I S T S ( c o n t .) Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and her Master of Music degree from the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Charmaine is a retired elementary general music specialist. She was a member of the professional core of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, a soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and can be heard as soprano soloist on the Pro Arte recording of Lukas Foss’ Psalms. Mary MacDonald earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater. She is a music specialist with the West Allis-West Milwaukee Public Schools. She sang for ten years with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, the Vocal Arts Consort, and the Wisconsin Conservatory Chamber Singers, including solo performances in their concerts with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra. Mary has performed as soloist and recitalist in the Milwaukee and Racine area, and was presented as a young artist by the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. She studied and performed lieder for two summers at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Christine Papania received her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she was a member of the University Singers, University Chorale, Pro Arte Singers, and Concentus. While at IU, Christine was heavily involved in the Early Music Institute, appearing as a soloist with the Pro Arte Singers and Concentus. Christine has performed
with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, and will be appearing onstage in the upcoming Florentine Opera production of Turandot. She is the Advertising Assistant with an emphasis in Social Media at Hal Leonard Corporation, and is in the voice studio of Connie Haas. Karen Ann Peters holds the Master of Music degree in organ from Concordia University and the Master of Education: (Mathematics Emphasis) degree from Whitewater, WI. She is currently serving as organist at Living Christ Lutheran Church in Germantown, WI. She is also a music minister at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Menomonee Falls, WI. Her singing experience includes memberships in the Community Chorus in Hales Corners, WI and the Milwaukee Choristers under the direction of Dr. James Kinchen. She has performed Verdi’s “Requiem” in Brookfield, WI under the direction of Rick Hynson and “The Nguza Saba Suite” by Glenn Edwards Burleigh at Lincoln Center, New York, under the direction of Dr. James Kinchen, as well as various other major works. She serves on the Board of Directors of Early Music Now. Meaghan Reider graduated with a Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Iowa. During her studies as an undergraduate, Meaghan performed in the top university choral ensemble Kantorei, as well as the University of Iowa Opera Theatre and the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre. While receiving her Masters, she sang with the UWM Milwaukee Choral Artists 7
A B O U T... ( c o n t .) Concert Chorale, UWM Opera Theatre, and was a soloist with the 2007 UWM Orchestra. Meaghan has previously served as the soprano section leader at North Shore Presbyterian Church and was a scholarship recipient and soloist with the Master Singers of Milwaukee. This season, Meaghan will be performing with Chicago’s Bella Voce and with the Milwaukee Choral Artists.
25th Anniversary Season of Celebrations World-Class Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque ensembles performing in landmark Milwaukee Venues
2012
Final Concert
QNG: Quartet New Generation
“Blaze of Glory: Early Music Now” April 21 (Sat) at 5:00 St. Joseph Chapel 1501 So Layton Blvd
Calmus Ensemble Leipzig
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Premium Section SOLD OUT Preferred: $40 Adult/Senior ♦ $20 Student Gen. Adm.: $25 Adult/Senior ♦ $10 Student
Check our Website for 2012-2013 Season Information!
EarlyMusicNow.org ♦ 225.3113 Milwaukee Choral Artists
Jacqueline Rivera is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with degrees in choral and general music education. She has been a member of the UWM University Choir, Women’s Chorus, Gospel Choir, and Concert Chorale, and previously sang with the Bel Canto Chorus. Jacqueline has taught in the school districts of Brown Deer and University Lake School, and recently sang under the direction of conductor/ composer Eric Whitacre at the Lincoln Center in New York City. Jennifer Sweetland is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a BFA in Music Education and Vocal Performance. She has worked with a number of local performing arts groups, including First Stage Theater Academy, the Milwaukee Children’s Choir, and the Florentine Opera. She is the Preschool/K4 Teacher, Music Specialist, and Theater Director at St. Sava Orthodox School, as well as the director of children’s music at North Shore Presbyterian Church.
A B O U T... ( c o n t .) *Paula Foley Tillen is a founding member* of MCA. Paula is director of music at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Waukesha, serves as musical director for the Musical Mainstage Series at Sunset Playhouse (Elm Grove), and is an adjunct music faculty member at Pius XI High School. Her compositions and arrangements have been performed by choral groups throughout the United States and Canada, and are found in the catalogues of Alliance Music Publishing, Hal Leonard Publishing, Santa Barbara Music Press, and Treble Clef Music Press.
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Neil Bubke is Director of Music and Fine Arts at the United Methodist Church of Whitefish Bay. Prior to moving to Milwaukee in 2006, he received his Bachelors degree in Music from the University of Northern Iowa. He earned his Masters’ Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Iowa, where he also received his law degree (J. D.). In addition to leading the music program at his church, Neil teaches private piano and accompanies recitals at UWM. Sharon Hansen is founder and music director of the Milwaukee Choral Artists. Widely known as a conductor and master teacher throughout the United States and in Europe, Hansen has conducted the Romanian National Radio Choir (Bucharest), the Gächinger Kantorei and Bach Collegium-Stuttgart, the Stockholm Conservatory Chamber Choir, the Moldavian and Oltenian Philharmonic Choirs (Iasì and Craiova,
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Milwaukee Choral Artists 9
A B O U T T H E M I LWAU K E E C H O R A L A R T I S T S ( c o n t .) Romania), and the University of Regensburg (Germany) Symphony Orchestra. Hansen holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. She is Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee and Chair of the Graduate Choral program. Author of the book Helmuth Rilling: Conductor— Teacher, Hansen is a member of the Editorial Board of The Choral Journal, where she is editor of “On the Voice,” dedicated to issues of vocal pedagogy and health. Her chapter “Women, Conductors, and the Tenure Process: What’s Up in the Academy” is part of the new book Wisdom, Wit, and Will: Women Choral Conductors on their Art, published in 2009 by GIA Press. Her latest monograph, On the Voice: ACDA, Teacher Preparation, and Voice Training in the Choral Classroom (1959-2009), is under consideration by the American
PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S VOCAL ENSEMBLE
Choral Directors’ Association. Her professional memberships include NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing), ACDA (American Choral Directors Association,) Chorus America, IFCM (International Federation of Choral Music), MENC (Music Educators National Conference), and The VoiceCare Network. Locally, Hansen serves on the Board of Directors for the Southeast Wisconsin Chapter of the National Voice Foundation, having previously served Early Music Now and the Milwaukee Children’s Chorus. In 2003, she was honored by the Milwaukee Civic Music Association for Excellence in Choral Music. She was the recipient of the 2010 Alumni Achievement Award from the HixsonLied College of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of NebraskaLincoln. Hansen has recently been named the April 2012 “Remarkable Woman” on Milwaukee’s WMYX-99.1 “The Mix.”
Commissioning Fund
SHARON A. HANSEN, FOUNDER AND MUSIC DIRECTOR
Be a part of MCA’s vibrant history by making a contribution to the MCA Commissioning Project! The creation of new music is one of the most meaningful and important aspects of MCA’s mission and vision. Your generosity will help create a signature piece for MCA, in celebration of its fifteen years of music making in our community and beyond.
Ola Gjeilo
For more information, call 262/628-5022, or visit www.milwaukeechoralartists.org.
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THE MILWAUKEE CHORAL ARTISTS —presents—
September 28, 2012 The University Club of Milwaukee 924 East Wells Street Milwaukee
e e th Sav te! Da
A Gala Event in Honor of Dr. Sharon A. Hansen and the Milwaukee Choral Artists Performances by the ensemble and special guests will highlight the evening’s celebration of MCA’s 15th season. Proceeds will help to fund the commissioning of a composition by Ola Gjeilo, to be premiered at the April 2013 concert.
H I S TO R Y Now in its fourteenth season, the Milwaukee Choral Artists is Wisconsin’s premiere professional choral ensemble, and one of only a handful of professional women’s vocal ensembles in the country. With its signature lush sound, MCA brings a distinctive repertory of choral and vocal masterworks—including well-known pieces, new music, seldom-performed works, and music of diverse cultures and historical periods—to concert audiences throughout the region. Founded in 1998 as a chamber ensemble comprised of professional solo singers, MCA occupies a singular position of excellence in the city, state, and region. In July 2011, MCA was named a finalist in the AMERICAN PRIZE Professional Choral Division, and received a special citation from the AMERICAN PRIZE for “Unique Choral Programming” for its CD, SKY-BORN Music. In December 2007, Tom Strini, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Music Critic, named the Milwaukee Choral Artists—Present Music collaborative performance of Olivier Messiaen’s “Trois Petites Liturgies” (with MCA’s Sharon Hansen conducting) the #1 Performing Arts Event of the Year. Two years previously, MCA’s “Liederabend” was named the Journal Sentinel’s #1 performing arts event of 2005; of the top ten events named that year, MCA held two positions. Regularly hailed for its imaginative programming, the group has firmly established itself in the mainstream of professional music making both within and beyond Milwaukee. Milwaukee Choral Artists enjoys regular appearances with Present Music, Milwaukee’s internationally acclaimed contemporary music ensemble. In 2006, the Milwaukee Choral Artists joined Present Music in the world premiere of Kamran Ince’s “Hammers and Whistlers,” which Journal-Sentinel music critic Tom Strini selected as one of his “Top Ten Performing Arts Events” for the year. Under Hansen’s baton, the two ensembles also presented the 2005 world premiere of Milwaukee-born composer Daron Hagen’s “Flight Music,” a six-movement work with texts by Amelia Earhart, named by Strini as “Best Musical Premiere of 2005.” In November 2004, MCA and Present Music performed the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Henry Brant’s “Wind, Water, Clouds and Fire,” which Tom Strini also selected as one of his “Top Ten Classical Music Events for 2004. Equally well versed in early music, the Milwaukee Choral Artists has performed twice with the internationally acclaimed The Boston Camerata, presented by Early Music Now (the Midwest’s renowned early music presenting organization.) In May 2009, MCA was heard once again on the Early Music Now stage when they joined San Francisco’s professional female vocal ensemble KITKA in a collaborative concert. MCA has also performed as part of the Fine Arts Concert Series at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (Milwaukee) and St. James Cathedral (Chicago); at the National Convention of Catholic Cathedral Musicians; at the National Convention of Lutheran Church Musicians; and in state and regional conventions of the American Choral Directors’ Association. Its Tenth Anniversary commercial CD, SKYBORN MUSIC, features commissioned works composed specifically for the Milwaukee Choral Artists in celebration of its distinguished history. The Milwaukee Choral Artists performs three regular season concerts each year at historic venues throughout the Milwaukee area. Committed to presenting music from diverse cultures, the ensemble has performed music in twenty-eight languages from more than forty world cultures since its inception. http://www.milwaukeechoralartists.org
mcainfo@milwaukeechoralartisits.org
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DONORS The Milwaukee Choral Artists deeply appreciates the contributions received from its generous donors. As ticket sales do not fully cover concert production costs, your continued support is vital to our success. The following list includes contributors whose support was received between July 1, 2011 and April 1, 2012. We regret any omissions or inaccuracies. Conductor’s Circle ($5,000 and above) United Performing Arts Fund Benefactor ($1,000-2,499) CAMPAC Martha Brown and Tony Lam * Emily Holt Crocker * Marjorie and Dean Fowler ** G & V Machine Company, Inc. *** Raquel and Andy Lauritzen ** Cynthia Matchette * Wisconsin Arts Board Guarantor ($500-999) Phyllis and Alan Brostoff *** Jill and Dr. James Freese Sue and Chris Griswold Patron ($250-499) Dr. Robert Harris John Paradowski * Dr. Ronald and Sue Reider John Shannon and Jan Serr * Mo’s Irish Pub Sponsor ($100-249) Jilaine Hummel Bauer Lisa Berman and Larry Dalton Mary Brenner Neil Bubke Dr. Lucile Cohn Drs. Vincent and Linda Dindzans Steven R. Duback Mike Fischer and Elaine Griffin Sharon Hansen Mary Higley Juleen and Richard Jaeger
Patricia Kiefer JoAnne Krause Margaret Murphy and Jeff Sweetland * Myron and Annette Olson Deborah and Jamshed Patel Charles Christian Rich Lilo Sewell Dan and Valerie Stefanich Sister Marion Verhaalen James Ward Contributors (Up to $99) David and Laurie Petrie Anderson Cheryl Axford John and Dr. Evelyn Burdick Teresa Burkhart Marlene and Wayne Cook Thallis Hoyt Drake Gloria and Jim Hansen Dr. Charlotte and Wayne Heidenreich Ellen Kellen Reverend Thomas Lijewski Patricia and Robert Maile Sue Medford Deborah Paukner Dr. Jeffrey Reider Brent and Ilze Ringenberg Barbara and Ronald Ritchey Ann Siverling Heidi and Kevin Sjostrom* Marian Weinberg In-Kind Contributions Cynthia Matchette, SMART SALES * Ola Gjeilo 15th Season Commissioning Fund ** Singer Sponsor *** Wine, Women and Song Gala Sponsor
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Milwaukee Choral Artists also gratefully acknowledges: Jeanne Mueller, founding contributor and graphic design John Paradowski, videographer Deborah Paukner, CPA services Andy Risser, Backbone Designs, web management Ann Siverling, founding contributor University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee 14 Milwaukee Choral Artists
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M I LWAU K E E C H O R A L A R T I S T S B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S 2 0 11- 2 0 12 Raquel G. Lauritzen, President Jill Freese, Past President John Paradowski, Secretary Deborah Paukner, Treasurer Martha Brown, Chair, Development Committee Jennifer Sweetland, Ensemble Representative Emily Crocker, at large Jilaine Bauer, at large Neil Bubke, at large Charles Christian Rich, at large Sr. Marion Verhaalen, at large Dr. Sharon A. Hansen, ex officio Advisory Council Lisa Berman Thallis Hoyt Drake Michael Fischer Dr. Dean R. Fowler Dr. Robert A. Harris Richard Kirwin James LaBelle Cheryl Lucas-DeBerry Michael MacDonald Administration and Staff Artistic Dr. Sharon A. Hansen, Founder and Music Director Executive Nancy J. Herro, Managing Director
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