20221101_Men's and Women's Glee

Webb

Fenton,

Duncan Matthew,

Arthur,

Adams,

Annika Stucky,

Cardenas,

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

p.m.

Music

To Ensure An Enjoyable Concert Experience For All…

Please refrain from talking, entering, or exiting during performances. Food and drink are prohibited in all concert halls. Recording or broadcasting of the concert by any means, including the use of digital cameras, cell phones, or other devices is expressly forbidden. Please deactivate all portable electronic devices including watches, cell phones, pagers, hand-held gaming devices or other electronic equipment that may distract the audience or performers.

Recording Notice: This performance may be recorded. Please note that members of the audience may at times be included in this process. By attending this performance you consent to have your image or likeness appear in any live or recorded video or other transmission or reproduction made in conjunction to the performance.

Health Reminder: The Florida Board of Governors and Florida State University expect masks to be worn by all individuals in all FSU facilities.

Florida State University provides accommodations for persons with disabilities. Please notify the College of Music at (850) 644-3424 at least five working days prior to a musical event to request accommodation for disability or alternative program format.

Collegians

Tuba Michael Barrett (b. 1983) arr. Barrett

Kyle Keating, soloist Shayna Singer, percussion

Taladh Chriosda

Skip Stradtman (b. 1993) Sean Barnette, soloist

Sweet Rivers Reginald Unterseher (b. 1956) Dincan Matthew, conductor

The Bridge Builder David Dikau (b. 1953) Ramon Cardenas, conductor

Tapestry Alec Powell (b. 1993)

Levana

I. Childhood

I Started Out Singing Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980) Text by Naomi Shihab Nye (b. 1952) Danté Webb, assistant conductor

Wau Bulan Malaysian Folk Song arr. Tracy Wong (b. 1983) Michael Bakan, drum

Three Years Old Zoë Ashberg (b. 2002) Zoë Ashberg, soloist

II. Adulthood

In the Middle Dale Trumbore (b. 1987)

Text by Barbara Crooker (b. 1945)

III. Conflict

Behind the Caravan: Songs of Hâfez

Abbie Betinis II. Suffer No Grief (b. 1980)

Text by Hâfez (1325–1390)

Megan Gardner and Maggie Merrell, soloists Ahdiayah Amia Horton, viola Michael Bakan, drum

Kuka nukkuu tuutussasi

Anna-Mari Kähärä (b. 1963)

Text by Sirkka Selja (1920–2017)

Say Something Ian Axel, Mike Campbell, and Chad Vaccarino

Briana Lightbourn, Rebecca Voigt, soloists

IV. Connection and Reconciliation

I Love You/What a Wonderful World

Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill/ George David Weiss and Bob Thiele arr. Craig Hella Johnson (b. 1962)

Cassie Jones, Annie Lane, Bethany Masiello, Riley Murray, Isabella Pinilla Keeley Sawyer, Makayla Sawyer, and Liliana Watson, soloists Annika Stucky, Assistant Conductor

NOTES

Collegians

We begin this evening’s performance with Michael Barrett’s “Tuba,” which is a joyous South African call and response song stating “Look at the dove on that tree!” As the singers in choir see the dove, they imagine peace in their future—peace in their world.

Skip Stradtman wrote “Taladh Chriosda” for the Birmingham Boys’ Choir. The piece is based on a traditional Hebridean waulking song—these Gaelic folk songs were used by women while fulling (waulking) cloth. This haunting arrangement utilizes tenor soloist, tenor-bass choir, bassoon and piano and concludes with a dramatic Alleluia.

“Sweet River” is an arrangement of a hymn by John Adam Granade using a melody by William Moore that utilizes arching vocal lines accompanied by a rhythmic, undulating piano part to dipict the rivers the hymn-writer describes.

“The Bridge Builder” tells the story of an old man who crosses a chasm, only to turn around to painstakingly build a bridge. When asked what he is doing, he explains that a younger man is following who could fall into the chasm, and that the old man is building the bridge for him.

Written for the Utah Valley University Men’s Choir with an original text by the composer, “Tapestry” speaks of the life experiences that make up the tapestry of our lives. With the melody moving seamlessly between voice parts, all voices celebrate these experiences in this song of celebration. Levana Inspired by the sculpture LOVE by Alexander Milov

Faced with frustration from an increasingly divided world, Ukrainian sculptor Alexander Milov created a sculpture he titled LOVE for the 2015 Burning Man art installation. The impactful piece depicted two adults in the heat of an argument, seated and turned away from each other and unable to reconcile. Within each adult, however, stood an inner child. The inner children were turned toward and reaching for one another, longing for connection. Milov’s aim was to show that the division in our world is counter to our human need for community. Through visual art, he reminds us that connecting to ourselves allows us to connect to each other.

Making art as a musician is different in many ways from making art as a sculptor or a painter, including that musical performances occur in a temporal dimension. Great pieces of visual art can be maintained for centuries, but a musical performance is created for a moment and then gone. We can record a musical performance, but it never has the same vigor and vitality as it did the moment it was created. This sculpture shares that temporal feature with musical art. Milov created and installed it at Burning Man for a brief time, and then it was torn down and returned to Ukraine where it sat in pieces in shipping containers for several years. It was eventually reconstructed in Kyiv, but not with the same impact that it had in its original context. Like music, it was bound to a time and place, and we are left to marvel at the echoes that remain. For me, this feature made the sculpture dynamic and deeply personal. It did not simply represent the moment of an argument, but the implication of what came before and the hope of what could come after, all wrapped in a reminder of the brevity of life. It changed in its composition and impact based on what time of day you viewed it and from what angle you saw it, each shade of light or shift in perspective bringing a different

feature to the forefront. It told a complete and dynamic story, both in its existence and its absence. And like all great art, it has inspired other great art since its inception. It is our goal to bring its story to life for a moment through music paired with images.

Sometimes I program with the experience of the audience at the forefront of my mind. Other times I program with the experience of the singers in first place. This evening’s program represents a true balance of both the audience and singer experience. Through preparing this program, we’ve been able to explore what it might mean to connect with our inner child, to connect with each other, to lay aside differences that may not matter as much as we have been led to believe, and to be in community together. Tonight, we hope to share our story with you in a way that will leave you inspired to do the same.

TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

I Started out Singing Jocelyn Hagen; text by Naomi Shihab Nye

I started out singing oh yes oh yes in a voice as clear as a penny and a dime in time in time I came to be as tall as a riddle as full as a shadow as far as the wind that blows itself alone to the sea

I started out smiling oh yes oh yes with my face tipped up to the moon’s soft stare a halo of giggles tied in my hair with a sleep as deep as desert sand my dreams were the stories that crossed the land

Wau Bulan

Tracy Wong; traditional Malaysian Folk Song

Ewah buleh teraju tigo Alah ewah teraju tigo

Wow, the three-cornered moon.

Three Years Old Zoë Ashberg

Three years old and she already knows what she wants to be When she’s older: A princess, Just like her daddy calls her.

Just three years old and she is confident and bold and sure. She’s a bit of a diva, But I wouldn’t trade her for anything.

Four years later, a year of change. How strange

That a girl once so comfortable in her own skin Will never be that girl again.

Paints a dream in vain of butterscotch people and smiles, Keeps her head down and closes her mouth for fear that she’ll drown Above the water.

I can’t breathe! Help me please!

Sixteen years old and she is passionate and kind and more. She’s emotional and anti-social, But she’s on her way to feeling okay.

I can’t breathe! Help me please! (above the water)

Three years old and she is confident and bold and sure. Bit of a diva, wish I could be her Again.

In the Middle

Dale Trumbore; text by Barbara Crooker

IN THE MIDDLE

of a life that’s as complicated as everyone else’s, struggling for balance, juggling time. The mantle clock that was my grandfather’s has stopped at 9:20; we haven’t had time to get it repaired. The brass pendulum is still, the chimes don’t ring. One day I look out the window, green summer, the next, the leaves have already fallen, and a grey sky lowers the horizon. Our children almost grown, our parents gone, it happened so fast. Each day, we must learn again how to love, between morning’s quick coffee and evening’s slow return. Steam from a pot of soup rises, mixing with the yeasty smell of baking bread. Our bodies twine, and the big black dog pushes his great head between; his tail, a metronome, 3/4 time. We’ll never get there, Time is always ahead of us, running down the beach, urging us on faster, faster, but sometimes we take off our watches, sometimes we lie in the hammock, caught between the mesh of rope and the net of stars, suspended, tangled up in love, running out of time.

(from Radiance)

Suffer No Grief from Behind the Caravan: Songs of Hâfez, movement II Abbie Betinis; text by Hâfez

Yusofe gomgashte bâzâyad be Kan’ân.

Qam ma-khor.

Kolbeya ahzân shaved, ruzi, golestân.

Qam makhor…

Darbiâbân, gar, beshoqe Ka’be, khâhi zad qadam, Sarzaneshhâ, gar konad khâre moqilân. Qam ma-khor…

Joseph, forsaken, shall return to Canaan. Suffer no grief.

From the thorny stalks of family grief, one day, a rose garden. Suffer no grief…

If you desire the Way and plant your pilgrim foot in the desert, then if the mighty Arabian thorn makes reproofs, Suffer no grief…

Kuka nukkuu tuutussasi

Anna-Mari Kähärä; text by Sirkka Selja

Kuka nukku tuutussasi

Niinkuin virta vuoren alla, vesi virrassa syväsä. Mitä kätket kämmeniisi? Tyhjän kätken kämmeniini, Kaikki haikeat haluni, Oudot mielenailahteluni Tuutisinpa tuutussani armaan silmien sineä Niinkuin tuutii tumma lampi taivaan auringovaloa Nukkuis tähti tuutussani, pieni taivas polvillani, Pieni aurinko povela. Kuka nukkuu tuutussasi? Tuska nukkuu tuutussani. Mitä kätket mämmeniisi? Tyhjän kätken kämmeniini.

Who is sleeping in thy cradle?

Pain is sleeping in my cradle. Like a river under mountain, Like a stream in darkest deeping. In thy hands what art thou hiding? In my hands I nought am hiding. All my longings and desires, All my weird and wondrous musings. Oh but had I in my cradle, Blueness of the eyes beloved Like a dark pond in my cradle, Like the light of all the heavens. Sleeping star within my cradle, Heaven on my knee a-slumber, Tiny sun upon my bosom.

Translation by Jaakko Mäntyjärvi

Say Something

Ian Axel, Mike Campbell, Chad Vaccarino

Say something, I’m giving up on you. I’ll be the one if you want me to. Anywhere I would have followed you. Say something, I’m giving up on you.

And I am feeling so small. It was over my head, I know nothing at all. And I will stumble and fall. I’m still learning to love, Just starting to crawl.

Say something, I’m giving up on you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you Anywhere I would have followed you. Say something, I’m giving up on you.

And I will swallow my pride. You’re the one that I love, And I’m saying goodbye.

Say something, I’m giving up on you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you Anywhere I would have followed you. Say something, I’m giving up on you. Say something.

I Love You/What a Wonderful World

I love you - Larry Norman and Randy Stonehll What a wonderful world - George David Weiss and Bob Thiele arranged by Craig Hella Johnson

We can be together for now and forever I love you, I love you And when I’m prayin’, I hear him sayin’ I love you, I love you People all over the world, they’re opening up, they’re comin’ around And they’re sayin’

I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you I love you, I love you I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you I love you, I love you

I see skies of blue and clouds of white bright blessed days, and dark sacred night; And I think to myself, “What a wonderful world.”

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces of people going by.

I see friends shaking hands, saying, “How do you do?” They’re really saying, “I love you.”

I hear babies cry, I watch them grow; they’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know, and I think to myself, “What a wonderful world.”

Tenor 1 Sean Barnette Jean-Luc Cruz Duncan Matthew Corey Sullivan

Collegians Personnel Kevin Fenton, conductor Ramon Cardenas and Duncan Matthew, assistant conductors

Tenor 2 Ian Gabriel Javelosa Kyle Keating Kyle McDonald Chijioke Oparaji Jackson Roberts Jesse Roldan

Bass 1 Ethan Bixby Quaid Coker Justus Evans Christopher Johnson Grayson Kasper Connor Mikuta Benjamin Reid Jonathan Rodriguez Dylan Sneddon

Bass 2 Epsen Brante Ramon Cardenas Dawson Corey Nicholas Mackley Christian Noel Johan Quevedo Sean Regan Sean Solomon Jonathan Taylor Jonathan Trujillo Kristopher Stam

Levana Personnel Kari Adams, conductor Danté Webb and Annika Stucky, graduate conducting assistants

Soprano 1 Talia Boudjemaa Jazzy Ebert Libby Fowler Beegle Claire Goodwin Candace Jones Paige Kinch Annie Lane Amanda Lopez Lainey Mackinnon Abigail Marotta Maggie Merrell Amy Ni Charlotte Palmer Angelica Prater Madison Riley Mariangely Rodriguez Lydia Shackelford Morgan Strickland Madeline Zucker

Soprano 2 Jennifer Perez Aguilar Olivia Bahmer Autumn Bible Sarah Boggs Morgan Cerra Cassandra Cruz Shiloh DeFabia Ysabel Gilmore Farmer Megan Gardner Isabelle Gonzalez Aubrey Heiss Cassie Jones Olivia Klimek Natalie Mixon Jenna Montes Riley Murray Isabella Pinilla Lizzie Rey Julia Rinehart Lizzie Robertson Keeley Sawyer Makayla Sawyer Lissi Strom Ana Torres Liliana Watson Lily Zuehlke

Alto 1 Alyssa Albert Zoë Ashberg Ash Austin Gabrielle Bleam Leanna Boynton Sarah Dickson Anabella Ellis Theasamantha Figueras Alyssa Jimenez Naomi Katumalla Jillian Katz Haley MacDonald Bethany Masiello Mariapaz Moreno Summer Neylon Daisy Palmer Amelie Saris Re Robinson Kate Scarborough Hannah Sheats Selina Stinnette Annika Stucky Kate Thornton Rebecca Voigt Caroline Wheeler

Alto 2 Jenn Carneiro EJ Dowling Gwynne English Paris Feazell Emily Fitzgerald Gia Floyd Briana Lightbourn Jackie Myers Corinne Rodamaker Kristin Spengler Olivia Tiseo Cierrah Touchstone Danté Webb