THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
Faculty Vocal Chamber Recital of Marcía Porter, Soprano
Geoffrey Deibel, Saxophone
Elizabeth Avery, Piano
Sunday, October 20, 2024
4:00 p.m. | Longmire Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Songs of Tagore (1991)
Frank Ticheli Nightfall (b. 1958)
Light Departure
Living in the body (2002)
Lori Laitman
Burning the woods of my childhood (b. 1955)
Living in the body
Not for burning
Lost at table
Bring on the rain Crossroads
What Dreams May Come (2020)
Marcía Porter, soprano Geoffrey Deibel, saxophone
Geoff Deibel, saxophone
Elizabeth Avery, piano
thre.e. cummings songs (2021)
Caleb Burhans (b. 1980)
Briana Lightbourn
Me up at does (b. 2000)
Crepuscule
Post impressions VI
Four Songs (1994)
Marcía Porter
André Previn Mercy (1929–2019) Lacemaker
Shelter Stones
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.
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.
Songs of Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941)
The texts of these songs are taken from Tagore’s collection of poetry entitled Gitanjali or Song Offering, for which he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. The texts below are Tagore’s English translations from the original Bengalese.
Nightfall
The day is no more, the shadow is upon the earth. It is time that I go to the stream to fill my pitcher.
The evening air is eager with the sad music of the water. Ah, it calls me out into the dusk. In the lonely lane there is no passer-by, the wind is up, the ripples are rampant in the river.
I know not if I shall come back home. I know not whom I shall chance to meet. There at the fording in the little boat the unknown man plays upon his lute.
Departure
Light
Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven’s river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad.
I must launch out my boat. The languid hours pass by on the shore---Alas for me!
The spring has done its flowering and taken leave. And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.
The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane the yellow leaves flutter and fall.
What emptiness do you gaze upon!
Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air with the notes of the far-away song floating from the other shore?
Living in the Body
Joyce Sutphen (b.
1949)
1. Burning the woods of my childhood
I am burning the woods of my childhood, tree by tree, I am warming myself by the fire of those days. I am remembering the faces I can no longer see. And the places I loved that are gone from me and the roads and the paths and the open ways, I am burning the woods of my childhood, tree by tree.
Where the elm trees stood, where the fox ran free, and we listened to the owl and the screeching jays, I am remembering the faces I can no longer see.
For those who walked under the pines with me, who cannot join me at the fire as I sit and gaze, I am burning the woods of my childhood, tree by tree.
Thinking gold dreams that no longer can be watching them fall into ashes, the reds into grays I am remembering the faces I no longer can see.
2. Living in the Body
Body is something you need in order to stay on this planet and you only get one. And no matter which one you get, it will not be satisfactory. It will not be beautiful enough, it will not be fast enough, it will not keep on for days at a time, but will pull you down into a sleepy swamp and demand apples and coffee and chocolate cake.
Body is a thing you have to carry From one day into the next. Always the same eyebrows over the same eyes in the same skin when you look in the mirror, and the same creaky knee when you get up from the floor and the same wrist under the watchband. The changes you can make are small and costly––better to leave it as it is.
Body is a thing that you have to leave eventually. You know that because you have seen others do it, others who were once like you,
living inside their pile of bones and flesh, smiling at you, loving you, leaning in the doorway, talking to you for hours and then one day they are gone. No forwarding address.
3. Not for Burning
I come across your old letters, the words still clinging to the page, holding onto their places patiently, with no intention of abandoning the white spaces. They say t hat you will always love me, and reading them again, I almost believe it, but I suspect that they are heretics, that later, in the fire, they will deny it all.
Then I remember something I once read (my memory is filled with voices of the dead): that it is a heretic which makes the fire, and that I am more guilty than your words, poor pilgrims who trusted the road you sent them down and kept severely to the way. I forgive them; I let them live to proclaim freely what they thought would always be true.
4. Lost at Table
The weave in the green tablecloth is open. Enter, it says, and I do, sinking down into warp and woof, snug in a tiny linen homestead, somewhere east of candlestick and west of tapestry napkin.
And if my disappearance is noticed, they have ways to bring me back again: conversation will hover, like heat-detecting helicopters over endless acres of cornfields and find me sleeping between the rows or walking aimlessly, singing my song to turn a thousand ears from tree to gold.
5. Bring on the Rain
Bring on the rain and bang the leafy drum with sudden sticks of water. Pull down the silver-chained curtain and fill the window with streams of widest water falling through the shoreless air.
Let the rainy sky be filled with jazz: drizzling saxophones, rivers of trumpet, xylophone pools. Send down some Billie Holiday to write sorrow on our dusty hearts.
And long may the rain fall, whispering in a green tongue, just a summer’s night slipping like a silk dress over the lovely bones of earth, misty in the fields.
6. Crossroads
The second half of my life will be black to the white rind of the old and fading moon. The second half of my life will be water over the cracked floor of these desert years. I will land on my feet this time, knowing at least two languages and who my friends are. I will dress for the occasion, and my hair shall be whatever color I please. Everyone will go on celebrating the old birthday, counting the years as usual, but I will count myself new from this inception, this imprint of my own desire.
The second half of my life will be swift, past leaning fenceposts, a gravel shoulder, asphalt tickets, the beckon of open road. The second half of my life will be wide-eyed, fingers sifting through fine sands, arms loose at my sides, wandering feet. There will be new dreams every night, and the drapes will never be closed. I will toss my string of keys into a deep well and old letters into the grate.
What Dreams May Come
Based on Richard Matheson’s 1978 novel, the title also references Shakespeare’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy from Hamlet, excerpted here:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.
thre.e. cummingsongs e.e. cummings (1894-1962)
(Me up at does)
Me up at does out of the floor quietly Stare a poisoned mouse
still who alive is asking What have i done that You wouldn’t have
Post Impressions (VI) into the strenuous briefness Life: handorgans and April darkness, friends, i charge laughing. Into then hair-thin tints of yellow dawn, into the women-colored twilight i smilingly glide. I into the big vermilion departure swim,sayingly;
(Do you think?)the i do, world is probably made of roses & hello: (of solongs and,ashes)
Crepuscule
I will wade out till my thighs are steeped in burning flowers
I will take the sun in my mouth and leap into the ripe air
Alive with closed eyes to dash against darkness in the sleeping curves of my body
Shall enter fingers of smooth mastery with chasteness of sea-girls
Will I complete the mystery of my flesh
I will rise
After a thousand years lipping flowers
And set my teeth in the silver of the moon
Four Songs
Toni Morrison (1931–2019)
Mercy
I could watch
Heads
Turn from the traveler’s look
The camera’s probe
Bear the purity of their Shame
Hear mute desolation in syllables
Ancient as Death.
I could do these things
If Only if only I knew that when milk
Spills
And hearts stop
Underheel
Some small thing gone
Chill
Is right
To warm toward a touch because Mercy
Lies in wait
Like a shore.
Mercy
Like a shore.
The Lacemaker
I am as you see
What most becomes me:
Miles skipped
Cancelled trips
Masters yet unmet.
Lace alone is loyal, sacred, royal, in control
Of crimes stopped
By patterns of blood bred to best behavior.
As you see I am
What has become of me.
Shelter
In this soft place
Under your wings
I will find shelter
From ordinary things.
Here are the mountains I want to scale
Amazon rivers
I’m dying to sail.
Here the eyes of the forest I can hold in a stare
And smile at the movement Of Medusa’s green hair.
In this soft place
Under your wings
I will find shelter
From ordinary things.
Stones
I don’t need no man
Telling me I ain’t one.
My trigger finger strong
As his on a shot gun. Buttercake and roses smooth Stones in my bed.
Handmade quilts cover Stones in my bed.
I don’t need no man
Telling me I ain’t one. My backbone ain’t like his
But least I got one.
High-heeled slippers break Stones in my bed.
Games played at night trick Stones in my bed. Stones.
I don’t need no man
Telling me.
Award-winning soprano Marcía Porter made her New York solo recital debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2005. An active recitalist, the soprano has performed in numerous venues throughout the United States, Italy, Brazil, and the Czech Republic. Porter has sung at such prestigious international festivals as the Prague Proms, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the Ravinia Festival, and the Ameropa International Chamber Music Festival. She has performed with such national and international organizations as the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, Beijing International Symphony Orchestra (Beijing, China) and the Camerata Filarmonica Bohemia (Prague, Czech Republic). Porter has also performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Chautauqua Opera, Dayton Opera, and Chicago Opera Theatre. Porter’s discography includes the 2011 world premier recording of Requiem für Mozart, works for soprano and orchestra by Antonio Rosetti, which was released by the German record label Ars Produktion, and the 2013 recording, Open Thine Heart, a recording of contemporary American vocal works, which was released by Albany Records.
A Fulbright Scholar and Rotary International Cultural Ambassadorial Scholar, Porter has won several other awards and honors including the 2004 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Artist Award Competition, the NATS Intern program, finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Central Regional Competition, Jessye Norman Graduate Fellowship in Voice, Opera Carolina Young Artist Recital Program Award, and the Farwell Award. In 2011-2012 Porter was a Fulbright Scholar to Brazil. Her research was entitled “Bridging boundaries through musical collaboration and cultural exchange: a lecture and recital series of contemporary classical Brazilian and African American vocal literature.” During her residency at the Universidade de São Paulo, she presented numerous recitals, lectures and masterclasses in cities throughout Brazil including São Paulo, Campinas, Alphaville, Ribeirão Preto and Brasilia.
Porter is a Professor of Voice at the Florida State University College of Music. She is a much sought after clinician and has presented masterclasses throughout the mid-western and southeastern US. She has served on the faculty of Ameropa International Chamber Music Festival in Prague, Czech Republic and as a visiting Professor of Voice at Universidade de São Paulo. Porter, a graduate of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in voice performance from Northwestern University and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in performance from The University of Michigan, where she studied with world-renowned Metropolitan Opera singer Shirley Verrett. Previous teachers include Margaret Harshaw, Carmen Mehta, and Kathleen Kaun.
A Washington, D.C. native, Geoffrey Deibel is a leading, innovative voice for the teaching and performance of the saxophone and contemporary music. He maintains a multi-faceted career as performer, teacher, and researcher. New projects for 2024-2025 include commissions from Tyshawn Sorey, Amadeus Regucera, and Ingrid Laubrock, performed by Trio Nebbia and a new ensemble with Duo Cortona. His most recent recordings include Iannis Xenakis’ Dmaathen with percussionist Ji Hye Jung, and his debut solo recording, Ex Uno Plures. He has performed with contemporary music ensembles such as the Wet Ink Ensemble (“Missing Scenes” recording now available) and the International Contemporary Ensemble at the Park Avenue Armory (NYC) in the full North American Premiere of Louis Andriessen’s De Materie. He has also given recitals throughout the U.S. and in Europe, and been an invited guest lecturer at several conservatories in Europe and many Universities in the US. He has appeared at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt, the International Iannis Xenakis Festival in Athens, Greece, and World Saxophone Congresses in the UK, Europe, and Thailand.
Deibel has commissioned new works by a wide range of composers, including Drew Baker, Caleb Burhans, Viet Cuong, Nathan Davis, Claudio Gabriele, Martin Iddon, Ingrid Laubrock, Robert Lemay, Marc Mellits, Joseph Michaels, Forrest Pierce, David Rakowski, Amadeus Regucera, David Reminick, Jesse Ronneau, Tyshawn Sorey, and Eric Wubbels. He has also premiered the music of Louis Andriessen, Georges Aperghis, Jason Eckardt, Hiroyki Itoh, Pierre Jodlowski, Marc Mellits, Elliott Sharp, Jagoda Szmytka, Mari Takano, Hans Thomalla, and Amy Williams.
Deibel is a member of the critically acclaimed h2 quartet, first prize winners at the Fischoff Competition and NASA Quartet Competitions, finalists at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and recipients of multiple Aaron Copland Fund Grants. The American Record Guide has hailed h2 as a group of “artistic commitment…boasting superb blend, solid technique, [and] tight rhythm.” h2 has seven recordings available, and maintains a non-profit organization to promote the creation of new works for the saxophone quartet. Deibel is also a seasoned orchestral performer, and serves as principal saxophonist with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. He previously served in the same capacity with the Wichita Symphony, and has also performed with the New World Symphony and Grant Park Symphony.
Deibel holds degrees in history and music from Northwestern University, and a doctoral degree from Michigan State University. His principal teachers have included Joseph Lulloff, Frederick Hemke, Leo Saguiguit, and Reginald Jackson. Deibel has held teaching positions at the University of Florida and Wichita State University, where he was the recipient of the 2015 College of Fine Arts Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity, and the 2016 WSU Faculty Award for Excellence in Creative Activity. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Saxophone at Florida State University, where he was awarded a SEED Grant to fund projects from 2024-2027. He also serves on the faculty of the Cortona Sessions for New Music, and the Great Plains Saxophone Workshop. Deibel is a Yamaha, Vandoren, and LefreQue performing artist, and performs on Yamaha Saxophones, and Vandoren reeds, ligatures, and mouthpieces exclusively.
Elizabeth Avery serves as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of Graduate Studies. Avery joined the FSU College of Music faculty in 2023, after twelve years on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma, where she served as Associate Director/Coordinator of Graduate Studies and held the Edith Kinney Gaylord Presidential Professorship. She has also taught at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Austin Peay State University, Castleton State University, and the Crane School of Music. She earned the DMA in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Eastman School of Music, MM in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan, and BME from the Crane School of Music. She also completed the Special Studies program at the Prague Conservatory, performing Czech solo and chamber music while honing her expertise in Czech lyric diction.
Recognized for her remarkable blend of “artistic sensitivity and masterful virtuosity,” Avery is an accomplished collaborative pianist whose musical journey spans continents and genres. Performing widely across the United States, Canada, Scandinavia, and Europe, she engages audiences through collaborative performances, lecture-recitals, and masterclasses. Her vocal coaching work encompasses repertoire from Monteverdi to modern composers, leading to collaborations with such renowned conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Giancarlo Guerrero, and John Mauceri. Her mastery of lyric diction across multiple languages and command of a wide-ranging song repertoire is evident not only in her vocal coachings, diction classes, and repertoire courses, but also in frequent invited guest lectures and master classes.
As an artist and scholar, Avery’s interests are varied, but always gravitate to new music. She is committed to commissioning and premiering new works for voice and piano, having brought new performances to such prestigious venues as Weill Recital Hall and Steinway Hall in New York City. She enjoys her role as a catalyst for new music, advocating for composers and bringing to life new works that focus on climate and social issues. Among her ongoing commission undertakings is the collaborative project East Wing Songs, with mezzo soprano Ann Marie Wilcox Daehn; this series of song volumes, exclusively composed by women composers, imports the listener into the authentic lived narratives of the First Ladies of the United States. No One Saves the Earth from Us but Us, a 30-minute song cycle composed by Lisa Neher that premiered in 2021, is an urgent call to action interweaving texts of environmental poets Craig Santos Perez and Felicia Zamora. This evocative and unique composition is sung by Quinn Patrick Ankrum via fixed media and executed solely by the pianist. A live, collaborative version of the cycle will premiere in spring 2024 on the Cincinnati Song Initiative’s 2023-2024 concert series. Avery has also paired with Ankrum to establish Living Song Project, a groundbreaking initiative dedicated to enhancing access to living composers and their compositions through an expansive searchable database.