the national anthems
Westminster Choir
Donald Nally, conductor
Maxwell Brey, graduate assistant conductor
Christian Gray Johnson, graduate assistant conductor
with strings of the International Contemporary Ensemble
Joshua Modney, violin 1
Johnna Wu, violin 2
Martine Thomas, viola
Clare Monfredo, cello
Lizzie Burns, bass
Sunday, November 24 at 5 p.m.
Gill Memorial Chapel
Rider University
2083 Lawrenceville Road
Lawrenceville, N.J.
Program
To the Hands (2016) Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
I. Prelude: wordless
II. in medio in medio
III. Her beacon-hand beckons
IV. ever ever ever
V. [the numbers]
VI. i will hold you
Alexa Farah, Emilie Beals, Mackenzie Berry, Alastair Stewart, Arseniy Vasilyev, soloists
– Intermission –
the national anthems (2014)
I. our land with peace
II. our hearts are glowing
III. fame and glory
IV. keep us free
V. our common fate
David Lang (b. 1957)
Claire Fritz, Emilie Beals, Daniel Piver, Kevin Catalon, Sarah Vawdrey, soloists
FOR PROGRAM NOTES AND TEXTS, VISIT OUR WEBSITE.
About the Artists
WESTMINSTER CHOIR
“The Gold standard...”- American Record Guide
Setting the standard for choral excellence since 1920, when it was founded by John Finley Williamson in Dayton, Ohio, Westminster Choir is composed of undergraduate and graduate students at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. From well before millions first heard the choir in Walt Disney’s Fantasia. with Leopold Stokowski conducting, the choir has thrilled audiences around the world and in American concert halls with its singularly unique sound and artistry. The legendary conductor Joseph Flummerfelt led the ensemble from 1971-2004, bringing it to a new level of exposure and renown.
Westminster Choir has toured extensively, holding residencies at Il Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, Spoleto USA, in Charleston, SC, the Festival International de Colmar in France, and numerous appearances in Asia and all across the United States.
Westminster Choir has been recording choral masterworks for nine decades. Recordings by Flummerfelt of Brahms, American Folk Songs, and Christmas music have been audiophile favorites for decades.
Praised by The New York Times for its “full-bodied, incisive singing,” Westminster Choir is hailed as one of the nation’s finest choral ensembles.
Singing in this world-renowned choir is at the core of the only choral college in the world. For graduate students in choral conducting, it is the central experience which has molded generations of conductors. Music-Making and compelling artistry at the highest levels are the hallmark of this 100-year musical legacy.
This season, Westminster Choir is conducted by Visiting Professor in Choral Studies, Donald Nally, known especially for his work in opera and as America’s leading commissioner of new works for choir.
Donald Nally, conductor
Christian Gray Johnson and Maxwell Brey, graduate assistant conductors
Gregory Stout and Tyler Weakland, collaborative keyboardists
Nidhi Advani, Columbus, NJ
Nathan Anderson, Dickson, TN
Emilie Beals, Carlisle, PA
Mackenzie Berry, Frederick, MD
Maxwell Brey, Tallahassee, FL
Kevin Catalon, Fords, NJ
Emma Clark, Danville, PA
Grace Comeau, Bristow, VA
Maya Cooper, Fairfax, VA
Skylar Derthick, Camas, WA
Alexa Farah, Northvale, NJ
Sarah Febonio, Flemington, NJ
Claire Fritz, Elizabethtown, PA
Emily Huguenin, Howell, NJ
Grisha P. Ivanov, Brooklyn, NY
Christian Gray Johnson, Covington, GA
Ben Kirk, Lumberton, NJ
Duomi Liu, Beijing, China
Juliana Rappaport, Frederick, MD
Annie McCasland, Potomac, MD
James Moyer, Yardley, PA
Daniel J. Piver, East Hampton, NY
Katelyn Reinhard, Fort Wayne, IN
Abby Rose, Perkasie, PA
Ricky Sazon Salazar, Queens, NY
Gavin Springer, Belmar, NJ
Alastair Stewart, Quebec, Canada
Arseniy Vasilyev, Moscow, Russia
Sarah Vawdrey. Teaneck, NJ
Julia Wilder, Carmel, NY
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
Now in its third decade, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is a multidisciplinary collective of musicians, digital media artists, producers, and educators committed to building and innovating collaborative environments in order to inspire audiences to reimagine how they experience contemporary music and sound. The Ensemble creates a mosaic musical ecosystem as “America’s foremost new-music group” (The New Yorker), honoring the diversity of human experience and expression by commissioning, developing, recording, and performing the works of living artists. Co-founded in 2001 by flutist and MacArthur “genius” Fellow Claire Chase, the Ensemble has premiered over 1,000 works. The Ensemble has given performances at Warsaw Autumn, TIME:SPANS, Berliner Festspiele, HEAR NOW Los Angeles, Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music, Ojai Music Festival, and Big Ears Festival as well as in venues such as the Dutch National Opera, Cité de la Musique (Paris), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Hall, Japan Society, Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center, Fridman Gallery, Chelsea Factory, NYU Skirball and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
String Quintet
Joshua Modney, violin I
Johnna Wu, violin II
Martine Thomas, viola
Clare Monfredo, cello
Lizzie Burns, bass
About Rider University & Westminster Choir College
Located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Rider University is a private co-educational, student-centered university that emphasizes purposeful connections between academic study and real-world learning experience. Rider prepares graduates to thrive professionally, to be lifelong independent learners, and to be responsible citizens who embrace diversity, support the common good, and contribute meaningfully to the changing world in which they live and work.
The College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to educating students for engaged citizenship, career success, and personal growth in a diverse and complex world. The college cultivates intellectual reflection, artistic creativity, and academic maturity by promoting both broad academic inquiry and in-depth disciplinary study, while nurturing effective and ethical applications of transferable critical skills. The College consists of four schools: the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Communication, Media, and Performing Arts, the School of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, and Westminster Choir College.
Culturally vibrant and historically rich, Westminster Choir College has a legacy of preparing students for thriving careers as well-rounded performers and musical leaders on concert stages, in schools, universities, and churches, and in professional and community organizations worldwide. Renowned for its tradition of choral excellence, the college is home to internationally recognized ensembles, including the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has performed and recorded with virtually all of the major orchestras and conductors of our time. In addition to its choral legacy, Westminster is known as a center for excellence in musical pedagogy and performance.
Rider University gratefully acknowledges the generous support of: Richard and Heather Frye-Ginsberg & Michael T. '89 and Susana Santaguida '89 Gummel for their support of our Rider Friend of the Arts patron program.
Upcoming Performances
NELL GWYNN
Friday, December 6, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 7, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 8, 2 p.m.
Bart Luedeke Center Theater
WESTMINSTER CONCERT BELL CHOIR: REALMS OF GLORY
Saturday, December 7, 4 p.m.
Yvonne Theater
WESTMINSTER JUBILEE SINGERS: CANDLELIGHT SERVICE
Sunday, December 8, 5 p.m.
Union Baptist Church, Trenton 301 Pennington Ave Trenton, NJ 08618
AN EVENING OF READINGS AND CAROLS
Friday December 13, 8 p.m.
Saturday, December 14, 8 p.m.
Princeton University Chapel
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON UPCOMING PERFORMANCES, SUBSCRIPTION AND PATRON PROGRAM OPTIONS, VISIT RIDER.EDU/ARTS.
