MUSIC
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Audience Information
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The Schwartz Center wishes to gratefully acknowledge the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz.
Cover Design: Lisa Baron | Cover Photo: Mark Teague
MUSIC
Emory Choirs
Fall Concert
Featuring Emory University Chorus and Emory Concert Choir
Jon Easter, conductor
Greg Matteson, piano
Sunday October 27, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
Emerson Concert Hall
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Emory University Chorus
Measure Me, Sky! Elaine Hagenberg (b. 1979)
Sehnsucht, op. 112, No. 1
Like water, running day and night, your longing lies awake. You think about a vanished time that lies so far away. You look out into the light of morning and you are alone.
Like water, running day and night, your longing lies awake.
—Translation copyright by Emily Ezust
Waldensnacht, op. 62, No. 3
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Wondrously cool woodland night, whom I greet a thousand times: after the uproarious tumult of the world, o how sweet is your rustling! Dreamily I nestle my weary limbs in your tender moss, and it seems to me as if once more I were free from all my insane anguish.
Distant fluting song, emerge and stir a wide yearning, with thoughts of the beloved, ah! beguile the resented distance! Let the woodland night lull me, still every pain, and a blissful satisfaction permit me to drink in with its fragrances.
Brahms
In narrow, secret circles, you, wild heart, will know well that peace hovers above with hushed wing-beats, slowly descending. Lovely birds, sing your lovely songs, sing me gently into slumber! Distracting torments, dissipate again; wild heart, now good night!
—Translation copyright by Emily Ezust
“Hallelujah” from Mount of Olives Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Emory Concert Choir
A Little Song of Life (2016)
Reginald Unterseher (b. 1956)
Fair Phyllis John Farmer (1570-1601)
“A Grass-Green Pillow” from Color Madrigals (2013) Joshua Shank (b. 1980)
Dark Night of the Soul (2011) Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)
Soloist, Greta Franke, soprano
The Vega String Quartet: Emily Daggett Smith and Jessica Shuang Wu, violin; Joseph Skerik, viola; Guang Wang, cello
Combined Choirs
Homeward Bound (1991)
Marta Keen (b. 1953) arr. Jay Althouse
Emory University Chorus
Soprano
Abby Balson
Lexi Bancroft
Trinitee Dahn
Mariah DeRenzo
Camille Douglass
Adri Dullum
Alejandra Ferreira
Ariel Gale
Candy Gao
Shayne Goldstein
Vivien Huang
Elise Isakov
Audrey Isakov
Stephanie Lin
Theresa Mayo
Morgan McNair
Naomi Newton
Lynn O’Neill
Elianna Paljug
Divya Pereira
Zoë Pollock
Anya Qin
Emma Rollins
Sonia Sathe Ryland
Karina Saldivar
Delia Savin
Elaine SeeToh
Arushi Sharma
Hlina Temesgen
Elena Vallis
Sarah Wiley
Serena Zhou
Alto
Carol Allums
Michele Batzaya
Lydia Bearss
Srinidhi Bharadwaj
Lily Clemente-Cong
Gloria Coble
Carter Douglas-Brown
Emma Gile
Julia Green
Emily Griswold
Rita Helfand
Bryn Higdon
Anika Hofmeister
Audrey Howell
Alina Huang
Mila Kocic
Arohi Majmudar
Julia Niles
Selene Percher
Rose Petta
Caroline Renner
Lynn Rogers
Abby Rollins
Emma K. Shibley
Mary Slaughter
Caroline Smith
Rosalind Staib
Catalina Varela
Louise Wilson
Serena Ye
Jessie Zhu
Emory University Chorus
Tenor
Pranav Anand
Charlie Byrne
Sahrudh Dharanendra
Michael Diebert
Peter Duys
Anthony Gacasan
Chuck Hagel
Thane Henschel
Davis Husk
Andy James
Varun Karry
John Lin
Matthew C. Nails
Jack Nickles
Jonathan Owen
Aidan Park
David Rogers
Stephen Rogers
Bass
Jonathan Ackleh-Tingle
Deven Allen
Daniel Bell
Tom Carswell
Paul DeSandre
Jordan Friedman
Paul Frysh
Alex Isakov
Dennis Jones
Fardeen Kawsar
Joseph Kim
Michael Lammons
Bass (continued)
John Lilly
Jeffrey Lin
George Lin Wu
Scott Matthews
Jacob Mercer
Geoffrey Middleton
Ed Morris
Tom Morris
Cade Nabors
Renard Sexton
Stephen Sexton
Michael Sorkin
James Steffen
Isaiah Swain
David Terry
Patan Tippitak
David Travis
Daniel Weiss
Bryan Wu
Paulark Yan
Max Yost
Emory Concert Choir
Soprano 1
Jordan Averett
Greta Franke
Tori Mooney
Alexa Schwartz
Soprano 2
Grace Chen
Aidan Kane
Ashwini Narayanan
Sejal Patel
Rachel Warhaftig
Alto 1
Kaley Frye
Ally Mandell
Yolanda Santana
Dhwani Venkatarangan
Alto 2
Isabella Calindres
Aine Devins
Emma Farrer
Siu-Lin Sampson
Ava Sandstrom
Tenor 1
Jamie Baker
Braden James
Jaiden Suddee
Tenor 2
Julian Agudelo
Edward Cao
Alex Moss
Bass 1
Austin Beale
Will Eaglesham
Declan Edwards
Neeraj Palnitkar
Trey Peterson
Bass 2
Eric Albanese
Aidan Conley
Kushal Daruwala
Wonjae Lee
Carson Tomlinson
Jon Easter, director
Jon Easter is celebrated for his moving expressivity and musical artistry across multiple instruments and as a conductor. He performs regularly with Emory’s Concert Choir and Atlanta Master Chorale, serving as both accompanist and assistant conductor. His expertise has also been showcased in performances with the Atlanta Master Chorale at ACDA and AGO conventions at regional and national levels.
Throughout his career, Easter has held significant positions as organist and choir director at Saint Paul’s by the Sea Episcopal in Jacksonville, FL, Roswell Presbyterian Church in Roswell, GA, and Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA. He now enjoys life as a sought-after substitute and interim organist, in high demand for his versatility and reliability. His commitment to musical excellence extends to solo and collaborative organ recitals across the Southeast, where he consistently demonstrates both technical mastery and artistic expression.
His collaborations with renowned singers, including multiple recitals with Jamie Barton—featuring a recording of Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appétit! and participation in the Metropolitan Opera virtual Gala—further highlight his distinguished career. Easter’s recordings include several Atlanta Master Chorale CDs, the University of North Florida Chamber Singers, and Crossroads Trumpets: Masterworks for Trumpet Ensemble. These contributions solidify his reputation as a dynamic and versatile musician, making significant impacts across various musical landscapes.
Easter holds an undergraduate degree in organ performance from Shorter College, where he studied with Peter Dewitt. He earned double master’s degrees in choral conducting and organ performance from Emory University under Eric Nelson and Timothy Albrecht. He also pursued additional conducting studies with Donald Nally and Martha Shaw and organ studies with Bill Evans and Alan Morrison.
Greg Matteson, piano
Atlanta native and Emory alumnus Greg Matteson is a collaborative pianist, music director, arranger/composer, and instructor. As a pianist, Matteson has accompanied many singers and choirs across the country, including the Young New Yorkers Chorus, Young Peoples Chorus of NYC, and the Gwinnett Young Singers. In addition to his work at Emory University, he works with the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Ballet, and Georgia State University as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach. Matteson is also an experienced music director, having led choirs and other ensembles, and he often conducts musicals from the piano. In recent years, he played and conducted Ride the Cyclone at the Alliance Theatre. When not performing, Matteson arranges, orchestrates, and composes for groups, including a cappella ensembles, marching bands, and video game developers. His works have earned national awards, including CASA’s Collaborative Recording Award in 2013. Matteson is also an instructor and vocal coach and teaches from his studio in North Ormewood Park.
Emory Choirs
Under the direction of Dr. Eric Nelson, the Emory Choirs represent long-standing traditions in the Emory community, with performances including the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, solo concerts including a variety of choral repertoire, masterworks with the symphony orchestra, and joint concerts with Emory’s a cappella groups. Jon Easter is serving as interim director of Choral Studies while Dr. Eric Nelson is on medical leave.
Emory University Chorus
Open to all Emory students as well as to members of the Emory community, the University Chorus holds a unique place in Emory life. Music majors and nonmajors, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, parents and their children, workers and retirees, alumni and neighbors, all come together to rehearse each Monday evening, united by their common love of singing. The chorus regularly collaborates with the Emory University Symphony Orchestra to present major works, including the 2024 performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem.
Emory Concert Choir
The Concert Choir is Emory’s select chamber choir. The singers in the ensemble come from across the country and around the world. All are students at the University with a wide variety of academic majors. The choir sings sacred and secular repertoire from the Middle Ages to the present, from chant to new commissions. The choir has sung at both the southern and national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, an honor reserved for the nation’s finest choral ensembles. It has toured internationally and has sung at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, the Vatican in Rome, and the Alhambra in Seville.
Music at Emory brings together students, faculty, and world-class artists to create an exciting and innovative season of performances, lectures, workshops, and master classes. With more than 150 events each year across multiple Emory venues, audiences experience a wide variety of musical offerings.
We hope you enjoy sampling an assortment of work from our student ensembles, community youth ensembles, artists in residence, professional faculty, up-and-coming prodigies, and virtuosos from around the world.
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