presents IN THE MIDDLE
ERIC NELSON, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
JONATHAN EASTER, PIANO, ORGAN
FRIDAY,
Emerson Concert Hall
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts Atlanta, Georgia
WELCOME to CHERRY LOGAN
OCTOBER 14, 2022 | 8PM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2022 | 8PM
SCAN ME!
We and Chant It
Mistress Mine
Two Songs from Twelfth Night (1939)
Lovely Rose
Three Flower Songs (2001)
Ryan Koter, tenor
Morley (1557–1602)
Murrill (1909–1952)
Hill (1960)
Samantha Frischling, mezzo-soprano
Whitacre
John Corigliano
Daggett Smith, violin I; Jessica Stinson, violin I; Jessica Shuang Wu, violin II; Benito Thompson, violin II; Yinzi Kong, viola; Joli Wu, viola; Guang Wang, cello; Martin Guerguiev, cello; Emory Clements, bass; Julie Koenig, harp
(2011)
Love (2016)
My Mouth (1990)
Will Be (2019)
Lamback, soprano
André Thomas
Thompson
Walk
(2002)
the Valley
Moses Hogan (1957–2003)
Moses Hogan (1957–2003)
Samantha Frischling, soprano
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To donate, join our email list, purchase albums, find us on social media, and more! PROGRAM Dancing on the Edges of Time (2016) ......................................................... Craig Carnahan In the Middle (2016) ...................................................................................... Dale Trumbore Sing
(1595) Thomas
O
....................................................................... Herbert
from
Go,
................................................................................................ Eric
from
Fern
Emily
Dawn
......................................................................................... Eric
William Barnum
O
Elaine
Hagenberg
I Open
........................................................................ Arr.
America
................................................................................... Joel
Elizabeth
We Shall
Through
in Peace (2001) .............. Arr.
Hold On
..................................................................... Arr.
DANCING ON THE EDGES OF TIME
Music: Craig Carnahan, © 2016 Galaxy Music Corporation, a division of ECS Publishing
Text: Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941)
Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.
IN THE MIDDLE
Music: Dale Trumbore © 2016, distributed by Graphite Publishing
Text: Barbara Crooker, from Radiance, © 2005 Word Press
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.
SING WE AND CHANT IT
Music: Thomas Morley (1557–1602), CPDL #40935, Editor: Monique Rio
Text: 16th Century Madrigal
Sing we and chant it, while love doth grant it. Not long youth lasteth, and old age hasteth, Now is best leisure to take our pleasure.
All things invite us, Now to delight us. Hence care be packing, no mirth be lacking, Let spare no treasure to live in pleasure.
O MISTRESS MINE
from TWO SONGS FROM TWELFTH NIGHT
Music: Herbert Murrill (1909–1952), © 1939 Oxford University Press
Text: William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
O mistress mine, Where are you roaming?
O stay and hear your true love’s coming, That can sing both high and low: Trip no further, pretty sweeting; Journeys end in lovers’ meeting, Every wise man’s son doth know.
What is love? ‘Tis not hereafter; Present mirth hath present laughter; What’s to come is still unsure: In delay there lies no plenty; Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty. Youth’s a stuff will not endure.
O mistress mine, Where are you roaming?
GO, LOVELY ROSE
from THREE FLOWER SONGS
Music: Eric Whitacre, © 2001 Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Inc. Text: Edmund Waller (1606–1687)
Go, lovely rose
Tell her that wastes her time and me, That now she knows, When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be.
Tell her that’s young, And shuns to have her graces spied, That hadst thou sprung In deserts where no men abide, Thou must have uncommended died.
Small is the worth Of beauty from the light retired; Bid her come forth, Suffer herself to be desired, And not blush so to be admired.
Then die! That she
The common fate of all things rare May read in thee; How small a part of time they share, That are so wondrous sweet and fair!
FERN HILL
Music: John Corigliano, © 1960 G. Schirmer, Inc.
Text: Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
Fern Hill by John Corigliano presented under license from G. Schirmer, Inc. and Associated Music Publishers, copyright owners.
Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green, The night above the dingle starry, Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes, And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light.
And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
In the sun that is young once only, Time let me play and be Golden in the mercy of his means, And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold, And the sabbath rang slowly
In the pebbles of the holy streams.
All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air And playing, lovely and watery
And fire green as grass.
And nightly under the simple stars
As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away, All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars Flying with the ricks, and the horses
Flashing into the dark.
And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all Shining, it was Adam and maiden, The sky gathered again And the sun grew round that very day.
So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm Out of the whinnying green stable
On to the fields of praise.
And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long, In the sun born over and over, I ran my heedless ways, My wishes raced through the house high hay
And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace.
Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand, In the moon that is always rising, Nor that riding to sleep
I should hear him fly with the high fields And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means, Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
DAWN
Music: Eric William Barnum, © 2011 G. Schirmer, Inc.
Text: Robert Bode
From the door’s soft opening And the day’s first sigh, Filling the room, I see before me a life of doors, One opening on another, Doors upon doors, And sighs upon sighs, Rising in a tide of mornings, Rising, until that final sigh, And the last morning, And the last holy breath, Whispering “this…”
O LOVE
Music: Elaine Hagenberg, © 2016 Beckenhorst Press
Text: George Matheson (1842–1906)
O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe, That in thy ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be.
O Joy that seeks me through pain, I cannot close my heart to thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, And feel the promise is not vain, That morn shall tearless be.
I OPEN MY MOUTH
Music: Arr. André Thomas, © 1990 Hinshaw Music, Inc.
Text: Traditional Spiritual
Done made my vow, done made my vow to the Lord. Never turn back, O, Lord I’ll never turn back.
I will go! I shall go, to see what the end will be.
I open my mouth to the Lord, and I won’t turn back. I will go! I shall go, to see what the end is gonna be.
If you don’t believe that I’ve been redeemed, Just follow me down to Jordan’s stream.
I open my mouth to the Lord, and I won’t turn back. I will go! I shall go, to see what the end is gonna be.
AMERICA WILL BE
Music: Joel Thompson, © 2019 Highgate Press, Inc., a division of ECS Publishing Text: Langston Hughes (1902–1967), adapted by J.T. from Let America Be America Again, © 1994 by The Estate of Langston Hughes, used and adapted by permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated; Emma Lazarus (1849–1887), adapted by J.T. from The New Colossus; Students from the Freedom High School Chorus, Orlando, Florida
Who are you that mumbles in the dark and who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I’m the one who dreamt a dream while still a serf of kings A dream so strong, so brave, so true that even yet it sings. To build a homeland of the free.
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, give me the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these to me!
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
For all the songs we’ve sung, and all the dreams we’ve dreamed, America was never America to me, And yet I swear: America will be!
WE SHALL WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY IN PEACE
Music: Arr. Moses Hogan (1957–2003), © 2001 Hal Leonard Corporation Text: Traditional Spiritual
We shall walk through the valley in peace.
For Jesus Himself will be our leader. We shall walk through the valley in peace.
We will meet our loved ones there.
For Jesus Himself will be our leader. We shall walk through the valley in peace.
There will be no more trials there For Jesus Himself will be our leader. We shall walk through the valley in peace.
HOLD ON
Music: Arr. Moses Hogan (1957–2003), © 2002 Hal Leonard Corporation
Text: Traditional Spiritual
Nora, let me come in; de door’s all fastened an’ de winders pinned! Just keep yo’ hand on de plow, an’ you hold on, yes you gotta hold on!
Nora, said “You lost yo’ track, you can’t plow straight an’ keep a lookin’ back.” Just keep yo’ hand on de plow, an’ you hold on, yes you gotta hold on!
Well my brother, hold on! Yes, you gotta hold on!
Just keep yo’ hand on de plow, an’ you hold on.
If you wanna get to heaven, let me tell you how: Jus’ a keep yo’ hand on de gospel plow, an’ you gotta hold on!
If dat plow stay in yo’ hand, land you straight in de promised land. Just keep yo’ hand on de plow, an’ you gotta hold on!
Well my sister, hold on!
Mary had a golden chain, an’ every link spelled my Jesus’ name. Keep on climbin’ an’ don’t you tire, ‘cause ev’ry rung goes higher an’ higher!
Just keep yo’ hand on de plow, an’ you gotta hold on!
Just hold on!
SOPRANOS
Amy Arnold Casey Bagby
Claire Berger
Hayley Conroy
Samantha Frischling
Meg Granum Gurtcheff
Lisa Hayes
Perry Houck
Audriana Johnson
Amy Kuhn
Elizabeth Lamback
Katie Leverett
Caitlin Norton
Megan Schuitema
Sylvia Ware
ALTOS
Natalie Boehnlein
Holly Botella Emily Boyle
Calissa Dauterman
Jesse Gilbert Stephanie Gilbert Jean Goffaux
Amelia Gregory
Ava Maalouf Ivy Overcash Joy Putney
Katie Schumacher
Meredith Starks
Kathryn Stone
June Webb
CHORISTERS
TENORS
Huston Collings
Michael Devine
Jon Easter
Ameya Gangal
Mark King
Ryan Koter
Bronson Lee
Paul McClung
Andrew McLeod
Garrett Pace
Sam Potts
James Ranson
Kirk Rich
Denny Shin
James Rashaad Turner
BASSES
Nick Almand
David Bonaker
Justin Bowen
Stven Carlberg
Jeffrey Clanton
Jared Duncan
Richard Holz
James Jones
Mark Lamback
Joseph Legaspi
Joseph Ripley
Wade Thomas
Stephen Van Dorn
Spence Whitehead
Ross Wilcox
AMC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Stephanie Watkins, Board Chair
Cheryl Bachelder Eric Nelson, Artistic Director
Charles Beaudrot, Counsel to the Board Raymond Payne
Sydney Cleland Alexander (Sandy) Purdie Jamie Clements Stan Segal
Sam Hagan Mary Slaughter
Tommy Herrington
Kathryn Stone, Secretary Marianna Magee Julie Thompson, Treasurer
James Verrecchia, Executive Director
ADVISORY BOARD
Rodger Herndon
H. Hamilton Smith
Dr. James T. Laney William & Carol Yadlosky
Toni Myers
Ellen & John Yates
STAFF
Eric Nelson, Artistic Director
Jonathan Easter, Pianist/Organist
James Verrecchia, Executive Director
Amy Kuhn, Administrative Manager
2022-2023
ATLANTA MASTER CHORALE has touched people’s hearts and spirits with the transformative power of choral music for more than 35 years. Renowned for our transcendent choral sound, we infuse each performance with emotional depth and a rare expressiveness as part of our mission to “inspire and enrich the lives of our community through choral artistry.” The Chorale’s exquisite blend of pitch, rhythm, text, and voice reaches beyond the stage, drawing listeners into a shared space where music touches spirit.
Our awards include the prestigious 2013 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence from Chorus America and the 2014 Prudential Leadership Award for Exceptional Nonprofit Boards presented by BoardSource. We are also the recipient of a 2018-2019 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies and 2018 recipient of a Leadership DeKalb Community Outreach Project.
Atlanta Master Chorale has performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall, and at conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Choristers Guild, and American Guild of Organists (AGO). We were also proud to be one of fewer than 30 choirs selected nationwide to perform at ACDA’s National Conference in Minneapolis, March 2017.
Our exciting repertoire has been called “the musical language of the deeper soul” and includes treasures drawn from a broad spectrum of choral music. The Chorale performs concerts in the Atlanta area and throughout the Southeast featuring music from nearly every period and genre including newly commissioned works. Our choral series, published by MorningStar Music/ECS Publishing Group, captures new repertoire premiered by the ensemble, helping to add vibrant original music to the choral field. With our dedicated board, staff, and a roster of skilled volunteer choristers, Atlanta Master Chorale is proud to be a part of the Atlanta arts community.
ERIC NELSON is artistic director of Atlanta Master Chorale and professor of choral studies at Emory University. Dr. Nelson’s choirs have performed throughout the world, including London, Rome, Berlin, Moscow, Seoul, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Sydney Opera House. He has conducted choirs at eight American Choral Directors Association conferences, including Atlanta Master Chorale’s performance at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis for the National Conference in March 2017 and the Emory Concert Choir’s performance at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall for the National Conference in 2011.
Dr. Nelson’s ensembles are characterized by their variety of repertoire and for their ability to fuse technical precision with warmth of musical expression. He appears regularly as clinician, lecturer, and guest conductor for honor choirs, conventions, symposiums, workshops, and all-state festivals.
Dr. Nelson’s choral compositions and arrangements are sung regularly by ensembles throughout the United States. He is the editor of the Atlanta Master Chorale Choral Series, published by MorningStar Music/ECS Publishing Group. His compositions are also published by Colla Voce and Ausburg Fortress. He holds degrees in voice and conducting from Houghton College, Westminster Choir College, and Indiana University.
JONATHAN EASTER, Piano, Organ | Known for his musicality and expressivity across multiple instruments, Easter is increasingly sought after as a collaborative organist and pianist. As a collaborative artist, Easter has performed at ACDA and AGO conventions at the regional and national levels. He also performs regularly with the Atlanta Master Chorale and Emory University’s Concert Choir as their accompanist and assistant conductor. As an organist, Easter has performed solo and collaborative recitals at Peachtree Road UMC; Jacoby Symphony Hall in Jacksonville, Florida; the Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Augustine, Florida; and Spivey Hall. He can be heard on multiple CDs with the Atlanta Master Chorale, University of North Florida Chamber Singers, and an upcoming CD with trumpet players from around the country. In addition to his work with choral ensembles, he has worked on multiple occasions with solo artists including world-famous mezzo-soprano, Jamie Barton.
Easter currently serves as director of fine arts and organist at Saint Mark UMC in Atlanta, a predominantly LGBTQ congregation in the heart of Midtown.
SEASON DONORS
LEGACY CIRCLE
($5,000+)
Anonymous
A & J Fund of the Ayco Charitable Foundation
Caterpillar Foundation
Sydney and Craig Cleland
Collings Family Giving Fund
Barbara and Donald Defoe
Patty Dontje
Roy and Janet Dorsey Foundation
Mrs. Cleo Mansour
Susan and James McCabe Ellen and John Yates
ACCOMPANIST CIRCLE
($2,500 – $4,999)
Charles Beaudrot Jr.
Carol and Michael Bohannon
Sandy and Tom Gay
Marti and Sam Hagan Susan and Eric Nelson
Georgia and Stan Segal Jane and Alan Stevenson Carol and Bill Yadlosky
COMPOSER CIRCLE
($1,000 – $2,499)
Anne Marie Alexander Sally Angevine
Mark Barilla
Emily and T.J. Boyle
Ted Campbell
Ray and Beth Chenault
Jamie Clements
Cindy and Gary Frischling
Toni and Hardy Gregory Doug Hand
James and Berta Laney Marianna and Alan Magee
Mary Margaret Oliver
Larry Owens and Travis Clark Simmons
Toni and Ray Payne
Elise T. Phillips
Dave and Betsy Polstra
Edith and Alexander Purdie
Mary Reilly Sally Rhoden
Beth and Mark Roberson Mary Slaughter
Hamilton and Mason Smith Kathryn Stone Anne and Don Teddlie Anthony Thomas James L. Waits Stephanie Watkins
SOLOIST CIRCLE
($500 – $999)
June Adkinson
Karen and Tommy Beman
Lua Blankenship and Dennis Kemp Ruth and Jimmy Brown Carolyn Conner
Faith and Victor Dupuis Lawrence Easter Philip Garrett Sally and Walter George Sharon and Duncan Harle Carol and Jack Head Tammy and Tommy Herrington Katheryn Klimko
Amy and Chris Kuhn
Betty Lou Land Ross Potts
John Sartain and Michael Nifong Richard Stumm
Becky and Sunny Sundquist Belva White
Jerry and Tolly Williamson Donna and Bill Woolf
CHORISTER CIRCLE
($250 – $499)
Neely and Nick Almand Mona and John Armstrong
Jon Bauer
Jan Buchanan
Sharon Cregier Margaret and Thomas Gose Betty and Travis Halford Richard Henneman
Bill Hoffman
Joanne and Richard Holz Eric Klem
Sally and George Lee Betty Lemmons
Donna and Jack McCoy Carol Morgan Anne Olson
Helen and John Patton Debra and Scott Pyron Greg and Jan Smith
Angela Verrecchia Nancy and Jim Verrecchia Drs. Jana and Brian Williams Candy and Darrel Yoder
A CAPPELLA CIRCLE
(up to $249)
Janet Abraham Karen Adams and Jeff Pickett French Arthur Family Trust Gary Beard Diana Blair Jo Ann Bowdoin-Aynsley Elaine Bradley
JD Burnett Kathleen and Bernie Cleveland Delia Coleman Susan and Jose Couvillion Sylvia and Joel Creel Jeanne Cunis-Young and Richard Young Donna and Steven Dauterman Adelia Ann Dozier
Peggy Easter Elizabeth and Robert Edge
BJ Erb and Bruce I. Crabtree III
James Farmer Janet and Donald Filip Claudia Anne Fedarko and Stephen Hadler Gayla Foscue
Samantha Frischling Christine and Ben Fuller James Green Janet Gross Meg Gurtcheff John Haberlen Susan and Tom Hagood Barbara Haig
Nancy Hamilton
Faye and Tom Hammett
Barbara Hammond
Betty and Richard Hammonds Leila Hartley and James Costlow Patty and Ken Hepburn Cynthia Hoffner
Celia Hughes Margaret Dallas Jackson Benita Johnson
Oren Johnson
The Kindly Share Fund of Thrivent Charitable Impact & Investing Bishop Joel M. Konzen, SM Joan Lankford
June Lester
Marsha and Neil Little Alison Main Kay and David Mainor Linda McPherson Arina Meeuwsen
Julene Miller Lew Miller Dorie Moore
Susan and Rhus Palumbo Hilda and Pat Patrick Tom Pitman Angelika Pohl and Stven Carlberg Janette Pratt
Teresa and Peter Psyhogios Dan and Sharon Rankin Louise Reaves
Maria Rispoli Cynthia Runyon Don Saliers
Sue Sandell
Leslie and Sunny Smith Scott Stewart
Caryn and Terry Stofko
Gayle and Robert Suggs Cheryl Sullivan Betty Watkins
KC Burgess Yakemovic Charles Zapf
