the Thiel Choir
70th Choir Reunion Concert
Saturday, July 8, 2023
7:30 p.m.
David Johnson Memorial Chapel
Thiel College, Greenville, Pennsylvania
Thiel Choir 70 th Reunion Concert
Light Everlasting .................................................................................................
Olaf C. Christiansen (1901-1984)O Light everlasting, O Love never failing. Illumine our darkness, and draw us to Thee; May we from Thy spirit receive inspiration that brethren together Thy wisdom may see. Make known to all nations! Thy salvation! Thy peace and salvation, And help us, O Father, Thy temple to be, and help us, O Father, Thy temple to be. O Light everlasting, O Love never failing, illumine our darkness and draw us to Thee.
I Will Praise Thee, O Lord ..................................................................................................
I will praise thee, Oh Lord, with my heart, I will show forth all thy marv’lous works, show forth, show forth all thy marv’lous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee, glad and rejoice, I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High, O thou most High, High, High!
Sing A Mighty Song ..................................................................................................
Singers! Awake and arise! Lift up your voices as the waves of the sea. Sing a mighty song, a mighty song. Make the very earth resound, for the Lord delights in the song of the heart. Make the earth resound, resound. Make the earth resound, make the very earth resound, For the Lord delights in the song of the heart. Sing ye! Arise! Sing ye! Arise! Arise!
Woven with melody, Thy word is sweet in my soul, sweet in my soul. In concert, confirmed in harmony, Thy yoke is easy, easy.
O, blessed am I, that I may sing my devotion. O blessed am I, that I may sing.
Woven with melody, Thy word is sweet to my soul, sweet to my soul. Thy yoke is easy, Thy yoke is easy.
Singers! Awake and arise! Lift up your voices. Sing ye! Sing ye! Let all who have breath give praise, let all who have breath give praise, For the song of the righteous is a prayer unto God. Sing alleluia, sing alleluia, Amen.
Knut Nystedt (1915-2014) Daniel E. Gawthrop (b. 1949)Sanctus .......................................................................................................................... Craig Courtney
Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabbaoth
Pleni sunt, caeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna, hosanna in excelsis.
Holy, Holy, Lord God of the Sabbath
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory
Hosanna, hosanna in the highest.
Blest is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna, hosanna in the highest.
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Salmo 150 (“Psalm 150”)................................................................................................... Ernani Aguiar (b. 1950)
Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus
Laudate eum in firmamento virtutis ejus
Praise the Lord in his sacred places
Praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts, praise eum secundum multitudinis ejus. Him according to his excellent greatness.
Laudate eum in virtutibus ejus: Laudate
Laudate eum in sono tubae
Laudate eum in psalterio et cithara
Laudate eum in tympano et choro
Laudate eum in chordis et organo
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet,
Praise him with psaltery and the harp.
Praise him with the timbrel and the dance
Praise him with strings and pipes.
Praise him with high-sounding cymbals, Laudate eum in cymbalis jubilationis
Laudate eum in cymbalis benesonantibus
Praise him with cymbals of joy:
Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord!
Wedding Cantata ...................................................................................................... Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006)
II: Many Waters
Many waters cannot quench love.
III. Awake, O North Wind
Song of Songs 8:7
Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices may flow out, that the spices flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits.
Song of Songs 4:16
Les Chansons des Rose
Dirait-on .........................................................................................................
Morten Johannes Lauridsen (b. 1943)
Abandon surrounding abandon, tendresse touchant aux tendresses tenderness touching tenderness… C’est ton interieur qui sans cesse Your oneness endlessly Se caresse, dirait-on; caresses itself, so they say; se caresse en soi-meme, self-caressing par son propre reflet eclaire. through its own clear reflection. Ainsi tu inventes le theme Thus you invent the theme du Narcisse exauce. of Narcissus fulfilled.
Abandon entoure d’abandon,
Zion’s Walls .............................................................adapted by Aaron Copland (1900-1990) arr. by Glenn Koponen
Come fathers and mothers, come sisters and brothers, Come join us in singing the praises of Zion.
O fathers don’t you feel determined to meet within the walls of Zion. We’ll shout and go round, we’ll shout and go round the walls of Zion.
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Rockin’ Jerusalem ................................................................................. text and music by Andre Thomas (b. 1952)
I hear rockin’ in the land! Rockin’ in the land and ring in dem bells. I know Oh my Lord, there’s rockin’ in the land, rockin’ in the land and ring in dem bells. I know archangels ring dem bells. Oh I hear dem ring in for they are rockin’ Jerusalem. Oh Mary, Oh Martha, Oh Mary ring dem bells. I hear archangels a ringin’ dem bells. Church getting higher, higher Jerusalem ring dem bells!
Don’t you hear the bells a ringin’, don’t you hear dem ringin’ dem bells! Rockin‘ in the land, the land rockin’, rockin’ Jerusalem ringin’ dem bells! I hear rockin’ in the land, rockin’ in the land and ringin’ dem bells!
Beautiful Savior ............................................................... Silesian folk tune Arr. F. Melius Christiansen (1871-1955)
Fair are the meadows, fairer the woodlands, robed in flow’rs of blooming spring; Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, He makes our sorrowing spirit sing.
Beautiful Savior! Lord of the nations! Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, praise, adoration, now and forever more be Thine.
May God Bless and Keep You ....................................................................................
May God bless and keep you till we meet aagain; May God walk beside you, all your griefs to bear, May God’s arms enfold you, keep you safe with tender care, May God bless and keep you till we meet again.
Angel hosts protect you till we meet again; May they gently lead you where the quiet waters flow, Guide you through the meadows where the fragrant flowers grow; Angel hosts protect you till we meet again. May God bless and keep you till we meet again.
Robert Wetzler ’54 (b. 1932)Since its founding in 1953 by Marlowe W. Johnson, Ph.D., H’02, the Thiel Choir has enjoyed a long-standing reputation among college choirs in the U.S. Conducting on tonight’s concert is Dr. Michael Bray. Bray joined Thiel College in 1996 as the director of choral activities and became the sixth conductor in the history of the choir. During his 21 years at the college, he oversaw the work of the Thiel Choir, the Thiel College Chamber Singers, and the Thiel College Handbell Ringers, while also providing private instruction in voice and teaching world music and music history. Bray retired in the spring of 2017. The accompanist for the concert is Lori Seinar-Rocknick. She received her Master of Music degree from Western Michigan University in Piano Performance and holds the Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Accompanying from The Dana School of Music, Y.S.U. Lori is currently Director of Music Ministries at Zion's Reformed United Church of Christ, Greenville, Pa and teaches within the Farrell Area School District.
Please join us for a reception following the concert.
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Thiel Choir Directors
Marlowe W. Johnson, Ph.D., H’02 (1953-1984)
B.A., 1949, Concordia College; M.M., 1952 Univ. of Michigan; Ph.D., 1968, Univ. of Iowa
Tod M. Trimble, D.M.A. (1984-1992)
B.A., 1977, Millikin Univ; M.A. 1982, Univ. of Denver; M.S.; D.M.A., 1988, Univ. of Illinois.
Paul D. Weber, D.M.A. (1992-1993)
B.A., 1971 Concordia College; M.M., 1974 Washington Univ. M.M., 1979 Yale; D.M.A., 1988, Univ. of Iowa.
Danual E. Forsberg (1993-1994)
B.A., 1975, Westminster College; M.A., 1978, Eastern Kentucky Univ.
James D. Hanson, D.M.A. (1994-1996)
B.A., 1958, La Sierra Univ; M.M., 1967, Univ. of Puget Sound; D.M.A., 1979 George Peabody Col-lege
Michael R. Bray, D.M.A. (1996-2017)
B.A., 1975, Univ. of Northern Colorado; M.M., 1991, Univ. of Arizona; D.M.A., 1993, Univ. of Ari-zona.
Julie Neish, D.M.A. (2017-2019)
B.S. 2006, Brigham Young Univ., M.M. 2009, George Mason Univ.; D.M.A., 2017, Arizona State
Thomas Wininger, D.M.A. (2019-2020)
B.A. Wartburg College; M.A. Univ. of Nevada; D.M.A., 2019, University of Arizona.
Nicholas Samson, M.M. (2020-2022)
B.A. Youngstown State Univ.; M.M. Youngstown State Univ.
Brianne Samson, M.M. (2022-Present)
B.A. Youngstown State Univ.; M.M. Youngstown State Univ.
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70th anniversary reunion choir
ALTO
Cheryl (Marshall) Bundy ’14
Kristi Chapman ’72
Linda (Jagger) Comm ’85
Marissa Damon ’15
Tina (Almgren) Darling ’99
Betsy (Hankey) Fackler ’68
Carolyn Forbes ’92
Audra Franley ’17
Jessica Gahr ’08
Erin Hampton ’06
Jaime (Kirchhofer) Harper ’11
Katelyn (Exler) Hill ’10
Lori (Robertson) Hinson ’92
Helen (McCullough) Hopkinson ’57
Erika Jones ’02
Danielle Jordan ’05
Hannah (Smith) Keeling ’08
Cynthia (Leister) Kelly ’77
Pam (Royce) Kusserow ’85
Cathy (Anawalt) Lippert ’90
Joanne (Gable) Marrs ’85
Abby McCarthy ’12
Karen (Spence) McCullough ’65
Vickie (Boyer) McKee ‘11
Sara Merkle ’16
Beverly (Anawalt) Miller ’87
Amanda (Harper) Murdy ’08
Dora (Sellers) Park ’58
Katherine (Orczeck) Peese ’18
Jenyfer Pegg ’21
Alesha (Shatley) Postlewait ’15
Mary Ann (Brown) Reimer ’57
Jody (Lee) Roess ’89
Carla (Colangelo) Ruffennach ’87
Erin (Baumann) Shaffer ’99
Rebecca Stumpf ’76
Jennifer Swartz ’07
Jamie Ulrich ’18
Ruth (Burns) Walkup ’84
Brianna Walkup ’18
Lisa (Mancuso) Wheeler ’87
SOPRANOS
Maggie Babinka-Repic ’08
Renee Bair ’99
Sarah Barefoot ’08
Donna (Greenwood) Brewster ’66
Judi (Alexander) Brown ’69
Michaela Brown ’23
Sue (Littell) Dahl ’75
Cynthia (Sikora) Gabbard ’86
Mary Greenwood
Elizabeth Koerner ’16
Tina (Kramer) Krolikowski ’18
Annie (Camp) LeMar ’12
Lindsay Love ’11
Janet (Scofield) McClintock ’64
Caroline (Stumpf) Mendis ’70
Ella Michaelsen ’06
Elizabeth (Martin) Mulligan ’11
Amy (Myers) Noble ’83
Sharon (Wilson) Nystrom ’73
Deanna (Betz) Painter ’79
Dora (Sellers) Park ’58
Susan (Chaney) Peck ’88
Jennifer Rickens ’17
Heather (Blose) Ruth ’98
Amanda (Lichtenwalner) Scaife ’09
Meghan Speer ’02
Barbara (Euwer) Spiri ’76
Jan (Kume) Steinman ’79
Jessica Suba ’98
Tylor Takacs ’18
Rev. Emilie Theobald-Rowlands ’04
Allyson Waldon ’08
Amanda Zimmerman ’17
BASS
Eric Dahl ’75
Brian Evans ’03
Todd Hoitink ’78
Josh Kenst ’18
Kurt Kusserow ’85
Ralph Kusserow ’58
Nathan Leard ’04
Roy Lloyd ’65
Hubert McCarthy ’13
Fred McCullough ’65
Benjamin Pouliot ’11
Nick Scaife ’08
Sam Sesti ’18
Robert Smith ’55
James Stough ’62
Jason Thomas ’11
Raymond Wick ’62
TENORS
Philip Catlin ’80
Stephen Catlin ’08
Joel Egyud ’04
Philip Greenwood ’69
Anna (Schultz) Grimm ’03
Robert Hawk ’64
Steven Hill ’08
Andrew Joos ’87
Brian Kightlinger ’93
John Marrs ’83
Michael McCullough ’87
Stephen Nesbitt ’08
Robert Olson ’58
Jonathan Papa ’18
Blake Peese ’19
Regis Wagner ’13
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Special Thanks to:
Office of College Advancement
Special Events Office Staff
Thiel College Maintenance Staff
Thiel College AVI Food Services
John Hauser ’71 H’20, Thiel College Archivist
David Hummel ’83, Director of Alumni Relations
Thiel College Environmental Services
Thanks for everyone’s efforts to make this weekend a success!
Upcoming Events:
Homecoming Weekend – September 29 - October 1
Homecoming Worship Service – Sunday, October 1 (choir alumni invited to sing)
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Scan QR Tommy to view the digital program.
