THE SOUTHERN CHORALE BALTIC TOUR
GREGORY FULLER, CONDUCTOR
FEATURING THE MUSIC OF TÕNU KÕRVITS
HATTIESBURG, MISSISSIPPI, USA – DECEMBER 13, 2022
BAY STREET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
RIGA, LATVIA – JANUARY 8, 2023 JANA BAZNICA (ST. JOHN’S CHURCH)
VILJANDI, ESTONIA – JANUARY 9, 2023 VILJANDI BAPTISTIKOGUDUS (BAPTIST CHURCH)
TARTU, ESTONIA – JANUARY 10, 2023
PAULUSE KIRIK (ST. PAUL’S CHURCH)
TALLINN, ESTONIA – JANUARY 11, 2023
JAANI KIRIK (ST. JOHN’S CHURCH)
LAULASMAA, ESTONIA – JANUARY 13, 2023
ARVO PÄRT CENTRE
MONTESERRAT, SPAIN – JANUARY 15, 2023
SANTA MARIA DE MONTSERRAT ABBEY
GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI, USA – JANUARY 28, 2023
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ARTS UNDER THE DOME CONCERT SERIES
THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
program selected from the following
The Music of Tõnu Kõrvits
Canticle of the Sun (2014) text by St. Francis of Assisi written for the Southern Chorale, Gregory Fuller, conductor II. Brother Sun III. Sister Moon XI. Sister Death
Skysongs (2021) poetry by Emily Dickinson written for Ellerhein and Vox Clamantis
I. A Slash of Blue II. The Sky is Low III. There is Another Sky
St. Michael Songs (2021) poetry by Emily Dickinson written for the Southern Chorale, Gregory Fuller and the St. Michael Catholic Church in Biloxi, MS.
I. on this wondrous sea II. if I can stop one heart from breaking III. An Hour is a Sea IV. My River runs to thee V. Adrift! A little boat adrift! VI. our journey had advanced
Music from the Americas
Ave Maria (1965) Alyton Escobar
Prayer of St. Patrick (2006) Ross C. Bernhardt
Death Came A-Knockin’ (2020) Traditional arranged by Ruthie Foster transcribed and arranged by Paul Rardin
Get Away Jordan (2014) Traditional Spiritual arranged by Stacey V. Gibbs
Georgia on My Mind (2022) Hoagy Charmichael (1899-1981) arranged by Tripp Carter
Ezekiel (2015)
Traditional Spiritual arranged by Stacey V. Gibbs
4
SOPRANO I
THE SOUTHERN CHORALE
SOPRANO II
ALTO I
ALTO II
Kaitlin Walley Brown
G. Andersen
Kalyn Bales
Hannah Craig MM Choral Conducting BS English MM Choral Conducting BA Public Relations Hattiesburg, MS Bloomfield, NM Stringer, MS Long Beach, MS
Sadie Graham
Kathlyn Arcemont
Mackenzie Kuykendoll Kristen Baisley
Katie Evans
Caitlyn P. Dixon BME Choral/Vocal BME Choral/Vocal BME Choral/Vocal DMA Choral Conducting Long Beach, MS Madison, MS Decatur, MS Spruce Creek, PA
Sarah Hamman MV
Ferniany
BM Voice DMA Choral Conducting MM Voice BME Choral/Vocal Memphis, TN Palos Heights, IL Connellsville, PA Mobile, AL
Bonnie Littlejohn
Danielle Nash
Bayleigh Batchelor
Lexi Hannah Sarah Kwas BM Piano BME Choral/Vocal, BM Voice BME Choral/Vocal BA Art New Albany, MS Mobile, AL Morton, MS Oxford, MS
Mary Carol Dassau
Anna Kate Long
Heather
Klayman
BME Choral/Vocal BA Voice BME Choral/Vocal BME Choral/Vocal Long Beach, MS Helena, AL Long Beach, MS Daytona Beach, FL
Erin Smith Katie Huey
Tara Piggott Kahia Rupert BA Voice BS Biomedical Sciences BME Choral/Vocal BME Choral/Vocal Collierville, TN Long Beach, MS Mobile, AL Meridian, MS
Rachel Walley
Olivia Jane Tuck
Kayla Tweedy
Krys Taylor BME Choral/Vocal BM Voice BME Choral/Vocal BME Choral/Vocal Hattiesburg, MS New Orleans, LA Petal, MS Hurley, MS
TENOR I
Elias Anderson
Emmanuel Carney
Laurel Lukes
Margaret Westbrook Skye Tobias BA English BA Speech Pathology BME Choral/Vocal Long Beach, MS Green Bay, WI Pascagoula, MS
TENOR II
BASS I BASS II
Lee Fortner
Avery
T. Hanson
Brian Alston
Donald Aaron III MM Clarinet BME Choral/Vocal BME Choral/Instrumental MM Choral Conducting Idaho Falls, Idaho Port Gibson, MS Gulfport, MS Atoka, OK
Edison Brown III
Dakota Andrews
BME Choral/Vocal BME Choral/Instrumental Ripley, TN Fairhope, AL Clinton, MS Richland, MS
BME Choral/Instrumental BS/BA International Business
Logan Graham
Hunter King
Colin
Bruff
Holton
Johnson
BME Choral/Vocal MM Choral Conducting Long Beach, MS Picayune, MS Brandon, MS Gulfport, MS
BME Choral/Vocal BME Choral/Vocal
Will Griswold
Reagan Milliet
Cameron Harris
Garret Johnston
BME Choral/Vocal BME Instrumental/Percussion Ocean Springs, MS Long Beach, MS Brandon, MS Union, MS
DMA Choral Conducting BS Biological Sciences
Hanif Lawrence
Jeremy Moore
Nolan Lee
Kenneth Zacharia Koch
BME Choral/Vocal BS Entertainment Arts Management Kingston, Jamaica Prairie, MS Purvis, MS Hattiesburg, MS
MM Choral Conducting MMEd Choral
Derek Meler
Hutson Rollins
Marcos Rodriguez
Quintin C. Powell
BME Choral BME Choral/Vocal Nashville, TN Gulfport, MS Palm Bay, FL Clinton, MS
MM Choral Conducting BA Voice
Jeremiah Williams
Miguel Valadez-Sanchez
Connor Schuster
BME Choral/Vocal BME Choral/Vocal MM Choral Conducting Georgetown, Guyana Richland, MS Clarkston, MI
Text and Notes
Canticle of the Sun Brother Sun
Be praised, my Lord, through all Your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and You give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of You, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Sister Moon
Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens. You have made them bright, precious and beautiful.
Sister Death
Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Happy those she finds doing Your most holy will. The second death can do no harm to them.
Skysongs
A Slash of Blue
A slash of Blue A sweep of Gray
Some scarlet patches on the way, Compose an Evening Sky A little purple slipped between Some Ruby Trousers hurried on A Wave of Gold A Bank of Day
The Sky is Low
The sky is low, the clouds are mean, A travelling flake of snow Across a barn or through a rut Debates if it will go.
A narrow wind complains all day How someone treated him, Nature, like us, is sometimes caught Without her diadem.
There is Another Sky
There is another sky, Ever serene and fair, And there is another sunshine, Though it be darkness there; Never mind faded forests, Austin, Never mind silent fields Here is a little forest, Whose leaf is ever green; Here is a brighter garden, Where not a frost has been, in its unfading flowers I hear the bright be hum: Prithee, my brother, Into my garden come!
St. Michael Songs on
this wondrous sea
On this wondrous sea, Sailing silently, Ho! Pilot, ho!
Knowest thou the shore Where no breakers roar Where the storm is o’er?
In the silent west Many sails at rest, Their anchors fast; Thither I pilot thee, Land, ho! Eternity! Ashore at last!
The poem begins by creating a metaphor, “Wondrous Sea,” for this world, in which one is tempest tossed and uncertain of the way to safety. The subject then suddenly cries out: "Ho! Pilot, ho!" and then demands to know where there is safety, where there are no trials and one can find rest.
As the "sea" is a metaphor for the world, the "Pilot" is the metaphor for the Creator steering this ship through this confusing place. There is an appeal to God for an answer to the question, is there anywhere that can offer peace to the poor soul who must navigate the churning waters of this world?
In that “silent west,” one can cease constant struggle. One can feel secure with "anchors fast," unlike the constant tossing back and forth from the sea. The Creator then assures that He is leading to safety, with the words, "Thither I pilot thee." Then suddenly, the coveted land is in sight, and the land is "Eternity!" With the words “Ashore at last!” immortality and peace are now in place.
if I can stop one heart from breaking
If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.
The text talks about a love so deep that it places others before self. The poet would happily spend her life helping those who suffer from heartbreak, deep sadness, and despair. By wishing to help a “fainting robin” back into the nest, she reveals her vulnerable and sensitive side.
It is a message of kindness and compassion that one human should afford another human without the need for display or drama. A life that is devoted to another's welfare is a life well-lived. Emily Dickinson spent most of her adult life shut away from the world, where she attended to her ill mother and the affairs of her home.
If you look around, you will find that you, too, are surrounded by those who have taken care of you. They could be your friends, parents, teachers, or loved ones. Find the opportunity to thank these blessed souls. Reflect on Dickinson’s words and consider finding the opportunity to help another person. Helping another person to redeem their life could help you redeem yours
An Hour is a Sea
An Hour is a Sea
Between a few, and me With them would Harbor be
Emily Dickinson never fails in her ability to be descriptive in a few words. The declaration “An Hour is a Sea” could either describe life as interminable repetition, or as far too short. Dickinson might be suggesting that you can’t really keep track of time.
One could detect longing and fear, yet there is an underlying hope. In ways, the speaker seems to use the hope of the friends as a map to guide into the harbor. The text could be paraphrased, “I feel endlessly lost without your company.” This poem works as a powerful way of saying “I hope to see you again.”
The moment of safety is not played out in the poem. While the speaker knows the harbor exists, whether they reach the harbor or make the effort is not indicated. Will they fall short and die at sea, or will they even try to reach the harbor? The answer must come from the reader and will possibly reveal more about them than the poet.
My River runs to thee
My River runs to thee Blue Sea! Will welcome me?
My River waits reply. O Sea, look graciously! I’ll fetch thee Brooks From spotted nooks, Say, Sea, Take Me!
As with so many of Dickinson’s poems, this one carries an arresting opening line, and reminds us that the river and the sea are endlessly linked in one great cycle.
Throughout, Emily Dickinson creates a relationship with a river asking to be accepted and “taken” by the sea. Is she asking for God to accept her? As if signing a formal letter, the “River waits reply.” As if someone is asking a great favor, the River hopes the “Sea” will be “gracious.”
Dickinson engages with themes of nature and relationships. As the river, in all its power, asks to be taken in by the far more powerful sea, it also offers to “fetch” some smaller “Brooks” along the way, as if these smaller water channels are a sort of dowry which the river is proposing to bring to the union.
The poem ends with a playful plea: “Say Sea – take Me?”
Adrift! A little boat adrift!
Adrift! A little boat adrift!
And night is coming down!
Will no one guide a little boat Unto the nearest town?
So Sailors say on yesterday
Just as the dusk was brown One little boat gave up its strife And gurgled down and down.
So angels say on yesterday Just as the dawn was red One little boat o’er spent with gales Retrimmed its masts redocked its sails And shot exultant on!
Dickinson metaphorically compares the human being to a "little boat" floating without a guide on the sea of life. The poem begins with an exclamation revealing that danger is on the horizon in the form of a boat floating about unguided. To make matters worse, nightfall is fast approaching. The cry for assistance comes in the form of a question, “Will no one guide a little boat unto the nearest town?” The sailors report that the vessel simply "gave up" at dusk because it could not overcome its "strife."
The reader will detect what seems to be a contradiction in the poem, because we have two competing versions of what happens to the little boat. Sailors, seeing human death, say the vessel sank. Angels, seeing eternal life, say that the little boat fixed itself and "shot on” exultantly.
As a soul floundering with death at hand, Dickinson paints the sorrowful scene with the description of the boat as it “gurgled down and down.” But even as the soul was tired and defeated by the storms of life, it managed to transform as it “Retrimmed its masts redocked its sails ." The final sounds reflect a triumphant journey beyond the storms to Eternity.
our journey had advanced
Our journey had advanced; Our feet were almost come To that odd fork in Being’s road, Eternity by term.
Our pace took sudden awe, Our feet reluctant led. Before were cities, but between, The forest of the dead.
Retreat was out of hope, Behind, a sealed route, Eternity’s white flag before, And God at every gate.
Dickinson describes this journey and transition from life to death. They had moved through life until at death they faced “that odd Fork in Being’s Road” eternity looming ahead. But the fork is not where life continues one way and death/eternity goes the other. They could not turn back to life as “Retreat was out of Hope.” That way was “sealed.” They must move forward. So, the pilgrims are standing in dread at that fork.
The second stanza suggests that the people pause in shock of the inevitable path before them. Having to walk through the “forest of the dead” suggests that the people will have to pass through death before reaching a final destination of heaven or hell, giving insight to the phrase “Our feet reluctant led.” One scholar suggests that the poet signals that regardless of one’s faith experience, everyone faces this same journey at the end of their lives.
The last two lines possibly indicate the sort of joy a lost sailor would feel upon seeing a lighthouse showing the way to harbor. The “white flag” of truce symbolizes the release of “Eternity” with “God – at every gate,” welcoming the dead.
Ave Maria
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, Blessed art thou among women, et benedicta frutus ventris tui, Jesu. and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Holy Mary, Mother of God, ora pro nobis peccatoribus. pray for us sinners, Nunc it in hora mortis nostrae. Amen now and in the hour of our death. Amen.
Prayer of St. Patrick
Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ above me, Christ below me, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I arise. I arise today through God’s pow’r to pilot me. God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me. Christ in the heart of ev’ry one who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of ev’ry one who speaks of me, Christ in ev’ry eye that sees me, Christ in ev’ry ear that hears me. O Christ be with me, Christ within me.
TÕNU KÕRVITS (1969) is a shining star of Estonian contemporary music. Beside Veljo Tormis’s shamanistic spells, Erkki-Sven Tüür’s energetic explosions, and Arvo Pärt’s religious contemplations, Kõrvits’s sound world stands out as highly poetic, full of visionary fantasies. His music carries the listener along on hypnotic journeys through the landscapes of nature and folk tradition, human soul, and subconscious.
His oeuvre includes all traditional genres from orchestral and instrumental music to choral music and operas. Currently, the list of his compositions contains more than 230 opuses. Figurative titles of his works often reflect romantic or mythological allegories. Breathing song-like expression is the core of his personal idiom, reflecting delicate breeze from jazz and popular music. By its nature, Kõrvits’s idiom can be called “magic impressionism.”
Kõrvits is a marvelous expert on the orchestra and a master of instrumentation, able to tune into the character of each instrument and to translate it into music. His sound fantasies bring into being worlds with an extra special atmosphere, which may include references to Romanticism from Schubert to Mahler, impressionist reflections à la Debussy, Ravel and Scriabin, not to mention the rational vigor of Stravinsky. These combine organically into Kõrvits’ own unique orchestral style. The composer has said that, in addition to the string orchestra, he finds the orchestral matrix from Beethoven’s era to offer the most flexibility for him.
Songs and the melodiousness of his orchestral music hint at the environment in which Kõrvits grew up –amongst pop- and rock music and the newest records acquired by his musician father Tõnis Kõrvits. Perhaps this is the reason why the composer likes compositions of the length of a rock song, whether as a separate piece or in a cyclical formation. Even the frequent appearance of the hymn genre in his works can be linked to rock music – namely, rock anthems. His tendency to use flageolet sounds calls to mind the typical vocal falsetto style of rock music. The Blues is also among his favorite genres. Its melodic strategies, sequences of harmony and its yearning character have deeply impacted the composer’s works.
Tõnu Kõrvits started composing in 1990s in neo-romantic style. In 2000nds, orchestral works with more elaborated sound canvas were composed, searching for synthesis of archaic and exotic melodies, such as “The Sign of Love” (2002), “Eldorado” (2002), “Safra” (2005) for piano and string orchestra, "Tsirgutii" (Milky Way, 2005) for flute and string orchestra, and others. In 2000s, Kõrvits has also composed a series of works reflecting the imagery of the mythical Northern land Thule, an archaic
prototype of Estonia – such as "Sung into the Wind" (2006) for symphony orchestra and Elegies of Thule (2007) for string orchestra. Kõrvits’s poetic idiom has achieved extreme power of expression in chamber operas My Swans, My Thoughts (2005) and Firegarden (2006). In 2013, the two-act opera Butterfly was composed after Andrus Kivirähk’s novel. Kõrvits’s excellent melodic gift is evident in his numerous works for solo instruments. He is also known as an accomplished arranger of popular music and author of soundtracks for documentaries and animation films. For the soundtrack to the film "The Little Comrade," he was awarded as the best composer in the Estonian Film and Television Awards in 2019.
In last decade, Kõrvits has composed remarkable works being still inspired by Estonian and Northern traditional culture, religious, and pantheistic subtexts – Kreek’s Notebook (2007) for mixed choir and string orchestra, based on Estonian sacred folk tunes (collected by Estonian composer Cyrillus Kreek), Hymns from the Western Coast (2009) for mixed choir and saxophone quartet, Seven Dreams of Seven Birds (2009/2012) for cello, mixed choir and string orchestra (text by Maarja Kangro and Tõnu Kõrvits), Canticle of the Sun (2014, text by Saint Francis of Assisi written for the USM Southern Chorale), Stabat Mater (2014) for mixed choir (written for The Sixteen), Nocturanus (2019) for strings, tuned gongs and tape, and To the Moonlight for symphony orchestra (2020).
His two large elegiac cycles for choir and strings - Moorland Elegies (based on the poems of Emily Brontë) and You are Light and Morning (based on the poems of Cesare Pavese) have been loved warmly by the music audiences around the world. In May 2022, the third cycle, The Sound of Wings (poems by Doris Kareva), will be premiered in Tallinn. The USM Southern Chorale performed the American premiere of Moorland Elegies in Carnegie Hall in 2019.
His music has been released under the Edition of Contemporary Music (ECM) Label (Mirror, 2016) and Ondine label (Moorland Elegies, 2017. Hymns to the Nordic Lights 2020 and Sei la luce e il mattino 2020). The composer's CD Moorland Elegies was given the Estonian Music Award in the category of Classical Album of the Year 2017 and was also in the top 3 classical albums of United States National Public Radio (NPR) One of the most recent pieces, You are Light and Morning, (2019) had its Italian premiere in the MITO 2021 festival in Torino and Milano.
Music of Tõnu Kõrvits has been performed at several festivals in European countries, USA, Australia, Canada, and Russia. His works belong to the repertoire of the most important Estonian orchestras, choirs and artists, and have been performed by noted foreign collectives like BBC Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Choir, The Sixteen Choir, The USM Southern Chorale, and many others.
As a talented and prolific creator, Tõnu Kõrvits has gained recognition from the Estonian state and cultural institutions a number of times, among them the Annual Prize of the Endowment for Music of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia in 2004, 2014, and 2020, the Annual Music Prize of the Estonian Music Council in 2007, and the Cultural Prize of the Republic of Estonia in 2011 and 2016. Estonian Public Broadcasting chose Kõrvits as the Musician of the Year 2015. Since 2015, Tõnu Kõrvits is an honorary citizen of Clarksdale, Mississippi for his music through which he has brought honor to Clarksdale, The Delta, and to the preservation of the Blues. In 2016, Kõrvits was given the Order of the White Star Third Class. In 2018, Tõnu Kõrvits was given the Lepo Sumera Award for his music.
EMILY DICKINSON was a reclusive American poet. Unrecognized in her own time, Dickinson is known posthumously for her innovative use of form and syntax.
Emily Dickinson left school as a teenager, eventually living a reclusive life on the family homestead. There, she secretly created bundles of poetry and wrote hundreds of letters. Due to a discovery by sister, Dickinson's remarkable work was published after her death on May 15, 1886, in Amherst, and she is now considered one of the towering figures of American literature.
Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her family had deep roots in New England. Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was well known as the founder of Amherst College. Her father worked at Amherst and served as a state legislator. He married Emily Norcross in 1828, and the couple had three children: William Austin, Emily, and Lavinia Norcross.
An excellent student, Dickinson was educated at Amherst Academy (now Amherst College) for seven years and then attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for a year. Though the precise reasons for Dickinson's final departure from the academy in 1848 are unknown, theories offered say that her fragile emotional state may have played a role, and that her father decided to pull her from the school.
Dickinson began writing as a teenager. Her early influences include Leonard Humphrey, principal of Amherst Academy, and a family friend named Benjamin Franklin Newton, who sent Dickinson a book of poetry by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In 1855, Dickinson ventured outside of Amherst, as far as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, she befriended a minister named Charles Wadsworth, who would also become a cherished correspondent.
Among her peers, Dickinson's closest friend and adviser was a woman named Susan Gilbert. In 1856, Gilbert married Dickinson's brother, William. The Dickinson family lived on a large home known as the Homestead in Amherst. After their marriage, William and Susan settled in a property next to the Homestead known as the Evergreens. Emily and sister Lavinia served as chief caregivers for their ailing mother until she passed away in 1882. Neither Emily nor her sister ever married and lived together at the Homestead until their respective deaths.
Dickinson's seclusion during her later years has been the object of much speculation. Scholars have thought that she suffered from conditions such as agoraphobia, depression, and anxiety, or may have been sequestered due to her responsibilities as guardian of her sick mother. Dickinson was also treated for a painful ailment of her eyes. After the mid-1860s, she rarely left the confines of the Homestead. It was also around this time, from the late 1850s to mid-'60s, that Dickinson was most productive as a poet, creating small bundles of verse known as fascicles without any awareness on the part of her family members. In her spare time, Dickinson studied botany and produced a vast herbarium. She also maintained correspondence with a variety of contacts.
Dickinson died of heart failure in Amherst, Massachusetts, on May 15, 1886, at the age of 55. She was laid to rest in her family plot at West Cemetery. The Homestead where Dickinson was born is now a museum.
Very little of Dickinson's work was published at the time of her death, and the few works that were published were edited and altered to adhere to conventional standards of the time. Unfortunately, much of the power of Dickinson's unusual use of syntax and form was lost in the alteration. After her sister's
death, Lavinia discovered hundreds of poems that Dickinson had crafted over the years. The first volume of these works was published in 1890. A full compilation, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, wasn't published until 1955, though previous iterations had been released.
GREGORY FULLER is a Professor of Music and the Director of Choral Activities at The University of Southern Mississippi. He conducts the Southern Chorale and the Hattiesburg Choral Union, teaches graduate conducting courses, and supervises candidates in the master’s and doctoral conducting program. Previously, professor Fuller held conducting appointments at The University of Missouri in Columbia and Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa.
Fuller began musical training at age three in the graded choir program administrated by his father, a lifetime church musician. He was proficient with melodic and rhythmic reading as he began primary grades. Trained on piano and strings in elementary school, he added winds and voice in high school. Throughout his education, Fuller remained active in all areas participating in many genres and ensemble types including orchestra, chamber music, concert choir, concert band, marching band, jazz band, and barbershop. That diversity helped prepare him for orchestral, wind, or choral podium as he completed music education credentials in instrumental and vocal music. He began graduate work in conducting at The University of Missouri. Soon after, he began teaching undergraduate choral conducting and was granted conducting positions with The Women’s Chorus and the Concert Choir. In the spring of 1988, he was chosen to prepare the Missouri University Singers, the top mixed ensemble, for the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) convention in Indianapolis as a sabbatical replacement. The next year, Fuller received his first full-time academic appointment as Director of Choral Activities at The University of Missouri in Columbia
Fuller has appeared as a conductor or clinician in 25 different countries and 30 states. His performance record includes 15 refereed (blind audition) invitations, including podium appearances at the national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Music Educators National Conference (MENC), and the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), along with numerous state and regional convention appearances. Dr. Fuller has organized and executed over 60 tours, including more than 30 international trips to three continents. Included in that travel portfolio are many concert tours, study groups, pilgrimages, and four conducting symposiums for his choral graduate students in Estonia, Salt Lake City, Russia, and Sweden. He has served the Mississippi Chapter of American Choral Directors Association as College and University Chair, Convention Site Coordinator, and President.
Dr. Fuller has remained active as a conductor in orchestral and wind settings. To date, he has appeared with professional or university instrumental ensembles on over 100 occasions. He has become known as a champion of new extended works. He has conducted national or world premieres of eleven new extended works in the last two decades, including recent performances of St. Michael Songs & Skysongs by Tõnu Kõrvits and Stabat Mater by Richard Burchard. Fuller has helped prepare orchestral choruses for more than 40 important performances, including presentations with the St. Louis Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Mobile Symphony, Pensacola Symphony, Sioux City Symphony, Mississippi Symphony, Gulf Cost Symphony, and the outstanding Orchestras and Wind Ensembles at the University of Missouri and the University of Southern Mississippi. In five seasons as conductor of the Sioux City Municipal Band (formerly the Monahan Post Band, a 100-year tradition), he hosted many successful artists, including internationally acclaimed horn player, Michael Thompson.
Fuller has served a variety of different roles with community choruses and in churches, starting as a graduate assistant with the Choral Union in Columbia at the University of Missouri, where he eventually premiered Phroheta Lucis, by John Cheetham, a choral-orchestral work commissioned for the University’s Sesquicentennial Gala Concert. In Sioux City, he quickly expanded the resources, membership, and audience of the Siouxland Master Chorale, culminating in several tours and a short residency in Yamanashi City, Japan, including a performance on Japanese National Public Television. The Choral Union at Southern Miss is the primary orchestral chorus for The University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. Among regular performances of substantive oratorio, in 2007, they were a partner with the Mississippi Arts Commission presenting state-wide performances honoring Mississippi composer William Grant Still. In addition, the Choral Union performed The Prodigal, oratorio by Mack Wilberg, by blind audition at the American Choral Directors Association Mississippi State Convention Mississippi in 2015. While in Iowa, Fuller worked closely with the Catholic Diocese of Northwest Iowa in planning and executing music for Episcopal liturgies. This included the rededication of the Cathedral of the Epiphany and the ordination of Bishop Daniel DiNardo, now Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of the Galveston-Houston Diocese. Fuller is currently the choirmaster at Parkway Heights United Methodist in Hattiesburg.
Gregory Fuller grew up and attended public school in historic Jefferson City, state capitol of Missouri. He attended Oklahoma Baptist University, in Shawnee, then returned to Missouri to complete masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Missouri and remains a loyal Tiger fan. Among his significant mentors and teachers are James Fuller, James Woodward, Duncan Couch, Michael Cox, Michael Budds, John Cheetham, Nancy Hill Cobb, and Carolyn Hamlin. He has participated in workshops and master classes with Robert Shaw, Sir David Wilcocks, John Rutter, Jere Lantz, John Paynter, and Col. John R. Bourgeois.
THE SOUTHERN CHORALE has a long history of excellence at Southern Miss, the most comprehensive School of Music in Mississippi. Membership consists primarily of junior and senior voice majors and graduate students in voice and conducting. The ensemble has been chosen by blind/refereed audition to perform at state, regional, and national conferences on fifteen occasions over the past eighteen years, including two national conventions and three regional conventions. In addition, the Chorale has been featured at festivals or concert series in South Korea, Norway, Sweden, Jamaica, Romania, Hungary, Mexico, Austria, The Czech Republic, France, England, and throughout the United States since 2003. The Chorale has participated in many important premieres of new oratorio and extended works. In addition to this international concert tour, the Southern Chorale has been invited to appear at the Michigan chapter of the American Choral Directors Association State Convention next October.
SOUTHERN MISS CHORAL ACTIVITIES
Gregory Fuller, PhD, Professor & Director
Jonathan Kilgore, DMA, Assistant Professor & Associate Director Jennifer Knue, Administrative Assistant
Donald Aaron | MM Choral Conducting | Atoka, OK
Kristen Baisley | DMA Choral Conducting | Palos Heights, IL
Kalyn Bales | MM Choral Conducting | Stringer, MS
Kaitlin Walley Brown | MM Choral Conducting | Ocean Springs, MS
Caitlyn Dixon | DMA Choral Conducting | Spruce Creek, PA
Will Griswold | DMA Choral Conducting | Ocean Springs, MS
Sarah Hamman | MM Voice | Connellsville, PA Holton Johnson | MM Choral Conducting | Gulfport, MS
Hanif Lawrence | MM Choral Conducting/Voice | Kingston, Jamaica
Derek Meler | MM Choral Conducting | Nashville, TN
Jeremy Moore | MMEd Choral | Prairie, MS
Connor Schuster, MM Choral Conducting | Clarkston, MI