Yale Choral Artists, October 25, 2019

Robert Blocker, Dean

ysm e ns e m bl e s

Yale Choral Artists Jeffrey Douma, conductor Saturday, October 26, 2019 | 7:30 pm | Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall

choral music of johannes brahms

Johannes Brahms 1833–1897

Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz, Op. 29, No. 2

Warum ist das Licht gegeben, Op. 74, No. 1 1.

Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen 2.

Lasset uns unser Herz samt den Händen aufheben

zu Gott in Himmel 3.

Siehe, wir preisen selig, die eruldet haben 4.

Choral. Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin

Nänie, Op. 82 Piano transcription by Kelly Crandell Robert Blocker, piano Melvin Chen, piano

intermission

As a courtesy to others, please silence all devices. Photography and recording of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please do not leave the hall during musical selections. Thank you.

Program, cont.

Brahms

Liebeslieder Walzer, Op. 52 I. Rede, Mädchen, allzu liebes II. Am Gesteine rauscht die Flut

Amy Justman, soprano • Emily Marvosh, alto

Jacob Perry, tenor • Jonathan Woody, bass III. O die Frauen

Steven Soph, tenor • Edward Vogel, bass IV. Wie des Abends schöne Röte

Arianne Abela, soprano • Kate Maroney, alto V. Die grüne Hopfenranke

Sherezade Panthaki, soprano •Eric Brenner, alto

Noah Horn, tenor • Paul Max Tipton, bass VI. Ein kleiner, hübscher Vogel

Molly Netter, soprano •Emily Marvosh, alto

Jacob Perry, tenor •Jonathan Woody, bass VII. Wohl schön bewandt war es

Kate Maroney, alto VIII. Wenn so lind dein Auge mir IX. Am Donaustrande X. O wie sanft die Quelle

Amy Justman, soprano • Eric Brenner, alto

James Reese, tenor •Steven Hyrcelak, bass XI. Nein, es ist nicht auszukommen

Molly Netter, soprano • Clifton Massey, alto

Noah Horn, tenor • Paul Max Tipton, bass XII. Schlosser auf und mache Schlösser XIII. Vögelein durchrauscht die Luft

Sherezade Panthaki, soprano • Kate Maroney, alto XIV. Sieh, wie ist die Welle klar

Steven Soph, tenor •Edward Vogel, bass XV. Nachtigall, sie singt so schön

Arianne Abela, soprano • Clifton Massey, alto

James Reese, tenor • Steven Hrycelak, bass XVI. Ein dunkeler Schacht ist Liebe XVII. Nicht wandle, mein Licht

James Reese, tenor XVIII. Es bebet das Gesträuche Robert Blocker, piano Melvin Chen, piano

Artist Profiles Yale Choral Artists The Yale Choral Artists is a professional choir recently founded by the Yale School of Music and the Yale Glee Club to enhance and enrich Yale’s strong commitment to the choral arts. The choir is a project-based ensemble comprised of leading singers from around the country and is directed

by School of Music faculty member Jeffrey Douma. Current members of the Choral Artists also perform in the ranks of such acclaimed ensembles as the Trinity Wall Street Choir, Chanticleer, the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus, Voices of Ascension, Seraphic Fire, Conspirare, and many others, and are also leading concert soloists, particularly in the area of early music.

The Yale Choral Artists made their debut in an all-Handel program led by guest conductor William Christie at Yale and at Carnegie Hall in February of 2012. They have since performed as a featured ensemble at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, the Yale International Choral Festival, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and have appeared in two productions with the renowned Mark Morris Dance Group.

Recent projects include a collaboration with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in a program of Britten and Pärt, an appearance at the New York Philharmonic Biennial, the East Coast premiere of David Lang’s the national anthems, the premiere of Martin Bresnick’s new concert-length oratorio Passions of Bloom: Whitman, Melville, Dickinson, a program pairing Poulenc’s virtuosic cantata Figure humaine with Josquin’s Missa L’homme armé super voces musicales, and the premiere of Paola Prestini’s

The Glass Box with the Young People’s Chorus of New York City. Their 2018 debut recording on the Naxos label of new works

by Yale composers Hannah Lash, David Lang, and Ted Hearne with the Yale Philharmonia was reviewed glowingly by Gramophone Magazine and Opera News, where it was hailed as a “Critic’s Choice.”

Soprano Arianne Abela Amy Justman Molly Netter Sherezade Panthaki Alto Eric Brenner Kate Maroney Emily Marvosh Clifton Massey Tenor Noah Horn Jacob Perry James Reese Steven Soph Bass Steven Hrycelak Paul Max Tipton Edward Vogel Jonathan Woody

Artist Profiles, cont.

Jeffrey Douma, conductor

Robert Blocker, piano

Since 2003, Jeffrey Douma has served as Director of the Yale Glee Club and Professor of Conducting at the Yale School of Music, where he also serves as Founding Director of the Yale Choral Artists. He has appeared as guest conductor with choruses and orchestras on six continents, and makes frequent domestic and international appearances as a clinician and master teacher. He has prepared choruses for such conductors as William Christie, Valery Gergiev, Neville Marriner, Krzysztof Penderecki, Helmuth Rilling, and Marin Alsop, and has premiered new works by such composers as Jennifer Higdon, Paola Prestini, Ted Hearne, Hannah Lash, David Lang, Martin Bresnick, Dominick Argento, and James Macmillan.

He serves as editor of the Yale Glee Club Choral Series and Yale Glee Club New Classics Choral Series, and his original compositions are published by G. Schirmer and Boosey & Hawkes. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Music degree from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN. He lives in Hamden, CT, with his wife, pianist and conductor Erika Schroth, and their two children.

An internationally acclaimed concert pianist, Robert Blocker has been described by the Los Angeles Times as an artist of “great skill and accomplishment” who performs with “a measurable virtuoso bent and considerable musical sensitivity.” Blocker earned his bachelor of arts degree from Furman University and his master of music degree and doctor of musical arts degree from the University of North Texas, under the tutelage of the eminent American pianist Richard Cass. At Yale University, where he is the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music, Blocker teaches and performs alongside students, alumni, and faculty colleagues.

Melvin Chen, piano Pianist Melvin Chen has performed at major venues in the United States, Canada, and Asia, and has collaborated with such renowned artists as Ida Kavafian, David Shifrin, Pamela Frank, and Peter Wiley, and with the Shanghai, Tokyo, Miami, Penderecki, and Miro string quartets. Chen has a doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University and a double master’s degree from The Juilliard School in piano and violin. He received a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and physics from Yale University. Chen is the Director of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and is Professor in the Practice of Piano and Deputy Dean at the Yale School of Music.

Art Credits Camilla Tassi, projection designer

Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz

Projection designer Camilla Tassi is a musician and designer from Florence, Italy.

She has created projections for works including Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Apollo’s Fire tour), Pollock’s Stinney (PROTOTYPE Festival, NYC), and Mozart’s Magic Flute (Berlin Opera Academy). Tassi has directed and produced performances of early and contemporary classical works, including a joint theater and opera project of Tennessee Williams and Larry Delinger’s Talk to Me Like the Rain. As an Italian coach and soprano, she has created program translations for Carnegie Hall (L’Arpeggiata) and sings with the Yale Schola Cantorum. Tassi holds degrees in computer science and music from Dartmouth and the University of Notre Dame. She is currently a research fellow in projection design at the Yale School of Drama.

Karl Heilmayer (1829–1908): Flussufer im Mondschein

Nänie Anselm Feuerbach (1829–1880): Orpheus and Eurydice Family Portrait Iphigenie Medea with Child Medea at the Urn Stella Maris Remembrance of Tivoli Peonies

Upcoming Events oct 28 Omer String Quartet:

Preview Concert

Yale in New York The School of Music’s fellowship quartet-in-residence performs Blueprint, by YSM alumna Caroline Shaw ’07MM, Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 8, and Schumann’s Piano Quintet, with faculty pianist Melvin Chen.

7:30 p.m. | Sudler Recital Hall

free oct 30 Lunchtime Chamber Music 12:00 p.m. | Center for British Art

free Nov 1-2 Fall Scenes

Yale Opera A variety of scenes from beloved comic and tragic operas.

7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall

Tickets start at $12, students $5 nov 6 Boris Berman, piano

Horowitz Piano Series A performance of Schubert’s Piano Sonata No. 20, D. 959, and music by Chopin.

7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall

Tickets start at $15, students $7

Aaron Jay Kernis & David Lang, faculty composers New Music New Haven Kernis’ Legacy, Lang’s String of pearls, and works by graduate student composers.

7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall

free nov 7

Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano Faculty Artist Series “A master of the disarming, deceptive simplicity of the song recital.” – The New York Times 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall

Tickets start at $12, students $5 nov 8

nov 10 Wendy Sharp, violin & Friends

Faculty Artist Series World premiere of faculty composer Hannah Lash’s 2 Songs, with faculty mezzosoprano Janna Baty, and more.

3:00 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall

free

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