"Connecting the Dots" Program Notes
Nov 17, 2022, 8:00PM - Church of the Transfiguration, 1 E. 29 St., Manhattan
Nov 19, 2022, 8:00PM - St. Peter's Church, 346 W. 20 St. Manhattan
Nov 19, 2022, 8:00PM - St. Peter's Church, 346 W. 20 St. Manhattan
Program
Loves Lines / Karen Siegel
Conductor: Perry Townsend
Connecting the dots
From mother to child,
To husband, to friend.
Connecting the dots
From sister to sister,
To partner, to niece.
Threading through space,
And stretching through time,
Weaving a self
Entangled by love,
Enabled by love
To form its true shape,
Knowing that it comes from these
Lines of love.
Program Notes:
Love Lines is about interconnectedness and the role of loving relationships in fostering the development of the individual, using the metaphor of a children’s “connect the dots” puzzle. When I wrote this poem in early 2020, little did I know how much the pandemic disruptions would soon stretch these “love lines” and bring their presence to the forefront. The music is in ABA form, with a rhythmic and somewhat jazzy opening and closing section, and a lyrical middle section with lush, shifting harmonies. I’m grateful to C4 and Perry Townsend for bringing this piece to life after a 2 year delay.
About the composer:
Composer Karen Siegel draws on her experience as a vocalist in her creation of innovative choral and vocal works. Hailed as “complex and wonderful,” (TheatreScene.net) and “colorful and at times groovy” (WQXR.org), her works are frequently performed by the New York Citybased ensemble C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, which she co-founded in 2005 and for which she continues to serve as one of the conductors. C4 recently premiered Karen’s work for remote choir “Here I Am,” a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the first livestream remote choral concert of the social distancing age. Her one-act opera, The Hat: Arendt Meets Heidegger, with a libretto by Zsuzsanna Ardó, was premiered by the Thompson Street Opera Company in 2019.
Three of Karen’s choral works are on commercial recordings—“Saguaro” is featured on C4’s 2013 album Volume 1: Uncaged; “Why Do We Love Our Guns” is featured on Tonality’s 2019 album Sing About It; and “To Be Free” is featured on the Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne’s 2020 album Walking On Waves. She has received awards from the Yale Glee Club, the Esoterics, the New York Virtuoso Singers, Khorikos, the Manhattan Choral Ensemble, Boston Metro Opera, the CUNY Graduate Center, and NYU.
Karen’s works are published by See-A-Dot Music Publishing (SeeADot.com), self-published through Chestnutoak Press (KarenSiegel.com), and distributed in the Justice Choir Songbook (justicechoir.org). She holds a PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center and degrees from Yale and NYU Steinhardt; and she has been on the faculty at Drew University and the City College of New York. Karen lives in Hoboken, New Jersey with her husband and two sons
Loves Lines / Karen Siegel
Conductor: Perry Townsend
Connecting the dots
From mother to child,
To husband, to friend.
Connecting the dots
From sister to sister,
To partner, to niece.
Threading through space,
And stretching through time,
Weaving a self
Entangled by love,
Enabled by love
To form its true shape,
Knowing that it comes from these
Lines of love.
Program Notes:
Love Lines is about interconnectedness and the role of loving relationships in fostering the development of the individual, using the metaphor of a children’s “connect the dots” puzzle. When I wrote this poem in early 2020, little did I know how much the pandemic disruptions would soon stretch these “love lines” and bring their presence to the forefront. The music is in ABA form, with a rhythmic and somewhat jazzy opening and closing section, and a lyrical middle section with lush, shifting harmonies. I’m grateful to C4 and Perry Townsend for bringing this piece to life after a 2 year delay.
About the composer:
Composer Karen Siegel draws on her experience as a vocalist in her creation of innovative choral and vocal works. Hailed as “complex and wonderful,” (TheatreScene.net) and “colorful and at times groovy” (WQXR.org), her works are frequently performed by the New York Citybased ensemble C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, which she co-founded in 2005 and for which she continues to serve as one of the conductors. C4 recently premiered Karen’s work for remote choir “Here I Am,” a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the first livestream remote choral concert of the social distancing age. Her one-act opera, The Hat: Arendt Meets Heidegger, with a libretto by Zsuzsanna Ardó, was premiered by the Thompson Street Opera Company in 2019.
Three of Karen’s choral works are on commercial recordings—“Saguaro” is featured on C4’s 2013 album Volume 1: Uncaged; “Why Do We Love Our Guns” is featured on Tonality’s 2019 album Sing About It; and “To Be Free” is featured on the Choir of Trinity College, Melbourne’s 2020 album Walking On Waves. She has received awards from the Yale Glee Club, the Esoterics, the New York Virtuoso Singers, Khorikos, the Manhattan Choral Ensemble, Boston Metro Opera, the CUNY Graduate Center, and NYU.
Karen’s works are published by See-A-Dot Music Publishing (SeeADot.com), self-published through Chestnutoak Press (KarenSiegel.com), and distributed in the Justice Choir Songbook (justicechoir.org). She holds a PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center and degrees from Yale and NYU Steinhardt; and she has been on the faculty at Drew University and the City College of New York. Karen lives in Hoboken, New Jersey with her husband and two sons
Roses Only / Alexis C. Lamb
Conductor: Emma Daniels; Jamie Klenetsky Fay & TJ Sclafani, soloists
You do not seem to realise that beauty is a liability rather than
an asset–that in view of the fact that spirit creates form we are justified in supposing
that you must have brains. For you, a symbol of the unit, stiff and sharp,
conscious of surpassing by dint of native superiority and liking for everything
self-dependent, anything an
ambitious civilisation might produce: for you,unaided to attempt through sheer
reserve, to confute presumptions resulting from observation, is idle. You cannot make us
think you a delightful happen-so. But rose, if you are brilliant, it
is not because your petals are the without-which-nothing of pre-eminence. You would look, minus thorns–like a what-is-this, a mere
peculiarity. They are not proof against a worm, the elements, or mildew
but what about the predatory hand? What is brilliance without co-ordination? Guarding the
infinitesimal pieces of your mind, compelling audience to
the remark that it is better to be forgotten than to be remembered too violently.
Your thorns are the best part of you.
- Marianne Moore, "Roses Only" (1921)
Program Notes
My initial appreciation for Marianne Moore’s poem, “Roses Only,” was fixed on the line, “your thorns are the best part of you.” However, as I digested the text over time, I came to recognize a parallel between her words and my experience of writing a piece that can be performed both virtually and in-person. Roses are always recognized for the obvious visual beauty of their petals, but the thorns offer so much value and beauty in their own right. In working with C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, I have benefitted from a similar, elevated appreciation from a similar, elevated appreciation for the alternate approaches to creating music for virtual mediums that I wouldn’t have necessarily had before.
About the composer:
Alexis C. Lamb (b. 1993) is a composer, percussionist, and educator whose work seeks to cultivate a connectedness to natural, historical, and societal relationships. Her music incorporates a variety of mediums, such as oral histories, field recordings, improvisation, and community input. Lamb’s music has been regarded as “a pleasure in its own right” with “sparkling optimism throughout” (I Care If You Listen).
As a composer, Lamb has collaborated with numerous ensembles and individuals, including Third Coast Percussion, Aizuri Quartet, Opera Omaha, Albany (NY) Symphony, Vera Quartet, Camilla Tassi, Contemporaneous, Emily Roller, Yale Philharmonia, Evan Chapman, University of Nebraska Percussion Ensemble, Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra, and Northern Illinois University World Steelband. Her music has been performed in North America, South America, Europe, and Africa. Currently, Lamb is working on recording an album of her "percussion plus" solos to be released in spring 2023, as well as an hour-long outdoor performance that will ask individuals to listen, respond, and interact with their natural surroundings.
As a percussionist, Lamb has recently found joy in improvising in a variety of natural soundscapes, listening to how the natural world responds to her human-made music. Her performance is highly influenced by the philosophies and Deep Listening practices of the late Pauline Oliveros. Lamb was also a performer from 2013-2020 with Projeto Arcomusical, the berimbau ensemble associated with Arcomusical. Her performance has been hailed as “riveting visually as well as sonically” (Centerline).
As an educator, Lamb’s work runs the gamut from private lessons to curriculum development, to clinics and large classes. She is a passionate advocate for students with disabilities and encourages creativity at every age and ability level. Her work in New Haven included developing the Creative Music-Making program for the Yale Music in Schools Initiative as well as serving as a Teaching Fellow for the Department of Music at Yale University and Teaching Assistant in the Yale School of Music. Prior to returning to graduate school, Lamb was the 6-12th grade band director for Meridian CUSD 223 in Stillman Valley, Illinois. Lamb is currently serving as a Graduate Student Instructor at the University of Michigan as well as an instructor for the Ypsilanti Youth Orchestra, and she runs her own private studio that meets both in-person and online.
Lamb is a recipient of a 2022 Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award, a 2021 Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a 2018 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Composition at the University of Michigan. Lamb earned a Master of Music in Composition at the Yale School of Music and two Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Percussion Performance from Northern Illinois University. Her compositions can be found on Innova Recordings, National Sawdust Tracks, Evan Chapman’s Caustics, and Third Coast Percussion's Currents, Volume 1. When not working on music, she can be found playing board games with her wife at an overly competitive level, teaching new tricks to her dog and two cats, and fishing in every possible body of water. She is originally from Denver, Colorado, and is currently based in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Conductor: Emma Daniels; Jamie Klenetsky Fay & TJ Sclafani, soloists
You do not seem to realise that beauty is a liability rather than
an asset–that in view of the fact that spirit creates form we are justified in supposing
that you must have brains. For you, a symbol of the unit, stiff and sharp,
conscious of surpassing by dint of native superiority and liking for everything
self-dependent, anything an
ambitious civilisation might produce: for you,unaided to attempt through sheer
reserve, to confute presumptions resulting from observation, is idle. You cannot make us
think you a delightful happen-so. But rose, if you are brilliant, it
is not because your petals are the without-which-nothing of pre-eminence. You would look, minus thorns–like a what-is-this, a mere
peculiarity. They are not proof against a worm, the elements, or mildew
but what about the predatory hand? What is brilliance without co-ordination? Guarding the
infinitesimal pieces of your mind, compelling audience to
the remark that it is better to be forgotten than to be remembered too violently.
Your thorns are the best part of you.
- Marianne Moore, "Roses Only" (1921)
Program Notes
My initial appreciation for Marianne Moore’s poem, “Roses Only,” was fixed on the line, “your thorns are the best part of you.” However, as I digested the text over time, I came to recognize a parallel between her words and my experience of writing a piece that can be performed both virtually and in-person. Roses are always recognized for the obvious visual beauty of their petals, but the thorns offer so much value and beauty in their own right. In working with C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, I have benefitted from a similar, elevated appreciation from a similar, elevated appreciation for the alternate approaches to creating music for virtual mediums that I wouldn’t have necessarily had before.
About the composer:
Alexis C. Lamb (b. 1993) is a composer, percussionist, and educator whose work seeks to cultivate a connectedness to natural, historical, and societal relationships. Her music incorporates a variety of mediums, such as oral histories, field recordings, improvisation, and community input. Lamb’s music has been regarded as “a pleasure in its own right” with “sparkling optimism throughout” (I Care If You Listen).
As a composer, Lamb has collaborated with numerous ensembles and individuals, including Third Coast Percussion, Aizuri Quartet, Opera Omaha, Albany (NY) Symphony, Vera Quartet, Camilla Tassi, Contemporaneous, Emily Roller, Yale Philharmonia, Evan Chapman, University of Nebraska Percussion Ensemble, Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra, and Northern Illinois University World Steelband. Her music has been performed in North America, South America, Europe, and Africa. Currently, Lamb is working on recording an album of her "percussion plus" solos to be released in spring 2023, as well as an hour-long outdoor performance that will ask individuals to listen, respond, and interact with their natural surroundings.
As a percussionist, Lamb has recently found joy in improvising in a variety of natural soundscapes, listening to how the natural world responds to her human-made music. Her performance is highly influenced by the philosophies and Deep Listening practices of the late Pauline Oliveros. Lamb was also a performer from 2013-2020 with Projeto Arcomusical, the berimbau ensemble associated with Arcomusical. Her performance has been hailed as “riveting visually as well as sonically” (Centerline).
As an educator, Lamb’s work runs the gamut from private lessons to curriculum development, to clinics and large classes. She is a passionate advocate for students with disabilities and encourages creativity at every age and ability level. Her work in New Haven included developing the Creative Music-Making program for the Yale Music in Schools Initiative as well as serving as a Teaching Fellow for the Department of Music at Yale University and Teaching Assistant in the Yale School of Music. Prior to returning to graduate school, Lamb was the 6-12th grade band director for Meridian CUSD 223 in Stillman Valley, Illinois. Lamb is currently serving as a Graduate Student Instructor at the University of Michigan as well as an instructor for the Ypsilanti Youth Orchestra, and she runs her own private studio that meets both in-person and online.
Lamb is a recipient of a 2022 Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award, a 2021 Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a 2018 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Composition at the University of Michigan. Lamb earned a Master of Music in Composition at the Yale School of Music and two Bachelor of Music degrees in Music Education and Percussion Performance from Northern Illinois University. Her compositions can be found on Innova Recordings, National Sawdust Tracks, Evan Chapman’s Caustics, and Third Coast Percussion's Currents, Volume 1. When not working on music, she can be found playing board games with her wife at an overly competitive level, teaching new tricks to her dog and two cats, and fishing in every possible body of water. She is originally from Denver, Colorado, and is currently based in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Kyrie After Byrd / Roxanna Panufnik
Conductor: Emma Daniels
Text:
Kyrie eleison,
Christe eleison,
Kyrie eleison.
Translation:
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Program Notes:
When new super-choir ORA came to me, asking for a Kyrie that related to Byrd's Mass for Five Voices, I immediately went to YouTube to listen to Byrd's original. I loved the way that the melody of the first Kyrie eleison almost immediately transposes and capitalized on this harmonically by taking my version through several quite chromatic changes and adding an extra bass voice, thereby extra harmonic potential. I've kept the Christe eleison as a calmer and more ethereal section, floating gently back into the chromatic Kyrie, which almost forgets itself in harmonic and dramatic propriety but suddenly takes stock of itself and ends with quiet reverence.
About the composer:
Roxanna Panufnik (b. 1968) ARAM, GRSM (Hons), LRAM, studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music and, since then, has written a wide range of pieces including opera, ballet, music theatre, choral, orchestral and chamber compositions. Roxanna’s great love of world music is evident in works such as her Four World Seasons for violinist Tasmin Little, her multi-faith Warner Classics CD Love Abide, and Dance of Life: Tallinn Mass for the Tallinn Philharmonic, commissioned to celebrate Tallinn’s reign as European Capital of Culture. She is especially interested in building musical bridges between faiths and her first project in this field was the violin concerto Abraham, commissioned for Daniel Hope, incorporating Christian, Islamic and Jewish chant. This work was subsequently converted into an overture for the World Orchestra for Peace and premiered in Jerusalem in 2008 before being performed at the 2014 BBC Proms.
Conductor: Emma Daniels
Text:
Kyrie eleison,
Christe eleison,
Kyrie eleison.
Translation:
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Program Notes:
When new super-choir ORA came to me, asking for a Kyrie that related to Byrd's Mass for Five Voices, I immediately went to YouTube to listen to Byrd's original. I loved the way that the melody of the first Kyrie eleison almost immediately transposes and capitalized on this harmonically by taking my version through several quite chromatic changes and adding an extra bass voice, thereby extra harmonic potential. I've kept the Christe eleison as a calmer and more ethereal section, floating gently back into the chromatic Kyrie, which almost forgets itself in harmonic and dramatic propriety but suddenly takes stock of itself and ends with quiet reverence.
About the composer:
Roxanna Panufnik (b. 1968) ARAM, GRSM (Hons), LRAM, studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music and, since then, has written a wide range of pieces including opera, ballet, music theatre, choral, orchestral and chamber compositions. Roxanna’s great love of world music is evident in works such as her Four World Seasons for violinist Tasmin Little, her multi-faith Warner Classics CD Love Abide, and Dance of Life: Tallinn Mass for the Tallinn Philharmonic, commissioned to celebrate Tallinn’s reign as European Capital of Culture. She is especially interested in building musical bridges between faiths and her first project in this field was the violin concerto Abraham, commissioned for Daniel Hope, incorporating Christian, Islamic and Jewish chant. This work was subsequently converted into an overture for the World Orchestra for Peace and premiered in Jerusalem in 2008 before being performed at the 2014 BBC Proms.
First Word / Emma Daniels
Conductor: Karen Siegel; Leslie Frost, soloist
They exclaimed
surely she’ll be
a finch, a dove.
Her tongue became talons,
she was all feathers and wingspan
stretched to sever the sky.
-Kelly Hood
Program Notes:
First Word is about defying expectations, growing, and thriving. The piece aims to depict the journey of a female character who is at first misjudged and underestimated by her peers. At first she is stuck, but then she breaks free from her cage, starts to jog, run, and then fly. The choir begins quietly and in unison, the voices gradually expanding and then contracting in spacing. As the piece continues, the tempo steadily builds. In the last section of the piece, the voice parts split into divisi and the music grows in complexity. Final, declamatory harmonies and a rising tenor line portray the moment she takes off into the sky.
About the composer:
Emma is a conductor, composer, and singer based in New York City. She is the Music Director of Philomusica Concert Choir, a 40-voice, auditioned choral ensemble, and a founding member of Triad: Boston’s Choral Collective, an organization made up of singers, composers, and conductors who share artistic responsibility and perform new music. Today, she sings, conducts, and composes with C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective in NYC, the choir after which Triad was modeled. She also sings soprano in the choir at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Times Square. Emma has most recently served as Choral Instructor at King School in Stamford, CT as well as Pre-K-8 Music Instructor at Horizons, Norwalk Community College, assistant conductor of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Children’s Chorus for its 2020 production of Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, and conductor at Chicago Sinai Congregation.
Emma’s compositions have been performed by Triad: Boston’s Choral Collective, Westminster Chapel Choir, Tufts Chamber Singers, and other college, synagogue, and church choirs from Boston to Los Angeles. As a vocalist, she has performed both solo and ensemble work in the Midwest and on the East Coast, including with St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Wilton, CT, St. James Cathedral Choir of Chicago, Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, Princeton Society of Musical Amateurs, and Hans Zimmer Live US Tour. She grew up singing with the Chicago Children’s Choir, an organization born out of the Civil Rights Movement, dedicated to creating a better world through connecting singers of different backgrounds and experiences to create music. This worldview has shaped her as a musician today.
Emma holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Tufts University in Medford, MA.
Conductor: Karen Siegel; Leslie Frost, soloist
They exclaimed
surely she’ll be
a finch, a dove.
Her tongue became talons,
she was all feathers and wingspan
stretched to sever the sky.
-Kelly Hood
Program Notes:
First Word is about defying expectations, growing, and thriving. The piece aims to depict the journey of a female character who is at first misjudged and underestimated by her peers. At first she is stuck, but then she breaks free from her cage, starts to jog, run, and then fly. The choir begins quietly and in unison, the voices gradually expanding and then contracting in spacing. As the piece continues, the tempo steadily builds. In the last section of the piece, the voice parts split into divisi and the music grows in complexity. Final, declamatory harmonies and a rising tenor line portray the moment she takes off into the sky.
About the composer:
Emma is a conductor, composer, and singer based in New York City. She is the Music Director of Philomusica Concert Choir, a 40-voice, auditioned choral ensemble, and a founding member of Triad: Boston’s Choral Collective, an organization made up of singers, composers, and conductors who share artistic responsibility and perform new music. Today, she sings, conducts, and composes with C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective in NYC, the choir after which Triad was modeled. She also sings soprano in the choir at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Times Square. Emma has most recently served as Choral Instructor at King School in Stamford, CT as well as Pre-K-8 Music Instructor at Horizons, Norwalk Community College, assistant conductor of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Children’s Chorus for its 2020 production of Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, and conductor at Chicago Sinai Congregation.
Emma’s compositions have been performed by Triad: Boston’s Choral Collective, Westminster Chapel Choir, Tufts Chamber Singers, and other college, synagogue, and church choirs from Boston to Los Angeles. As a vocalist, she has performed both solo and ensemble work in the Midwest and on the East Coast, including with St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Wilton, CT, St. James Cathedral Choir of Chicago, Philadelphia Symphonic Choir, Princeton Society of Musical Amateurs, and Hans Zimmer Live US Tour. She grew up singing with the Chicago Children’s Choir, an organization born out of the Civil Rights Movement, dedicated to creating a better world through connecting singers of different backgrounds and experiences to create music. This worldview has shaped her as a musician today.
Emma holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Tufts University in Medford, MA.
There is Another Sky / Christopher Fludd
Conductor: Katherine Doe-Morse
Conductor: Katherine Doe-Morse
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 bee hum: Prithee, my brother, Into my garden come! -Emily Dickinson |
Aliud est caelum
Semper serenum et pulchrum Et non est aliud sol Quamvis sit ibi Numquam animo defluxit saltus Numquam animo tacent agri Hic parvum saltus Ubi folia sunt virentia Hic lucidius hortum Non est gelu per continua flores Ego audio clara apis hum Obsecro mi frater Dilectus meus in hortum. |
Program Notes:
Emily Dickinson’s devotion to her hometown of Amherst Massachusetts is well documented. So is her reclusiveness and eccentricity; it is suspected by modern scholars that she lived with agoraphobia, particularly after she reached age 30. In this sonnet, she addresses her older brother Austin, imploring him to come back to Amherst (he would have been away studying in Boston). In Amherst, they are safe, and life is more bright, more green, more beautiful. Austin, or William Austin Dickinson, was like a second father figure for Emily, making up for a cold indifferent mother. In letters, Emily wrote that she “always ran Home to Awe [Austin] when a child, if anything befell me. She was an awful Mother, but I liked her better than none."
In 2016, educator/conductor/composer/singer Christopher Fludd won the JW PEPPER/Azusa Pacific University Composition Contest with an earlier version of this piece, under the name “Alius est caelum”. Fludd’s harmonies amplify the darkness of Austin’s absence, with scintillating and slightly unsettling resolutions, before rejoicing in the glory of Emily’s personal Garden of Eden. The final plea to Austin is demanding but hopeful, then ends with a final quiet prayer.
About the composer:
Christopher Fludd is an upcoming composer and educator from Long Island, New York. He is a recent graduate of Westminster Choir College, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education. Chris currently serves as a private vocal/instrumental instructor in Bellmore, NY. Chris has performed on various concert stages across the country as a soloist and chorister. A few notable experiences include singing the role of Paolino in Domenic Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto at the Spoleto Festival USA, and performing in Westminster’s leading ensemble at the ACDA National and Regional Conventions. Chris continues to inspire others with his incredible musicianship and passion for the arts.
Emily Dickinson’s devotion to her hometown of Amherst Massachusetts is well documented. So is her reclusiveness and eccentricity; it is suspected by modern scholars that she lived with agoraphobia, particularly after she reached age 30. In this sonnet, she addresses her older brother Austin, imploring him to come back to Amherst (he would have been away studying in Boston). In Amherst, they are safe, and life is more bright, more green, more beautiful. Austin, or William Austin Dickinson, was like a second father figure for Emily, making up for a cold indifferent mother. In letters, Emily wrote that she “always ran Home to Awe [Austin] when a child, if anything befell me. She was an awful Mother, but I liked her better than none."
In 2016, educator/conductor/composer/singer Christopher Fludd won the JW PEPPER/Azusa Pacific University Composition Contest with an earlier version of this piece, under the name “Alius est caelum”. Fludd’s harmonies amplify the darkness of Austin’s absence, with scintillating and slightly unsettling resolutions, before rejoicing in the glory of Emily’s personal Garden of Eden. The final plea to Austin is demanding but hopeful, then ends with a final quiet prayer.
About the composer:
Christopher Fludd is an upcoming composer and educator from Long Island, New York. He is a recent graduate of Westminster Choir College, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education. Chris currently serves as a private vocal/instrumental instructor in Bellmore, NY. Chris has performed on various concert stages across the country as a soloist and chorister. A few notable experiences include singing the role of Paolino in Domenic Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto at the Spoleto Festival USA, and performing in Westminster’s leading ensemble at the ACDA National and Regional Conventions. Chris continues to inspire others with his incredible musicianship and passion for the arts.
A Serious and Pathetical Contemplation / Mario Gullo
Conductor: Perry Townsend; Emma Daniels, Leonore Nelson, Karen Siegel & Katherine Doe-Morse, soloists
For all the mysteries, engines, instruments, wherewith the world is filled.
For all the trades, variety of operations, cities, temples, streets, bridges, mariner's compass,
admirable pictures, sculpture, writing, printing, songs and music;
wherewith the world is beautified and adored.
Much more for the regent life,
And power of perception,
Which rules within.
That secret depth of fathomless consideration
That receives the information
Of all our senses,
That makes our centre equal,
And comprehendeth in itself the magnitude of the world;
The involv'd mysteries
Of our common sense;
The inaccessible secret
Of perceptive fancy;
The repository and treasury
Of things that are past and
The presentation of things to come.
O miracle! O fire!
O flame of zeal, and joy, and love!
All things
visible
material
sensible
Animals, vegetables, minerals,
Bodies celestial, bodies terrestrial,
The four elements, volatile spirits,
Trees, herbs, and flowers,
Clouds, vapors, wind,
Dew, rain, hail and snow.
Light and darkness, night and day,
The seasons of the year.
Springs, rivers, fountains, oceans,
Corn, wine, and oil,
Gold, silver, and precious stones.
The sun, moon, and stars,
Cities, nations, kingdoms.
And the bodies of men,
the greatest treasures of all.
- Thomas Traherne
Program Notes:
I have always wanted to try my hand at adapting a poem for musical use. My hero, Gerald Finzi, made it a point to use texts in a way that suited the work he was producing. So I turned to one of his favorite writers, proto-Romantic and mystic poet, Thomas Traherne. Taking a text chocked full of religiosity and excising the faith to fundamentally change the nature of the poem. It then becomes a piece about the wonders around us and the joys one can take from being human. I tried to add a sense of mysticism and shining exuberance with a ton of C major 9 chords thrown in to ignite the air.
About the Composer:
Mario Gullo’s music has been performed by the New York City Master Chorale, the Larchmont Avenue Church Chancel Choir, Bridges Vocal Ensemble, the Cantine Quartet, the OLL Players, Infinitus, and C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective. It has been called “shiny and exuberant,” a quick-step dance rhythm and a modern sense of fun,” and “balances choral counterpoint and harmonies extraordinarily well.” “Gullo’s bright, smart music balances modern savvy and timeless optimism. He is a skilled, sophisticated composer: he can evoke styles and traditions – narratives, dialogues, duets; jazzy cool, show-tune glamor – with easy economy.” Mario has studied with Robert Roxby, the composers of C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, and Wang Jie.
As a performer, Mario has performed at David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, City Center, Theatre 80, the Barrow Street Theater, La MaMa, the Slipper Room, Pianos, and Arlene’s Grocery. By far, his favorite was appearing with Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall. Regionally, he has performed at Artpark, the Theater of Youth, Tri-State Center for the Performing Arts, the Depot Theater, and with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Fredonia, Bowling Green State University, and Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music. MarioGullo.net
Conductor: Perry Townsend; Emma Daniels, Leonore Nelson, Karen Siegel & Katherine Doe-Morse, soloists
For all the mysteries, engines, instruments, wherewith the world is filled.
For all the trades, variety of operations, cities, temples, streets, bridges, mariner's compass,
admirable pictures, sculpture, writing, printing, songs and music;
wherewith the world is beautified and adored.
Much more for the regent life,
And power of perception,
Which rules within.
That secret depth of fathomless consideration
That receives the information
Of all our senses,
That makes our centre equal,
And comprehendeth in itself the magnitude of the world;
The involv'd mysteries
Of our common sense;
The inaccessible secret
Of perceptive fancy;
The repository and treasury
Of things that are past and
The presentation of things to come.
O miracle! O fire!
O flame of zeal, and joy, and love!
All things
visible
material
sensible
Animals, vegetables, minerals,
Bodies celestial, bodies terrestrial,
The four elements, volatile spirits,
Trees, herbs, and flowers,
Clouds, vapors, wind,
Dew, rain, hail and snow.
Light and darkness, night and day,
The seasons of the year.
Springs, rivers, fountains, oceans,
Corn, wine, and oil,
Gold, silver, and precious stones.
The sun, moon, and stars,
Cities, nations, kingdoms.
And the bodies of men,
the greatest treasures of all.
- Thomas Traherne
Program Notes:
I have always wanted to try my hand at adapting a poem for musical use. My hero, Gerald Finzi, made it a point to use texts in a way that suited the work he was producing. So I turned to one of his favorite writers, proto-Romantic and mystic poet, Thomas Traherne. Taking a text chocked full of religiosity and excising the faith to fundamentally change the nature of the poem. It then becomes a piece about the wonders around us and the joys one can take from being human. I tried to add a sense of mysticism and shining exuberance with a ton of C major 9 chords thrown in to ignite the air.
About the Composer:
Mario Gullo’s music has been performed by the New York City Master Chorale, the Larchmont Avenue Church Chancel Choir, Bridges Vocal Ensemble, the Cantine Quartet, the OLL Players, Infinitus, and C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective. It has been called “shiny and exuberant,” a quick-step dance rhythm and a modern sense of fun,” and “balances choral counterpoint and harmonies extraordinarily well.” “Gullo’s bright, smart music balances modern savvy and timeless optimism. He is a skilled, sophisticated composer: he can evoke styles and traditions – narratives, dialogues, duets; jazzy cool, show-tune glamor – with easy economy.” Mario has studied with Robert Roxby, the composers of C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, and Wang Jie.
As a performer, Mario has performed at David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, City Center, Theatre 80, the Barrow Street Theater, La MaMa, the Slipper Room, Pianos, and Arlene’s Grocery. By far, his favorite was appearing with Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall. Regionally, he has performed at Artpark, the Theater of Youth, Tri-State Center for the Performing Arts, the Depot Theater, and with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Fredonia, Bowling Green State University, and Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music. MarioGullo.net
Kecak Attack! / Vivian Fung
Performed by Emma Daniels, Alexa Letourneau, TJ Sclafani & Brian Mountford
Program Notes:
Kecak Attack! is based on the Indonesian monkey dance of the same name. The origin of kecak can be traced back to trance dances in which a choir of young men call rapid cak-ka-cak rhythms to put into a trance young girls who have been selected to keep misfortune and evil from the village. The main purpose of the kecak choir was to use sharp staccato cries in interlocking style. I have replaced an all male choir with a mixed choir and turned the kecak into a playful rhythmic interplay between the different sections of the choir. It starts with the interlocking chant and then undergoes a series of transformations, in which the choir uses whispers, the singers’ bodies, and snapping of fingers, to add color to the chant.
About the Composer:
JUNO Award-winning composer Vivian Fung has a unique talent for combining idiosyncratic textures and styles into large-scale works, reflecting her multicultural background. NPR calls her “one of today’s most eclectic composers.” Highlights of recent and upcoming performances include world premieres for Edmonton Opera, Tangram Collective, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble for These Times, trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, American String Quartet, and many more. Passionate about fostering the talent of the next generation, Fung has mentored young composers in programs at the American Composers Forum, San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players, San José Youth Chamber Orchestra, and Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Born in Edmonton, Canada, Fung received her doctorate from The Juilliard School. She currently lives in California and is on the faculty of Santa Clara University. Learn more at www.vivianfung.ca.
Performed by Emma Daniels, Alexa Letourneau, TJ Sclafani & Brian Mountford
Program Notes:
Kecak Attack! is based on the Indonesian monkey dance of the same name. The origin of kecak can be traced back to trance dances in which a choir of young men call rapid cak-ka-cak rhythms to put into a trance young girls who have been selected to keep misfortune and evil from the village. The main purpose of the kecak choir was to use sharp staccato cries in interlocking style. I have replaced an all male choir with a mixed choir and turned the kecak into a playful rhythmic interplay between the different sections of the choir. It starts with the interlocking chant and then undergoes a series of transformations, in which the choir uses whispers, the singers’ bodies, and snapping of fingers, to add color to the chant.
About the Composer:
JUNO Award-winning composer Vivian Fung has a unique talent for combining idiosyncratic textures and styles into large-scale works, reflecting her multicultural background. NPR calls her “one of today’s most eclectic composers.” Highlights of recent and upcoming performances include world premieres for Edmonton Opera, Tangram Collective, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble for These Times, trumpeter Mary Elizabeth Bowden, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, American String Quartet, and many more. Passionate about fostering the talent of the next generation, Fung has mentored young composers in programs at the American Composers Forum, San Francisco Contemporary Chamber Players, San José Youth Chamber Orchestra, and Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Born in Edmonton, Canada, Fung received her doctorate from The Juilliard School. She currently lives in California and is on the faculty of Santa Clara University. Learn more at www.vivianfung.ca.
Orange / Germán Barboza
Conductor: Daniel Ardor-Ardó; Karen Siegel, soloist
The piece has no text, but if you close your eyes, you may hear: "I miss you".
- Germán Barboza
Program Notes:
Mirem Edurne is a Venezuelan-Spanish singer to whom this piece is dedicated. Her ability to tell stories and command the audience with every performance has always amazed me. Her motivation pushed me to write music in a time when I didn't believe I could do it. In 2020, learning she had been diagnosed with an illness brought a big feeling of powerlessness. I started to listen to her music and found my inspiration in the text from her song “Los pájaros del parque” (The birds in the park): “With my super radio I freeze time, to keep in my soul the pieces of you I never have”.
Orange depicts the search of the signal in that radio to find the captured moments we treasure.
This piece is about longing to be closer to the ones we love.
Orange is Mirem’s favorite color.
- Germán Barboza
About the Composer:
Germán Barboza is a composer from Venezuela, currently living in Uruguay. His pieces have been performed in Venezuela, USA and UK. He is currently a singer in Cristina García Banegas’ choir De Profundis, and a voice student at National School of Lyric Art in Montevideo, Uruguay. As a singer, he’s been part of award-winning ensembles Venezziola, Cantat Vocal, Inspirarte and Mastranto. He worked in Teatro Solís 2019-2020 opera seasons as a choir member, and debuted as Bernardo in the first Uruguayan production of West Side Story at Adela Reta National Auditorium of SODRE. His works combine passion for the human voice and love for color, lights and shadows, to create immersive landscapes. In 2014, he wrote the libretto for Carlos Cordero’s operetta Un Cuento de Luces y Sombras. The biggest moments of joy of his life come from writing, composing, drawing, and any form of creative work.
Conductor: Daniel Ardor-Ardó; Karen Siegel, soloist
The piece has no text, but if you close your eyes, you may hear: "I miss you".
- Germán Barboza
Program Notes:
Mirem Edurne is a Venezuelan-Spanish singer to whom this piece is dedicated. Her ability to tell stories and command the audience with every performance has always amazed me. Her motivation pushed me to write music in a time when I didn't believe I could do it. In 2020, learning she had been diagnosed with an illness brought a big feeling of powerlessness. I started to listen to her music and found my inspiration in the text from her song “Los pájaros del parque” (The birds in the park): “With my super radio I freeze time, to keep in my soul the pieces of you I never have”.
Orange depicts the search of the signal in that radio to find the captured moments we treasure.
This piece is about longing to be closer to the ones we love.
Orange is Mirem’s favorite color.
- Germán Barboza
About the Composer:
Germán Barboza is a composer from Venezuela, currently living in Uruguay. His pieces have been performed in Venezuela, USA and UK. He is currently a singer in Cristina García Banegas’ choir De Profundis, and a voice student at National School of Lyric Art in Montevideo, Uruguay. As a singer, he’s been part of award-winning ensembles Venezziola, Cantat Vocal, Inspirarte and Mastranto. He worked in Teatro Solís 2019-2020 opera seasons as a choir member, and debuted as Bernardo in the first Uruguayan production of West Side Story at Adela Reta National Auditorium of SODRE. His works combine passion for the human voice and love for color, lights and shadows, to create immersive landscapes. In 2014, he wrote the libretto for Carlos Cordero’s operetta Un Cuento de Luces y Sombras. The biggest moments of joy of his life come from writing, composing, drawing, and any form of creative work.
Till Love and Fame to Nothingness Do Sink / David Ho-yi Chan
Conductor: Karen Siegel; Brian Mountford, soloist
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
- John Keats
Program Notes:
Till Love and Fame to Nothingness Do Sink is composed for 8-part unaccompanied mixed chorus. The individualism and romanticism of John Keats very much trigger my intentions to express sentiments on personal affairs associated with this poem, through programme notes for the very first time. In particular, my attachments to the poem turn to be the strongest as I have ever been.
The poem and music possess close references to death, anxiety, love, nature and beauty. Within limited time in life, many things cannot be achieved before death. As a common theme in English Romantic poetry, the nature of harvesting grain, the night sky, stars, clouds and the shore reflect the intangible beauty of the world.
After completing the work in 2021, I recalled the poem when I was passing by Keats’s shared lodgings (while studying in 1815-16) near his statue in London Bridge few months ago with my love. Later, we tried to schedule and visit New York together for this premiere and leisure, if our overwhelmed diary and capacity permit. But now, I echo the fears faced by Keats, which I might not be able to compose for live performances, witness the beauty of the world, or experience love anymore, together with the one I love the most.
To the poet, 3 years before his death at the age of 25, Keats realised he may have no time to achieve love and fame, but they rather sink to nothingness.
To me, may love be above fame and all challenges in life everlastingly. It will never sink, but conquer when such wonderful, highly independent and individualistic person will no longer want to be alone one day. As enlightened by Shakespeare, “the course of true love never did run smooth”.
Composing a musical setting on a text which other composers had already attempted at is always a more challenging task, as it is usually more difficult to achieve further on what has left to be done musically and artistically. But I hope this choral setting, together with my sentiments, may bring forth the message behind and bear more fruit. And I dedicate it to anyone who struggles with fears, pressures and pains in work and life.
—David Ho-yi Chan
About the Composer:
Born in British Hong Kong, David Ho-yi Chan (陳浩貽, b.1992) is a London-based composer, conductor and organist. Along profound interests in exploring harmonic syntax, his aesthetics seeks to enrich the beauty of simplicity and exemplifies solid practical writings with a clear sense of direction building and consistency by integrating both contemporary and traditional concepts. Recent projects include the Postcards from Composers commissioned by BBC Radio 3, and 2020-21 IGNITE Commission by C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective in New York.
With music broadcasted on BBC Radio 3, RTHK Radio 4, Hong Kong Cable Television and Now TV (Hong Kong), his former collaborators and commissioners include BBC Singers, Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Choir of St Pancras Church, Musicus Society, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Oratorio Society, Hong Kong Strings, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong Children’s Choir, Yat Po Singers, RTHK Quartet, Romer (String Quartet), Hong Kong Youth Windophilics etc. He has previously worked with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Composers Scheme 2018/19, and players from BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra.
Since undergraduate studies, Chan's music has been performed and screened across the UK, Hong Kong and other countries, such as the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music (2017-19), Musicus Fest (2017), Brandenburg Choral Festival of London (2017), "Asia - Europe" New Music Festival (2016) and Asian Composers League Festival & Conference (2015, 2016). In 2014, Chan presented his work at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World Music Days in Poland, and turned to be the youngest Hong Kong composer representative in this prestigious forum to date.
Chan is a versatile choral artist and composer. He was appointed the Juror for the British Composer Awards 2018 (Choral Category), the Honorary Member of the Association of Croatian Choral Directors (2018), the Emerging Composer at the Florence Choral (2017), and awarded the title ‘World Youth Choral Artist’ by World Youth and Children Choral Artists’ Association (2015). In 2014, Chan was invited to conduct the background choir for Rolling Stones in Macau during their world tour concerts. In 2018, Chan attained 3rd place - Freundeskreis Brauweiler Prize at the Musica Sacra Nova: 14th International Composers Competition in Germany. The awarded work is published by Schott Music. He is also commissioned by The Esoterics as their annual Polyphonos: International Composer (2018/19).
In recent international choral competitions, choirs keep on achieving exceptional results with works by Chan. Notably with his two winning commissions, Marymount Secondary School Choir became the first champion from Hong Kong at the widely acclaimed Béla Bartók 27th International Choir Competition (2016, youth choir category), and the winner of secondary school girls’ choir (intermediate - Chinese) at the 71st Hong Kong Schools Music Festival (2019) respectively. The premiere of his “By Chance” also brought the victory to the Guangdong University of Technology Male Choir at the 5th Guangdong University Student Art Exhibition (Choral, 2017) and first class award at the 5th National University Student Art Exhibition (Choral, 2018) in China.
Supported by the Elsie Gertrude Martin Award (2016), Henry Wood Accommodation Trust (2016), Jebsen & Co. Choral Arts Youth Scholarship (2015) and CASH Music Scholarship (2015), Chan graduated from the Royal College of Music where he obtained a Master of Composition under the tutelage of Joseph Horovitz and Kenneth Hesketh, and studied organ with Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin (Saint-Sulpice, Paris) and David Graham (Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street). During his study in London, he served as the Director of Music at John Keble Church. In particular, Chan led the choir in the choral evensong with the Bishop of London during the Patronal Festival for commemorating the 150th anniversary of John Keble’s death.
Conductor: Karen Siegel; Brian Mountford, soloist
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
- John Keats
Program Notes:
Till Love and Fame to Nothingness Do Sink is composed for 8-part unaccompanied mixed chorus. The individualism and romanticism of John Keats very much trigger my intentions to express sentiments on personal affairs associated with this poem, through programme notes for the very first time. In particular, my attachments to the poem turn to be the strongest as I have ever been.
The poem and music possess close references to death, anxiety, love, nature and beauty. Within limited time in life, many things cannot be achieved before death. As a common theme in English Romantic poetry, the nature of harvesting grain, the night sky, stars, clouds and the shore reflect the intangible beauty of the world.
After completing the work in 2021, I recalled the poem when I was passing by Keats’s shared lodgings (while studying in 1815-16) near his statue in London Bridge few months ago with my love. Later, we tried to schedule and visit New York together for this premiere and leisure, if our overwhelmed diary and capacity permit. But now, I echo the fears faced by Keats, which I might not be able to compose for live performances, witness the beauty of the world, or experience love anymore, together with the one I love the most.
To the poet, 3 years before his death at the age of 25, Keats realised he may have no time to achieve love and fame, but they rather sink to nothingness.
To me, may love be above fame and all challenges in life everlastingly. It will never sink, but conquer when such wonderful, highly independent and individualistic person will no longer want to be alone one day. As enlightened by Shakespeare, “the course of true love never did run smooth”.
Composing a musical setting on a text which other composers had already attempted at is always a more challenging task, as it is usually more difficult to achieve further on what has left to be done musically and artistically. But I hope this choral setting, together with my sentiments, may bring forth the message behind and bear more fruit. And I dedicate it to anyone who struggles with fears, pressures and pains in work and life.
—David Ho-yi Chan
About the Composer:
Born in British Hong Kong, David Ho-yi Chan (陳浩貽, b.1992) is a London-based composer, conductor and organist. Along profound interests in exploring harmonic syntax, his aesthetics seeks to enrich the beauty of simplicity and exemplifies solid practical writings with a clear sense of direction building and consistency by integrating both contemporary and traditional concepts. Recent projects include the Postcards from Composers commissioned by BBC Radio 3, and 2020-21 IGNITE Commission by C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective in New York.
With music broadcasted on BBC Radio 3, RTHK Radio 4, Hong Kong Cable Television and Now TV (Hong Kong), his former collaborators and commissioners include BBC Singers, Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, Choir of St Pancras Church, Musicus Society, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Oratorio Society, Hong Kong Strings, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong Children’s Choir, Yat Po Singers, RTHK Quartet, Romer (String Quartet), Hong Kong Youth Windophilics etc. He has previously worked with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Composers Scheme 2018/19, and players from BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Philadelphia Orchestra.
Since undergraduate studies, Chan's music has been performed and screened across the UK, Hong Kong and other countries, such as the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music (2017-19), Musicus Fest (2017), Brandenburg Choral Festival of London (2017), "Asia - Europe" New Music Festival (2016) and Asian Composers League Festival & Conference (2015, 2016). In 2014, Chan presented his work at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World Music Days in Poland, and turned to be the youngest Hong Kong composer representative in this prestigious forum to date.
Chan is a versatile choral artist and composer. He was appointed the Juror for the British Composer Awards 2018 (Choral Category), the Honorary Member of the Association of Croatian Choral Directors (2018), the Emerging Composer at the Florence Choral (2017), and awarded the title ‘World Youth Choral Artist’ by World Youth and Children Choral Artists’ Association (2015). In 2014, Chan was invited to conduct the background choir for Rolling Stones in Macau during their world tour concerts. In 2018, Chan attained 3rd place - Freundeskreis Brauweiler Prize at the Musica Sacra Nova: 14th International Composers Competition in Germany. The awarded work is published by Schott Music. He is also commissioned by The Esoterics as their annual Polyphonos: International Composer (2018/19).
In recent international choral competitions, choirs keep on achieving exceptional results with works by Chan. Notably with his two winning commissions, Marymount Secondary School Choir became the first champion from Hong Kong at the widely acclaimed Béla Bartók 27th International Choir Competition (2016, youth choir category), and the winner of secondary school girls’ choir (intermediate - Chinese) at the 71st Hong Kong Schools Music Festival (2019) respectively. The premiere of his “By Chance” also brought the victory to the Guangdong University of Technology Male Choir at the 5th Guangdong University Student Art Exhibition (Choral, 2017) and first class award at the 5th National University Student Art Exhibition (Choral, 2018) in China.
Supported by the Elsie Gertrude Martin Award (2016), Henry Wood Accommodation Trust (2016), Jebsen & Co. Choral Arts Youth Scholarship (2015) and CASH Music Scholarship (2015), Chan graduated from the Royal College of Music where he obtained a Master of Composition under the tutelage of Joseph Horovitz and Kenneth Hesketh, and studied organ with Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin (Saint-Sulpice, Paris) and David Graham (Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street). During his study in London, he served as the Director of Music at John Keble Church. In particular, Chan led the choir in the choral evensong with the Bishop of London during the Patronal Festival for commemorating the 150th anniversary of John Keble’s death.
Defenestration / Veronika Krausas
Conductor: Perry Townsend; Alexa Letourneau, bell; TJ Sclafani, melodica
Conductor: Perry Townsend; Alexa Letourneau, bell; TJ Sclafani, melodica
The Yellow Sofa
The sun lounges outside the living room. The room pulls up its skirt and chases furniture out the bright windows. Sing shadows, sing! We know this for sure: times are good for mice. If Times Were Good If times were good, we could keep our worlds from flight. If times were good, we could sleep indoors. If times were good, our beds would be constant. If times were good, there would be rests for our feet. If times were good, our homes would breathe in and out. If times were good our souls would leave by the door if times were good. |
The Blue Sofa
I’ve listened to gossip with the abyss. I’ve held the void in my arms and wakened with its imprint on my chest. I’ve sat with endless space And watched the sky seep into my fabric. Times are good, O my city, But not for us. An Avalanche of Tables
Times are good. Times are great. If only our tables were faithful. If only our tables knew death from delight. Times are good. But coffee is ruined and our books have gone in search of their roots. Our books have returned to the forests to spawn. And our tables fly from love. © André Alexis 2015 – used with permission of author |
Program Notes:
Commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Artists, this work celebrates the end of San Francisco’s landmark work Defenestration by Brian Goggin. Canadian writer André Alexis wrote a set of four poems for the work.
The concept of “DEFENESTRATION”, a word literally meaning “to throw out of a window,” was embodied by both the site and staging of this installation. Located at the corner of Sixth and Howard Streets in San Francisco in an abandoned four-story tenement building, the site was part of a neighborhood that historically faced economic challenges and had often endured the stigma of skid row status.
Goggin's multi-disciplinary sculptural mural involved seemingly animated furniture – tables, chairs, lamps, grandfather clocks, a refrigerator, and couches – their bodies bent like centipedes, fastened to the walls and window-sills, their insect-like legs seeming to grasp the surfaces. Against society’s expectations, these everyday objects flooded out of windows like escapees, out onto available ledges, up and down the walls, onto the fire escapes and off the roof.
“DEFENESTRATION” was created by Brian Goggin with the help of over 100 volunteers. It was a SF landmark for 17 years until developers finally bought the building to turn it into low-income housing.
About her work, Ms. Krausas has said that Goggin’s “whimsical nature and sense of awe and fascination with the world around him draws me to his art. He lets us experience child-like wonder that I find very freeing and inspiring.”
The second of the 3 movements features a mixture of speaking and singing, about which Krausas said, “My idea was to give the impression of the pedestrians, walking by and around the building. Sometimes text is audible and other times it is in the background. Just as the furniture is thrown out the windows, people speaking is heard by the building. Also, I added a bell (4 iterations) to represent the 4 sides of the building, and a harmonica. The harmonica hovers above the voices much like a street musician would play a harmonica, and the sound would waft above the din of traffic and the city.”
About the composer:
Of Lithuanian heritage, composer Veronika Krausas was born in Australia, raised in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. She has directed, composed for, and produced multi-media events that incorporate her works with dance, acrobatics and video. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) writes: “...her works, whose organic, lyrical sense of storytelling are supported by a rigid formal elegance, give her audiences a sense that nature’s frozen objects are springing to life.”
She was one of 6 composers involved in the acclaimed mobile opera Hopscotch. Alex Ross of the New Yorker called Hopscotch “a remarkable experimental opera.” Her first opera, The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, was premiered at the New York City Opera’s VOX 2008 festival. A full production was mounted in Los Angeles in August 2010 to sold-out audiences. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times said of her chamber opera, “Something novel this way comes.”
The Calgary Herald called Ghost Opera (her third opera) “Calgary’s premier arts event of the year.” Opera Canada cited Ghost Opera as one of the best operas of the decade. Ghost Opera is a dramma giocoso with life-sized puppets created with The Old Trout Puppet Workshop with the Calgary Opera and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2019.
Commissions and performances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Industry, New York City Opera, Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble musikFabrik at the Darmstadt Music Festival, Chicago Architecture Biennial (2016), Piano Spheres for Gloria Cheng, The Vancouver Symphony, ERGO Projects, Esprit Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera, Jacaranda Music, Motion Music, San Francisco Choral Artists, LiederAlive, and the Penderecki String Quartet. She received the Detroit Symphony’s 10th annual Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Award in 2020.
Krausas has music composition degrees from the University of Toronto, McGill University in Montreal, and a doctorate from the Thornton School of Music at USC in Los Angeles, where she is a faculty member in the Composition Department. She is a pre-concert lecturer and interviewer at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and serves on the advisory boards of Jacaranda Music and People Inside Electronics.
Commissioned by the San Francisco Choral Artists, this work celebrates the end of San Francisco’s landmark work Defenestration by Brian Goggin. Canadian writer André Alexis wrote a set of four poems for the work.
The concept of “DEFENESTRATION”, a word literally meaning “to throw out of a window,” was embodied by both the site and staging of this installation. Located at the corner of Sixth and Howard Streets in San Francisco in an abandoned four-story tenement building, the site was part of a neighborhood that historically faced economic challenges and had often endured the stigma of skid row status.
Goggin's multi-disciplinary sculptural mural involved seemingly animated furniture – tables, chairs, lamps, grandfather clocks, a refrigerator, and couches – their bodies bent like centipedes, fastened to the walls and window-sills, their insect-like legs seeming to grasp the surfaces. Against society’s expectations, these everyday objects flooded out of windows like escapees, out onto available ledges, up and down the walls, onto the fire escapes and off the roof.
“DEFENESTRATION” was created by Brian Goggin with the help of over 100 volunteers. It was a SF landmark for 17 years until developers finally bought the building to turn it into low-income housing.
About her work, Ms. Krausas has said that Goggin’s “whimsical nature and sense of awe and fascination with the world around him draws me to his art. He lets us experience child-like wonder that I find very freeing and inspiring.”
The second of the 3 movements features a mixture of speaking and singing, about which Krausas said, “My idea was to give the impression of the pedestrians, walking by and around the building. Sometimes text is audible and other times it is in the background. Just as the furniture is thrown out the windows, people speaking is heard by the building. Also, I added a bell (4 iterations) to represent the 4 sides of the building, and a harmonica. The harmonica hovers above the voices much like a street musician would play a harmonica, and the sound would waft above the din of traffic and the city.”
About the composer:
Of Lithuanian heritage, composer Veronika Krausas was born in Australia, raised in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. She has directed, composed for, and produced multi-media events that incorporate her works with dance, acrobatics and video. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) writes: “...her works, whose organic, lyrical sense of storytelling are supported by a rigid formal elegance, give her audiences a sense that nature’s frozen objects are springing to life.”
She was one of 6 composers involved in the acclaimed mobile opera Hopscotch. Alex Ross of the New Yorker called Hopscotch “a remarkable experimental opera.” Her first opera, The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, was premiered at the New York City Opera’s VOX 2008 festival. A full production was mounted in Los Angeles in August 2010 to sold-out audiences. Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times said of her chamber opera, “Something novel this way comes.”
The Calgary Herald called Ghost Opera (her third opera) “Calgary’s premier arts event of the year.” Opera Canada cited Ghost Opera as one of the best operas of the decade. Ghost Opera is a dramma giocoso with life-sized puppets created with The Old Trout Puppet Workshop with the Calgary Opera and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2019.
Commissions and performances include the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Industry, New York City Opera, Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble musikFabrik at the Darmstadt Music Festival, Chicago Architecture Biennial (2016), Piano Spheres for Gloria Cheng, The Vancouver Symphony, ERGO Projects, Esprit Orchestra, Fort Worth Opera, Jacaranda Music, Motion Music, San Francisco Choral Artists, LiederAlive, and the Penderecki String Quartet. She received the Detroit Symphony’s 10th annual Elaine Lebenbom Memorial Award in 2020.
Krausas has music composition degrees from the University of Toronto, McGill University in Montreal, and a doctorate from the Thornton School of Music at USC in Los Angeles, where she is a faculty member in the Composition Department. She is a pre-concert lecturer and interviewer at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and serves on the advisory boards of Jacaranda Music and People Inside Electronics.
The New Colossus / Saunder Choi
Conductor: Karen Siegel
Conductor: Karen Siegel
"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’"
—Emma Lazarus
Program Notes:
I chose to set Emma Lazarus' poem The New Colossus because it makes sacrosanct the principle that the United States of America has been and will always be a nation of immigrants, regardless of xenophobic political ideologies. The notion of condemning immigration is against the concept of liberty and the land of the free. In this setting, I chose to only set the last few lines, arguably the more famous part of the poem. The post-minimalistic approach of relentless pulse and repetition is interpresed with a warm, lush section of hope and welcome.
About the composer:
Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and choral artist. His works have also been performed by the Philippine Madrigal Singers, the Crossing Choir, the LA Master Chorale Chamber Singers, Sacra Profana, Tonality, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, World Youth Choir, Asia Pacific Youth Choir and many others. He has been commissioned by the L.A. Choral Lab, Andrea Veneracion International Choral Festival, SYC Ensemble Singers (Singapore), Choral Arts Initiative, the Earth Choir (Taiwan), Taipei Philharmonic Choir and Women’s Choir, Archipelago Singers (Indonesia), Los Angeles Master Chorale, and many others. As an arranger and orchestrator, Saunder has written for Tony-Award winner Lea Salonga, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa, ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the New York Gay Men’s Chorus, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, the Tim Janis Christmas Shows at Carnegie Hall, Ballet Philippines, etc.
He won the 2017 Indianapolis Symphonic Choir Carol Commission competition and awarded the 1st prize in the 2014 American Prize for Choral Composition (student division). He was also a finalist for the 2012 and 2015 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and was one of the five composition fellows at the 2016 Big Sky Choral Initiative, where he worked with the Grammy-award winning choir, The Crossing. More recently, he was one of three composers chosen to participate in Pacific Chorale’s Choral Sketches Workshop, with renowned composer Tarik O’Regan.
As a tenor, he maintains an active singing schedule in Southern California. He regularly sings with the L.A. Choral Lab, Pacific Chorale, Horizon Chamber Choir, C3LA: Contemporary Choral Collective of Los Angeles, the Hex Ensemble and Tonaliy. He serves as teaching artist for the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s Voices Within and Oratorio Project. As a SAG-AFTRA session singer, he sang in the soundtrack of Disney’s The Lion King (2019) live action remake, Disney’s Mulan (2020) live action remake, The Call of the Wild (2020), and others. He also sang choir in Zelda Symphony of the Goddess and Assassin’s Creed Symphony at the Dolby Theater, John Williams’ Anniversary Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl, and many others. He is currently Director of Music at Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica.
Born in Manila, Philippines, Saunder holds degrees from De La Salle University – Manila, Berklee College of Music, and the USC Thornton School of Music. His works are published with See-A-Dot Music Publishing, Santa Barbara Music Publishingand Earthsongs. Select works are also distributed by MusicSpoke and MuzikSea.
‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’"
—Emma Lazarus
Program Notes:
I chose to set Emma Lazarus' poem The New Colossus because it makes sacrosanct the principle that the United States of America has been and will always be a nation of immigrants, regardless of xenophobic political ideologies. The notion of condemning immigration is against the concept of liberty and the land of the free. In this setting, I chose to only set the last few lines, arguably the more famous part of the poem. The post-minimalistic approach of relentless pulse and repetition is interpresed with a warm, lush section of hope and welcome.
About the composer:
Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and choral artist. His works have also been performed by the Philippine Madrigal Singers, the Crossing Choir, the LA Master Chorale Chamber Singers, Sacra Profana, Tonality, Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, World Youth Choir, Asia Pacific Youth Choir and many others. He has been commissioned by the L.A. Choral Lab, Andrea Veneracion International Choral Festival, SYC Ensemble Singers (Singapore), Choral Arts Initiative, the Earth Choir (Taiwan), Taipei Philharmonic Choir and Women’s Choir, Archipelago Singers (Indonesia), Los Angeles Master Chorale, and many others. As an arranger and orchestrator, Saunder has written for Tony-Award winner Lea Salonga, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa, ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the New York Gay Men’s Chorus, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, the Tim Janis Christmas Shows at Carnegie Hall, Ballet Philippines, etc.
He won the 2017 Indianapolis Symphonic Choir Carol Commission competition and awarded the 1st prize in the 2014 American Prize for Choral Composition (student division). He was also a finalist for the 2012 and 2015 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and was one of the five composition fellows at the 2016 Big Sky Choral Initiative, where he worked with the Grammy-award winning choir, The Crossing. More recently, he was one of three composers chosen to participate in Pacific Chorale’s Choral Sketches Workshop, with renowned composer Tarik O’Regan.
As a tenor, he maintains an active singing schedule in Southern California. He regularly sings with the L.A. Choral Lab, Pacific Chorale, Horizon Chamber Choir, C3LA: Contemporary Choral Collective of Los Angeles, the Hex Ensemble and Tonaliy. He serves as teaching artist for the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s Voices Within and Oratorio Project. As a SAG-AFTRA session singer, he sang in the soundtrack of Disney’s The Lion King (2019) live action remake, Disney’s Mulan (2020) live action remake, The Call of the Wild (2020), and others. He also sang choir in Zelda Symphony of the Goddess and Assassin’s Creed Symphony at the Dolby Theater, John Williams’ Anniversary Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl, and many others. He is currently Director of Music at Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica.
Born in Manila, Philippines, Saunder holds degrees from De La Salle University – Manila, Berklee College of Music, and the USC Thornton School of Music. His works are published with See-A-Dot Music Publishing, Santa Barbara Music Publishingand Earthsongs. Select works are also distributed by MusicSpoke and MuzikSea.
About C4
C4 is a unique, award-winning chorus directed and operated collectively by its singing members, functioning not only as a presenting ensemble in its own right but also as an ongoing workshop and recital chorus for the emerging composers and conductors who form the core of the group.
It is the first organization of its kind and one of the few choral groups in the nation to focus exclusively on the music of our time.
C4 is a unique, award-winning chorus directed and operated collectively by its singing members, functioning not only as a presenting ensemble in its own right but also as an ongoing workshop and recital chorus for the emerging composers and conductors who form the core of the group.
It is the first organization of its kind and one of the few choral groups in the nation to focus exclusively on the music of our time.
P.S. If you feel moved to make a donation to C4's "virtual tip jar," feel free to Venmo us at @c4ensemble. You can also donate via PayPal ([email protected]), or via credit card.
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