A CAPPELLA CHOIR &
COLLEGIATE CHORALE

Saturday, November 11, 2023

8:00 P.M. Kobacker Hall
Moore Musical Arts Center

Program

A Cappella Choir
Mark Munson, director
Kevin McGill, accompanist
Alejo Goenaga, graduate assistant

How Can I Keep from Singing? | Gwyneth Walker

~~~

I. Macaronic Christmas Pieces

Psallite
| Michael Praetorius
Translation
Sing your psalms to Christ, the only begotten Son of God.
Sing your psalms to the Redeemer.
A small Child lies in the manger. All the blessed angels serve Him and sing to Him.
Sing your psalms to Christ, the only begotten Son of God.
Sing your psalms to the Redeemer.

O magnum mysterium | Mark Munson
            Ellie Lewis, soloist
Translation
O great mystery and wondrous sacrament that animals should see the new-born Lord lying in their manger! Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthy to bear the Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia!

~~~

II. Composed by Women Composers Living Today

Alleluia (O Sing Praises)
| Debbie Wiseman
            Alejo Goenaga, conductor

Alleluia | Elaine Hagenberg

~~~

III. Latin Motets in Romantic-Era Style

Locus Iste
| Anton Bruckner
Translation
This place was made by God, a priceless mystery. It is without reproof.     
       
Bogoróditse Dyévo | Sergei Rachmaninoff   
Translation
Rejoice, virgin mother of God, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb,
for you have born the Savior of our souls.

~~~

IV. Celebrating African-American Culture

My Feets Is Tired
| Traditional Spiritual, arr. Alice Parker
            Jess Driggs, soloist

True Light | Keith Hampton
            Benjamin Tittl and Madelyn Shepherd, soloists
 

*************************************************************
 

Collegiate Chorale
Richard Schnipke, conductor
Kevin McGill, pianist
Will Baughman, graduate assistant conductor
 

All Seems Beautiful to Me
 

I. A Calling

Meet Me Here
from Considering Matthew Shepard (excerpt) | Craig Hella Johnson
    Alexandra Meade, Maddie Depinet, and Isabella Olzak, soloists

Everyone Sang (excerpt) | Kile Smith
    Will Baughman, Kourtney Syrus, Ian Keller, and Zac Flasch, soloists

Ritual | Jake Runestad           
    Laney Mitchell, soloist
    Kevin McGill, piano
    Frank Sanzo & Ian Weil, percussion

~~~

II. Journeys

I Will Go | Jeffrey Derus         
    Malika Brower, violin

A Journey of Your Own | Saunder Choi         
Translation of Tagalog text:
everyone comes and goes
going to wherever
one goes, to the end;
the journey is a search,
a search for a destination —
a search for a destination
of the journey, of the search;
reaching the end: again,
everyone comes and goes.

~~~                                                                       

III. In Praise and Celebration

Blessed Be!
(excerpt) | Melanie DeMore                                        

Jauchzet dem Herren alle Welt | Heinrich Schütz
Translation of German text:
Sing to the Lord all ye lands!
Serve the Lord God with gladness;
come ye before His face with rejoicing!
Perceive that the Lord is the Godhead!
He is who made us, not we ourselves to His own folk and His sheep upon His pasture.
Enter, advance through the gates of Heav’n and thank Him,
approach His courtyards and praise Him;
give Him thanks, praise His name forever!
or the Lord is friendly, and the Lord’s mercy lasts forever,
so does His truth eternally.

Ihr Bruder, leiben Bruder Mein | Johann Schein
Translation of German text:
Your brother, my dear brother,
Let’s all have fun today.
This is how we drink.
This is how we sing.
So we sling the good beer
In honor of our host who treats us well.

Ay’bobo Pou Yo | Sydney Guillaume
    B. Michael Perry, soloist
    Frank Sanzo & Ian Weil, percussion
Translation:
Poets and musicians, actors, singers and farandoles,
Artists from everywhere, gather under the Dome.
Join in! Let’s go! We are honoring them!
The curtains are open and the scene is full of jubilation;
Corypheus, intone a marvelous chant!
“Praise and honor to all composers!
Praise and honor to the conductors too!”
From the crack of dawn till the darkness of night,
They are spreading joy and they are sowing peace.
They plant in our hearts the joy of harmony,
The meaning of the bar and the taste of life.
For their beautiful mission, we honor them!
Music and love forever enlighten us,
And the light shines brightly throughout the world.
The light of justice, the light of friendship,
The light of dignity and the light of humanity.
Oh how wonderful it is when everyone’s heart is filled with joy!
Music and love are the best legacy!
We thank and honor them! Bravo for them!

~~~                                                           

IV. A Reflection

All Seems Beautiful to Me
| Eric Whitacre

~~~                                                                 

V. Fire and Water

Fire
from Elements | Katerina Gimon
    Christina Worchester, Karli Christ, & Giovanni Castiglione, callers
    Ian Weil, percussion                                                                       

Wade in the Water | Traditional Spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan
    Prof. Keith Phares, guest soloist                                                                                   

SOPRANO
Madison Alt
Kloe Archbold           
Abigail Blank             
Emma Guanzon
Emily Harmon*
Mackenzie Jones
Ellie Lewis                 
Audrey Martin           
Victoria Miller           
Olivia Owsinek
Naomi Schag
Madelyn Shepherd*
Alli Twining

ALTO
Emily Buelsing
Autumn Crowell         
Madison Elliott
Kamiah Felver           
Samantha Hill             
Karla Kunk*               
Carmen Lopez           
Lainey Luginbill
Baylie Mitchell
Zo Povlsen
Rue Stammen
Morgan Thompson   
Emily Thornton*       
Mckenna Warner

TENOR
Noah Beasley             
Luke Blake     
Dominic Carlozzi       
Malcolm DeSouza     
Seth Foth                   
Caleb Gildner             
Alejo Goenaga
Alec Lee                     
Robbie Reed               
Mason Smith             
Anthony Stout           
Andrew Vo

BASS
Grant Bruns               
Luca Caretto               
Jess Driggs                 
Chandler Giesswein   
Jake Grafitti               
Jack Summanen         
Benjamin Tittl           
Devon North             
Colton Ogg                 
Zach Sanford             
Issac Washington       
Wesley Yoder

*officers

Soprano
Emma Clark
Maddie Depinet
Alyssa Desotell
Brittany Izor
Aria King
Laney Mitchell*
Olivia Swicegood*
Kourtney Syrus*^+
Cassidy Vanscoy*
Christina Worchester

Alto
Karli Christ*
Alexandra Hoffer
Alexandra Meade
Sara Murray
Isabella Olzak*
Zoey Paulus^
Julia Posadny
Phoebe Saboley
Ashlyn Slocum
Annie Swanson

Tenor
Cameron Baker
Will Davis*
Alexander Ebright
Noah Elliott
Dylan Gheen
Alejo Goenaga^+
Ian Keller
Ethan Martinez
B. Michael Perry

Bass
Sean Barry
Will Baughman^+
Giovanni Castiglione
Ivan Cobb
Stephen Deeter
Zachary Flasch
Zachary Sanford
Christopher Schock
Matthew Steele
Ian Wisecup

*Officers
^Section Leader
+Choral Graduate Assistants

Meet Me Here, music and text by Craig Hella Johnson
This piece, Meet Me Here, comes from a concert length work I composed called “Considering Matthew Shepard.” As a stand-alone piece, Meet Me Here can be sung in a wide variety of contexts. In the context of the larger work, it is a pivotal movement which takes a first step from a difficult story and asks the question "Where do I go from here?".  At its core, Meet Me Here, is a folk style hymn which invites the participants to be open to meeting at a place which may seem difficult or painful and to be open to discovering the healing and joy which can be experienced when we lay down the "ancestral sorrow" we may have been carrying for generations and open ourselves to finding the healing together, excluding no one.

Meet me here
Won’t you meet me here
Where the old fence ends and the horizon begins
There’s a balm in the silence
Like an understanding air
Where the old fence ends and the horizon begins

We’ve been walking through the darkness
On this long, hard climb
Carried ancestral sorrow
For too long a time
Will you lay down your burden
Lay it down, come with me
It will never be forgotten
Held in love, so tenderly

Meet me here
Won’t you meet me here
Where the old fence ends and the horizon begins
There’s a joy in the singing
Like an understanding air
Where the fence ends and the horizon begins.

Everyone Sang, music by Kile Smith , text by Siegfried SassoonSiegfried Sassoon’s “Everyone Sang,” was written at the end of World War I. This poem is brimming over with relief and delight, the celebration that happens after having traveled through a difficult time together—in his case, World War I, in ours, the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The piece uses the​ ​concept of a leader “lining out” a phrase, which is also used in Sacred Harp and other traditions.​These solo introductions are for any high voice. I put non-aligning rhythms and elaborations into the voices, inspired by the pibroch style of bagpipe playing.  The sound of free heterophony is what I wanted to capture: many voices singing one melody, each in its own way, all at the same time. The sonic image is similar to a flock of starlings swarming over a field—flowing, hovering, shifting, swooping—all moving individually but all moving as one.  It’s in four parts, and again, from the Sacred Harp tradition, for much of it, the top three parts can be sung by any male or female voice in any octave. So, it employs styles that may be unfamiliar to some, but they are grassroots styles.​

Everyone Sang
Everyone suddenly burst out singing;
And I was filled with such delight
As prisoned birds must find in freedom,
Winging wildly across the white
Orchards and dark-green fields; on – on – and out of sight.
Everyone’s voice was suddenly lifted;
And beauty came like the setting sun:
My heart was shaken with tears; and horror
Drifted away … O, but Everyone
Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

Ritual, Jake Runestad
Ritual is a rhythmically-driving sonic narrative that uses a created language for colorful timbral effects.  The title alludes to societal rituals that persist for the sake of tradition, but necessitate deeper reflection and reconsideration.  The drums and chorus rage with a gritty intensity, while a lone soloist offers a softer, more thoughtful perspective. Despite the soloist’s attempt at change, their voice is ultimately overtaken by the power of tradition and the chorus and drums drown out any alternative perspective.

I Will Go, music by Jeffrey Derus, text from Ruth 1:16-17, Proverbs 30: 18-19, Psalm 139:6
I Will Go speaks to anyone curious about how powerful love, nature, and the divine are. In everyday life we often stop to wonder how something happens with no explanation. That pull towards someone when we fall in love, the intuition nature has in navigating the wild, and the everlasting question of… what is the meaning of life? The SATB chorus offers the narrative of these questions as the solo violin takes the form of the guide or the unknown wisdom. The lasting impression is the profound feeling of awe and wonder. We may never know the answer to why there is such beauty in our world, but we have the chance to live within that beauty.

I will go wherever you go and live wherever you live.
Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
I will die where you die and be buried there.
There are three things that amaze me–
no, four things that I do not understand:
How an eagle glides through the sky,
How a snake slithers on a rock,
How a ship navigates the ocean,
How a man loves a woman.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me to know,
Too great, for me to know!

A Journey of Your Own, music by Saunder Choi, text by Brian Sonia-Wallace and Joey Vargas
As I reflected on the the idea of home for a City called Heaven, I realized January 2022 will mark 10 years since I left Manila for the US, in pursuit of music, education, and even liberation from the environment I grew up in. The idea of home as a physical location has dissolved and transformed into something else — a community, a family you’re born into or one that you’ve chosen. I now feel at home in Los Angeles, amongst friends and loved ones, as I once did in Manila, amongst family. For this reason, I invited two poets to collaborate with on this project, one from an old home and one from my new. Joey Vargas and I met as choristers in the Philippine Madrigal Singers. He is one of the most gifted writers and theater artists back in the Philippines. Brian and I met when I was a grad student at USC, and collaborated on some art songs. He is now a published author and the poet laureate of West Hollywood, and an Academy of American Poets fellow. Each of us shared a place, a story, overlapping in intertwining convergence in our individual journeys. Whatever your story is, wherever your journey leads, may it be of your own choosing — always leading with love and courage.

Look up, call everywhere heaven,
a journey’s a name you can claim as your own.
Journey on, & keep crossing oceans
— an ocean’s a mirror: no happy hereafter,
just the here that you’ve sown.
A journey of your own.
Journey on, & keep crossing oceans
— an ocean’s a mirror. Search for somewhere to name as your own. Look ahead,
call everywhere heaven: no happy hereafter, just the here that you’ve grown.
A journey of your own.
-Brian Sonia-Wallace

ang lahat ay paroroon at paririto
tungo sa kung saan
patungo, sa dulo;
ang paglalakbay ay paghahanap,
paghahanap ng hangganan —
paghahanap ng hangganan
ng paglalakbay, ng paghahanap;
pagdating sa dulo: muli,
ang lahat ay paroroon at paririto.
-Joey Vargas

Blessed Be!, music and text by Melanie DeMore
“Blessed Be!” is a celebration of life that uses the “tree of life” metaphor to joyfully express our gratitude for human connection–to generations that have come before us and those yet to come.
Melanie DeMore shares the following, when talking about her inspiration for the text in “Blessed Be!”

“Trees are shelter. Trees are sanctuary and symbols of antiquity and strength. Trees are the living embodiment of the passage of time. They endure scarring and disease, and they become gnarled and creaky, yet they remain steadfast. They can grow despite the changes happening around them. Trees live in harmony with their surroundings much longer than humans do. They are always an inspiration, especially in winter when their skeleton forms can be seen against the pale sky.”


Blessed Be!
Blest, Be, Blessed Be the Living Tree.

Blessed Be the Tree of Life
that grows within you and me.
Steady and true,
Rooted in love.
Shelter and peace
Below and above.

Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt!, music by Heinrich Schütz, text Psalm 100
Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt!
Dienet dem Herrn mit Freuden; kommt vor sein Angesicht mit Frohlocken!
Erkennet, daß der Herr Gott ist!
Er hat uns gemacht, und nicht wir selbst zu seinem Volk
und zu Schafen seiner Weide.
Gehet zu seinen Toren ein mit Danken,
zu seinen Vorhöfen mit Loben;
danket ihm, lobet seinen Namen!
Denn der Herr ist freundlich, und seine Gnade währet ewig
und seine Wahrheit für und für.

Ihr Bruder, leiben Bruder Mein, music and text by Johann Schein
Ihr Bruder, lieben Bruder mein,
Last uns heut all fein lustig sein.
So trinken wir so singen wir,
So schlingen wir das gute bier,
Zu Ehren unserm Wirt,
Der uns so wol traktirt.

Ay’bobo Pou Yo, music by Sydney Guillaume, text by Gabriel Guillaume
Poètes et musiciens, acteurs, chanteurs et farandoles,
Artistes de partout, venez sous la Coupole.
Venez! En avant! Ay’bobo pou yo, n’ap honore yo!
Les rideaux sont ouverts et la scène est en liesse;
Coryphée, entonnez un beau chant d'allégresse!
“Mèsi, ayibobo pou tout konpozitè yo!
Mèsi, ayibobo pou direktè yo tou!”
Depi solèy leve jouk nan labrin di swa,
Y’ap simen kè kontan, y’ap simaye lapè.
Ils sèment dans nos cœur la joie de l’harmonie,
Le sens de la mesure et le goût de la vie.
Pou bèl misyon sa yo, n’ap di ayibobo pou yo!
La musique et l’amour à jamais nous éclaire,
Et le monde partout resplendit de lumière.
Limyè la jistis, limyè lamitye,
Limyè la dignite, limyè limanite.
Ala yon bèl bagay lè kè tout moun kontan!
Mizik avèk lanmou se pi bèl eritaj!
Mèsi, ay’bobo pou yo! Bravo pou yo!

All Seems Beautiful to Me, music by Eric Whitacre, text by Walt Whitman        
In August of 2020 Colonel Don Schofield, commander and conductor of the United States Air Force Band, reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in writing a piece for his choir, the Singing Sergeants.  He was hoping that I might write about togetherness and community, themes that would be essential as we began to think about a post-pandemic world. 

I remember looking through my little library of poetry books, looking for inspiration, and taking from the shelf a well-worn copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.  I have always loved this book and have returned to it countless times to remind myself how beautiful the world is how much good there is in people.  By chance, I turned to the 5th section of the epic poem Song of the Open Road and immediately knew I had found the perfect words for the occasion.

I believe deeply in the way Whitman sees the world, full of hope and optimism.  And I, too, think ‘all seems beautiful to me.’  Sometimes that beauty is so overwhelming as to make my heart ache with gratitude.

Above all, this exquisite line encapsulates what I wish for people everywhere:
“You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you.”

From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of imaginary lines
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute.
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself from the holds that would hold me.
I inhale great draughts of space.
The East and the West are mine, and the North and the South are mine.

I am larger, better than I thought,
I did not know I held so much goodness.

All seems beautiful to me,
I can repeat over and over to men and women
You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you,
I will recruit for myself and you as I go,
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,
I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,
Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,
Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me.

Fire from Elements, Katerina Gimon
Elements is set of choral works that abstractly depict the four classical elements and explores the wide range of capabilities of the human voice - from overtone singing, to vocal percussion, to colorful vocal timbres. Elements features no 'text' (at least not in the traditional sense), rather a series of syllables generated through improvisation meant to evoke the sound and energy of each element.

Fire is a fun, lively, and energetic work incorporating vocal percussion, body percussion, nasal singing, calls, nonsense syllables, as well as optional percussion.

Wade in the Water, Traditional Spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan
Many slave songs and spirituals had secret meanings used to carry important messages to the enslaved trying to escape to freedom.  Harriet Tubman used the song Wade in the Water to tell escaping slaves to get off the trail and into the water to make sure the dogs slavecatchers used couldn’t sniff out their trail.  People wading through water did not leave a scent trail that dogs could follow.

God’s a gonna trouble the water.
Wade in the water,
Wade in the water, children,
Wade in the water.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

See that host all dressed in white,
God’s gonna trouble the water.
The leader looks like the Israelite.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

See that band all dressed in red,
God’s gonna trouble the water.
Looks like the band that Moses led.
God’s gonna trouble the water.

Thanks for attending this performance. If you have enjoyed your experience, please consider donating to the College of Musical Arts in support of our students and programming. Donate online at bgsu.edu/givecma, or call Sara Zulch- Smith at 419-372-7309.

To our guests with disabilities, please indicate if you need special services, assistance or appropriate modifications to fully participate in our events by contacting Accessibility Services, access@bgsu.edu, 419-372-8495. Please notify us prior to the event.

Audience members are reminded to silence alarm watches, pagers and cellular phones before the performance. As a matter of courtesy and copyright law, no recording or unauthorized photographing is allowed. BGSU is a nonsmoking campus.

Updated: 09/18/2024 03:29PM