Concert Etiquette

The members of the Ariana Women’s Choir and Orpheus Men’s Choir have been working very hard to provide you with a concert experience of musical excellence. For our mutual enjoyment, we ask that you respect and kindly attend to a few simple rules:

1. If you have a young child who begins to cry, kindly exit the performance hall. Please return once your child has calmed down.

2. Wait for applause to enter or exit the auditorium; please do not do so while the performers are singing, as it can be distracting.

3. Turn off all beepers, pagers, hour chimes on watches, and cell phones.

4. Please refrain from anything that will disrupt this concert. Inappropriate behavior is not acceptable!

5. The use of flash cameras and video cameras is strictly forbidden and violates copyright law.

Thank you in advance for helping to create a positive environment for this concert presentation. 

Our mission is to provide an environment that culturally enriches the community through exposure to the perform-ing arts.

BOARD OF TRUSTEESJane Buatti PresidentCatherine Selin VP Artistic DevelopmentJennifer Fraim VP Business DevelopmentDale Marchand TreasurerCharlotte Kroft Secretary

  PROGRAM Please hold your applause until the end of each numbered set. 

Combined Choirs

I.

Musick’s Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lloyd Pfautsch

From Triptych

I Go Among Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giselle Wyers

Poem by Wendell Berry

Ariana Women’s Choir

II.

How Do I Love Thee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nathan Christensen Poem based on Elizabeth Barrett Browning

III.

Ave Maria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David MacIntyre

Queen Jane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .arr. Stephen Hatfield

Traditional Kentucky Folksong Rebecca Shealy and Heather Vogel, sopranos

I Thank You God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gwyneth Walker

Poem by e.e. cummings

Orpheus Men’s Choir

IV.

Ramkali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . arr. Ethan Sperry

Indian Raga

Kevin DeYoe, tenor

I Believe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lon Beery Anonymous WWII Poem

Ignacio Angulo-Pizzaro, tenor

V.

The Moon is Distant from the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David N. Childs

Poem by Emily Dickinson

Demon in My View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jeffrey T. Horvath

Poem by Edgar Allen Poe

Hush! Somebody’s Calllin’ My Name arr. Brazeal W. Dennard

Greg Carson, tenor Traditional Spiritual

 

INTERMISSION

Orpheus Men’s Choir

VI.

Tshotsholoza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . arr. Jeffrey L. Ames

Traditional South African Freedom Song

Stephen Wilburn, tenor

The Two Sisters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . arr. Joshua Shank

Appalachian Murder Ballad

Jordan Hodess, baritone

Down Among the Dead Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ralph Vaughan Williams

12th

Street Rag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Euday L. Bowman Arr. Bobby L. McCullar

Stephen Wilburn, James Alexander,

Andrew O’Neill and Kevin DeYoe, solo quartet

Ariana Women’s Choir

VII. Adiemus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Karl Jenkins

From Song of Sanctuary

Beth McAdoo, flute

Song of Ezekiel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Torke

Ezekiel 17:22-24

Koowu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maryann Khoury

Carli Visconti and Jennifer Fraim, sopranos

Kevin DeYoe, percussion

Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down . . . . . . . . . arr. Caldwell/Ivory

Traditional Spiritual

Combined Choirs

VIII.

Duerme Negrito . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . arr. Emile Solé

Latin American Lullaby

Miku Shiota, mezzo-soprano

Horizons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Louis Van Dijk

  PROGRAM NOTES

Musick’s Empire Lloyd Pfautsch

Lloyd Pfautsch, one of the most prolific American choral composers of the 20th

Century, wrote Musick’s Empire as the first movement of Tryptich, a collection of

three Andrew Marvell odes set to music. The words speak of the natural sounds of the world and of creation ordering themselves into the sounds of voices and

instruments, spreading across the earth and giving birth to all forms of music.

First was the World as one great Cymbal made, Where Jarring Windes to infant Nature plaid.

All Musick was a solitary sound, To hollow Rocks and murm'ring Fountains bound.

Jubal first made the wilder Notes agree; And Jubal tun'd Musicks Jubilee:

He call'd the Ecchoes from their sullen Cell, And built the Organs City where they dwell.

Each sought a consort in that lovely place; And Virgin Trebles wed the manly Base.

From whence the Progeny of numbers new Into harmonious Colonies withdrew.

Some to the Lute, some to the Viol went, And others chose the Cornet eloquent.

These practising the Wind, and those the Wire, To sing Mens Triumphs, or in Heavens quire.

Then Musick, the Mosaique of the Air, Did of all these a Solemn noise prepare:

With which She gain'd the Empire of the Ear, Including all between the Earth and Sphear.

Victorious Sounds. yet here your Homage do Unto a gentler Conqueror then you;

Who though He flies the Musick of his praise, Would with you Heavens Hallelujahs raise.

-Andrew Marvell

 

  I Go Among Trees Giselle Wyers

Wendell Berry was born in Kentucky in 1934. A prolific author of novels, short stories, poems and essays, his work reflects his upbringing as the son of a

tobacco farmer with a 125-acre farm on the banks of the Kentucky River. In Berry’s poem “I Go Among Trees,” the reader (or singer) goes through the

process of viewing nature as something foreign and fearful, to recognizing it as part of oneself. As one recognizes their own true nature, they are able to “sing”

that out to the world. This profound and picturesque poem appears first in his 124 poem collection, A Timbred Choir: The Sabbath Poems.

I go among trees and sit still. All my stirring becomes quiet around me like circles on water.

My tasks lie in their places where I left them, asleep like cattle. Then what is afraid of me comes and lives a while in my sight.

What it fears in me leaves me, and the fear of me leaves it. It sings, and I hear its song.

Then what I am afraid of comes. I live for a while in its sight.

What I fear in it leaves it, and the fear of it leaves me. It sings, and I hear its song.

After days of labor, mute in my consternations, I hear my song at last, and I sing it.

As we sing, the day turns, the trees move.

-Wendell Berry

How Do I Love Thee?

Nathan Christensen

Nathan Christensen composed How Do I Love Thee? at the suggestion of his high school music theory teacher in 1996 as an entry for the Diva Complex

composition contest. Needless to say, his composition won! The text is adapted from Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s original poem.

  How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways!

I love thee like the Earth and sky and will throughout my days. I love thee in the morning and I love thee in the night,

And if you ask me how I feel, I’m doin’ all right.

My life is dark without you and I love you for the light

That seems to gather round whenever you’re in sight. I love thee from the smallest little detail of thy face,

And I love thee to the greatest distance measurement can trace.

More precious than diamonds, you are my luxury,

But I could never give you up: you’re my necessity. This love I give you freely, this love I give is pure.

And I love you with a passion you ain’t never known before.

-Adapted from Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Ave Maria

David MacIntyre

Canadian composer David MacIntyre’s Ave Maria was commissioned by the Canadian Music Centre in 1994 to celebrate its 25

th anniversary, but was

composed specifically with Elektra in mind, a well known women’s choir based in Vancouver. The composer notes, “In 1994, the request to write a short work

for Elektra Women's Choir came at a time when I was deep in research for a new opera about paranormal spiritual events occurring in war-torn Bosnia-

Hercegovina, particularly the daily visitations of the Virgin Mary to a small group of children and adults who live there. During my research, I was struck by the

celebratory nature of these visitations and the necessity of connecting with the feminine, maternal nature of the divine.” MacIntyre doesn’t use the traditional

“Ave Maria” text because the piece is not about the text, but rather the anticipation of the vision and connection with the divine. He simply used  the

words “Ave Maria” as the repeated chant or mantra of the children. Compositionally, MacIntyre’s carefully placed rests and open spaces in the music

give a wonderful sense of expectation, waiting, hope – in that the vision will appear.

 

 

Queen Jane

arr. Stephen Hatfield

“Queen Jane is Jane Seymour, the third and most beloved wife of Henry VIII,

who died giving birth to the short-lived Edward VI. The ballad of Queen Jane, which adheres to the inaccurate but enduring tradition of a Caesarian delivery,

originally acted as both a newscast and tragic legend. Centuries ago the ballad traveled to America where it settled in the musical Galapagos of the isolated

Kentucky hills, and slowly developed into a beautiful and distinctive version all its own. Singers prized the song for its melancholy power, but feared it also, and

often forbade it to be “sung in the house.” By the time musical anthropologist Cecil Sharp notated the ballad, the singers no longer had any idea that Queen

Jane was based on English history. There are three characters, each of whom should have a distinctive timbre. The treble I’s take the part of Jane Seymour,

the treble III’s that of Henry VIII, while the treble II’s are the narrator.” - Stephen Hatfield

Queen Jane was in labour six days and some more.

The women grew weary, and the mid-wife gave o’er.

Oh women, kind women I take you to be,

Pierce my right side open and save my baby.

Oh no, said the women, that never shall be. King Henry will reach you in the hour of your need.

King Henry came riding, he knelt by her bed. What’s the matter with my flower, makes her eyes grow so red?

Oh Henry, kind Henry, pray listen to me.

Pierce my right side open and save my baby.

Oh no, said King Henry, that never shall be. I shall lose my fair flower for to save my baby.

Queen Jane, she turned over. She fell in a swound.

They pierced her right side open, and the baby was found.

So black was the morning, so yellow the bed, So costly were the white clothes they wrapped round her head.

Six men went before her, six men bore her along.

King Henry followed after with his black mourning on.

King Henry, he wept ‘til his hands were wrung sore. The flower of England shall flourish no more.

 

  I Thank You God

Gwyneth Walker

Dr. Gwyneth Walker holds B.A., M.M., and D.M.A. degrees in music

composition and has composed over 130 commissioned works for orchestra, band, chorus, and chamber ensembles. She was the recipient of the “Lifetime

Achievement Award” from the Vermont Arts Council, where she now currently resides. The text in I Thank You God is adapted from the E.E. Cummings poem

“i thank you God for most this amazing day.” The composer says of the work, “This is a song of praise. A piano introduction spans the broad range of the

keyboard, as if expressing the breadth of space and life. The chorus enters, offering thanks to God for ‘the leaping, greenly spirits of trees,’ ‘a blue true

dream of sky’ and ‘everything which is infinite.’ A central phrase of ‘I who have died am alive again today’ returns frequently. This is an expression of the rebirth

of the soul with each amazing day.”

i thank You God for most this amazing day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,

and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay

great happening illimitably earth

how should tasting touching hearing seeing

breathing any--lifted from the no of all nothing--human merely being

doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and

now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

-e.e. cummings

 

  Ramkali

arr. Ethan Sperry

Ramkali is a lively, rhythmic piece based on an Indian raga (scale) of the same name which is considered “one of the most complex ragas to sing as it is perfectly

symmetrical (unlike either the major or minor scale) and contains many of the notes that are most dissonant against the drone. This arrangement asks the choir to speak

what might be “percussion solos” during raga using sollakattu (“rhythmic solfege”). The music, taken with the text, expresses a deeply ardent, almost

religious love on the part of the singer, and this piece has become one of our favorites to perform. - based on notes by Ethan Sperry

Hoon tho vari vari jawoon thumuhre gus. I am entirely devoted to you my lord.

Huhmuhri bath kachu maan pyare. At least heed my plea, my love. Thumuhre milanuh ki ahsuh pyare. I hope to be united with you, my love.

Chayan na parat mare pyare. Peace of mind is not mine, my love.

I Believe

Lon Beery

“This text, found by Allied troops, was written on the walls of a Cologne,

Germany basement. It was evidently written by someone hiding from the Gestapo. Even in its simplicity, it is a profound statement of faith in the

midst of tremendous adversity.” - Lon Beery

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.

I believe in love even when feeling it not.

I believe in God even when God is silent.

-Anonymous

  The Moon is Distant from the Sea

David N. Childs

In this poem by Emily Dickinson, the moon and the sea are lovers separated

by space but connected by their yearning and love for each other. They can see each other but can never touch, never meet, which is perhaps a reference

to Dickinson’s infamous shyness and eventual reclusiveness. This sense of longing and separation is prevalent throughout much of Dickinson’s poetry.

David N. Childs uses flowing, deep arepeggios in the left hand of the piano and lighter, slower melodies high in the right hand to evoke the natures of the

two lovers, with the rolling sound of waves being particularly evident. The writing for the singers increases in tension and complexity throughout the

first two stanzas, building to a climax at the final declaration of devotion in the beginning of the final stanza.

The moon is distant from the sea,

And yet with amber hands She leads him, docile as a boy,

Along appointed sands.

He never misses a degree;

Obedient to her eye, He comes just so far toward the town,

Just so far goes away. Oh, Signor, thine, the amber hand,

And mine the distant sea, Obedient to the least command

Thine eye impose on me.

‐Emily Dickinson 

 

  Demon in My View Jeffrey T. Horvath

Demon in My View is a setting of Edgar Allen Poe’s "Alone," a 22-line poem,

originally written in 1829 and left untitled and unpublished during his lifetime. The original manuscript was signed "E. A. Poe" and dated March 17, 1829. In

February of that year, Poe's foster mother Francis Allan had died. In September 1875, the poem, which had been in the possession of a family in

Baltimore, was published with its title in Scribner's Monthly. The editor, E. L. Didier, also reproduced a facsimile of the manuscript, though he admitted he

added the date himself. The poem is now often included in anthologies.

"Alone" is often interpreted as autobiographical, expressing the author's

feelings of isolation and inner torment. Poet Daniel Hoffman believed "Alone" was evidence that "Poe really was a haunted man." The poem, however, is

introspective about Poe's youth, written when he was only 20 years old.

From childhood's hour I have not been As others were; I have not seen

As others saw; I could not bring My passions from a common spring.

From the same source I have not taken My sorrow; I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone; And all I loved, I loved alone.

Then- in my childhood, in the dawn Of a most stormy life- was drawn

From every depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still:

From the torrent, or the fountain, From the red cliff of the mountain,

From the sun that round me rolled In its autumn tint of gold,

From the lightning in the sky As it passed me flying by,

From the thunder and the storm, And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view.

­Edgar Allen Poe 

 

  Hush! Somebody’s Callin’ My Name arr. Brazeal W. Dennard

Brazeal W. Dennard, born in Detroit just before the Great Depression, was an important voice in the development and promotion of the African American Spiritual

as a cultural and historical art form beyond the confines of the church. In 1972 he founded the Brazeal Dennard Chorale, a group of highly trained singers dedicated to

developing the choral art to its highest professional level. With this group, he premiered many of his own arrangements of traditional spirituals, including Hush!,

which he has arranged for men’s voices, women’s voices, and mixed voices so that any choir may perform it.

Hush, hush somebody's calling my name

Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord what shall I do, what shall I do? I'm so glad that trouble don't last always

Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord what shall I do, what shall I do? Refrain I'm so glad I got my ‘ligion in time

Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord what shall I do, what shall I do? Refrain Soon one mornin’ death come come creepin’ in my room

Oh my Lord, Oh my Lord what shall I do, what shall I do? Refrain

-traditional

Tshotsholoza arr. Jeffrey L. Ames

According to African author Dougmore Boetie, “Tshotsholoza is the song that South Afircan blacks sing under hardship.” The soloist and the choir alternate in a

responsorial style typical of many south and west African work songs. It allows a leader or foreman to set the pace of the work, be it hammering, threshing, digging, or

some other repetitive task. Work songs often speak of the future, travel, or a new life. As such, Tshotsholoza contains a mix of emotions; the text has an urgency about it

while the music with its steady pace, slow build, and soaring melodies brings a distinct message of hope.

Shosholozah Ku lezontabah You are moving fast on those mountains

Stimela siphum' eSouth Africa The train is coming out of South Africa Wen' uyabalekah Ku lezontabah You are running away on those mountains

Stimela siphum' eSouth Africa The train is coming out of South Africa

  The Two Sisters arr. Joshua Shank

The Two Sisters is a murder ballad that recounts the tale of a girl drowned by her sister. It is first known to have appeared on a broadside in 1656 as "The

Miller and the King's Daughter." Two sisters go down by a body of water, sometimes a river and sometimes the sea. The older one pushes the younger in

and refuses to pull her out again; generally the lyrics explicitly state her intent to drown her younger sister. Her motive, when included in the lyrics, is sexual

jealousy — in some variants, the sisters are being two-timed by a suitor; in others, the elder sister's affections are not encouraged by the young man.

When the murdered girl's body floats ashore, someone makes a musical instrument out of it, generally a harp or a fiddle, with a frame of bone and the

girl's "long yellow hair" (or "golden hair") for strings. Born in 1980, Joshua Shank is quickly becoming recognized as a talented and

innovative young composer whose music has been widely performed internationally by educational and professional ensembles alike. Joshua

received his undergraduate degree Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where he studied conducting with Weston Noble and composition with John Morrison

and Neil Flory.

There were two sisters walking down by a stream

Oh, the wind and the rain The older one pushed the younger one in

Oh, the dreadful wind and rain

Pushed her in the river to drown

Watched her as she floated on down

Floated on down to the old mill pond

Floated on down to the old mill pond

Pushed her in the river to drown

Watched her as she floated on down

The miller fished her out with his long, long hook

He brought this maid in from the brook

He made a fiddle bow from her long yellow hair

He made a fiddle bow from her long yellow hair

He made a fiddle bridge from her own nose bridge

He made a fiddle bridge from her own nose bridge

He made a fiddle from her own breast bone

The sound could melt a heart of stone

The only tune that fiddle would play was,

“Oh, the dreadful wind and rain!”

 

  

Down Among the Dead Men Ralph Vaughan Williams

When listening to this piece, it is easy to imagine a group of British soldiers,

perhaps retired, sitting around for round after round of drinks, toasting the King, life, and beautiful women; by the third verse, they’ve even started toasting to the

alcohol itself! While this is a celebratory and joyful song, there is dark edge that speaks to a looming dread. Even in their celebration, it seems that the next

conflict is just around the corner.

Here's a health to the King and a lasting peace, To faction an end, to wealth increase;

Come, let us drink it while we have breath, For there's no drinking after death,

And he that will this health deny;

Down among the dead men,

Down among the dead men, Down, down, down, down,

Down among the dead men let him lie.

Let charming Beauty's health go round,

In whom celestial joys are found; And may confusion still pursue,

The senseless woman hating crew, And they that woman's health deny;

In smiling Bacchus' joys I'll roll, Deny no pleasures to my soul.

Let Bacchus' health round briskly move, For Bacchus is the friend of love.

And he that would this health deny; 

May love and wine their joys maintain,

And their united pleasures reign; While smiling plenty crowns the board,

We'll sing the joys that both afford: And they that won't with us comply;

-John Dyer

 

  12th

Street Rag arr. Bobby L. McCullar

12

th Street Rag is a barbershop-style song all about the most annoying thing in

the world: getting a song stuck in your head. The tune, taken from a genuine piano rag by Euday L. Bowman, is alarmingly catchy and will have your toes

tapping and your head gyrating for days…

Down in Kansas City someone wrote a pretty ditty, A melody for all the world to know.

Full of finger-swingin’, singin’, harmony, it came to me – From the start it never let me go.

Soon into the weary ear of the tune a record played quickly,

Put some ginger in your feet. Sound beat, real treat,

That’s the tune they call the 12th

Street.

Joy to every dancer and delight to each romancer And lucky for the leader of the band.

In a bar or on a show or over any radio, Bet your boots that it will get a hand,

And you can brag; it’s in the bag When they play that 12

th Street Rag.

Oh 12

th Street Rag have pity, won’t you let me be?

Why don’t you go back to Kansas City and stop trailin’ me? You barge in at the moment I have work to do.

I can’t shake you – you won’t leave and I can’t make you.

Oh, music man who wrote you knew no sympathy. I hope you get his goat just like you worry me.

Oh, why, string band, my head is set on a jag When they play that 12

th Street Rag.

  -Andy Razaf

 

  Adiemus from Songs of Sanctuary

Karl Jenkins

Songs of Sanctuary, of which Adiemus is the first movement, was conceived in the European classical tradition, but it was Karl Jenkins’ intention that the vocal

sounds reflect the style of ethnic or world music. The text is invented, and was written phonetically with the words viewed as instrumental sound in an effort to

maximize each expressive vocal phrase by removing the “distraction” of words. To simulate the tribal sound, which is in the original recording of this work, the

performers sing forte with minimal vibrato. The sound is meant to be universal, like the language of music; one that transcends the barriers of time, culture, and

religion.

 

 

 

Song of Ezekiel Michael Torke

Michael Torke has created a substantial body of works in virtually every genre, each with a characteristic personal stamp that combines restless rhythmic energy

with ravishingly beautiful melodies. Torke has helped define post-minimalism, a music which utilizes the repetitive structures of a previous generation to

incorporate musical techniques from both the classical tradition and the contemporary pop world. All of these characteristics can be heard in Song of

Ezekiel, which he has composed to impeccably reflect the meaningful scripture that speaks of lifting the lowly trees and bringing low the high trees. Of the text,

Michael Torke states: “The prophet Ezekiel lived in exile and was very concerned about

the restoration of Israel. These verses I have chosen – about high trees and low trees – can serve as a political metaphor for the

kings and leaders of the time, that through God, He will lift the “lowly tree,” and make the “withered tree bloom,” restoring Israel

to its majesty, and bringing down her enemies. But to me these verses are about human beings’ expectations of the world. It is

only through God that a branch planted will bear fruit, it is not through credit of our own. Therefore, God had the power to bring

low the high and lift high the low. Consequently, this teaches us acceptance and an accompanying inner peace: it is not through

our own that we will bloom. These verses are God speaking. Through the voices of both youth and wisdom, God’s message

becomes  poignant, sincere, and expressive. This short text is exceptional in sentiment and construction. It speaks of all that is

embodied in youth – a life that resonates with meaning and purpose, fullness, enchantment and magic. The wistfulness of

mature perspective, however, is present as well.” 

 

  And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord,

Bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, Wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom.

As I, the Lord, have spoken, so will I do. I, too, will take the crest of the cedar,

From its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot, And plant it on a high and lofty mountain;

On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it. It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,

And become a majestic cedar. Bids of every kind shall dwell beneath it,

Every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.

-Ezekiel 17: 24, 22-23

Koowu

Maryam Khoury

In Arabic, Koowu means “strength”. As a child, Maryam Khoury’s father told

her stories about the difficulties he experienced growing up in Palestine. Koowu is an expression of how different her life would be if her father had not

moved to the United States.

I have a caged bird who longs to fly away. Her name is Koowu.

I have a caged bird who is weeping. I dare not set her free.

Her song, I am keeping. But soon this Dove will die,

If she does not get the chance to fly. I have a caged bird who is weeping.

Koowu do not cry. If it is freedom you are seeking,

Then my bird must fly away. I am Koowu and her keeper.

Taste the wind, breathe the air, I’ll be waiting for you there, Koowu.

-Maryam Khoury

  Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down arr. Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory

Caldwell and Ivory began arranging music together spontaneously in the early

1990s when they were both working with a community based youth choir in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their musical partnership was further cultivated from

1993-1997 during summers spent together at the American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1998, Paul became the founding Artistic Director of

the North American Choral Company and named Sean his Associate Conductor. They shared directorship of the company’s touring choirs until Paul moved to

Chicago in 2001. Toay, Sean is the Principal Conductor of the North American Choral Company as well as the choral director at Frest Hills Central High

SchoolAlthough the arrangers are unsure of its initial origin, the traditional refrain which inspired the arrangement of Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down

seems to have been popular with gospel singers in the American South in the first half of the twentieth century. The texts and tunes which comprise the verses are

not based on traditional material, but were composed by the arrangers.

 

Duerme Negrito arr. Emile Solé

“In this lullaby composed by Atahualpa Yupanqui, one of the most popular Latin

American composers of the 1960s and 1970s, the little black child is given impossible promises and warned of dire consequences, while the sad plight of the

sick, hard-working mother is depicted in word and song. According to our translator Carlos Lopez, Negrito literally means ‘little black one’, or, in modern

usage, simply ‘darling’ or ‘dear little one’. But other words in the text leave no doubt about the setting of this ‘black’ lullaby. The omission of the ‘r’ in trae’

(traer), ce’do (cerdo), and ca’ne (carne) and the omission of an ‘s’ in e’ta (esta) and fre’ca (fresca) all reflect the black Spanish pronunciation of the uneducated

slave culture. The references to the brutal practice of cutting a person’s foot off to prevent escape and to the sick mother working hard in the fields and not

getting paid can only be understood in terms of the dehumanizing conditions slaves endured for centuries in many parts of the world.” -Maria Guinand, editor

 

  Duerme, duerme negrito Sleep, sleep little black one, Que tue mama e’ta en el campo negrito. your mama’s in the fields, little one.

Drume, drume mobile sleep, sleep little one. Te va a traé’ codonise para tí, She’s going to bring quail for you,

Te va a traé’ fruta fre’ca para tí, she’s going to bring fresh fruit for you, Te va a traé’ ca’ne de ce’do para tí, she’s going to bring pork for you,

Te va a traé’ mucha’ cosa’ para tí. she’s going to bring many things for you. Y si negro no se duerme, And if the black one doesn’t go to sleep,

Viene e’ Diablo blanco y zás the white devil will come and zap! Le come la patica chica bú he’ll eat your little foot, chica bú;

Apura, chica bú. hurry, chica bú! Duerme, duerme negrito, Sleep, sleep little black one,

Que tue mama e’ta en el campo negrito. your mama’s in the fields, little one. Trabajando duramente, trabajando si, She’s working hard, working, yes,

Trabajando y no le pagan, trabajando si, working and they don’t pay her, working, yes,

Trabajando y va tosiendo, trabajando si, working and she’s coughing working, yes,

p’al negrito chiquitito, for her sweet little black one, p’al negrito si. for her little black one, yes.

 

 

 

 

Horizons

Peter Louis Van Dijk

Horizons was written at the request of the King’s Singers for their 1995 South

African tour and commissioned for them by the Foundation for the Creative Arts. The composer notes:

“In a cave, somewhere in the Western Cape region, is a well-documented San (Bushmen) painting of a Dutch ship, resplendent with flags and sails, rounding

the Cape. The painting dates back to the early 1700s and serves as a poignant reminder of the incredible powers of observations of these now virtually extinct

people. Sadly, the very people the San saw as gods, certainly in terms of stature and relative opulence, were to become their executioners. Physically small, the

San described their larger neighbors as animals without hooves, and were often mistakenly regarded as cowardly due to their non-confrontational approach to

conflict with friend and foe alike. The eland (a large antelope) represented more than just food and took on an almost supernatural significance, while the rain

was seen, supernaturally, to be either male or female (either rain-cow or bull) depending on its intensity.”

 

  Sleep, my springbok baby, Sleep for me, my springbok child.

When morning comes I’ll go out hunting, For you are hungry and thirsty, thirsty and hungry.

Small moon, Hai! Young moon,

When the sun rises you must speak to the Rain, Charm her with herbs and honeycomb,

O speak to her, that I may drink,

This little thing, that I may drink, that I may drink. She will come across the dark sky:

Mighty Raincow, sing your song for me That I may find you on the far horizon, far horizon.

Sleep, my springbok baby,

Sleep for me, my springbok child, When morning comes I’ll go out hunting,

For you are hungry and thirsty, thirsty and hungry.

O Star, Hai! Hunting Star, When the sun rises you must blind with your light

The Eland’s eyes, O blind his eyes, that I may eat,

This little thing, that I may eat, that I may eat.

He will come across the red sands: Mighty Eland, dance your dance for me

That I may find you on the far horizon, far horizon.

Sleep, my springbok baby, Sleep for me, my springbok child,

When morning comes they’ll come a-hunting. For they are hungry and thirsty, thirsty and hungry.

They will come across the waters:

Mighty saviours on their sailing ships, And they will show us new and far horizons, far horizons.

And they came, came across the waters:

Gods in galleons bearing bows of steel. Then they killed us on the far horizon.

Horizon, horizon.

 

 

ARIANA WOMEN’S CHOIR

Jane Buatti Barbara Mercer

Angela Burridge Lynn Shealy

Rebecca Drozd Rebecca Shealy

Kalee Foley Stephanie Sherman

Jennifer Ford Miku Shiota Jennifer Fraim Liz Gilbert

Christina Hodess Carli Visconti

Meg Kelly Heather M. Vogel

Bethany Loesche Marie Weber

Beth Mcadoo Katelyn Werley

S. Katherine Shealy, director

Meg Kelly, accompanist

ORPHEUS MEN’S CHOIR

James Alexander Jordan Hodess

Griffin Allen Michael C. Manwaring

Ignacio Angulo-Pizarro Andrew O’Neill

Ryan Battin Ryan Olson Jake Berting Chris Pickering

Tyler Brooks Nicholas Rosamilia

Frank Buatti Aaron Shealy

Greg Carson Dave Shealy

Kevin DeYoe Wesley R. Weber Arreon A. Harley Stephen Wilburn

Christopher G. McGinley, director

Sheri Segal-Melcher, concert accompanist

Jodi Bohr, rehearsal accompanist

   

  

Auditions for Fall/Winter Season 

By appointment 

Sunday, August 28, beginning at 7:00 p.m. 

Wednesday, August 31, beginning at 7:00 p.m. 

at 

Paoli United Methodist Church 

81 Devon Road 

Paoli PA 19301 

Contact: 

S. Katherine Shealy at skshealy@gmail.com or (484)459‐0739 

or 

Christopher G. McGinley at mcginley.chris@gmail.com or 

(484)883‐9005 

  R. Steven Porreca, Attorney at Law

610.659.0366 | 610.873.1225 fax

38 Beaver Run Road | Downingtown, PA 19335

rsp@porreca-law.com | www.porreca-law.com

• Wills, living trusts, powers of 

attorney, guardianships and other 

estate planning services 

• Probate 

• Personal injury 

• Contract disputes 

   

The Pennsylvania Academy of Performing Arts would like to express sincere thanks to the following people 

and organizations : 

 

Paoli United Methodist Church and Calvary Lutheran     

     Church for providing rehearsal and performance  

     Facilities  

Choir Committee Members who have donated their    

     time to helping our organization run efficiently  

 

 Kevin DeYoe for providing audio recording equipment  

     and services for the performances  

 Jane Buatti for organizing and coordinating the    

     Program Ads and program layout  

Bill Carpenter for his volunteer time working on the  

     organization web page 

 

Jodi Bohr for her talents in providing rehearsal  

     accompaniment for the Orpheus Men’s Choir 

 

A professional pianist, accompanist, choral director and educator, Sheri Segal-Melcher has performed three chamber music recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall with Philadelphia Orchestra musicians Richard Amoroso, violin and Adam Unsworth, horn. She has performed in recital with internationally acclaimed violinist Eugene Fodor at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C, and with members of the Baltimore Symphony and National Symphony Orchestras. Mrs. Melcher has collaborated with the Concert Opera of Philadelphia, Astral Artistic Services, Philadelphia Singers, and the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. As the associate director and accompanist of The Choral Society of Montgomery County, she has traveled to the Czech Republic, Wales, and Hungary to compete in choral festivals. A member of the music faculty at Chestnut Hill Academy since 1995, Mrs. Melcher teaches music history, theory and world music. She also co-directs the school’s Boychoir and Handbell Choirs and is the musical director for the Middle School Drama Program. Mrs. Melcher is the organist and choir director at Jarrettown United Methodist Church in Dresher, PA. She resides in Blue Bell with her husband Michael, daughter Kayla and son Sam.

Meg Kelly started studying piano at the age of 5 and has played ever since. She began accompanying as a teenager, performing with the Downingtown Senior High Vocal Ensemble, and also playing church services and assisting with choral activities. In addition, Meg has worked with Kate Shealy on many musical projects including past PAPA seasons and work with the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School Center for Performing and Fine Arts. Over the years, Meg also picked up various other instruments including clarinet, tenor & alto saxophones. Meg holds an MA in Literature from West Chester University, and is currently preparing to audition for Drexel University’s Music Therapy program.

S. Katherine Shealy obtained her Bachelor of Music in Choral Music Education from the University of Delaware with Paul Head. During the summer of 2006, Ms. Shealy directed and led PAPA’s envoy of singers on a tour of four cities through China as part of the Fourth Annual Eric Whitacre International Choral Festival. Currently, she is the co-founder and director of the PAPA Chamber Choir, an advanced ensemble that specializes in outreach performances throughout the community, and the Ariana Women’s Choir, a women’s ensemble that rehearses and performs during the summer. Additionally, Ms. Shealy was honored to have recently been appointed as the Director of the Masterworks Choir. Ms. Shealy teaches Vocal Music at the PA Leadership Charter School’s Center for Performing and Fine Arts in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and is currently working toward her Master of Music in Choral Conducting at West Chester University.

Christopher G. McGinley received his formal choral training from Paul Head at the University of Delaware. He currently teaches general music, chorus, and music history at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, an Independent School for girls and boys in Chestnut Hill. There he serves as artistic director of Musica Mundi and oversees Players, the extracurricular theatre program in the upper school. Mr. McGinley is the founder and director of Orpheus Men’s Choir, and has been proud to sing in, direct, or assist nearly every choir in PAPA.