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WELCOME LETTER FROM OUR AD

I am delighted you have joined us for ‘Tis the Season for Singing. This concert marks the start of our 20th Anniversary Season! Through our music, we aim to share peace and love and the joyful spirit of the season. This concert features traditional favorite carols along with repertoire that celebrates the many seasonal holidays, including Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, and the New Year. (Maybe you don’t know that “Over the River and Through the Woods is actually a Thanksgiving song?)

In May 2019, we are thrilled to collaborate again with the inspiring Oakland Youth Chorus, under the direction of LaNell Martin. This spring concert serves as our official anniversary celebration with performances at the First Congregational Church in Berkeley and the First Presbyterian Church in Alameda. In summer 2019, you will see our exciting return to Freight & Salvage with Dollylicious, featuring the beloved songs of Dolly Parton. We will also make our debut at the gorgeous art deco Michaan’s Theater in Alameda. After an exhilarating collaboration with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra and Chorus this November performing the Brahm’s Requiem, we will return to the Paramount Theatre in February 2019 to sing Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, with famed pianist Emmanuel Ax, and the “Prisoner’s Chorus” form Fidelio. Whether you live in Alameda, Arlington, Berkeley, Lafayette or Oakland, we hope you will join us for all our performances this season.

The Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus (note our minor name change) is an incredible group of folks, made up of exceptional musicians, a hard-working board of directors, loyal donors, and generous volunteers. It is truly my honor to serve as the artistic leader of this ensemble. I am proud to stand in front of a musical ensemble whose mission is to create an inclusive world filled with music. As a “Pride of the East Bay,” we are forever committed to bringing our concerts to various venues throughout the entire East Bay.

Happy, joyous, and peace-filled holidays to you all,

Dr. William Sauerland, Artistic Director

‘TIS THE SEASON FOR SINGING

Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus

Dr. William Sauerland, Artistic Director

Lynden Bair, Piano

Geneva Harrison, Percussion

Biridiana Aguirre, Flute

PROGRAM

I.

Tis the Season Arranged by Douglas E. Wagner

How Can I Keep from Singing? Quaker Hymn, arranged by Gwenyth Walker

II.

Solstice Tim Sarsany

Friendship Dance

Song of the Spirit Dance

Medicine Wheel

Songs from the Ancient Lodge

III.

Into the Night Joel Raney & John Parker

Winter Wind Douglas E. Wagner, adapted from Rachmaninoff (Opus 34)

One Light Evan Ramos, based on Traditional Welsh Carol

Hine Ma Tov Allan Naplan

IV.

You’re Home for the Holidays Bob Daggett & Scott Henderson

Count Your Blessings Irving Berlin, arranged by Cristi Cary Miller

Soloist: Lorenzo Ramsey (12/8 & 12/9), John Gianitsis (12/15)

It’s the Holiday Season (Medley) Arranged by Roger Emerson

$5,000 and up Terry Chan & Edward Sell Chansell Capital Properties Pansy Chan Jeff Parrett Phillip Newport & Peter Dempsey Melvin Terry & Geert Botzen Lawrence E. Turner $1,000 - $4,999 Dustin Bankston Douglas Bondick Reber Brown Dennis Buckley Seth Dempsey Steve Hardy Dan Joraanstad & Bob Hermann Faith in the Future Fund Jeff McEwen Barbara Miller Erich Nagler Peter Nye William Peter Jeff Ray Frederick Rogers William Sauerland &

Thomas Nelson Don Silva & William Baillie Brian Tognotti Anonymous Community Safety Foundation CSAA Insurance Group East Bay Front Runners Russell Kassman & Company Purveyor of Fine Pianos Network for Good Royal Grand Ducal Council

of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties

The Walt Disney Company Foundation

$500 - $999 Lon Carlson Mark Lightfoot

Joseph Monahan Ingo Orlamunder Hank Rogers Neil Sharp Thomas Varner Ethan Solomita & John Varney Denis Whitaker Dave Woemmel Anonymous Don Silva & William Baillie Barefoot Wines Google (Alphabet) The Morrison & Foerster

Foundation Pacific Gas & Electric $100 - $499 Julia Balen John H.J. Cashman Trudy & John Chastain Travis Gong Cheng Sebastian Christensen Anne Cildir Jan Dempsey Karen Gee & Clifford Tong Phillip D. Gosney Hunter Harris Karl Hebenstreit Paul Himes Jeffrey Holman Louis Kravitz Gloria Ma James Madden Diane McNally Alan Miller Cori Neslund Aurora Pan Patty Rogers Kent Sack MD Ellen & Michael Shaler Dennis Tseng John Varney Keith Waltrip Facebook Donations Fidelity Charitable

Moonlight Quilters of Sonoma County

Salesforce Foundation Wells Fargo Foundation up to $100 Evan Auberry Dr. Graham Bell Suz Burroughs Brian Byrne Elizabeth Cardis John Chastain Linda Cleary Greg Colf Craig Cruz Dan England Neil Fischer Bonnie Ford Dianne Fristrom Keith Geckeler Betty Joe Gerton David Guerra Karim Hajjem Mark Hamilton Elizabeth Hasley Tony Lewis Amos Lim Debra Martin Mary Beth Meyer Juanita Morris Carole Plum Barbara Pottgen Joseph Raven Ken Ross Robert Scott Alic Shook Branson Stephens Rebecca Storkson Polly Strahan Jeffrey Tobaco Emily Woemmel Eric Yandell Mitchell Zoelzer Amazon Smile

2018 Holiday Concert Donor Appreciation List

Thank You for Generously Supporting the Chorus!

Thank You from the Bottom of Our Hearts!

We’d like to thank the following individuals and organizations for making this

concert possible:

Barefoot Wines

Russell Kassman & Company—Purveyor of Fine Pianos

Andrew Andehueson, Park Street Starbucks in Alameda

Jeramie Andehueson, Sabai Salon, Alameda

Michael Sibio, Wellness on the Spot, Alameda/El Cerrito

Payn’s Stationary, 1791 Solano Ave, Berkeley

Shelley Rosenfeld, Conscious Skin Care, Martinez

Arlington Community Church and Jacob Day

Lafayette Christian Church

Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church

Volunteers!

Twenty for Twenty

Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus is celebrating our 20th Anniversary!

Help us celebrate and continue our mission be making a monthly

donation of $20!

Your contribution directly supports our ability to bring music and

voice to our community!

www.OaklandGMC.org/give

INTERMISSION

Jersey Boys (Choral Highlights) Arranged by Mark Brymer

December 1963 Robert Guadio & Judy Parker

Working My Way Back to You Denny Randell & Sandy Linzer

Stay Maurice Williams

Who Loves You Robert Gaudio & Judy Parker

Monotone Angel Don McAfee

Narrators: Wally Bee, Matt May, Lawrence Turner

Angel: James Berglund (12/8), David Guerra (12/9), Ron Correll (12/15)

Jingle Bells James Pierpont, arranged by Mark Hayes

Over the River Arranged by Anne Albritton

Sleigh Ride Mitchell Parish & Leroy Anderson,

Arranged by Hawley Ades

The Sleigh Richard Kountz, arranged by R. Baldwin

SING-ALONG (Lyrics in program)

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year Eddie Pola & George Wyle

Winter Wonderland Dick Smith & Felix Bernard

Arranged by Audrey Snyder

Fruitcake Philip Hageman & Penny Leka

What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?/ Frank Loesser

Auld Lang Syne Robert Burns; Traditional Scottish Tune

Arranged by Alex Rybeck

What a Wonderful World George D. Weiss & Bob Thiele,

Arranged by Thaddeus Pinkston

Notes, Translations, & Sing-Along Lyrics

Solstice

Please hold your applause between movements.

“Friendship Dance”

Sung with vocables – no direct translation

The friendship dance is a round dance that represents friendship and flow of the human spirit. It is a time for all to come together into the circle to the beat of the drum.

“Song of the Spirit Dance”

Translation: The great god, that these people may live.

This dance refers to a type of messianic movement that arose among the Native American of the western Great Basin and later to the Plains. This dance reunites friends and relatives from the ghost world.

“Medicine Wheel”

Sung with vocables – no direct translation

Medicine Wheels are stone structures built by the natives of North American for various spiritual and ritual purposes. They are still used today in spirituality and symbolize the individual journey we each must take to find our own path.

“Songs from the Ancient Lodge”

Translation: I am entering the Lodge, I am in ceremony.

Representing the end of the solstice celebration, this song includes a characteristic drum rhythm used to signal the end of the ceremony.

Hine Ma Tov

Translation: Behold, how good it is to dwell together in peace.

Tenor 1 Jose Colon T.A. Dunn Jr. Alegra Figeroid David Guerra Robert Haerr Newell Pangulayan Ricardo Pastor Joe Rosenmayer § Dave Woemmel David Zeng Tenor 2 Jeramie Andehueson Dustin Bankston Richard Brandi Peter Dempsey Bryon Heinrich Douglas Marques Nick Paterno Marlon Penilla David Pistrang § Adrian Ray Avalani

Charlie Smith Shawn Snavley Denis Whitaker Baritones David Ashby George Beier James Berglund Wally Bee Dan Burton Chris Cabell John Chastain Ron Correll Seth Frost Brad Murdock Erich Nagler Peter Nye § Rowan Queatham Frederick Rogers Jeremy Sher Steve Smith Mel Terry Brian Tognotti Dennis Tseng

Lawrence Turner Mitch Zoelzer Basses Don Carlson John Ferry John Gianitsis Joel Green Steve Hardy Tony Lewis Jeff McEwen Joey Raven § John Rogers Michael Sibio § Section leaders

The Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus

Non-Singing Members Bryan Auyeung, Drew Blanchar, Terrance Chan, Paul Collanton, Stuart Furtwangler, Karim Hajjem, Karl Hebenstreit, Paul Honigs, Anand Kalra, Billy Lawley, James Lin, Zev Lowe, Barbara Miller, Joseph Monahan, Brian Murakami, Kenji Oshima, William Peter, Dan Radigan, Jeff Ray, Manuel Santos, Edward Sell, Shawn Simon, Ethan Solomita, Mason Souza, Shawn Tan, Ethan Teng, Thomas Varner, Benjamin Wright

Professional Staff William Sauerland, Artistic Director Lynden Bair, Principal Pianist Alison Stripling, SPARQ Marketing Consultant Johanna Ortis, Bookkeeper Billy Lawley, Music Teacher, Willard Middle School

Concert Staff /

Production Committee Paul Himes, Front-of-House Manager Frederick Rogers—Production Chair Bryan Auyeung Ron Correll T.A. Dunn Jr. Al Figeroid David Guerra

Board of Directors Jeff McEwen, President Denis Whitaker, Vice President Steve Smith, Secretary Steve Hardy, Treasurer Dustin Bankston Barbara Miller Frederick Rogers William Sauerland, ex officio Mel Terry

Adrian Ray Avalani, Blog Writer Dustin Bankston, Outreach Coordinator James Berglund, Membership Chair John Chastain, Volunteering / Concert Fundraising Peter Dempsey, Donations / Concert Fundraising Al Figeroid, Original Artwork for Program Cover Jeff McEwen, Acting Development Chair Erich Nagler, Graphic Design William Peter, Historian

Joey Raven, Blog Writer Frederick Rogers, Production Chair Joe Rosenmayer, Artistic Chair Steve Smith, Marketing/PR Co-Chair Dennis Tseng, Newsletter Editor Brian Tognotti, Finance Chair Lawrence Turner, IT Coordinator Denis Whitaker, Leadership Council Chair/ Marketing/PR Co-Chair Dave Woemmel, Program Editor / Blog Writer

Volunteer Staff

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

It's the most wonderful time of the year, With the kids jingle belling And everyone telling, “You be of good cheer." It's the most wonderful time of the year. There'll be parties for hosting, Marshmallows for toasting And caroling out in the snow There'll be scary ghost stories And tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.

It's the most wonderful time, it's the most wonderful time, It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Winter Wonderland

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight Walking in a winter wonderland!

Gone away is the bluebird, Here to stay is a new bird, Sings a love song as we go along, Walking in a winter wonderland

In the meadow we can build a snowman, Then pretend that he is Parson Brown; He'll say, “Are you married?” We’ll say, “No man! But you can do the job when you're in town!”

When it snows, ain’t it thrilling Though your nose gets a chilling? We’ll frolic and play the Eskimo way,

(slow) Walking in a winter wonderland!

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days of Auld Lang Syne?

For Auld Lang Syne, my dear, For Auld Lang Syne, We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for Auld Lang Syne.

William Sauerland, Artistic Director

Dr. William Sauerland enjoys a varied career of teaching, singing, and con-ducting. He is currently the Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Chabot Col-lege in Hayward, California, and Lecturer in Voice at San Francisco State Uni-versity. As a countertenor, he was praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for his “limpid tone and astonishing eloquence.” Dr. Sauerland’s recent solo ap-pearances include the American Bach Soloists, Festival Opera Company, Folger Consort, Handel Opera Project, Musica Angelica, and Oakland Symphony. In 2019, he will appear as a soloist with the Pacific Chorale and the San Francisco

Cantata Collective. As a former member of the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Chanti-cleer, Dr. Sauerland has sung throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. As an academic, he has presented at national conferences for the American Choral Directors Association (2015), Cho-rus America (2017), Society for Music Teacher Education (2017), and College Music Society (2018). Dr. Sauerland received the Doctorate of Education in Music and Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in May 2018. His doctoral dissertation examined the expe-riences of trans and gender non-binary singers and their teachers in the applied voice studio. As a Marshall Scholar, he earned a Master’s degree in Advanced Vocal Performance from the Royal College of Music in London. Originally from a small dairy farm in Ohio, he received a Bachelor of Music from Miami University.

Lynden Bair, Principal Pianist Lynden Bair works throughout the Bay Area as a pianist/accompanist, pit musi-cian, coach and teacher, and is thrilled to be the pianist for Oakland Gay Men's Chorus. He is also the associate accompanist for SFGMC across the bay. Recent credits include “I’m Coming Out”, an LGBTQ themed cabaret show with stu-dents at The Oakland School for the Arts and Sondheim’s “Follies: In Concert” as part of the 26 piece onstage orchestra in the gala production presented by 42nd Street Moon.

A native of Northern Utah, he attended the University of Northern Colorado on a musical theater performance scholarship before moving to the Bay Area almost 25 years ago. He has a cat.

Geneva Harrison, Percussion Geneva Harrison (BM, U. of Miami) is a percussionist/drummer, session musician and private teacher located in Oakland, CA. Most recently, Harrison wrapped up the 2018 national touring season of WNYC's Snap Judgement with her band, Bells Atlas, who acts as the touring band for the program, live-scoring all original music. Notable national performance credits in-clude Requiem for Katrina with Terence Blanchard, Sonya Tayeh's You'll Still Call Me By Name, The Bengsons' Hundred Days, Undercover Presents: a Tribute to Björk's "Homogenic" (musical direc-tor), and much more. Geneva has also written for and been featured in Tom Tom Magazine.

Biridiana Aguirre, Flute Biridiana is a flutist and a recent graduate of San Francisco State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Music; with an emphasis in education and performance. During her time at SF State, Biridiana has performed in numerous ensembles, chamber and orchestras, such as San Francisco State Wind Ensemble and Orchestra. At SF State, Biridiana has studied with Deborah Schmidt, and Linda Lukas, the second flutist of the San Francisco Symphony. Being a passionate perform-er, she was consistently a principal player in her ensembles, as well as a section leader due to her strong presence and leadership qualities.

Outside of San Francisco State, Biridiana has participated as a counselor at the Aeron Flute Sum-mer Institute as well as the NAFME conference for music educators. When not performing, Biridiana spends her time practicing as well as teaching music to children. Biridiana is currently working on getting her credentials, as well as preparing herself for future musical programs in California and Italy.

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