4 pm Saturday, December 16BRUNELLE HALL

315 West 14th Street

4 pm Sunday, December 17DAVIS COMMUNITY CHURCH

412 C Street

Family-friendly concert under 60 minutes in length. Two performances:

4pm Saturday December 16 at BRUNELLE HALL, 315 W 14th Street, Davis

4pm Sunday December 17 at DAVIS COMMUNITY CHURCH, 412 C Street, Davis

Tickets are available at no charge • In advance at Watermelon Music • Online at Brown Paper Tickets • At the door

Holiday thanks to our generous underwriter for this concert:

Thank you also to the City of Davis for its support of our work through a Community Arts Grant.

This program is generously underwritten by Jamie Madison and the Goodhome Group and is offered at no charge to the public thanks to a City of Davis Community Arts Grant!

Davis Chorale Presents

SINGING AND RINGING

Alison Skinner, Director Ellen Schinnerer Deffner, Piano Ben Cooper, Flute

Featuring the Davis Community Church Bell Choir and Juuliebells from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis

Gesù Bambino Pierto A. Yon (1866-1943) arr. Karen Thompson handbells, flute, piano

soloists: jacob whittaker & patty shade

SING ALONG: Felix Mendelssohn Hark the Herald Angels Sing (1809-1847) arr. William Cummings piano (1831-1915) Mi Zeh Hidlik Israeli Folk Song arr. Bob Chilcott (b. 1955)

piano, soloist: tanya kumar

Hiney Mah Tov Hebrew Folk Song arr. Iris Levine (b. 1947) Ave Maria Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

The Hills are Bare at Bethlehem Early American Hymn arr. Ralph Johnson (b. 1973) windchimes, soloist: moira woods

Il Est Né (He is Born) 18th c. French Carol handbell arr. Linda R. Lamb uucd juuliebells & dcc bell choir director: norma meyer (dcc)

The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy Trad.Trinidadian Carol arr. Stephen Hatfield (b. 1956)

The Angels and the Shepherds Trad. Bohemian Carol arr. Stephen Paulus (1949-2014) handbells, flute

SING ALONG:The First Nowell Trad. English Carol Go Tell It On the Mountain Spiritual handbell arr. Andrew Duncan uucd juuliebells & dcc bell choir director: linda birse (uucd)

SING ALONG: Joy to the World Trad. words by Isaac Watts (1674-1748) O Holy Night Adolphe Adam (1803-1856) piano arr. René Clausen (b. 1953)

Peace, Peace Rick and Sylvia Powell arr. Fred Brock handbells, flute, piano song leaders: leslie cooper and john burow

TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing

Hark! the Herald Angels sing,Glory to the new-born King,Peace on earth and mercy mild,God and sinner reconciled.Joyful all ye nations rise,Join the triumph of the skies,With the angelic host proclaim,Christ is born in Bethlehem.Hark! the Herald Angels sing,Glory to the new-born King.

Christ, by highest heav’n adored: Christ, the everlasting Lord; Late in time behold him come, Offspring of the favored one. Veil’d in flesh, the Godhead see; Hail, th’incarnate Deity: Pleased, as man, with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel! Hark! the Herald Angels sing,Glory to the new-born King.

Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace!Hail the Son of righteousness!Light and life to all he brings,Risen with healing in his wings.Mild he lays his glory by, Born that we no more may die: Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give us second birth.Hark! the Herald Angels sing,Glory to the new-born King.

Gesù Bambino

When blossoms flower e’er ‘mid the snows,Upon a winter night,Was born the child, the christmas rose,The king of love and light.The angels sang, the shepherds sang,The grateful earth rejoiced;And at his blessed birth the starsTheir exultation voiced.

Chorus:O come let us adore himO come let us adore himO come let us adore himChrist the lord.

Again the heart with rapture glowsTo greet the holy night,That gave the world it’s christmas rose,Its king of love and lightLet ev’ry voice acclaim his name,The grateful chorus swellFrom paradise to earth he cameThat we with him might dwell.

Chorus

Sing Along!

Ave Maria

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death. Amen.

Hiney Ma Tov

Hineh ma tov uma na’im Shevet achim gam yachad.

Mi Zeh Hidlik

Mi zeh hidlik neirot dakim Kakochavim barom? Yod’im gam tinokot rakim Ki Chanukah hayom. La la la… Kol ner aliz, kol ner chaviv Dolek, romez, notzetz. Hatinokot omdim saviv Velasimchah ein ketz. La, la, la…

How good and pleasant it isFor brothers and sisters to be together.

Who lit the tiny candles, say, Like stars on high they glow? Even little children know That Chanukah falls today. La la la… Each cheerful and enchanting light, Glistening, twinkling, sparkling bright. Tiny tots all watch the sight: Joy and happiness for all, tonight. La la la…

הִנֵּה מַה טוֹב וּמַה נָּעִיםשֶׁבֶת אָחִים גַּם יַחַד.

מי זה הדליק נרות דקים ?ככוכבים ברום יודעים גם ילדים רכים .כי חנוכה היום ...לה לה לה כל נר עליז, כל נר חביב .דולק, רומז, נוצץ הילדים עומדים סביב .ולשמחה אין קץ...לה לה לה

Joy to the World

Joy to the world! The Lord is come; Let earth receive her king; Let every heart prepare him room, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! The savior reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of his righteousness, And wonders of his love, And wonders of his love, And wonders, wonders, of his love.

The First Nowell

The first Nowell the Angel did sayWas to certain poor Shepherds in fields as they lay;In fields where they lay, keeping their sheep,On a cold Winter’s night that was so deep.

Chorus:Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,Born is the King of Israel.

They looked up and saw a StarShining in the east beyond them far,And to the earth it gave great light,And so it continued both day and night.

Chorus

Then let us all with one accordSing praises to our heav’nly Lord,That hath made heav’n and earth of naught,And with his blood mankind hath brought.

Chorus.

Sing Along! Sing Along!

THE CHORALE

The Davis Chorale was founded in 1978 as a community chorus providing an oppor-tunity for adults to sing oratorio, sacred and secular works. The Chorale is an auditioned choral ensemble of about 75 singers from the surrounding Davis area. The Chorale’s varied repertoire ranges from Renaissance a cappella works to orchestral works with chorus by contemporary composers such as Eric Whitacre. The venues range from Interfaith Evening Vespers in the Davis Community Church, to the Bach B Minor Mass in UC Davis’ Mondavi Center, to an annual holiday concert in the Capitol Rotunda in Sacramento.

Alison Skinner has been the Artistic Director of the Davis Chorale since 2010. Before returning to her hometown of Davis, Skinner lived in Philadelphia, where she was the Artistic Director of the Rainbow Chorale of Delaware for the 2007-2008 season and taught high school music at Germantown Friends School. Skinner has a B.A. in vocal performance from UC Santa Cruz and an M.M. in Choral Conducting from Temple University, where she was a student of Alan Harler. In addition to conducting the Davis Chorale, Skinner also is the Choir Director at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis and she maintains a private vocal studio.

Ellen Schinnerer Deffner, Davis Chorale Accompanist, began specializing in piano accompaniment in London, where she was a student at the Guildhall School of Music. She has been on the faculties of Guildhall London, UC Santa Barbara, Reed College, and the University of Portland. She is a member of the Sacramento Baroque Soloists.

Ben Cooper is a Davis native who learned flute through the Davis Unified School District and took private lessons from Cathy Frye and Maquette Kuper. He went on to earn his Bachelors degree in Music Education from the University of the Pacific and got his Masters in Band Conducting through American Band College accredited through Sam Houston State University. He currently is working in Tracy as a music teacher, teaching general music and band for third through eighth grade students. He has played with ensembles at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and throughout South Korea and Japan.

DAVIS CHORALE

Alison Skinner, Artistic DirectorEllen Schinnerer Deffner, Accompanist

Rachel Kessler, Director Emerita

Tenors

John BurowBen CooperWayne FinleyRichard KulmannAndrew LatimerSusanna MouldJim RodgersJake WhittakerMatt Zavod

Sopranos

Pat BallengerShorty (Virginia) BoucherSharon BurowMolly DeSantisDiana DripsElisabeth DubinMarilyn FeatherLynda GarciaLori HaapanenChristine HanceRachel KesslerMary LowryMeghan MillerLauryn NewelJeri OhmartGenevieve OrtizJudith PolanichMiriam RockeJoan SalleeChelsea SchianoPatty ShadeDeborah SilerHonna SteissbergMichele van EykenMoira Wood

Altos

Sandra BrownEdelgard BrunelleJan ChessLeslie CooperMarilyn CorcoranKaren CraneAura de AndaApril FerreJudy FletcherSally GrayClara HeinickeAnne HillmanKatherine HolmesAlessa JohnsMelissa KellyJulie KulmannTanya KumarChelsea LeDiana Livada van VelzerMarion LondonMariette MalessyKimberly MilesMeryl MotikaSusan RoyaltyLynn SadlerKaren SlabaughMary SprifkeKatherine UngerLexie Webster

Basses

Mike ColemanDon DeemBjorn EricksonMatt ForrestDavid HanceJohn JohnstonDon KesslerBrian KnappBrad NorrisGary RobertsStephen TingeyRichard Wright

Alice Provost, Choir Manager ~ Mary Sprifke, Donor Relations ~ Craig Clark, Webmaster

Davis Chorale Board

Susan Royalty, President ~ Patty Shade, Secretary ~ David Hance, TreasurerJohn Burow, Katherine Holmes, Andrew Latimer, Meghan Miller, Jim Rodgers, Chelsea Schiano

HANDBELL NOTES

The tradition of bell ringing goes back hundreds of years to medieval Europe when the day was measured by people ringing bells in the towers of cities and towns. England had so many bell towers that it was known as “the Ringing Isle.” By the seventeenth century, handbell ringing had developed as an indoor substitute for the practice of tower bell ringing. Then, by the eighteenth century, English bell ringers discovered that these same practice bells could be used to play “tunes.” By the late nineteenth century, every English village had its own handbell band.

America was introduced to handbell ringing when some of the best of the British handbell bands appeared at turn-of-the-century concerts. Many of these bands disappeared as a result of World War I. Later in the 1940’s, amateur groups began springing up and a new American style of handbell ringing appeared.*

* From “Celebrate the Seasons of Sonos” 1999 – 2000 brochure.

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Davis Community Church Bell Choir

The Davis Community Church Bell Choir was formed in 1977. The bells were a memorial gift to the church from the Wilson and McBride families. Since then, the bells have played regularly at DCC church services and on other special occasions at the church and in the community.

Juuliebells

Founded in January 2010, the Juuliebells ring for worship services and special events at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis. They have also presented programs for senior living residents, an elementary school, and other community groups. Their 3½-octave set of Malmark handbells and handchimes were purchased with funds from the Estate of Julie Partansky, former mayor of Davis.

HANDBELL PERFORMERS

Norma Meyer was introduced to bell ringing in 1977 when Davis Community Church received a 3 octave set of handbells as a memorial gift. Because music was her major in college, she took over as Director. She learned bell ringing techniques by attending workshops and conferences offered by the Handbell Musicians of America. With additional purchases the bell choir has grown to include almost 4 octaves of handchimes and 4 1/2 octaves of bells. Norma enjoys working with bells as a director or a ringer.

Barbara Meixner earned her BA and MA degrees in music from Mills College in Oakland, California. She studied harmony, counterpoint, composition and orchestration with noted composers Morton Subotnick, Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud. For most of her adult life, Barbara has been a professional Suzuki piano teacher and arranger of accompaniments for much of the Suzuki piano repertoire. In January 2010, Barbara founded the bell program at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis and is currently Co-Director.

Linda Birse began teaching music in Esparto in 1972. She taught classroom music, choir, guitar, band and orchestra until moving to Bakersfield in 1975 where she continued teaching those same music classes until moving to Davis in 1980. After teaching the third grade recorder program for two years, she was fortunate to become the elementary band teacher for the five elementary schools in Davis at that time. Each school had its own band, which Linda conducted; she also started the all-city elementary band which was very well received. In 1994, Linda switched to classroom teaching, and each year her 5th grade classes performed a musical comedy she wrote. She retired in 2010, joined the Juuliebells in 2013 as a ringer and began conducting the group in 2016.

JuuliebellsLinda Birse, DirectorBarbara Meixner, Founder

Pat BallengerLinda BirseKyria Boundy-MillsCarol BrowningAnya ClasenJerry Friis,Ann Halsted

Stephanie KloseJane McKendryBarbara MeixnerDeb SilerJoyce TakahashiSandy WestfallLiz Young

Davis Community Church Bell ChoirNorma Meyer, Director

Anya ClasenMarj CollinsNancy HallNancy HayDennis LarsenSue Larsen

Barbara MeixnerNorma MeyerMike ThomasDiana Van VelzerJim Van Velzer

SUPPORTERS OF THE DAVIS CHORALE

Sponsor ($1000 and up): “Given anonymously in celebration of forty years of great music for the greater community.”

Patron ($500-$999): Mary Sprifke

Benefactor ($200-$499): Edelgard Brunelle, Alessa Johns, Robert Johnston, Mary Lowry, Greg Melcher, Alice Provost, Matthew Zavod

Sustainer ($100-$199): John Burow, Ben Cooper, Marilyn Corcoran, Donald Deem, Thomas Estes, Wayne Finley, Regina Hamel, Anne Hance, David Hance, Katherine Holmes, Sayeh Homayounpour, Dianne Hyson, Rachel Kessler, Meryl Motika, David Murphy, Susan Royalty, Joan Sallee, Alison Skinner, Rob Sprifke, Michele van Eyken

Contributor (up to $99): Patricia Ballenger, Roberta Boegel, Virginia Boucher, Susan Bryant-Still, Robin Chadwin, Jan Chess, Craig Clark, Melissa Collier, Leslie Cooper, Diane Dedoshka, Elisabeth Dubin, Dorothy A Erickson, Marilyn Feather, John Haine, Ann Halsted, Sandra Hamel, Christine Hance, Anne L Hillman, Elizabeth Holoman, Melissa Kelly, Richard Kulmann, Tanya Kumar, Andrew Latimer, Janette Levenson, Meghan Miller, Bradley Norris, Chris Rose, Gina Royalty, Roberta Savage, Chelsea Schiano, Patricia Shade, Deborah Siler, Karen Slabaugh, Peggy Smith, James Sprifke, Linda Sternberg, Stephen Tingey, Douglas Underwood, Katherine Unger, Lexie Webster, Susan Wilcox

UPCOMING DAVIS CHORALE CONCERTS

Capitol Rotunda: December 18, 2017 12 noonSacramento Capitol Rotunda 1315 10th St. Sacramento, CA 95814

40th Anniversary Spring Concert: May 19, 2018 7pmDavis High School - Brunelle Hall- 315 W. 14th St. Davis, CA 95616Lux Aeterna by Morten LauridsenRequiem by John Rutter, with Carol Kessler SopranoSong for Athene by John Tavener

Ice Cream Social: June 23, 2018, 2-4pmDavis Community Church Fellowship Hall- 412 C St. Davis, CA 95616Music and sweets!

40th Anniversary Winter Concert: December 2018 (exact date and location TBD)St. Nicolas by Benjamin BrittenMagnificat by J.S. Bach

Did you like what you heard? Interested in supporting us?

HEAR US! “LIKE” US!

Come see us in concert, throughout the year. Please “like” us on Facebook @Davis Chorale for Chorale news and upcoming events. Find out details about our upcoming performances at www.davischorale.org. Fill in your contact information on the enclosed envelope to be added to our electronic mailing list!

DONATE!

We appreciate donations to help support our mission. Donations make up nearly half of our annual operating budget. Your donation today can make a real difference as we strive to sing beautiful music in the community. An envelope has been included in this program for your convenience!

JOIN!

The Chorale welcomes new members from Davis and the surrounding communities by audition. We are an inclusive group, so come join the fun! Membership is for individuals 18 or older, but younger members may be accepted with the consent of the Artistic Director. Semi-annual dues are $60 per person. We also do annual fundraising projects and provide our own concert attire.

by performing great choral literature,the Davis Chorale is dedicated

to enhancing the lives of the community,its audience and its members,

in the belief that music elevates the spirit.

Heartfelt thanks to…

David Hance for his tireless work for this organizationAlice Provost and Jake Whittaker for making this concert happenElisabeth Dubin for program design and layoutKatherine Holmes for midi file productionErika Medina for her assistance in translating our poster to SpanishOur volunteer ushers and set-up crew, without whom this

performance would not be possible...