Chamber Singers and University Chorale: River of Time 

Geoffrey Boers directs the UW Chamber Singers (Photo: Gary Louie).
Geoffrey Boers directs the UW Chamber Singers (Photo: Gary Louie).

The Chamber Singers (Geoffrey Boers) and University Chorale (Giselle Wyers) present "River of Time," a program of works by Eric Whitacre, Joni Mitchell, Dale Trumbore, Reena Esmail, and others. With Serena Chin and Amy Boers, piano; and Sarah Rommel, cello.


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Program

Chamber Singers and University Chorale
"River of Time"

Chamber Singers
Geoffrey Boers, director

Both Sides Now:  Joni Mitchell (b. 1943), arr. Tyler Kimmel  
Premiere Performance. Tyler Kimmel, conductor

Threads of Joy: Dale Trumbore (b. 1987); text by Laura Foley
Anjali Chudasama, conductor

The Sacred Veil: Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)
Text by Anthony and Julie Silvestri
I. The Veil Opens
II. In A Dark And Distant Year
III. Home
IV. Magnetic Poetry
V. Whenever There Is Birth
VI. I’m Afraid
VII. I Am Here
VIII. Delicious Times
IX. One Last Breath
X. Dear Friends
XI. You Rise, I Fall
XII. Child of Wonder


University Chorale

Giselle Wyers, director

“O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana: Carl Orff (1895-1982)
Serena Chin and Amy Boers, pianists

By the Waters of Babylon: Philip Hayes (1738-1797)

“Sanctus” from Requiem: Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Meliza Redulla and Jessica Thaxton, violins

Grace Before Sleep: Susan La Barr (1981)
Marshell Lombard, conductor

“The Unexpected Early Hour,” from A Winter Breviary:  Reena Esmail (1983)
Justin Birchell, conductor

Let the River Run: Carly Simon (1943), arr. Craig Hella Johnson


A Note from Geoffrey Boers

Good evening and thank you for sharing this concert with us. In some ways, tonight is less “performance,” and more “conversation,” like loved ones sharing deeply about what matters in life. Tonight we will speak honestly about life and all that life brings, and consider how we respond and grow. We begin our conversation together with Both Sides Now and Threads of Joy–two songs which invite us to look at life as a whole, and through that lens we see that, though we are all unique and diverse, we are all the same. Each of us experience life and death, joy and grief, love and loss, work and rest. During this time in history, rife with division, anger, and violence, it is possible that as we consider these more important aspects of life, we can see more clearly that we are sojourners in  this life-journey. In looking at life from “both sides,”  we might recognize that joy and love truly are the threads that weave life’s events, and each of us, together.What follows these poignant and profound works is Eric Whitacre’s monumental composition The Sacred Veil. Whereas in the prologue we were looking at life as a whole, The Sacred Veil depicts a specific journey of love in all of its iterations–better, worse, richer, poorer, in sickness and health, through death and release. The work’s twelve movements are set to poetry by Eric’s longtime collaborative poet and friend, Charles Anthony “Tony” Silvestri, along with journal writings of Tony’s wife Julie, and Eric himself. The poetry recounts the true story of Charles and his wife meeting, falling in love, wanting a family, her final pregnancy, her diagnosis of cancer during her pregnancy, their child’s birth, and her eventual death. The narrative carries us through self-reflection, the recognition of love, the quiet thoughts of wishing and wanting, the incessant work of pregnancy, the horror of diagnosis, the honor of struggle, the joy in small things, and love expressed at death.  Our conversation ends with the movement “Child of Wonder,” which speaks of a healing release of a loved one through the “sacred veil” that separates this life with eternity.
—Geoffrey Boers

Texts

Both Sides Now          
Joni Mitchell (b. 1943), arr. Tyler Todd Kimmel
Heather Halverson, Charlie Dawson, Shalini Pullarkat, 
Scott Fikse, and Jaja Reduque, solists
Tyler Todd Kimmel, conductor
 Sarah Rommel, cello
Amy Boers, pianoRows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
Looked at clouds that way
But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my wayI've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all
Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way that you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way
But now it's just another show
And you leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away
I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take and still somehow
It's love's illusions that I recall
I really don't know love at all
Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say, "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way
Oh, but now old friends they're acting strange
And they shake their heads and they tell me that I've changed
Well something's lost, but something's gained
In living every dayI've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life… 
at all
Threads of Joy: Dale Trumbore (b. 1987)
Text by Laura Foley
Anjali Chudasama, conductorI have noticed joy
how it threads below
the darkness.
Have you seen it too?
And have you heard it,
how it speaks
the unspeakable,
the bliss?
A kind of silence, a light
beneath pain.
Have you noticed?
It rises like fingers
and then—look!
it presses through.

CHAMBER SINGERS 


SOPRANOS

Kaelyn Barnes, Everett, WA; BM, Vocal Performance
Sydney Belden, San Clemente, CA; Sophomore BM/BS, Music-Voice/Environmental StudiesA
ida Bowen,
Mount Vernon, WA; Junior Vocal Performance & American Indian Studies
Mavis Chan, Bellevue, WA; BM, Vocal Performance and BA, Business Administration - Marketing
Naomi-Hal Hoffman, Bellevue, WA; Vocal Performance Drama: Design
Sydney Huang, Cleveland, OH; Freshman Pre-health Science 
Shalini Pullarkat, La Cañada, CA; BS, General Biology
Nandini Rathod, Mercer Island, WA; Freshman Pre-Sciences
Lauren Reynolds, Colorado Springs, CO; MMA, Marine and Environmental Affairs


ALTOS
Cee E. Adamson, Washington, D.C.; DMA, Vocal Performance
Lily Campbell, Olympia, WA; BA, Public Health-Global Health
Anjali Chudasama, Upland, CA; MM, Choral Conducting
Kristin Deitrich, Baroda, MI; Music Education
Heather Halverson, Woodinville, WA; Sophomore BM/BA,Vocal Performance/Communications
Elizabeth Lu, Tacoma, WA; BS, Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology
Anna Messenger, Olympia, WA; BM, Music Education
Jaminfaye Reduque, DuPont, WA; BS, Bioresource Science and Engineering
Larke Witten, San Antonio, TX; MM, Choral Conducting 

TENORS
Eyad Alsimimy, Mount Vernon, WA; Computer Eng.
Oliver Callahan, Anaheim, CA; BM, Music Education
Caleb Chin-Yung Chan, Portland, Oregon; BS, Computer Science
Tyler Todd Kimmel, Seattle, WA; DMA, Choral Conducting
Marshell Lombard, Johannesburg, Gauteng Place of Gold, South Africa; DMA, Choral Conducting
Chad Miller, Lansing, KS; PhD, Psychology
Maggie Petersen, Mercer Island, WA; Undeclared Freshman
Isaac Tian, San Diego, CA ; PhD, Computer Science & Engineering

BASSES
Justin Birchell, Anchorage, AK; DMA, Choral Conducting
Charlie Dawson, Austin, TX; Economics
Scott Fikse, Tacoma, WA; MM, Choral Conducting 
Grant Hopkins, Blue Bell, PA; PhD student, Biostatistics
Alexander Mason
Evan Norberg, Seattle, Washington; DMA Choral Conducting
Christian Rolfson, Mount Vernon, WA; Environmental Science and Resource Management
James Wilcox, Nashville, TN; Computer Science & Engineering
✧- CHOIR LEADERSHIP

UNIVERSITY CHORALE 

SOPRANO
Emily Cameron, Snohomish, WA; Mechanical Eng.
Chloe Chapman, Vancouver, WA; Astronomy and Physics
Lauren Chenoweth, Bellevue, WA; Intended: Linguistics
Kate Connors, Kennewick, WA; Vocal Performance
Mia Jang Yeoungju-si, South Korea, Vocal Performance
Claire Killian, Evergreen, CO; Political Science & Phil.
Emma Koslosky, Castro Valley, CA; Linguistics
Meena Kuduva, Kirkland, WA; Computer Science 
Ellen Kwon, Federal Way, WA; Piano Performance and Music Education 
Lena Lee, Lynwood, WA; Music Education; Pre-major
Joely Loucks, Friday Harbor, WA; Music Education
Anna Messenger, Olympia, WA; Music Education
Rosemary Norheim,  Seattle, WA; Political Science
Julia Nipert, Renton, WA; Pre-Nursing
Chloe O'Keefe, San Francisco, CA; Gender, Women, Sexuality Studies and Public Health
Sophia Parker, Bothell, WA; Vocal Performance
Meliza Redulla, Olympia, WA; Music Education
Sophie Root, Kirkland, WA; Psychology
Anne Tinker, Seattle, WA; Pre-Health
Erin Tsai, Irvine, CA; Environmental Science and Resource Management
Felicia Tzeng, San Jose, CA; Visual Communication Design

ALTO
Lyla Cain, Seattle, WA; Electrical Engineering
Sofiia Fedzhora, Kyiv, Ukraine; Slavic Languages and Literatures Department
Alexis Georgiades, Basking Ridge, NJ; Chemistry
Christine Han, Suzhou, China; Intended: Philosophy
Naomi-Hal Hoffman, Bellevue, WA; Vocal Performance Drama: Design
Ella L'Heureux, Leavenworth, KS; Linguistics
Karissa Longo, Pittsburgh, PA; Music Education
Sophie Ma, Tokyo, Japan; Music Composition
Akhila Narayanan, Redmond, WA; Computer Eng.
Ari Okin Los Angeles, CA; Ethnomusicology
Leah Peterson, Bellevue, WA; Astronomy and Physics
Natalie Peterson, Poulsbo, WA; Pre-Science
Jaminfaye Reduque, DuPont, WA; Bioresource Science and Engineering
Silvana Segura, Redmond, WA; Psychology
Maya Shah, Portland, OR; Undeclared
Nelly Sunstrum, Redmond, WA; Civil Engineering
Jessica Thaxton, Tampa, FL; Psychology
Aliyah Wachob, Belmont, CA; Law, Societies and Justice & Creative Writing
Ruby Whelan, Madison, WI; Sociology 

TENOR
Hannah Carpenter, Puyallup, WA; Physics and Astronomy
Gray Creech, Nashville, TN; Political Science
Eric Gagliano, Magnolia, TX; Civil Engineering
Cam Gardner, Sammamish, WA; Political Economy
Ale Hernandez, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Michael Lim, Du Pont, WA; Music Education
Karsten Lomax, Edmonds, WA; Comparative History of Ideas & Cinema and Media Studies
Marshell Lombard, Johannesburg, Gauteng (Place of Gold), South Africa, DMA Choral Conducting
Victor Moutafov, Sammamish, WA; Business
John O’Kane, Seattle, WA; Industrial Systems Eng.
Luke van Sickle, Oregon City, OR; Engineering undeclared
Ryan Singh, Redmond, WA; Geography: Data Science
Ethan Walker, Lynnwood, WA; Biology
Logan West, Spokane, Washington, Drama
Trey Wheeler, Vancouver, WA; Music Education & Vocal Performance 

BASS
Eyad Alsilimy, Mount Vernon, WA; Computer Eng.
Zaref Anderson, Seattle, WA; Community, Environment and Planning
Zane Bowmer-Vath, Issaquah, WA; Marketing
Taylor Buehler, Seattle, Washington, Music Composition 
Nshan Burns, Graham, WA; Economics
Charlie Dawson, Austin, TX; Economics
Matthew Hansen, Camas WA
Will Henry, Richland, WA; Civil Engineering
Andrew Hoch, Burr Ridge, IL; Informatics
Jacob Knight, Lynnwood, WA; Computer Science
Jonah Ladish-Orlich, Renton, WA; Undeclared
Dario Rojas Seattle, WA, Environmental Science
Zack Shafer, Camas, WA; Computer Science
Daniel Troyan, Mission Viejo, CA; Intended: Psychology

Biographies