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The UW Chamber Singers (Photo: Steve Korn).
In the first half of this program, the Chamber Singers (Geoffrey Boers, director) and singers from the UW Opera Workshop, along with the UW Baroque Ensemble, perform Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Les arts florissants. In the second half of the program, the Chamber Singers and University Chorale (Giselle Wyers, director) present “Scatter, Gather,” a celebration of choral music traditions of the Pacific Rim and beyond. With special guest, Ethnomusicology Visiting Artist Shoji Kameda.
Program
Marc-Antoine CharpentierLes arts florissants
Chamber Singers: Geoffrey Boers, director
with UW Opera Workshop: Andrew Romanick, music director; Kelly Kitchens, stage director
UW Baroque Ensemble: Tekla Cunningham, director
Serena Chin, collaborative pianist
Ingrid Verhulsdonk, rehearsal collaborative pianist
Les Arts Florissants Personnel
La musique: Adia Bowen / tsi sʔuyuʔaɫ
La poësie: Cassidy Cheong
La peinture: Zachary Fitzgerald
L’architecture: Sydney Belden
Le théâtre: Isabelle Villanueva
La discorde: Naomi-Hal Hoffman
La paix: Mavis Chan
Henchman: Scott Fikse
Scatter, Gather
A celebration of choral music traditions from the Pacific Rim and beyond
Chamber Singers and University Chorale
University Chorale
Giselle Wyers, director
Cum Sancto Spiritu: Hyo-Won Woo (Korea)
Spellbound: Calvin Rice (U.S.A.) (text by Emily Bronte)
Jessica Thaxton, soprano
Wayfaring Stranger
Justin Birchell, condutor; Emma Koslosky and Jaden Ritscher, sopranos
Hentakan Jiwa- The Beat of the Soul : Ken Steven
Trey Wheeler, tenor; Taylor Bellamy, bass
To the Memory for taiko ensemble and choir: Takeo Kudo
Shoji Kameda, Taiko
Storm Driven Sea: Christopher Tin:
Shoji Kameda, Taiko
Chamber Singers
Geoffrey Boers, director
Mother: Lucy Cook Weber
A Journey of Your Own: Saunder Choi
Notes and Texts
Cum Sancto Spiritu: Hyo-Won Woo (b. 1974), sung in Latin
With the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father, Amen.
Spellbound: Calvin Rice (b. 2004)
Text by Emily Bronte (1818-1848)
The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go.
The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow.
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go.
Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.
Wayfaring Stranger
I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger
Traveling through this world below
There is no sickness, no toil, no danger
In that bright land to which I go
I'm going there to see my father
And all my loved ones who've gone on
I'm just going over Jordan
I'm just going over home
I know dark clouds will gather 'round me
I know my way is hard and steep
But beauteous fields arise before me
Where God's redeemed, their vigils keep
I'm going there to see my mother
She said she'd meet me when I come
So I'm just going over Jordan
I'm just going over home
I'm just going over Jordan
I'm just going over home
Hentakan Jiwa: Ken Steven, based on Malay dance. Sung in Indonesian
Translation:
Stomping
Slightly move the cloth
Jumping or stepping of the foot
Walking while moving the body
Dragging the foot
A small run
Running as if to strike a foe, but suddenly stopping
Bowing and moving the body
Walking in a straight line
Stringing rhythm
Soul
Expression of the dancing soul
To the Memory for Taiko Ensemble and choir (English) by Takeo Kudo (b. 1942)
Text by Philip Freneau (1752-1832)
If in this wreck of ruin, they
Can yet be thought to claim a tear,
O smite your gentle breast, and say
The friends of freedom slumber here!
Stranger, their humble graves adorn;
You too may fall, and ask a tear;
'Tis not the beauty of the morn
That proves the evening shall be clear.—
Now rest in peace, our patriot band;
Though far from nature's limits thrown,
We trust they find a happier land,
A brighter sunshine of their own.
Christopher Tin (born 1976) Storm Driven Sea
sung in Old Norse-
Text from Poetic Edda
The Storm Driven Sea
Seeks Heaven Itself
The Air Grows Sterile
Then Follows The Snows
And the Furious Winds
Over The Earth It Flows
For The Gods Are Doomed
And The End Is Death
UW ChoraleSOPRANO Elizabeth Brown, Mukilteo, WA Chloe Chapman, Vancouver, WA Lauren Chenoweth, Bellevue, WA Sydney Huang, Cleveland, OH Claire Killian, Evergreen, CD Emma Koslosky, Castro Valley, CA Meena Kuduva, Kirkland, WA Ellen Kwon, Federal Way, WA Lena Lee, Mukilteo, WA Anna Messenger, Olympia, WA Chloe O’Keefe, San Francisco, CA Shriya Prasanna, Olympia, WA Meliza Redulla, Olympia, WA Sophie Root, Kirkland, WA Emily Shields, Crossville, TN Olivia Spaid, Seattle, WA Anne Tinker, Seattle, WA Felicia Tzeng, San Jose, CA Katelyn Wales, Federal Way, WA ALTO Lyla Cain, Seattle, WA Emily Colombo, Arlington, WA Alina Galata, San Jose, CA Alexis Georgiades, Basking Ridge, NJ Lainey Graham, Denver, CO Naomi Hal Hoffman, Bellevue, WA Ella L’Heureux, Leavenworth, KS Sophie Ma, Tokyo, Japan Dominique Mallo, Sugar Land, TX Akhila Narayanan, Redmond, WA Leah Peterson, Bellevue, WA Natalie Peterson, Paulsbo, WA Jaminfaye Reduque, DuPont, WA Silvana Segura, Redmond, WA Maya Shah, Portland, OR Jessica Thaxton, Tampa, FL Haley Westberg, Vancouver, WA Ruby Whelan, Issaquah, WA TENOR Hannah Carpenter, South Hill, WA Gray Creech, Nashville, TN Eric Gagliano, Magnolia, TX Luis Javier, Mukilteo, WA A J Johnson, Lake Charles, LA Michael Lim, DuPont, WA Karsten Lomax, Edmonds, WA Haoran Peng, Shenzhen, China Tim Resca, Sharon, MA Tyler Santos, Spokane, WA Jackie Smith, Tacoma, WA Caleb Strader, DuPont, WA Alexander Trias, Estelline, SD Luke Van Sickle, Oregon City, OR Trey Wheeler, Vancouver, WA Adrian Wong-Cascante, Sammamish, WA BASS Zaref Anderson, Seattle, WA Taylor Bellamy, Bellingham, WA Thayden Boome, Tacoma, WA Zane Bowmer-Voth, Logan Cox, Sammamish, WA Charlie Dawson, Austin, TX Luke Granger, Bellingham, WA Will Henry, Richland, WA Andrew Hoch, Burr Ridge, IL Jonah Ladish-Orlich, Renton, WA Brady Lindell, Maple Valley, WA Will Lithgow, Glasgow, UK Aidan Maynard, Las Vegas, NV Gavin Morrow, Ladera Ranch, CA Dustin Peng, Saratoga, WA Dario Rojas, Sarajevo, Bosnia Cole Siegrist, Gilbert, AZ Daniel Troyan, Mission Viejo, CA Chamber SingersSoprano Adia Bowen, Mount Vernon WA Mavis Chan*, Bellevue, WA Cassidy Cheong, Danville, CA Naomi-Hal Hoffman*, Bellevue, WA Joely Loucks, Friday Harbor, WA Kyla Marshall, Seattle, WA Nandini Rathod, Mercer Island, WA Jaden Ritscher, Poulsbo, WA Egija Ungure, Riga, Latvia Alto Cee E. Adamson, Washington, D.C. Sydney Belden, San Clemente, CA Heidi Blythe, Stone Ridge, NY Tatiana Boggs, Kirkland, WA Anna Messenger, Olympia, WA Lauren Reynolds, Colorado Springs, CO Larke Witten, San Antonio, TX Tenor Caleb Ching-Yung Chan, Portland OR David Ferguson, North Bend, WA Chad Miller*, Lansing, KS Emmanuel Noyola-Juarez* Maggie Petersen, Mercer Island, WA Brayden Schwartz, Kennewick, WA Caleb Strader, Dupont, Wa Michael Wan-Lu, Seattle, WA Forrest Wu, Seattle WA Bass Justin Birchell, Anchorage, AK Charlie Dawson, Austin, TX Scott Fikse, Tacoma, WA Matthew Judd* Michael McKenzie, Belchertown, MA Evan Norberg, Bothell, WA Dustin Peng*, Saratoga, CA Christian Rolfson, Mount Vernon, WA Trey Wheeler*, Vancouver, WA *Choir Cabinet Member |
Biographies
Kelly Kitchens is an award-winning director, actor, and arts educator based out of Seattle, Washington. Some past directing projects include: The Marriage of Figaro; La bohème; Carmen; Orfeo; Hand to God; Ironbound; Medea; The Light in the Piazza. Kelly is a faculty member at the University of Washington, a member of Actor's Equity Association, and a member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Kelly earned her B.A. from Vanderbilt University and her M.F.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Andrew Romanick performs in the Seattle area and beyond as a collaborative pianist and opera coach. On faculty at the University of Washington School of Music, he instructs Opera Workshop and Accompanying. In 2023, Romanick performed and premiered with soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw a number of pieces in Seattle and St. Paul by contemporary composers: Linda Tutas Haugen, Kate Soper, Jocelyn Hagen, Juliana Hall, and Karen P. Thomas. Previous professional performances have taken place virtually with Seattle soprano Chérie Hughes in the Barcelona Festival of Song; with Broadway and Metropolitan Opera Baritone Zachary James in the Hoku concert series in Kona, Hawaii; in the Canto Opera Festival in Louisville, Kentucky; in the Music in the Marche Opera Festival in Mondavio and Fano, Italy.
Sydney Belden has always found joy in singing and bringing laughter to those around her. Hailing from sunny San Clemente, California, she is a senior double degree student pursuing a BM in Vocal Performance and a BA in Environmental Studies. Sydney also is an active member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and an intern for the Seattle Subway Foundation. Around Washington, she is a proud member of the Tacoma Opera’s Young Artist’s Program, where she performed in Carmen this year and will soon appear in their production of Madama Butterfly. In the past she also sang as a performing member for the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle, a chorister for the Puget Sound Concert Opera, an ambassador for the Seattle Opera Guild (where she was a finalist in their 2021 Singer’s Development Awards), and is currently a Choral Section Leader Intern at the UCUCC. In Summer 2023, she performed in Austria (Belinda in Dido and Aneas) and Germany (Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte). At UW, she sang as Adina in this year’s Opera Scenes performance of L’elisir D'amore, was a chorister for last year’s performance of Philemon und Baucis, and is a part of the Chamber Singers where is is a soloist for Schubert's Mass in G. Sydney is extremely grateful for the kindness, guidance, and support of her directors, friends, colleagues, and family.
Adia Bowen / tsi sʔuyuʔaɫ from Mount Vernon, Washington, and is also from the Upper Skagit Nation. She is a 4th-year undergraduate majoring in Vocal Performance and American Indian Studies. Adia grew up doing musical theater and began taking classical voice lessons in the 8th grade. Some of her favorite roles included “Grizabella” in CATS The Musical, “Ariel” in The Little Mermaid, and “The Witch” in Into The Woods. Before transferring to the UW in the fall of 2022, Adia played the role of “Suor Angelica” in Western Washington University's production of Puccini’s Opera Suor Angelica in the Spring of 2022. Adia is thrilled to be a part of her first UW production, playing the role of “La Musique” in Les Arts Florissants.
Mavis Chan is a senior from Bellevue, WA pursuing a dual degree in Vocal Performance and Business Marketing. She is also honored to be serving her second term as president of UW Chamber Singers. She is looking forward to performing her first concert opera surrounded by brilliantly talented friends and musicians. In December, Mavis had the opportunity to sing as one of the soloists for Bach’s Magnificat alongside UW Chamber Singers and the Baroque Ensemble. Some of Mavis’ past roles include Narcissa (cover) in Haydn’s Philemon und Baucis, The Remarkable Rocket in Laura Karpman’s Wilde Tales and Bard 2 in Ben Moore’s Odyssey. Mavis is a student of Dr. Carrie Shaw and is excited to present her senior recital on June 1st, celebrating constancy and change as she steps into a new stage in life. She would be thrilled to see you there!
Lyric Soprano Cassidy Cheong is currently completing her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Washington where she is studying with Dr. Carrie Shaw. Cassidy recently graduated with honors from Swarthmore College with a BA in Music and Political Science, and is from Danville, California. In 2023 she was a featured soprano soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Magnolia Chorale, performed scenes as Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with the University of Washington Opera Workshop, and performed in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at the Baroque Opera Workshop. Cassidy is excited to be performing as a soprano soloist in Schubert’s Mass in G with the University of Washington Campus Philharmonia, soprano soloist with the University of Washington Modern Music Ensemble, and performing in Sweets by Kate with Lowbrow Opera Collective this year.
Zachary Fitzgerald is thrilled to be making his UW Opera debut as La Peinture in tonight's production. Zachary has performed internationally within the Lorenzo Malfatti Academia Vocale di Lucca, Tacoma opera, Cincinnati Opera, and Kent State Opera. Along with his performance resume Zachary most recently finished studies at Kent State receiving master's degrees in Vocal Performance and Choral Conducting. Zach will now complete his Doctorate in Vocal Performance studying with Professor Tom Harper at the University of Washington. Special thanks to Dr. Mary Sue Hyatt, Timothy Culver, and Mark and Valerie Kennedy for their support of Zach's voice.
Isabelle Villanueva is a Sophomore from Tacoma, Washington and a student of Dr. Carrie Shaw. She is working towards a double degree in Psychology and Vocal performance, aspiring to become a Pediatric Psychiatrist and explore the deep connections between music and mental health. Isabelle has recently won her fifth Puget Sound NATS competition and will be performing at the annual NATS Winners’ recital on March 16th. She is thrilled to be part of this production alongside talented musicians.
Geoffrey Boers is Director of Choral Activities at the University of Washington in Seattle, a program widely recognized as forward thinking, unique, and of great distinction. Under his direction, the graduate choral program has developed a singular mission: to nurture the whole student as conductor-teacher-servant-leader-scholar. This vision has led the program to become one of the most vibrant and innovative in the country, attracting students from around the world interested in exploring the future of our art. Through his teaching he is exploring the evolution of conducting gesture and rehearsal pedagogy and their connection with the emerging neuroscience of mirror neurons, empathy, perception, learning, and personal transformation. His exploration has led to new thoughts about conducting and teaching with regard to breath, movement, artistry, personal awareness, and cultural development. Recently, his work has led to the mentoring of local choral cohorts of teachers and conductors who are interested in building professional communities of ongoing mentorship and musical development. He has developed such mentorship programs across the United States and Canada. In addition to these thoughts about mentorship he is actively working with other leaders in ACDA and NAfME to develop a more unified and useful system for development of musicianship, assessment, adjudication, and repertoire grading.
Geoffrey maintains an active conducting, teaching, workshop and clinic schedule; his recent engagements have included conducting concerts in Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Meyerson Concert Hall in Dallas, New York’s Alice Tully and Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center, the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, and Benaroya Hall in Seattle. In addition he has served as artist-in-residence in Toronto, Ontario, Mainz, Germany, as well as Seoul, Korea with the world-renown choir the Incheon City Chorale.
In addition to his position at the UW, Boers sings professionally and is the conductor of the Tacoma Symphony Chorus where he conducts both the choir and symphony players in a four-concert season.
Since his tenure at the University of Washington, the choral program has become a leader in promoting the performance, study and exchange of Baltic music in the United States. The choir has toured to the Baltic countries in 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2013. Geoffrey Boers was awarded a prestigious Royalty Research Grant in 2004 to create a Baltic Choral Library in collaboration with the UW Library as well as State and academic libraries in the Baltic. This collection of scores, manuscripts, vocal music, and writings is the first of its kind in the United States. This collection has promoted yearly exchanges with choirs and conductors from the Baltic area who travel each year to Seattle. Further, it has led to numerous UW choral students winning awards and scholarships to travel, study, and work in the Baltic countries.
Giselle Wyers (she/her/hers) is the Donald E. Petersen Endowed Professor of Choral Music at the University of Washington, where she conducts the award-winning University Chorale and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in choral conducting and music education. She serves as the newly appointed School of Music's designated Diversity Liaison. University Chorale’s latest CD, Chasing Daybreak, will begin streaming in January 2024 on Apple Music and Spotify. Their third CD, Resonant Streams (on the MSR Music Recordings label) was featured in a 2018 Gramophone magazine article. Wyers is the newly appointed director of Concord Chamber Choir, an adult community chorus within the Columbia Choirs community. Her professional project choir Solaris Vocal Ensemble, specializes in the performance of contemporary American choral literature. Their premiere album Floodsongs, on the Albany Music label, won the American Prize Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music in 2017-18.
As a guest conductor, Wyers has led high school honor choirs and all-state choruses in New York (Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center), Kansas, Wisconsin, Georgia, Missouri, Louisiana, Connecticut, Nebraska, Texas, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Nevada and Vancouver, Canada. She has conducted semi-professional ensembles across the United States and in Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Sweden.
Wyers is a leading national figure in the application of Laban movement theory for conductors. She has served as guest lecturer in conducting at Sweden’s Örebro Universitet, European Festival of Church Music (Germany), Latvian Academy of Music, Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College, Westminster Choir College, University of Iowa, Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Portland State University.
Wyers’ choral works are published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing Company as part of the "Giselle Wyers Choral Series," as well as with MusicSpoke and Hildegard Publishing. Her works have been performed across the United States, South America, Canada, Australia, Cuba, and numerous European cities. She conducted her 30-minute choral cycle entitled And All Shall Be Well, in Carnegie Hall during May of 2022 with a consortium of NW-based choruses, and she will return with a newly composed choral/orchestral work in May of 2026. In 2021-22, she served as composer-in-residence for the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium's annual festivities celebrating the return of in-person singing (her appearance was sponsored by Consortio). Wyers is also committed to mentoring scholar-writers in the field, and served on the editorial board of ACDA’s Choral Journal for six years.