The Chamber Singers (Geoffrey Boers, director) and University Chorale (Giselle Wyers, director) present "Blue Planet," a program of works demonstrating multiple cultures through crossover genre, syncretic styles, and the African diaspora in the United States. With special guest Professor Marc Seales, piano.
Program
University Chorale
Scott Fikse, Nicholas Renaud, Helen Woodruff, conductors
Serena Chin, collaborative pianist
Portones Abiertos y Rostros Brilliantes - Paul Basler (b. 1963)
Ka Wai 'Apo Lani - Queen Liliʻuokalani (1838-1917) arr. Dorothy K Gillett
Juniper Blessing, soloist; Quinn Ewing, Maya Shah, Caleb Strader, Danny Vizenor, vocal quartet
To the Hands - Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
I. Prelude
II. In Medio (in the midst)
IV. ever ever ever
V. Litany of the Displaced
VI. I will hold you
Katelyn Wales, Sofia Groff, Sophie Root, Quinn Ewing, Jessica Thaxton, Haley Westberg, Caleb Strader, Michael Lim, Jack Hawley, Andrew Hoch, soloists; Luis Nenninger, Caroline Faflak, violins; Eddie Nicholson, viola; Erika Fiebig, cello; Attila Kiss, bass
TaReKiTa - Reena Esmail (b. 1983)
Rise Up, My Love, My Fair One - Healey Willan (1880-1968)
Three Shakespeare Songs -Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
II. The Cloud-Capp’d Towers
Les Voyageurs de la Gatineau - French Canadian Folk Song. arr. Jennifer McMillan
Jessica Thaxton, violin
Chamber Singers
Dr. Geoffrey Boers, Conductor
Clara Johnson, Michael McKenzie, Evan Norberg, Assistant Conductors
Serena Chin, Collaborative Pianist
And Special Guest: Marc Seales, Piano
As the Day Goes: Waking Up and Awakening!
So Breaks the Sun - Shavon Lloyd (b. 1997)
Michael McKenzie, conductor
The Waking - Giselle Wyers (b. 1969)
Serena Chin, piano
This Day, O Soul Jake Houser
Ophelia Songs - Evan Ingalls
Clara Johnson, conductor; Serena Chin, piano
________
Spirituals and Jazz Settings
With Marc Seales, piano; Don Tran, bass; Toby Miller, drums
Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord - trad. Spiritual, arr. Undine Moore (1904-1989)
Inside a Silent Tear - arr. Dave Barduhn
Evan Norberg, conductor
A Prayer (a cappella) - Ken Burton (b. 1970)
His Eye is On the Sparrow - Martin/Gabriel, arr. Zanaida Stewart Robles
Soon Its Gonna Rain - Schmidt/Jones, arr. Dave Barduhn
Lyrics and Translations
Portones Abiertos y Rostros Brilliantes
Open Gates and Glowing Faces
Of course I am happy,
Wouldn’t you be? When I look
At open gates and see a garden full of life,
Of good health and smiles of glowing
Faces … it ignites my spirit
I have never been more excited to be
Alive
And in the radiance of peace that grows, I
Know that when I
Surrender to sleep and the ocean of night
Cradles my dreams,
I can only be in one state of being…
Completely open…
—Gabriel Navar
Ka Wai 'Apo Lani
Royal and Sacred Taro-Leaf-Caught Raindrops
1. Reminiscent of being in the presence of a body of water
the heavy presence of royal and sacred taro-leaf-caught raindrops,
The eighth of the rulers is the fiery taro leaf sacrifice,
The leaping flames, the ruling glow of the land.
CHORUS
When compassion comes,
There will be full approval
From Kane's pool of sacred waters, The foundation, the root of the land.
2. It possesses and brings chiefly deportment with her majesty,
The precious crescent lei,
My subjects find relief in the many offerings
given from the heart,
Together with those of my own ancestry.
3. Words come like a pressing needle,
Don't shy away from your subjects,
While you have this responsibility,
While you feel so strongly about this.
Translation, Hui Hanai
To the Hands
II. In Medio
In the Midst
what are those wounds
what are those wounds in the midst of your hands
in the midst
what are those wounds
what are those wounds in the midst of our hands
Les Voyageurs de la Gatineau
The Travelers on the Gatineau
We set off for a canoe trip on the Gatineau
More often on foot and the load on our backs
There, we thought of our youth that we had spent so badly
Running in the inns, spending our money
When we reached these shores, from lake to lake to the camp
It is here that we are destined to build, my dear children
To build a cabin what we call a camp
A camp but of spruce, round wood not square
Let everyone take their place, here is where we will sleep
We will sleep on the bed of branches that we will gather
Put branches a hundred times, but branches of fir
And to be more comfortable, the largest under the back
Ah! if I ever return to the country where I come from
I will make a man of myself and not a good-for-nothing
I will leave the cabin in these distant woods
I will take care of my wife without running into the camps
I will leave the cabin in these distant woods
I will take care of my wife without running into the camps
So Breaks the Sun: Ben Johnson
So breaks the sun earth's rugged chains,
Wherein rude winter bound her veins;
So grows both stream and source of price,
That lately fettered were with ice.
So naked trees get crisped heads,
And colored coats the roughest meads,
And all get vigor, youth, and spright,
That are but looked on by his light.
The Waking: Theodore Roethke
I strolled across
An open field;
The sun was out;
Heat was happy.
This way! This way!
The wren’s throat shimmered,
Either to other,
The blossoms sang.
The stones sang,
The little ones did,
And the flowers jumped
Like small goats.
A ragged fringe
Of daisys waved;
I wasn’t alone
In a grove of apples.
Far in the wood
A nestling sighed;
The dew loosened
Its morning smells.
I came where the river
Ran over stones:
My ears knew
An early joy.
And all the waters
Of all the streams
Sang in my veins
That summer day.
This Day, O Soul: Walt Whitman
This day, O soul, I give you a wondrous mirror;
Long in the dark, in tarnish and cloud it lay - But the cloud
has pass'd, and the tarnish gone;
. . . Behold, O soul! it is now a clean and bright mirror,
Faithfully showing you all the things of the world.
Ophelia Songs: William Shakespeare
How should I your true love know From another one?
By his cockle hat and staff, And his sandal shoon.
He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and gone;
At his head a grass-green turf, At his heels a stone.
They bore him barefac'd on the bier;
And on his grave rain many a tear,—
Fare you well, my dove!
You must sing, Down-a-down, call him a-down-a.
To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, All in the morning betime,
And I, a maid at your window, To be your Valentine!
And will he not come again? And will he not come again?
No, no, he is dead,
Gone to his death-bed,
He never will come again. His beard was white as snow, All flaxen was his poll:
He is gone, he is gone,
And we cast away moan: Heaven 'a mercy on his soul!
Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord
Oh, the king cried,
Oh, Daniel, Daniel, oh!
A-that-a Hebrew Daniel,
Daniel, Daniel, oh!
Oh, Daniel, Daniel,
Servant of the Lord!
Among the Hebrew nation,
One Hebrew Daniel was found
They put him in the lion's den
He stayed there all night long.
Now the King in his sleep was troubled
And early in the morning he rose
To find God sent His angels down
To Lock the Lion's jaws.
Oh, the king cried,
Oh, Daniel, Daniel, oh!
Servant of the Lord
Inside a Silent Tear
Inside a silent tear, I have a silent dream
That sometimes sails across the patterns of my mind
The silence follows me and dreams just disappear
And then I find myself inside a silent tear
Sometimes I laugh too much
To lose the loneliness
I'm not the laughing kind
I can't say anything I really want to say
I guess I try so hard I stumble on the way
I'm always finding love when it's not meant to be
What is reality and can it be defined?
When you're a fool likе me it's never rеally clear
So you have silent dreams inside a silent tear
I'm always finding love when it's not meant to be
What is reality and can it be defined?
When you're a fool like me it's never really clear
So you have silent dreams inside a silent tear
A Prayer: Paul Laurence Dunbar
O Lord, the hard-won miles
Have worn my stumbling feet:
Oh, soothe me with thy smiles,
And make my life complete.
The thorns were thick and keen
Where’er I trembling trod;
The way was long between
My wounded feet and God.
Where healing waters flow
Do thou my footsteps lead.
My heart is aching so;
Thy gracious balm I need.
His Eye is on the Sparrow: Civilla D. Martin
“Let not your heart be troubled.”
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubt and fear.
Though by the path He leadeth,
But one step I may see:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart be lonely
And long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
I sing because I’m happy—
I sing because I’m free—
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Soon Its Gonna Rain
Soon it's gonna rain
I can see it
Soon it's gonna rain
i can tell
Soon it's gonna rain
What are we gonna do
Soon it's gonna rain
I can feel it
Soon it's gonna rain
I can tell
Soon it's gonna rain
What'll we do with you
We'll find
Four limbs of a tree
We'll build
Four walls and a floor
We'll bind
It over with leaves
And duck inside to stay
Then we'll let it rain
We'll not feel it
Then we'll let it rain
Rain pell mell
Then we'll not complain
If it never stops at all
We'll live and love
Within our own four walls
We'll find
Four limbs of a tree
We'll build
Four walls and a floor
We'll bind
It over with leaves
And duck inside to stay
Then we'll let it rain
We'll not feel it
Then we'll let it rain
Rain pell mell
Then we'll not complain
If it never stops at all
We'll live and love
Within our own four walls
Biographies
A noted pianist, composer and leading figure in the Northwest jazz scene, Marc Seales has shared stages with many of the great players of the last two decades. He has played with nearly every visiting jazz celebrity from Joe Henderson and Art Pepper to Benny Carter, Mark Murphy, and Bobby Hutcherson. With the late Don Lanphere he performed in such places as London, England; Kobe, Japan; The Hague in the Netherlands; and the North Sea Jazz Festival.
The musicians he admires most are Herbie Hancock, Charlie Parker, John Lewis, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Wynton Kelly, though he is quick to acknowledge that he owes the basically be-bop/post be-bop sound of his playing to his mentors, Don Lanphere and Floyd Standifer.
Critics have praised Seales variously for his "meaty piano solos," and "blues inflected, Hancock-inspired modernism." Winner of numerous Earshot awards (Instrumentalist of the Year in 1999 and Acoustic Jazz Group in 2000 and 2001; Jazz Hall of Fame, 2009), Seales is today promoting jazz awareness and molding young talents as a Professor of Music at the University of Washington, where he is a professor in the Jazz Studies Program. He teaches an array of courses, including History of Jazz, Jazz Piano, and Beginning and Advanced Improvisation, as well as leading various workshops and ensembles.
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.
Scott Fikse is a multi-genre performer and director with a passion for teaching. He is currently pursuing a DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington and serves as a graduate teaching assistant for the School of Music in music history, conducting, and choral methods, as well as an instructor of record for the Program for Writing Across Campus (PWAC) where he teaches Writing in the Humanities. He serves as the assistant conductor of the University of Washington Chorale, Recital Choir, and the Graduate Cohort Ensemble.
Locally, Scott serves as the conductor in residence for the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society and as the choirmaster at All Pilgrims Christian Church. He is also a guest lecturer, with appearances at Seattle Symphony, Early Music Hawai‘i, Midsummer Musical Retreat, Seattle University, and others, and is a regular contributor to the American Choral Directors Association monthly Choral Journal magazine. An active bass-baritone, Scott sings as a choral scholar with the Compline Choir, in the professional vocal ensemble Nothing Gold, and as a guest choral scholar with some of Seattle’s most respected liturgical ensembles. He has also performed numerous roles on the musical theater stage, in vocal jazz ensembles, and in competitions with the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Scott moved to Seattle from Honolulu in 2022, where he directed the music program at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu and created the church’s popular “First Mondays” and “Jazz Journey” concert series. Under his direction the LCH choirs prepared over 200 works each year, ranging from chant, Renaissance polyphony, and Baroque works to modern masters. He also served as director of the Honolulu Chorale and artistic director of Early Music Hawai‘i, where he continues to serve both as artistic director and board member. Scott has secured numerous grants to fund projects with both LCH and EMH, and is currently designing a series of masterclasses that will bring world-class soloists and coaches from across the country to work with Honolulu-based performers. He also remains rooted to Hawai‘i through his work with the Shinnyo-En Buddhist community, where he sings as a soloist for the annual Lantern Floating Ceremony each May which welcomes over 40,000 participants a year.
Scott received his Bachelors of Musical Arts from Pacific Lutheran University, his Masters in Choral Conducting from University of Washington, and has a certification in German language from Eurocentres Köln, Germany. A scholar and active writer, his research currently examines topics in Early Music performance practice and development and the evolution and intersections of both early American and Hawaiian choral music.
Canadian conductor-educator-tenor Nicholas Renaud is passionate about working with others toward musical growth and dynamic performances. Currently, Nicholas is pursuing his DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington under the supervision of Dr. Geoffrey Boers and Dr. Giselle Wyers, where he serves as Assistant Conductor of the award-winning UW Chorale, co-conductor of the UW Recital Choir and Choral Cohort Ensemble, and as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the School of Music.
Out in the community, Nicholas works frequently as a tenor, guest conductor, clinician and French-language diction coach for local choirs and serves as Artistic Director of La Chorale francophone de Seattle, a multi-generational community choir specializing in the performance of French-language music from around the world. Prior to commencing his studies at UW, Nicholas conducted a variety of community bands and choirs and had a busy career teaching K-12 Music and French classes in public schools and serving his fellow teachers as a union activist in and around Vancouver, Canada.
Nicholas holds degrees and graduate-level diplomas in music, French and education from some of Canada's top universities. While completing his Bachelor of Music at the University of Victoria, he served as Assistant Director of the Vocal Jazz Ensemble and Chamber Singers, and as Conductor of the Massed Men's Choir and Director of the Vocal Jazz Women's Chorus, Ellavation. He has been the recipient of numerous fellowships, scholarships and awards, but his proudest accomplishment throughout his studies was receiving the Outstanding Practicum Award from the University of British Columbia. This was given in recognition of Nicholas' dedication, commitment and diligence while teaching high school students in choir, band and IB French classes during his Bachelor of Education degree.
An earnest scholar, Nicholas' research interests include inclusive and decolonial approaches to leadership and pedagogy, incorporating voice science in the choral rehearsal process, empathetic choral conducting, and early Canadian choral music. Nicholas is devoted to building community and cooperation through the study of music, engaging in innovative teaching that involves a variety of approaches and activities to foster teamwork. He works hard to empower others––no matter their age or experience level––to develop confidence as they learn to express their creativity through group music-making and engaging musical performances.
Helen Woodruff is a graduate student at the University of Washington, pursuing her MM in Choral Conducting. She is passionate about approaching choral music from new perspectives. She is strongly rooted in music education and thrives for choral music to be accessible to all, pursuing creative ways for singing to be experienced.
Helen believes that we are all born with the innate desire to use our voices. Singing fulfills a universal and fundamental desire to express ourselves and to connect with others. It is the greatest way to convey culture, history, community, and personal expression in a way that is accessible to all because the voice is an instrument that we carry with ourselves daily. She finds substantial power in the collective human voice, which is why she is drawn with such strength to conducting and facilitating this expression and communication.
Currently, Helen co-conducts the Treble Choir and works with the University Chorale. Prior to this, she graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a BM in Music Business. After her undergraduate degree, she spent four years in California at the Harker School teaching K-12 general music, string orchestra, choir, and musical theater.
Michael McKenzie is an international award-winning conductor and music educator, whose work centers around the power that choral music has to affect social change. They serve as a Managing Director of Voices for Social Justice, a national nonprofit organization whose work combines social activism with justice-centered artistic expression through performance, resources, and community collaboration. Outside of VFSJ, Michael serves as the Director of Music at Magnolia United Church of Christ. Most recently, they served as Director of the Bellevue Chamber Chorus during their gold medal winning performance at the 2024 World Choir Games in Auckland, New Zealand.
Michael is currently pursuing their DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Washington School of Music. Prior to this, they graduated with an MM in Choral Conducting, with honors, from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University – Long Beach. There, Michael served as the director of ConChord, a student community chorus, and as a teaching assistant for the University Choir and Bob Cole Chamber Choir. For their Master's Recital, Michael earned honorable mention as a finalist for the American Prize's Dale Warland Award for Collegiate Choral Conductors.
Michael was the Founder and Director of two Social Justice Choirs at Gustavus Adolphus College, and their performances earned them 2nd place in The American Prize for Choral Conducting - Community Division and an invitation to present a concert at The 2020 Nobel Conference. Michael graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College, summa cum laude, in 2019 with a BA in Music Education and certification in K-12 Vocal, Instrumental, and Classroom music. Michael is a member of the Music Honors Society Pi Kappa Lambda and the Education Honors Society Kappa Delta Pi, and holds professional affiliations with the American Choral Director’s Association, the National Collegiate Choral Organization, and the National Associate for Music Education.
Evan has extensive knowledge in both classical and jazz styles, having been part of top notch ensembles in both community and school groups; Edmonds Community College’s Soundsation, Seattle Children’s Choir, Central Washington University’s Chamber Choir, Vocal Jazz 1, and Seattle based Choral Arts Northwest just to name a few. In the professional arena, Evan is a sought after bass/baritone soloist and has performed as a guest for many local community and school groups for major works, such as René Clausen’s Memorial, Handel’s Messiah, Faure’s Requiem, Mozart’s Vespers, and more.
Through inspiration and guidance by the great arrangers of the Pacific Northwest such as Vijay Singh, Kirk Marcy, and Kelly Kunz, Evan has been arranging his own jazz standards and compositions since 2003 with a steady stream of charts for his own ensembles. More notably, his arrangement of Love You Madly was premiered at the National American Choral Directors Association Conference in Chicago in 2011.
During the pandemic, Evan formed his own LLC called Envision Studios with business partner Daniel Schreiner. The goal was to help build virtual content for music teachers throughout the US to support their regular online rehearsals, projects, and virtual performances. Envision supported upwards of 40 school teachers in over 100 projects throughout the pandemic, bringing quality music programs to people's homes, enriching 'classroom' learning, and instilling confidence, recording, and musical skills to students across the country.