This concert marks the first full collaboration of the Choral Arts Ensemble (CAE) and the Pacific Youth Choir (PYC), but, we trust, not the last, as we explore the choral repertoire and learn new ways of experiencing it with each other. The music offers a feast for the senses—not just sounds, but also vivid images of all we can see, touch, and even taste in this miraculous world we inhabit together. What a gift to share with each other and with you, our audience!
In 2022, CAE presented a full concert of music by Timothy C. Takach (b. 1978), including the premiere of “Circles,” which we commissioned before the pandemic. Inspired by “narrative, magical realism, speculative fiction, and making better humans through art,” Takach also performs as a singer, formerly in the all-male Cantus and currently in Nation with his wife and fellow composer, Jocelyn Hagen. We closed that concert with “And I Saw,” based on a poem by dramatist and literature professor Josephine Preston Peabody (1874-1922). In her twenties, she met the mystical author and artist Khalil Gibran, whose writings and friendship inspired her. This work begins with an oracular fanfare, followed by excited, overlapping repetitions of the title in all the vocal parts, as though the singers cannot begin to express the vision itself. At last, the vision becomes clear and triumphant—the world transformed by love.
“All Is Miracle,” the first of two pieces by Minnesota-based composer Kyle Pederson (b. 1971), sets words of wonder by Charles Anthony Silvestri (b. 1965) who created so many texts that CAE has sung; in April, we will present The Sacred Veil, his most personal work, about the loss of his young wife to cancer, in collaboration with Eric Whitacre. Though he composed simple songs as a child and sang with choirs all through school and college, Pederson began his career as a middle-school geography teacher, sharing the classroom with a music teacher. He cofounded Learner’s Edge in 2000 to help educators integrate music and the arts into their classroom teaching. By 2009, his emphasis had shifted more to composing, culminating in earning a Masters of Fine Arts in 2017. As he puts it, “nothing provided the sheer joy and feeling of aliveness as creating music.” His work often focuses on “an exploration of the blurring of the line between sacred and secular.” In the composer’s own words, this song “encourages us to look at the world through wonder-tinted lenses – seeing both the magnificent and seemingly mundane coursing with sacred energy. Omnia mirabilia…all is miracle.”
Like Pederson, Boston-based Joshua Shank (b. 1980) began as a school teacher before moving into composing as a career, though he still considers himself an educator. He has said he thinks of himself mainly as a collaborator with all who bring a piece of his music to life. In “Sleeping Out: Full Moon,” he certainly collaborated brilliantly with English poet Rupert Brooke (1887-1915), who wrote this striking text when barely out of his teens. Both poem and song begin quietly, in normal life, on solid ground, but quickly yield to an out-of-body experience that draws the poet into the embrace of the full moon. Entranced, he calls the moon a flameless ecstasy that surrounds him with feminine tenderness and love, as the music grows richer and more complex. He does not need to do anything to experience such overwhelming beauty—only open himself to the cascades of dazzling images and sounds that fill the night.
In addition to composing operas, chamber works, but mostly choral music, Dominick DiOrio (b. 1984) is equally well known as a conductor, serving as artistic director of the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia and conducting NOTUS, the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble; he is also professor of choral conducting at Indiana University. A proponent of new music, he often programs pathbreaking works by 20th and 21st-century composers. His adaptation of “Summer Rain” by American poet Amy Lowell (1874-1925) into “The Red-Gold Darkness of Rain” illustrates his approach. While echoing some of Lowell’s imagist techniques, DiOrio has written that he “ultimately found inspiration in using just a few short words and phrases from the original poem” that “allow the work to be almost more instrumental than textual—more about the sounds of the words than their meanings.” Thus, instead of an intimate love poem, his work recreates the experience of a night of rain.
In 2018, CAE presented an entire concert of works by Jake Runestad (b. 1986) with the composer himself conducting. His setting of journal entries by Scottish-American naturalist John Muir (1838-1914), “Come to the Woods,” especially moved us, as it evoked the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. In the space of eleven minutes, piano and voices recreate the experience of “another glorious day” out in nature. The work moves seamlessly from energetic action, to awestruck contemplation of a “dreamworld” (Runestad’s word), to eager appreciation of a fierce windstorm, complete with the decision to climb a tree “for a wider look” at the forest in motion. After the storm, the work closes at sunset, as the woods themselves seem to speak, offering comfort and peace. Over the tenors and basses chanting the words of the title, the treble voices repeat wordless phrases in random patterns, in a swirl of sound like leaves stirred by a breeze. Like many of Runestad’s compositions (including “The Peace of Wild Things” by PYC later in the program), this is music that heals.
The tenors and basses of CAE and PYC join forces on “The River” by composer Susan LaBarr (b. 1981) and poet Bill Cairns (b. 1951). This song reflects the ties of both to the rural Midwest. Missourian LaBarr studied composition with the legendary Alice Parker; she now works as a music editor back in Springfield, Missouri, in addition to her own composing. Cairns, a retired carpenter, has written works for children, as well as poetry, and has served for over 40 years as a volunteer with a river rescue squad in Illinois—perhaps an inspiration for this text. They previously collaborated on “After the Storm,” a tribute to victims of the devastating 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri. “The River” portrays a boy growing to manhood beside the same moving river. Each verse adds another vocal part, from unison at the beginning to rich, four-part harmony by the end; life grows more complex, but the river remains a constant presence. LaBarr has said she found her inspiration for it in bluegrass music. The PYC treble singers will offer a different aspect of her music later in the program.
Susan Wladaver-Morgan
Robert Schumann’s “Die Minnesänger” evokes the world of medieval German poet-musicians who elevated love to an art form. Heine’s text playfully reimagines their tradition, transforming combat into lyrical competition where verses replace lances as weapons. Matthew Oltman’s arrangement for TTBB voices brings this miniature gem to contemporary choral repertoire, with the voicing embodying these medieval warriors competing for a lady’s favor through song.
To the singing contest stride
The minnesingers now draw near;
Lances are not used this time,
Verses are the weapons here.
We shall fight and we shall conquer
With the weapons of our singing,
For the prize that we must capture
Is a noble lady’s heart.
Originally created by JW Alexander and Jesse Whitaker of the Pilgrim Travelers, “Straight Street” embodies the walking-in-rhythm sound and spiritual essence that defined the Pilgrim Travelers, whose influence shaped legendary singers like Ray Charles, Lou Rawls, and Sam Cooke. Joseph H. Jennings brings this gospel classic to the concert stage with his TTBB arrangement, honoring the original’s rhythmic vitality and spiritual power.
Chris Maunu
The sopranos and altos of both choirs start the second half by collaborating on “Love Is a Rain of Diamonds,” with music by New England composer Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947) and words by prize-winning poet May Swenson (1913-1989). This song comes from a longer cycle titled Songs for Women’s Voices, all with texts by Swenson, some romantic, others more philosophical. Walker began composing in her early childhood and went on to earn a doctorate in music, which led to teaching at Oberlin Conservatory. She resigned from teaching in 1982 to compose full time, creating piano, chamber, and orchestral works, songs for solo voice, arrangements of hymns and folk songs, and many choral works. In “Love Is a Rain of Diamonds,” both the voices and the piano part sparkle and flow like water.
Susan Wladaver-Morgan
Hungarian composer György Orbán is celebrated for his distinctive choral music, blending Hungarian folk influences with neoclassical forms and contemporary vitality. The “Gloria” from Mass No. 6 exemplifies Orbán’s signature style—energetic and playful rhythmic drive combined with modern harmonic color. This work captures a jubilant spirit with music that is unusual, spectacularly beautiful, and delightfully challenging.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you.
We give thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty.
Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
You who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us;
You who take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.
You who sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord,
You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ.
With the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
James Taylor’s “The Millworker” stands as one of his most poignant character-driven compositions. Written from the perspective of a textile mill worker, the song explores themes of labor, dignity, and dreams deferred with unflinching honesty and deep empathy. Taylor captures the interior life of a single mother caught between daily survival and yearning for something beyond the factory floor, a timeless honoring of the working-class experience and reality of many. Susan LaBarr’s arrangement for treble voices brings new dimensions to this affecting work, allowing the text’s deep emotion to resonate through intimate vocal blend.
Frank Ticheli’s “Earth Song” emerged as a response to a world weary of conflict. Originally conceived as part of his wind ensemble work “Sanctuary,” Ticheli found the music “begging to be sung by a chorus,” prompting him to craft his own text to match the poignant melodic material. Originally written during the Iraq War era, the piece reflects a universal longing for resolution in troubled times. Ticheli’s text explores the contrast between a world torn by violence and the healing power of music. The piece is a light of song shining through darkness toward peace.
Malaysian-Canadian composer Tracy Wong’s “Singkap Siaga” (meaning “to reveal” and “ever ready”) draws inspiration from Wayang Kulit Kelantan, the Malay tradition of shadow puppet theatre. The piece emerged from Wong’s reflections on choral communities navigating uncertainty. The work is mostly non-textual sounds based on traditional instruments from Wayang Kulit (gong, dak, ding, dong, tsak, tsng). This fiery piece celebrates resilience, reminding us that light and shadow converge in beauty, just as these choirs unite in song.
Jake Runestad’s “The Peace of Wild Things” sets Wendell Berry’s beloved 1968 poem, written during the Vietnam War and widespread cultural turmoil. Berry, a farmer, poet, and environmental activist, offers a timeless meditation on finding solace in nature when despair for the world overwhelms us. Runestad’s setting musically evokes a scene at the edge of a mountain lake, merging water and earth in peaceful convergence. The music mirrors Berry’s journey from anxiety to peace, ultimately resolving into tranquility as we discover that wild things “do not tax their lives with forethought of grief,” offering us a path to rest “in the grace of the world, and am free.”
Brandon A. Boyd’s arrangement of “Sign Me Up” transforms this gospel classic into an exhilarating concert work that bridges sacred and secular contexts. The piece quotes the familiar spiritual “Roll, Jordan, Roll,” connecting contemporary gospel expression with the deep roots of African American spiritual tradition. Boyd brings his distinctive voice to this arrangement through a fierce piano accompaniment and percussive effects embedded in the empowering lyrics. The repeated phrase “I wanna be ready” drives the piece forward with tireless faith and rhythmic energy, capturing both the urgency and joy of gospel tradition and the power of voices united in purpose.
Chris Maunu
CAE worked directly with Norwegian-American composer Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978) when we performed with him in two concerts in 2014 and 2015. We closed the latter with “The Lake Isle,” joined, then as now, by PYC singers. Anglo-Irish poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) wrote “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” in 1888. The poem describes the rural landscape of County Sligo in western Ireland where Yeats spent his summers as a boy. He got his inspiration for the poem suddenly from the sound of a fountain in London; he considered the poem “my first lyric with anything in its rhythm of my own music.” The gently flowing guitar part and the rhythmic repetition of the words “Innisfree, go to Innisfree” evoke water gently lapping at the shore. For Gjeilo, as for Yeats, the memory lives, like music itself, in the heart.
Though born and educated in the United States, Stephen Chatman (b. 1950) has lived in Canada since 1976 when he began teaching at the University of British Columbia. He became that province’s first composer in residence, and his adopted country awarded him the Order of Canada in 2012. His early works embodied musical modernism, including atonality, but since 1982, his compositions have grown ever more lyrical and spiritual. This excerpt from Voices of Earth(2004) reflects his newer style and his interest in showcasing Canadian authors. These include Archibald Lampman (1861-1899), who played a key role among Canadian nature poets who were equally inspired by Wordsworth and the landscapes of their own country. In “Voices of Earth,” which closes our concert together, joyous voices tumble over each other, caroling of “Earth’s secret soul” and the multitude of sounds that inhabit our world.
Susan Wladaver-Morgan