Wheaton College Chorale & Chamber Singers present
Faures Requiem ' ´
Haas Visiting Artist
Dr. Patrick Chiu, director
A Theatrical Choral Event
Alexandra Lutkevich, conductor
Brandon Martinez, baritone soloist
George Lane '26, soprano soloist
Tuesday, April 29, 2025 7:00 p.m.
COLE MEMORIAL CHAPEL | WHEATON COLLEGE, NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Wheaton Chorale & Chamber Singers
Esther Avalos*^
Emily Bellows
Jill Brown
Mallory Canning
Caleb Cascio*
Annika Christensen
Pierce Connolly*
Corday Cummings
Hayla Davis
Joey Del Santo*^
Lucy Dibble
Owen Dietrich
Aud Dodge
Leo Edwards*
Sydney Esper*
Jacob Goldman*
Maggie Gould
Lil Hazelbaker*
Jack Hebert
Mary Hodge^
Katie Horton*
Gareth Jones
Declan Kennedy
Grace Lai^
George Lane*
Anthony LaRocca*
Annabel Morris*
Libby Morrison
Owen Moses
Sophie Packard
Grey Poduska*
Adriana Polanco-Gomez
Kira Powell
Abby Smith
Isaiah Smith-Johnson
Rougui Sturr
Lia Taylor
Julia Thompson^
Anna Willi
*denotes member of Chamber Singers
^denotes graduating senior
Production Team:
Patrick Chiu
Stage Director
Alexandra Lutkevich
Conductor
Max Ponticelli
Technical Director & Lighting Designer
Cam Talmage ’26
Assistant Lighting Designer
Briana Freitas ’27
Stage Manager
Yuri Son
Collaborative Pianist
Juan Mesa
Organist
Sheila Falls
Violinist
Brandon Martinez
Baritone Soloist
George Lane ’26
Soprano Soloist
Notes to the Audience:
• Please reserve all applause until the end of the work.
• Recording is distracting to the performers and your fellow audience members. Kindly silence your cell phones and enjoy the performance unplugged
• Flash photography is prohibited for the safety of the performers
Thank you!
Scan here for a listener’s guide to Fauré’s Requiem
Thanks to:
Patrick Chiu for his beautiful vision of this work and generous work with our students, all of the musicians, actors, and tech crew who joined us in our performance this evening, Jessica Kuszaj, Kristina Kalogeras, Kristi Mahoney and the Arts Office for help with programs, publicity and logistics, George Lane for their tireless work both organizing and promoting us as Chorale Assistant, Yuri Son for her dedicated and competent work playing and leading sectionals as our collaborative pianist, and to all of the Creative Arts faculty for their help and support.
Patrick Chiu’s participation in this evening’s performance was made possible by the Evelyn Danzig Haas ’39 Visiting Artists Program.
Artist Biographies
Choral artist Patrick Chiu gracefully navigates the multifaceted realms of conducting, education, stage direction, and composition. Influenced by his diverse global experiences, Patrick deeply values the power of artistic collaboration across cultures, believing it fosters a more harmonious world. Patrick’s artistic journey began with a liberal arts education and formal musical training at Chung Chi College in his native Hong Kong, followed by advanced studies under esteemed professors of the Vienna Konservatorium. He furthered his expertise with a Master’s in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, and continued his academic pursuit with a Master’s in Opera Stage Directing and a PhD in Music Education from Florida State University. In 2012, Patrick was awarded a conducting fellowship by the Oregon Bach Festival, supported by the Herbert von Karajan Musikpreis of the Festspielhauses Baden-Baden. His collaborations with distinguished maestros such as Helmuth Rilling, Harry Christophers, Wolfgang Katschner, and Matthew Halls have enabled Patrick to infuse his distinctive artistic vision into the international arts scene. His innovative choral-physical theatre productions and award-winning compositions have made a notable impact on the global music and theatre landscape. For over two decades, Patrick has balanced a busy global performing schedule with a commitment to nurturing the next generation of musicians. Currently, he is the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Lycoming College, where he was awarded the prestigious Makisu Award in 2024 for his outstanding service to the College community.
Baritone Brandon Martinez is a versatile artist performing classical and commercial repertoire. During his operatic career he has sung favorite roles with Natick, Massachusetts based company Opera del West. With them he has performed roles in Little Women, An Embarrassing Position, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Seagull, Candide, Cendrillon, and Pepito. He has also worked with Fort Worth Opera and Opera Providence. Last season saw him performing the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes at University of South Florida, Five Mystical Songs with the Tell School of Music at Millersville University where he is Assistant Professor of Music and Coordinator of the Voice Area. This season he traveled with students to China where he gave masterclasses in opera, commercial music, and musical theater. He also performed three recitals with his colleague, Xun Pan. He will perform the Fauré Requiem solos in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with McCaskey High School Vocal Ensemble and in the summer he joins Allegro Orchestra in Lancaster as the baritone soloist in the Brahms Requiem. In September he will perform a recital of underrepresented American composers at Millersville University with longtime collaborative partner, pianist Alexandra Lutkevich, as part of a recording project they are designing. He is also a member of The Arch Street Band, based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Les Fleurs et Les Arbres
Music: Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
Text: Author unknown
Les fleurs et les arbres, Les bronzes, les marbres, Les ors, les émaux, La mer, les fontaines, Les monts et les plaines
Consolent nos maux.
Nature éternelle
Tu sembles plus belle
Au sein des douleurs,
Et l’art nous domine, Sa flamme illumine
Le rire et les pleurs
The flowers and trees, Bronzes and marbles, Objects in enamel and gold, The sea, and fountains, Plains and mountains, All these console our griefs untold.
Eternal nature
So sweet, so bright
Amidst the sorrow of the years
Art rules and guides us Its flame casting light
Upon our laughter and our tears.
Camille Saint-Saëns composed Les Fleurs et les Arbres during a time of immense cultural and technological change. The text celebrates the enduring beauty of nature and art as sources of comfort amidst human sorrow. Written toward the end of Saint-Saëns’ life—a period marked by reflection—this piece shares a spiritual kinship with Fauré’s Requiem in its quiet emphasis on peace and consolation rather than fear. In our own era, marked by political polarization and rapid change, Les Fleurs et les Arbres reminds us that connection to the natural world and to timeless expressions of beauty can offer a refuge for our hearts. These are the gifts that soften grief, rekindle wonder, and lead us gently through both laughter and tears. —Leo Edwards
Chantez!
Music: Jules Massenet (1842–1912)
Text: Marc Legrand (1865–1908)
Chantez tout à votre loisir, Petits oiseaux aux voix légères
Chantez les splendeurs printanières, Chantez l’amour et le plaisir!
Lorsque vous chanteriez encore
Des milliers de soirs et d’aurores, Vous n’auriez pas assez chanté
L’œuvre divine et sa beauté.
Sing everything as you like, Little birds with light voices
Sing of springtime splendors, Sing of love and pleasure!
When you will have sung again
For thousands of evenings and dawns
You still would never have sung enough
Of the divine work and its beauty.
In Chantez, Jules Massenet and lyricist Marc Legrand invite us into a world where song and nature are inseparable. Light, bright birdsong becomes an endless hymn to the beauty of creation, where joy, love, and wonder renew themselves with every dawn. Written during a period when French composers often sought to capture fleeting moments of natural beauty, Chantez sparkles with an almost sacred reverence for life’s simple pleasures. In a time when the world often feels weighed down by sorrow, Chantez reminds us to lift our voices in celebration—to find in music, as in nature, an endless wellspring of hope and renewal. —Leo Edwards
Þa God Cyning
Music: Rob Bevacqua ’25
Text: Beowulf
Hwæt, We Gar-Dena in gear-dagum, Þeod-cyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum, monegum mægþum, meodo-setla ofteah, egsode eorlas, syððan ærest wearð fea-sceaft funden. He þæs frofre gebad, weox under wolcnum, weorð-myndum þah, oð þæt him æghwylc þara ymb-sittendra ofer hron-rade hyran scolde, gomban gyldan. Þæt wæs god cyning.
Ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned, geong in geardum...Him þæs Lif-Frea, wuldres wealdend worold-are forgeaf: Beow wæs breme
What ho! We have heard in the days past of the Spear-Danes’ King, how the courageous noble performed. Often Scyld, son of Scef, harassed many men with arrows, denying the terrified earls seats in the mead-hall, after he was found without any money. He improved himself, growing under the heavens, prospering and proving, until each of those neighbors over the sea had to pay a gold tribute to him. That was a good king. From him, one heir was born, young in years, which God had sent to help the people allay their miserable suffering... Him, that lord of life, heavenly ruler, gifted them a world-honor: Beow was renowned.
This piece holds a very special place in my heart. I wrote the original theme back in my freshman year of college, for my first ever college music class, which has stuck with me since the moment I wrote it. At the same time, I was studying Old English, and learning about the tale of Beowulf, and how to translate Old English into Modern English. The piece, Þa God Cyning, is written in the original Old English, using specifically the first 18 or so lines of the poem. The section is a prologue to the story of Beowulf, about how the Danish king Scyld drove out the nobles and barbarians occupying his kingdom, and how he became a great king, ruling for many years, until one by the name of Beowulf would come and become king after Scyld passes. The whole story of Beowulf is a fantasy tale about dragons, monsters, knights, nobles and glory. I want to thank Director Alexandra Lutkevich and the rest of the Wheaton Chamber Choir for the opportunity to write this piece and for their exceptional work in learning and performing it. I’d also like to thank Dr. Will Mason, who has been advising and assisting me every step of the way, and Dr. Michael Drout, who taught me Old English and Beowulf in the first place, and assisted in the text and pronunciation of the piece. —Rob Bevacqua
Rest
Music: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)
Text: Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)
In Rest, composed in 1902, British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams sets to music a sonnet by the English poet Christina Georgina Rossetti. Rossetti describes a woman lying in her grave, finally at peace. Vaughan Williams expertly uses text painting to bring this poetry to life, and texture and harmony to evoke this transition into the afterlife. Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem is unique for its encompassing gentleness. He embraced the literal translation of the word “requiem,” which is “rest.” Much like Fauré, who described death as a “happy deliverance,” Rossetti characterizes death as entirely serene. She does not differentiate between joys and sorrows in the dead woman’s life; all are frivolous now that the woman is truly free. As the sonnet’s title suggests, death is more akin to a wonderful sleep than a tragedy. To be forever cradled by the Earth in complete tranquility is the true meaning of paradise. —Katie Horton
Requiem, Op. 48
Music: Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)
Text: Catholic Mass for the Dead
Director’s Note:
Although Requiems are traditionally linked to funerals, Fauré’s Requiem emphasizes hope and resilience for the living. In developing a theatrical concept for this work, I explored the ways in which people navigate grief. Loss is experienced from many perspectives, and while sorrow is inevitable, it gradually transforms. Over time, it shifts into acceptance, appreciation for shared moments, and a lasting connection that transcends death. The music itself captures this delicate interplay of sadness and comfort, offering uplifting moments that foster peace amid mourning. Through this performance, we invite the audience to journey through the complexities of grief and healing, honoring both sorrow and the strength found in remembrance.
I have been deeply inspired by the vision of Professor Alexandra Lutkevich and the Wheaton Chorale and Chamber Singers in crafting a concert that communicates a profound message. I hope tonight’s performance brings you solace and prompts reflection on the power of music and memory. —Dr. Patrick Chiu
Poem: “On Death”
Written by Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931)
Performed by Aud Dodge
Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would ask now of Death.
And he said: You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity. Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
I. Introit and Kyrie
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam: ad te omnis caro veniet.
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Poem:
Give them eternal rest, Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon them. A hymn becomes you, God, in Zion, and a vow shall be paid to you in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer: to you all flesh shall come.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
“Do Not Stand by my Grave and Weep”
Written by Claire Harner (1909–1977)
Performed by Owen Moses
Do not stand by my grave, and weep. I am not there, I do not sleepI am the thousand winds that blow I am the diamond glints in snow I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush, I am the swift, up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight, I am the day transcending night. Do not stand by my grave, and cryI am not there, I did not die.
II. Offertory
O Domine Jesu Christe, rex gloriae, libera animas defunctorum de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu. O Domine Jesu Christe, rex gloriae, libera animas defunctorum de ore leonis, ne absorbeat Tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum.
Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus: tu suscipe pro animabus illis quarum hodie memoriam facimus. Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius. Amen.
III. Sanctus
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth: pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis.
IV. Pie Jesu
Pie Jesu, Domine, dona eis requiem.
Pie Jesu, Domine, dona eis sempiternam requiem.
V. Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis sempiternam requiem.
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
O Lord Jesus Christ, king of glory, deliver the souls of the departed from the punishments of hell and from the deep lake.
O Lord Jesus Christ, king of glory, deliver the souls of the departed from the mouth of the lion, lest Tartarus swallow them up, lest they fall into darkness.
We offer prayers and sacrifices of praise to you, Lord: you receive them on behalf of those souls whose memory we recall today. Cause them, Lord, to pass from death to the life which you once promised to Abraham and his seed. Amen.
Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts: heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed Jesus, Lord, give them rest.
Blessed Jesus, Lord, give them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, give them rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, give them eternal rest.
May eternal light shine on them, Lord, with your saints for ever, for you are good.
Give them eternal rest, Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon them.
Poem:
“I
Am Standing by the Seashore”
Written
by Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933)
Performed
by Rose Gifford
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone” Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast, hull and spar as she was when she left my side. And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me—not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, “There, she is gone,” there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”
And that is dying...
VI. Libera Me
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda: quando caeli movendi sunt et terra; dum veneris iudicare saeculum per ignem. Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira.
Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis et miseriae, Dies illa, dies magna et amara valde. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Deliver me, Lord, from eternal death, on that terrible day: when the heavens and earth will be shaken; when you will come to judge the age with fire. I am made to tremble, and I am afraid, since trial and anger are coming.
That day, a day of anger, disaster and sorrow, That day, a mighty day, and one exceedingly bitter. Give them eternal rest, Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon them
Poem: “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”
Written
by Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
Performed by Sydney Esper, Corday Cummings, Sophie Packard, Anthony LaRocca, Rougui Sturr, Mallory Canning
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
VII. In Paradisum
In paradisum deducant angeli: in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere, aeternam habeas requiem.
May the angels lead you into paradise: may the martyrs receive you as you arrive, and bring you into the holy city of Jerusalem. May the choir of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, once a beggar, may you have eternal rest.