MTSU SOAL Chorale Program

presents

MTSU SOAL Chorale Angela Tipps, Conductor Grace Thompson, Pianist Andrea Dawson, Violinist

ACDA Southern Division Conference Louisville, Kentucky Friday, February 23, 2024

Ad Astra

Ad astra per aspera.

Sursum.

Jacob Narverud (b. 1986) Carl Fischer CM9579 To the stars through difficulties.

Look upward.

When you’re tired and troubled and you have lost your way, Don’t let hard times lead you astray.

Though you may be weary, just know you’re not alone, For the stars will guide you home.

Movere deinceps.

Sine cura, post omnes.

Move forward.

Leave all cares behind.

There Is a Place

Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962) Gentry Publications JG2549

There is a place where Truth and Mercy will meet.

There is a place where Justice and Peace shall kiss.

Please, take us to this place, and reveal to us a vision of Shalom that prevails in our world; Make us ambassadors of Justpeace.

-Adapted from Psalm 85:10

On the Strangest Sea

Daniel J. Hall (b. 1971) Walton Music WLG164

Fear not, therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows.

-Matthew 10:31 “Hope” is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soulAnd sings the tune without the wordsAnd never stops-at allAnd sweetest-in the Gale-is heardAnd sore must be the stormThat could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm-

I’ve heard it in the chilliest landAnd on the strangest SeaYet-never-in Extremity, It asked a crumb-of me.

-Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) Emily Dickinson loved birds-in fact, she referred to birds in over 200 of her collected poems. Composer Daniel J. Hall begins his setting of this Dickinson poem with a Latin translation of Matthew 10:31 and uses the tune of the Easter sequence Victimae paschali laudes throughout. The violin represents the bird, and the bird represents hope as it travels through many climates (in the words of the composer, “some of them very unpleasant”). This work became the inspiration for today’s concert—hope.

Spes (Hope) Mia Makaroff

(b. 1970)

Walton Music WW1777 Quis talis, ut sapeines est?

Et quis cognovit solutionem rerum?

Who is like the wise?

Who knows the explanation of things?

Biekka oapmi lean Muhto liikká ealán Ja dat lea visa eallima dárkkuhus Ealán odne dál ja dás Ja just dat lea madoheapme de in eali sat ihttin Nu ja maid dasto

I belong to the wind, But I live, Maybe that is the meaning of life.

I live here and now…

I won’t be alive tomorrow.

That is the way—and so what.

Non est in hominis potestate Dominari super spiritum Nec cohibere spiritum Nec habet potestatem supra diem mortis

As no one has power Over the wind to contain it, So no one has power Over the time of their death.

Sapiential horminis illuminat vultum eius Et durities faciei illius commutator.

A person’s wisdom brightens their face And changes its hard appearance.

Lovely Day

Words and Music by Bill Withers and Skip Scarborough

Arranged by Robert T. Gibson

Alfred 49660 Jordan Mathis and Kelsa Lunsford, soloists Jarran Armstrong, bass Miles Damaso, drums

Angela Tipps is completing her 26th year at the MTSU School of Music. A graduate of MTSU, she conducts the SOAL (Soprano-Alto) and TEBA (Tenor-Bass) Chorales, teaches basic and choral conducting, coordinates the Introduction to Music courses, and often serves as Musical Director for productions in the Department of Speech and Theatre. In 2022 she became the Musical Director of the Middle Tennessee Choral Society, and for 21 years has served as the Organist and Director of Music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Murfreesboro.

She is married to Dale Tipps, a judge in the Tennessee Court of Workers’ Compensation Claims who sings in three of Angela’s choirs. They have two grown children: Virginia, who will graduate with an MFA in Stage/Production Management from Carnegie-Mellon University in May, and Sam, a sophomore civil engineering major at the University of Memphis.

Violinist Andrea Dawson joined the faculty of the MTSU School of Music in 2007. Dr. Dawson received her MM and DMA degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the coveted Performer’s Certificate. At MTSU, she teaches violin and viola, string chamber music, string pedagogy, string literature, and conducts the MTSU Chamber Orchestra. Since 2008, she has also been a member of the faculty of the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, and just this year became the Concertmaster of the Tennessee Philharmonic.

In 2021, Dr. Dawson published 24 Etudes for the Modern Violinist, Book 1 for Sleepy Puppy Press, along with a version for viola. The next two installments in this series are in process. In 2023, she founded the Dow Street Community Music School, providing music instruction to children and adults.

Grace Thompson is a first-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Arts degree in collaborative piano. Hailing from the North Georgia mountains, she hold undergraduate degrees in piano pedagogy and piano performance from Bryan College.

MTSU SOAL Chorale The MTSU SOAL Chorale is an unauditioned ensemble open to all students from across the university who sing soprano or alto, regardless of gender identity.

Of the 47 students singing today, 40% are music majors. The other 60% represent a variety of majors from animal science to criminal justice administration. The chorale rehearses twice a week and performs at least two concerts per semester, and their repertoire ranges from major works for treble choirs to musical theatre.

The Chorale has performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, for two Tennessee governors, and twice for TMEA. This is their second performance for Southern Division ACDA—the first was in 2018, here in Louisville.

In the Fall of 2021, a group of students led a series of focus groups to explore a more inclusive name for both the MTSU Women’s and Men’s Chorales. Students chose the first two letters of Soprano-Alto (SOAL) and Tenor-Bass (TEBA) as the new names of the choirs, and they became official in the Fall of 2022.

Carlee Barnhouse, Athens OH, Music Business Savannah Bennett, Nashville TN, Vocal/General Music Education Langley Buck, Brentwood TN, Music B.A. Olivia Byrom, Murfreesboro TN, Vocal/General Music Education Haylee Casper, Smyrna TN, Music B. A. Abbi Davidson, Mt. Juliet TN, Industrial and Organizational Psychology Zanne Fowler, Nolensville TN, Integrated Studies Allie Frye, Bristol TN, Commercial Songwriting Karo Garcia, Murfreesboro TN, Voice Performance Kendra Gardner, Livonia, MI, Liberal Arts M.A. Lillian Hajny, Crossville TN, Graphic Design Kaelyn Hardin, Murfreesboro TN, Public Writing and Rhetoric

Brooke Helton, Russellville TN, Criminal Justice Administration Grace Holland, Huntington TN, History and Dance Sarah Huffman, Shelbyville TN, Literary Studies Sydnei Humphrey-Davis, Columbia TN, Voice Performance Jasmine January, Beechgrove TN, Music Industry Caroline Jeffords, Franklin TN, English Olivia Johnson, Jackson TN, Vocal/General Music Education Elaina Jones, Jackson TN, Vocal/General Music Education Ariana Keith, Smithville VA, Tourism and Hospitality Management Shaunna King, Springfield TN, Vocal/General Music Education Avery Lindberg, Chattanooga TN, Psychology Catherine Lomot, Morristown TN, Psychology Kelsa Lunsford, Jackson TN, Music Industry Emily Luter, Nashville TN, Forensic Science Jordan Mathis, Smyrna TN, Voice Performance Maddie McDonald, Lebanon TN, Animal Science and Commercial Songwriting Camden Mckinney, Antioch TN, Integrated Studies Zoey Moore, Olive Branch MS, Commercial Songwriting Anne Nguyen, Murfreesboro TN, Music Business Maddie Pedrick, Spring Hill TN, Elementary Education Phoebe Perkins, Shawnee OK, Jazz Studies Reagan Peters, Maryville TN, Psychology Sarah Queener, Knoxville TN, Voice Performance, M.A. Aubry Redhair, Christiana TN, Political Science Lydia Scott, Bell Buckle TN, Interdisciplinary Media Erin Seifert, Murfreesboro TN, Voice Performance Savannah Shaver, Murfreesboro TN, Music Business Riley Shrout, Smyrna TN, Theatre Education Lyric Stroup, Smyrna TN, Vocal/General Music Education Olivia Suggs, Murfreesboro TN, Vocal/General Music Education Bella Terry, Pleasant Shade TN, Commercial Songwriting and Psychology Katerina Thomas, Jeffers, MN, Theatre Emma Vaccino, Milford CT, Music Industry Lily Warren, Franklin TN, Voice Performance Alyssa Williams, Readyville TN, Journalism and Spanish

Vocal Music at MTSU The Schola Cantorum is an auditioned SATB ensemble conducted by Dr. Raphael Bundage, Director of Choral Activities at MTSU. Designed primarily for upper division vocal majors and graduate students, Schola performs at least two concerts per semester, and its repertoire includes choral works from the Renaissance to the present.

The TEBA (Tenor-Bass) Chorale is an unauditioned ensemble open to all university students who sing tenor and bass, regardless of gender identity.

The majority of students are non-music majors, and they rehearse once a week. TEBA has performed for TMEA and for the Williamson County Male Chorus Festival.

The MTSU Singers, conducted by Grammy Award-winning faculty member Dr. Cedric Dent, is a select, audition-only group of 16 singers.

They perform jazz standards and popular music with an emphasis on improvisation.

Our Opera Theater program, led by Dr. Will Perkins, presents an opera, opera scenes, or musical theater production every semester. In the fall they collaborated with the Department of Speech and Theatre for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and in the spring will perform Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.

MTSU School of Music Middle Tennessee State University, situated at the geographic center of the state, is a comprehensive university with an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. It is the home of both the Center for Popular Music, one of the nation’s oldest and largest research archives for American popular music, and the Center for Chinese Music and Culture, founded in 2015 to promote cultural diversity through visiting artists and student ensembles.

The School of Music offers the following degrees:

Bachelor of Arts in Music Bachelor of Music

Instrumental and Vocal/General Music Education Instrumental and Voice Performance Music Industry Theory-Composition

Master of Music

Collaborative Piano Composition Conducting Jazz Studies Music Education Musicology Performance

Minors in Music

American Music Studies Music Music Industry

School of Music Faculty Choral Faculty

Dr. Raphael Bundage Dr. Cedric Dent Angela Tipps

Music Education Faculty Craig Cornish Dr. Christopher Dye Dr. Jamila McWhirter Dr. Jennifer Vannatta-Hall

Voice Faculty

Dina Cancryn Stephanie Jones Dr. Will Perkins Stephen Smith

Thank You! Thank you to Lillian Hajny for designing the cover art, Dr. Will Perkins for assisting with the movement for “Lovely Day.” Special thanks to Debra Goodwin, administrative associate for the School of Music, for doing all the necessary paperwork to get us here!

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