Letter from the Department
Welcome to this concert presentation by the Music Program in the Department of Performing Arts. We are delighted to have the wonderful support of great families and friends. A very special welcome goes out to our visitors from the community who may not have any affiliation to our students, and simply come to hear spectacular musical performances by these talented student musicians. We hope everyone in our audience is pleased with the musical selections; and proud of the achievement of the students involved.
The students you will hear at this performance are not music majors. They do this for their love of music and dedicate their time and energy to cultivating their passion for this art form. They are as dedicated to their studies and career pursuits as they are to this intrinsic passion they have within them. The program is fortunate to have a bounty of students with this yearning. We would not exist without them!
The Music Program and Department of Performing Arts is dedicated to providing robust opportunities in the performing arts while students are at Drexel. Our goal is to provide a positive and supportive environment for our students. It is our hope that students and audiences alike feel they are represented in the selections being performed. The human connection is most important to us all.
Thank you for attending this performance. Being here is the greatest show of support for the students, the Music Program, and the Department of Performing Arts. Thanks to the dedicated leadership of the faculty ensemble directors and staff, we are pleased to present you with the following program.
Sincerely,
Luke Abruzzo, Music Program Director Miriam Giguere, PhD, Department Head, Performing Arts
Acknowledgements
The Drexel University Chorus and Chamber Singers would like to thank everyone in the Performing Arts office, especially our fearless leaders Luke Abruzzo, & Dr. Miriam Giguere.
About the Ensemble
The Drexel University Chorus is an auditioned, 50-voice group for experienced choral singers which performs music from the Renaissance to today, with and without instrumental accompaniment. The ensemble has a particular goal to present newly-composed works that react to the natural, social, and political worlds in which we live. The ensemble typically performs one major oncampus program at the end of each quarter, with occasional service and off-campus concerts.
Drexel University Chamber Singers is an advanced choral ensemble of 24 singers that are drawn from the University Chorus. The ensemble performs at the University Chorus concerts at the end of each term and may have additional on and off-campus performances. Repertoire is generally drawn from early and modern sources, focusing of Baroque cantatas and the work of living composers.
Program
University Chorus and Chamber Singers
Dr. Daniel Spratlan, Conductor
The Passing of the Year ---------- Jonathan Dove (b.1959)
1.Invocation
2.The narrow bud opens her beauty
3.Answer July!
4.Hot sun, cool fire
5.Ah Sun-Flower!
6.Adieu! Farewell earth’s bliss!
7.Ring out, wild bells
Requiem ------------------------- Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
1.Introit and Kyrie
2.Offertorium - Jordan Singer, baritone
3.Sanctus
4.Pie Jesu - Schell Podoll, soprano
5.Agnus Dei
6.Libera me - Ethan Utterback, baritone
7.In Paradisum
Soprano
Ensemble Members
Dr. Daniel Spratlan, Conductor
*Molly Angelov
Damini Babu
Molly Chapman
Ashleigh Edwards
Alisha Fazal
Alyssa Mascuilli
Mollie Owen
*Schell Podoll
Delaney Rybicki
*Natalie Sager
Anna-Maria Senkiv
*Jessica Urwiler
+*Zoë Warren
Designations
* Chamber Singers + Section Leader
Alto
+*Sumita Bhattacharyya
Sophia Coulopoulos
Abby Feinstein
Seven Finckel
*Lilly Gerard
Mia Hernandez
Sophia Lyons
*Gianna Moffa
*Kayla Thomas
Hannah Woodbury
Orchestra
Viola 1: Shannon Merlino, James Wilson
Viola 2: Renee Warnick, Jaylon Hayes-Keller
Cello 1: Ezgi Yargici
Cello 2: Chennie Chen
Violin Solo: Akili Farrow
Bass: Pat Nugent
Horn 1: Karen Schubert
Horn 2: Marcus Shaw
Harp: Maryanne Meyer
*Richard Ramirez
*Bea Baxley
*Ben Fievitz
*Jordan Singer
*Ethan Utterback
Tenor
*Jesse Diribe
+*Cooper Fischbeck
*Avi James
Jude Kodama
*Alexander Thomas Bass
The Passing of the Year
1. O earth, O earth, return!
Arise from out the dewy grass; Night is worn, and [the morn] rises from the slumbering mass.
Turn away no more; Why wilt thou turn away?
The starry floor, the watery shore, Is given thee till break of day.
-William Blake
2. The narrow bud opens her beauties to The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins; Blossoms hang round the brows of Morning, and Flourish down the bright cheek of modest Eve, Till clust'ring Summer breaks forth into singing, And feather'd clouds strew flowers round her head. The spirits of the air live on the smells Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round The gardens, or sits singing in the trees. -William Blake
Text/ Translations
3. Answer July --
Where is the Bee -Where is the Blush -Where is the Hay?
Ah, said July -Where is the Seed -Where is the Bud -Where is the May --
Answer Thee -- Me --
Nay -- said the May -Show me the Snow -Show me the Bells -Show me the Jay!
Quibbled the Jay -Where be the Maize -Where be the Haze -Where be the Bur?
Here -- said the Year --Emily Dickinson
4. Hot sun, cool fire, tempered with sweet air, Black shade, fair nurse, shadow my white hair: Shine, sun; burn, fire; breathe, air, and ease me; Black shade, fair nurse, shroud me, and please me: Shadow, my sweet nurse, keep me from burning, Make not my glad cause, cause of my mourning.
Let not my beauty's fire Enflame unstaid desire, Nor pierce any bright eye That wand'reth lightly.
-George Peele
5. Ah, Sun-flower! weary of time, Who countest the steps of the Sun; Seeking after that sweet golden clime, Where the traveller's journey is done:
Where the Youth pined away with desire, And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow, Arise from their graves and aspire
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.
-William Blake
6. Adieu, farewell earth's bliss, This world uncertain is, Fond are lifes lustfull joyes, Death proves them all but toyes. None from his darts can flye, I am sick I must die-Lord have mercy on us.
Rich men, trust not in wealth, Gold cannot buy you health; Physic himself must fade. All things to end are made. The plague full swift goes by; I am sick, I must die-Lord have mercy on us.
Beauty is but a flower, Which wrinkles will devour, Brightness falls from the air, Queens have died young and fair, Dust hath closed Helen's eye.
I am sick, I must die-Lord have mercy on us.
-Thomas Nashe
7. Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light; The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more, Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin, The faithless coldness of the time; Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes, But ring the fuller minstrel in. ...
Ring out old shapes of foul disease, Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson
Text/ Translations
I. Introitus - Kyrie
Choir, tenors
Requiem aeternam dona eis
Domine et lux perpetua luceat eis
Sopranos
Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem
Grant them eternal rest, o Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them
Thou, o God, art praised in Sion, and unto Thee shall the vow be performed in Jerusalem.
Choir
Exaudi orationem meam ad te omnis caro veniet
Hear my prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come. Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison Kyrie eleison. Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy
Text/ Translations
II. Offertorium
Altos, tenors
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 eus Tartarus ne cadant in obscurum.
Altos, tenors, basses
O Domine, Jesu Christe, Rex Gloriae ne cadant in obscurum.
Baritone solo
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 eus.
Chorus
O Domine, Jesu Christe, Rex Gloriae libera animas defunctorum de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu ne cadant in obscurum. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hells and from the bottomless pit.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, Deliver them from the lion's mouth, nor let them fall into darkness, neither the black abyss swallow them up
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, neither the black abyss swallow them up.
We offer unto Thee this sacrifice of prayer and praise, receive it for those souls whom today we commemorate.
Allow them, o Lord, to cross from death into the life which once Thou didst promise to Abraham and his seed.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hells and from the bottomless pit. Nor let them fall into darkness. Amen
III. Sanctus
Sopranos, tenors, basses
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria
tua Hosanna in excelsis.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth heaven and earth are full of Thy glory Hosanna in the highest.
IV. Pie Jesu
Treble solo
Pie Jesu, Domine, dona eis requiem
dona eis requiem sempiternam requiem
Merciful Jesus, Lord, grant them rest grant them rest, eternal rest.
Tenors, choir
Text/ Translations
V. Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi dona eis requiem
Choir
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi dona eis requiem
Tenors
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi dona eis requiem, sempiternam requiem.
Choir
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine
Cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es
Requiem aeternam dona eis
Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, grant them rest
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, grant them rest
O Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, grant them rest, everlasting rest.
May eternal light shine on them, o Lord, with Thy saints for ever, because Thou are merciful. Grant them eternal rest, o Lord, and may perpetual light shine on them.
Text/ Translations
VI.
Libera me
Baritone solo
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna in die illa tremenda
Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra
Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem
Choir
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
Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna in die illa tremenda
Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra
Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.
Deliver me, o Lord, from everlasting death on that dreadful day when the heavens and the earth shall be moved when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire
I quake with fear and I tremble awaiting the day of account and the wrath to come.
That day, the day of anger, of calamity, of misery, that day, the great day, and most bitter.
Grant them eternal rest, o Lord, and may perpertual light shine upon them.
Deliver me, o Lord, from everlasting death on that dreadful day when the heavens and the earth shall be moved when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.
Sopranos
Text/ Translations
VII. In Paradisum
In Paradisum deducant Angeli in tuo adventu suscipiant te Martyres et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem
May the angels receive them in Paradise, at thy coming may the martyrs receive thee and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem
Chorus
Jerusalem
Sopranos
Chorus Angelorum te suscipit et cum Lazaro quondam paupere aeternam habeas requiem
Chorus
Jerusalem
There may the chorus of angels receive thee, and with Lazarus, once a beggar, may thou have eternal rest.
Aeternam habeas requiem May thou have eternal rest.
Dr. Daniel Spratlan
University Chorus and Chamber Singers Conductor
Dr. Daniel Spratlan is currently in his fifth year as director of the Drexel University Chorus and Chamber Singers. This also marks his 14th season as Director of Music at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. Previously, he has served on the conducting faculties at Haverford College, Temple University, and Rutgers University.
He earned his DMA in Choral Conducting from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, his MM in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College, and BA in Music from Earlham College.
An active professional singer, he is in his 18th season singing with the four-time Grammy Award-winning choir The Crossing with whom he has recorded more than thirty albums. Many of The Crossing's 200 commissioned works focus on social, environmental, and political issues, and Dr. Spratlan continues to share several of these works with the Drexel community. He has performed as a soloist and professional chorister with ensembles such as the New York Choral Artists, Clarion Choir, Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Concert Chorale of New York, Opera Philadelphia, Piffaro, Tempesta di Mare, San Francisco Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in venues such as Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, the Kimmel Center, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Drexel offers four different music minors:
Music: requires 26 credits, including work in Music Theory, History, private lessons, ensemble performance, and 9 credits of music electives.
Music Theory and Composition: aimed at people who are writing their own music or who would like to begin doing so. You will take courses in Music Theory, Arranging, Composition, and Digital Composition, and end with a portfolio of several completed pieces.
Music Performance: requires two years of private lesson studies with our artist faculty culminating in a recital. The Music Program will provide support for the recital venue and accompanist.
Jazz & African-American Music: includes course work in Jazz History, African-American Music, Jazz Theory, private study in Jazz performance, and ensemble work in several ensembles devoted to jazz.
Support Great Performance
Dance, Music, and Theatre are a vital, central part of the Drexel academia and student life. Donations support performing arts ensembles and programs, as well as the operation of our performing arts venues, including the Mandell Theater and URBN Annex Black Box Theater.
Drexel University Department of Performing Arts Staff
Department Head
Dr. Miriam Giguere
Program Directors Luke Abruzzo
Music
Nick Anselmo Theatre
Jennifer Morley Dance
Administrative Staff
Ellie Ebby Administrive Coordinator
Hannah Burke Department Administrator
Caroline Leipf
Mandell Theater Managing Director
Elisha Robinson
Performing Arts Graduate Assistant
Liv Shoup
Audience Services Coordinator
Lauren Tracy
Ensemble Production Associate
Production Staff
Paul Jerue
Theatre Production Manager/Black Box Theater Technical Director
Asaki Kuruma
Costume Shop Manager
Chris Totora
Mandell Theater Technical Director
