The Choral Institute at Oxford, July 2022 by M Jacob

The Choral Institute at Oxford

Westminster Choir College

Choral Institute at Oxford 2022

July 19-28, 2022 St Stephen’s House, Oxford Co-Directors: James Jordan, James Whitbourn Director of Associate Conductors:Steve Pilkington Choir in Residence: The Westminster Choir

Tutors from Westminster Choir College of Rider University: James Jordan, Steve Pilkington, Jason Vodicka Tutors from the University of Oxford: Demi Brizee, Natalie Doig, David Dupret, Edward Higginbottom, Martin Holmes, James Potter, Helen Smee, Fiona Suttle, Robin Ward, Mark Williams Guest Faculty: Makoto Fujimura Corey Everly

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome from the Directors...................................................................................................2 Dominic C. Gregorio Choral Institute at Oxford Fellowships..........................................7 About the Westminster Choir..................................................................................................8 About the Conductors............................................................................................................13 Hold Fast to Dreams...............................................................................................................20 Institute Conductors’ Concert...............................................................................................34 The Williamson Voices Window Tribute Award...............................................................36 About the Faculty....................................................................................................................37 Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................46 Timetable..................................................................................................................................48

Choral Institute at Oxford Fellowship

Choral Institute at Oxford Fellowship July 2022 It has long been a human need to travel toward distant places in order to fulfill deep desires and discover new vistas. Since the first migrations of primordial humankind, seeking souls have wandered far from home driven by a compulsion to enlarge themselves through ventures which feed the imagination and expand the heart. To use an archaic word, now is the season of “pilgriming.” And so we find ourselves in the ancient confines of Oxford where seekers after spiritual, emotional and intellectual truths have long journeyed for solace, invigoration, restoration and expansion. It is a deep joy to welcome you to this blessed institute once again where the mystical powers of music lead humans, listener and practitioner alike, into the deepest canyons of human connectivity and existential mystery. As you journey forward these next few days, relish every moment, be grateful for the ways we knit ourselves together as a human and artistic community, and always be mindful that music and education open the minds and alter the lives of those we reach in our work from whence we have come. Glorious horizons beckon; travel far! Steve Pilkington, Director of Associate Conductors Associate Professor of Sacred Music Westminster Choir College

Choral Institute at Oxford Fellowship

The Dominic C. Gregorio Choral Institute at Oxford Scholarships The friends of Dominic Gregorio have chosen to honor his memory by this year assisting two Westminster undergraduate conductors to study at the Choral Institute at Oxford as Full Conductors. It is the hope that these young conductors who receive this help to attend will continue the guiding principles which made Dominic Gregorio a singularly unique teacher and conductor: Humanity, deep kindness and unwavering courage to be vulnerable and truthful. The 2022 recipients:

Devin Embrich

A proud Filipino-Canadian, Dominic was born and raised in Guelph, Ontario, completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music at the University of Guelph, a triple major Master of Music Degree (Voice, Choral Conducting, Music History) at the Temple University in Philadelphia, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, earning the prestigious medal, The Order of Arete in 2012 for his brilliant work as a doctoral student. Dominic’s calling as a professor and community leader channeled his passions in music and spirituality. As Director of Choral Activities and an Associate Professor in the Department of Music at The University of Regina (Canada), Dominic had a tremendous impact on the campus community and throughout the creative and cultural communities he so generously collaborated with, and was passionately committed to. His impact and influence as a mentor and choir director was inspirational, caring, and transformative. He possessed a vibrant, dynamic, passionate soul who defied labels, advocated for the rights of the LGBTQ and indigenous community, and was on a journey of reclaiming his own indigenous Filipino identity. He was a proud and grateful student of Alan Harler, Jo-Michael Scheibe, Paul Salamunovich and James Jordan.

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The Westminster Choir

The Westminster Choir James Jordan, conductor Samuel Stephenson, graduate assistant conductor Marion Jacob, graduate assistant conductor Gregory Stout, accompanist SOPRANO Haley Califano, Dix Hills, NY Maryrose Canevari, Pawling, NY Claire Fritz, Elizabethtown, PA Marion Jacob, Bear, DE Summer Rae Kuhns, Anchorage, AK Anna Matone, Bridgewater, NJ Kyra Pitagno, Stonybrook, NY Alexandra Thomas, State College, PA

TENOR Skylar Derthick, Camas, WA Jordan Klotz, Rochester, NY Tyler Kim, Siheung, South Korea Benjamin Kirk, Lumberton, NJ Orry Walter, Middleburg, PA BASS Yusef Collins-Bryant, Frankford, PA Lucas Heredia, East Brunswick, NJ Robert Lapore Jr, Elizabeth, NJ Jordan Mongell, North Andover, MA James Moyer, Yardley, PA Christopher Palmer, West Chester, PA Thomas Stella, Plainsboro, NJ Samuel Stephenson, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Kyle St. Sauveur, Simsbury, CT

ALTO Adrianna Barnett, West Grove, PA Sam Belinski, Yardley, PA Azhaneet Blackwell, Trenton, NJ Victoria Borrelli, Berlin, NJ Joy Brunson, Newark, DE Grace Comeau, Bristow, VA Abigail Flanagan, Scotch Plains, NJ Chelsea Holbrook, Quakertown, PA Emily Huguenin, Howell, NJ Lydia Reifsnyder, Mount Desert, ME Sarah Swahlon, Carlisle, PA Chelsea Warner, Livermore, CA Morgen Zwicharowski, Hagerstown, MD

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The Westminster Choir

About the Artists “The Gold Standard…” — American Record Guide In its 102nd year, the Westminster Choir has been at the forefront of American choral music since its founding. The choir is composed of students at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. As the sixth conductor of the choir, James Jordan continues the legacy of its founder John Finley Williamson and maintains the historic performance and educational mission of John Finley Williamson. A student of Elaine Brown, who also taught Joseph Flummerfelt in addition to Jordan, James Jordan continues the rich standards for performance reflecting the traditions and pedagogy of Williamson, Brown and Flummerfelt. The Westminster Choir continues and enriches the tradition of the Grammy-Nominated Westminster Williamson Voices founded by Dr. Jordan in 2004. Most noteworthy is the continuation of a residency for the choir at The Choral Institute at Oxford, continuing the legacy established by the Williamson voices in 2012. Westminster Choir now realizes the dream of John Finley Williamson to have a “home” for the choir in Europe. Recent seasons for the Westminster Choir have included concert tours in Beijing, China and Spain, as well as participation in the World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona and groundbreaking performances of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize winning Anthracite Fields at the historic Roebling WireWorks as part of Westminster’s Transforming Space project. For 42 years it served as the chorus-in-residence for the Spoleto Festival U.S.A. Beginning this summer, the Westminster Choir will move to its new “summering home” as the resident choir of the Choral Institute at Oxford. Its base at St. Stephen’s House continues the relationship established by the Westminster Williamson Voices, and it will provide a European home for teaching and concertizing. This relationship completes the vision of Westminster Choir College founder John Finley Williamson to have a presence for Westminster Choir College in Europe. The Westminster Choir and The Westminster Williamson Voices have been recording choral masterworks for nine decades. The Grammy-Nominated Annelies recording conducted by Jordan has become one of the most performed works in the choral world, Praised by The New York Times for its “full-bodied, incisive singing,” the Westminster Choir also forms the core of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has performed and recorded with the leading conductors and orchestras of our time. Gramophone magazine has described Westminster Ensembles under Jordan’s direction as an ensemble of “intimate and forceful choral artistry,” with a tone that is “controlled and silken in sustained phrases as they are vibrantly sonorous in extroverted material.” The American Record Guide praised his ensembles as “without peer.” Under the direction of its current conductor, James Jordan, the choir continues its rich heritage of performing, touring, recording and most importantly musical leadership in choral music. 9

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Legacy

The Rich Educational Legacy of the 102 Years Of The Westminster Choirs For the VOICE is from the body and the spirit—and is a body and a spirit (p.81) Christopher Smart In Jubilate Agno

Begun ten years ago, first by The Westminster Williamson Voices and now continued by The Westminster Choir, the Choral Institute at Oxford continues to benefit from the artistry of these gifted singers. The common denominator between the two ensembles is conductor James Jordan, who with James Whitbourn created the CIO and its educational and musical program of study. The Westminster Williamson Voices and its hundreds of alumni are proud of its rich legacy in recordings, educational DVD’s and published materials. That legacy is continued with the recordings by The Same Stream (thesamestreamchoir.com). That choir is now composed of not only Williamson Voices alumni, but Westminster Choir alumni and present members! Their newest recording, A Time for Healing: The Music of Roger Ames, will be released in September. From its landmark recordings for choral musicians around the world in the Teaching Music through Performance series, to its Grammy-nominated, iconic recording of Annelies, to its championing of contemporary composers, to its newly commissioned works in the Evoking Sound Choral Series (which is now over 350 titles), the Williamson Voices has gained critical acclaim for their recordings and educational, groundbreaking pedagogy regarding the choral rehearsal. That lineage is now a part of The Westminster Choir and The Westminster Symphonic Choir. Westminster Choir, too, has an extended discography, starting with Walt Disney’s Fantasia, (yes, Westminster Choir was on both iterations of that classic film) to a now legendary recording of the Bach Motets by Wilhelm Ehmann (one of James Jordan’s mentors) through to the now legendary recordings by its conductor, Joseph Flummerfelt and more recently, recordings with Westminster Choir by Joe Miller. Through the recordings of these two renowned choirs, including a Grammy Nomination for Williamson Voices of James Whitbourn’s Annelies, the sounds of these acclaimed Westminster Choirs not only dominate the American Choral landscape but are a strong example of “the American choral sound.” The Naxos label recordings, Living Voices, Annelies and Carolae and the recordings on the GIAChoralworks distributed by Naxos, Hole in the Sky and Sunrise Mass were all produced by multi-Grammy-nominated producer James Whitbourn. The Teaching Music Through Performance In 10

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Legacy

Choir recordings and textbooks are available exclusively through giamusic.com. The choir also can be heard and seen on their Williamson Voices channel on YouTube.

In the 2020-2021 academic year, The Westminster Williamson Voices recorded two new works: To Know Your Love, by Thomas LaVoy, and Breathe Free, by Sarah Rimkus. 2020 also saw the release of the CD, A Scattered Light in Winter, featuring faculty members Jay Carter and Steve Pilkington. These works were composed for the ensemble and reflect the historic events and challenges of singing and rehearsing during the COVID-19 pandemic while Westminster Choir was placed on hiatus. Both works deal in very deeply human ways with life challenges. Both use physically distanced and virtual singing, as well as choral improvisation, which has been championed by the Williamson Voices for the past five years. In preparing these works, James Jordan and Williamson Voices developed new pedagogies for learning music virtually. A guided audio tour of the choir’s recent recordings, projects, and relationships with composers and conductors can be heard on the archives of Sounds Choral (wwfm.org), a nationally syndicated program on The Classical Network hosted by James Jordan.

The coming season (2022-2023) for the Westminster Choir will continue the legacy of select ensembles at Westminster with musical premieres, tours and residencies with America’s most renowned composers and conductors, some of whom will be part of next year’s CIO. While the role of resident choir at CIO has now been moved to the Westminster Choir, that unique binding and empathic spirit of what happens in this place remains the same. It is hoped that this place will become a realization of John Finley Williamson’s dream to have a “home” in Europe for The Westminster Choir. Westminster Choir College is now led by Associate Dean Jason Vodicka, an alumni CIO faculty member, and Dr. Kelly Bidle, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Rider University. Their energy to move this Institute and Westminster into its exciting new chapter will be felt in this place this year and for years to come. And so, CIO continues post-pandemic to serve as one of the finest choral laboratories in the world, and is the living reality of the dream of John Finley Williamson for Westminster Choir to have a European “home.” St. Stephen’s House has been a sacred musical haven for hundreds of Westminster Singers since that first Institute in 2012, but more importantly, CIO has served as the European place to merge the richness of Oxford and the richness of Westminster to deepen the artistic and human responsibilities of all the conductors and associates who study here. And, to remind us where this all started, is an iconic picture of Williamson Voices from the first CIO.

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2012 Westminster Williamson Voices: The Inaugural Year of CIO 12

Legacy

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Hamilton NZ, the Musical Director of Hamilton Civic Choir, and the conductor of Youth Orchestra Waikato. He has worked extensively as a guest conductor in New Zealand with organisations such as the New Zealand Secondary School’s Symphony Orchestra, Opera NZ, Naukau Symphony Orchestra, St Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra, Devonport Chamber Orchestra, Nay of Plenty Symphonia, and Trust Waikato Symphony Orchestra. Tim has been a member of Symphony Australia, conducting the city Symphony Orchestras of Melboune, Western Australian, Tasmania, Auckland, as well as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a member of the New Zealand National Youth Orchestra, the New Zealand Youth Choir and Voices New Zealand. Now based in Sussex, UK, Tim is the Music Director of the Esterhazy Chamber Choir, organist of a local parish church, and from September 2022, will become the Director of Music at Ardingly College.

A Legacy of the Teaching of Artistry

Since its inauguration, the Choral Institute at Oxford and the work of the Westminster Williamson Voices and Westminster Choir have impacted the lives and artistry of over one hundred conductors. The Westminster Choir and the faculty of the Choral Institute at Oxford welcome this year’s class of conductors into our unique family. This Institute, in countless ways, fulfills and continues the vision of outreach of Westminster Choir College’s founder, John Finley Williamson. Full Conductors ADAM BERGSTRESSER serves as Director of Music and Organist at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In addition to worship planning and other administrative duties, he leads adult, youth, and children’s vocal and handbell choirs, as well as ad hoc instrumental ensembles throughout the year. Adam is passionate about working with volunteers and collaborating with professional musicians to create a meaningful and uplifting worship experience for both participants and congregants.

CHARLOTTE BOTHA is an Assistant Professor of Music and the Director of Choral Activities at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, where conducts the College Choir and the Hamilton Voices choral theater ensemble. She teaches courses in Music Theory and Musicology. While at the University of North Texas, she served as conductor of the Women’s Chorus, assistant conductor of the University Singers, and assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony Chorus. Charlotte’s tenure as conductor of the Drakensberg Boys Choir solidified her passion for making music with and composing for young singers. She has performed and presented workshops around the globe, most notably as a member of the World Youth Choir alumni group TIME Ensemble. Her research interests include phonetics, choral text-painting and equitable practices for including the music of and by marginalized members of the music community in choral programs. Charlotte earned a DMA in Choral Conducting with Music Theory as related field at the University of North Texas. Her M.Mus. is from Nelson Mandela University and her B.Mus. is from the University of Pretoria. She feels particularly fortunate to imagine, create, and share music for a living, and is honoured to do what she loves at the Choral Institute at Oxford this year.

Outside of church, Adam teaches private lessons on organ and piano, and is taking violin lessons himself, studying with Eileen Telly. He is also a member of the Philadelphia Handbell Ensemble, an advanced-level bell choir in the PA-NJ area, and will be co-directing the group in the fall. Adam is a graduate of Westminster Choir College with a Bachelor Degree in Organ Performance and Sacred Music, where he studied organ with Alan Morrison and Daryl Robinson. TIMOTHY CARPENTER has studied conducting with Wyn Davies, Karyn Grylls, Uwe Grodd, Rupert D’Cruze, Christopher Seaman, Tecwyn Evans, and has gained his Masters of Music in Conducting with first-class Honours from the University of Auckland, NZ. He holds a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music in Cello with Distinction, a Bachelor of Music from the University of Waikato and an Honours degree in Performance Organ from the University of Auckland. For five years and until July 2021, Tim was the Director of Music at St Paul’s Collegiate School, 13

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KAITLYN DAVROS is the Director of Traditional Music and Worship in Charlotte, NC, where she leads a comprehensive music program for adults, youth, and children, three handbell choirs and a men's choir, while creating authentic and creative worship from the organ. She holds a BM in Organ Performance from Hope College and is currently working on her Masters of Sacred Music from Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Kaitlyn also holds the Director of Young Singers certificate after graduating from the Choristers Guild Institute. She has enjoyed traveling abroad to Amsterdam, London, and Paris to perform, research, and study church music. As a worship leader, Kaitlyn enjoys leading congregations in glorifying and worshiping God through song with the use of strong and varied repertoire as well as innovative hymn accompaniments. She is also passionate about children and youth music programs and engaging the larger community in events. Kaitlyn has served churches in eastern and western Michigan, Colorado, and North Carolina. Kaitlyn currently serves on the board of the Charlotte AGO and will be joining the Presbyterian Association of Musicians board this coming term.

alto’ at a graduate recital this past Spring at Westminster. As a student conductor, Devin has prepared and conducted many choirs in rehearsal and in concert such as the Princeton Girlchoir, the Young Singers of the Palm Beaches, the Palm Beach Honors Handbell Choir, as well as his previous middle and high school. A frequent adjudicator and clinician, Devin has aided various middle and high school choirs in Palm Beach County for their annual state choral assessments in Florida. Over the years, Devin has had the privilege of being conducted under, and working closely with the likes of Dr. James Jordan, Dr. Michael Barrett, Dr. Maria Guinand, David Stern, Dr. Rollo Dilworth, and Dr. Martha Shaw. A native of Modesto, California, MURRAY KIDD lives in Boston, Massachusetts. He holds several jobs as a choral educator, including Director of Choral Activities at Xaverian Brothers High School, Director of Music at Christ Congregational Church (UCC), Artistic Director of Polymnia Choral Society and the Jubilate Chorale. As a tenor soloist and chorister he had a long association with the Handel & Haydn Society of Boston and Boston Baroque which led him to record several albums and work with such conductors as Christopher Hogwood, Sir Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, Dame Jane Glover, John Finney, Robert Spano, Grant Llewellyn, Harry Bicket, Harry Christophers, Giselle Ben-Dor, and Martin Pearlman. Mr. Kidd has taken part in many of the world’s most prestigious music festivals including: BBC Proms, Casals (Puerto Rico), Tanglewood, Ravinia, Edinburgh, All-Beethoven Easter Festival (Poland), Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival. He studied conducting with William Dehning and Robert Halseth at University of the Pacific in California and completed his master’s degree at New England Conservatory in Boston. His mentors included Daniel Pinkham, Craig Smith, and Terry Decima. He led the choral department at University of Massachusetts at Lowell. While there, he prepared the University Choir in a collaboration with Keith Lockhart and the Boston

DEVIN EMBRICH is a rising Sophomore Music Education student from West Palm Beach, Florida, currently studying at Westminster Choir College. He studies as a Countertenor under Dr. Jay Carter. Over his years as a choral singer, Devin has taken part in many honor choirs ranging from district, state, regional, and national levels. Most notably, Devin was selected as a singer in the 2020 NAfME All-National Mixed Choir under the direction of Dr. Frances Fonza and the National Youth Honor Choir at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Dr. Rollo Dilworth in 2018. Most recently, Devin was accepted into the American Choral Directors Association(ACDA) National Student Leadership Academy in 2021. He is also the current President of the ACDA Chapter at Westminster Choir College. A frequent soloist, Devin most recently performed Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms as the ‘boy 14

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Pops for a Sony DVD recording of Handel’s Messiah Rocks! by Jason Howland. He is also conductor of large ensembles of Vermont Music and Arts Center. In 2009, Mr. Kidd founded the Boston Singers Relief Fund to help professional singers in New England.

Master and Vocal Coach of ACT-CT, Connecticut’s newest Equity theater. In addition, Daniela has worked with SPHERE, an organization that offers artistic opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities, as the Choir Director of Temple Shir Shalom, the Choir Master for the Ridgefield Opera and the Ridgefield Symphony, and as a music director for numerous musical and other theatrical events. In 2018, Daniela was honored with The Williamson Voices Window Tribute Award from the CIO. Because of her commitment to the arts in the community, Daniela has been honored with A Ridgefield Arts Council Behind the Scenes award, the Nancy Comstock Andrews Superlative Teaching/Mentoring Award, the Spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for her work in social activism and, most recently, Daniela received the 2021 State of Connecticut Arts Hero Award. In addition to her work as a conductor and artistic director, Daniela maintains a voice studio, is a vocal soloist and a respected concert producer, music arranger, composer and teacher.

MIGUEL ANDRES RUIZ is the Director of Parish Music at Messiah Lutheran Church in Keller, Texas, where he serves as organist and director of vocal and handbell ensembles. He also teaches at the congregation’s school, directing a graded Kindergarten through 8th choral program and teaching early childhood music in the pre-school. He studied music at San Diego Christian College and is wrapping up a Master of Music Education, choral emphasis, through Westminster Choir College this year. He is the proud father of four sons with his wife Ei, and expecting a daughter in November. DANIELA SIKORA was born in Mannheim, Germany and raised in Chicago. Her music education took her from the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Dusseldorf, Germany, to Northwestern University, where she majored in Voice. After graduation, Daniela studied Voice and Arts Management at Indiana University’s Graduate School of Music. Originally pursuing a career as a professional singer, Daniela began conducting in 1995 when asked to form and lead a music program at her church. She sought out professionals in the field to work with her on conducting skills, repertoire and practice, sat in on rehearsals when she could to observe as many conductors as possible and studied all she could about the craft. In addition to her work with individual conductors, including Dr. James Jordan, Daniela has attended programs at Eastman School of Music, Oberlin College and the CIO. This year marks Daniela’s 5th year with the Choral Institute. 1n 1998, Daniela took on the role of Conductor and Artistic Director of The Ridgefield Chorale in Connecticut, a post she still holds today. She also leads the Founders Hall Singers. Daniela has served as a Vocal Consultant for Thrown Stone theater company and as Chorus

FELICIA VILLA received her Bachelor of Music, graduating summa cum laude from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. Ms. Villa sang under the direction of Amanda Quist in the Chapel Choir, James Jordan in the Schola Cantorum Choir, and Joe Miller in the Symphonic Choir and Westminster Choir. Ms. Villa sang with Joe Miller in the American debut performance of The Path of Miracles at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Ms. Villa has toured across the United States and internationally with these choirs; traveling as far as Beijing, China. Ms. Villa had the opportunity to sing with the Hamilton Opera Choir under the direction of Sabatino Vacca performing selected opera works. Felicia Villa currently holds the position of Choral Director for the Point Pleasant Borough High School and Middle Schools. Ms. Villa was hired immediately after graduation to rebuild, expand and return the choral programs to the formal tradition of 15

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classical music. Ms. Villa is a vocal coach for the NJ All Shore Chorus and teaches piano privately. Summer of 2022 will find Ms. Villa furthering her education at the highly regarded Cambridge Choral Summer Course in Cambridge, England and with James Jordan and James Whitbourn at the Choral Institute at Oxford. Her upcoming performance with the Barcelona Choral International will be heard in Barcelona, Spain under the direction of Grant Gershon, music director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

currently serves as the Director of Upper School Music and Choirs at Trinity Academy in Raleigh, NC. JENNIFER MOORE has taught PreK-12 music in the northern Adirondacks of New York State for nearly 15 years. She holds a BFA in Piano Performance from Purchase College, a MM in Music Education from the Crane School of Music and is currently a DMA candidate in Music Education at Boston University. As a teacher, Jennifer is interested in seeking deep learning opportunities for both herself and her students through participation in a wide variety of authentic musical and cultural experiences. As a performer, she seeks to continually place herself in new musical environments, always seeking a deeper understanding of musical connections between people, places, and cultures. As a new scholar, Jennifer’s interests include rural music education, place-based education, community-school partnerships, and teacher identity. In addition to teaching and navigating her research interests, Jennifer serves as Music Director for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Essex, NY. She is an active member of the Piano by Nature Board of Directors coordinating a robust virtual and live concert series as well as educational outreach programming throughout the region. Jennifer is a member of the Depot Theatre’s Education Committee, a professional theatre organization dedicated to providing rich learning opportunities for all students both on and off stage. She has enjoyed decades of performance opportunities on stages large (Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, UNESCO, Chicago Cultural Center) and small (Middlebury Town Hall Theatre, Piano by Nature, Harborside Concert Series, and a host of public schools) as collaborative pianist, chorister, and conductor. This is her third summer session at the CIO.

Associate Conductors JULIE BILLHEIMER grew up in a family of music educators and performers. From an early age, music- making was an outlet of self-expression. Relationally, making music with others is where she has experienced some of the richest community life. Her undergraduate degree is in Music Education (Choral emphasis) from West Virginia University, where she received a full scholarship for piano, and minored in voice and pipe organ studies. While at WVU, Julie had a number of accompanying duties for the music department, and also accompanied the Pennsylvania Southeast district High School Honors Choir. She did graduate work at Liberty University in Music Education, but continues to pursue growth as a musician and music director. Early in her career, Julie taught K-12 classroom music. She then went on to open a private voice and piano studio, while also serving as a church musician. It was at this time that she began working as a musical director and accompanist for a local community theater. She would later add accompanying the Campbell Voices, a select group of singers drawn from the Campbell University Choir in Buies Creek, North Carolina. Julie has a passion for composing. Over the years, she has written music for new musicals as well as for school and church choirs. In the last six years, she has gone back to her first love of working with middle and high school choirs. Julie

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Past Participants at the Choral Institute at Oxford 2013

Full Conductors: Scott Bennett, Alexander Constantine, David Dehner, Lauren Derkin, Fiona Ellis, Beth Fubank, Janellen Farmer, Jacob Finkle, Phillip Ganir, Brian Krajcik, Bradley Krueger, Alexander Pryor, Nina Rodman, Louis Spinelli, Eleanor Wallace, Alan Wellman, Tucker Wheatley Associate Conductors: John Hudson, Thomas Kimball, Christopher Wheeler

2014

Full Conductors: Tim Baker, Scott Bennett, Jack Cleghorn, Alexander Constantine, Jacob Finkle, Peter Fischer, Amelia Garbisch, Molly Getsinger, Stephanie Gravelle, Rob Hobgood, Darren Hochstedler, Lucy Hole, Sarah Mae Lagasca, Mark Loria, Darren Magee, Nicholas Malinowski, Sandre Miller, Christopher Nakielski, Jessica Pierpont, Michael Shake, Vivian Suen, Shane Thomas, I-Hsing Tseng, Patrick Walker, Tyler Weakland, Michael Zubert Associate Conductors: George Grace, Garrett Khestinejad

2015

Full Conductors: Mary Buehler, Zachariah Carlson, Alexander Constantine, Lachlan Craig, William Estep, Robert Fogle, James Galdieri, Daniel Hall, Jon Hamey, Paula Kremer, Dominic Lam, Garah Landes, Ryan Manni, Susan Nace, Monique Orvoine, Irene Pointon, Levi Tarrant Pratt, Taya Rosenberg, Daniela Sikora, William Skaff, James Sullivan, Emily Sung, Patrick Walker, Alan Wellman, Cory Wikan Associate Conductors: Jeannine Ary

2016

Full Conductors: Maria Bravo, Alicia Prozovich, Dallis Byrne, Stephanie Chorba, Alexander Constantine, Kathleen Dunn, Luke Duroc-Danner, Rachel Giuseppetti, Nicole Hounjet, Jeremiah Kraniak, Théophile Krosi-Douté, Anna Kreuther, Justin Lewis, Joel Michalchuk, Sarah Rodeo, Taya Rosenberg, Daniela Sikora, Georgia Simmons, Frank Van Atta Associate Conductors: Jolene Hethcox, Lucy Hole, Victoria Peacock, Sarah Rose

2017

Full Conductors: Ellen Aroune, Jonathon Bligh, Alise Brown, James Burritt, Carey Cannon, Lane Cheney, Lachlan Craig, Aimee Deibert, Michael Diorio, Sue Ellen Echard, Dan Funsch, Paul Georgeson, Claire Hughes, James R. Jones, Steven Klimowski, Christine Micu, Jay Risser, Claudia Rodrigues, Kelsey Rose, Daniela Sikora, Elaine Sonnenberg, Jacob Truby Associate Conductors: Cassandra Fenton, Grace Francis, Jennifer Moore, Eliza Nicholson 17

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Full Conductors: Paul Abbott, Christin Barnhardt, Thomas Bowers, Emily Carter, Michaela Gleason, William Gotmer, Kristin Hingstman, Whitney Huang, Arthur Jack, Steven Johnson, James R. Jones, Sarah Mclean, Chiak Yin Ong, Lorenzo Quattropani, Elizabeth Reyna, Melissa Richardson, Meaghan Sheehan, Daniela Sikora, Zach Ullery, Christopher Walters, Benjamin Watson, Matthew Webb, Daniel Wells, Carol Zeven Associate Conductors: Dimitri Arnauts, Emily Batemen, Gerald Bodine, Daniel Chacón, Krystel Dib, Hayley Hoss, Daniel Lavin, Susanna Saw, Rosalyn Smith, Eliza Triolo, Nicholas Walters

2019

Full Conductors: Randolph Alexander, Dimitri Arnauts, Adam Bergstresser, Ekaterina Borissenko, Valerie Clayton, Ashley Dupont, Elizabeth Farr, Christopher Filice, McDowell Fogle, Simon Jackson, Elizabeth Kluegel Niblock, Robert E. Lamb, Kristina Lazdauskas, Wenhong Liu, Huili Luan, Kyoko Tagami Meredith, Jennifer Moore, Wilhelmina Nelmes Vogtle, Wenhui Yu, Carol Zeven, Yiran Zhao Associate Conductors: Krystel Dib, Margaret Folkemer, Myles K. Glancy, Jeremy Hoy, Bob Johnson, Abraham H. Leach, Barry Lyons, Casey Okabayashi, Elaine Zajano Observing Conductor: Sue Ellen Echard

2022

Full Conductors: Adam Bergstresser, Timothy Carpenter, Charlotte Botha, Kaitlyn Davros, Devin Embrich, Murray Kidd, Miguel Andres Ruiz, Daniela Sikora, Felicia Villa Associate Conductors: Julie Billheimer, Jennifer Moore

Hold Fast to Dreams

HOLD FAST TO DREAMS Westminster Choir James Jordan, conductor Gregory Stout, piano

Astronauts speak of the “overview effect” — what happens when you see planet earth from space. This wisdom didn’t come as a surprise. In 1948, English astronomer Fred Hoyle wrote, “Once a photograph of the Earth, taken from the outside, is available, a new idea as powerful as any in history will be let loose.” A new idea: something that trains our energy and attention on wonder not wounding; on awe, not war. -- Fred Hoyle British Astronomer 1948 For innumerable Angels fly out at every touch and his tune is a work of creation. For at that time malignity ceases and the devils themselves are at peace. For this time is perceptible to man by a remarkable stillness and serenity of soul. Section 245 Jubilate Agno Christopher Smart

Hold Fast to Dreams

Photo: NASA (Public Domain)

The musics of this concert are deeply connected to the image above. The centerpiece, the epic work by American composer Kile Smith - The Consolation of Apollo- focuses on the first time that man saw earth through his own eyes and not through a satellite image: Christmas Eve 1968. The work uses three text sources, interspersing the reality of the moment with third-century observations of life and existence: ⪼ ⪼ ⪼

Metres of Boethius, XXXI adapted By King Alfred the Great (849-899) From The Consolation of Philosophyby Boethius (480-524) The actual transcripts of the radio transmissions to Mission Control from Astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders

About this Program 20

Hold Fast to Dreams I have always believed that there should be a deep thread of human meaning that connects one piece to the other so that the listener leaves a concert with more life understandings than they arrived with. I have also felt that attaching a catchy title onto a collection of pieces where a forced connection is manufactured to create a program legitimacy is deeply dishonest both to the music and most importantly to the audience and the singers. Psychologists and the science of neurology now tells us that neurologically there is a difference between emotions and feelings. Emotions are akin to a “flash in the pan” quick, cheap effect that stir the neurons in us but disappear almost as quickly as they appear. Neurologists also tell us that the nerve pathway to the feeling part of our brains is much longer for feeling than a quick and somewhat fake emotive response. Translated. Feelings are our “deep dig;” feelings last as sounds remain with us far after they have been heard. Good programming, I have always believed, grows out of a series of thatched together feelings and not “kitschy” titles. I hope that everyone today will leave with gifts of feelings that each of you can then relate to your life and the ones you love, and perhaps, illuminate your life in new and, perhaps, ways you have forgotten. A warning to the listener! The musical language of Kile Smith is at once distinctly Kile, but Movement 6, is pure Charles Ives. The work is bitonal and at times tri-tonal that stands in the starkest of contrast so the rest of the work. That section, deeply discordant, is used to set the text of Genesis, which the astronauts read at the stroke of midnight as they saw the Earth for the first time. For me, the bi-and tri-tonality seems to paint a deeply moving statement that, perhaps, we as humans inhabiting this beautiful planet have not been faithful to its creation through wars, acts of inhumanity, polluting of the environment and our very ecosystem and yes, bringing us to the present day of the acts of inhumanity in Ukraine. Chord clusters are used to paint a respectful and deeply moving setting of the word “Jesus” that was the only word uttered when the capsule turned and the astronauts as humans saw our Earth home for the first time from space! For me, the work ends with an astounding Boethius text: “So thou hast looked upon false happiness first; now draw thy neck from under her yoke: so shall true happiness come into thy soul.” So, the message is not only of Kile Smith -- it is the “almost still” holiness of that image of the Earth from space and the human feelings it causes that threads its way through this program. This image and my thought process connect the program’s music as follows. Collegium Regale: Magnificat Herbert Howells The brilliance and clarity of that earth photograph is mirrored in the honest and stunningly beautiful harmonic beauty of Howells. The harmonized chant opening connects the work to all things Medieval, and ends with one of the most moving “doxologies” in all of music. A personal note. When I arrived on campus in 1991 (!) this was the first sound I ever heard - live by the Westminster Choir conducted by Joe Flummerfelt. I do not think I have ever been so deeply moved in a “feeling” as that Sunday afternoon in Bristol Chapel. So, I dedicate our performance to the memory of Joseph Flummerfelt and all that he has given to this place and all of us. O Sacrum Convivium Oliver Messiaen How does one capture the still and quiet beauty of the image of the earth perceived in the stillness of space. For me, there is only one piece in all the literature that can connect us into the 21

Hold Fast to Dreams beauty of a holy stillness. This virtuosic work by Messiaen captures the essences of a sacred holiness that is common to all faiths. O Schöne Nacht Johannes Brahms As children, how many times did we all gaze at the moon in the clear quiet beauty of the night and wonder about the moon and stars? Now, because of this Apollo 8 photo we can gaze on our iPhone at this still calm beautiful image of the earth. It seems ironic the melancholy Brahms was able to capture the human place from which we can perceive beauty not only in the night, but something more important. This piece is really, I believe, a chance for us to visit our own beauty and honesty through the musical lines of Brahms that will take us on this night “journey. Sure on This Shining Night Morten Lauridsen It is followed by the setting of the James Agee poem by my friend Morten Lauridsen. The connection backward to the Earth photo clearly places us in the seats of Apollo 8. The messages contained in the “shining nights” of our lives are brought to new levels of inwardness with this setting. Abide Dan Forrest Music and events that affect one deeply is sometimes the stuff that causes one to rethink old ideas and maybe cause one to arrive at another way to view a challenging issue, or even the essences of life itself. I am sure we would all admit that conducting on any level involves the deepest of human challenges. Part of conducting, I have always felt, is deeply rooted in an interior life that is contemplated and beautifully constructed. And, occasionally, one work appears that can provide deep meaning into the deeply human moving parts that make a conductor. And, every once in a while one encounters a work that deeply alters one’s view of the world and one’s place in it. Abide by Dan Forrest was just such a work. In the Fall of 2015, I was asked by Dan Forrest, to read and record a new work by him, entitled, simply, Abide. The poem he set was by Jake Adam York, who was taken from the world by a stroke in 2012. The poem captures a previously incomprehensible interpretation of the single word of “abide.” So often that word is chained with the words “abide with me.” But when viewed alone, the word abide alone encapsulates many lessons that, if contemplated and observed, can clarify the prismatic nature of what should be reflected by a conductor. Aside from Jake York’s crusade for social justice that runs throughout his poetry, there are such profound implications in his words, that can only be illuminated by a composer of the depth and honesty of a Dan Forrest. His music illuminated for both myself and my choir some compelling human issues. Each time we rehearsed, this work took us on an affirming human journey. And it is the stunning accompaniment that, in a very real way, provides the true meaning of what it means to “abide” in one’s life. And truth be told, Westminster Choir College has truly lived “abide” in its 96- year history. We sing this work as a kind of prayer for all of us, alumni and current students to both “abide” and believe in this place. Hold Fast To Dreams Roger Ames 22

Hold Fast to Dreams Finally we close with what amounts to a way forward for our beloved school in the poems by Jake Adam York and Langston Huges. Westminster has “Abided” for 96 years, and yes, we have always “Held Fast to Dreams.” We realize that Westminster is only a mere dot on the planet earth, but this place plays an important part in the beauty of THAT iconic picture of the Earth that is the visual inspiration for this program. -- James Jordan PROGRAM (Please hold your applause until the end of each Section of music included under each Roman Numeral) I Collegium Regale Magnificat

Herbert Howells (1892-1983) Peter Carter, organ Dedicated to the Memory of Joseph Flummerfelt

O sacrum convivium!

Oliver Messiaen (1908-1992)

Quartette für vier Solostimmen ` Nr 7. O schöne Nacht, Op 92, Nr.1

Johannes Brahms (1883-1897)

Text: G. F. Daumer PAUSE II The Consolation of Apollo

Kile Smith (b.1956) A Choral Opera 23

Hold Fast to Dreams Gregory Stout, crotales Eric Borghi, bass drum

1. Thou may’st know, if thou will notice Text: Metres of Boethius, XXXI adapted By King Alfred the Great (849-899) From The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius (480-524) 2. Yes, it’s beautiful Text: The crew of Apollo 8, December 24, 1968 The Astronauts: Frank Borman Kyle St. Sauveur Joseph Richwein James Lovell

Jordan Klotz Gregory Nappa Benjamin Kirk

William Anders Victoria Borelli Marion Jacob Alexandra Thomas

3. Wings are mine The Consolation of Philosophy, Book 4, Song 1, Boethius 4. The Sea of Tranquility 5. While the bright sun Text: Metres of Boethius, VI 6. In the beginning 7. The stars shine Consolation, Book 3, Song 1 INTERMISSION III

Hold Fast to Dreams Sure On This Shining Night

Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943) Test: James Agee Dedicated to Anne Sears III

Music for the Westminster Family Spectemur agendo Abide1

Dan Forrest (b. 1978) Text: Jake Adam York

Hold Fast To Dreams2

Roger Ames (1944-2022)

For Dean Kelly Bidle and Associate Dean Jason Vodicka Text: Langston Hughes Dedicated to the Memory of Roger Ames

1 2

Recorded by The Same Stream, James Jordan, conductor, on CD The Songs of The Questioner. Recorded by The Same Stream, James Jordan, conductor, on the CD: A Time for Healing: The Music of Roger Ames

Hold Fast to Dreams Text and Translations Magnificat My soul doth magnify the Lord: And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the lowliness of his hand-maiden. For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath magnified me: and holy is his Name. And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations. He hath shewn strength with his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meak. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away. He rememb’ring his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel: as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, forever. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. O Sacrum convivium O sacrum convivium, in quo Christus sumitur; recolitur memoria passionis ejus; mens impletur gratia; et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur. Alleluia!

O sacred banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. Alleluia!

O Schöne Nacht Text: G. F. Daumer

O schöne Nacht! Am Himmel märchenhaft

O lovely night! In the heavens, the moon gleams magically 26

Hold Fast to Dreams erglänzt der Mond in seiner ganzen Pracht; um ihn der kleinen Sterne liebliche Genossenschaft.

in all its splendour; about it, the sweet comradeship of tiny stars.

Es schimmert hell der Tau am grünen Halm; mit Macht im Fliederbusche schlägt die Nachtigall; Der Knabe schleicht zu seiner Liebsten sacht -

The dew glimmers brightly on the green blades of grass; with great power, the nightingale sings out in the elder-bush; the young man steals quietly to his sweetheart O lovely night!

O schöne Nacht!

The Consolation of Apollo 1: Thou may’st know, if thou wilt notice, From Metres of Boethius,XXXI Adapted by King Alfred the Great (849-899) From The Consolation of Philosophyby Boethius (480-524) And translated by Walter John Sedgefiled, 1900 Thou may’st know, That many creatures Fare over earth With gait and colour And aspects also Queer and common. With all their body No wings them help; Nor pace the earth, Some on two feet Some are four-footed; Wing ‘neath the clouds. Is drooping earthward, On the ground looking, Man only goeth With gait upright, This is a token His trust and his mind To the heavens above, Like beasts earthward. That the mind of a mortal While his face he holdeth

if thou wilt ntice, of various kinds with unlike motions, quite diverse, of endless kinds, Some creep and crawl, bound to the ground; on feet they walk not, as was them appointed. fare o’er the ground, some in flight Yet each creature stooping downward, longing for earth. of all God’s creatures gazing upwards. that he shall turn more up than down, lest he bend his thoughts It is not meet should remain below up to heaven.

Hold Fast to Dreams 2. Yes, it’s beautiful The crew of Apollo 8, December 24th, 1968 Borman: How’s that steam pressure, Bill? Anders: Good. Lovell: Frank. Anders: It isn’t even boiling yet. Yes, we just started. Borman: Here is comes! Anders: Okay. Borman: Oh boy! Lovell: Get a good shot of her? Borman: Yes, see it? Lovell: Well, keep the camera there. Keep the camera. Anders: Here it comes. Here it comes. But you’re not on yet. You got it…you got to do something. Pitch up or yaw. Borman: Yaw right? Anders: Yaw right. Lovell: Oh, Jesus. Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8. Anders: Roll her a little bit. Roll her a little bit to the…to the right. Lovell: Here, you want me to fly it just to come a… Anders: That one’s got it, the roll. Yes, yes. It’s the roll that’s got it. Roll right, if you can. Lovell: We’re rolling. Anders: Come on, gang. Lovell: We’re going to radial out. Are we…you got her coming up? You see her, Frank? Borman: Yes, it’s beautiful.

3. Wings are mine The Consolation of Philosophy, Book 4, Song 1. Boethius, trans. H. R. James, 1897 Wings are mine; above the pole Far aloft I soar. Clothed with these, my nimble soul Scorns earth’s hated shore, Cleaves the skies upon the wind, Sees the clouds left far behind. Soon the glowing point she nears, Where the heavens rotate, Follows through the starry spheres Phœbus’ course, or straight Takes for comrade ’mid the stars Saturn cold or glittering Mars; Thus each circling orb explores 28

Hold Fast to Dreams Through Night’s stole that peers; Then, when all are numbered, soars Far beyond the spheres, Mounting heaven’s supremest height To the very Fount of light. There the Sovereign of the world His calm sway maintains; As the globe is onward whirled Guides the chariot reins, And in splendour glittering Reigns the universal King. Hither if thy wandering feet Find at last a way, Here thy long-lost home thou’lt greet: ‘Dear lost land,’ thou’lt say, ‘Though from thee I’ve wandered wide, Hence I came, here will abide.’ Yet if ever thou art fain Visitant to be Of earth’s gloomy night again, Surely thou wilt see Tyrants whom the nations fear Dwell in hapless exile here.

4. The Sea of Tranquility Anders: Houston. Lovell: Houston. Go ahead, go ahead. Mattingly: Loud and clear and an initial look at your systems are good. Anders: Houston, Apollo 8. Over. Mattingly: We’ve got a picture, Apollo 8. Anders: Roger. We’ve got the T…Roger. We’ve got the TV… Lovell: Roll…roll left. Anders: Huh? Borman: Roll left a little, can you? Lovell: Yes. Borman: Did he say it was a good picture? Anders: How’s the picture look, Houston? Mattingly: Loud and clear. Anders: The TV look okay? Mattingly: That’s very good. Lovell: Welcome from the Moon, Houston. 29

Hold Fast to Dreams Borman: And the world. Mattingly: Thank you. Anders: Is this our landing site we’re going over now? Lovell: Yes, this is our landing site right down here. Anders: We’re now going over our… Lovell: Approaching our landing site. Anders: …approaching one of our future landing sites… Lovell: Right now. Anders: …selected in this smooth region to… Lovell: Called the Sea of Tranquility.

5. While the bright sun Metres of Boethius, VI While the bright sun Gleaming in heaven, Over the world For their light is nought, When set against When softly bloweth The wind ’neath heav’n, The flowers of the field, But the stiff storm-wind, From out of the north-east, The rose’s beauty! The spacious ocean Till strongly heaving Alas, that in the world Firm and lasting

most clear is beaming, gloom enwrappeth all other bodies; nothing at all, the sun’s great brightness. from south and west then soon wax fain to be able. when it strongly bloweth how soon it nippeth By the northern blast is helpless spurned it striketh the beach. nothing weareth long on this earth!

6. In the beginning Borman: Hey, why don’t we start reading that thing, and that would be a good place to end it. Lovell: No, we’ve got to go into it very nicely. Why don’t we…as we go into sunset… Anders: Right. Lovell: …or is it sunrise? This is sunrise, yes. We’re approaching lunar sunrise. Anders: We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you. In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 30

Hold Fast to Dreams And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And let it divide the waters from the waters.” And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, “Let the waters under the Heavens be gathered together into one place. And let the dry land appear.” And it was so. And God called the dry land Earth. And the gathering together of the waters called he seas. And God saw that it was good. And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you…all of you on the good Earth.

7. The stars shine Consolation, Book 3, Song 1, trans. W. V. Cooper, 1902 The stars shine with more pleasing grace when a storm has ceased to roar and pour down rain. After the morning star has dispersed the shades of night, the day in all its beauty drives its rosy chariot forth. So thou hast looked upon false happiness first; now draw thy neck from under her yoke: so shall true happiness come into thy soul. Amen.

Sure On This Shining Night Text: James Agee Sure on this shining night Of star made shadows round, Kindness must watch for me This side the ground. The late year lies down the north. All is healed, all is health. High summer holds the earth. Hearts all whole. Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder wand'ring far alone Of shadows on the stars. Abide Text: Jake Adam York Forgive me if I forget with the birdsong and the day’s last glow folding into the hands of the trees, forgive me the few 31

Hold Fast to Dreams syllables of the autumn crickets, the year’s last firefly winking like a penny in the shoulder’s weeds, if I forget the hour, if I forget the day as the evening star pours out its whiskey over the gravel and asphalt I’ve walked for years alone, if I startle when you put your hand in mine, if I wonder how long your light has taken to reach me here.

Hold Fast to Dreams: Text: Langston Hughes Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.

The Choral Institute Conductors’ Concert

The Choral Institute at Oxford Conductor’s Concert The Westminster Choir Gregory Stout, piano Wednesday, July 27 at 5:00pm St. Stephen’s House, Oxford Abide Text: Jake Adam York

Dan Forrest (b. 1978) Devin Embrich, conductor

O Sacrum Convivium! Timothy Carpenter, conductor Quartette für vier Solostimmen, Op. 92 I. O schöne Nacht Text: G. F. Daumer

Olivier Messian (1908-1922)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Murray Kidd, conductor Quatre motets pour un temps de Noël, FP 152 II. Quem vidistis pastores

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

Kaitlyn Davros, conductor Requiem, Op. 9 II. Kyrie Miguel Ruiz, conductor

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

The Consolation of Apollo I. Thou may’st know, if thou will notice Text: Metres of Boethius, XXXI,adapted by King Alfred the Great (849-899) From The Consolation of Philosophyby Boethius (480-524) Charlotte Botha, conductor

Kile Smith (b. 1956)

Abide

Dan Forrest 33

The Choral Institute Conductors’ Concert Text: Jake Adam York

(b. 1978) Felicia Villa, conductor

Quartette für vier Solostimmen, Op. 92 I. O schöne Nacht Text: G. F. Daumer

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Adam Bergstresser, conductor

Gloria, FP 89 II. Laudamus te

Daniela Sikora, conductor

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

The Choral Institute at Oxford Schola Gregory Stout, piano

Sure On This Shining Night Text: James Agee

Julie Billheimer, conductor

Jennifer Moore, conductor

Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943)

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

The Williamson Voices Window Tribute Award The Williamson Voices Window Tribute Award In 2013, after the first year of the Choral Institute at Oxford, the Westminster Williamson Voices donated a window to the cloister at St. Stephen’s House. The choir quickly felt a kindred spirit with their new summer home and wanted a way to make a permanent connection to the place and the space. Each year, events that are most personal to the life of this choir are held in front of this window in the cloister. For us, this window represents the collective experiences of the choirs that have come before, all the conductors who have grown and become part of this Williamson family, and most significantly, the enormous personal and spiritual grow we all experience by being in this place together. Beginning in 2016, replicas of this window were presented to those persons who have had a significant impact on the life of this choir and this Institute. It is the highest award of recognition and thanks that can be given from a deeply appreciative choir for extraordinary contributions by choir members and supporters of the program. This year, a second window will be donated to the cloister by The Westminster Choir, continuing this tradition.

Recipients Raoul Carlo Angangco Louise Beard Isabella Burns Karen and Peter Filice Lucy Hole Katie Houlahan Nicole Michel Steve Pilkington Levi Pratt Marci Risch

Anne Sears Brian V. Sengdala Matthew Shaftel Daniela Sikora Michele Smith Hunter Thomas Jason Vodicka James Whitbourn Teresa Zubert 35

____ GRAMMY-nominated conductor JAMES JORDAN is recognized and praised throughout the musical world as one of America’s preeminent conductors, writers and innovators in choral music. He was described as a “visionary” by The Choral Journal, which cited his book Evoking Sound as a “must read.” His more than 40 books explore both the philosophical and spiritual basis of musicianship, as well as aspects of choral rehearsal teaching and learning. His book Evoking Sound has been praised by the Choral Journal as a “must read.” At Westminster Choir College he is Professor and Senior Conductor, and conducts the Westminster Schola Cantorum and the internationally acclaimed and Grammy-nominated Westminster Williamson Voices. He is also director of the Westminster Conducting Institute and co-director of the Choral Institute at Oxford now in its Sixth year (rider.edu/Oxford) He is also Conductor and Artistic Director of The Same Stream Choir (thesamestreamchoir.com) Dr. Jordan can also be heard on WWFM.org, the Classical Network, co-hosting Sounds Choral. His recordings with the Westminster Williamson Voices have garnered wide critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Choir and Organ wrote about their Grammy-nominated recording Annelies, “Jordan’s instinctive understanding of the score makes this a profound and emotionally charged experience.” 2017-2018 marks the release of four new recordings with him as conductor: Silence into Light (Westminster Williamson Voices); Abide, (The Same Stream Choir) and featuring the music of Thomas LaVoy, Dan Forrest, Peter Relph and Paul Mealor; Stabat Mater: The Music of Paul Mealor(The Same Stream Choir) and Sunrise Mass: Music of Ola Gjeilo(Westminster Williamson Voices). All are or will be available through iTunes and Amazon. James Jordan’s research beginning in 1980 regarding applications of Laban to rhythm pedagogy and conducting are pioneering. His landmark Ph.D on the application of Laban to the teaching of movement/rhythm is the core of this volume and that research has influenced the teaching of rhythm to children through adults. His landmark book applying Laban pedagogy to conducting, The Conductor’s Gesture (GIA) has transformed conducting pedagogy. Dr. Jordan studied at the Laban Institute of Movement Studies in New York City. James Jordan was also a

About the Faculty

student of Sarah Chapman at Temple University who guided his research in Modern educational Dance. Gail Poch, who initially made connections into conducting pedagogy, was Dr. Jordan’s mentor throughout his doctoral studies. Dr. Jordan completed his studies in psychology and the History of Psychology at Bucknell under David Milne. James Jordan was awarded the prestigious Russell Conwell Fellowship at Temple University to fund his research and study regarding Rudolf Laban. Dr. Jordan served on the faculty of The School of the Hartford Ballet, the only Ballet School in America that used Laban as the core of its curriculum for dance and movement instruction. As the Chair for Music Education at the Hartt School of Music, he was a prime architect in collaboration with Enid Lynn of the Hartford Ballet of the BFA programs in Dance and Dance Education instituted at the Hartt School. Under the inspiring direction of Edwin Gordon, the applications of Laban into Music Learning Theory were the result of their collaborative thinking on the subject and are documented in the text, Inside the Choral Rehearsal (GIA). Central to Dr. Jordan’s application of Laban to rhythm/movement pedagogy are the interrelationships of neurology and harmonic rhythm as they affect rhythm perception and performance. Dr. Jordan’s career and publications have been devoted to innovative educational changes in the choral art, which have been embraced around the world. This year, he will publish three new books : The Musician’s Being (published on the Twentieth anniversary of the publication of The Musician’s Soul), The Choral Ensemble Movement Warm-Up and the groundbreaking book, Chant as Improvisation. In the coming year, Four new Cd’s will drop: Sunrise Mass (Ola Gjielo), and Aurora (with the Westminster Williamson Voices and Serenity: The Music of Paul Mealor and To Hold the Light, both recorded with The Same Stream Choir (thesamestreamchoir.com) His residencies, master classes and guest conducting have taken him throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and China. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2015, conducting the New York premiere of Paul Mealor’s Stabat Mater. He is also the conductor/artistic director of the professional choir, The Same Stream, a community of singers with a shared Westminster experience. Learn more at Thesamestreamchoir.com. In 2015, Dr. Jordan 36

____ conducted the world premiere of Paul Mealor’s First Symphony: Passiontide in Scotland. The teaching and learning pedagogies that James Jordan has developed throughout his life through his 55 books, focusing on applications of Music Learning Theory developed by Edwin Gordon applied to choral music, new innovations in conducting pedagogy and voice science applied to the choral rehearsal, are used around the western world. Recently, Dr. Jordan has begun, through groundbreaking seminars and online instruction, to advance music education in mainland China through partnerships with WeMusic ( we-music.com), the Chinese Happiness Foundation and the philanthropy of Chinese pop artist Jason Zhang. His passion is to spread, with the help of Zhang and the Happiness Foundation and WeMusic his life’s work concerning modern music education based upon Music Learning Theory and share it live and via online courses delivered directly to music teachers in under-privileged areas of China, bringing music to millions of Chinese children. The teaching and learning pedagogies that James Jordan has developed throughout his life through his 55 books, focusing on applications of Music Learning Theory developed by Edwin Gordon applied to choral music, new innovations in conducting pedagogy and voice science applied to the choral rehearsal, are used around the western world. Recently, Dr. Jordan has begun, through groundbreaking seminars and online instruction, to advance music education in mainland China through partnerships with WeMusic ( we-music.com), The Chinese Happiness Foundation and the philanthropy of Chinese pop artist Jason Zhang. His passion is to spread, with the help of Zhang and the Happiness Foundation, his life’s work concerning modern music education based upon Music Learning Theory and share it live and via online courses delivered directly to music teachers in the under-privileged areas of China, bringing music to millions of Chinese children. James Jordan has been honored as a distinguished alumnus of Temple University, where he has been inducted into the University’s Hall of Fame. In 2016, he received the distinguished alumni medal from Susquehanna University. He was awarded the distinguished Doctor of Music by the University of

About the Faculty

Aberdeen in Scotland in 2014 to honor his artistry and contributions to choral music throughout the world. The University, established in 1485, has awarded degrees throughout its history to only two Americans: Dr. Jordan and Morten Lauridsen. He shares this honor with Gustav Holst, Benjamin Britten and Dame Joan Sutherland. JAMES WHITBOURN is an internationally-renowned composer recognised by The Observer as “a truly original communicator in modern British choral music”. A graduate of Magdalen College, University of Oxford, his career in music began in the BBC, for whom he has worked as composer, conductor, producer and presenter. His compositional output is admired for its direct connection with performers and audiences worldwide and for its ability to “expand the experience of classical music beyond the edges of the traditional map of classical styles” (Tom Manoff, NPR). His largest composition is the concert-length choral work Annelies, the first major choral setting of The Diary of Anne Frank. Other notable works include Luminosity, written for Westminster Choir College and the Archedream dance ensemble, the Son of God Massfor saxophone, choir and organ and The Seven Heavens for choir and orchestra - a portrayal of the life of C. S. Lewis in the imagery of the medieval planets. His varied output includes several works written with and for his friend the late Robert Tear and works commissioned for the enthronement of the Bishop of Salisbury, an Easter Day Festival at King's College Cambridge and the 1400th anniversary of Rochester Cathedral. He has also collaborated with former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, Michael Symmons Roberts and Desmond Tutu. His choral works have been performed in many prestigious venues, and have been presented on acclaimed recordings, including four complete discs of his choral music. Of the latest of these – Annelies (Naxos) – Gramophone writes “the greatest accomplishment here is that James Whitbourn has written some music of great beauty”, Choir and Organ adding, “Whitbourn’s devastatingly beautiful and restrained treatment of the subject matter makes it all the more poignant”. His first Naxos Disc Luminosity reached No. 3 on Classical Billboard and of the "stunning music" heard on Living 37

____ Voices, Choral Journal promised that listeners "will be transformed by the sheer beauty of the sonic experience". The greater part of his compositional output is in vocal and choral music, but his range of style incorporates the lush symphonic scoring heard in his early BBC landmark series Son of God(whose seminal themes form his best-known work, Son of God Mass, for choir, saxophone and organ) and the inventive orchestral textures of Annelies. His orchestral commissions include the award-winning work Pika, based on the bombing of Hiroshima, one of three large-scale compositions for symphony orchestra written with the poet Michael Symmons Roberts and performed by the BBC Philharmonic, who have also recorded many of his television scores. Annelies, a concert-length work for soprano soloist, choir and ensemble, exists in two scorings, the larger of which - for symphony orchestra - was premiered by Leonard Slatkin at London's Cadogan Hall in 2005. The work went on to receive its US premiere in 2007 and was premiered in a new chamber version by violinist Daniel Hope and American soprano Arianna Zukerman at The Hague, Netherlands, on Anne Frank's 80th birthday in 2009. Its libretto is drawn from the Diary of Anne Frank, crafted into a new translation by Melanie Challenger. His choral works have been performed on every inhabited continent of the world, especially in North America and mainland Europe. He enjoys a close relationship with Westminster Choir College, Princeton, who have performed several concerts of his music and where he has served as Composer-in-residence. He also has a special relationship with the Choir of King's College Cambridge with whom he has worked for more than twenty years and for whom he composed the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis collegium regale premiered in Easter Day 2005. Whitbourn has been commissioned to compose the music to mark several national and international events, including the BBC’s title music for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and music for the national commemoration of 9/11 at Westminster Abbey - subsequently performed in New York on the first anniversary of the attacks. He also composed music for the BBC Events' coverage of the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day,

About the Faculty

Many of his choral works have been recorded by the Choir of Clare College Cambridge with saxophonist John Harle and tenor Robert Tear under Timothy Brown (Et Cetera KTC 1248), Commotio, with violist Levine Andrade and tenor Christopher Gillett conducted by Matthew Berry (Naxos 8.572103) and the Westminster Williamson Voices conducted by James Jordan (Naxos 8.572737, Naxos 8.573070, Naxos 8.573715), with saxophonist Jeremy Powell, organists Ken Coan and Daryl Robinson, soprano Arianna Zukerman and The Lincoln Trio. The Williamson Voices' Naxos recording of Annelies under James Jordan was nominated for a GRAMMY award under the Best Choral Performance category in 2014. He is popular on both sides of the Atlantic as choral advisor and also enjoys a profile as a conductor and producer, with three GRAMMY nominations to his name among many other international awards and nominations. He is a regular participant in choral preparation workshops and has worked with students at Princeton University, Rider University, Oxford University, Cambridge University and other educational and choral establishments. As well conducting the BBC Philharmonic, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and other leading orchestras, he directs the London-based vocal ensemble The Choir, whose acclaimed DVD recording of John Tavener’s choral music received a Gramophone nomination. James Whitbourn is Fellow and Director of Music at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, Senior Research Fellow at St. Stephen’s House, Oxford and a member of the Faculty of Music in the University of Oxford. STEVE PILKINGTON is an outstanding educator and producer of sacred music in the American Protestant tradition. An associate professor at Westminster Choir College, Dr. Pilkington has taught every aspect of the church music curriculum for twenty-five years. His teaching is known for its breadth, depth and creative attention to the complexities of making sacred music in postmodern times. His lecturing has taken him from Korea to Oxford University where he lectures annually for Westminster’s Choral Institute. As an active church musician, he has been Director of Music and Organist at Christ Church, United Methodist at 60th and Park 38

____

About the Faculty

in the heart of New York City for over two decades. During his tenure, he has built a fully-graded choral and handbell program crowned by an exceptional mixed choir of volunteers and professionals singing a rich variety of sacred literature ranging from gospel to chant and contemporary commissions to hundreds of works from the classical canon. Many of his organ scholars have gone on to leading positions in some of America’s finest churches including Harvard Memorial Chapel and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian in New York City. Additionally, Dr. Pilkington is a published author and composer of organ and choral music including an arrangement of I Wonder As I Wander, a piece performed around the world hundreds of times.

conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and the National Association for Music Education, at the International Conference on the Concepts and Practices of Choral Singing, and for school districts across the northeastern United States. Dr. Vodicka has contributed to the books Planning Instruction in Music by Frank Abrahams and Ryan John, the Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy (as co-author with Simon Carrington), and James Jordan’s Inside the Choral Rehearsal: A Harmonically Based Application of the Music Learning Theory of Edwin Gordon. He is the chief author of three teaching guides that incorporate Group Vocal Technique, Music Learning Theory, and Critical Pedagogy, available from GIA Publishing.

JASON VODICKA is Assistant Professor of Music Education at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. There he teaches courses in music education, mentors student teachers, and teaches summer courses in conducting and choral pedagogy for in-service teachers and musicians. Prior to his appointment at Westminster, Dr. Vodicka was Coordinator of Music Education at Susquehanna University where he taught undergraduate courses in music education, conducted the University Chorale, and founded the Susquehanna University Choral Institute. During this time he was also music director of the Harrisburg Choral Society and Orchestra. For nine years, Dr. Vodicka was a vocal music instructor at Pennsbury High School in Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania. During his tenure, the Pennsbury choirs performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, toured internationally on four occasions, and were invited to sing at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Annual Conference and the American Choral Directors Association Eastern Division Conference in Philadelphia. Dr. Vodicka holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in music education from Westminster Choir College and a doctorate in conducting from the University of Georgia. He is a 2017 inductee into the Westminster Music Education Hall of Fame. He is in frequent demand as a clinician and guest conductor. He has presented interest and research sessions at state, regional, and national

MAKOTO FUJIMURA is a leading contemporary artist whose process driven, refractive “slow art” has been described by David Brooks of New York Times as “a small rebellion against the quickening of time”. Robert Kushner, in the mid 90’s, written on Fujimura’s art in Art in America this way: “The idea of forging a new kind of art, about hope, healing, redemption, refuge, while maintaining visual sophistication and intellectual integrity is a growing movement, one which finds Makoto Fujimura’s work at the vanguard.” Fujimura graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bucknell University, then studied in a traditional Japanese painting doctorate program for several years at Tokyo University of the Arts with several notable artists such as Takashi Murakami and Hiroshi Senju. His bicultural arts education led his style towards a fusion between fine art and abstract expressionism, together with the traditional Japanese art of Nihonga and Kacho-ga (bird-and-flower painting tradition). Fujimura’s art has been featured widely in galleries and museums around the world, and is collected by notable collections including The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, The Huntington Library as well as Tikotin Museum in Israel. His art is represented by Artrue International in Asia and has been exhibited at various venues including Dillon Gallery, Waterfall Mansion, Morpeth Contemporary, Sato Museum in Tokyo, Tokyo University of Fine Arts Museum, Bentley Gallery in Phoenix, Gallery Exit and Oxford House at Taikoo Place in Hong 39

____ Kong, Vienna’s Belvedere Museum, Shusaku Endo Museum in Nagasaki and Jundt Museum at Gonzaga University. He is one of the first artists to paint live on stage at New York City’s legendary Carnegie Hall as part of an ongoing collaboration with composer and percussionist, Susie Ibarra. Their collaborative album "Walking on Water" is released by Innova Records.

About the Faculty

Bucknell University honored him with the Outstanding Alumni Award in 2012. Fujimura is a recipient of four Doctor of Arts Honorary Degrees; from Belhaven University in 2011, Biola University in 2012, Cairn University in 2014 and Roanoke College, in February 2015. His Commencement addresses has received notable attention, being selected by NPR as one of the 200 “Best Commencement Addresses Ever” and CNN as one of the top 16 "The greatest commencement speeches of all time". His 2019 Commencement Address at Judson University, was called “Kintsugi Generation”, laying out his cultural vision for the next generation.

As well as being a leading contemporary painter, Fujimura is also an arts advocate, writer, and speaker who is recognized worldwide as a cultural influencer. A Presidential appointee to the National Council on the Arts from 2003-2009, Fujimura served as an international advocate for the arts, speaking with decision makers and advising governmental policies on the arts. His book “Refractions” (NavPress) and “Culture Care” (IVPress) reflects many of his thesis on arts advocacy written during that time. His books have won numerous awards His books have won numerous awards including the Aldersgate Prize for “Silence and Beauty” (IVPress). In 2014, the American Academy of Religion named Fujimura as its 2014 “Religion and the Arts” award recipient. This award is presented annually to professional artists who have made significant contributions to the relationship of art and religion, both for the academy and a broader public. Previous recipients of the award include Meredith Monk, Holland Cotter, Gary Snyder, Betye & Alison Saar and Bill Viola. Fujimura's highly anticipated book "Art+Faith: A Theology of Making" (Yale Press, with foreword by N.T. Wright, 2021) has been described by poet Christian Wiman as "a real tonic for our atomized time".

Fujimura also co-founded Academy Kintsugi with Kunio Nakamura, a Kintsugi master, and his wife, Haejin Shim Fujimura, an international attorney and CEO of Embers International, serves as the President of Academy Kintsugi. DEMI BRIZEE attained a degree in Medicine from the Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. She completed medical rotations with special interest in Neurosurgery, Neurology, and Psychiatry, and worked afterwards as a Junior Clinician at the Neurology department. In addition, she attained an M.Res in Neuroscience (Hons) from the Erasmus University Rotterdam. She completed her Master’s in the lab of Professor Steven Kushner focussing on the myelination of GABAergic interneurons and its dynamics in both human and rodent neocortex. Her studies combined in vivo manipulation of neuronal activity, advanced confocal and super-resolution microscopy, and 3D single-cell reconstruction techniques. Demi joined the Dupret group as a BBSRC-funded D.Phil student. She will study hippocampal network dynamics in memory-guided behaviour using multichannel extracellular recording techniques, projection-specific optogenetic manipulations and behavioural assessment. Ultimately, Demi aspires to bridge the gap between (neuro)science, technology, and medicine.

Fujimura founded the International Arts Movement in 1992, now IAMCultureCare, which oversees Fujimura Institute. In 2011 the Fujimura Institute was established and launched the Four Qu4rtets, a collaboration between Fujimura, painter Bruce Herman, Duke theologian/pianist Jeremy Begbie, and Yale composer Christopher Theofanidis, based on T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets. The exhibition has travelled to Baylor, Duke, and Yale Universities, Cambridge University, Hiroshima City University and other institutions around the globe.

____ NATALIE DOIG After receiving a B.Sc. (Hons) in Neuroscience from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, Natalie joined the MRC Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit in 2008 to carry out a D.Phil. with Professor J. Paul Bolam. Natalie's thesis work focused on defining the cortical and thalamic inputs to striatal projection neurons and interneurons using anatomical and electrophysiological techniques. Natalie then gained funding to carry out a postdoctoral research project in the lab of Professor Pablo Henny at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, in Santiago, Chile. This research involved examining anatomical and electrophysiological properties of neurons in motor and non-motor related regions of the brainstem. Natalie then returned to Oxford in September 2014 to work with Professor Peter Magill to define the molecular and structural properties of distinct cell types in the basal ganglia and their partner brain circuits. Natalie is also a member of St. Peter's College, Oxford, where she teaches medical students.

About the Faculty

investigate the circuit-level mechanisms of memory-guided behaviour. COREY EVERLY is a coach, conductor, and voice teacher specializing in musical theatre styles and technique. He is currently finishing his DMA in Choral Conducting at Northwestern University where he studied with Donald Nally. He has a Master's degree from Westminster Choir College in Piano Accompanying and Coaching under J.J. Penna and a Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance. He has previously been accompanist for the GRAMMYnominated Westminster Williamson Voices and Westminster Schola Cantorum). He has conducted over 30 musical theatre/opera productions spanning a wide range of styles and most recently served as music theatre voice faculty and coach to the classical division at Rowan University. As a voice teacher, his students have been sung across the country by students in various regional theaters and national tours. He is currently on the voice faculty at Boston Conservatory and serves as a choral director at Newton Country Day School.

DAVID DUPRET completed his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Institute François Magendie (INSERM, University of Bordeaux, France) for which he received the French Neuroscience Association's 2007 Ph.D. Year Prize. David has also held an 'Agrégation ès' Biological and Earth Sciences (Ministry of Education, France) since 2000. He joined the group of Prof. Jozsef Csicsvari at the MRC Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit in September 2007 as a Visiting fellow, successively funded by the 'Institute of France' (Foundation Louis D. Research Fellowship 2007) and the International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO Research Fellowship 2008). In 2009, David was appointed as a MRC post-doctoral scientist, and joined St Edmund Hall College as a Fellow in Neuroscience. David was then appointed to a MRC Programme Leader Track scientist position in 2011, and promoted to tenured MRC Programme Leader in 2014. In 2016, David was named a Scholar of the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence and, in 2018, received the Boehringer Ingelheim-FENS 2018 Research Award for his work on dynamics of neuronal assemblies in memory processes. He was awarded the title of Professor of Neuroscience by the University of Oxford in 2020. The general aim of David's research programme is to

As a chorister, Corey has sung with leading conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Simon Rattle, Daniele Gatti, and Gustavo Dudamel. Highlights include Verdi Requiem and Mahler Symphony No. 2 with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Carnegie Hall and performances with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra also at Carnegie Hall. One of his favorite projects to date includes performances of the Bernstein Mass with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Corey is also active as a guest clinician and conductor bringing socially conscious new works to the forefront of music education. Most recently he served as conductor for the PMEA District 6 Chorus resulting in a film version of david lang’s “statement to the court.” EDWARD HIGGINBOTTOM’s early years were marked by distinction as a keyboard player. He gained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists before leaving school, winning the Harding and Read prizes for the most outstanding candidate of the year. A long association with Corpus Christi College Cambridge followed, beginning with an organ 41

____ scholarship (winning the John Stewart of Rannoch university prize in Sacred Music), continuing with graduate work and a doctoral thesis on French baroque music, and ending with a research fellowship (1973-76). While at Cambridge, he gained recognition at home and abroad as director of the Cambridge University Purcell Society, one of the very first English early music groups to perform regularly in France. Graduate work in Paris from 1970 to 1972 deepened his contacts abroad as he studied organ with Marie-Claire Alain while writing his doctoral thesis. His love of French culture has borne fruit in editions of François Couperin’s chamber music, many recording projects featuring French music, and frequent invitations for New College Choir to sing in Europe and further afield. He is sought after as president of international music competitions, and as a consultant. The French Ministry of Culture has rewarded him with the honour ‘Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ for his role in the revival of choir schools in France and support of French cultural activities. Edward Higginbottom was appointed Director of Music at New College in 1976 at the unusually young age of 29 and served there for more than thirty-five years. He also publishes within the areas of his expertise, recently contributing chapters to the Cambridge Companion to the Organ, and entries on French music to The New Grove Dictionary of Music. He brought to the work of New College Choir an extensive knowledge of choral repertory and performance styles. Under his direction, the Choir achieved international recognition and brought choral music of high quality to an increasingly wide-ranging public through more than 70 recordings and many concerts in this country and abroad. The Choir became renowned for its interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque music, and latterly for its choral compilation recordings encompassing music from folk-song to Tavener and Pärt. Indeed, one of Edward Higginbottom’s objectives has been for the Choir to sing a particularly wide range of music, in the conviction that music-making is revitalised by the challenges of an eclectic repertory. He will conduct the choir of St Peter’s College, Oxford forn the academic year 2019-2020.

About the Faculty

MARTIN HOLMES is the Alfred Brendel Curator of Music at the Bodleian Libraries, with responsibility both for the main Music research collections at the Weston Library and the Music Faculty Library. He read Music at Oxford and, after postgraduate studies at University College London, he has spent virtually his whole career at the Bodleian, moving between the Music, Rare Books and Technical Services departments before taking over from Peter Ward Jones as Music Curator in 2009. At the Bodleian he has curated exhibitions on several musical subjects, including Haydn, Sterndale Bennett, Butterworth and, most recently, in conjunction with Professor Robert Quinney, a Proscholium display to mark the Parry centenary in 2018. Born and brought up in the cathedral city of Worcester, Martin plays the organ and has sung in choirs for much of his life. For many years, he was Organist and Choirmaster at St Margaret’s Church in North Oxford, where he now fulfills the role of Associate Organist. For several years, he was Editor of Brio, the journal of the UK & Ireland branch of IAML, and is currently on the board of DIAMM and a Trustee of RISM UK. Amongst other things, he has published articles on the English composers George Butterworth and Ernest Bristow Farrar, and the eighteenth-century Worcester bookseller, Samuel Gamidge. He is also a father of three, a cat-lover and a keen cook. Experienced as a conductor of choral and orchestral repertoire, JAMES MORLEY POTTER holds regular positions including Director of Wokingham Choral Society, Jubilate Chamber Choir, the Cathedral Singers of Christ Church, Oxford, and St Mary's Church, Battersea. Highlights of the current season have included full-scale performances of Dvorak Stabat mater, Mozart Requiem, and Bernstein Chichester Psalms. An advocate of new music, he was the conductor of the recent world premiere performance of Nick Bicat Akathistos in St Stephen Walbrook, London, with Cantata Dramatica, with whom he has also conducted premiere recordings of music by Solfa Carlile. A prize-winning recipient of the Choral Directing Diploma of the Royal College of Organists, 42

____ he teaches conducting at Hertford College, Oxford, and has given workshops for the Oxford University Continuing Education Department. An enthusiastic musical communicator, he is frequently commissioned to write programme notes and essays for leading ensembles including The Tallis Scholars, The Eric Whitacre Singers, and others. James read Music at The Queen's College, University of Oxford, and subsequently sang professionally for the Choirs of Magdalen College and Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. He is the newly-appointed Director of Music at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

About the Faculty

conductor, workshop leader, organist and accompanist across London and the south-east, and is a founder member of the Voices of London Festival, a week-long festival of choral music held at St James' Sussex Gardens. In 2018 she won the Members’ Award from Action for Children’s Arts in recognition of her outreach work with young people. In 2019 she took up the post of Director of Frideswide Voices, the girls' choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and she has recently been appointed to the addition post of Director of Music at Worcester College, Oxford. GREGORY STOUT has been a collaborative pianist with conductor James Jordan since 2017. He is active as a solo vocal and choral accompanist. He serves as accompanist to The Same Stream, Westminster Schola Cantorum, Westminster Williamson Voices and Westminster Symphonic Choir. He also serves as accompanist to the choral ensembles of Ramapo College of New Jersey. Mr. Stout can be heard on the Westminster Williamson Voices recording A Scattered Light in Winter as well as on The Same Stream’s A Time for Healing: The Music of Roger Ames. He completed the Bachelor of Music in Music Education (choral emphasis) at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, studying piano with Dr. George Kiorpes. He completed further studies at Westminster Choir College in piano accompanying and vocal coaching as a student of Dr. James Goldsworthy and Dr. J.J. Penna. As an active church musician, he serves as director of music at Flemington United Methodist Church in Flemington, N.J.

HELEN SMEE is a freelance conductor, workshop leader, pianist and organist and works regularly with a broad range of choirs across the UK. Helen completed her MA at the Royal Academy of Music in Choral Conducting, studying with Patrick Russill. During her time at RAM she participated in masterclasses with groups including the BBC Singers, London Oratory Choir and Royal Academy of Music Chamber Choir, and co-founded the Voices of London Festival with a group of fellow young conductors from the course. Having graduated in July 2013 with the Alan Kirby Prize, she held the Junior Fellowship of the Joyful Company of Singers until 2014, conducting the group in venues across London including St John's Smith Square. In November 2016, she was awarded the Licentiate of the Royal Academy (LRAM), specialising in teaching choral conducting. Helen grew up in East London, starting piano lessons aged five. Soon after she joined her first choir, and later won a music scholarship at Francis Holland School, Clarence Gate where she began accompanying and conducting and in her final year, organ lessons. Helen went on to study Music at Cambridge, winning an Organ Scholarship to Peterhouse where she conducted and accompanied the chapel choir in the College chapel, in numerous British cathedrals and on tour. Helen has held positions with Highbury Youth Choir, Buckland and Betchworth Choral Society, and Highbury Opera Theatre. She is an Assistant Conductor with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and is Organist and Director of Music at St Mary Merton, SW19 where she trains the choir of boy and girl choristers. Helen is active as a freelance

FIONA SUTTLE is responsible for managing the online presence of Oxford Sparks, and also provides support to the MPLS communications team. Oxford Sparks is the University’s digital science engagement platform, which shares and promotes the cutting-edge research taking place within MPLS and across the wider University. In addition to the 'Big Questions' podcast, Oxford Sparks produces live-action videos if you are interested in getting involved, please don't hesitate to send Fiona an email. Prior to this role, Fiona carried out a DPhil in the University’s Department of Zoology, examining the 43

____ impacts of anthropogenic stressors (such as climate change and the krill fishery) on populations of penguins in the Southern Ocean region. As part of this research, she was heavily involved with the Penguin Watch citizen science project, and is a keen advocate for the use of citizen science as a public engagement tool.

About the Faculty

conductor, harpsichordist and organist. Mark is the Principal Guest Conductor of the City of London Choir, the Artistic Director of the International William Byrd Festival which takes place in Portland, Oregon each summer, and a trustee of a number of musical and educational charities. Mark continues to enjoy freelance work as a recitalist, conductor and continuo player and one of his more unusual sidelines has been as music consultant to the TV crime drama, Endeavour.

The Reverend Canon ROBIN WARD (born 1966) is Principal of St Stephen's House, Oxford. Canon Ward was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (BA 1987, MA 1991) and St Stephen's House, Oxford. He later obtained a PhD from King's College London (2003) on submission of a thesis entitled "The Schism at Antioch in the Fourth Century".

Mark Williams’ principal role at Magdalen is to train and direct the Choir, which sings seven services per week during University Term in the College Chapel, in addition to various concerts, tours, recordings and broadcasts throughout the year. The Choir enjoys a prominent reputation nationally and internationally and is perhaps best known for its early morning singing from the College tower as part of the annual May Day celebrations in Oxford. The choristers are educated at Magdalen College School and the Academical Clerks (choral scholars) are students, reading various subjects, at the College. As a Tutorial Fellow in Music, Mark’s responsibilities include the teaching of Techniques of Composition and various performance-related papers at undergraduate level, and he plays an active role in the Faculty of Music, where he is involved in the teaching and examining of a number of courses. Mark Williams also has overall responsibility for all music-making in College and seeks to encourage students of all interests and abilities to play a part in College music during their time at Magdalen. Mark Williams appears on over 30 discs as conductor, organist, pianist and harpsichordist with groups including the Cambridge Singers, the Sixteen, Arcangelo, the King’s Consort, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Canon Ward was ordained deacon in 1991 and priest in 1992. He served as Assistant Curate of Romford St Andrew 1991-94 and of Willesden Green St Andrew and St Francis of Assisi 1994-96. He was Vicar of Sevenoaks St John the Baptist from 1996 until 2006 and Chaplain of Invicta Community Care NHS Trust from 1997 until 2006. He was also Honorary Canon Theologian of Rochester Cathedral from 2005 until 2006. On 1 September 2006 he became Principal of St Stephen's House, Oxford. Canon Ward represented the Diocese of Rochester in the General Synod of the Church of England. He was a member of the Revision Committee on Ordination Services and a representative of the Catholic Group. He is a member of the Society of the Holy Cross. Canon Ward is married to Ruth Ward, a solicitor, and they have two children. MARK WILLIAMS came to Magdalen College in January 2017, having spent seven years as Director of Music, Fellow and College Lecturer at Jesus College, Cambridge. He was educated in his hometown of Bolton before taking up the Organ Scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he also held an academic scholarship. Mark Williams’ first post was as Assistant Organist at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and, over the years, he has performed with a number of major orchestras, choirs and ensembles as 44

Acknowledgements

Gratitude To this Year's CIO Conductors and Associates: Your participation has re-started this incredible tradition. Westminster Choir College and the Westminster Choir are forever in your debt. You are now in this Westminster family. For several of you, this is a repeat “visit” to this place to explore further and deepen a bit more. Westminster Choir and Westminster Choir College are in your gratitude. To the Artists of Westminster Choir: Your willingness to take this " ride" as we began this program again is deeply appreciated. Your patience and commitment is an example and inspiration for all of us. You are extraordinary people…. John Finley Williamson founded our school with the primary objective that everyone who passes through this place serves. You have lived this dream of his by the simple fact of committing yourselves to being here and serving our 2022 class of conductors. And let it not be lost on any of us that we needed this time together. Professor Tom Shelton Professor Steven Pilkington Friends and Family of Dominic C. Gregorio Louise Beard The Diana Crane Study Abroad Scholarship GIA Publications, Alec Harris, President The Gregorian Chant Fund, for their support of this Institute. Makoto Fujimura For making time to be with us and for your inspirational writing, speaking, your art and your spirit. Which you share so freely with the World. Canon Robin Ward DonnaJean Fredeen, Provost and Vice President, Rider University Westminster Choir College and these incredible students can never thank you enough for believing in this program. Kelly Bidle, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Rider University Jason Vodicka, Associate Dean, Westminster Choir College Thank You for accepting the challenge of Leading our School into the Future. We could not be in better hands. Kim Algeo, Director of International Studies, Rider University Alison Parker, Bursar, St Stephen's House The Varsity Shop, Oxford 45

Acknowledgements

The Staff at St. Stephen's House And St. Stephen’s House This, for us, is a sacred place and has been for ten years. Every student and conductor who has been here has been changed because of the beauty of this place for thought, study and music-making. This is truly Westminster in Oxford. James Whitbourn The deepest and most sincere thanks for all you have done to get this year’s CIO to happen and be a reality. You have been the best of friends to Westminster Choir College, to Williamson Voices and now, The Westminster Choir. You have shared not only your music and your gifts, but your unflagging commitment to our Westminster mission in ways that have created opportunities for music-making that have changed all our lives. In the history of Westminster, few persons have supported this place and its students and faculty as have you. You are the recipient of all our deepest thanks. And To Westminster Choir Oxford Graduate Assistants Marion Jacob ‘22 Samuel Stephenson ’23 None of this would be possible without your care for every detail and leading Westminster Choir through the myriad of details to get this CIO to be a reality. All of us are in your debt.Both of you are gifts to us all.

____________________Timetable

The Choral Institute at Oxford, July 2022

Articles inside

The Williamson Voices Window Tribute Award

About the Conductors

About the Westminster Choir

About the Faculty

Dominic C. Gregorio Choral Institute at Oxford Fellowships