Solid Rock
Westminster Jubilee Singers
Chaequan C. Anderson ‘15, conductor
Akiko Hosaki, accompanist
Gospel Band
Silky M. Carter ‘12, soprano
George Johnson III ’19, tenor
Lucas Heredia, graduate assistant conductor
Daniel J. Piver, graduate assistant conductor
Saturday, November 8, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Gill Memorial Chapel
Rider University
2083 Lawrenceville Road
Lawrenceville, N.J.
Please note the unauthorized use of any recording device, either audio or video is prohibited by law. Out of courtesy to the performers and everyone in the audience, please refrain from using cell phones and electronic devices.
Rider University gratefully acknowledges the generous support of: Michael T. '89 and Susana Santaguida '89 Gummel for their support of our Rider Friend of the Arts patron program.
Conductor’s Note
It has been a profound privilege to return home to Westminster Choir College and to step in for my dear friend, Prof. Vinroy Brown. Making music alongside the exceptional students of the Westminster Jubilee Singers has been both an honor and a joy. Their artistry, commitment, and spirit truly embody the legacy of this institution and the transformative power of choral music.
At its heart, Solid Rock is a celebration of resilience, hope, and faith the kind that holds firm even when the world feels unsteady. Each piece in tonight’s program invites us to consider what anchors us: the steadfastness of grace, the comfort of community, and the sustaining power of song.
I hope that as you listen, you feel the same strength, peace, and unity that this music has brought to us in preparing it. May tonight’s program uplift your spirit and reaffirm the truth that we all stand, together, on solid rock.
Chaequan Anderson, conductor
Program
Upon This Rock
Blessed Assurance arr. Debra L. Perry
St. Francis' Prayer Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)
Faithful Over a Few Things Glenn E. Burleigh (1949-2007)
Ave Maria R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943)
Casey E. Decker, soprano
The Ground Beneath Our Praise
I Opened My Mouth to The Lord Lela M. Anderson (1935-2024)
Julia N. Gerst, soprano; Daniel J. Piver, tenor; Casey E. Decker, soprano; Try. Y Quain, soprano
Sanctus Carlos Simon (b.1986)
Center of My Joy Richard Smallwood (b.1948)
Genesys Perez-Berrios, soprano
I Shall Wear a Crown arr. Brandon Waddles ’16 (b. 1988)
Silky Carter, soprano
Solid Rock Joe Pace (1935-2024)
Try Y. Quain, soprano
The Joy That Lifts Us
Mass: A Celebration of Love & Joy Andre J. Thomas (b.1952)
Westminster Gospel Band
Silky Carter, soprano
George Johnson III, tenor
Total Praise Traditional Gospel
Richard Smallwood (b. 1948)
Program Notes, Text & Translations
Blessed Assurance
Text: Hymn by Fanny J. Crosby, 1873
Deborah Perry’s arrangement of Blessed Assurance offers a vibrant and contemporary reimagining of one of the most cherished hymns in Christian tradition. Originally penned by hymn writer Fanny J. Crosby with music by Phoebe P. Knapp, the text proclaims an unshakable confidence in salvation and divine grace “This is my story, this is my song.” Perry’s setting honors the hymn’s enduring melodic and theological foundations while infusing it with gospel harmonies and textures. The result is a work that celebrates faith as both personal testimony and communal joy, bridging the traditional hymn with the modern gospel worship.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.
Prayer of St. Francis
Text: La Clochette, 1912
Margaret Bonds’s Prayer of St. Francis reflects her deep engagement with both sacred text and the expressive traditions of African American art music. Setting the timeless invocation “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace,” Bonds unites classical lyricism with spiritual sensitivity, crafting a musical meditation on compassion, humility, and service. Characteristic of her compositional voice, the work blends rich harmonic color, flowing melodic lines, and a profound sense of emotional sincerity.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we gain eternal life.
Faithful Over a Few Things
Text: Matthew 25:21 and Revelation 2:10
Glenn E. Burleigh’s Faithful Over a Few Things stands as one of the composer’s most beloved choral works, drawing from the parable in Matthew 25:21. Through elegant melodic writing and expressive gospel harmonies, Burleigh crafts a message of reward, service, and divine affirmation “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
You must be faithful over a few things
To be ruler over many things
Be thou faithful, unto death, And god will give you the crown of life.
If you have a song to sing, faithful sing that song
If you have some love to show, show it the whole day long. If you have a kind word to say, faithfully say it each and every day
If you have a prayer to prayer, pray on in Jesus’ name.
Be ye steadfast, immoveable, wlays abounding, in the work of God. Know that your labor is not in vain, you shall receive a just reward. Well done, good, and faithful servant.
Ave Maria
Text: Luke 1:28,1:42
R. Nathaniel Dett’s Ave Maria beautifully embodies his vision of uniting Western classical tradition with the spiritual depth of African American sacred expression. Through lush harmonies and lyrical melodic lines, Dett transforms the traditional Marian text into a meditation of serenity and faith. Written during a period when Dett sought to affirm the artistic and spiritual value of Black music within concert settings, this work stands as a testament to his belief in music’s power to bridge cultures and reveal the universal dimensions of devotion.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum; benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
I Opened My Mouth to The Lord Text: Ezekiel I Opened My Mouth to the Lord is a powerful arrangement of a traditional African American spiritual that speaks to steadfast faith and divine calling. With expressive choral writing and a deeply rooted sense of rhythm and phrasing, Anderson transforms this simple yet profound declaration of commitment into a work of communal affirmation. Her setting honors the spiritual’s oral tradition while imbuing it with harmonic richness and structural clarity, bridging folk expression and concert artistry.
I opened my mouth to the Lord, and I wont turn back. No, I won’t turn back. I will go; I Shall Go to se what the end will be.
Sometimes I feel discouraged, and think my work’s in vain, But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again. I would not be a sinner; I’ll tell you the reason why. For if my Lord Would call me home You know I would not be ready to die.
Sanctus
Text: Traditional Latin Mass
Carlos Simon’s Sanctus fuses elements of traditional sacred form with the harmonic color and rhythmic nuance characteristic of African American musical idioms. Through his unique blend of classical craft and gospel-inflected intensity, Simon invites listeners into a sound world where sacred ritual meets contemporary resonance an affirmation of divine holiness that feels both ancient and alive.
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth: pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts: Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosana in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of Lord. Hosana in the highest.
Solid Rock Joe Pace (1935-2024)
Joe Pace’s The Solid Rock reimagines the 19th-century hymn “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” through the lens of contemporary gospel expression. The piece celebrates the unwavering foundation of spiritual conviction “on Christ, the solid
rock I stand” while embodying the joy, hope, and communal strength that anchor this program’s theme of faith, unity, and joy.
Mass: A Celebration of Love & Joy
Andre J. Thomas (b.1952)
André J. Thomas’s Gospel Mass (2018) represents a landmark fusion of the traditional Mass text with the musical language of contemporary gospel; Thomas reimagines the liturgical form as a vehicle for spiritual celebration and communal expression. Each movement Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei honors the reverence of the Mass while infusing it with the improvisatory spirit and emotive depth of gospel performance practice. The work embodies faith expressed through joy and cultural identity, affirming that sacred music can be both deeply rooted in tradition and vibrantly alive in modern worship.
About the Artists
WESTMINSTER JUBILEE SINGERS
Now in its thirtieth year, the Westminster Jubilee Singers is an ensemble modeled after the historically acclaimed Fisk Jubilee Singers. Its repertoire, while highly specialized, is remarkably diverse, showcasing both solo and ensemble artistry from its members. Housed in the Department of Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College, the ensemble performs works that include African-American spirituals and folk songs, classical music by Black diasporic composers, and a wide range of non-idiomatic repertoire. As the anchor of the university-wide Celebration of Black Music, the Jubilee Singers embody a living archive, presenting historically rooted works annually while advancing the ongoing study and performance of this specialized tradition.
Past seasons have featured performances of William Grant Still’s And They Lynched Him on a Tree, Adolphus Hailstork’s Shout for Joy and I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts, R. Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses, and José Maurício Nunes Garcia’s Requiem in d. The ensemble has appeared at the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) in Kansas City and its Regional Conference in Baltimore; the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Eastern Regional Convention in Boston; and New York’s Apollo Theater, in collaboration with Denyce Graves, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Children’s Defense Fund. Other highlights include a joint concert, Living the Dream, with Penn State University’s Essence of Joy ensemble in tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the ensemble’s Lincoln Center debut in An Evening of Choral Artistry presented by ACDA; a Carnegie Hall appearance with the New York Pops Orchestra under Skitch Henderson in a concert version of Porgy and Bess; and joint concerts at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center with the Fisk University Jubilee Singers and the legendary Sweet Honey in the Rock.
The 2025–2026 season will include performances in Lawrenceville and Princeton, a special concert celebrating the ensemble’s 30th anniversary, and a presentation of Margaret Bonds’s Credo. Now in his ninth year, Westminster Choir College and Jubilee Singers alumnus Vinroy D. Brown, Jr. serves as the ensemble’s fifth conductor. Alumnus Chaequan Anderson is guest conducting the choir during the Fall 2025 semester.
Chaequan Anderson, conductor
Akiko Hosaki, accompanist
Lucas Heredia and Daniel J. Piver, graduate assistant conductor
SOPRANO
Kamanay Belcher, Easton, PA
Elizabeth Berger, Hereford, MD
Casey E. Decker, Edison, NJ
Sarah Febonio, Flemington, NJ
Julia N. Gerst, West Milford, NJ
Samantha Murphy, Washington Township, NJ
Genesys Perez-Berrios, Lansdale, PA
Try Y. Quain, Jersey City, NJ
Elena C. Trapasso, West Milford, NJ
ALTO
Chloe A. Davis, Lawrence, NJ
Alyssa M. Lester, Monroe Township, NJ
Anna Maher, Ipswich MA
Crystal Saar, Bayville, NJ
Shaye Walker, Old Bridge, NJ
TENOR
Carlo Stephen Ciliberti III, Lumberton, NJ
Daniel J. Piver, East Hampton, NY
BASS
Jeremy Burt, Winfield, NJ
Lucas Heredia, East Brunswick, NJ
Malik M. Jardine, Queens, NY
Lloyd P. Silikovitz, Randolph, NJ
Joseph Smith, Browns Mills, NJ
Emmanuel Acosta '15
Byron De Leon
Diego Dominguez '25
Jonathan Hartwell '19
Michael McCormick '18
Taria Mitchell '17
CHAEQUAN ANDERSON
Chaequan Anderson is an active choral conductor and music educator based in Central and Northern New Jersey. He has extensive experience directing school, community, youth, children’s, collegiate, and professional choirs. As a teacher and conductor, Chaequan has held positions with Princeton Girlchoir, Princeton Boychoir, Trenton Children’s Chorus, and Westminster Conservatory, and has served as a guest conductor and clinician with ensembles across through the US including; Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.
A passionate music educator at heart, Chaequan currently serves as Director of Middle School Choirs at Montclair Kimberley Academy and Associate Director of the Westrick
Music Academy, where he conducts Cantores of the Princeton Girlchoir and Cantus/Cantus Chamber Singers of the Princeton Boychoir. He is also the Founder and Artistic Director of the Glassbrook Vocal Ensemble. In the fall semester of 2025, he will serve as Adjunct Assistant Professor and Interim Conductor of the Westminster Jubilee Singers at Westminster Choir College.
He holds a BA in Music, and Kodaly Levels I & II, from Westminster Choir College and a MM in Choral Conducting from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. While at Rutgers, he served as Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Rutgers University Glee Club and Kirkpatrick Choir. His professional memberships include the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Educators, Organization of American Kodály Educators, National Association of Negro Musicians, and New Jersey Music Educators Association.
AKIKO HOSAKI
Native of Osaka, Japan, pianist Dr. Akiko Hosaki is acclaimed for her sensitive playing, and one of the most sought-after collaborative pianists and vocal coaches in the New York – New Jersey area. She is currently an adjunct assistant professor and the pianist coordinator of the University Accompanist Program at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, and on the faculty of The College of New Jersey and Bard Conservatory Graduate Vocal Arts program.
Brought to the US by Dalton Baldwin, legendary collaborative pianist, at Académie internationale d'été de Nice, France, since 2013 until his passing in 2019, and was at Mozarteum Sommerakademie in 2017 and 2018. She was invited to give a master class in Hong Kong in 2016 and 2017. In 2024, she held a masterclass on Japanese Art Song and a concert in NYC as a part of “Summer of Art Song Festival 2024” hosted by Art Song Preservation Society of New York.
Dr. Hosaki has collaborated with regional opera companies such as the Princeton Festival Opera, the New Jersey State Opera, Opera North, and the Castleton Festival. In 2006 and 2007, she served as assistant conductor for Opera New Jersey, and was the music director for Romeo and Juliet with the Delaware Valley Opera Company in 2009, for which a review said, “She conjured up out of the piano nearly all the colors of Gounod’s orchestral score yet never overwhelmed her singers.” In her busy schedule, she still frequently works with Boheme Opera NJ and Opera Magnifico.
As accomplished accompanist/basso continuo player, Dr. Hosaki also enjoys working with conductors and instrumentalists, and frequently performs in chamber music concerts and the keyboard/basso continuo in orchestras. She was seen on the tours with the American Boychoir in the mid-west and southern states in the United States and Taiwan. In the instrumental world, she has performed at the World Saxophone Congress XIII, Tubonium2 and 3. She currently works with Jubilee Singers at Westminster with the conductor Vinroy D. Brown, Jr.
Dr. Hosaki holds degrees from Musashino Academia Musicae in Japan, Westminster Choir College, and University of Minnesota.
SILKY M. CARTER
Known for her “soaring high notes,” soprano, Silky Marsharika Carter is versed in a range of repertoire that includes music from Bach, to Händel, to Gershwin and others. Ms. Carter is a graduate of Westminster Choir College, where she holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education, under the tutelage of Laura Brooks Rice and Margaret
Cusack. She is currently a student at Teacher’s College of Columbia University. As a young artist, Silky attended the Florence Voice Seminar with Benita Valente, Sally Wolf and Martha Collins.
Lauded for her versatility of sound and performance, Ms. Carter has earned several awards to her name. Among her notable honors include the Classical Vocal Arts competition, (2nd Place- formerly the Leontyne Price Scholarship Awards) and the James T. Townsend Voice Competition (2nd Place). As a concert soloist, she was the soprano soloist in Ralph Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Clara in a concert version of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, soprano soloist in Händel’s Messiah, Glenn Burleigh’s Let God Arise and other classical and contemporary works.
Recent opera credits include Ms. Lyons with Trilogy: An Opera Company in Richard Thompson's The Mask in The Mirror and the world premiere of David Lang’s The Mile Long-Long Opera: a biography of 7 o’clock with The Mile Long Opera. As a chorister, some of her musical experiences include performing with The New York Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra, and Korean Symphony Orchestra while she was a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir. Ms. Carter enjoys singing in community and semi-professional groups throughout the Eastern Region.Silky is a dedicated fulltime music educator in Irvington, New Jersey where she enjoys sharing the gift of music with elementary-aged students.
GEORGE JOHNSON III
George Johnson, III, tenor, has been said to command the attention of audiences with his natural lyrical expressiveness and talent for bringing words to life on stage. He has performed with the Festival of Italian Opera as Don Pelagio in La Canterina by Haydn, as Lucano in L’incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi, with Spoleto Festival USA as Omar (Cover) in Omar by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, with Trilogy an Opera Company as Andy in Treemonisha by Joplin. Oratorio and Concert credits include works such as Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s The Passion, Vaughn-Williams’ Serenade to Music, R. Nathaniel Dett’s Chariot Jubilee, Tod Machover’s Philadelphia Voices, and Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert. George is an alumnus of Hampton University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education (May 2012). He is a graduate of Westminster Choir College, where he earned his Master of Music degree (May 2019) and studied in the voice studio of Dr. Christopher Arneson.
GOSPEL BAND
Raushan Thompson, piano
Michael Price, saxophone
Daniel Ware, drums
Nimrod Speaks, bass
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Senior Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Jason Vodicka Chair, Department of Performance Studies Margaret Cusack
Director of Choir Studies
Director of Performance Management
Donald Nally
Kristen Rodgers
Associate Director of Performance Management Leandra Acosta
Performing Arts Coordinator Zach Kent
About Rider University & Westminster Choir College
Located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Rider University is a private co-educational, student-centered university that emphasizes purposeful connections between academic study and real-world learning experience. Rider prepares graduates to thrive professionally, to be lifelong independent learners, and to be responsible citizens who embrace diversity, support the common good, and contribute meaningfully to the changing world in which they live and work.
The College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to educating students for engaged citizenship, career success, and personal growth in a diverse and complex world. The college cultivates intellectual reflection, artistic creativity, and academic maturity by promoting both broad academic inquiry and in-depth disciplinary study, while nurturing effective and ethical applications of transferable critical skills. The College consists of four schools: the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Communication, Media, and Performing Arts, the School of Science, Technology, and Mathematics, and Westminster Choir College.
Culturally vibrant and historically rich, Westminster Choir College has a legacy of preparing students for thriving careers as well-rounded performers and musical leaders on concert stages, in schools, universities, and churches, and in professional and community organizations worldwide. Renowned for its tradition of choral excellence, the college is home to internationally recognized ensembles, including the Westminster Symphonic Choir, which has performed and recorded with virtually all of the major orchestras and conductors of our time. In addition to its choral legacy, Westminster is known as a center for excellence in musical pedagogy and performance.
Upcoming Performances
WESTMINSTER FACULTY RECITAL SERIES: SONGS OF FEMALE COMPOSERS
Friday, November 14, 7 p.m.
Gill Chapel
FALL OPERA: EL GATO CON BOTAS
Friday, November 14, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 15, 2 p.m.
Yvonne Theater
RIDER UNIVERSITY CHORALE: BEGINNING
Saturday, November 15, 7:30 p.m.
Gill Chapel
WESTMINSTER CONCERT BELL CHOIR: WINTER CONCERT
Saturday, November 22, 4 p.m.
Gill Chapel
Sunday, November 23, 4 p.m.
Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville 2688 Lawrenceville Rd, Lawrence Township, NJ 08648
Saturday, December 6, 7:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Freehold 118 W Main St, Freehold, NJ 07728
AN EVENING OF READINGS AND CAROLS
Friday December 12, 8 p.m.
Saturday, December 13, 8 p.m.
Princeton University Chapel
