Beginning
Rider University Chorale
Tyrone Clinton, Jr., conductor
Mary Elizabeth Latorre, accompanist
Daniel J. Piver, percussionist
Daniel J. Piver, graduate assistant conductor
Sarah Vawdrey, graduate assistant conductor
Saturday, November 15, 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 and Kasey & Billy Ziff for their support of our Rider Friend of the Arts patron program.
Program
Music of Life B.E Boykin (b. 1989)
I Love All Graceful Things
Eric H. Thiman (1900-1975)
Alivia Nawrocki, soprano
Seasons Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)
Sure on This Shining Night
Ariel Roycroft, soprano
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Five Sea Songs Daniel Brinsmead (b. 1988)
Never One Thing
May Erlewine (b. 1983)
Arr. Corie Brown (b. 1986)
Program Notes, Text & Translations
Music of Life
Using the poetry of George Parsons Lathrop, Boykin illustrates the importance of music with sensitivity, vibrant energy and strong lyricism.
Music is in all growing things; And underneath the silky wings Of smallest insects there is stirred A pulse of air that must be heard. Earth's silence lives, and throbs, and sings. If poet from the vibrant strings Of his poor heart a measure flings, Laugh not, that he no trumpet blows: It may be that Heaven hears and knows His language of low listenings.
I Love All Graceful Things
The poetry of I Love All Graceful Things describes and celebrates the beauty of the world around us, serving as a reminder to be thankful for the peaceful movements in nature: bending grass, swaying leaves, and seamlessly moving clouds. Though they may be quiet or calm, these moments can likewise impact us and be worthy of such love; a great reminder in our busy lives.
I love all things that move with grace, The shiv'ring of the aspen trees, The bending grass before the wind, The leaves that sway in summer's breeze. The swan that glides upon the lake, The ripple of the flowing stream. The circle of the swallow's flight,
The clouds that almost moveless seem. The rise and fall of silv'ry waves, The flutt'ring wings of butterflies
The curving scythe among the corn. The setting sun, when daylight dies. The autumn dance of wither'd leaves, The snowflakes steady, gentle fall, The gleaming slant of April rain, I love them all, I love them all, I love them all.
Seasons
The composer writes:
Seasons is a new two-part version of the original SSA work, with lyrics written by Charles Anthony Silvestri. I was searching for a text that was timeless and could be performed any time of year, and Tony then created this beautiful poem about the unfoldment of each of the four seasons.
Bright the sun in bluest shining; Summer spreads in valleys greenly.
Lovers sing their new-found pining; Time itself slows down to greet me.
Autumn air comes crisp and blowing
Leaves from green to golden turning; Hearts all full, and eyes all glowing
Gather round the hearth-fire burning.
Night grows longer, darkness deeper, Cold winds howl when comes the Winter; White of snow by moonlight tempered, Bearing hope for Spring to enter.
Flowers bloom with showers falling, All the world reveals its yearning; Nature sings–I hear her calling: Round and round the seasons turning.
Sure on This Shining Night
The music of Samuel Barber's Sure on This Shining Night reflects a deep appreciation for the natural world by capturing its soft and quiet beauty in the stillness of a peaceful night. This piece and its words encourage us to find comfort in the simple yet bright moments that the earth can offer, and that even in darkness, there will always be a light.
Sure on this shining night
Of starmade 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 Wandering far alone Of shadows on the stars.
Five Sea Songs
The composer writes:
In Five Sea Songs, five special texts have been brought together to initiate a musical voyage of discovery, fun and introspection. John Masefield’s wind-swept poem, Sea Fever, seemed the ideal opener closely followed by the poignant Sailing Tonight. The rousing sea-shanty Little Fishes, Don't Cry! is then contrasted with Shakespeare’s eerie and mystical Full Fathom Five from The Tempest. Finally, I WIsh You a Kinder Sea, is a translation taken from an epigram attributed to Plato. My sincere thanks to poet Michael R. Burch for his kind permission to use his translation. Five Sea Songs may be performed as a song cycle or as standalone songs. I hope choirs and audiences enjoy the music that seeks to conjure the sea, that vast, fathomless, unpredictable and terrific force encompassing much of our planet.
1. Sea Fever (p. 3)
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking. I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown *[foam], and the sea-gulls crying. Down, down to the sea.
*changed from “spume” in original poem
-Adapted from Sea Fever by John Masefield (1902)
2. Sailing Tonight (p. 13)
There’s a ship on the sea. It is sailing to-night, sailing to-night; And father’s aboard, and the moon is all bright, shining and bright. Dear Moon, he’ll be sailing for many a night, Sailing from mother and me; Oh, follow the ship with your silvery light, As father sails over the sea!
- Anonymous
3. Little Fishes, Don’t Cry! (p. 17)
There’s a song I sing to the one I love best, As I journey ‘cross the ocean, sailing ever west, Now the ship’s under way and the weather is fine, Climb the rigging, trim the sails, as we’re cutting through the brine. Hey, ho, little fishes, don’t cry!
There are fish in the sea, I’ve no doubt about that, Yes, I’ve heard it from the captain and her ginger cat, Little fish when he’s caught struggles like a bull whale, Ever thrashing in the water with his mighty tail. There’s a wind on our tail and a storm ahead! Sailors, batten down the hatches, ev’ry hand on deck! She’s a mighty swell, in a violent squall, If we want to tell the tale, better heave and haul! Look far below where sirens call, Cold waters deep, where none must go. The crew are asleep and the ocean’s at rest, And I’m singing this song to the one I love best.
- Anonymous with additional lyrics by Daniel Brinsmead
4. Full Fathom Five (p. 29)
Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them, ding-dong, bell.
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
5. I Wish You a Kinder Sea (p. 35)
I wish you a kinder sea.
- Sourced from an epigram attributed to Plato; trans. Michael R. Burch
Full epigram:
Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be, But go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea.
Never One Thing
Originally performed by American singer-songwriter May Erlewine, this folk-like choral arrangement motivates and empowers those who experience the weight of otherness and encourages stepping into the process of healing and rebuilding.
I'm the underbelly, I am the claw
Never one thing no, not one thing at all I'm a street fighter, I'm a prayer for peace I'm a holy roller, I'm a honey bee I am the truth, I am a lie
I am the ground, I am the sky I am the silence, I am the call
Never one thing no, not one thing at all
I am hope, I am defeat I am broken, I am complete I am the grace, I am the fall
Never one thing no, not one thing at all
I am the beggar, I am the queen I am the end, I am the means I am the hammer, I am the wall
Never one thing no, not one thing at all
I am a victor, I am the loss I am a profit, I am the cost I am the salve, I am the sting
Never, no never, no never one thing
I'm a holy roller, I'm a honey bee I am a mother, I am the child I am the meek, I am the wild I am the witch, I am the saint I am alive, never one thing
I am the lion, I am the swan I am the bull, I am the fawn I am a woman, I am the ring I am my own, never one thing
About the Artists
RIDER UNIVERSITY CHORALE
The Rider University Chorale provides the fundamentals of artistic choral singing. The ensemble performs diverse repertoire from across many eras, styles, and places. Concerts feature choral masterworks, compositions by contemporary composers, as well as spirituals, folk song settings from around the world, and music of the stage and screen. Current students, faculty and staff, alumni, and members of the surrounding community are invited to participate. The ensemble is one of six curricular ensembles at Westminster Choir College.
Tyrone Clinton, Jr., conductor
Daniel J. Piver and Sarah Vawdrey, graduate assistant conductors
Liz Latorre, collaborative pianist
Kiersten Burd
Eliana C. Cardona
Olivia Santa Croce
Maya Hanna
Wendy Heath
Markai Johnson
Ruowen Liu
Jenna Marie Lubnewski
Alivia Nawrocki*
Teagen Rotella
Ariel Roycroft*
Bailey Shay*
Gabriela Smalley
Sydney Stahl
Debbie Stasolla
Georgie Stone
Lexi Brianna Thompson
Victoria Vargas
Sarah Vawdrey
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Senior Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Jason Vodicka
Chair, Department of Performance Studies Margaret Cusack
Director of Choir Studies Donald Nally
Director of Performance Management
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 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
FALL DANCE
CONCERT
Saturday, November 22, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 23, 2 p.m.
Yvonne Theater
ROMEO AND JULIET
Friday, December 5, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 6, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 7, 2 p.m.
Bart Luedeke Center Theater
AN EVENING OF READINGS AND CAROLS
Friday December 12, 8 p.m.
Saturday, December 13, 8 p.m.
Princeton University Chapel
