The Ballad of Tam Lin
by Molly Pinto Madigan
March 29 and 30, 2025
Recital Hall
Salem State Land Acknowledgement
The land occupied by Salem State University is part of Naumkeag, a traditional and ancestral homeland of the Pawtucket band of the Massachusett. We acknowledge the genocide and forced removal of the people of Naumkeag and their kin and we recognize the ongoing colonization and dispossession of Indigenous homelands. We respect and honor the Massachusett tribe and the many Indigenous Peoples who continue to care for the land upon which we gather. We recognize our own responsibility to this land we occupy. We commit to continuously learning and sharing its history and that of the Massachusett and other Indigenous People who have been and remain here. We commit to develop and implement initiatives that work toward repairing the injustices continuously being committed on the Indigenous People of this land. We commit to making our own environmental impact on this land as sustainable as possible. We commit to a renewed and ongoing engagement with the Massachusett and all Indigenous People in and around Salem State.
To learn more about Salem State’s Land Acknowledgement please visit salemstate.edu/LandAcknowledgement.
MUSIC
The Salem State University music and dance department presents
The Ballad of Tam Lin
by Molly Pinto Madigan ’13
March 29, 2025
Saturday | 7:30 pm
March 30, 2025
Sunday | 3 pm
Recital Hall
Celebrating 20 years of the music major at Salem State University.
This performance is presented in conjunction with Salem State University’s Center for Creative and Performing Arts.
PROGRAM
Prologue — Lady Margaret
Forbid — Lady Margaret, Thomas Lynn
How the Wind — Lady Margaret
Love, Be True — Lady Margaret
Home — Lady Margaret, The King
An Earthly Knight — The King, Lady Margaret
A Sharp-Tongued Knight — Lady Margaret, A Knight
Fortune’s Fool — Lady Margaret
A Double Rose — Lady Margaret
Nightingale — Lady Margaret, Faerie Queene (in disguise)
Forbid #2 — Lady Margaret
Wormwood – Lady Margaret
Forbid #3 — Lady Margaret, Thomas Lynn
Rhymer — Thomas Lynn
Thomas Lynn Theme — Ensemble
INTERMISSION
I Remember — Lady Margaret, Thomas Lynn
Threnody — Thomas Lynn
Lady Margaret’s Dream — Lady Margaret
A Cold Bed — Lady Margaret
Halloween (Intro) — Lady Margaret
Halloween — Lady Margaret
Forbid #4 — Lady Margaret, Faerie Queene
Queene — Faerie Queene
Never Loved — Lady Margaret, Thomas Lynn
Thomas Lynn Theme (Reprise) — Ensemble
CAST
Molly Pinto Madigan ’13 — Lady Margaret
Alec Hutson — Thomas Lynn
Chaz Smith ’16 — The King
Briana Paquin ’12 — The Faerie Queene
TJ Gansenberg ’11 — A Knight
Elizabeth Anderson ’14 — The Chorus
BAND
PJ Holaday ’14, Chris Bodek ’14, Zach Bridges, Madeleine Downs ’21, Jay DiBiasio, and Sam Margolis
SYNOPSIS
Based on a traditional Scottish ballad, THE BALLAD OF TAM LIN tells the story of a young woman who risks it all to save the man she loves.
The daughter of the king, LADY MARGARET goes out one day to pick roses in the woods of Carter Hall, despite the warnings about a mysterious man haunting the place. As she plucks a double rose, THOMAS LYNN appears out of nowhere. Proverbial sparks fly, and he lays her down with the wild roses blooming around them.
When Margaret wakes up, Thomas is gone, so she rides back home to her father’s hall, where it becomes apparent to everyone that something is amiss. Her father, THE KING, expresses his concern that she might be pregnant and encourages her to seek out the abortifacient wormwood in the woods. She tells him to mind his own business.
But when the FAERIE QUEENE comes to her disguised as a nightingale, convincing her that Thomas Lynn doesn’t love her, she goes back to Carter Hall to find the wormwood.
Thomas appears again and reveals the truth: he’s been kidnapped by the Faerie Queene and is going to be sacrificed by the faeries on Halloween night. He gives Margaret instructions about how to save him.
So, when Halloween night comes and the faeries ride by, Margaret runs to Thomas’ horse and pulls him down. As instructed, she holds him tight as the faeries transform him into a number of fearsome creatures. Finally, they change him back into a man, and Margaret has won.
The Faerie Queene is wild with anger, bemoaning Thomas’ betrayal, but she is powerless to take him. Margaret and Thomas have won, and they are free to be together.
MOLLY PINTO MADIGAN
Hailed for her angelic voice and haunting compositions, Molly Pinto Madigan graduated with a BA in Music from Salem State University, where she was named “Artist of the Year,” as well as receiving the university’s first dual Creativity Award in both Music and Creative Writing. Since her debut as the lead singer for the teen bluegrass band Jaded Mandolin, Madigan has submerged herself in the dark, luscious world of ballads, and her original songs echo with the whisperings of the American and European traditional music, combined with a fresh and modern lyricism. A three-time recipient of Club Passim’s prestigious Iguana Music Fund, Molly just released her sixth studio album, “Romeo and Juliet in the City.” In her free time, Molly enjoys writing novels and competing as a ballroom and Latin dancer.
MUSIC FACULTY
Peter J. Kvetko – chairperson, world music
Mary-Jo Grenfell – music history, orchestra
Philip A. Swanson – music theory, jazz studies
Michael Testa – music technology
ADJUNCT MUSIC FACULTY
Sam Beebe, orchestration, composition, music history, electronic music
Todd Clancy, guitar class
Jean Danton, applied voice
Krystal Demaine, music therapy
Bradley DeMatteo, ethnomusicology
Monica Duncan, applied clarinet
Seychelle Dunn Corbin, applied saxophone
Abe Finch, percussion ensemble, applied percussion
Raymond Gonzalez , guitar ensemble, applied classical guitar, applied songwriting
Alan Hawryluk , applied violin
Max Ignas , applied trumpet
Sanae Kanda , applied piano, music history, piano class, staff accompanist
Steve Lacey, applied jazz guitar, jazz improv ensemble
Cynthia Napierkowski, university band
Eric Christopher Perry, applied voice, voice class, songwriting
Jay Rinaldi, music technology
Andrew Schiller, applied bass
Lynn Shane, community chorus
Marshunda Smith, chamber orchestra
Beverly Soll, women in music history
Robb Taylor, music education, woodwind pedagogy
Eileen Yarrison, applied flute
Holly Zagaria , university chorus, chamber singers, applied voice
20th Anniversary Music Alumni Events
salemstate.edu/arts
March 29, 7:30 pm and March 30, 3 pm
The Ballad of Tam Lin by Molly Pinto Madigan ’13
Recital Hall
April 8, 4:30 pm
SSU Alumni: Views from the Field Songwriting/Composition Panel
Ethnomusicology
Classroom Building 275
April 17, 4:30 pm
SSU Alumni: Views from the Field Songwriting/Composition Panel
Classroom Building 275
April 24, 7:30 pm
Requiem in E minor, op. 1 by Javier Marquez ’08
University Orchestra and University Chorus
Salem High School, 77 Willson Street
Alumni Weekend 2025 – June 6 and 7
June 7, 3 pm
Alumni Choral Event
Recital Hall
A time to sing with some special guest
SSU choral conductors and a time to catch up with old friends!
Visit salemstate.edu/arts for information about these and other arts events . This campus event is open and accessible to all members of the campus community. For accommodations and access information, visit salemstate.edu/access or email access@salemstate.edu..