SVS 24 Recital Program

Clemens High School

Clemens High School

Brittnee Simone - Simone Voice Studio

PRESENT

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?

JENEVA TUPPER MAC STERR MIA TOTTORI

MAC BROOKS ALLIE CHEVALIER GRACE GARCIA

JULIETTE DAVILA AYDEN SERVANTES AALYAH CHERRY

LANCE COULTAS ANGEL TAYLOR IZZY HORMEL

RIAYN ALEXANDER MORGAN AHRENS KHYRI REAUX

LAUREN WILDBERGER ROMAN DELAGARZA

AILANY RIVERA ELIJAH WILLIAMS LEIF BUCHHEIT

CASSI DUEVER MARKAYLA DEFRANCE BELLA ROMERO

MJ LAMB MARIANNA ROBLEDO ANDREW BRITO

RYLIE BEDELL SOPHIA GENIUK ATIANA WIGGINS

HOST

JESSALYN SPECHT

LIGHTING TECHNICIAN

JESSALYN SPECHT

STAGING DIRECTOR MUSIC DIRECTOR BRITTNEE SIMONE BRITTNEE SIMONE

SOUND TECHNICIAN

JESSALYN SPECHT

STAGE HAND/TECHNICIAN GREG GARCIA

Performance Tracks were purchased for this performance

Solos and Scenes

“Wunderbar” from West Side Story

Izzy as Lilli

Andrew as Fred

“What Good Would The Moon Be?” from Street Scene

Markayla as Rose

“Pretty Women” from Sweeney Todd

Lance as Judge Turpin

Ayden as Sweeney Todd

“So In Love” from Kiss Me Kate

Khyri as Lilli

“I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady

Grace as Eliza

Jeneva as 1st Maid

Riayn as 2nd Maid

Mac B. as Mrs. Pearce

“Getting To Know You” from The King and I

Cassi as Voice 1

Elijah as Voice 2

“Ohio?” from Wonderful Town

Mac S. as Ruth

Markayla as Eileen

“Green Finch and Linnet Bird” from Sweeney Todd

Atiana as Johanna

Solos and Scenes

“My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music

Mia as Maria

Ailany as Mother Abbess

“Johanna” from Sweeney Todd

Leif as Sweeney Todd

Rylie as Anthony

Izzy as Johanna

Mac B. as Beggar Woman

Non-Singing Customers: Ayden, Leif, Roman

INTERMISSION (10 min.)

“Hey There” from The Pajama Game

“My White Knight” from The Music Man

Morgan as Sid

MJ as Marian

“You Could Drive A Person Crazy” from Company

Juliette as Kathy

Bella as April

Marianna as Marta

Non-Singers: Elijah as Robert Andrew as David

Solos and Scenes

“Sixteen Going On Seventeen” from The Sound of Music

Roman as Rolf

Lauren as Liesl

“Marry The Man Today” from Guys and Dolls

Aalyah as Adelaide

Allie as Sarah

“You Were Dead You Know” from Candide

Morgan as Candide Atiana as Cunegonde

“Stepsister’s Lament” from Cinderella

Angel as Joy Sophia as Portia

“You Don’t Know This Man” from Parade

Mac S. as Lucille Non-Singing Reporter: Leif

“Do You Hear The People Sing?” from Les Misérables

All SVS Singers Featured Soloists: Ayden, Morgan, Andrew

Summer Lessons

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Voice Lessons starting in July to help prepare the 2025 All-State Music and Sight Reading

WHO’S WHO

Marianna Robledo

Steele HS Sophomore

Region Choir Member - 5th Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Mac Sterr

Steele HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 3rd Chair

All-State Treble Choir - 2nd Chair

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

Pursing Music at UTSA

Elijah Williams

Steele HS Freshman

Region Choir Member

Superior Rating on Class 2 Solo

Khyri Reaux

Steele HS Sophomore

WHO’S WHO

Leif Buchheit

Steele HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 2nd Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Advanced to Area

Superior Rating on Class 2 Solo

Sophia Geniuk

Steele HS Senior

Andrew Brito

Steele HS Sophomore

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

Ailany Rivera

Steele HS Junior

WHO’S WHO Cassi Duever

Clemens HS Freshman

Region Choir Member - 1st Chair

All-State Treble Choir - 5th Chair

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

MJ Lamb

Clemens HS Freshman

Region Choir Member - 10th Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

Angel Taylor

Clemens HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 13th Chair

Izzy Hormel

Clemens HS Sophomore

Region Choir Member - 4th Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Accepted into the Honors Performance Series

Pursuing Music at Interlochen

WHO’S WHO Bella Romero

Clemens HS Junior

Region Choir Member - 7th Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Advanced to Area

Morgan Ahrens

Clemens HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 1st Chair

All-State Mixed Choir - 2nd Chair

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

Pursuing Music at Stephen F. Austin

State University

Aalyah Cherry

Clemens HS Sophomore

Region Choir Member - 9th Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Allie Chevalier

Clemens HS Junior

Region Choir Member - 4th Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Advanced to Area

WHO’S WHO

Grace Garcia

Clemens HS Freshman

Region Choir Member - 6th Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Advanced to Area

Mia Tottori

Clemens HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 15th Chair

Rylie Bedell

Clemens HS Junior

Roman De La Garza

Veterans Memorial HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 2nd Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Advanced to Area

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

Pursuing Music at San Antonio College

WHO’S WHO

Mac Brooks

Veterans Memorial HS Senior

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

Atiana Wiggins

Veterans Memorial HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 5th Chair

Advance to Pre-Area

Advanced to Area

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

Pursuing Music at Stephen F. Austin

State University

Lance Coultas

Veterans Memorial HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 1st Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

Juliette Davila

Veterans Memorial HS Senior

Superior Rating on Class 2

Solo

WHO’S WHO

Markayla DeFrance

Veterans Memorial HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 2nd Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Advanced to Area

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

Pursuing Music at San Antonio College

Riayn Alexander

Veterans Memorial HS Freshman

Region Choir Member - 15th Chair

Superior Rating on Class 3 Solo

Ayden Servantes

Veterans Memorial HS Sophomore

Region Choir Member

Jeneva Tupper

Veterans Memorial HS Freshman

Superior Rating on Class 3 Solo

Lauren

Veterans Memorial HS Senior

Region Choir Member - 9th Chair

Advanced to Pre-Area

Superior Rating on Class 1 Solo

Advanced to State Solo & Ensemble

PROGRAM NOTES

Structured as a play within a play, Kiss Me Kate features two feuding ex-spouses (still secretly in love with other) who battle in “real life” and on stage as stars of the Shakespeare play Taming of the Shrew. Before opening night, both Fred and Lois verbally spar but then reminisce about their early relationship and many co-acting experiences by singing “Wunderbar”. (Porter wrote this as a spoof of operettas but no one got the joke and it ended up as one of his most popular songs.)

"What good would the moon be?" is an aria from Kurt Weill's 1946 opera Street Scene that illustrates Rose Maurrant's complicated relationship with love. The song's lyrics show that Rose is intelligent and rejects expensive, glamorous love in favor of safety and sincerity.

“Pretty Women,” a song from the musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” by Stephen Sondheim, is a haunting and complex piece that delves into themes of obsession, longing, and the illusory nature of beauty. This song, set in the grim and dark world of Victorian London, provides a stark contrast between the ethereal concept of beauty and the macabre reality of Sweeney Todd’s life.

Despite the apparent bitterness Lois feels for Fred in Kiss Me Kate, when he leaves, she sings the gut-wrenching soliloquy “So in Love”, one of Porter’s best songs. As the song progresses, Lilli’s sense of sorrowful resignation to unrequited love develops. The lyrics, particularly the last verse, expose the emotional nakedness of her vulnerability.

"I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the 1964 film My Fair Lady. It is sung by the musical's heroine, Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), after an impromptu dance with her tutor, Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison). The song expresses Eliza's exhilaration and excitement, and also hints at her suppressed feelings for Higgins.

"Getting to Know You" is one of the most important songs in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I because it's about the effort to reach across cultures to help people understand each other. The song was added during the original production's out-oftown tryout, and connects Anna to her students as a teacher by sharing customs. In this adaptation, this song is made into a love duet between two voices.

“Ohio” is a musical number from the 1953 musical “Wonderful Town,” with music by Leonard Bernstein. “Ohio,” the song is performed by the characters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood, two sisters who have just moved from Ohio to New York City to seek their fortunes. The song captures their initial disappointment and homesickness as they confront the realities of life in the big city, which starkly contrasts with their expectations and dreams. The lyrics are poignant and filled with irony, expressing the sisters’ longing for the simpler, friendlier life they left behind in Ohio, even as they acknowledge that there was nothing left for them there.

PROGRAM NOTES

“Green Finch and Linnet Bird” is a song from the musical “Sweeney Todd.” In this song, the character Johanna, the young and innocent daughter of Benjamin Barker (Sweeney Todd), sings from her confinement in the home of the villainous Judge Turpin, who keeps her locked away from the world under his obsessive watch. The lyrics of the song express Johanna’s longing for freedom and her yearning to escape the suffocating control of Judge Turpin. Through the metaphor of caged birds, Johanna envies the seemingly free birds outside her window, unaware that they, too, are confined and controlled.

In “The Sound of Music,” the song “My Favorite Things” is initially introduced as a duet between Maria and Mother Abbess, although it is more commonly remembered for its later reprise with the children. In the context of the duet, the song serves as a moment of bonding and mentorship between Maria and the Mother Abbess at the Nonnberg Abbey.

The quartet “Johanna” from “Sweeney Todd” involves four characters: Anthony, who is in love with Johanna; Johanna, who longs for freedom; Sweeney Todd, who reflects on his internal conflict and obsessive vengeance that blinds him to the reality around him; and the Beggar Woman, who is actually Lucy, Sweeney Todd’s wife presumed dead, sings fragmented, cryptic lines that hint at her past connection to Todd without revealing her true identity. The interplay of these four parts creates a haunting mosaic of love, madness, and tragedy.

“Hey There” is one of the standout songs from the musical “The Pajama Game.” In this scene, the character Sid Sorokin, the new superintendent at the Sleep-Title Pajama Factory, sings a soliloquy to himself in the form of a dictation on a recording machine. Later, he duets with the playback of his own recording.

“My White Knight” is a heartfelt ballad from Meredith Wilson’s beloved musical “The Music Man.” The song is sung by the character Marian Paroo, the librarian and piano teacher in the small town of River City, Iowa. In this scene, she expresses her desires for a man who is both her intellectual equal and a sincere, thoughtful individual. She dreams of someone who will understand her deeply and share her interests in literature and culture.

PROGRAM NOTES

“You Could Drive a Person Crazy” is a lively and witty trio from Sondheim’s innovate musical “Company.” This musical focuses on the central character, Bobby, and his interactions with his married friends and romantic partners. In this scene, three of Bobby’s girlfriends-Marta, Kathy, and April-come together to sing about their frustrations and confusions caused by their relationship with him.

“Sixteen Going on Seventeen” is a charming and playful duet from “The Sound of Music.” In this duet, the characters Liesl, the eldest von Trapp daughter, and Rolf, a young messenger, sing about the transition from youth to adulthood. They share their perspective on growing up and falling in love.

“Marry the Man Today” is a humorous duet from the musical “Guys and Dolls.” In this scene, the characters Adelaide and Sarah Brown come together towards the end of the musical to share their frustrations and resolutions regarding their respective fiancés, Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson. Both men have caused Adelaide and Sarah plenty of heartaches due to their gambling habits and commitment issues.

“You Were Dead You Know” is a duet from Leonard Bernstein’s operetta “Candide,” based on Voltaire’s satirical novella of the same name. In this scene, Candide and his beloved Cunegonde are reunited after believing each other to have died. This duet occurs in Act 2. when they meet unexpectedly in Paris. The song explores their surprise and delight at finding each other alive, while also humorously recounting their misfortunes and presumed deaths.

In “Stepsister’s Lament”, from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical “Cinderella,” the stepsisters express their frustration and jealousy at Cinderella’s unexpected success at the royal ball. The song occurs after they return from the ball where Cinderella was disguised by her magical transformation. They lament why a fellow as wonderful as the prince would prefer Cinderella over them, highlighting their incredulity and envy through witty lyrics.

PROGRAM NOTES

“You Don’t Know This Man” is an emotionally charged song from the musical “Parade,” with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical is based on the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager in Georgia who was falsely accused of murder in 1913. In this scene, Lucille Frank, Leo’s wife, sings this powerful ballad in defense of her husband during a crucial moment in the trial where public sentiment is heavily against him. The song is directed at a prosecutor who is manipulating facts for the sake of convenience and spectacle, reflecting a broader societal tendency to rush to judgement based on prejudice. Lucille’s song is a testament to her steadfast belief in her husband’s innocence and her frustration with the community’s readiness to condemn him without understanding the person he truly is.

Our finale, “Do You Hear The People Sing?” is a powerful group number from the iconic musical “Les Misérables.” This anthem is sung by the ensemble of revolutionaries. The song is a call to arms, urging people to stand up and fight for freedom and justice, with lyrics that inspire hope and solidarity among those fighting for a better future.

Special Thanks

Clemens High School

Jessalyn Specht - Clemens Choir Director

Stan Moody - Veterans Memorial Choir Director

Sean Whelan - Steele Choir Dorector

Barbara Elliot - Accompanist

Lisa Lozito - Accompanist

Parents & Guardians of SVS Singers

Family, Friends, & Supporters of SVS Singers

Gregory Garcia - Ms. Simone’s Fiancé

Family, Friends, & Supporters of Ms. Simone

Director's Note

I am excited to present the “Do You Hear The People Sing?” recital . When thinking about the end of the year, I wanted to do something with my students that they would equally find fun and challenging, maybe in a different way than they thought. I have participated as a singer in a scenes recital, but I decided to direct my first scenes recital last year with my SVS singers. The students enjoyed it so much, I wanted to continue the tradition. This recital is made up of mostly 'Golden Age' scenes. The thing I like about the 'Golden Age' era of musicals, is that the vocal tone is a perfect bridge from classical singing to musical singing. There are of course exceptions, but since I am a classically trained singer and teacher, my students are singing with their normal quality tone we've been working on all year plus a sprinkle of that musical theater brightness. I was intrigued by staging these scenes. Some are particularly challenging and there is even extensive choreography this year for a couple scenes. This year, I added one big studio number. This is especially exciting for the students that take voice lessons to sing together with other likeminded individuals and is special for me to hear all of my students sing together. I wanted to make sure my students were truly able to dive into their character and perform their scene. Each one of them have been so trusting in me, themselves, and each other to truly feel the emotions their character is portraying and give you a show to remember! I know they will put it all out on the table and perform a show that will be memorable for all. I hope you enjoy!!!

Tuesday, June 4th 11AM-6PM

Local Camp

$384

A Night at the Opera