Program faure 2016 by Spire Chamber Ensemble

SPIRE FOUNDING PARTNERS Spire will be forever grateful to these visionary individuals who helped found this organization. Paulette Blunt and family Roland and Dolores Boehnke Silvia and Phil Braniff Elizabeth Coleman Larry and Elaine Conrad Cornerstone Home Lending, Inc. Eric and Lana Hansen Rev. Lee Hovel Eric and Deb Justin Stan and Paula Knocke

Phil and Marilyn Kubler Chris and Laura Pace Juanita Paris Les and Helen Schmidt Terry and Betty Snapp Ben and Stephanie Spalding Eric and Gay Spalding Mark and Nancy Viets Janet Vetter Renee Walker

Donors Thank you to the following for their generous support of Spire Chamber Ensemble for the 2016-2017 Season. ARCH ANGELS ($10,000+) Missouri Arts Council Anonymous MAJOR BENEFACTORS ($2,500-$5,999) ArtsKC-Regional Arts Council Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation KSLCMS Trinity Lutheran Church and Foundation Mark and Nancy Viets Renee Walker BENEFACTORS ($1000-$2499) William H. Clamurro Steven and Julie Christiansen Eric and Lana Hansen Lee and Susan Hovel Mark and Nancy Schulz Les and Helen Schmidt Ben and Stephanie Spalding

PATRONS ($500-$999) Boeing International Phil and Silvia Braniff Alfred and Traute Kohler Stan and Paula Knocke Phil and Marilyn Kubler Elaine Mann Abigail and Charlie Singleton Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund Jim and Aileen Tichenor PARTNERS ($250-$499) Larry and Elaine Conrad Shaun and Gwenda Hawk Eric and Deb Justin Matt and Terre Naylor Chris and Laura Pace Janet Vetter SUPPORTERS ($100-$249) Harlan E. Brockman Steve and Sally Burke Kevin and Mary Kay Clune

Don and Patricia Dagenais George and Caroline Helmkamp Stephanie Henry Kathryn Huey Marylou James Chick and Carol Keller Elizabeth Ann Liston Wayne and Nancy Meyer Bill and Charlene Millsap Shalon Fund Penelope and Richard Senften Jim Taylor Peter Tremain Danielle and Ryan Warner CONTRIBUTORS (UP TO $99) Blanche Gangwere Willis and Katherine Hallman Lawrence Hamel Kathryn Lorenzen Roselea and Howard Nellis Becky Welch

As of October 3, 2016. We apologize for any errors or omissions.

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Artist Hosts Spire would not exist without the generosity and hospitality of the following, who open their homes to host Spire artists during projects throughout the season. Kayleigh and Jason Aytes Arthur Butler Jay and Melissa Carter Bruce and Marilyn Charlton Larry and Elaine Conrad Kevin and Cindy Dye Eric and Lana Hansen Scott and Katie Hansen Ashley Hardin Shaun and Gwenda Hawk

Lee and Susan Hovel Mary Lou James Eric and Deb Justin Vlad and Jocelyn Kaufman Brent King Chick and Carol Keller Stan and Paula Knocke Phil and Marilyn Kubler Lindsay Lang and Frank Fleschner

Wayne and Nancy Meyer Mary O’Connell Chris and Laura Pace Bruce and Helga Pennington Mark Rendina Jenifer Richison Jenean Sears Iva Schlatter Les and Helen Schmidt Mark and Nancy Schulz

Doug and Lura Scott Matthew Shepard Norman and Kathie Smith Eric and Gay Spalding Norton and Irene Starr Jim and Aileen Tichenor Janet Vetter Renee Walker

Friends of Spire Special thanks to our friends who offered their invaluable service, facilities, time, and support. Mark Ball Terry Barham Michael Bauer Elisa Bickers Steve Burke Larry Conrad Oliver Finney First Presbyterian Church, Manhattan, KS

Grace Cathedral Amy Inderleid KC Baroque Consortium KC Metropolis KC Star KC Studio Gretchen Hollman Kansas City Symphony Jan Katterhenry

Les and Helen Schmidt Mark Schulz Bill Shaltis Patricia Thompson University of Kansas Visitation Church

The 2016-2017 Season is sponsored in part by generous support from:

Board of Directors Dr. Matthew Naylor, president Helen Schmidt, secretary Lee Hovel Kevin Bogan

Jan Kraybill Mark Lowry Tony Maglione Alejandro Manso Patrick Neas Laura Pace Mario Pearson Dr. Reginald Pittman John L. Schaefer

Elaine Mann Gregory Campbell Edgar Palacios

Artistic Advisory Committee Elisa Bickers Robert Bode Jan Kraybill

Tony Maglione John Schaefer

Staff Ben A. Spalding, Founder and Artistic Director Jan Katterhenry, Financial Manager Laura Pace, Development Consultant, Capacity Builders

Spire Chamber Ensemble is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization 5601 W. 62nd Street, Mission, KS 66202

PROGRAM DAVID LANG: THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL PASSION FAURÉ REQUIEM Spire Chamber Ensemble Ben A. Spalding, Founder and Artistic Director Saturday, October 8, 8:00pm | St. Michael the Archangel Church | Overland Park, KS Sunday, October 9, 3:00pm | Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception | Kansas City, MO

The Little Match Girl Passion (for chorus)

David Lang (b. 1957)

Shari Wilson, soprano, brake drum, sleighbell Melissa Attebury, mezzo-soprano, crotales Erik Gustafson, tenor, glockenspiel Jonathan Woody, bass, bass drum, tubular bells

INTERMISSION

Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 (1893 version)

Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)

Nacole Palmer, soprano Paul Max Tipton, baritone

Spire Chamber Ensemble Soprano

Alto/Countertenor

Tenor

Bass

Gitanjali Mathur Nacole Palmer Melanie Russell Shari Alise Wilson

Melissa Attebury Janet Carlsen Campbell Clifton Massey

Paul D'Arcy Erik Gustafson Tyler Ray

Matthew Leese Edmund Milly Paul Max Tipton Jonathan Woody

Ashley Stanfield, viola 2 Sascha Groschang, cello 1 Hannah Collins, cello 1 Amy Harris, cello 2

Ezgi Karakus, cello 2 Richard Ryan, bass David Sullivan, horn 1 David Gamble, horn 2

Tabitha Reist Steiner, harp Jan Kraybill, organ

Chamber Orchestra Zsolt Eder, violin I Philip Kramp, viola 1 Lubi Paskaleva, viola 1 Nell French, viola 2

Please remember to silence all electronic devices. Recording any part of this performance is prohibited. 4

NOTES ON THE PROGRAM Dear Friends: Welcome to Spire’s 2016-17 season of singing! In 2008, the New York composer David Lang received the Pulitzer Prize for music for The Little Match Girl Passion. Lang’s eloquent introduction to this extraordinary work speaks for itself: “I wanted to tell a story—a particular story—in fact, the story of The Little Match Girl by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The original is ostensibly for children, and it has that shocking combination of danger and morality that many famous children's stories do. A poor young girl, whose father beats her, tries unsuccessfully to sell matches on the street, is ignored, and freezes to death. Through it all she somehow retains her Christian purity of spirit, but it is not a pretty story. “What drew me to The Little Match Girl is that the strength of the story lies not in its plot but in the fact that all its parts—the horror and the beauty—are constantly suffused with their opposites. The girl’s bitter present is locked together with the sweetness of her past memories; her poverty is always suffused with her hopefulness. There is a kind of naïve equilibrium between suffering and hope. “There are many ways to tell this story. One could convincingly tell it as a story about faith or as an allegory about poverty. What has always interested me, however, is that Andersen tells this story as a kind of parable, drawing a religious and moral equivalency between the suffering of the poor girl and the suffering of Jesus. The girl suffers, is scorned by the crowd, dies, and is transfigured. I started wondering what secrets could be unlocked from this story if one took its Christian nature to its conclusion and unfolded it, as Christian composers have traditionally done in musical settings of the Passion of Jesus. “The most interesting thing about how the Passion story is told is that it can include texts other than the story itself. These texts are the reactions of the crowd, penitential thoughts, and statements of general sorrow, shock, or remorse. These are devotional guideposts, the markers for our own responses to the story, and they have the effect of making the audience more than spectators to the sorrowful events on stage. These responses can have a huge range—in Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, these extra texts range from famous chorales that his congregation was expected to sing along with to completely invented characters, such as the ‘Daughter of Zion’ and the ‘Chorus of Believers.’ The Passion format—the telling of a story while simultaneously commenting upon it—has the effect of placing us in the middle of the action, and it gives the narrative a powerful inevitability. “My piece is called The Little Match Girl Passion and it sets Hans Christian Andersen’s story The Little Match Girl in the format of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, interspersing Andersen’s narrative with my versions of the crowd and character responses from Bach’s Passion. The text is by me, after texts

by Han Christian Andersen, H. P. Paulli (the first translator of the story into English, in 1872), Picander (the nom de plume of Christian Friedrich Henrici, the librettist of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion), and the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. The word ‘passion’ comes from the Latin word for suffering.” Like essentially all Catholic Requiems, that of Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924) is based on the ancient liturgy of the Mass for the Dead, a set of prayers for the soul of the departed, accompanied by pointed and graphic reminders of the Last Judgment. But unlike most liturgical Requiems, Fauré’s omits certain movements and substitutes others taken from a different Catholic liturgy for the dead. Fauré’s most important change, however, was the complete exclusion of the longest text, the “Dies Irae,” with its twenty verses of hellfire and damnation.

Through these textual changes, Fauré set the stage for a gentle Requiem, one free of pain, struggle, and anguish, suffused throughout by the “light eternal.” The composer’s brilliant student Nadia Boulanger summarizes his purpose: “The church has the power to judge us, to condemn us, which the Master did not want to express in his work... His music seeks to mediate between Heaven and man, in a peaceable way, calmly and inwardly, sometimes serious and sad but never threatening or dramatic.” The Requiem has a most interesting history. Fauré began its composition in 1877 but completed only one movement at that time, the “Libera me.” A decade later he returned to the work. The version premiered on January 16, 1888, under his own direction as a tender work of chamber proportions. The organ, upon which Fauré was a virtuoso, served as the central instrument, joined by a small, dark-hued ensemble of divided cellos and basses, timpani, a solo violin (in the “Sanctus”), and a harp (in the “Kyrie”). The next performance in 1892 or 1893—depending on the source—contained two additional movements: the “Libera me” that Fauré had composed fourteen years earlier and the blissful “In paradisum.” He also added a complement of brass necessitated by the added “Libera me,” which for a moment hints at the terror of the Last Judgment. Neither of these versions of the Requiem was published, however. Instead, history bequeathed us a bloated orchestration apparently derived from a one-off presentation at the 1900 World’s Fair. (Circumstances surrounding the publication suggest that someone other than Fauré may have been responsible for this “final” version.) In the first twelve years of its life, the Requiem thus evolved from an intimate, small-scale quasi-liturgical work into a massively scored concert piece having a sound color completely at odds with its original conception. Several years ago British composer and conductor John Rutter attempted to sort out all the issues involved and published a new edition of the Fauré Requiem that made the versions of 1888 and 1892/93 accessible. This evening we will present the latter version, less the trumpets and bassoons, which play so little that Rutter suggests their possible omission. If you know Fauré’s Requiem in its traditional scoring, you are in for what we trust will be a pleasant surprise.

Enjoy the performance!

Ben A. Spalding Founder and Artistic Director

TEXTS & TRANSLATIONS LANG: the little match girl passion Text by David Lang, after Hans Christian Andersen, H.P. Paull, Picander, and the Gospel according to St. Matthew

they fall down like rain My teardrops Here, daughter, here I am I should be bound as you were bound All that I deserve is What you have endured Penance and remorse Tear my sinful heart in two My penance My remorse My penance

1. Come, daughter

6. Lights were shining

Come, daughter Help me, daughter Help me cry Look, daughter Where, daughter What, daughter Who, daughter Why, daughter Guiltless daughter Patient daughter Gone

Lights were shining from every window, and there was a savory smell of roast goose, for it was New-year’s eve – yes, she remembered that. In a corner, between two houses, one of which projected beyond the other, she sank down and huddled herself together. She had drawn her little feet under her, but she could not keep off the cold; and she dared not go home, for she had sold no matches, and could not take home even a penny of money. Her father would certainly beat her; besides, it was almost as cold at home as here, for they had only the roof to cover them, through which the wind howled, although the largest holes had been stopped up with straw and rags. Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold. Her little hands were almost frozen with the cold.

2. It was terribly cold It was terribly cold and nearly dark on the last evening of the old year, and the snow was falling fast. In the cold and the darkness, a poor little girl, with bare head and naked feet, roamed through the streets. It is true she had on a pair of slippers when she left home, but they were not of much use. They were very large, so large, indeed, that they had belonged to her mother, and the poor little creature had lost them in running across the street to avoid two carriages that were rolling along at a terrible rate. One of the slippers she could not find, and a boy seized upon the other and ran away with it, saying that he could use it as a cradle, when he had children of his own. So the little girl went on with her little naked feet, which were quite red and blue with the cold.

3. Dearest heart Dearest heart Dearest heart What did you do that was so wrong? What was so wrong? Dearest heart Dearest heart Why is your sentence so hard?

4. In an old apron In an old apron she carried a number of matches, and had a bundle of them in her hands. No one had bought anything of her the whole day, nor had any one given her even a penny. Shivering with cold and hunger, she crept along; poor little child, she looked the picture of misery. The snowflakes fell on her long, fair hair, which hung in curls on her shoulders, but she regarded them not.

5. Penance and remorse Penance and remorse Tear my sinful heart in two My teardrops May they fall like rain down upon your poor face May

7. Patience, patience! Patience. Patience!

8. Ah! perhaps Ah! perhaps a burning match might be some good, if she could draw it from the bundle and strike it against the wall, just to warm her fingers. She drew one out — “scratch!” how it sputtered as it burnt! It gave a warm, bright light, like a little candle, as she held her hand over it. It was really a wonderful light. It seemed to the little girl that she was sitting by a large iron stove, with polished brass feet and a brass ornament. How the fire burned! and seemed so beautifully warm that the child stretched out her feet as if to warm them, when, lo! the flame of the match went out, the stove vanished, and she had only the remains of the half-burnt match in her hand. She rubbed another match on the wall. It burst into flame, and where its light fell upon the wall it became as transparent as a veil, and she could see into the room. The table was covered with a snowy white table-cloth, on which stood a splendid dinner service, and a steaming roast goose, stuffed with apples and dried plums. And what was still more wonderful, the goose jumped down from the dish and waddled across the floor, with a knife and fork in its breast, to the

little girl. Then the match went out, and there remained nothing but the thick, damp, cold wall before her

far above the earth, where there was neither cold nor hunger nor pain, for they were with God.

9. Have mercy, my God

13. When it is time for me to go

Have mercy, my God. Look here, my God. See my tears fall. See my tears fall. Have mercy, my God. Have mercy. My eyes are crying. My heart is crying, my God. See my tears fall. See my tears fall, my God.

When it is time for me to go Don’t go from me When it is time for me to leave Don’t leave me When it is time for me to die Stay with me When I am most scared Stay with me

10. She lighted another match She lighted another match, and then she found herself sitting under a beautiful Christmas-tree. It was larger and more beautifully decorated than the one which she had seen through the glass door at the rich merchant’s. Thousands of tapers were burning upon the green branches, and colored pictures, like those she had seen in the show-windows looked down upon it all. The little one stretched out her hand towards them, and the match went out. The Christmas lights rose higher and higher, till they looked to her like the stars in the sky. Then she saw a star fall, leaving behind it a bright streak of fire. “Some one is dying,” thought the little girl, for her old grandmother, the only one who had ever loved her, and who was now dead, had told her that when a star falls, a soul was going up to God.

11. From the sixth hour From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour she cried out: Eli, eli.

12. She again rubbed a match She again rubbed a match on the wall, and the light shone round her; in the brightness stood her old grandmother, clear and shining, yet mild and loving in her appearance. “Grandmother,” cried the little one, “O take me with you; I know you will go away when the match burns out; you will vanish like the warm stove, the roast goose, and the large, glorious Christmas-tree.” And she made haste to light the whole bundle of matches, for she wished to keep her grandmother there. And the matches glowed with a light that was brighter than the noon-day, and her grandmother had never appeared so large or so beautiful. She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew upwards in brightness and joy 8

14. In the dawn of morning In the dawn of morning there lay the poor little one, with pale cheeks and smiling mouth, leaning against the wall; she had been frozen to death on the last evening of the year; and the New-year’s sun rose and shone upon a little corpse! The child still sat, in the stiffness of death, holding the matches in her hand, one bundle of which was burnt. “She tried to warm herself,” said some. No one imagined what beautiful things she had seen, nor into what glory she had entered with her grandmother, on New-year’s day.

15. We sit and cry We sit and cry And call to you Rest soft, daughter, rest soft Where is your grave, daughter? Where is your tomb? Where is your resting place? Rest soft, daughter, rest soft Rest soft Rest soft Rest soft Rest soft You closed your eyes. I closed my eyes. Rest soft

INTERMISSION Fauré Requiem 1. Introït et Kyrie Requiem æternam dona eis Domine et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem: exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet.

Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. A hymn befits thee, O God in Zion, and to thee a vow shall be fulfilled in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer, for unto thee all flesh shall come.

Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.

2. Offertoire baritone 2. Offertoire | Paul Max Tipton, O Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriæ, libera animas defunctorum de pœnis inferni et de profundo lacu: O Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriæ, libera animas defunctorum de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum: Amen. Hostias et preces tibi, Domini, laudis offerimus: tu suscipe pro animabus illis, quarum hodie memoriam facimus: fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam, quam olim Abrahæ promisisti, et semini ejus.

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, liberate the souls of the departed from the pains of hell and from the deep pit. O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, liberate the souls of the departed from the lion’s mouth, let not hell swallow them up, let them not fall into darkness: Amen. Sacrifices and prayers of prayes, O Lord, we offer to thee. Receive them, Lord, on behalf of those souls we commemorate this day. Grant them, O Lord, to pass from death unto life, which once thou promised to Abraham and to his seed.

3. Sanctus

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria tua. Osanna in excelsis.

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest.

4. Pie Jesu 4. 4. Pie Pie Jesu Jesu | Nacole Palmer, soprano Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem sempiternam.

Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest. Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest.

5. Agnus Dei et Lux Æterna Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,

dona eis requiem. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam. Lux æterna luceat eis, Domine: Cum sanctis tuis in æternum: quia pius es. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

grant them rest. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest everlasting. May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord, in the company of the saints forever and ever; for thou art merciful. Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

6. Libera me

Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda: Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra: Dum veneris judicare sæculum per ignem.

Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal, on that dreadful day: when the heavens and the earth shall quake, when thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo dum discussio venerit,

I am seized by trembling, and I fear until the judgment should come, and I also dread the coming wrath. O that day, day of wrath, day of calamity and misery, momentous day, and exceedingly bitter. Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

atque ventura ira. Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitatis et miseriæ, dies magna et amara valde. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.

7. In paradisum

In paradisum deducant te Angeli: in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem.

May the angels lead you into paradise; May the martyrs welcome you upon your arrival, and lead you into the holy city of Jerusalem.

Chorus Angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.

May a choir of angels welcome you, and, with poor Lazarus of old, may you have eternal rest. 9

SPIRE CHAMBER ENSEMBLE About the Ensemble

he Spire Chamber Ensemble was founded in 2010 and has quickly gained a national reputation for artistic excellence. Now in their seventh season performing throughout the Kansas City metro area and on tour, Spire is regarded as one of the preeminent choral-orchestral chamber ensembles in the United States. Spire brings top ensemble singers and period instrumentalists from around the country to perform repertoire ranging from Gregorian chant and Baroque/ Classical masterpieces, to Duruflé and newly commissioned works by this country’s leading composers.

Ben A. Spalding, Founder and Artistic Director

en A. Spalding is the founder and artistic director of the Spire Chamber Ensemble, which is gaining a national reputation for excellence in choral performances. He received undergraduate degrees in voice and piano from Emporia State University and two master’s degrees in conducting and composition from Rowan University. He was a student of renowned conductor and composer Z. Randall Stroope, and has also studied conducting with Terry Barham and Sir David Willcocks in Cambridge. Spalding is up and coming as a professional choral conductor, working with the best choral artists in the country and gaining a reputation as a fine interpreter of both early and contemporary repertoire. He is sought after as a clinician, most recently leading Festivals and Honor Choirs throughout the Midwest. Spalding is also active as a composer, regularly accepting commissions. As an educator, he has held positions at the high school and university levels. In addition to his work with Spire Chamber Ensemble, Spalding is Director of Music and the Arts at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mission, KS, where he has built one of the most prestigious concert series and arts programs in the Kansas City area.

STÖRLING DANCE THEATER

törling Dance Theater is celebrating it's 20th Anniversary and the privilege of serving Kansas City with powerful narrative work, choreographic craftsmanship of beauty, and meaning. Established in 1996 upon the artistic designs of Mona Störling-Enna, artistic leadership expanded to include Tobin James in 2008 upon the success of their first collaborative work, Underground. he Prodigal Daughter and Underground were chosen as top performances of the year for Kansas City with Underground being separated out as one of the Top 10 Performances of the Decade by critic, Paul Horsely. Störling Dance Theater is proud to announce that they will be touring Underground to the St. Louis/Ferguson community this coming March to be a message of hope of inspiration. oin Störling Dance Theater and senior company members, Alexandra Wilson, Jillian Sivewright, and Caitlyn Pettijohn as they premiere their first holiday performance, Child of Hope, December 2-4, 2016, at the White Theater at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park. All information can be found at www.storlingdance.org Mona Storling-Enna, Artistic Director Tobin James, Associate Artistic Director & Producer Alexandra Wilson 10

Jillian Sivewright Caitlyn Pettijohn Rhiannon Grimes Emily Berger Erin Steeley

Tiffany Best Courtney Garrett Sandra Carstensen Ivy Ericson Breanne Lane

Paul D'Arcy, tenor Melissa Attebury,

mezzo-soprano

raised by the New York Times as a “rich-toned alto who brought a measure of depth to her performance,” Melissa Attebury appears regularly as soloist in concert and oratorio. She is in particular demand for her skill in music of the Baroque. Recent appearances include Messiah, Christmas Oratorio, St. Matthew and St. John Passion, and as a regular soloist in the Bach at One series of complete cantatas with Julian Wachner and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. She played the role of the Witch in Trinity’s staged production of Händel’s Saul. Other recent performances include the Rachmaninoff Vespers and Rosalia (West Side Story Concert Suites) with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall; Elijah at the Berkshire Choral Festival, Israel in Egypt with The Washington Chorus, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 at Trinity Wall Street, and Messiah at Carnegie Hall with the New Jersey Masterworks Chorus. s

Janet Carlsen Campbell,

mezzo-soprano

anet Carlsen Campbell enjoys a busy career as an oratorio, concert, and chamber singer. Her recent solo appearances have included Bach’s Messe in h -moll, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Duruflé’s Requiem. She has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, choirs, and festivals including the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, The Washington Chorus, Phoenix Chorale, Kansas City Chorale, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Conspirare, and Tucson Chamber Artists, among others. Ms. Campbell holds the degree of Master of Music in Vocal Performance/Pedagogy from Arizona State University and a Bachelor’s in Music Education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

aul D'Arcy is in demand nationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and music educator. Formerly of Austin, TX, he performs with the Austin Symphony, Grammy® winning Conspirare, ensemble viii, Convergence, and the Texas Early Music Project. Paul also performs with the San Diego Bach Collegium, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Vox Humana of Dallas, True Concord of Tucson, the Apollo Master Chorale of Minnesota, Spire of Kansas City, the Advent Choir of Boston, and in the Victoria Bach Festival. Recent solo appearances include Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem with the Austin Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Concordia University, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Advent Choir of Boston, Monteverdi’s Vespers with Ensemble VIII, Schütz's Musikalische Exequien with the Texas Early Music Project, and the world premiere of Mozart Requiem Undead at the Fusebox Festival in Austin, TX. He has performed on numerous recordings for Harmonia Mundi, Reference Recordings, Naxos, and PBS, including the 2015 Grammy winning album, The Sacred Spirit of Russia with Conspirare. Paul also maintains an active voice studio of approximately thirty students.

Erik Gustafson, tenor

rik is highly active across the nation as an oratorio soloist and choral artist. He has collaborated on choral albums with the Phoenix Chorale, Bach Collegium San Diego, Conspirare, Tucson Chamber Artists, and Sounding Light. Erik has performed as a soloist and chorister with the renowned Bach Vespers series at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City, and with the American Symphony Orchestra and the Collegiate Chorale in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall. He has performed as the Evangelist for Bach’s St. John Passion with True Concord, tenor soloist for Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Abendmusik in Lincoln, and Evangelist and tenor soloist for Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Oregon Bach Festival. His degree in Vocal Performance is from Arizona State University and he currently resides in Durango, Colorado.

Matthew Leese, baritone

atthew Leese is known as a versatile conductor, baritone, clinician, and stage director. His performing experience in the USA, Canada, Asia, Europe and in his native country New Zealand includes dozens of solo and ensemble performances and recordings. Dr. Leese received degrees in voice from the University of Otago in New Zealand, the Longy School of Music, Indiana University and holds the doctorate in choral conducting and literature from the University of Illinois. In addition to performing with Spire, Matthew is artistic director of the Monadnock Chorus, music director of the Chamber Singers of Keene, conductor-in-residence of Voices of the Bay in St. Andrews, NB, artist in residence with the Boston City Singers, a volunteer for the Keene Music Festival, and serves as a lecturer in music at Keene State College.

Edmund Milly, bass

Clifton Massey, countertenor

lifton Massey, countertenor, is known for stylish interpretations of wide ranging musical styles. Praised by SF Classical Voice for "gloriously rounded tone and a measure of heft often missing in proponents of his voice type," his solo and ensemble singing has taken him to many festivals and venues including Tanglewood, the Concertgebou of Amsterdam, Metropolitan Museum of NY, Tokyo Opera City, and the Early Music festivals of Berkeley, Bloomington, and Boston. Also a valued professional ensemble singer, Clifton performs frequently with American Bach Soloists, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium San Diego, the American Classical Orchestra, and has been featured on the Bach Vespers series’ at Holy Trinity Lutheran and Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City. He is an alumnus of the Grammy award winning group Chanticleer, with whom he performed over 200 concerts in a variety of the world's finest concert halls. Clifton has recently relocated to the NYC area and is a member of the professional choir at Trinity Church Wall Street.

Gitanjali Mathur, soprano

rammy winning artist Gitanjali Mathur is hailed as having "skyrocketing coloratura," "fluid and dexterous voice," "piercingly clear soprano," and being a "natural and convincing comedic actress." Ms. Mathur completed her higher studies in voice performance at Indiana University, Bloomington, along with minors in math and computer science. She resides in Austin, Texas, where she is a full -time singer with Texas Early Music Project, the early music group Ensemble VIII, and GRAMMY®-winning ensemble Conspirare conducted by Craig Hella Johnson. In addition, Ms. Mathur is a part of the eclectic ensemble Convergence (winner of the 2013 Austin Critics’ Table Awards for Best Small Ensemble). She has performed in France, Italy, Germany, and Denmark. Proud to sing with Seraphic Fire, Ms. Mathur is featured on their GRAMMY®nominated CD A Seraphic Fire Christmas. She sings with Bach Collegium San Diego, Spire Ensemble in Kansas City, True Concord in Arizona, and Vox Humana in Dallas.

dmund Milly, bass-baritone, enjoys a dual career as both soloist and ensemble musician. Based in Brooklyn, he sings regularly with the Grammynominated choir of Trinity Wall Street and is a founding member of Trident Ensemble. He has been featured as a soloist on several international radio broadcasts through CBC and BBC, and has recently appeared with such groups as Clarion Society, Mark Morris Dance Group, the Thirteen, Spire Chamber Ensemble, and Yale Schola Cantorum. A graduate of the American Boychoir School, McGill University (B.A., B.M., M.A.), and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (M.M.), Edmund approaches musical interpretation with a scholarly rigor that lends itself to expressive performances of oratorio and lieder alike.

Tyler Ray, tenor

Nacole Palmer, soprano

acole Palmer sang her Carnegie Hall debut this December as the soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Oratorio Society of New York. Later that week, she sang her Lincoln Center debut in Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Other credits in New York and elsewhere include Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Carissimi’s Jephte with the Trinity Choir, Orff's Carmina Burana and Bach's St. John Mass with Seraphic Fire, and Haydn’s The Creation with the Ulster Chorale. A recent winner in the the NY Oratorio Competition, Ms. Palmer is the soprano soloist in three masses of the Naxos CD recording The Complete Haydn Masses, conducted by Jane Glover and recorded with the Trinity Choir.

yler Ray performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States. Upcoming solo engagements include Handel's Messiah with the Charleston Symphony, Handel's Messiah and Bach's St. Matthew Passion (evangelist) with the Messiah Festival of the Arts, Bach's BWV 182 & 211 with Mountainside Baroque, and Mozart's Requiem with the Yale Recital Chorus. Solo highlights from last season include Haydn's Creation (Uriel) with the Yale Glee Club, Bach's BWV 10 conducted by Matthew Halls, Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 and Arvo Pärt’s Passio conducted by David Hill, and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Stravinski’s Les noces with Yale Camerata. An avid chamber musician, Tyler regularly performs with several professional ensembles, including Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, The Thirteen, and Chorosynthesis. Tyler holds a B.A. in music from Friends University and a M.M. in voice at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music where he studied with renowned tenor, James Taylor.

Melanie Russell, soprano

oprano Melanie Russell’s choral and solo career have taken her from her native New Orleans to New York and around the world with Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach for the past few years. Some recent performance highlights include: Bach’s Magnificat and OsterOratorium with The Sebastians (Greenwich, CT), Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 (Kansas City), Bach’s Mass in B-minor (Augusta, GA), Golijov’s Tenebrae (Decoda, NYC), Bach’s St. John Passion (NYC, Kansas City, Kitchener-Waterloo), and providing backup vocals to Andrea Bocelli's "Adeste Fidelis" at the 2015 Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting on national television. Ms. Russell is an alumna of Centenary College of Louisiana, Loyola University New Orleans, and Yale School of Music. She sings regularly with the Grammy -nominated choir of Trinity Wall Street.

Paul Max Tipton,

bass-baritone

aul Max Tipton is a bass baritone hailed for his “dignity, beauty, and compassion” (Atlanta JournalConstitutional) and his “lustrous, rounded strength” (The Miami Herald), and has performed and recorded throughout North America, Europe, China, and Korea. He solos under such notable figures as Masaaki Suzuki, Matthias Pintscher, Nicholas McGegan, Leonard Slatkin, Ton Koopman, Helmuth Rilling, Craig Hella Johnson, and Martin Katz, and with such organizations as the Bach Collegium Japan, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Apollo’s Fire, Conspirare (Austin), and the New York Philharmonic in their firstever Bach Festival. Recent engagements include Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum at Carnegie Hall, Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion (Christus) at Spoleto Festival USA, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Rameau’s La Lyre Enchantée with Jacques Ogg, and a recording of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with Seraphic Fire which earned a 2012 Grammy nomination. Tipton studied at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Yale University, and was made a Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow in 2012 at Emmanuel Music in Boston. 13

Shari Alise Wilson, soprano

Jonathan Woody, baritone

escribed by critics as having an "agile and crystalline voice," Boston-based soprano Shari Alise Wilson is among the new generation of singers specializing in early and modern music, demonstrating great versatility and stylistic sensitivity. Past highlights include performances at the Houston Early Music Festival, Handel's Messiah with Austin's Ensemble VIII, David Lang's Little Match Girl Passion with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Haydn's Creation with Marsh Chapel Collegium, among others. She has collaborated with Seraphic Fire, Exsultemus, Cambridge Concentus, Boston Cecilia, Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia, and performs regularly with acclaimed Blue Heron, Lorelei Women's Ensemble, and Grammy-nominated Conspirare. She can be heard on the newly released world premiere Blue Heron CD: Nicholas Ludford: Missa Regnum mundi and Kile Smith's Vespers with Piffaro and The Crossing Choir.

alled "charismatic" and "riveting" by the New York Times, bass-baritone Jonathan Woody is a sought-after performer of early and new music across North America. He is a member of the Grammy®nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street and has performed in recent seasons with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, American Classical Orchestra, New York Baroque Incorporated, Bach Collegium San Diego, Handel & Haydn Society, Nashville Symphony, Pegasus Early Music, TENET, the Carmel Bach Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival, Opera Lafayette, and Beth Morrison Productions. Jonathan holds degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park and McGill University and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

STÖRLING DANCE THEATER