Premieres I Saturday October 13, 2018 at 8pm Church of St. Luke in the Fields 487 Hudson Street, Manhattan
Cheryl Aden C4's 2018-19 Featured Artist
C4 welcomes photographer Cheryl Aden as our 2018-19 Featured Artist and creative collaborator. She has contributed photos from her body of work to C4's season. Cheryl describes her artistic style and inspiration:
www.cheryladen.com
Nature is my photographic playground. From wideangle to micro-landscapes, and close-up portraits of organic life or inorganic forms, I explore the sensuosity and drama of the natural world. My training and background as an actress and singer lay the groundwork for a visual storytelling: my work investigates tension, relationship, tonality, vibrancy in what is discarded as well as what is saved, in what is mundane and commonplace as well as what is extraordinary. Always a bit of the rebel, I challenge the notion of beauty and traditional views.
Watch for your opportunity to own one of these beautiful photographs at an art auction in 2019, for the benefit of C4.
Many thanks to Cheryl for her generosity and creative dedication to C4.
C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective
PREMIERES I Saturday, October 13, 8:00pm: St. Luke in the Fields, Manhattan, NY
Tell me where is fancy bred
Michael Wiener (b. 1975)
Timothy Brown, conductor
text by William Shakespeare
Epitafio para un poeta
Qianni Lin (b. 1993)
Perry Townsend, conductor
poem by Octavio Paz
Rejoice, O Jerusalem
William David Cooper (b. 1986)
Melissa Wozniak, conductor Rebecca Ehren, soprano Benjamin Arendsen, tenor
text from Isaiah 66:10-11 and Psalm 122
March Creek
Mario C. Gullo (b. 1973)
Restat Lux
David Werfelmann (b. 1983)
Melissa Wozniak, conductor
poem by Michael J. Nicosia
from Harmonices Mundi: Five Secular Motets on the Harmony of the World Daniel Andor-Ardó, conductor
Two Choral Excerpts
from the opera Christine Benjamin Arendsen, conductor Greta Moorhead as Narrator Daniel Andor-Ardó as Loudspeaker Voice Perry Townsend as Jim Jones John Root, piano I. Come On II. Let's Go
Gegen Verführung
Benjamin Arendsen, conductor Alexandra Schleuderer, soprano Timothy Brown, bass
Gloria
Perry Townsend, conductor
text by Johannes Kepler
Perry Townsend (b. 1965)
libretto adapted by the composer
Amir Shahzeidi (b. 1995) poem by Bertold Brecht
John William Griffith II (b. 1997)
text from the Greater Doxology of the Latin Mass
A Note from C4 This fall C4 moves forward by returning to its roots. Over a decade ago, the group was founded by composers who wanted to workshop the choral music they were writing, wanted to explore the limits and possibilities of music for voices by rehearsing and performing it together. Over the years, C4 has grown as a performing ensemble, and while we have always been happy to consider submissions of completed scores for programming, we've never invited composers to workshop material during the rehearsal process. This changes now. Welcome to our Premieres series, in which several composers are bringing their work to C4 for critique, to help them figure out the most effective ways to create and notate music for chorus. Tonight you will hear music that has been refined through the workshop process, which can be challenging! You may wonder what the composers themselves think of the process. Here are a few words from tonight's composers, as well as from a few C4 composers who have had their works critiqued in past years: "It is never too late to learn from those around you." "Feedback from composers from strikingly different perspectives helps give clarity to ideas I hadn’t even considered before in my own work." "Composers are intimately tangled with our creations; we look at our music and think, 'It's so obvious what that means, right?' Wrong—it would be even clearer this way..." "Composing is a solitary practice, and C4 helps to bring the venture into the light." "They (the members of C4) stimulate me to write more chorus pieces in future." "It was like seeing a picture that was previously only available in black-and-white for the first time in color." These composers are brave and wonderful: it takes courage to put a new work in front of 25 experienced singers, conductors, and fellow composers, and then ask for critique. We hope you admire this new music and the people who create it as much as we do; we are thrilled to help bring it to life, any and every way we can. - Martha Sullivan
Tell me where is fancy bred Michael Wiener
text by William Shakespeare (from The Merchant of Venice) Tell me where is fancy bred, Or in the heart or in the head? How begot, how nourishèd? Reply, reply. It is engendered in the eyes, With gazing fed, and fancy dies In the cradle where it lies. Let us all ring fancy’s knell I'll begin it.—Ding, dong, bell. Ding, dong, bell.
Michael Wiener Michael Wiener was a member of the composition class of Alexander Müllenbach at the Conservatory of Luxembourg from 2002 to 2006, where he received a composition certificate “supérieur avec la qualification très bien.” He was also awarded prizes at the Carl von Ossietzky composition competition in Oldenburg, the Engelbert Humperdinck competition in Siegburg, and the Artistes en herbe competition in Luxembourg. His choir piece “Major autem ex his est caritas” was chosen as a winner in the composition contest of Universal Sacred Music in New York City and was recorded by Harold Rosenbaum with the New York Virtuoso Singers (published on CD by Soundbrush Records). Further choir pieces include “Requiem vernalem,” “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” and “Religious freedom.” His works were also selected in calls for scores by Vox Novus, Via Nova Choir, and Fidelio Trio. His choir works have been featured in international festivals, including the Festival of Universal Sacred Music in New York, Rhythms of One World in Geneva, Schubertiade in Bienne, Biennale d’art sacré contemporain in Paris, and the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music.
Epitafio para un poeta Qianni Lin
poem by Octavio Paz Quiso cantar, cantar para olvidar su vida verdadera de mentiras y recordar su mentirosa vida de verdades.
He tried to sing, sing to forget his true life of lies; and to remember his lying life of truths.
Qianni Lin Qianni Lin (born in 1993) is a rising Chinese composer pursuing a master’s degree at Mannes School of Music. Qianni began studying piano at the age of four and began studying composition at age thirteen. Currently, she studies with Ruo Huang. Her electronic piece "Ripple" was performed for the National Student Electronic Music Event at the University of North Texas in 2018. Her string quartet "Rebound," which was commissioned by Beo String Quartet, was performed in 2018 at the Charlotte New Music Festival. Qianni was previously a student at Music Middle School, affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. There, her teacher was Ying Ding, who is the vice president of the school. During her middle school studies, her work "In the Memory of the Spring & Autumn Dynasty" won the nomination of the Confucius Ode Folk Chamber Music Composition Competition and was published by Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press in 2009. In 2010, her lied "Wild Sea" was published in the scholarly journal Music Composing (234th issue). In 2011, her piano work "Portrait of Mao Tsetong" won the fourth medal at the Golden Key Piano Compositions Competition. In 2012, her piano trio work "Elapse" won the special mention with talent for the IBLA Grand Prize. She has been enrolled by Shanghai Conservatory of Music and continues her composing career as a student of Xianglin Zhou. In 2014, her duo "Mistake" won the third pride of the Folk Chamber Music Competition of the College of Music and Art. She also was commissioned by Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra to compose the symphony piece "Palace of Eternal Youth," which was performed in December 2014.
Rejoice, O Jerusalem William David Cooper
text from Isaiah 66:10-11 and Psalm 122 Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and come together, all you that love her. Rejoice with gladness, all you who have been in sorrow, That you may exult, that you may be filled with the breasts of your consolation. I was glad when they said unto me: we will go into the house of the Lord. Amen.
William David Cooper Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle for his “richly soaring vocal lines,” William David Cooper is the composer of three operas and music for orchestra, chamber ensembles, Baroque instruments, chorus, film, and dance. His operas have been performed by Fort Worth Opera, West Edge Opera, and the National Opera Association, among others. His music has also been performed by Augustin Hadelich, Liza Stepanova, The New York Virtuoso Singers, Antico/Moderno, Splinter Reeds, the Lysander Trio, ECCE Ensemble, the Lydian String Quartet, the Calder Quartet, and the Juilliard Orchestra. An alumnus of the Juilliard School and the University of California, Davis, Cooper serves on the faculty of the Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and as organist and choirmaster at St. James Episcopal Church in New London. More information at williamdavidcooper.com.
March Creek Mario C. Gullo
poem by Michael J. Nicosia March creek: bleak scene 'til growth peeks through wintry debris as old leaves cascade past fresh beginnings. As it passes, the butterfly connects forsythia yellow to daffodil gold. Dark colors erupt within, spilling out old desires that color the now. Though I paint the world rare with palette raw, in spite of this, I miss you. Myth mixes with memory - insights into things done and felt and reacted to, in light of what’s happened in others’ tales.
Mario Gullo Mario Gullo has been seen in New York at Alice Tully Hall, City Center, the Dramatist’s Guild, and the Barrow Street Theater. His favorite so far has been appearing with Barbara Cook in concert at Carnegie Hall. Regionally, he has performed at Artpart, the Theater of Youth, Tri-State Center for the Performing Arts, and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. He has had pieces performed by the New York City Master Chorale and Bridges Vocal Ensemble.
Restat Lux
from Harmonices Mundi: Five Secular Motets on the Harmony of the World David Werfelmann text by Johannes Kepler
Restat lux. Clarissimus sol harmoniarum coelestium statim enititur. Restat lux.
Light remains. The most resplendent sun of the celestial harmony steadily shines. Light remains.
David Werfelmann David Werfelmann is an award-winning American composer of instrumental, vocal, and electronic music whose works are widely performed and recorded by ensembles and soloists throughout the U.S. Among the many professional ensembles that have performed his works are the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, The Zzyzx Quartet, and the Hear Now Ensemble. David’s music can be heard on five professionally recorded CDs, including the Fischoff Award-winning Barkada Quartet’s premiere album, Aventura. His music is heard frequently at conferences and festivals, such as the NOW HEAR Festival, several North American Saxophone Alliance conferences, the Society of Electroacoustic Music in the United States convention, the USF New Music Festival and Symposium, the CSU Fullerton New Music Festival, the Berkeley Arts Festival, and the Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium. David has been commissioned by ensembles such as the Slipstream Quartet, the HOCKET piano duo, the Hear Now Ensemble, the WMTA, and a consortium of college wind ensembles, as well as soloists including Michael Mizrahi, Andrew Harrison, and Rafael Liebich. David is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at Webster University in Saint Louis and has received music degrees from USC (DMA), Indiana University (MM), and Lawrence University (BM). For scores, recordings, and to contact David, please visit www.davidwerfelmann.com.
Two Choral Excerpts
from the opera-in-progress Christine Perry Townsend
Libretto adapted by the composer from Fielding McGehee’s transcription of FBI audiotape Q 042, documenting the events of November 18, 1978 I. Come On
II. Let's Go
Loudspeaker Voice: Attention. Everyone report at once to the Pavilion, for a meeting.
Jim Jones: I saved you, but I made my example. I made my confession. I made my mmuh, mmue, mmaaaa-ni-feth-tathun, and the world was, was ready … nnnot ready for me! Paul said, “I was a mmm-aaaan born out of due season.” I’ve been born out of due season, just like all we are, and the best testimony we can make is to leave this God-damn world!
Crowd: Come on. Come on. Loudspeaker Voice: Repeat. Everyone to the Pavilion NOW. Crowd: Come on, let’s go. Come on, better hurry. Better move it. Yeah, that’s right. Okay. Let’s do it. Here we go. Come on, move it. Oh, come on!
Crowd: Yeah! Right on! Let’s do it, right, come on, oh yeah! Come on, let’s go! That’s right, hell yeah, it’s over! Huh! What a legacy! It’s over, it’s all over, we’re ready! We’re all ready to go. Let’s go!
Perry Townsend Perry Townsend is a composer and performer whose work has been called “a journey through sounds rich in surprises.” His music can be heard on American Modern Recordings and Ravello Records, and has been performed at Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, Tenri Cultural Institute, Roulette, and The Duplex. He has been commissioned by Bowdoin International Music Festival and Barbad Chamber Orchestra, and has premiered works at the ppIANISSIMO Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the Fontainebleau School. As a conductor, he leads the Angelic Voices Youth Chorus and Immaculate Conception Contemporary Ensemble, and has led the Community Singers of Queens. He is a co-founder of The Next Stage multidisciplinary new works ensemble. As a vocalist, he has sung with Canticum Novum and the Choir of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin. He studied at Copland School of Music with Thea Musgrave, and N.C. School of the Arts with Sherwood Shaffer. Currently, he is working with acclaimed mezzo Tichina Vaughn to create an opera about Christine Miller, the lone dissenter at Jim Jones’ Guyana commune in 1978.
Gegen Verführung Amir Shahzeidi
poem by Bertold Brecht Laßt Euch nicht verführen! Es gibt keine Wiederkehr. Der Tag steht in den Türen, ihr könnt schon Nachtwind spüren: Es kommt kein Morgen mehr.
Don’t let yourselves be tempted! There is no return. The day stands in the doorways, You can already feel the night wind: There will be no more tomorrow.
Laßt Euch nicht betrügen! Das Leben wenig ist. Schlürft es in vollen Zügen! Es wird Euch nicht genügen, wenn Ihr es lassen müßt!
Don’t let yourselves be deceived! Life is little. Slurp it in full strokes. It will not be enough for you, When you must leave it!
Laßt Euch nicht vertrösten! Ihr habt nicht zu viel Zeit! Laßt Moder den Erlösten! Das Leben ist am größten: Es steht nicht mehr bereit.
Don’t let yourselves be consoled! You don’t have much time! Leave the decay of the released! Life is the greatest: It doesn’t stand ready anymore.
Laßt Euch nicht verführen Zu Fron und Ausgezehr! Was kann Euch Angst noch rühren? Ihr sterbt mit allen Tieren und es kommt nichts nachher.
Don’t let yourselves be tempted To drudgery and being robbed of one’s strength What can still stir fear in you? You will die with all the animals And nothing will come afterwards.
Amir Shahzeidi Currently studying music composition at Tbilisi state conservatory under Eka Chabashvili’s guidance, Amir Shahzeidi is a classically trained pianist and composer who was born in Isfahan, Iran. He started playing piano at the age of 7. When he was only 17, due to all the difficulties of living in Iran and the lack of a good piano teacher, Amir decided to leave Iran and move to Tbilisi, Georgia, to pursue his music career in a post-Soviet country with a rich classical music history. Thereafter, he soon realized that his true passion lay not only in playing piano but also in composing music. “Gegen Verführung” is one of his earliest works, which won him first prize at the Third International A. D. Kastalsky Choral Music Competition.
Gloria
John William Griffith II
text from the Greater Doxology of the Latin Mass Gloria in excelsis Deo Et in terra pax hominibus bonæ voluntatis.
Glory to God in the highest And on earth, peace and good will to all men.
John William Griffith II John William Griffith II is a composer and pianist from South Bend, Indiana. He currently attends the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington, where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in music composition. His teachers have included Dr. Aaron Travers, Dr. Claude Baker, Dr. Don Freund, and Prof. SvenDavid Sandström. He is also a member of NOTUS Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, directed by Dr. Dominick DiOrio. John began composition lessons with Dr. Jorge Muñiz in 2014 at Indiana University South Bend. His works have been performed by various ensembles including the Vancouver Chamber Singers, the South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble CONCEPT/21, the South Bend Chamber Singers, and the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen Arts Camp. John was recently selected as the recipient of the Jon Vickers Film Scoring commission at the Indiana University Cinema, for which he will compose a full length score for a feature film under the guidance of Professor Larry Groupé. Additionally, he is composing a one-act opera for IU’s New Voices Opera 2019 Double Bill, with libretto based on Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. John’s piano teachers have included Mr. Andrew Sohn, Dr. John Blacklow, Dr. Michael Coonrod, Dr. Robert Satterlee, Dr. Anthony Beer, and Ms. Kathleen Keasey. He has performed in master classes with renowned pianists, including Alexander Toradze, John Perry, and Leon Bates. With a wide range of interests, John also pursues studies in voice, conducting, and Italian language.
We wish to thank and acknowledge our donors: Concert Sponsors Feryal Algosaibi Lauren Mitchell & Michael David Ellen Stafford-Sigg & Daniel Sigg Cutting-Edge Circle Nan Bases David Hurd Innovative Circle Kit Smyth Basquin* Gayann Cotner Bruce Saylor Patricia Siegel Creative Circle Mark & Kathy Calkin John Evans Gerald Gelber Elizabeth Marker Mary Meyer Sue Backstrom & Jon Minikes Debby Katz & Ian David Moss Charles Natt Rochelle & Bernard Natt Linda Schrank* Harold See Kenneth & Jean Telljohann Bill Tribby David Wozniak Anonymous (1) Contemporary Circle Jeff Bairstow Thomas Baker Nicole Belmont Nina Bitton Craig & Loren Blum Lauren & Michael Blumenfeld Andre Bregegere Gregory Brown
Contemporary Circle (cont'd) Sandra Carlson Elizabeth Clark Martin & Lisa Cohen Nan & Lee Corbin Donald Crockett Charles Dorkey Orianne Dutka Neil Farrell Susan Feingold Katie FitzGerald Joseph Fong* Andrea & David Gelber Ellen Gesmer Grace Goodman Diane Gottlieb Jeanine Hartnett Ira & Becky Horowitz Jeffrey James Linnea Johnson Charles Katz Janet Keogan Sarah Kerner Bob & Jan Klump Rob LaDuca Jon & Miriam Lafferty Parky Lee The Levin-Delsons Linda & Leslie Libow Stanley & Nannette Lieblein Evelyn Liston James Stephen Longo Peter Lurye Stella McKeown Blair McMillen Angela Menghraj Edward & Rose Mermelstein Peter & Christine Metz Howard Miller Philip Morehead Ruth Mueller-Maerki
We wish to thank and acknowledge our donors (cont'd): Contemporary Circle (cont'd) Marjorie Naughton Lois & George Orzel Zahra Partovi* Laura Perrone Debra Rich Joseph Rubinstein Phillip Schroeder Gail Seiden Robert Smith Martin & Barbara Solomon Anne Thulin* Mary Ellen Townsend Gail Williams William Wydro Grant Yosenick
Includes donations from 7/1/17 - 10/1/18 Concert Sponsor: $1,000-$4,999 Cutting-Edge Circle: $600-$999 Innovative Circle: $350-$599 Creative Circle: $125-$349 Contemporary Circle: $1-$124 If we have made an error, please accept our apologies and notify us at info@c4ensemble.org. *Friend of C4
C4 Board of Directors
Advisory Board
C4 could not function without the dedicated work of its board of directors. We are very grateful to:
Eric Banks Lisa Bielawa David Harris David Hurd Aaron Jay Kernis Tania León Harold Levine Clara Longstreth Ian David Moss Tarik O'Regan Kent Tritle Toby Twining
Fahad Siadat, Chair Maya Ben-Meir Colin Britt Karen Siegel Larry Siegel Melissa Wozniak, Treasurer
Special thanks to our composer mentors for the Premieres I Workshop: Hayes Biggs Mario Gullo Brian Mountford Hilary Purrington David See Martha Sullivan
Support Us! Please consider joining C4's family of supporters by donating online at c4ensemble.org/support-c4 or sending a check made out to C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, to: C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective c/o The Artist Co-op 500 West 52nd Street, 3W New York, NY 10019
Don't miss C4's Premieres II! C4 presents a second concert of choral world premieres, featuring composers Alexander Boostrom, Cem Güven, Tamsin Jones, Jamie Klenetsky Fay, Anselm McDonnell, Artemisz Polonyi, amd Harriet Steinke. Saturday, December 1, 2018 - 8:00pm St. John in the Village Church 218 West 11th Street New York, NY C4 exists to enrich artists and audiences alike, through passionate advocacy of new choral works, performing pieces written within the last 25 years, premiering and commissioning new choral works, and mentoring emerging singers, composers, and conductors of today's choral music. www.c4ensemble.org C4 is proud to be a part of the
C4's activities are funded in part with the generous assistance of:
C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective Sopranos Jessica Corbin Rebecca Ehren Alexandra Schleuderer Joy Tamayo Melissa Wozniak Jennifer Wu
Tenors Benjamin Arendsen Eli Berman Mario Gullo Drew Ivarson Nicholas Prior Perry Townsend
Altos Maya Ben-Meir Catey Esler Jane Lawson Greta Moorhead Hilary Purrington Maya Webne-Behrman
Basses Daniel Andor-Ardó Hayes Biggs Alexander Boostrom Timothy Brown Brian Mountford David See
For more information on C4 members, visit our website: c4ensemble.org/the-ensemble.html