Water Music Artwork: Byron Gibbs
Thursday June 7, 2018 Baruch Performing Arts Center
Saturday June 9, 2018 St Luke in the Fields
Remembering Byron Gibbs A Tribute to the C4 Friend and Contributing Artist C4 mourns the loss of our Friend and contributing artist, Byron Gibbs who passed away this year. One of the original members of the “Friends of C4,” Byron actively supported the group through his active participation in C4 and Friends functions, his Þnancial support, and particularly - the generous contributions of his artwork for the beneÞt of C4. Born in New York in 1930, Byron studied painting at The Cooper Union. He worked for some time for the airline industry in graphic design and later joined the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, working there until his retirement. All through this time he continued working on his own art in his studios in Manhattan and in Becket, MA.
We wish to honor Byron for his generosity and dedication to C4, featuring a small set of his beautiful pieces throughout the season. From ByronÕs contributed works for the 2013-14 Innovate|Elevate Season…
From those featured this season…
C 4 : T h e C h o r a l C o m p o s e r / C o n d u c t o r C o l l e c t i ve
Wa t e r M u s i c
Thursday, June 7, 8:00pm: Baruch Performing Arts Center, Manhattan, NY Saturday, June 9, 8:00pm: St. Luke in the Fields, Manhattan, NY
Full Fathom Five
Vince Peterson (b. 1953)
Benjamin Arendsen, conductor Maya Webne-Behrman, Leonore Nelson, Bettina Sheppard, solo trio
poem by William Shakespeare
Water
J. D. Frizzell (b. 1983)
Melissa Wozniak, conductor
poem by Hilda Conkling
Hide and Seek**
Lucas Marshall Smith (b. 1989)
Timothy Brown, conductor
poem by Lucas Marshall Smith Third place winner, IGNITE: C4 Commissioning Competition
Crossing the Bar**
Nilo Alcala (b. 1978)
Benjamin Arendsen, conductor Artemisz Polonyi, soprano Maya Webne-Behrman, alto
poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Second place winner, IGNITE: C4 Commissioning Competition
Fire and Ice
Julian David Bryson (b. 1980)
Drip Dream
Timothy Brown (b. 1963)
Perry Townsend, conductor
poem by Robert Frost
Perry Townsend, conductor
text by Timothy Brown
Intermission
** World Premiere
Big Catch
Bettina Sheppard (b. 1962)
Para além**
Massimo Lauricella (b. 1961)
Timothy Brown, conductor
poem by Misuzu Kaneko
Daniel Andor-Ardó, conductor
poem by Fernando Pessoa First place winner, IGNITE: C4 Commissioning Competition
Fugue with Robin and Dogwood
Carlo Vincetti Frizzo (b. 1979)
Canticum calamitatis maritimae
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (b. 1963)
Daniel Andor-Ardó, conductor Karen Siegel, soprano Perry Townsend, tenor
Karen Siegel, conductor Artemisz Polonyi, soprano Richard Tucker, tenor
Pórtico
poem by Britton Shurley
Wilma Alba Cal (b. 1988)
Karen Siegel, conductor
poem by Frederico García Lorca
** World Premiere
Program Notes and Texts Water Music Who does C4 belong to? Who are our peers and colleagues, whom do we serve? What do we bring to our world? Who is our community? We are one particular eddy in a sea of music-makers; it’s good to sound out who we are from time to time. C4 is clearly a new-music group: we perform premieres on every concert, taking the musical ideas and forms that composers have written down and transforming scores into performed music. This serves the composers, clearly; we also believe it serves our audience, allowing them to share in bringing something brand new to life. Tonight, after careful rehearsal, we share with you brand-new works by the three winners of our 2017–2018 commissioning competition. They showed us works they had already created, and we responded by asking each composer to create something new, something that would be born here and now, with C4 and you privileged to witness this birth. C4 is also a choral group. As obvious as this is, it’s worth repeating. Choral music— something most people have done, formally or casually, at some point—makes an immediate connection to its hearers, sparks a memory of what it’s like to sing with, along with, or to other people. The human voice is a carrier of community. We relate to singing, even virtuosic singing, more directly than we can to purely instrumental or electronic music, which involves skills and technologies we may not possess. We understand voices easily. They may blend into a large whole, like the sea, but they also display individual colors, as light does when it reflects off moving waves. Massimo Lauricella’s “Para além” plays with the contrast between individual lines and the group sound in just this way, acting out explicitly the connection
between water and community. Another of our competition winners, Nilo Alcala, accomplishes the same with Tennyson’s classic poem, “Crossing the Bar”—but these two composers’ voices differ greatly from each other. And a third winner, Lucas Marshall Smith, describes the community of just two lovers, finishing with an image of the sea, in his own unique style. The other pieces on this program were chosen to fit the theme of water music, yet most of them also engage ideas of community: Bettina Sheppard’s “Big Catch,” for example, contrasts communities of fishermen with those of fish; Timothy Brown’s very different “Drip Dream” contrasts the sound of a single drop of water with increasingly large flows of the stuff, up to and including a tsunami, which, as sung by C4’s many voices, serves as a fitting metaphor for the anxiety of an overwhelming society. I encourage you to read the program notes for each individual piece to find more connections between water and community, and to listen for the many sounds of water in each of these works, and to experience the varied ways the voices of C4 combine into a whole. We are grateful to be here with you, sharing these sounds together as part of the same great ocean. —Martha Sullivan
Full Fathom Five Vince Peterson
poem by William Shakespeare In the first act, scene two of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the character Ferdinand hears this beautiful tune being sung to him as comfort since he has lost his father, five fathoms deep in the ocean after a
shipwreck, allegedly caused by a tempest evoked by the magic of Prospero. The voice singing is Ariel, accompanied by spirits. In this version, Ariel’s voice is multigendered and is accompanied by what I affectionately call the “nymphettes” who sing the “ding dong” theme over and over as an ostinato throughout the piece. The D major bell chord with F natural false relation means to hearken to a sort of “fog horn” first in the distance and then closer and closer before revealing itself to us in full array. —Vince Peterson Text: 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 Hark! Now I hear them! Ding dong bell!
Water
J. D. Frizzell
poem by Hilda Conkling “Water” by J. D. Frizzell is the second of three movements of “A Child’s Voice.” It features the poetry of Hilda Conkling, whose entire output was recorded when she was between the ages of four and ten. The simple and imaginative text is matched by Frizzell’s flowing melody lines, which mimic the waving water. The tune is given to the sopranos after which the other parts echo the last segment of the just-sung text. The chords move from consonance to cluster chords, creating more tension as the piece goes on. The piece ends with an aleatoric motive in the treble voices punctuated by short interjections by tenors and basses on “touch the sky.” It was premiered by the University of Southern Mississippi Chamber Singers in 2009. —Melissa Wozniak
Text: The world turns softly not to spill its lakes and rivers. The water is held in its arms and the sky is held in the water. What is water, that pours silver, and can touch the sky?
Hide and Seek
Lucas Marshall Smith
poem by Lucas Marshall Smith The text for “Hide and Seek” is an abstract representation of the desire for human connection. The poem weaves together sensations and memories of a beloved—out of time and fragmented. These feelings swell and dissipate, resurfacing in different guises as memories and emotions often do. The music similarly recalls phrases and motivic material, placing them in different emotional spaces. The same text—for example, “catch me if you can”—is both used as an allusion to a childhood game of hide-and-seek, and as a desire to be supported by someone—to feel that they will “catch you” if you fall. In this way, the beloved invokes both vulnerability and nostalgia. The consequent phrase, “I’ve got you now,” represents both the response in the game and the embodiment of the fear that, once opened to the vulnerability of needing another person, that connection could be lost or taken advantage of. The text “hide and seek” in the third stanza has a similar duality. It conjures the imagery of lovers hiding out from the world and embracing the intimacy of their relationship unafraid. Although this connection is ephemeral, for a moment the lovers can “burrow deep beneath the covers, play hide and seek away from others.” The stanza below was an addition to the original text, creating a gateway into that most intimate representation of the relationship— expressing a denial of self for the beloved: “Will you dip into the endless sea with me? Let its ripples distort our image?” Interwoven the patterns emerge
Locked in beauty; shut away from the world to see Only me and your shining eyes.” —Lucas Marshall Smith Text: Breath that seizes Stops and sneezes Coughs, but fills a heart with reasons Fluttering away Whispered low I heard him say, “It isn’t so.” I’ve got you now! Between the yellows In the purple woven fabrics of your eyes I feel alive I feel alone Catch me if you can! I feel— At home under a tangy colored rock I’ll burrow deep beneath the covers, Playing hide and seek away from others, —it wasn’t so— but now you’ve found me I can’t sleep; I can’t sleep without the colors...
Crossing the Bar Nilo Alcala
poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson I remember, as a young teenager, being deeply moved by my first encounter of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s iconic ode “Crossing the Bar.” The imagery it stirs up, the sense of peace it evokes, and the thoughts and questions it provokes remain to this day for me such a powerful, bright beacon in this journey we call life. I am hoping, as many others do, that at my last earthly breath—whenever that will be —there will be only peace, contentment,
and gratitude. The setting begins with cascading notes forming an aural backdrop for the “sunset and evening star.” The soothing yet melancholic textless motif (solo soprano) is the essence of the one being summoned. It longs for no sorrow, no mourning; this desire is echoed by multiple voices like gentle waves of the sea. And just as the speaker longs for a tide that is full and unagitated, the choral setting proceeds to paint broad strokes of hymn-like chords. As the second half of the poem mirrors its first half, the choral setting almost seemingly (yet not exactly) mirrors the form/structure of its first half. This time this “longing” is expanded to a plaintive, seemingly nostalgic melody and is echoed by several soloists; this crescendos to a full, soaring tutti as it “crosses the bar.” The soothing, textless motif soars and disappears with the “tide”…and its memory, a remnant chord, is now only faintly heard at the end. —Nilo Alcala Text: Sunset and evening star And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea, But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
Fire and Ice
Julian David Bryson poem by Robert Frost
“Fire and Ice,” along with “Quibbles and Quirks” for wind quintet and “Conflictions” for brass quintet, began as exercises in counterpoint. Though I didn’t conceive of them as a set, upon further reflection, I see them as having remarkable similarities. All are for five voices, involve imitation, and represent conversations. “Fire and Ice,” in particular, takes the wellknown poem by Robert Frost and weaves it into a dialogue —at times an argument— inviting both choir and audience to take sides. Because the text is so familiar, I didn’t concern myself with clarity in its setting, instead focusing on the similar vowel sounds central to key words. This leaves the conclusion up to the audience’s decision, even as late as the final chord, where both fire and ice sound simultaneously. —Julian David Bryson Text: Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.
Drip Dream
Timothy Brown
text by Timothy Brown If you’ve ever experienced having your dreams altered by an ambient noise, you’ll easily identify with “Drip Dream.” In just this way, the unsuspecting character in the story of the piece—on the way to sleep—is sent into a frenzied dreamscape of water. “Drip Dream” includes 16 parts devoted to a wide range of watery noises interpreted for the human voice. For this performance,
these effects are prerecorded and accompany the sung material, which varies from 8 to 11 parts. In the main motive of the piece, various 3-note groups are linked among the vocal parts in rising and falling lines. The text for the resulting “waves” of notes consists solely of the word “drip” and sounds such as “pita-pata.” The poor dreamer is represented variously in all sections of the choir. Once drawn in by a crescendo of drips, he/she loosely narrates the resulting trek: from the flooding bedroom, down the resulting stream, riding on a raging river, and out into the storm-driven ocean before landing, finally, on a calm shore. I want to express a great many thanks to C4 for reviving Drip Dream—my debut work with the group which premiered in 2010— to conductor, Perry Townsend and, perhaps most of all, to our favorite recording engineer, C4 alum James Bilodeau. —Timothy Brown Text: Drip drip drip... Drip drip drip... (etc.) Oh! What is that?! Where is it?!! Where is that coming from? Make it stop!! Where is that? Stop it!! Pi-ta-pi-ta.../Ti-pa-ti-pa... Pa-ti-pa-ti.../Ta-pi-ta-pi... (etc.) Raining. Raining?! Can it be raining in my bedroom? Can it be rain? Ah! Rain? Raining? (sigh)
Ah! Floating, I’ll soon be floating... Floating down the stream... When it rains, it pours! How will I stop this flooding?! I’ll wash away!!! White water rapids, Rushing all around, Bed for a boat, Under the covers... I’m... wet! Ah! Will someone save me?! Anyone?! Drip drip drip drip! Water water water water water water water!! Drift - - - ing sea...
out
in - - - to the
Oh! Rogue wave! Oh-Ah! Tsunami!! Monsoon!!! Hurricane!!!! Typhoon!!!!! Oh!!!!!! .... Ooh... Washed up on the shore? Oh, well... I always enjoy the beach.
INTERMISSION Big Catch
Bettina Sheppard
poem by Misuzu Kaneko I was first introduced to the poet Misuzu Kaneko (1903-1930) by my friend, collaborator, and translator, Misa Ogasawara. Misuzu wrote children’s poetry with both simplicity and depth, often juxtaposing different impressions of the same event. The poem, set in a fishing village, opens with a beautiful sunrise, a joyous big catch of herring and
a festival, but then abruptly changes to the perspective of the fish, who see this big catch as a mass funeral. “Big Catch” is one piece in a larger song cycle of Misuzu poetry settings, originally performed by the international group Bridges Vocal Ensemble in 2008, and rewritten for C4 Vocal Ensemble. This version was lengthened to include fragments of the original Japanese and has greater part divisi for the larger ensemble. —Bettina Sheppard Text: Asayake koyake da Tairyo da Oobanishin no Tairyo da Hama wa matsuri no You dakedo Umi no naka dewa Nanman no Nishin no tomurai Suru darou Red glow in the morning sky (sunrise) Big catch! Big catch of large herring! Up on the beach in the fishing harbor, there’s a festival. But under the ocean they’ll mourn For thousands on thousands of herrings. - translated by Misa Ogasawara
Para além
Massimo Lauricella
poem by Fernando Pessoa Composed on the text of the poem “Para além” by Fernando Pessoa, the piece for mixed choir a cappella consists of a single movement in which various episodes alternate without interruption. The poet speaks of the sea to his beloved, of its boundlessness and its murmuring waves; such a powerful image instills fear in the poet, evoking in him the possibility
that there is something better than life itself. This theme inspired me to describe the feelings present in this poem through musical ideas that arise from practically nothing, from just a single sound, and that, slowly opening up almost to describe the expansion of the feeling described by Pessoa, lead to very different musical situations. Starting from a progressive widening of semitone intervals, the polyphonic harmonies reach up to eight real parts whose colors change due to the change of the text. The movement of the choral parts and the harmonic colors that are formed by these overlaps follow the sensations suggested by the text underlining the expressive traits. The continuous contrast and reuniting of polyphony and “chorality” reach various moments of intensity and then rewind and return to the state of the initial mood; this time, however, his state of mind is pervaded by a greater sense of serenity, thanks to an evoked, though not explicit, tonal harmony that, in turn, closes to the initial unison. —Massimo Lauricella Text: Para além do porto Ha só o amplo mar... Mar eterno absorto No seu murmurar... Que amargo o estar Aqui, meu amor... Olho o mar a ondear E um ligeiro pavor Toma em mim a cor De desejar ter Qualquer cousa melhor Que quanto é viver... Beyond the harbor Lies only the wide sea… The eternal sea Absorbed in your whisper… How bitter it is to be
here, my love… I look at the swelling waves And feel a slight dread That gives me the courage To want something, Anything at all worth living for. - Translation courtesy of Fahad Siadat and Livio Baldini Soares
Fugue with Robin and Dogwood Carlo Vincetti Frizzo poem by Britton Shurley
My dear and longtime friend Britton Shurley was the inspiration of this work. The setting of his poem “Fugue with Robin and Dogwood” was yet another chance to collaborate with an artist from my childhood and home. I have always welcomed his insight on art as well as life, and I welcome the opportunity to connect with his poetry. Shurley’s poem musically depicts a common scene in Kentucky. The robin is often one of the first visual signs of an early spring, and in many cultures carries a symbolic meaning of good fortune. However, the poem describes the robin as “just a lone,” and therefore conveys both mystery and sadness within regeneration. For me, the poem resonates with the affect and meaning found in the hymn, “Now the Green Blade Rises,” which is frequently sung in many churches during Eastertide. I was struck by a deep melancholy as I reread Shurley’s passages over and over again. As I’ve aged, I have also found myself worrying about our future in what seems to be a more and more broken world. As a realist, I see no promising outcome due to the constant bombardment of troubling news, but the romantic in me still hopes. I still hope we will find our way and bring in a new spring. —Carlo Vincetti Frizzo
Text: Just a lone robin preening. Just a lone robin preening in the old dogwood’s branches. Just the rust colored chest of that lone robin preening in the dogwood’s old, bud-tipped branches. Those branches whose buds have just opened, and the pink of those just-opened buds. Just the rust colored chest of that lone robin preening and the buds of the dogwood’s old branches. Those branches so pinked with young blossom.
Cathedral Choirs organized by the Conseil Régional de Picardie in 1997, in which it won third place. It was partly written in parallel with More Shakespeare Songs, and these two works share some features. Since I have already been asked this several times before this work even went into print, I will here state for the record that the “folk song” theme is not a genuine folk song. It is intended to sound like a generic (and hence unidentifiable) Western pentatonic folk tune that could be from any country, albeit more probably from the north than from the south. The tune is in fact a highly corrupted version of Nearer, my God, to thee, the hymn tune traditionally (though falsely) held to be the last tune played by the band of the Titanic. —Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
Canticum calamitatis maritimae
Text: Lux æterna luceat eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Miserere Domine.
This work is dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the shipwreck of the Estonia on September 28, 1994. Although fragments of the Requiem text are quoted, the work is not really intended for liturgical use, but rather as a meditation involving three distinct elements: firstly, the individual aspect—the “folk song” soprano solo that begins and ends the work (and that can, but does not have to be, interpreted as the keening or lament of a sailor’s widow); and secondly, the objective aspect—the “precentor” intoning the bare facts of the event in newsreader style; and thirdly, the collective aspect—the extensive setting of the psalm text Qui descendunt mare in navibus (They that go down to the sea in ships).
May the eternal light shine upon them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them. Have Mercy, O Lord. — Requiem Mass
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
The opening and closing sound background, consisting of a text fragment repeated in prayer style, introduces an element of stylized realism. The musical material is almost exclusively based on the pentatonic “folk song” and a symmetrical scale (1/2, 1, 1/2, 1). This work was written for the second European Composition Competition for
Plus octingenti homines vitam amiserunt calamitate navali in Mari Baltico septentrionali facta. Navis traiectoria nomine Estonia, cum Tallinno Stockholmiam versus navigaret, saeva tempestate orta eversa et submersa est. In navi circiter mille vectores erant. Calamitate Estoniae nongenti decem homines perierunt, centum undequadraginta sunt servati. Over eight hundred people perished in a shipwreck in the northern Baltic Sea. The car ferry Estonia, en route from Tallinn to Stockholm, was overturned in a severe storm and sank.
There were about 1000 passengers on board. 910 people lost their lives in the wreck of the Estonia; 139 were saved. — Nuntii Latini weekly radio news broadcast in Latin by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), September 30, 1994 and October 7, 1994, translated into Latin by Reijo Patkäranta and published in 1995. Qui descendunt mare in navibus facientes operationem in aquis multis ipsi viderunt opera Domini et mirabilia eius in profundo Dixit et stetit spiritus procellae et exaltati sunt fluctus eius; ascendunt usque ad caelos et descendunt usque ad abyssos. Anima eorum in malis tabescebat; turbati sunt et moti sunt sicut ebrius et omnis sapientia eorum devorata est. Et clamaverunt ad Dominum cum tribularentur et de necessitatibus eorum eduxit eos et statuit procellam eius; In auram et siluerunt fluctus eius et laetati sunt quia siluerunt et deduxit eos in portum voluntatis eorum. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. — Vulgate Bible, Psalm 107:23–30 Requiem æternam… Eternal rest…
Pórtico
Wilma Alba Cal
poem by Frederico García Lorca In her setting of Frederico García Lorca’s poem of garden imagery, Wilma Alba Cal focuses on the water presumably coming from a fountain. With delightful word painting, she evokes the “silver drum” of the water through staccato phrases and spoken sounds in the opening and closing sections of the piece. Layered on top of this shimmering texture is a melody sung in the nasal style of Afro-Cuban Santería chants. The legato middle section sets the magical remainder of the poem with lush harmonies. —Karen Siegel Text: El agua toca su tambor de plata. Los árboles tejen el viento y las rosas lo tiñen de perfume. Una araña inmensa hace la luna Estrella. The water plays its silver drum. The trees weave the wind and the roses stain it with perfume. An enormous spider turns the moon into a star. - translation by Karen Siegel
Composers (in alphabetical order)
Nilo Alcala
Nilo Alcala is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer whose works have been performed in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. His awards include the POLYPHONOS Young Composer Award from The Esoterics (Seattle, WA), the 2nd Prize Asian Composers League Young Composer Award (Tel Aviv, Israel), and an Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honor) Award from the Philippine President. Alcala’s work Mangá Pakalagián for chorus and kulintang ensemble was commissioned by the Grammy-nominated Los Angeles Master Chorale, directed by Grant Gershon and premiered on November 15, 2015 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. His commissions also include the National Music Competition for Young Artists of the Philippines, the Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival, Korean Ministry of Culture, Asia Europe Foundation, and premieres by the Metro Manila Concert Orchestra. Alcala was soloist and composer-inresidence of the renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers, which performed his works at the Florilege Vocal de Tours (Tours, France), the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (Arezzo, Italy), and numerous international events, including the 2013 American Choral Directors Association National Conference (Dallas, TX), the 9th World Symposium on Choral Music (Puerto Madryn, Argentina), and America Cantat 7 (Bogota, Colombia). An Asian Cultural Council grantee, Alcala is also recipient of a Billy Joel Fellowship at Syracuse University where he earned an MMus in Composition and received the Irene L. Crocker Music Award. He holds a BM in Composition at the University of the Philippines, graduating magna cum laude. His music for the film Homecoming earned nominations for Best Musical Score
at the Metro Manila Film Festival and Star Awards for Movies. A versatile composer, Alcala also serves as music director for Club Six Studios, a Silicon Valley-based mobile video game company.
Timothy Brown
Now in his 10th year with C4, Composer/ Conductor/Bass-Baritone Timothy Brown completed his BA at the University of North Texas and has been a choral professional for more than 30 years, directing and singing with high school, community, and pro chamber choirs. As a composer, Tim focused for a time on music for the theatre. His Curious George toured nationally for over ten years and his songs have been showcased at the BMI Workshop and the West Bank Theatre, in the Donnell Library ‘Songbook,’ and in “A Trace of Love,” an evening devoted entirely to his songs with 6 collaborating lyricists. On the “classical” side, Tim also studied at the Manhattan School of Music with Nils Vigeland. He has been commissioned for sacred works and for collaboration with choreography. His Incidental Dance Suite was premiered at Merkin Concert Hall, and Epitaph: Songs on Poems of Dorothy Parker was recorded by Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano, Theadora Hanslowe. Tim recently realized a long-held dream of witnessing an evening length concert of his own chamber works. The self-presented concert, titled “If Not Now…?” grew out of his conclusion that, at age 55, there’s no sense in continuing to wait to “emerge” as a composer.
Julian David Bryson
Julian David Bryson (www.JulianBryson. com) is Assistant Professor of Music and Fine Arts at Curry College in Milton, MA and recently earned a doctoral degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Kentucky, studying with Dr. Jeff Johnson and Dr. Lori Hetzel. He also earned degrees in conducting and composition from the University of Tennessee. He currently
leads Curry’s choir (Sing!) and teaches an interdisciplinary Introduction to Fine Arts course, Music Theory: Songwriting, and several other music electives. Additionally, he coordinates the music program and chairs the faculty. At UK, his responsibilities included teaching courses in choral methods and conducting, serving as assistant conductor for several ensembles, and accompanying recitals and concerts throughout the School of Music. Julian taught musicians at the Randolph School of Huntsville, AL and Carlisle School of Martinsville, VA, also accompanying community, regional, and state music events including Alabama and Kentucky All-State Choirs. An avid fan of theatre, he has conducted productions ranging from Carmen to Urinetown. A commissioned composer and arranger, Julian holds degrees in conducting and composition from the University of Tennessee. His A Parable of Choices won the Yale Glee Club Emerging Composers Competition, Redemption Mass won the American Choral Directors Association Brock Memorial Student Composition Competition, and the Florida Vocal Association commissioned Clarion Call for their All-State Men’s Chorus and Concert Band. Other works have appeared on recitals and concerts across the country, winning multiple awards, performances, and commissions.
Wilma Alba Cal
Wilma Alba Cal is a Cuban composer of works for choir, orchestra, and chamber ensembles; as well as electroacoustic music and soundtracks for theater and film. Her works have been included on the CD El Canto Quiere Ser Luz (awarded the Echo Klassik Prize of the German Phonographic Academy in 2012), recorded by el Coro Nacional de Cuba; Cantos de Cuba y del Mundo, recorded by Ensemble Vocal Luna; and Transfiguraciones, recorded by Producciones Colibrí. She has participated in festivals in Cuba, Sweden, Colombia, Puerto Rico, USA and Mexico. Her work has been recognized in several competitions in Cuba organized by the National Union
of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), Instituto Superior de Arte, Asociación Hermanos Saía, and Instituto Cubano de la Música. Cal holds a diploma in Creación Sonora con Nuevas Tecnologías from the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras (CMMAS); she attended the Academy of Music and Drama of the University of Goteborg, Sweden; and she is currently a master’s student at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Cuba.
J.D. Frizzell
J.D. Frizzell, a composer, conductor, and baritone, is the Director of Fine Arts and Director of Vocal Music at Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, TN. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Choral Conducting degree from The University of Kentucky. Dr. Frizzell earned the double Master’s in Music Theory/ Composition and Conducting from The University of Southern Mississippi, where he also earned the bachelor’s degree in Music History and Literature. Dr. Frizzell, winner of the 2007 Intégrales Composition Contest, writes music for choir, orchestra, symphonic band, voice, handbells, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments. With music published by many major publishing houses, he has had best sellers throughout the world. Frizzell was chosen by the board of the Tennessee Music Educators Association as the 2011 Outstanding Young Music Educator. Additionally, he was awarded the Dr. Clair E. Cox Award for Teaching Excellence. As the Director of Fine Arts at Briarcrest, Dr. Frizzell leads a faculty of twelve full time faculty-artists and is responsible for coordinating curriculum, instruction, and budgets for all of the fine arts programs (K2-12th grade). He also serves as an advocate and school liaison for all of the visual art, instrumental music, vocal music, dance, theatre, and technical production programs. As the Director of Vocal Music, he teaches the Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, and OneVoice. Additionally, Dr. Frizzell works with the middle and
elementary school choirs when needed. A leader in the contemporary a cappella movement, he is the co-founder and President of The A Cappella Education Association, a nonprofit dedicated to helping groups around the world. His high school a cappella group, OneVoice, is a SONY Recording Artist. They were the winners of the Macy’s A Cappella Challenge judged by Pentatonix and contestants on America’s Got Talent. Frizzell is also the Director of Education and Marketing for Camp A Cappella. Dr. Frizzell is active as a presenter, adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor. As an active member of TNMEA, NATS, ACDA, and WTVMEA, he has served in multiple volunteer capacities, including two-time Chairperson of All-West Honor Choir Auditions and Performances and Choral Festival. He is also the Southern Division ACDA R & S Chair for Men’s Choirs. The board of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation named him one of “Memphis’ Finest” for his philanthropic efforts. He lives in Memphis, TN with his wife, Emily, son, Henry, and dogs, Sally and Ari.
Carlo Vincetti Frizzo
Carlo Vincetti Frizzo is graduating in May with a doctorate degree in both choral conducting and composition at Indiana University. During his studies, he was the associate conductor for NOTUS: Indiana University Contemporary Vocal Ensemble. A strong advocate of new music, Mr. Frizzo was a conductor for Double Exposure, a program between IU composers and film students, and was the music director of New Voices Opera, an opera company focused on the creation and production of new operas. His music has been played nationally and abroad, including ensembles such as Chamber Project St. Louis, C4, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He is a finalist with Honorable Mention for the 2017-2018 of The American Prize in Choral Composition. He was a first place winner of the MTNA National Student Composition Competition, winner of the NOTUS
Choral Composition Contest, and second place winner of the C4 Commissioning Competition. In 2016, he was a composition fellow at the Big Sky Choral Initiative where his music was premiered by Donald Nally and members of The Crossing. Mr. Frizzo holds degrees in Keyboard Studies, composition, and French. Prior to his arrival to Indiana University, he taught at Sam Houston State University.
Massimo Lauricella
After years of concert activity as a pianist, he studied composition and conducting with his father Sergio Lauricella. As composer he quickly gained international attention with his first composition winning the “Valentino Bucchi” prize of Rome in 1986. In the following years his works received much more recognition and began to be diffused throughout the world by internationally renowned soloists, ensembles and conductors. Since 1997, his intense composer activity has taken him towards the specialization in conducting a repertory dealing with the music from ‘900 till nowadays. Among the numerous performances and activities of the following years, we can mention the commission, on request of Luciano Berio, in occasion of the inauguration, the 21st April 2002, of the Auditorium of the Parco della Musica in Rome, and the appointment to “resident composer” at the EinKlang Festival of Wien for the year 2003. In 2004 the Spanish “ACA Foundation” has published a monographic CD of his works and, the same year, the Harvard University gave him the “Fromm Award”. Named “Knight of the Order of Sant’Agata” by the Republic of San Marino in 2007 for his work as conductor, in occasion of 2010 edition, the “N. Paganini” international violin competition commissioned him the compulsory piece for the competition itself. He is regular teacher of Composition at the “N. Paganini” Conservatory in Genoa.
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (b. 1963) is a Finnish composer and translator. A professional
freelance translator, he is also an active semi-professional musician involved mostly in choral singing. Consequently, most of his output as a choral composer consists of choral works, some 100 of which have been published to date. He describes himself as an eclectic traditionalist. His major choral works include Four Shakespeare Songs (1984), Dagen svalnar... (Day is cooling, 1991/1993), Pseudo-Yoik (1994), El Hambo (1997), More Shakespeare Songs (1997), the choral drama SALVAT 1701 (2001), the 40-part Tentatio (2006) and Stuttgarter Psalmen (2009); Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae received 3rd prize in the European composition competition for cathedral choirs in 1997. His major commissions include works for the Cork International Choral Festival (1999), the 700th anniversary of the consecration of Turku Cathedral (2000), the World Symposium on Choral Music (2008), and for Chanticleer (2001) and the King’s Singers (2002). From 2000 to 2005 he was composerin-residence of the Tapiola Chamber Choir, and he has also taught a course in the history of choral music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
Vince Peterson
Vince Peterson is an award-winning composer, conductor, and keyboardist based in Brooklyn, NY. Over his 17+ year career, he has established himself prominently in the world of choral music, most notably having founded the “shape-shifting” vocal ensemble Choral Chameleon in 2008. Under his leadership, Choral Chameleon has premiered more than 150 works since its nascence and has won critical acclaim in The New York Times, Time Out New York, The New York Concert Review, I Care If You Listen, The Examiner, and other publications. In 2015, the ensemble was awarded the prestigious ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming. A native of San Francisco, Peterson studied piano from the age of 6 and organ from the age of 11. He was fortunate to gain touring experience early on in his high school career
as singer and keyboardist, having toured to Italy, The Philippines, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia and having played for Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and sung at an audience for Pope John Paul II. In 2003, Peterson earned the BM in Composition from San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of celebrated vocal music composer, Conrad Susa. He has also studied composition with David Conte, Elinor Armer, and Philip Lasser. In 2007, he earned a Double MM in Composition and Choral Conducting from Mannes College of Music where he studied under pioneer conductor, Mark Shapiro as well as the composer, David Loeb. In addition to his school work, he has had the honor of working closely with choral icons Joseph Jennings, Vance George, and Matthew Oltman. As a prolific arranger, Peterson has most notably received seven commissions to date from the multi-Grammy® Awardwinning ensemble, Chanticleer, whose YouTube videos of Vince’s work have received over half a million views to date. Many of his choral arrangements and his original compositions have become staples for choirs across the United States. Distinguished performance venues include Chicago Symphony Hall, San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, Bartok National Concert Hall in Budapest, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Carnegie Hall, among others. A recognized thought-leader in the music world, The New York Times called Peterson “authoritative beyond his… years,” and The Brooklyn Eagle praised his work as “a stunning symphony of the spiritual and secular,” while hailing him as a solo performer “with depth and vigor” who “provided a universal context which resonated with his audience.” In addition to his work with Choral Chameleon, he joyfully serves as Artistic Director of Empire City Men’s Chorus who he will soon usher through its 25th
Anniversary Season; and Music Director of Regis High School - the only tuitionfree Jesuit high school in the United States and ranked #1 among Catholic secondary schools. In 2018, Vince Peterson was awarded the Louis Botto Award for Innovative Action and Entrepreneurial Zeal by Chorus America, a lifetime distinction he shares with only fourteen of the most influential choral musicians in the United States.
Bettina Sheppard
Bettina Sheppard’s works reflect her varied background as singer, pianist, and composer, after many years spent in dramatic and musical theatre. As a Welsh/ American, her writing is multi-ethnic and demonstrates a fusion of styles and cultures. Some of her vocal works and commissions include song cycle settings of the poets Emily Dickinson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dorothy Parker, and Misuzu Kaneko. Stage productions include the opera Stillwaters, TraumNovela, 365 Days/365 Plays by Pulitzer prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, The Picture of Dorian Grey, and ballets Dream Story, and Gaia. Her works have been performed in New York City’s Lincoln Center, The Public Theatre, Carnegie Hall, City Center, and Symphony Space, as well as venues in Dallas, Boston, and Barcelona and commissioned work for the American Cathedral in Paris. Upcoming works include a more extensive setting of the poetry and life of Japanese poet Misuzu Kaneko, with translator Misa Ogasawara, and the Welsh fairy tales of The Mabinogion. Her ballet music for LLMoves’ latest work, Plastic Ocean, will be performed at the United Nations in June, 2018. Bettina holds graduate degrees summa cum laude from both University of Virginia and CUNY and studied at The Juilliard School. She is the author of The Everything Singing Book, and is on faculty at City College CUNY. She serves as the in-house composer for New York’s Open Center. Some of her works are published by See-a-dot Music Publishing, and her CD Solus, Brythonwen is
available on CD Baby.
Lucas Marshall Smith
Lucas Marshall Smith is a composer/ performer who engages with chamber, choral, orchestral, operatic, and electroacoustic music of varying aesthetics. As a composer, his music endeavors to understand the human experience through the lenses of internal/external cognition, religion/spirituality, and tone/noise relationships. Smith’s work has received accolades from the American Prize—2nd place in the 2017-18 opera/theater/film/ dance division for his one act opera, A Psalm of Silence and an Honorable Mention in 2016-17 for his choral work Lux Aeterna—and the ASCAP Foundation—a finalist in the 2018 Morton Gould Young Composer Awards for his chamber orchestra piece, …through a glass, darkly… Smith’s music has enjoyed both national and international performance. Some recent performances include the Toronto International Electroacoustic Music Symposium (TIES), the International Electroacoustic Music Exhibition (MUSLAB), the RED NOTE New Music Festival, the Society of Composers, Incorporated Student National Conference (SCI), the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States National Conference (SEAMUS), the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), the Electronic Music Midwest Conference (EMM), and the National Student Electronic Music Event (NSEME). Smith has received premieres and commissions from ensembles and music organizations including the New York based Choral Composer/Conductor Collective (C4), ensemble loadbang, the Illinois Modern Ensemble, the Heartland Sings chorale, and ensemble mise-en. Also, active as a performer in the contemporary music scene, Smith is a third of the experimental noise/metal trio, TATWD (a.k.a. Turtles All the Way Down). Smith’s music is recorded on the RMN Classical music label.
We wish to thank and acknowledge our donors: Concert Sponsors Lauren Mitchell & Michael David Ellen Stafford-Sigg & Daniel Sigg Cutting-Edge Circle Nan Bases David Hurd Innovative Circle Feryal Algosaibi Kit Smyth Basquin* Gayann Cotner Patricia Siegel Creative Circle Mark & Kathy Calkin John Evans Gerald Gelber Elizabeth Marker 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 (con’t) 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 Marjorie Naughton Lois & George Orzel Zahra Partovi* Debra Rich Joseph Rubinstein Phillip Schroeder Gail Seiden Robert Smith Martin & Barbara Solomon Anne Thulin* Mary Ellen Townsend Gail Williams William Wydro Grant Yosenick
Contemporary Circle Jeff Bairstow Thomas Baker Nicole Belmont Nina Bitton Craig & Loren Blum Lauren & Michael Blumenfeld Gregory Brown Sandra Carlson Elizabeth Clark Martin & Lisa Cohen Nan & Lee Corbin Donald Crockett Charles Dorkey Orianne Dutka Includes donations from 7/1/17-5/25/18. Concert Sponsor: $1,000-$4,999; Cutting-Edge Circle: $600-999; Neil Farrell Innovative Circle: $350-599; Creative Circle: $125-349; Susan Feingold Contemporary Circle: $1-$124. Katie FitzGerald If we have made an error, please accept our apologies Joseph Fong* and notify us at info@c4ensemble.org. Andrea & David Gelber * Friend of C4
C4 Board of Directors
C4 could not function without the dedicated work of its board of directors. We are very grateful to: Fahad Siadat, Chair Maya Ben-Meir Colin Britt Karen Siegel Larry Siegel Melissa Wozniak, Treasurer
Advisory Board 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
Special Thanks Bruce Saylor Constance Beavon
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
C4 is proud to be a part of
C4’s activities are funded in part with the generous assistance of:
C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective Sopranos
Altos
Tenors
Noele Flowers Jamie Klenetsky Fay Benjamin Arendsen Artemisz Polonyi Carolina Kipnis Mario Gullo Alexandra Schleuderer Jane Lawson Drew Ivarsen Karen Siegel Leonore Nelson Perry Townsend Martha Sullivan Bettina Sheppard Richard Tucker Melissa Wozniak Sarian Sankoh Maya Webne-Behrman
Basses
Daniel Andor-Ardó Hayes Biggs Alexander Boostrom Timothy Brown Brian Mountford David See Blane Shaw
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
photographer: Nadia Mian
For information on C4 members, visit our website: c4ensemble.org/ the-ensemble.html