C4: Organic

Cornerstones: Organic Music for Choir and Organ

June 9 and 11, 2016, St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church, NYC Special Guest Artist: James Kennerley, Organist Laudate Dominum

Conductor: Daniel Andor-Ardó Soloists: Karen Siegel, soprano, and Maya Ben-Meir, mezzo-soprano

Care, Charminge Sleepe

Conductor: Nate Barnett Soloist: Martha Sullivan, soprano

Perry Townsend (b. 1965)

Tarik O’Regan (b. 1978)

* Fortunes Pantoum

Hayes Biggs (b. 1957)

§ Impermanence

Karen Siegel (b. 1980)

* O Oriens

Mario Gullo (b. 1973)

Conductor: Perry Townsend Soloist: Martha Sullivan, soprano Instruments: Brian Mountford, VibraSlap; Martha Sullivan, Chinese Opera Gong

Conductor: Benjamin Arendsen

Conductor: Karen Siegel

Intermission

* Tomaraji na kumo

Jamie Klenetsky Fay (b. 1984)

Cantos Sagrados

James MacMillan (b. 1959)

Conductor: Melissa Wozniak

I. II. III.

Identity Virgin of Guadalupe Sun Stone

Conductor: Colin Britt

The Beatitudes

Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)

Conductor: Martha Sullivan

* Premiere § Premiere of the version for organ and choir; Impermanence also exists in a version for choir and electric chamber ensemble

Cornerstones: Organic Program Notes and Texts “Organic” is the third concert in C4’s Cornerstones year.

Our cornerstones, from the standpoint of repertoire, are the things we value.

These include: • Important repertoire that is underperformed, such as MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados—this work is very difficult, and its text is merciless, so performances require bravery; • Beauty, as in Tarik O’Regan’s “Care, Charminge Sleepe”, whose sumptuous harmonies demand that we find as much beauty as we can in our own voices; • Nurturing composers’ individual voices, as heard in works premiered on this concert: Hayes Biggs, Jamie Klenetsky Fay, Mario Gullo, Karen Siegel, and Perry Townsend sound nothing like each other, and yet their works draw out the best in C4 as we strive to bring their works fully alive.

features several pieces with secular texts, or dialogues between sacred and secular, and sometimes the organ drops away entirely to allow space for music outside the Western tradition. We place “Care, Charminge Sleepe” immediately after “Laudate Dominum,” and we follow the harrowing Cantos Sagrados with a sacred piece, Arvo Pärt’s “The Beatitudes.” “Sometimes you worry too much about death,” the text of “Fortunes Pantoum” warns, and then we are caught up in the waves of “Impermanence.” Listeners will find many such threads in this program. C4 is not a church choir, and its membership claims no common creed; juxtaposing these works in concert suggests that it may be worthwhile to ask what role the sacred plays in the discourse of our time.

We cannot answer that question, but we can offer this music as an invitation to exploration.

While this concert draws its name— “Organic”—from the simple fact of our collaboration with organist James Kennerley, the word points to something more subtle: in programming a C4 concert, we strive to put together works that contrast greatly yet speak to each other in some natural way, as if sprung from a common seed. The organ is generally used for sacred music, yet this concert

—Martha Sullivan

Laudate Dominum Music: Perry Townsend Text: Psalm 117 Blake often used images of blacksmithing a“Laudate Dominum” takes the frequently set Psalm 117 text and re-imagines it as a passionate, even aggressive, declaration

of praise. Its harmonic world leans away

et nunc et semper

from traditional tonality, yet occasionally

et in saecula saeculorum.

flirts with it. More than one person has

Amen.

commented that it seems a bit French.

Maybe I was feeling French that year? It

Sing praise to God, all nations;

was composed in 1998, for the Church of St.

praise Him all people.

Mary the Virgin choir (of which I was then

For He has shown His kindness toward us,

a member) and organist Ken Cowan, on the

His love and merciful kindness,

occasion of Corpus Christi.

and the truth of God lasts for eternity.

The organ is no mere accompanist here, but an equal partner with the choir, going

Glory to the Father and the Son

long stretches by itself, both introducing

and the Holy Spirit,

material and commenting on the sung text.

as it was in the beginning

Centrally featured in the organ part are the

and will be now and always,

refracted trumpet fanfares that dance about

world without end.

crunchily, producing frenetic energy and

Amen.

firing off echoes. Against this, the choir’s phrases are at times ecstatic, strident, lyrical,

Care, Charminge Sleepe

or wistful.

Music: Tarik O’Regan

The middle section is a Gloria Patri, which

Text: John Fletcher

(atypically perhaps for that text) is the most gentle and childlike music of all, an

The text of “Care charminge Sleepe” is

inner world contemplated by two soloists

drawn from the play “Valentinian,” a

nestled in fluteness. Toward the end, as the

revenge tragedy by the English playwright

trumpets return, crashing into one another,

John Fletcher. It is prefaced in the text by the

a wall of sound mounts up, leading the

words, “Musick and Song,” and is delivered

chorus into a swirling headwind that breaks

over the title character’s frail body, an appeal

out into something resembling A major. At

to easy, uninterrupted sleep, “brother to

least, the organ seems to think so.

death.”

—Perry Townsend

Tarik

O’Regan’s

setting

mesmerically

reveals the text through the slow unfolding Laudate Dominum omnes gentes,

of its dense, double-choir texture. The piece

laudate eum omnes populi.

begins with hushed voices in rhythmic

Quoniam confirmata est super nos,

canon displaced by the eighth note, creating

misericordia ejus,

a sense of quiet tumult, unanchored by

et veritas Domini manet in aeternum.

a clear beat. This opening is followed by hypnotic sections of chant by each choir,

Gloria patri et filio

adorned by a lone soprano voice, as if to

et spiritui sancto,

conjure the mysterious powers of sleep.

sicut erat in principio

The central section of the piece, beginning

“Or painful to his slumbers,” is a massive

Jonah’s prayer from inside the whale and

double canon at the octave and fifth, set,

Rochelle Jewel Shapiro’s poem The fireflies

as at the beginning, with unevenly spaced

have barely winked their neon green

entrances that unfold into a mounting chaos

involve similar, though opposite, shifts

of sound. Tones from the organ gradually

in perspective and mood. Jonah recounts

pile up and crescendo, leading to a soaring

his near-death, a dark time for sure. Yet,

soprano climax on the text, “Thou son of

his overall expression is one of gratitude.

Night, Pass by his troubled senses, singe

Shapiro’s

his pain.” The voices then quickly fade to a

depictions of nature through the passing

volatile homophonic texture, as the melodic

seasons that seem peaceful, until the final

subject is sung one last time by the altos

line reveals an underlying anxiety about

and tenors of the first choir. To conclude,

these changes.

O’Regan sets the final two lines to music

I have split the choir into two, with the men

based closely upon the opening, with

singing the biblical text and the women

identical sonorities and contrapuntal shapes.

singing Shapiro’s poem.

It grows briefly intense, and then collapses

organ stops are also divided into two

to a barely audible E-flat in octaves.

groupings, with a different color for each.

Organ is used sparingly throughout the

The alternating men’s and women’s voices

piece, employed during transitions and as

inhabit very different sound-worlds at first,

support for choral climaxes. The writing

singing in different textures and modes.

is texturally similar to vocal writing, and

They gradually influence each other, and

serves to extend and enrich the choral sound,

eventually do come together, though they

rather than to operate as an accompaniment.

never merge completely.

—Nate Barnett

C4 and Fireworks premiered the version

poem

consists

of

beautiful

The choices of

with electroacoustic ensemble in 2012, and Care-charming Sleep, thou easer of all woes,

I am very glad that C4 is now returning to

Brother to Death, sweetly thyself dispose

Impermanence to premiere the original

On this afflicted prince; fall like a cloud

version with organ.

In gentle showers; give nothing that is loud,

Arendsen and C4 for bringingImpermanence

Or painful to his slumbers; easy, sweet,

to life with thoughtfulness, attention to

And as a purling stream, thou son of Night,

detail (how exactly does one pronounce

Pass by his troubled senses; sing his pain,

“rhododendron” and “pachysandra”?), and

Like hollow murmuring wind or silver rain;

beauty.

Into this prince gently, oh, gently slide,

—Karen Siegel

Thank you to Ben

And kiss him into slumbers like a bride.

The fireflies have barely winked their neon

Impermanence

green

Music: Karen Siegel

when the tiny tulips

Text: Excerpts from the book of Jonah;

in their orange flame skirts

poetry by Rochelle Jewel Shapiro

have fallen from the arms of the yellow poplar.

The rhododendron petals have fallen, too,

Waters nearly choked me to death.

leaving clumps of pea-like pods

The darkness encircled me,

and brown shafts.

weeds tangled in my hair.

Not long ago, the flowering pear showered

Those who cling to hollowness have lost your trust.

its flurry of snowy blossoms When my soul died within me I remembered and the pink bunched crepe paper

you.

flowers of the cherry tree drifted down, exposing

I have turned away, but I keep looking for you.

dark scarred bark

—Jonah 2:4-10, translated and altered order

and gnarled branches.

of lines by Karen Siegel

Just beyond the adamant

Fortunes Pantoum

white bloom of the Korean Dogwood,

Music: Hayes Biggs

the pines will begin to drop

Text: Jane Shore

their dried needles

In 1984 I wrote a three-minute song—a mini variation set, really—called Northeast

onto beds of shivering pachysandra

Reservation Lines, on a poem by Jane Shore,

and the impatiens, stricken by a sudden

based on an airline’s recorded “on hold”

night frost,

message: “Northeast Reservation Lines are

will be felled against the spotted grass.

busy. As soon as an agent becomes available, we will connect you. Thank you for waiting.

Hold me.

This message will be repeated.” As in the old “telephone” game, the original message

—Rochelle Jewell Shapiro

becomes hopelessly garbled over a series of attempted repetitions, a state reflected in the

You threw me into the heart of the ocean,

metamorphoses of the musical setting. After

and water swirled around me,

hearing Northeast Reservation Lines, Jane

your waves washed over me.

suggested Fortunes Pantoum (her “only other Found Poem,” as she describes it) as a

I went down into the depths of the

possible candidate for a choral setting. Many

mountains,

years later, I finally have gotten around to

trapped forever in this underworld.

it. Shore’s note on her poem follows, which she prefaces with a quotation from Lewis

But you saved me.

Turco’s The New Book of Forms.

I am grateful.

A Malayan form. Accentual Syllabic. Lines can be of any single length in any particular meter.

A Pantoum consists of an indefinite number of

finger-snapped rhythms, divided between

quatrain stanzas with particular restrictions:

two groups within the ensemble; 2) the

lines two and four, in their entirety, are repetons,

intriguingly named Vibra-Slap, heard nearly

(repeating lines)—they become lines one and

every time the word “you” is sung; and 3) a

three of the following stanza, and so on. The

Chinese Opera Gong with an upward pitch

rhyme scheme (if any is used) is interlocking. The

bend, reserved for the second iterations

poem can end in a quatrain whose repetons are

of the words “life” and “death” (the latter

lines one and three of the first stanza in reversed

complete with its own obligatory Dies irae

order, or in a repetons couplet consisting of line

quotation), and for both occurrences of

one and three in reversed order.

the word “news.” The melodic modules of which the piece is comprised are specific

“In other words,” Shore writes, “a Pantoum

to the individual lines and their later

is a dance in which you take two steps

repetitions; sometimes their returns are

forward and one step back. For this

nearly literal, other times more varied.

verse form to work, I needed to use short sentences that were complete in themselves,

—Hayes Biggs

and the fortunes in fortune cookies seemed the perfect uniform line length. To start, I

You will go on a long journey

bought several boxes of fortune cookies at

You will have a happy and healthy life

Sages in Harvard Square, hoping to have

You will recover valuables thought lost

lots of good lines to pick and choose from.

You will marry and have many children

When I got home, I couldn’t wait to break open the cookies and begin to arrange the

You will have a happy and healthy life

fortunes on the table, and make a story.

Your sweetheart will always be faithful

This was a time-consuming process—in

You will marry and have many children

the 1970s, before computers could cut and

You will have many friends when you need

paste for you automatically. While writing

them

‘Fortunes Pantoum’ I discovered that when I used the line from a fortune the first time it

Your sweetheart will always be faithful

meant one thing, but when it was repeated a

Soon you will come into a large inheritance

second time, its meaning changed. I had not

You will have many friends when you need

expected a second darker, a more haunting,

them

provocative poem to arise out of the original

You will succeed in your line of work

one. And in that eerie prophetic voice that all fortunes have! So I rearranged and

Soon you will come into a large inheritance

reordered the fortunes over two days. By

You will travel to many new places

the time ‘Fortunes Pantoum’ was finished,

You will succeed in your line of work

I’d eaten all the cookies.”

Be suspicious of well-meaning strangers

In my setting I have employed three

You will travel to many new places

percussive

A message from a distance is soon to be

elements:

1)

interlocking

received

in Vermont.

Be suspicious of well-meaning strangers Important news from an unexpected source!

O Oriens Music: Mario Gullo

A message from a distance is soon to be

Text: Vespers antiphon for December 21

received You will meet a dark and handsome

During the final seven days of Advent,

foreigner

December 17th–23rd, the antiphons heard

Important news from an unexpected source!

during evening prayer all begin with ‘O’

Do not take unnecessary chances

followed by a different Old Testament prophesy of the coming Messiah. They are

You will meet a dark and handsome

known as the O Antiphons.

“O Oriens”

foreigner

occurs on December 21st, the Winter

You have a fear of visiting high places

Solstice.

Do not take unnecessary chances

and all-encompassing about a Christian

Your misunderstanding will be cleared up

event, marked by the use of Jewish

in time

prophesies, intoned during an astronomical

There is something satisfying

phenomenon marking the shortest day of You have a fear of visiting high places

the year.

Grasp at the shadow and lose the substance

“O Oriens” is the third, and final, movement

Your misunderstanding will be cleared up

of a larger piece called Meditation for

in time

Christmas. It is preceded by “Ave Maria”

Sometimes you worry too much about death

and “Gloria” (heard on C4’s November 2015 concert). The piece is one long crescendo

Grasp at the shadow and lose the substance

from a quiet beginning to the final rush of

You will recover valuables thought lost

sound in the organ. It is meant to elicit the

Sometimes you worry too much about death

stillness of the longest night with plenty of

You will go on a long journey

sustained notes. The opening statement is repeated at the end but raised in key and

Jane Shore’s six books of poems have

with an ever quickening motive in the organ,

garnered

the

borrowed from the “Ave Maria,” to denote

Juniper Prize (1977), the Lamont Prize

many

prizes—including

the sound of the first whispers of light as the

(1986) and the 2010 Poets Prize. She’s been

night is finally dispelled.

a Guggenheim Fellow, a Radcliffe Institute

Thank you as always to C4 for the amazing

Fellow, and a Hodder Fellow at Princeton,

performance and to Karen Siegel for the

and twice received fellowships from the

very sensitive and thoughtful preparation.

National Endowment for the Arts. THAT

Also, thanks to Bettina Sheppard and the

SAID, New and Selected Poems, was

Composer Salons held over the summer.

published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2012. A Professor at the George Washington

O Oriens,

University, she lives in Washington, DC and

splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et

late, old, ready to disappear.” In my mind,

umbra mortis.

the poet both recognizes the beauty of this moment while mourning summer’s passing.

O Dawn of the East,

My goal was to express these disparate

splendor of eternal light and sun of justice:

feelings - loss, perhaps nostalgia, the

come and shine on those who dwell in

vastness of the sky, and the ever-changing,

darkness and in the shadow of death.

but seemingly static, nature of cloud cover.

The piece at once feels static and active,

Then shall we know, if we follow on to

and heavy emphasis is placed on the word

know the Lord: his going forth is prepared

“kumo” (cloud).

as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto

For various reasons, I’d taken a hiatus from

the earth (Hosea 6:3)

composing for nearly 7 years. A former C4 member, I was elated to rejoin the ensemble,

She’s the brightness that shines forth from

and when I was asked to write for our 2015-

eternal light. She’s a mirror that flawlessly

16, I jumped at the chance. I am incredibly

reflects God’s activity. She’s the perfect

grateful to C4 for giving me the opportunity

image of God’s goodness (Wisdom 7:26)

to compose this work, and wish to thank conductor Melissa Wozniak for making

But unto you that fear my name shall the

Tomaraji na kumo come alive!

Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow

tomaraji na kumo no hatete ni shitau tomo

up as calves of the stall (Malachi 4:2)

amatsu sora naru aki no wakare wa

The people that walked in darkness have

Yearn as I might for the edge of the ceaseless

seen a great light: they that dwell in the land

clouds

of the shadow of death, upon them hath the

The parting of autumn is the vast open sky

light shined (Isaiah 9:2)

-- trans. Samhitha Sreenivasan

Tomaraji na kumo (The Cantos Sagrados Ceaseless Clouds) Music: James MacMillan Music: Jamie Klenetsky Fay

Texts: Ariel Dorfman, Ana Maria Mendoza,

Text: Fujiwara no Tameie

and sacred texts

I have always been amazed by Japanese

James MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados responds

poetry, especially short poems which are

to the victims of the corrupt regime during

able to convey such complex emotion in one

the Argentinian Dirty War, in which political

or two phrases. In this poem, the breaking of

dissidents were imprisoned, executed, or

the clouds signifies the coming of autumn.

“disappeared.” The libretto is macaronic,

As one translator of this poem noted, “The

with a combination of English and Latin

key is here that the poet has an attachment

texts in each of the three movements.

to the autumn, even though it is already

MacMillan begins the first movement,

“Identity,”

with

nearly

panicked

governments.

exclamations from the choir, shouting, “What

The final movement, “Sun Stone,”

did you say? They found another one” on

sets the other poem of Dorfman, in which a

two stacked fifth chords one half-step apart,

soldier reluctantly carries out the execution

against bursts of violent, dissonant organ

of a political prisoner, saying, “Forgive me,

chords. The English text, translated from a

compañero.” As with the other movements,

poem by Ariel Dorfman, depicts a confused

MacMillan pairs the English text with a

scene in which [presumably local] people

Latin one, three lines from the Credo of

discuss the discovery of “another” victim

the Ordinary of the Mass. Unlike the more

of the corrupt government, “floating in the

rhythmically active and varied first and

river.” At the line, “They turned him over

second movements, there is an unrelenting

and looked at his face, his hands/they’re all

slow pulse from the organ and sustained

waiting together, silent and mourning,” the

voices (on the Latin text) that permeates the

texture shifts abruptly to an eerie stasis with

entire final movement. The juxtaposition

sustained cluster chords in the upper voices.

between these two texts is in many ways

As they express the hopelessness of the

more biting than that of the pairings from

situation (“If the captain’s the same one as

the first two movements; the slow boil

last time, he knows what will happen”), the

of the Dormfan text builds towards the

desperate utterances return in full rhythmic

shared climax between “Crucifixus” and

unison, contrasting with the exchanged

“he almost does not hear the sound of the

dialogue earlier in the movement. Following

shots,” in a jarring revelation that is both

a final defiant exclamation from the choir

accusatory and redemptive. In this moment,

(“I can bury my own dead”), MacMillan

MacMillan seems to imply that the victim

concludes the movement with a quietly

of this execution is Christ-like, or perhaps

intoned portion of the Offertory from the

Christ himself. The phrase, “Forgive me,

Requiem Mass: “Libera animas omnium

compañero” is then repeated in short

fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni, et

phrases that gradually fade away, until the

de profundo lacu.”

final whispered plea from the choir.

In the second movement, “Virgin of

As in Britten’s War Requiem, MacMillan

Guadalupe,” the lower voices slowly recite

uses the overlap and combination of

“Salve mater coeli porta Virga florens,” while

disparate texts for dramatic effect and in a

the upper voices sing the poem by Mendoza.

highly critical manner. The pairing of texts

Unlike the specificity of the first movement,

in Cantos Sagrados, however, is perhaps less

which deals with the disappearance of

a specific criticism of the violence carried

political prisoners, Mendoza’s poem deals

out by the corrupt Argentinean government

with a “more fundamental cultural and

and more a way of holding up a lens to the

historical question,” namely the issue of

perpetuation of violence and victimization

colonialism and cultural oppression. The

of “the other.” The Latin texts employed are

analogy then is between the abuse of natives

not archaic remnants of religious beliefs that

by foreign conquerors and the abuse of

have lost their immediacy, but rather living

political prisoners and dissidents by corrupt

dramas that continue to have ritual.

I. Identity What did you say—they found another one?

—I can’t hear you—this morning another one floating in the river? talk louder—so you didn’t even dare no one can identify him? the police said not even his mother not even the mother who bore him not even she could they said that? the other women already tried—I can’t understand what you’re saying, they turned him over and looked at his face, his hands they looked at, right, they’re all waiting together, silent, in mourning, on the riverbank, they took him out of the water he’s naked as the day he was born, there’s a police captain and they won’t leave until I get there?

He doesn’t belong to anybody, you say he doesn’t belong to anybody? tell them I’m getting dressed, if the captain’s the same one as he knows I’m leaving now last time what will happen that body will have my name – my son’s my husband’s my father’s name I’ll sign the papers tell them tell them I’m on my way, and don’t let that captain touch him don’t let that captain take one step closer to him.

Tell them not to worry: I can bury my own dead.

Libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni, et de profundo lacu: Libera eas de ore leonis ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscuram.

Deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the depths of the pit: deliver them from the lion’s mouth, that hell devour them not, that they fall not into darkness.

II. Virgin of Guadalupe Sweet Virgin of Guadalupe, oh virgin of the gentle eyes, dark-eyed virgin, good Lady, my love, painted by God’s own hand on the cloak of the Indian Juan Diego, Sweet virgin, my love, who commanded the bishop to build you a shrine, where my brothers the Indians lived in Tapeyepac in Mexico, outside the city. Flogged and burned were these poor little ones, despised, deceived and mocked, my brothers the Indians.

A thousand times mistreated, a thousand thousand killed.

What did you say to the bishop?

“You will build me a house where I can hear the cries, outside the city, where I will wait, the pleas of my Indian children.”

Sweet Virgin of Guadalupe, oh virgin of the gentle eyes, dark-eyed virgin, my girl, my love, I want to ask you this question, dear mother: Why is it that in Spain, on the far side of our hills and valleys, why is there another Virgin of Guadalupe, across the sea, Patron Saint of the Conquerors? men with great beards, men on horses, who crush and burn our homes, men with swords and fire, and the Indians, your children, still inside?

Why is it. Sweet Virgin, sweet mother, why is there another Virgin of Guadalupe, ‘Patroness of the Conquerors’?

answer structure of the music, which

Salve Mater coeli porta Virga florens et exorta David ex prosapia.

composition also involved a kind of binary:

Hail Mother, portal of heaven Flowering Virgin, sprung from the line of David.

altos sings conjunct lines that are chant-

responds to the text: “Blessed are…” is answered by “for they shall…” throughout.

Pärt’s trademark tintinnabuli method of the tenors and sopranos together sing notes that outline triads, while the basses and like in their simplicity. There is no other type of musical gesture in the choral parts

III. Sun stone

of this work. The general vocal range of the

They put the prisoner against the wall.

A soldier ties his hands.

His fingers touch him—strong, gentle, saying goodbye.

—Forgive me, compañero— says the voice in a whisper.

The echo of his voice and of those fingers on his arm fills his body with light I tell you his body fills with light and he almost does not hear the sound of the shots.

a crescendo to the final “Amen”; the organ

Et incarnatus est de spiritu sancto.

Ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est.

Crucifixus etiam pro nobis.

Hailed as “a great organist” displaying

He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified.

parts rises slowly throughout, suggesting supports with this with extremely long pedal tones, which ascend chromatically, one half step at a time, from the D-flat at the start to a G-sharp (a fifth higher) at the climax. To close, the organ plays a postlude of arpeggiated chords, simple but dense, which make a slow diminuendo over the pedals descending step by step to a quiet finish, the end of a long journey.

—Martha Sullivan

Guest Artist Biography “phenomenal musicality”

technique

and

sheer

(Bloomberg

News),

James

Kennerley is a multi-faceted musician, working as a conductor, keyboardist, singer, and educator.

The Beatitudes

Mr. Kennerley was a prizewinner at the

Music: Arvo Pärt

2008 Albert Schweitzer International Organ

Text: Matthew 5:1-12

Competition, and a finalist at the inaugural

Arvo Pärt’s setting of the Sermon on the

(2013) Longwood Gardens International

Mount, or Beatitudes, takes care to set the

Organ Competition. In addition to solo

music precisely to the stresses of the text—

concerts in the US and Europe, Mr.

which is in English, a rare language in

Kennerley frequently collaborates with

the composer’s output. Pärt’s attention to

groups such as the Voices of Ascension,

detail also manifests itself in the question–

New York City Master Chorale, and

Greenwich Choral Society. He has studied

A composer of note, he specializes in music

the organ with David Sanger, Thomas

for choral ensembles, and for works that

Trotter and McNeil Robinson, and holds

incorporate historic instruments. His 2012

the Fellowship of the Royal College of

piece Lauda novella was featured as part

Organists diploma. He has given concerts at

of the Twelfth Night Festival at Trinity

Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum,

Church, Wall Street. He was first-prize

Washington National Cathedral, The Frick

winner of the Association of Anglican

Collection, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, the

Musicians Composition Competition. 2016

Royal Albert Hall, Saint Paul’s Cathedral,

will see several premières of his choral

Westminster Abbey, London, and many

compositions. Please contact Mr. Kennerley

other major organ venues in the USA and

directly for perusual scores.

Europe. A renowned specialist in the art of improvisation, Mr. Kennerley is frequently

A recognized specialist in the realm of early

in demand as a performer and educator in

music, he has collaborated with the likes of

this regard. He studied improvisation with

William Christie, Richard Egarr, Nicholas

Robert Levin, McNeil Robinson, and Noam

McGegan, Christopher Hogwood, Monica

Sivan at the Juilliard School.

Huggett, Julian Wachner, and many others.

He has given solo harpsichord and organ

A native of the United Kingdom, Mr.

concerts throughout the United States and

Kennerley is Organist and Choirmaster

Europe to great acclaim. He is currently

at Saint Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal

enrolled in the Historical Performance

church, New York City, where he directs

program at the Juilliard School, where he

the professional choir and coordinates the

studies with Kenneth Weiss, Peter Sykes,

church’s extensive concert series. From 2008

and Richard Egarr. Plans for 2016–17

he held a similar position at the Church of

include the performance of the complete

Saint Mary the Virgin, Times Square.

harpsichord and organ works of J. S. Bach.

Mr.

Kennerley

made

his

New

York

Lauded as an “excellent, true-toned tenor”

conducting debut at Lincoln Center in 2009

by New Yorker critic Alex Ross, Mr.

in two performances of a contemporary

Kennerley was a prizewinner in the 2015

operetta, The Velvet Oratorio. Reviews

New York Oratorio Society competition.

cited Mr. Kennerley’s “impeccable musical

He has performed as a soloist with many

direction” and “particular sensitivity with

groups, including New York Polyphony,

regard to the interaction of the drama and

the Choir of Trinity Church, Wall Street,

the musical score.” Equally at home with the

Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, the

direction of early music and contemporary

American Classical Orchestra, TENET, and

compositions, he recently conducted a

the Clarion Music Society. As a member of

concert of world première music from

Sonnambula, Mr. Kennerley has performed

eighteenth-century Cuba at New York’s

at the Metropolitan Museum, The Frick

Hispanic Society.

Collection, Princeton University, and the Hispanic Society. Plans are afoot for the

participation in a recording of the complete

Center, at Yaddo, the Virginia Center for

works of Leonora Duarte. He has studied

the Creative Arts, the Millay Colony for

with David Lowe, Robert Rice, Braeden

the Arts and at the MacDowell Colony.

Harris, and Maureen O’Flynn. Mr. Kennerley

Among his honors are a John Simon

made his BAM/Mark Morris Dance Company

Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, as

soloist début in 2010 in Beethoven’s “Choral

well as the 2001 Aaron Copland Award,

Fantasy” and his Alice Tully Hall solo début

which afforded him the opportunity to

in Handel’s Messiah in 2015.

live and compose at Copland House in upstate New York during the summer of

Mr. Kennerley was born in 1984 and became

2002. Since 1992 he has been on the faculty

a chorister of Chelmsford Cathedral under

of the Manhattan School of Music. Recent

Dr. Graham Elliott and Barry Rose. He was

works include Symphonia brevis (2010),

educated at Harrow School and Cambridge

composed

University, where he was Organ Scholar at

Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Songs (2011),

Jesus College. He was then appointed Organ

for soprano Susan Narucki and pianist

Scholar of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London,

Christopher Oldfather, Three Hymn Tune

where he worked daily with the choir of men

Preludes (2010), commissioned by organist

and boys under the direction of Malcolm

Gail Archer, The Caged Skylark (2011), and

Archer, and had the honour of performing

Goe lovely Rose (2014), both composed for

in the presence of HM the Queen on several

C4, Prelude & Freund’s Fuguing Tune in E

occasions. Mr. Kennerley was subsequently

(Noch einmal nach Bach) (2012), for solo

Associate Director of Music and Director of

piano, The Trill Is Gone (2013), for solo

the Choir of Men and Boys at Christ Church,

tenor saxophone, and Inquieto (attraverso

Greenwich, Connecticut. There, he directed

il rumore) (2015), composed for violinist

the choirs on two successful tours to England,

Rolf Schulte. Current projects include

and established an organ recital series, now

Reveries. Passions, a quartet for piano

in its eighth year.

and strings, and a work for singers and

Composers (in alphabetical order)

Hayes Biggs

for

Riverside

Symphony,

chamber orchestra based on Keats’s The Eve of St. Agnes. In 2006 Biggs’s String Quartet: O Sapientia/Steal Away (2004) was given its premiere at New York City’s Merkin Concert Hall by the Avalon

Hayes Biggs was born in Huntsville, Alabama

String Quartet on a Washington Square

and raised in Helena, Arkansas. He holds the

Contemporary Music Society concert; it

Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition

was recorded by the Avalon String Quartet

from Columbia University. His teachers have

in 2008, and released on Albany Records.

included Don Freund, Mario Davidovsky,

Biggs’s music is published by C. F. Peters

Jack Beeson, Fred Lerdahl and Donald Erb.

Corporation, APNM (Association for the

Biggs has been a fellow in composition at the

Promotion of New Music) and Margun

Composers Conference and Chamber Music

Music, Inc. www.hayesbiggs.com

Center at Wellesley, at the Tanglewood Music

Mario Gullo

composer of his generation. He first

Mario Gullo has performed in and around New York City at Alice Tully Hall, City Center, Theatre 80, Barrow Street Theater, La MaMa, the Slipper Room, and Arlene’s Grocery. By far, his favorite was appearing with Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall.

Regionally, he has performed at Artpark, the Theater of Youth, Tri-State Center for the Performing Arts, the Depot Theater, and with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. His music has been performed by the New York City Master Chorale, the Larchmont Avenue Church

Chancel

Choir,

Bridges

Vocal

attracted attention with the acclaimed BBC Proms premiere of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (1990). His percussion concerto Veni, Veni Emmanuel (1992) has received close to 500 performances worldwide by orchestras including London Symphony Orchestra, New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics and Cleveland Orchestra. Other major works include the cantata Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993), Quickening (1998) for soloists, children’s choir, mixed choir and orchestra, the operas Inès de Castro (2001) and The Sacrifice (2005-06), and St John

Ensemble, and C4.

Passion (2007).

Jamie Klenetsky Fay

He was featured composer at Edinburgh

A composer, singer, and lover of new classical composition, Jamie Klenetsky Fay’s work spans the creative spectrum. She sings professionally with C4 and as an Artist-inResidence at the Continuo Arts Foundation, and is a founding member of the Red Oak Contemporary Ensemble. This summer, she’ll be participating in Silkroad Ensemble’s Global Musician Workshop as a vocalist.

Previous engagements include Rhymes With Opera’s new music workshop and the select ensemble of Schola Cantorum on Hudson.

Jamie’s compositions have been performed by a number of ensembles, including C4 and the Seton Hall Chapel Choir. She was a finalist in the San Francico Choral Artists’ New Voices competition in 2007 and the Javitch Emerging Composers Competition in 2008. Jamie is the Digital Media Manager of the government of Morris County, NJ. www.jamieklenetsky.com

James MacMillan James MacMillan is the pre-eminent Scottish

Festival (1993), Southbank Centre (1997), BBC’s

Barbican

Composer

Weekend

(2005) and Grafenegg Festival (2012).

His interpreters include soloists Evelyn Glennie, Colin Currie, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Vadim Repin, conductors Leonard Slatkin, Sir Andrew Davis, Marin Alsop and Donald Runnicles, and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. His recordings can be found on BMG/RCA Red Seal, BIS, Chandos, Naxos, Hyperion, Coro, Linn and Challenge Classics.

Recent highlights include premieres of Woman of the Apocalypse, St Luke Passion, Little Massand Percussion Concerto No.2.

Future plans include a Requiem and a Stabat Mater, alongside works for leading international orchestras.

Tarik O’Regan Tarik

O’Regan

has

composed

music

for a wide variety of ensembles and organizations;

these

include

the

BBC

Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic

artistic crisis that lasted for several years.

Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra,

He withdrew from composing concert

BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Estonian

music and devoted himself to the study

Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Sydney

of Gregorian chant, the late-medieval

Dance Company, Chamber Choir Ireland,

Notre Dame school of polyphony, and

BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, and

Renaissance polyphony, having to learn

the Royal Opera House, London.

to walk all over again, as he put it. From this study came Pärt’s new method of

Projects coming to fruition in 2016/17

composing, which he called tintinnabuli,

include the DVD release of Mata Hari, a

or “little bells.” Technically, this method

full-length ballet commissioned by the

involves the juxtaposition of triads in one

Dutch National Ballet, and a new album

or more voices with chantlike melodic

of orchestral music recorded by the Hallé

lines in other voices. This results in a

Orchestra. Currently, he is working on a

very concentrated music, stripping away

full-scale opera commissioned by Houston

anything that is not essential. The result

Grand Opera for 2019.

has a pure asceticism that has been the hallmark of his many works composed

Born in London in 1978, Tarik O’Regan lives

since 1976.

in New York City. His work, recognized

During the last decade, Pärt has rearranged

with

nominations

approximately 50 of his earlier works

and two British Composer Awards, has

and has composed about 25 new pieces,

been recorded on over 30 albums and is

among them “Vater unser” (2005/2011) for

published exclusively by Novello (Music

Pope Benedict XVIl, “La Sindone” (2005),

Sales Classical).

commissioned for the 2006 Olympic

two

GRAMMY®

Winter Games in Turin, Symphony No. www.tarikoregan.com

4 (commissioned by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in

Arvo Pärt

2008), “Silhouette. Hommage à Gustave Eiffel” (commissioned by l’Orchestre

Estonian composer Arvo Pärt was born in

de Paris in 2009/2010), and “Swansong”

1935, grew up in Rakvere, and eventually

(commissioned

studied in Tallinn under Veljo Tormis.

Foundation Salzburg and premiered at

His compositions prior to 1968 employed

the Mozartwoche 2014).

many of the methods of modernism,

by

the

Mozarteum

including serialism, aleatoric techniques,

Karen Siegel

neoclassicism, and collage, always used

Composer

Karen

to propel the drama of the music forward.

the

of

In 1968, though, Pärt’s success with Credo

composition. Her works are frequently

(whose strong affirmation of Christian faith

performed by the New York City-based

was frowned upon by the authorities of

ensemble C4: the Choral Composer/

then-Communist Estonia) threw him into an

Conductor Collective, of which she was

limits

Siegel

explores

contemporary

vocal

a founding member in 2005. She is the

benefitted from years of mentoring by her

winner of the 2014–2015 POLYPHONOS

conductor colleagues in the ensemble and

Choral

in

is active as a conductor both within C4 and

Composition

Competition,

the National Composer category.

This

in performances of her own works. Karen

prize is awarded by the Esoterics vocal

received a PhD in composition from the

ensemble, and resulted in the commission

CUNY Graduate Center, where she studied

and premiere of Clouds, Ephemeral by the

with Tania León, in 2014. Her dissertation

ensemble in Seattle. She was also a winner

was on timbral transformations in Kaija

of the Khorikos ensemble’s 2015 ORTUS

Saariaho’s vocal work From the Grammar of

competition.

Karen was awarded first

Dreams, under the direction of David Olan.

prize in the New York Virtuoso Singers

She also holds degrees from Yale (BA in

2013 Choral Composition Competition

psychology) and NYU Steinhardt (MM in

for her humorous a cappella choral work

composition), where she studied with Marc-

from 2006, Confessions from the Blogosphere,

Antonio Consoli.

which sets excerpts from online blogs.

includes

Sponge Squeezed Dry, her 2008 piece for

coursework in composition with Conrad

mixed chorus and horn, was awarded the

Cummings; vocal studies with Jacqueline

2009 Robert Starer Award for Composition

Horner-Kwiatek; vocal studies with Lavinia

at the City University of New York

Bertotti and Claudine Ansermet at the

Graduate Center.

Juilliard

Additional education Evening

Division

In 2007 Karen was a

Musica Antica festival in Urbino, Italy;

winner of the Manhattan Choral Ensemble

and choral conducting studies with Péter

Commissioning

Erdei at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét,

Competition,

which

resulted in the work Saguaro, inspired by

Hungary.

the desert landscape and history of Tucson,

College of New York and Drew University.

Arizona.

Karen’s works are published by See-A-Dot

Other honors include five

Karen has taught at the City

works accepted into the Project: ENCORE

Music

database and a residency at the Kimmel

and self-published through Chestnutoak

Harding Nelson Center for the Arts (2008).

Press (www.KarenSiegel.com). She lives in

Karen’s choral work Saguaro was recorded

Hoboken, New Jersey with her husband

by C4 and released on their album Volume 1:

and two sons.

Uncaged in 2013. She is currently composing

Publishing

(www.SeeADot.com),

a chamber opera in collaboration with the

Perry Townsend

playwright Zsuzsanna Ardó; the opera

Perry Townsend has been playing piano

is an adaptation of Ms. Ardó’s short play

and singing since age 6, and composing

The Hat: Arendt Meets Heidegger, about

since age 8. His music can be heard

the meeting of Hannah Arendt and Martin

on American Modern Recordings and

Heidegger.

Opera On Tap premiered a

Ravello Records. 21st Century Music

scene from The Hat in April 2014, at Barbès

magazine remarked that his Capstone

in Brooklyn, NY.

debut disc, no suggestion of silence,

A founding member of C4, Karen has

“stands out against the vast array of

contemporary music recordings available today.” Other critics have called his music “brilliantly intertwined” and “a journey through sounds rich in surprises.” Past performances have included Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, Steinway Hall, Tenri Cultural Institute, and Roulette. He has been commissioned by the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Barbad Chamber Orchestra, Goliard Chorale, and Raleigh Boychoir. Perry has also premiered works at the ppIANISSIMO Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the Fontainebleau Summer Festival in France. As a conductor, he leads the Angelic Voices Youth Chorus, Community Singers of Queens, Immaculate Conception Contemporary Ensemble, and is Music Director at Incarnation parish in Hollis, NY. As a vocalist, he has sung with the Choir of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin and with Canticum Novum. He received an MA from Copland School of Music/Queens College, where he studied composition with Thea Musgrave, and a BM from N.C. School of the Arts, where he studied with Sherwood Shaffer. Currently, Perry is working with acclaimed mezzo Tichina Vaughn to create an opera about Christine Miller, the lone dissenter at Jim Jones’ Guyana commune in 1978. He is thrilled to be completing his 3rd season with C4.

C4 would like to thank and acknowledge its donors: Concert Sponsor Michael David & Lauren Mitchell Nan Bases Charles Natt Cutting-Edge Circle Melissa Bybee Innovative Circle Feryal Algosaibi James Bilodeau David Hurd Ian David Moss & Debby Katz Patricia Siegel Richard Tucker Creative Circle Anonymous Daniel Andor-Ardó Helen Bell Vic & Jan Bilodeau Jennifer Blessing Lewis & Brenda Brown Lee & Nancy Corbin John Tyler Evans Don & Sally Hayward Ira & Becky Horowitz Phyllis Kubey Beth Marker Sue Backstrom & Jon Minikes Brian Mountford Phil & Pat Morehead Bosiljka Raditsa Katherine Schoonover Linda Schrank* Kenneth & Jean Telljohann Ira Wolfman & Ronda Small Contemporary Circle Richard Elder Adams Ben Arendsen Kit Smyth Basquin* Brian Baum

Susan M. Orzel-Biggs Craig & Loren Blum Margaret Brown Barbara Charles Martin & Lisa Cohen Charles Crow Jerry Hirniak & Harriet Davidson John Tyler Evans Jonathan Fisher Vincent FitzGerald* David Gelber Ellen Gesmer Grace Goodman Diane Gottlieb Jeanine Hartnett Ernest Hood & David McCorkle* Kamilah Jackson Jeffrey James Charles Katz & Reyna Franco Janet Keogan Susan Koshewa Jim & Lynne Kruszka Tania León Linda & Leslie Libow Nanette & Stanley Lieblein Evelyn Liston James Stephen Longo Peter Lurye Angela Menghraj Peter & Christine Metz Juliet Milhofer Louis & Sharon Mountford Ruth Mueller-Maerki Wendy Murphy Bernard & Rochelle Natt Marjorie Naughton Valerie Norton Francesco Piattelli Palmarini Zahra Partovi* David Rentz Joseph Rubinstein Christine Schadeberg Ronnie Scharfman

Phillip Schroeder David See Mark Shapiro Bettina Sheppard Nancy Smardz Milton Sonday Marie-Louise Stegall Neil Sumner Anne Thulin* Mary Ellen Townsend Perry Townsend Mary Tsimenoglou This list includes donations since July 2015. Concert Sponsor, $1,000– $4,999; Cutting-Edge Circle, $600–999; Innovative Circle, $350–$599; Creative Circle, $125–349; Contemporary Circle, $1–$124. * Friend of C4

Board of Directors

Fahad Siadat (Chair) Melissa Wozniak (Treasurer) Hayes Biggs Karen Siegel Larry Siegel

Advisory Board

Eric Banks Lisa Bielawa David Harris David Hurd Aaron J. Kernis Tania León Harold Levine Clara Longstreth Ian David Moss (C4 Founder) Tarik O’Regan Kent Tritle Toby Twining

Special Thanks C4 would like to give special thanks to James Kennerley and St. Ignatius of Antioch Church; to Keith Goldstein for many wonderful portraits of C4; to Patrick Neitz of Bits & Bytes Creative Design for our logo (http://www.bitsbytesdesign.com); to Judith Turner for her stunning art; to James Bassi for his many musical gifts; and to everyone who by sharing their talent and expertise has helped us grow.

C4’s activities are funded in part with the generous assistance of:

’s 2015-16 Featured Artist

!! !! !! !! ! ! !

Judith Turner!

!

Silent Auction Underway!!

C4 is pleased to continue showcasing the art of individual contributors each season, utilizing the pieces in publicity materials, programs and - this season - the cover of our second album, Cornerstones.!

!

This year we feature the art of Judith Turner which has been graciously donated by ‘Friend of C4,’ Vincent FitzGerald. Ms. Turner’s photogravures reveal her intricate point of view. The details in her stark architectural and ßoral subjects become hyper clear and informative.!

!! !! !! ! !! !! !! !! !! ! !

Ms. Turner resides in New York City. She began taking photographs in 1972 and has had many solo exhibitions in various cities in the United States, Europe, Israel, and Japan. She has been awarded grants and fellowships from The Graham Foundation, Mobil's Artist-in Residence Program, The Lila Acheson Wallace Fund, and The Asian Cultural Council. In 1994, she received an Honor Award from The American Institute of Architects.!

!

Her photographs are in the permanent collections of many institutions which include: The Getty Center, !

Los Angeles; The Guggenheim Museum, The Whitney Museum, The International Center of Photography, New York City; The George Eastman House Collection, Rochester; The Portland Museum of Art, Maine; The Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal; Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Museum Ludwig, Köln; The Tel Aviv Museum; Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. !

!

!

Ms. Turner’s work is featured in ‘After,’ and in ‘Parables and Piece,’ both limited edition artist books produced by Vincent FitzGerald & Co. Her latest book is just out, ‘Zaha Hadid, Judith Turner: A Dialogue,’ published by Axel Menges.!

These works are available NOW through our Silent Auction. We hope you’ll visit the image display and bid high in support of C4. Bidding ends at the June 11 concert reception.

C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective Sopranos Lorena Del Mar Rebecca Ehren Artemisz Polonyi Karen Siegel Martha Sullivan Melissa Wozniak

Altos Maya Ben-Meir Melissa Bybee Jamie Klenetsky Fay Elizabeth Marker Karl Saint Lucy Bettina Sheppard

Tenors Basses Benjamin Arendsen Daniel Andor-Ardó Nate Barnett Hayes Biggs Colin Britt James Bilodeau Mario Gullo Jacob Gelber Casey Rule Brendan Littlefield Perry Townsend Timothy Brown Brian Mountford David See

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: Keith Goldstein

For information on C4 members, visit c4ensemble.org/theensemble.html