Home Concert- April 2022 Program

UNLV Singers Joseph Svendsen, Conductor

HOME CONCERT 2022

UNLV SINGERS: A HISTORY The UNLV Singers were founded in 1967 by Dr. Douglas Peterson. The ensemble has performed under many names: University Chorus, University Singers, Concert Singers, Chamber Chorale, and it’s current name. UNLV Singers has performed hundreds of programs spanning every genre and style, from early, medieval music to contemporary, atonal repertoire, from jazz to opera chorus, enormous choral-orchestral masterworks to intimate chamber consorts.

The choir frequently collaborates in concert with Las Vegas area organizations: the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Henderson Symphony Orchestra, Las Vegas Master Singers, Las Vegas Sinfonietta, dozens of world famous popular musicians, and countless high school and middle school choirs.

From its beginning, UNLV Singers has featured the musical gifts of students from all majors and degree levels, encouraging people to make singing and music making an important and integral part of their collegiate lives. In addition to on-campus and local performances, the choir has been privileged to perform and tour across the United States and four countries.

Concert Program I. GRATEFUL SPIRIT JUBILATE DEO OMNIS TERRA Orlando di Lasso (1530-1594) Psalm 92 (Vulgate) sung in Latin SATB a cappella, Public Domain

O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands; serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song. For the Lord, He is God.

RÍU RÍU CHÍU Juan Mateo Flecha (1481-1553)

sung in Spanish SATB with hand percussion, Public Domain

The choir is open to all students through auditions, which take place the week before classes start in the Fall semester.

Chorus Riu, riu, chiu, the river bank protects it, As God kept the wolf from our lamb

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS

The rabid wolf tried to bite her But God Almighty knew how to defend her He wished to create her impervious to sin Nor was this maid to embody original sin

International Performance Tour Portugal and Spain 2019 International Performance Tour Canada 2002 ACDA Western Region Conference Los Angeles, California 2000 Carnegie Hall Debut Coronation Mass, conducted by John Rutter 1997 ACDA Western Region Conference Honolulu, Hawaii 1992

He who’s now begotten is our mighty Monarch Christ, our Holy Father, in human flesh embodied He made himself small and so redeemed us: He who was infinite became finite.

Many prophecies told of his coming, And now in our days have we seen them fulfilled.

God became man, on earth we behold him, And see man in heaven because he so willed.

A thousand singing angels I saw passing, Flying overhead, sounding a thousand voices, Exulting, “Glory be in the heavens, And peace on Earth, for Jesus has been born.”

California Music Educator Conference 1991

He comes to give life to the dead, He comes to redeem the fall of man; This child is the light of day, He is the very lamb Saint John prophesied.

International Performance Tour Mozart Requiem with Mexico National Symphony Mexico 1989

Behold…

God could call none greater mother than she who gives birth to her father and now calls him son.

UNLV CHORAL STUDIES DIRECTORS Douglas Peterson, DMA 1967-1984 David B. Weiller, MM 1984-2021

Now we have gotten what we were all desiring, Go we together to bear him gifts: Let each give his will to the God who was willing To come down to Earth man’s equal to be.

IV. Omnes Generationes X. Sicut Locutus Est from Magnificat BWV 243 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) sung in Latin SATB with continuo, Barenreiter Verlag

And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations. in accordance with what he said to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

PORTONES ABIERTOS Y ROSTROS BRILLANTES Paul Basler (b.1963)

sung in Spanish text by Gabriel Navar SATB divisi with piano, Walton Music Of course I am happy, wouldn’t you be? When I look at open gates and see a garden full of life, of good health, and smiles of glowing faces . . . it ignites my spirit.

I have never been more excited to be alive and in the radiance of peace that grows, I know that when I surrender to sleep and the ocean of night cradles my dreams, I can only be in one state of being... completely open.

II. DISCORDANT HEART HOR CHE’L CIEL E LA TERRA Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) sung in Italian text by Petrarch SSATTB, Public Domain

Now that the sky and the earth and the wind are silent and the wild creatures and the birds are reined in sleep, Night leads its starry chariot in its round, and the sea without a wave lies in its bed, I look, think, burn, weep: and she who destroys me is always before my eyes to my sweet distress: war is my state, filled with grief and anger, and only in thinking of her do I find peace.

So from one pure living fountain flow the sweet and bitter which I drink: one hand alone heals me and pierces me: and so that my ordeal may not reach haven, I am born and die a thousand times a day, I am so far from my salvation.

JOSEPH SVENDSEN, CONDUCTOR Joseph Svendsen is the Director of Choral Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he conducts the UNLV Singers and the Early Music Ensemble and teaches graduate coursework in conducting and choral literature.

Svendsen serves as the Artistic Director of the Las Vegas Master Singers. He is the Director of Choirs and Devotional Music at Faith Community Lutheran Church in Summerlin. He has performed in concert and chamber choirs across the United States and Europe.

In August 2022 he will serve as conductor-in-residence at St. Albans Cathedral in Hertfordshire, England.

From 2007-2014 Svendsen was the director of vocal music at Fort Dodge Senior High School in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he conducted the A Cappella Choir and Dodger Men’s Chorus and directed the annual musical, the longest running high school musical theater tradition in the United States.

While at Texas Tech University, he was an instructor and conductor of the Matador Singers Men’s Chorus and taught courses in undergraduate music education.

Svendsen has served as an invited conductor and clinician for choral festivals in California, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Wisconsin. He has presented at recent conferences of the Nevada Music Educators Association and the American Choral Directors Association.

He holds a Doctor of Music in Choral Conducting from Texas Tech University, a Master’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Bachelor’s degrees in Music and English from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

PAVANE Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

sung in French text by Robert de Montesquiou SATB with piano, Public Domain It’s Lindor! It’s Tircis! It’s all our conquerors! I’ts Myrtil, It’s Lydia! The queens of our hearts. How provocative they are!

How they are always proud! How they presume to reign over our fates and our lives. Watch out!

Keep time! Oh, the mortal insult! The cadence is less slow and the fall more certain. We shall shut them up! We shall soon be their slaves! How ugly and silly they are! Dear pretty faces, coquettish airs!

But suddenly he awakened and sensed danger, took a horse and moved away to the battle.

Recognition of Professor David B. Weiller, Professor Emeritus and UNLV Director of Choral Studies from 1984-2021.

GO, LOVELY ROSE Eric Whitacre (b.1970)

INTERMISSION

And it’s always the same, and so it is always! We love each other! We hate each other! We curse our loves! Farewell Myrtil! Egle! Chloe! Mocking demons! Farewell then and good days to the tyrants of our hearts! And farewell!

III. LANDS OF PROMISE

TYKUS TYKUS Vaclovas Augustinas (b.1959)

text by Emma Lazarus SSATBB divisi a cappella, MusicSpoke

sung in Lithuanian Lithuanian folk song SATB.SATB a cappella, Alliance Music What a quiet lad, what a calm rider, how quietly he enticed away a maden into the granary. Green rue crown.

How calmly he took away her maidenhood, how quietly he worked off her golden ring.

THE NEW COLOSSUS Saunder Choi (b.1988)

‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’

from COLLECTED WORKS 1. Leeba (The Dove) 2. Mo-Afrika Tsoha (Africans, Arise!)

3. Liphala (Horns) Joshua Polumo Mohapeloa (1908-1982) sung in Sesotho SATB a cappella, African Composers Edition

1. Hoo koo too’, coos the dove; It coos from the cliff; The mottled dove says, “Hoo koo too!’

I am dru... I am very drunk.

2. African, wake up from sleep; The day of work has dawned. Look, dust is everywhere; The foreigners possess everything, In spite of this, you are fast asleep. Please wake up, the day of work has dawned.

3. Listen to those horns, They are inviting you who are still arriving here at this school. Pe - pe - ru - pe - pe! It is a school of happiness. The horns are telling everybody to be happy. They sound like that so that people can rejoice.

These horns, to us when the sound enters the ear, It reminds us of endless happiness, of happiness and joy ahead.

THE BLUE RIDGE Elaine Hagenberg (b.1979)

text by Harriet Monroe SATB with piano, Elaine Hagenberg Music Still and calm, In purple robes of kings, The low-lying mountains sleep at the edge of the world. The forests cover them like mantles; Day and night rise and fall over them like the wash of waves.

Asleep they reign. Silent they say all. Hush me, O slumbering mountains — Send me dreams.

THE PROMISED LAND William Averitt (b.1948)

text by Samuel Stennett SATB divisi with piano four hands, GIA Music On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand, And cast a wishful eye To Canaan’s fair and happy land, Where my possessions lie.

I am bound for the promised land, I am bound for the promised land, Oh who will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land.

O the transporting, rapturous scene, That riseses to my sight! Sweet fields arrayed in living green, And rivers of delight! O’er all those wide extended plains There God the Son forever reigns, And scatters night away.

When I shall reach that happy place, I’ll be forever blest, For I shall see my Father’s face, And in his bosom rest.

Filled with delight my raptured soul Would here no longer stay; Though Jordan’s waves around me roll, Fearless I’ll launch away.

SINGING AT UNLV The Division of Choral Studies is part of the UNLV School of Music.

It serves students of all majors, careers, ages, and education levels through six academic and sponsored ensembles: UNLV Singers, University Chorale, Chamber Consort, Las Vegas Master Singers, Early Music Ensemble, and Scarlet Tones (a cappella).

Other Vocal Ensembles include: Opera Workshop I, Opera Workshop II, Opera Production, Vocal Jazz Ensemble I, Vocal Jazz Ensemble II

Voice Program

• renewable scholarships • weekly applied voice lessons • five full-time applied-voice faculty • vocal coachings available • frequent masterclasses with renowned guest artists • courses in lyric diction, vocal literature, and pedagogy • opera workshops every semester • fully staged opera productions during spring semester

IV. WITH A SMILE

AMAZING GRACE arr. Keith McCutchen (b.1964)

FROG WENT A COURTIN’ arr. Darryl Runswick (b.1946)

text by John Newton SATB with piano, Earthsongs

English folk song SATB a cappella, Oxford Music Publishing

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.

Frog went a-courtin’ an he did ride, a sword and a pistol by his side. He rode ‘til he came to the mouse’s den, and says, “Missy Mouse are you within?” He took Miss Mousy on his knee and said, “Missy Mouse will you marry me?”

Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come; twas Grace that brought me safe thus far, ‘tis Grace will lead me home.

“Without my Uncle Rat’s consent I would not marry the President!” Uncle Rat he laughed to he shook his sides to think his niece would be a bride.

“What will the wedding supper be?”

“Two blue beans and a black eyed pea.”

The first that came was a little black blug, and he fell into the whiskey jug. The next to come was a garter snake and coild himself around the wedding cake. The last to come was an ol’ tom cat... who ate Miss Mouse and Uncle Rat! The frog he jumped into a lake, and there was eaten by the garter snake.

The old hymn book sits on the shelf, if you want anymore you can sing it yourself!

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the Sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.

OPTIONAL SELECTIONS A Spotless Rose by Herbert Howells Beati Quorum Via by Charles Villiers Stafford Haec Dies by William Byrd Hold On! arr. Moses Hogan Moonlight Sound Design by Raimond Tiguls Ndikhokhele Bawo by Arr. Mzwandile Mabuza Resonet in Laudibus by Jacobus Gallus

ROBERT GRAZIANO, PIANO

Robert Graziano is a piano performance major at UNLV. He is a student of Dr. Mykola Suk.

ALTOS

SOPRANOS Chenoa Bethards* Music Education Palo Verde High School

Joie St. Clair Biological Sciences Pre-Med Las Vegas Academy

Andreea Cretu^ Vocal Performance Las Vegas Academy

Mikaria Hill^ Early Childhood Education CSN High School

Zoe Conrad Composition Coronado High School

Hailey Sorrell Music Education Palo Verde High School

Christian Abbo^ Vocal Performance Las Vegas Academy

Fiona Madsen Music Education Foothill High School

Rya Gallego+^ Music Education Silverado High School

Trinity Regalado Composition LA MIRADA, CA

Tyler Urbano+ Lena Fagone Vocal Performance Music Education Las Vegas Academy Silverado High School Isabel Ferguson* Vocal Performance Las Vegas Academy

Kyla Galvin Jade Vandruff+^ Music Education, Performance Music Education Silverado High School Eldorado High School

Elizabeth Segura Music Education HAZELWOOD, MO

Alissa Madrigal Vocal Performance Somerset Skye Canyon

Tsion Gizaw Kinesiology Durango High School

Giada Sink* Vocal Performance Shadow Ridge High School

Madelyn Salazar^ Music Education Palo Verde High School

Elena Guenther Music Education Foothill High School

Christine Warta* Vocal Performance CHICAGO, IL

Global Experiences

Join us for our June 2023 tour of Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Germany. Students must be enrolled in a UNLV choir for the 2022-2023 academic year to be eligible. The tour is also open to members of the Las Vegas Master Singers, CCSD music teachers, and UNLV choirs alumni. Non-singing travel companions are welcome.

UNLV’s choirs travel overseas every four years. Choirs also tour and travel throughout Nevada and to neighboring states.

Students majoring in music or who sing at an advanced level have additional, yearly opportunites to participate in summer workshops and performance experiences in Europe and across the United States during their undergraduate study.

BASSES

TENORS Cole Carley* Jazz/Commerical Music Las Vegas Academy

Nathan Sink* Vocal Performance Centennial High School

Adeleine Jung* Music Education Desert Oasis High School

Micah Sandoval+^ Music Education Palo Verde High School

Julius Del Prado* Music Education Desert Oasis High School

Cael Tolentino Vocal Performance Las Vegas Academy

Joseph Oberlander Music Education PASADENA, CA

Michan Walsh* Guitar Performance MIAMI LAKES, FL

Jonathan Rosas Gutierrez Music Education Las Vegas Academy

Enoch Oliver Biological Sciences Pre-Med Coronado High School

Kyle Webb+ Music Education Basic Academy

Collin Salmon+^ Music Education Las Vegas Academy

Patrick Park* Pre-Dentistry Faith Lutheran High School

Christian Shelton^ Vocal Performance Las Vegas Academy

Jason Prouty* Vocal Performance Silverado High School

Matthew Sink* Vocal Performance Centennial High School

Isaac Roachford-Gould Music Education ELK GROVE, CA

*Fall semester only +Section Leader ^Choir Board member

30,000

students enrolled at UNLV

500

music majors at the undergraduate and graduate levels

100

percent of music education students who have secured a full-time teaching job in the last ten years

85

exceptional music faculty serving fifteen unique divisions

12

Be a Rebel SING WITH US

Current UNLV students can enroll in University Chorale for credit or can join the chorus through the UNLV Involvement Center if they don’t have credit space in their schedules. Students who are interested in UNLV Singers, Chamber Consort, or Scarlet Tones can contact choir@unlv.edu to schedule an audition. Auditions are held at the very beginning of each semester.

AUDITION FOR A SCHOLARSHIP

High school students, current students switching majors, and transfer students can audition for a voice scholarship during one of the School of Music’s three scholarship audition days. You can learn more at unlv.edu/music/auditions.

SHADOW A STUDENT

High School juniors and seniors can schedule a day-long shadow of a choir student, attending classes, lessons, and rehearsals to experience a day in the life of a UNLV music student. Email choir@unlv.edu to set one up!

Students can also ask their director to nominate them to participate in the Desert Rose Choral Festival, held every April. Directors can also bring their entire choir to our annual Madrigal Festival, held every November.

GRAMMY Award nominations for School of Music alumni, faculty, and ensembles

2,000

the number of middle and high school students who receive a clinic, workshop, or collaborative performance with one of UNLV’s choral faculty in an average school year.

ADMISSIONS @unlvadmissions SCHOOL OF MUSIC @unlvmusic CHOIR @unlvchoirs VOICE @unlvsings OPERA @unlvopera

A Master’s Degree for Full-Time Teachers The UNLV Division of Choral Studies offers a two-year, Master of Music in Choral Conducting for working teachers. All graduate coursework meets after 4 PM, so working educators and/or directors can earn a degree without quitting their jobs. This 33 credit degree offers a four-semester sequence in choral literature and applied conducting. All students receive weekly, private conducting lessons every semester and have the opportunity to conduct and sing with all of UNLV’s choral ensembles: chamber, concert, early music, symphonic, and a cappella.

Affordable

Flexible

Unique

Rigorous

Graduate tuition for Nevada residents is $305.50 per credit, so tuition for the MM Choral Conducting program costs less than $10,500 for two years of study.

The MM Choral Conducting program is designed to have a maximum degree of flexibility in coursework and study. Students can elect to focus on repertoire and pedagogy specific to their desired grade level (middle school, high school, college, community). MM students who are also full-time teachers may use their own ensembles for recitals and projects or work with one of UNLV’s choirs.

The first of its kind in the United States, the MM Choral Conducting program offers a cognate in global music pedgaogy. Students can partner with an overseas university to study the choral music of a chosen nation, ethnicity, language, or composer, traveling over the summer term or part of a semester to gain a more in-depth study and access to resources that can only be provided in the host country.

Repertoire, score study, and gestural communication are the priorities of the program. With a foursemester literature sequence, students have time to perform in-depth analysis of works and styles from 900 centuries of historical and non-European musical traditions.

Support There are several ways to support the continued growth of the UNLV choral ensembles. Consider making a donation to, or getting involved in, one of the following important funds:

David Weiller

SUSAN L. JOHNSON SCHOLARSHIP for CHORAL STUDIES This scholarship is awarded to undergraduate voice majors who demonstrate high quality ability and artistry in choral ensemble singing.

JOCELYN K. JENSEN FUND for CHORAL MUSIC EDUCATION A fund sponsored by the Las Vegas Master Singers, financial aid is awarded to first-year students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in vocal music education.

FRIENDS OF UNLV CHORAL MUSIC Housed within the UNLV Foundation, the Friends of UNLV Choral Music are a group of community supporters and alumni who commit to regularly attending choral ensemble performances, assist in raising awareness of the UNLV choral arts program, and assist in raising funds for the division’s general needs, from touring to commissions to uniforms, and more.

DAVID B. WEILLER, Associate Professor Emeritus, served as the Director of Choral Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1984 to 2021.

Raised in southern California, Weiller completed his undergraduate study at Occidental College, He completed his Master of Music in Choral Conducting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with internationally-renowned choral cconductor and musicologist Harold Decker. Following a year of student teaching and licensure work in California at Cal-State Fullerton, Weiller accepted the position to teach one choir, piano, and music appreciation courses at UNLV. Since 1984 the choral program at UNLV has grown from one choir to four (occasionally five) and from one of two faculty positions in the voice area to its own division within the School of Music. Under his direction, the University Chorus, Chamber

Chorale, and, Concert Singers performed at r egional and state conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education, and the California Music Educators Association.

Weiller led the choral ensembles on three international tours: to Mexico, where the choir collaborated with the Mexico National Symphony on two performances of Mozart’s Requiem; to Canada; and to Portugal and Spain, where the ensemble again enjoyed collaborative performances with choirs at the Universities of Lisbon and Porto.

At home in Las Vegas, ensembles under Weiller’s direction performed with dozens of headline entertainers and local arts organizations.

In addition to his duties at UNLV, Weiller has enjoyed a nearly 40 year relationship as a music director and instructor at College Light Opera Company, a summer program for young and emerging artists based in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Weiller is a recipient of the UNLV William Morris Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Faculty Award, and the Teacher of the Year award in the UNLV College of Fine Arts. Many of his former students are highly successful music educators, conductors, and performers across the country.

He holds degrees from Occidental College in Los Angeles and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with additional studies at California State University, Fullerton; the Oregon Bach Festival; Westminster Choir College; the University of Oklahoma; the University of Nevada, Reno; and Carnegie Mellon University. His teaching mentors include James A. Young, Drinda Frenzel, Thomas Somerville, Harold Decker, Dennis Shrock, and Rodney Eichenberger.

He is a distinguished member of Sigma Alpha Iota, International Music Fraternity.

Experiences The Division of Choral Studies sponsors several events throughout the academic year: MADRIGAL FESTIVAL The UNLV Invitational Madrigral and Chamber Choir Festival, known as MadFest, is a non-competitive, non-adjudicated fall festival, held every November, that showcases many of the best high school choirs in Las Vegas, the state of Nevada, and neighboring states. Many directors call it their favorite event of the school year!

DESERT ROSE CHORAL FESTIVAL Held in late April every year, the Desert Rose Choral Festival is a one-day singing experience for high school choir students. High school choir directors can nominate up to eight students from their program to participate in the festival. Nominations are based on merit; there is no audition. Students come to campus in the morning and learn three songs to perform that same evening. Along the way they build community through activities, shared meals, sectional rehearsals, Q and A, and performances and visits with UNLV students and faculty. Additionally, one guest choir serves as the invited honor choir for the festival.

ON-CAMPUS CONCERTS The Division of Choral Studies loves to collaborate with high school programs and invites at least one high school choir to perform with them on all of their on-campus performances.

ON-CAMPUS WORKSHOPS Every year several visiting high schools come to campus to receive a workshop, campus tour, and song exchange with the UNLV choirs and conductors.

Email choir@unlv.edu to get involved!