Choral Explorations I with Timothy Shantz

RIVERS OF LIGHT

7pm THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018Agassiz Christian Reformed Churchpresented by Cheam Vista Classical Concerts Society

8pm FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018Dunbar Ryerson United Church

with Vancouver Chamber Choir | Stephen Smith, piano | Timothy Shantz, conductor

2

VA N C O U V E R C H A M B E R C H O I R

The Vancouver Chamber Choir is one of Canada’s national treasures, an outstanding professional vocal ensemble noted for its diverse repertoire and performing excellence.

The Choir has been performing to audiences at home in Vancouver and on tour across Canada since it was formed in 1971 by conductor Jon Washburn. International excursions have taken the Vancouver Chamber Choir to the USA, Mexico, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Finland, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.

Honoured with the Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence by Chorus America, the Vancouver Chamber Choir has to its credit countless performances and broadcasts, over 30 recordings and numerous awards. Foremost supporters of Canadian music, Jon Washburn and the Choir have commissioned and premiered more than 250 Canadian choral compositions. Over the years they have sung nearly 3,000 performances of 350 pieces by 120 Canadian composers in addition to their extensive international repertoire.

The Choir’s award-winning educational programs include the National Conductors’ Symposium for advanced choral conductors, Interplay interactive workshops for choral composers, Focus! professional development program for student singers, OnSite visitations for school choirs, the biennial Young Composers Competition, and many on-tour workshops and residencies.

J O N WA S H B U R N , A R T I S T I C & E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R

Jon Washburn is the longtime Conductor and Artistic Director of the Vancouver Chamber Choir. Well known internationally for his mastery of choral technique and interpretation, he travels widely as guest conductor, lecturer, clinician and master teacher. He is also an active composer, arranger and editor and has had many compositions published, performed and recorded around the world.

In 2001 Mr. Washburn was named a Member of the Order of Canada (the nation’s highest civilian honour) and in 2002 received Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee Medal for his lifetime contribution

to Canadian choral art. Mr. Washburn received a Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors in the spring of 1996 and the Louis Botto Award from Chorus America in June 2000, in recognition of “innovative and entrepreneurial spirit in the development of a professional choral ensemble of exceptional quality.” He was given the Friends of Canadian Music Award 2000 by the Canadian Music Centre (CMC) and the Canadian League of Composers in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Canadian composers’ music. In the fall of 2009, he was named a CMC Ambassador and in 2010 received a star on the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame’s Starwalk. In 2012 Mr. Washburn received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In June 2014 he received the Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art, presented by Chorus America.

Board of DirectorsGeorge LaverockPresident

Andrew DiltsVice President

Kassia Grewal, C.P.A., C.A.Treasurer

Brent HunterSecretary

Janis HamiltonPast President

Matthew BairdJoAnne BarnumAnne BonnycastleDr. Jeanette Gallant (Oxford)Cameron HaneyDr. Donna HoggeWendy KishEmily McClendonColin MilesLaurent MunierYuliya NeverovaDavid RosboroughDr. Robert RothwellMehnaz ThawerMarianne Werner

Honorary PatronsJohn BishopMaurice Copithorne, Q.C., LL.D.Dr. Stephen Drance, O.C. Sam Feldman Charles Flavelle Ben Heppner, O.C. Don Hudson Dr. John MacDonald, O.C. R. Murray Schafer

Administrative StaffJon Washburn, C.M.Artistic & Executive Director

Steven BélangerGeneral Manager

Sanae Moteki, C.P.A., C.G.A.Comptroller

Karen SeaboyerManager, Communications & Production

Vancouver Chamber Choir1254 West 7th Avenue Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6H 1B6

Tel: 604.738.6822 • Fax: 604.738.7832info@vancouverchamberchoir.com

www.vancouverchamberchoir.com

Wendy D Photography

Photo: Yukiko Onley

The Vancouver Chamber Choir acknowledges that it operates and performs on the unceded Indigenous land belonging to the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We are grateful for this privilege.

3

VANCOUVER CHAMBER CHOIR

s o p r a n o sBeth Buono

Emily CheungChristina CichosKrista Pederson

Lorraine Reinhardt

a l t o sDinah AyreHilary Ison

Fabiana KatzDolores Scott

Karyn Way

t e n o r sGordon Crozier

Tom EllisCarman J. Price

Eric SchwarzhoffGrant Wutzke

b a s s e sSteven BélangerCameron Haney

Paul NashGeorge RobertsWim Vermeulen

affiliate conductors

Kathleen AllanFiona BlackburnGeorge RobertsCarrie TennantJoel Tranquilla

Duncan Watts-Grant Stage Management

Corporate Graphics Graphic Design

Violet GoosenDevelopment

José VerstappenProgramme Typography

In order to sustain the mood, it is best to hold your applause

until the end of each set.Please turn off all phones.

Recording devices of any kind are strictly prohibited.

VANCOUVER CHAMBER CHOIRTIMOTHY SHANTZ, GUEST CONDUCTOR

STEPHEN SMITH, PIANO/ORGAN

RIVERS OF LIGHTChoral Explorations 1

PROGRAMME

Prelude to Stardust Kristopher Fulton Emily Cheung, soprano (b. 1978)

Rivers of Light Ēriks Ešenvalds Hilary Ison, alto Steven Bélanger, baritone (b. 1977)

Had I not seen the Sun from Two Poems by Emily Dickinson Tarik O'Regan Christina Cichos, soprano Eric Schwarzhoff, tenor (b. 1978)

Aquarius (Dream) from Starry Sky Cycle (piano solo) Urmas Sisask(b. 1960)

+ + +

Beau soir (arr. Stanley Hoffmann) Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Constellation Frank Ticheli From the Sea (b. 1958)

The Falling Star There will be Stars Christina Cichos, soprano

Cetus (Longing) from Starry Sky Cycle (piano solo) Urmas Sisask+ + +

Two Songs from Vier Quartette, Op. 92 Johannes Brahms O schöne Nacht (1833-1897)

Warum?

INTERMISSION

… sempiternam from Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation Jeffrey Ryan (b. 1962)

Serpens (Appearances) from Starry Sky Cycle (piano solo) Urmas Sisask+ + +

Sfogava con le stelle Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)

Stars Ēriks Ešenvalds

Lyre (Happiness) from Starry Sky Cycle (piano solo) Urmas Sisask

+ + +

Seek Him that Maketh the Seven Stars Jonathan Dove Stephen Smith, organ (b. 1959)

Stardust Kristopher Fulton Emily Cheung, soprano Carman J. Price, tenor

4

T I M O T H Y S H A N T Z , G U E S T C O N D U C T O R

Douglas and Teri Loughran,

the Vancouver Chamber Choir

greatly appreciates your support for tonight’s

guest conductor, Timothy Shantz, through

the Artistic Future Fund.

Thank you.

As Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus Master, Spiritus Chamber Choir Artistic Director, and Luminous Voices Founder and Artistic Director, tonight’s guest conductor Timothy Shantz continues to garner critical praise for his work. Kenneth DeLong of the Calgary Herald wrote, “Timothy Shantz led the choir with both energy and grace, drawing from the ensemble sounds that were refined, balanced, and filled with inner life.”

Mr. Shantz is an experienced conductor, collaborator, and tenor soloist. As a conductor, he has explored the vast history of the vocal ensemble genre from early music to contemporary works, as well as virtuoso unaccompanied choral music to large choral-orchestral masterpieces. Under his direction, Spiritus Chamber Choir earned the Healey Willan Grand Prize from the Canada Council in 2013 and toured internationally earning second prize at the Fleischmann International Choral Competition in Cork, Ireland as well as second prize at the Florilège Vocal de Tours in France.

His preparation of choruses for major orchestral works has been equally successful. In a review of Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO), Bill Rankin wrote, “The chorus, which was prepared by the CPO’s chorus director Timothy Shantz,  distinguished itself in both the sonically elevated moments in Part I and in the many tricky tempi changes, as well as in the more subdued portions of the longer Faust section celebrating Goethe’s notion of the Eternal Feminine.”

After a performance of Beethoven’s Mass in C, the Herald’s DeLong said, “the well-prepared chorus (was) thrilling in the grand climaxes and sensitive in the softer Sanctus and Agnus Dei portions of the mass. The big fugal choruses always are a big sing for any choral group, and the CPO Chorus tucked into these most characteristic passages with relish. One could not help noticing the security of both the tenor and bass sections, and the way this contributed to the health of the total choral sound.”

Mr. Shantz has collaborated with conductors Christoph Koenig, Matthew Halls, Paul Hillier, James MacMillan, Nicholas McGegan, Roberto Minczuk, John Morris Russell, Yoav Talmi, Jean-Marie Zeitouni and more.

He has several recordings including Zachary Wadsworth’s The Far West (2016), of which Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote

“beautifully sung, as everything here is, by the aptly named Luminous Voices under Timothy Shantz.” Mendelssohn’s Te Deum (2015) by Luminous Voices was named Outstanding Choral Recording from Choral Canada in May 2016. Other recordings include James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words (2014) with Spiritus Chamber Choir and future releases planned from the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus and Luminous Voices.

Performance highlights as tenor include Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall, soloist and ensemble singer at the Carmel Bach Festival since 2008 and twice with the Lucerne Festival Academy under Pierre Boulez. Mr. Shantz holds a doctor of music degree in Choral Conducting from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with a dissertation analyzing the unaccompanied choral work Sun-Dogs by composer James MacMillan.

The January 25 performance in Agassiz, BC,

is proudly presented by the Cheam Vista

Classical Concert Society. Special thanks to

Kirill Bolshakov, who has been an initiator

of the CVCCS and who is currently actively

involved in the Society's connections with

the artistic world in Canada and abroad.

5

Sun Life Community Outreach Program

Sun Life Financial is pleased to provide a Community Outreach Program through which the

regular season concerts of the Vancouver Chamber Choir are made available to hundreds of

people with health related disabilities.

Non-profi t organizations involved with community health join with the Vancouver Chamber Choir

to help distribute tickets. For more information on this program or to register your organization,

please call the Vancouver Chamber Choir offi ce at 604-738-6822 and speak with Steven Bélanger.

S T E P H E N S M I T H , P I A N O / O R G A N

Listeners, critics, and audience members alike know Stephen Smith as "a sensitive and dynamic performer" with a "highly poetic touch" and "superb musicianship which illuminates everything he plays". Renowned pianist Jane Coop has called her former student "an extremely intelligent and perceptive musician who has great facility and strength in his technique"; and Simon Carrington, a founding member of the King’s Singers, has called him "a magnifi cent pianist", adding that "it's a privilege to hear such beautiful playing!"

Mr. Smith grew up in rural Nova Scotia, where he sang and played the piano from an early age. After initial studies in his home province in both piano and organ, he attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. While there, he participated in national and international competitions, and won numerous awards and distinctions. Since 1990, he has lived in Vancouver, obtaining a Doctoral degree in piano performance from the University of British Columbia, and becoming a fi xture of the city's choral scene, regularly accompanying the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Vancouver Men’s Chorus, Vancouver Bach Choir, Elektra Women's Choir, and many other ensembles.

He is also a published composer who has been commissioned by such organizations as the CBC, the National Youth Choir, and the BC Choral Federation, and whose music is recorded and performed with great frequency by choirs all over North America and beyond. His work as both accompanist and composer can be heard on dozens of CDs in commercial release, and he has also produced a solo album entitled Kaleidoscope, available on iTunes.

Visit ourFacebookFan Page!

Follow VanChamberChoir on

6

P R O G R A M M E N O T E S , T E X T S & T R A N S L A T I O N S

— NOTES BY TIMOTHY SHANTZ —

Kristopher Fulton Prelude to Stardust

Tonight’s program is unified by the theme of stars and night. This music grows out of our endless fascination with space and time, the mysteries of our outer and inner world. We begin with a tune which is perhaps one of the earliest you remember - the simple and charming “Twinkle, twinkle.” We hope to capture a sense of innocence and wonder through this new arrangement by Vancouver composer, Kristopher Fulton, in Stardust, commissioned by Luminous Voices. Fulton adapts words by Jane Taylor to create a short prelude to the program, as well as a more extended form as a conclusion to the concert.

Little star.Wonderabove the world, high.

When the blazing sun is gone,and nothing shines upon,show your lightthrough the night.

Jane Taylor, adapted from The Star

11

Peter R. Allen The Banks of Newfoundland

Peter R. Allen, who was born and educated in Wales, came to Canada in 1969. He has a Doctorate in Choral Conducting from the University of Iowa, has taught music at universities in four provinces and was active for many years as an adjudicator across Canada. Since 1987 he has been based in Ontario, but this arrangement of The Banks of Newfoundland from 1980 is one of several written around the time he spent teaching at Memorial University in Newfoundland.

The springtime of the year is come,Once more we must away;Out on the stormy Banks to go,In quest of fish to stay.

Where seas do roll tremendously,Like mountain peaks so high;And the wild seabirds around us,In their mad career go by.

Out there we spend our summer months,Midst heavy fog and wind;And often do our thoughts go back,To the dear ones left behind.

CALLING STUDENTS OF ANY AGE!

For only $15, you can enjoy some of Canada’s finest choral concerts when you purchase rush tickets to Vancouver Chamber Choir regular season performances.

All students and youth (26 and under) are welcome.

Tickets are available one hour in advance of this year’s Dunbar Ryerson United Church and Orpheum concerts.

Thank you, John and Leonora Pauls

The Vancouver Chamber Choir appreciates your support of printing

tonight’s concert programand for attending

We hope to see you again this spring!

And when those summer toils are o’er,We return with spirits light;To see our sweethearts and our wives,Who helped us in the fight.

From where the wild sea billows foam,There by cold breezes fanned;Out on the stormy billows,On the Banks of Newfoundland.

Please turn page quietly

Thank you, Viviane Nitting

The Vancouver Chamber Choir appreciates your support of printing

tonight’s concert programand for attending

11

Peter R. Allen The Banks of Newfoundland

Peter R. Allen, who was born and educated in Wales, came to Canada in 1969. He has a Doctorate in Choral Conducting from the University of Iowa, has taught music at universities in four provinces and was active for many years as an adjudicator across Canada. Since 1987 he has been based in Ontario, but this arrangement of The Banks of Newfoundland from 1980 is one of several written around the time he spent teaching at Memorial University in Newfoundland.

The springtime of the year is come,Once more we must away;Out on the stormy Banks to go,In quest of fish to stay.

Where seas do roll tremendously,Like mountain peaks so high;And the wild seabirds around us,In their mad career go by.

Out there we spend our summer months,Midst heavy fog and wind;And often do our thoughts go back,To the dear ones left behind.

CALLING STUDENTS OF ANY AGE!

For only $15, you can enjoy some of Canada’s finest choral concerts when you purchase rush tickets to Vancouver Chamber Choir regular season performances.

All students and youth (26 and under) are welcome.

Tickets are available one hour in advance of this year’s Dunbar Ryerson United Church and Orpheum concerts.

Thank you, John and Leonora Pauls

The Vancouver Chamber Choir appreciates your support of printing

tonight’s concert programand for attending

We hope to see you again this spring!

And when those summer toils are o’er,We return with spirits light;To see our sweethearts and our wives,Who helped us in the fight.

From where the wild sea billows foam,There by cold breezes fanned;Out on the stormy billows,On the Banks of Newfoundland.

Please turn page quietly

8pm SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2018Dunbar Ryerson United ChurchVancouver Chamber Choir | Five Guest ConductorsStephen Smith, piano | Jon Washburn, conductor

Our Conductors’ Concert is always one of the most fascinatingevents of the choral season. As the culmination of our 38th annualNational Conductors’ Symposium, Jon Washburn, five invitedconductors from around the world and pianist Stephen Smith will focus on three distinct musical genres — famous prayers,indigenous songs and story ballads. Come and enjoy the unusualrepertoire and the varied interpretations of the six conductors.Music by Mozart, Bruckner, Duruflé, Foss, Enkhbayar, Healey,Adams, Crossin, Bartók, Daunais, Washburn and more.

MAESTRO!The Annual Conductors’ Concert

1.855.985.ARTS (2787)vancouverchamberchoir.com

7

Ēriks Ešenvalds Rivers of Light

The young Ēriks Ešenvalds’ fascination with stars and the celestial realm finds its way into the vast majority of his music. Rivers of Light uses two folk tunes in Old Saami or Old Finnish sung by soloists and combines those with Ešenvalds’ music for choir set to words woven together from several English sources describing the Northern Lights. The inclusion of the jaw harp creates a sonic atmosphere that evokes the sounds of the stars.

Kuovsakasah reukarih tåkko teki Northern Lights slide back and forth,sira sira tåkko teki la la la, back and forth,sira ria, sira siraa ria la la la.

Saami or Old Finnish folksong

Guovssat, guovssat radni go Northern Lights, Northern Lights, blanket shiveringlibai libai libaida la la laruoná gákti green coat (Saami traditional costume)nu nu nu la la la

Northern-Saami joik about Northern Lights

Winter night,the sky is filled with symphony of light.The sky is flooded with rivers of light.Ah, the doors of heaven have been opened tonight.From horizon to horizonmisty dragons swim through the sky.Green curtains billow and swirl.Fast-moving, sky-filling,the tissues of gossamer.Nothing can be heard, nothing heard!Light shakes over the vault of heaven its veil of glittering

silver:changing now to yellow, now to green, now to red.It spreads in restless change, into waving,into many-folded bands of silver.It shimmers in tongues of flame.Over the very zenith it shoots a bright ray up,until the whole melts away, as a sigh of departing soul in

the moonlight,leaving a glow in the skylike the dying embers of a great fire.

Text by Charles Francis Hall, Fridtjof Nansen and other various writings on the Northern Lights.

The Vancouver Chamber Choir appreciates your support

of our performance

Thank you to tonight’s anonymous Concert Patron

Tarik O’ReganHad I not seen the Sun

Originally written for Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare, O’Regan’s short work was composed to open a program, much like Fulton’s work. This Emily Dickinson poem describes the haunting power of light and yearning for knowledge.

Had I not seen the SunI could have borne the shadeBut Light a newer WildernessMy Wilderness has made—

Emily Dickinson

The Vancouver Chamber Choir greatly appreciates the

Granville Island Hotel’s support for Rivers of Light

8

Urmas Sisask Aquarius (Dream)

piano only

As a palette cleanser, tonight’s program includes several short solo piano works by the contemporary Estonian composer Urmas Sisask. An avid amateur astronomer, Sisask’s music is often derived from the mapping and trajectories of the planets and stars. He has written two sets of Starry Sky Cycles for piano. You will hear four of these short works throughout the program, depicting a variety of emotions as their titles suggest.

Claude Debussy Beau soir

Debussy’s famous song is beautifully arranged here for choir and piano. The poetry describes the inevitable end of life yet pleads with us to enjoy the very peaceful, simple and happy moments like those found on a beautiful evening. Debussy’s supple and stylish musical style is on full display in this miniature masterpiece.

Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses, When streams turn pink in the setting sun,et qu’un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé, And a slight shudder rushes through the wheat fields,un conseil d’être heureux semble sortir des choses A plea for happiness seems to rise out of all things et monter vers le cour troublé; And it climbs up towards the troubled heart.

Un conseil de goûter le charme d’être au monde, A plea to relish the charm of life in the worldcependant qu’on est jeune et que le soir est beau, While there is youth and the evening is fair,car nous nous en allons, comme s’en va cette onde… For we pass away, as the wave passes: elle à la mer, nous au tombeau. The wave to the sea, we to the grave.

Paul Bourget

Frank TicheliConstellation

Sara Teasdale’s poetry is extremely lyrical and frequently set by contemporary composers. Tonight you hear Frank Ticheli’s triptych Constellation. As he states in the score, “her words almost set themselves, inspiring natural, flowing melodic lines and vivid sound worlds.” The image of stars is a common recurrence in her poetry. “They are a powerful symbol of eternal beauty and peace. Feelings of longing and melancholy — never far from the surface — are poignantly balanced by feelings of hope and an underlying sense of awe and wonder.”

From the Sea

For us no starlight stilled the April fields,No birds awoke in darkling trees for us,Yet where we walked the city’s street that nightFelt in our feet the singing fire of spring,And in our path we left a trail of lightSoft as the phosphorescence of the seaWhen night submerges in the vessel’s wakeA heaven of unborn evanescent stars.

The Falling Star

I saw a star slide down the sky,Blinding the north as it went by,Too burning and too quick to hold,Too lovely to be bought or sold,Good only to make wishes onAnd then forever to be gone.

Urmas Sisask Cetus (Longing)

piano only

There Will Be Stars

There will be stars over the place forever; Though the house we loved and the street we loved are lost,Every time the earth circles her orbit On the night the autumn equinox is crossed,Two stars we knew, poised on the peak of midnight Will reach their zenith; stillness will be deep;There will be stars over the place forever, There will be stars forever, while we sleep.

Sara Teasdale

9

Johannes Brahms Two Songs

from Vier Quartette, Op. 92

With its similarities to Debussy’s Beau soir, one cannot help but wonder if Brahms’ famous part-songs may have influenced Debussy — from the arpeggiated opening to the sparkling right-hand figures. O schöne Nacht is one of the best known of Brahms’ output with its breathless piano arpeggiations and shimmering melodic lines featuring each section of the choir in melody. In Warum?, Brahms takes us dramatically upwards in energy and harmony as the choir casts their song upwards before seemingly floating on a magic carpet ride among the stars.

O schöne Nacht! Oh lovely night!

O schöne Nacht! Oh lovely night!Am Himmel märchenhaft In the sky, magically,erglänzt der Mond in seiner ganzen Pracht; the moon shines in all its splendour;um ihn der kleinen Sterne liebliche Genossenschaft. around it is the pleasant company of little stars.

Es schimmert hell der Tau am grünen Halm; Dew glistens brightly on green stems;mit Macht im Fliederbusche schlägt die Nachtigall; in the lilac bush, the nightingale sings lustily.der Knabe schleicht zu seiner Liebsten sacht. The youth steals away quietly to his love.O schöne Nacht! Oh lovely night!

Georg Friedrich Daumer

Warum? Why?

Warum doch erschallen Why then do songshimmelwärts die Lieder? resound heavenwards?Zögen gerne nieder Sterne, They would fain draw down the starsdie droben blinken und wallen, that twinkle and sparkle above;zögen sich Lunas they would draw to themselveslieblich Umarmen, the moon’s lovely embrace;zögen die warmen, wonnigen Tage they would fain draw the warm, blissful daysseliger Götter gern uns herab! of the blessed gods down upon us.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

INTERMISSION

Jeffrey Ryan …sempiternam

…sempiternam is a setting of the Agnus Dei from the Latin Requiem Mass. This unaccompanied piece is part of a larger work for choir and orchestra, Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation, by Vancouver composer Jeffrey Ryan. Commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the work received its premiere in 2012 and has since been performed several times across the country. The music of this movement quietly oscillates around a small set of pitches. Rhythm and harmony are both static and flexible in this contemplative setting with the spatial effect of double choir.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,dona eis requiem. grant them rest.Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,dona eis requiem sempiternam. grant them eternal rest.

Latin Requiem Mass

Urmas SisaskSerpens (Appearances)

piano only

10

Claudio Monteverdi Sfogava con le stelle

Monteverdi’s Sfogava con le stelle plays an interesting foil to the ethereal quality of much of the music on the program with its rich and expressive madrigal style. This period of music history saw Monteverdi forge ahead using a fluid movement between falsobordone (harmonized chant) and the new style of harmonic counterpoint. His style is magical and beautiful in its ingenuity with text and expression always paramount. The poetry centres around a lover who cries out to the stars that shine as beautifully as his beloved in hopes that they will also reciprocate that beauty.

Sfogava con le stelle un infermo d’amore One who was lovesick cried out his pain sotto notturno ciel il suo dolore. to the stars in the nightE dicea fisso in loro: and said looking up to them:

“O imagini belle de l’idol mio ch’adoro “O you beautiful pictures of my loved onesi com’a me mostrate, just as you show mementre cosi splendete, la sua rara beltate when you are gleaming, her outstanding beautycosi mostrast’a lei show her alsoi vivi ardori miei. how I burn for herLa fareste col vostr’aureo sembiante and with your golden face make her as merciful to mepietosa si come me fat’amante.” as you make me love her.” Ottavio Rinuccini translation by Sven Wifstrand

Ēriks Ešenvalds Stars

In Stars, Ešenvalds uses crystal glasses in the same manner as the jaw harp, seemingly summoning the energized sounds of light and night sky phenomena. Six diatonic pitches are played by the glasses and the choir harmonizes around the tones. The Sara Teasdale poem uses familiar images to address the stars as majestic and “beating hearts of fire.”

Alone in the nightOn a dark hillWith pines around meSpicy and still,

And a heaven full of starsOver my head,White and topazAnd misty red;

Myriads with beatingHearts of fireThat honouronsCannon vex or tire;

Up the dome of heavenLike a great hill,I watch them marchingStately and still,

And I know that IAm honoured to beWitnessOf such majesty. Sara Teasdale

Urmas SisaskLyre (Happiness)

piano only

Jonathan Dove Seek Him that Maketh the Seven Stars

One of the inspirations for this program comes from contemporary British composer Jonathan Dove. Regarding his Seek Him that Maketh the Seven Stars, he writes, “the theme of light, and star-light in particular, is an endless source of inspiration for composers. I came across these words about light and stars while looking for a text to set as an anthem for the Royal Academy of Arts’ annual Service for Artists: I thought these images would have a special meaning for visual artists. The anthem begins with a musical image of the night sky, a repeated organ motif of twinkling stars that sets the choir wondering who made them. The refrain ‘Seek him’ starts in devotional longing but is eventually released into a joyful dance, finally coming to rest in serenity.”

Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion and turneth the shadow of death into the morning.Alleluia, yea, the darkness shineth as the day, the night is light about me. Amen. Amos 5:8 and Psalm 139

Kristopher Fulton

Stardust

We close our program with the full version of Stardust, which returns to the familiar tune “Twinkle, twinkle” while also setting the lesser known words from Jane Taylor’s poem.

Little star.Wonderabove the world, high.

When the blazing sun is gone,and nothing shines upon,show your lightthrough the night.

Jane Taylor, adapted from The Star

11

Join our list of valued partners, donors and supporters.Visit our website www.vancouverchamberchoir.com, click on the “Support” tab and then “Individual Giving”. This will take you to a secure link where you can indicate not only the amount you wish to give, but also select what you would like your donation to support. Thank you – we couldn’t do this without you!

$ 15,000+Douglas & Teri LoughranSun Life Financial*

$ 10,000 - $ 14,999Chan Sisters Foundation*Ronald Haney* in memory

of my wife, MarionBarbara LowyTong & Geraldine Louie

Family Foundation

$ 5,000 - $ 9,999Great West Life – London Life –

Canada Life*George Laverock & Jane Coop*Tait Consulting Ltd*TD Canada Trust*

$ 2,500 - $ 4,999Anonymous *Andrew Mahon FoundationBryan & Gail Atkins*Bishop’s*Maurice & Tama Copithorne*David Cousins*C-Pac Canada Ltd*Count Enrico & Countess Aline

Dobrzensky Charles & Lucile Flavelle*Don & Pat Hudson*John Hardie Mitchell

Family FoundationDoris Luking* Martha Lou Henley

Charitable Foundation*McLean FoundationMLT Aikins LLPDr. Robert Rothwell*The S.M. Blair Family FoundationSOCAN Foundation*Jon Washburn &

Linda Lee Thomas*

$ 1,500 - $ 2,499Alan & Gwendoline Pyatt

FoundationMark De Silva*Diamond FoundationMike & Kathy GallagherJeanette Gallant

Al & Violet Goosen*Hamber FoundationJanis Hamilton*Ann Howe*Linda Johnston*Bjorn & Viviane Nitting*The Vine & Branch FoundationZLC Foundation

$ 1,000 - $ 1,499Janet Allwork*Richard & Val BradshawBurrowing OwlThe Christopher Foundation*Drs. Robin & Margaret Cottle*

in honour of John TrotterSylvia Crooks*Deux Mille FoundationDavid HarveyDonna HoggeKinder Morgan FoundationDavid Lemon & Sylvia L’EcuyerJerry & Lilli LukingMary & Gordon Christopher

FoundationRita Nash*Dr. Katherine Paton

& Jeff BeckmanJohn & Leonora Pauls*Quails’ GateRBC FoundationThe Simons Foundation*

$ 500 - $ 999Anonymous (2)Kent & Karen AndersonLinda AshtonMatthew Baird*Elizabeth Caskey*Cecilia Chueh*Andrew DiltsCameron Haney*Brent HunterLinda KinneyWolfgang & Anne LippertChristine Nicolas*Hazel OsborneDubravko Pajalic*Frances PicherackMarian Reid*Diane Roscoe*

David Tait & Pille Bunnell*Mark & Debbie TooleWilliam VermeulenBruno Wall & Jane MacdonaldMorag Whitfield*Eric Wilson*

$ 250 - $ 499Lynn BarrSteven BélangerKristina BermanPeter Cass*Isobel Cole*Ellen DoiseDr. Stephen DranceIsmail Farahani & Myrna Driol*Ken GracieLinda Hamilton*William & Heather Ireland*William KorolTim & Fiona Laithwaite*Carol Ann Lang*Alan & Helen MaberleyBonnie MacKenzie*Kathy MannSharon Newman*George & Frances RobertsIlze RoffeyAnthony RoperPat ScrivensElizabeth SpencerCynthia TozeBarrie & Margaret Vickers*Vera VlaovichGerald & Johanne Voogd*Dr. & Mrs. Roy Westwick*Fei WongWilliam & Margaret Worrall

$ 100 - $ 249Anonymous (3) Jim & Jean AkizukiBonnie AndersonChristina BeckRussell BoydDavid Brook

Peter W. Brown*Lloyd BurrittGeorge Challies*Ed and Dorothy ChiassonJoyce ChungReg CichosMarylin Clark*Roger & Carolyn ColeCull Family FoundationDr. Pamela DalzielDr. Terence DawsonMarilyn De Verteuil*Dick DolanDr. Dennis & Carolyn FarrellThom Geise*Roger & Susan GroseIan Hampton & Susan RoundDr. Peter T. Harmon*Martha Lou HenleyJohanna HickeyMarian HingstonRosemary HoRalph Huenemann*Dr. Will JohnstonWendy KleinJoslin KobylkaDr. & Mrs. Hans Kouwenberg*Dr. & Mrs. James Lai*Sophia LeungLouise LuDoug MadsenNicolas & Marta Maftei*Peter MercerColin Miles*Robert MooreCraig Morash*Mary MurraySumiko NishizawaJean Pamplin in memory of BobMarion PoggemillerJocelyn PritchardDouglas Reid*Karen Seaboyer*Shirley Sexsmith*Beverly Short*Judah & Barbara Shumiatcher

W I T H O U R T H A N K S

The Vancouver Chamber Choir is pleased to thank and acknowledge our Corporate and Individual Sponsors and Donors as well as the Foundations and Government Agencies who, through their leadership and financial support make it possible for the Vancouver Chamber Choir to present outstanding high-quality performances of choral music and deliver award-winning education and community programs.1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212

1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212

1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212 1212

Russell SmithStephen SmithHarry SnydersIan & Jane Strang*Edward & Ingrid SudermanRiina TammMehnaz ThawerChing TienJanice TrenholmeVictoria Uberall*Urban Impact Recycling*José Verstappen*Olga VolkoffWendy WalkerDr. & Mrs. James WhittakerNancy WuRaymond YoungCharleen Zaleski*

Up to $ 100Anonymous (6)Irene BohjalianJ.E. BrokJudith Forst*Anne GallantreeNancy GarrettKassia GrewalPhillip Hewett*Grace HodgsonMargaret HumeEmily McLendonEvan MilesHelen OsobaAnne ParkerIan PerryJennifer PriceLorraine Reinhardt*Stan RidleyPolly SamsDr. Heather SutherlandMary TuckRichard & Mavourneen WadgeKimie YanadaKevin Zakresky

* Special Thanks to our Most Loyal DonorsThe Vancouver Chamber Choir acknowledges the sustained generosity of those who have supported the Choir for five or more continuous years. Their names have been marked with an asterisk (*).

1.855.985.ARTS(2787) vancouverchamberchoir.com

RACHMANINOVVESPERSand Lauridsen Lux aeterna

8pm FRIDAYMARCH 30, 2018The Orpheumwith Vancouver Chamber Choir | Pacifica SingersVancouver Cantata Singers | Vancouver Youth ChoirVancouver Chamber OrchestraJon Washburn, conductor

Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninov’s music for the OrthodoxAll-Night Vigil - often known in the West as the Vespers - isknown as his finest unaccompanied choral work, one of thelandmarks of the entire choral repertoire. The Vancouver ChamberChoir combines with the Vancouver Cantata Singers to create asuitable Slavic sonority. As a companion piece, the Pacifica Singersjoin us for a 21st-century masterpiece and Vancouver ChamberChoir favourite – Morten Lauridsen’s Lux aeterna for choirs andorchestra, an intimate work of quiet serenity centred around auniversal symbol of hope, reassurance and goodness. And as alittle bonus, Gabriel Fauré’s exquisite Messe basse in JonWashburn’s orchestral version, featuring the vibrant young singersof the Vancouver Youth Choir.

John Bishop

and the

Vancouver Chamber Choir Board of Directors

request the pleasure of your company

on

Tuesday, February 27, 2018at

Bishop’s Restaurant2183 West 4th Avenue

Following the reception there will be music.

Reception 6:30 pm Performance 7:00 pm Dinner 7:30 pm

A donation of $295 (tax receipt for $250) will reserve your place at the table.

Reserve by February 21 by calling the Vancouver Chamber Choir at

604-738-6822