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NEW MEXICO SYMPHONIC CHORUS April 14, 2012, 6:00 pm

Maxine Thévenot, organist; Roger Melone, conductor

GREAT ORGANIST: MASSIMO NOSETTI May 04, 2012, 7:00 pm

The great Italian organist, Massimo Nosetti makes his Southwestern debut with us here, at the Cathedral of St. John, on New Mexico’s largest pipe organ. Come and travel with him as he takes us on a musical journey through the centuries and around the globe.

Co-sponsored by the Albuquerque Chapter of the American Guild of Organists

GREAT HYMNS AND ANTHEMS June 03, 2012, 3:00 pm

Come and support the Cathedral Choirs as, in preparation for their East Coast tour, they present a concert of masses, motets, anthems and canticles from the Anglican tradition. Think about your favorite hymn: we’ll be asking for your suggestions closer to the time!

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE

April 1, Palm Sunday Blessing of Palms at all three liturgies (8:00 am, 9:00 am, 11:00 am)

April 3, Holy Tuesday Diocesan Chrism Mass (10:00 am) The clergy from around the Diocese gather at the Cathedral to renew their ordination vows in the presence of the Bishop and to receive the oils consecrated by the Bishop that day (chrism and oil of healing). All are welcome.

April 4, Holy Wednesday Holy Eucharist in the Chapel (Noon) Tenebrae, (7:00 pm) meaning “Shadows,” is a dramatic service that, through readings and music, gives the outline of Holy Week, pointing us to the dark hours of Christ’s Passion and death.

April 5, Maundy Thursday Noonday Prayers, in the Chapel Maundy Thursday Liturgy: and the Stripping of the Altar (7:00 pm)

April 6, Good Friday Stations of the Cross, in the Nave (Noon) The Way of the Cross, a liturgy for families and youth (5:00 pm) Good Friday Liturgy (7:00 pm) The Vigil concludes as this service begins. A somber liturgy, the Good Friday service includes a dramatic recitation of the Passion Narrative from St. John’s Gospel, the veneration of the Cross, and reception of Communion from the Altar of Repose.

April 7, Holy Saturday The Great Vigil of Easter (9:30pm)

April 8, Easter Sunday 8:00 am Holy Eucharist, Rite I 9:00 am Festival Holy Eucharist, Rite II 10:00 am Resurrection Party 11:00 am Procession and Solemn Pontifical Eucharist, Rite II.

Friends of Cathedral Music 2011-2012 ¬ 18th Season

Upcoming Events

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OFFICERS President, Brent Stevens Production Director of KHFM 95.5 & 102.9 FM Vice President, Maxine Thévenot, Founding & Artistic Director Secretary, Elizabeth Bayne Treasurer, Carol Wilkins Publicity and Ticketing, Alyssa Landahl Chair of Charitable Contributions, Lee Rickard

Board of Directors Alyssa Landahl Chris Rasmussen Lee Rickard Maxine Thévenot Carol Wilkins

Honorary Patrons Professor Bradley Ellingboe, Director of Choral Activities, University of New Mexico Maestro Roger Melone, Resident Conductor and Choral Director of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Tarik O’Regan, Internationally acclaimed composer Elaine Quilichini, Founding & Artistic Director, Calgary Girls Choir Dr. Linda Raney, Founding & Artistic Director, Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble Marty Ronish, Producer of the BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra Radio Broadcasts Dr. Robert Sirota, President, Manhattan School of Music Carol Tucker Trelease, Alumna of Leadership Albuquerque, Chamber of Commerce

Director’s Circle-Concert Sponsorship ($2500+) Thomas Snodgrass In loving memory of his wife Jeanne B. Snodgrass Polyphony Circle ($1000-$2499) Benefactor Circle ($500-$999)Anonymous Michael D. Freccia In honor of Brent Stevens Patron ($250-$499) The Rev. Margaret T. Case The Landahl Family Sponsor ($100-$249) Anonymous Brian Cochran from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Susan & James Daniels Bradley & Karen Ellingboe Guy & Nina Hobbs Eric Parker In memory of Doris Parker and Lora Hibbetts Monica Whitaker Jeanine & Michael Zenge

Donor ($25-$99) Anonymous Elizabeth Shellabarger Bayne In memory of my parent, Martin and Betty Shellabarger and

my husband, William Bayne Faith Blakely Carlton & Mary Ellin Brooks Chandler Jewelers Jeff Cohen & Sally Farwell Ms. Monika Cosson Kate & Bob Friesner Mr. Dan Hellbom

Thomas Paul James Millicent Leenhouts Betty Logan Tom & Kay Moses New Mexico Chiropractic Center Lauren & Jonathan Saeger Jill Shellabarger Mueller Charles & Janet Williams

UPDATE

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Soundcat New Mexico Productions

LOCATION AUDIO RECORDING Of Fine Acoustic Music

CD PRODUCTION AND MASTERING

Recording engineer for: The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Albuquerque Chamber Soloists Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico Friends of Cathedral Music (Cathedral Church of St. John) Musica de Festiva Rondeña Chatter Chamber Ensemble

BRENT STEVENS Soundcat New Mexico Productions

(505) 238-4432

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The Cathedral of St. John•Albuquerque, New Mexico

MESSIAH GEORGE FREDERIC HANDEL

(23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759)

Friday March 23, 7:00 pm, Sunday March 25, 3:00 pm

Soloists Eric Brenner, soprano

Patrick Fennig , countertenor

Edmund Connolly , bass

Javier Gonzalez , tenor

Maxine Thevenot, Founding & Artistic Director

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ARTISTIC AND FOUNDING DIRECTOR She elicits huge and brilliant sounds with a minimum of conducting movement — the mark of one who has the utmost confidence in her

singers. Albuquerque Journal, June 2011

Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, Maxine Thévenot is one of North America's leading young choral directors. Equally at home working with amateur and children’s choirs as with adult professional singers, Dr. Thévenot has trained and conducted ensembles across Canada and the USA. Acclaimed by The American Organist for her “consummate musicianship,” in her capacity as Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque, New Mexico, she conducted the Cathedral Choir on tour in the UK at St Paul’s Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral and York Minster, and directed the choir’s most recent recording, Missa Campanella. Regarding this recording, the Association of Anglican Musicians praised Dr. Thévenot’s “very fine direction” and “a lovely sound, rich in enthusiasm, warm in tone, and with a contagious energy to their performances.”

Maxine Thévenot founded Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico in 2006. She has since led the group, New Mexico’s only resident professional vocal ensemble, in a number of major projects including sold-out performances of Handel’s Messiah with an all-male solo quartet. The Santa Fe New Mexican declared, “One can feel how precisely and warmly Thévenot conducts this music.” “A group made up entirely and proudly of New Mexico singers, Polyphony, Voices of New Mexico, has quickly become the area’s premiere chamber chorus in no small part due to Thévenot’s direction. As a conductor, Thévenot knows exactly what she wants and precisely how to get it from the performers. And she does it with deceptively minimal effort.” Albuquerque Journal, December 2011, Year in Review.

Dr. Thévenot is also director of the University of New Mexico women’s choir, Las Cantantes, and has made three commercial recordings with the group, whose “sensitive, heartfelt singing” was lauded by the American Record Guide.

Maxine Thévenot holds degrees from the University of Saskatchewan (Bachelor of Music) and the Manhattan School of Music (Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts), where she was twice recipient of the Bronson Ragan Award for “most outstanding organist.” She is also an Associate of the Royal Canadian College of Organists and the Royal Conservatory of Music, and a Fellow of the National College of Music, London, UK.

In addition to her work as a choral director, Dr. Thévenot maintains a distinguished international career as an organ recitalist, recording artist and visiting lecturer at universities. She has also contributed, as a writer and photographer, to several international publications. www.maxinethevenot.com

CONCERT SOUND BYTE In many ways Handel can be regarded as the first international musical star. Born in Germany, he studied in Italy before

making his way to England, where he lived for the remainder of his life. The music from the later part of his life reflects this skillful mix of national styles, perhaps to no greater extent than in his choral music. For more than 260 years, Messiah has been his most popular and beloved oratorio and continues to give pleasure to audiences around the world, whether in mammoth Cecil B. DeMille-type extravaganzas with 3,000+ singers, the always popular “Messiah sing-alongs,” gospel and country versions, or performed in Baroque style with small choruses and chamber orchestras playing period instruments.

Today Messiah is regarded as Handel’s greatest musical achievement, but its popularity was not instantaneous. It was written in a three-week span in the summer of 1741 and premiered in Dublin the following spring as a charity benefit. It is hard to imagine a time when Messiah was not a staple of choruses everywhere and a perennial audience favorite, but its enduring popularity did not begin until after Handel’s death.

During his lifetime it was recognized as merely one of many successful, but not groundbreaking, oratorios he composed. While performances of Messiah have become a Christmas tradition, it was originally intended to be heard during Passion Week, the holiest week of the Christian year that culminates with Easter Sunday.

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FRIENDS OF CATHEDRAL MUSIC Concerts at the Cathedral would not be possible were it not for the generosity of members of the congregation and greater Albuquerque community who contribute time and money to Friends of Cathedral Music (FCM). FCM are individuals, families and organizations who support the core mission of furthering fellowship among all people through the grace of God and the beauty of first-rate music. Although most of its programs center on ecclesiastical themes, FCM also sponsors many other programs, including those by young musicians from the community.

Archangel ($3,000+) Peggy & Earl Loftfield Dr. Eric Parker Carol Tucker Trelease Angel ($1,500+) American Guild of Organists-Albuquerque Chapter Kenneth Moorhead Ann& David Stinchcomb Benefactor ($1,000+) Douglas R. Bailey & Dianne Brehmer Bailey Dr. John Helsell Eugenie & Guy Hobbs Harris McClain Given in memory of Pamela S. McClain Charles & Gretchen O'Hara Richard Ransom Laurence B. Titman Patron ($750+) David & Gay Tanner Sponsor ($350+) Dr. Peggie Ann Findlay-Bush & Dr. Steven Bush Gary Moore & Gale Doyel Sandra & Ross Holmen Vi & John Miller Homer Musgrave In memory and honor Catharine M. Musgrave Karen Turner Sandra Kay Veltkamp

Contributor ($150+) Elizabeth S. Bayne In memory of my parents Martin & Elizabeth Shellabarger & my husband-William Bayne Susan & Tony Leonard Betty Logan Jeanine & Michael Zenge Villa Wisteria Publications Supporters ($10-149) Mary Lee & Paul Anthony Kathryn Braziel Mary Covan Emily Frear Bob Hatcher Cortez Kibble Ruth & John Miksovic Margaret Schmidt Carol & Donald Tallman Deborah & Howard Tischler Richard Vivian Linda & Charles White

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Please consider becoming a Friend of Cathedral Music.

Simply fill out the information slip found in the Friends of Cathedral Music brochure and either mail it to the Cathedral or give it to one of the ushers at a concert program.

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PERFORMERS BIOGRAPHIES Born and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York, countertenor/soprano ERIC S. BRENNER grew up playing violin and viola—badly. He did not sing a note in public until he joined his high school choir—as a tenor. Several years later, he discovered his countertenor/soprano voice and all of the remarkable repertoire (both very old, and very new) available to him.

Eric’s diverse resume includes a one-on-a-part performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers, with New York Collegium under Andrew Parrott, Jonathan Miller’s semi-staged production of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the BAM

Baroque Ensemble, and solo work with Early Music New York (Fred Renz, Director), Voices of Ascension (Dennis Keene, Director), and the Choir of St. Thomas Church (John Scott, Director). Eric made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall in 1999 singing Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. Eric has also been a soloist and guest clinician with Studio Arsis Vocal Workshop in Tokyo, Japan. Recent projects include Copland’s In the Beginning and Mozart’s Laudate Dominum with the choirs of University of Honolulu, Manoa; alto solos in Messiah and soprano solo in Purcell’s Evening Hymn with the St. Thomas choir in New York, and; the role of Hercules in Handel’s The Choice of Hercules and various roles in Purcell’s Fairie Queene with Big Apple Baroque.

A fervent lover of ensemble music, Eric co-founded and sang soprano on repertoire ranging from medieval chant to the Beatles with all male vocal quartet Consensus. Eric also spent three seasons with the Grammy award winning ensemble Chanticleer. During that time, Eric sang dozens of premieres, taught master classes to individual singers, choirs, and conductors, and traveled all over the world, performing in major halls throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. Eric also appears on three Chanticleer recordings—Sound and Spirit; And on Earth Peace — A Chanticleer Mass; and Let It Snow. More recently, Eric has been a regular guest singing soprano with the male vocal quartet New York Polyphony.

On the avant garde side, Eric is proud to have been part of the recording and world premiere (at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam) of PEW fellowship-winning composer Toby Twining’s Chrysalid Requiem. More recently Eric teamed up with Mr. Twining again as soprano and Assistant Conductor on Twining’s original music for Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, PA (recording to come in 2010). Other unusual projects include the roles of: Singer in The Last Castrato, written by Guy Fredrick Glass; Grandma/grandpa in Prairie Dogs, with Coterie, NY; Erica/Valkyrie/Zombie in Rob Reese’s Survivor: Vietnam, with Amnesia Wars, NY, and; Beast in Beauty and the Beast, written by Hannah Lash and produced by Cooper Union, NY. Eric also writes fiction, enjoys riding his bike, and is an incorrigible Mets fan.

PATRICK FENNIG, countertenor, made his solo debut in 2009 with the American Classical Orchestra in a period performance of Handel’s Messiah. This season has included Purcell’s Come, Ye Sons of Art with The Chorus of Westerly, Experiments in Opera with Aaron Siegel at Le Poisson Rouge, Handel’s Messiah with Polyphony New Mexico as well as an upcoming performance of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms at East Stroudsburg University.

His stage credits include Big Apple Baroque’s production of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and a role composed for him in I Fioretti in Musica, a neo-Renaissance madrigal opera, which premiered at LaMaMa Experimental Theatre

Club. In past seasons, he has appeared as a soloist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Schütz’s, Sei Gegrüßet, Maria in Buxtehude’s Jesu Membra Nostri. Patrick is also an active choral singer in New York City, a member of the Choir of Men and Boys at St. Thomas, Fifth Avenue, Musica Sacra, Early Music New York, Big Apple Baroque, and Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble.

Patrick holds a degree in Religion with a Concentration in Music from Northwestern University, where he studied and coached with Ellen Hargis, Mary Springfels and Grant Herreid. He currently lives in New York City, where he studies with Drew Minter. www.patrickfennig.com

Recently relocated from his native London, UK, EDMUND CONNOLLY studied Music at Robinson College, Cambridge, where he was Organ Scholar. He undertook postgraduate study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in the City of London where he studied singing under Professor David Pollard. A year after graduating with his Master of Music degree, Edmund was appointed a Professor of Music Studies at the GSMD, a position he held from 2004-2011. Edmund currently holds the post of Assistant Organist-Choir Director at the Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque.

Over recent years Edmund Connolly has forged a career as an opera and concert singer, organist, piano accompanist and conductor, as well as developing a reputation as a private teacher and vocal coach to young professional singers. His students have included young singers preparing roles for companies such as Glyndebourne Festival Opera, English National Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as well as advanced students from the Guildhall School, the Royal Academy of Music and the Trinity Laban Conservatoire.

A lyric baritone, Edmund has sung major operatic roles in the UK and abroad. He has sung and understudied roles for companies including Glyndebourne Festival Opera, English Touring Opera and Garsington Opera, and his reputation as an intelligent, adaptable singer means he is in demand in music of all periods. He has also sung most major oratorio repertoire as a soloist in the UK. In the US, he has appeared as baritone soloist for Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico's performance of Henry Mollicone’s Mass for the Homeless, and in Fauré’s Requiem, performed by the Cathedral Choirs of the Cathedral of St.

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John under Maxine Thévenot. Mr. Connolly and Ms. Thévenot also perform as a voice and piano/organ duo, Air and Hammers, specializing in programs which combine established and new song repertoire.

Edmund Connolly’s experience also embraces opera education work. He has led opera and singing workshops in elementary and high schools for both English Touring Opera and English Pocket Opera. He has also taken roles in (and musically directed) two new operas, specially commissioned by ETO, which toured around England to small theatres, rural, suburban and inner-city schools.

Forthcoming appearances include the title role in the Southwestern première of Too Much Coffee Man—The Opera in the fall of 2012. For more information, please visit www.edmundconnolly.com

JAVIER GONZALEZ, a native of Southern California, studied vocal performance at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Recognized for the precision and soaring beauty of his tone, Mr. Gonzalez has performed in concert and opera productions such as Luisa Fernanda, Die Zauberflöte, L’elisir d’amor, Andrea Chenier, I’Pagliacci, Madama Butterfly and Edgar. He has performed with world- renowned tenor Placido Domingo on the Kennedy Center opera stage and has also performed on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York City under the baton of world-renowned

composer, John Rutter.

In 2008, Mr. Gonzalez was recipient of the first place prize in the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition in New York City and performed in a winner’s recital on the stage of Carnegie Hall. He was also a finalist in the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist competition in 2005 as well as 1st place winner of the UNM concert competition and the regional NATS competition of New Mexico in 2010.

Mr. Gonzalez has also taken the opera stage abroad, playing the role of Don Jose from Bizet’s Carmen for the Alba Music Festival at the Teatro Politeama, Italy. Mr. Gonzalez has also appeared in several oratorio works on the international stage performing Requiem by Verdi, Requiem by Mozart, Requiem by Lloyd Webber, Lord Nelson Mass by Haydn, and Magnificat by Pergolesi on such stages as Dvorak Hall in Prague, Ely Cathedral in Cambridge, St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. and many more. In April of 2010 he sang the role of John the beloved apostle on the stage of Carnegie Hall in the world premiere of Oh My Son. For ten years, he served as the assistant choral director of the Georgetown Presbyterian Chorale in Washington, D.C. and has also been a guest choral and vocal clinician for the Vocal Arts Society of Washington.

Gonzalez has also worked with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, under the direction of Dr. Maxine Thévenot and will serve as tenor soloist under Dr. Thévenot, performing Handel’s Messiah with Polyphony as a part of the Friends of Cathedral Music series at the Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque, in March of 2012.

He is currently studying for his Master’s degree in vocal performance and choral conducting at the University of New Mexico and is also the recipient of the 2010–2012 voice teacher assistantship.

POLYPHONY: VOICES OF NEW MEXICO

SOPRANOS

REBECCA BRUNETTE was born in southern New Mexico and is now studying vocal performance at the University of New Mexico. She was most recently seen in UNM Opera Studio's production Mozart, Mayhem and Madness.

BRIANNE CONNER holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Baylor University and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance with a minor in Behavioral Science from East Texas Baptist University. In addition to Polyphony, Brianne is currently a soprano section leader at The Cathedral of St John, having also sung locally with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Her choral experiences have taken her to England, Italy,

South Korea, and China, as well as throughout the United States to participate in choral festivals and performances. She currently works for the Department of Health in the Developmental Disabilities Supports Division. Her favorite past time is making music with her two beautiful children and wonderful husband.

ASHLI HARGRAVE is a student at the University of New Mexico (UNM). She has studied Vocal Performance and Psychology since 2007. Ashli has been a member of Las Cantantes and The UNM Concert Choir and has performed at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, with "Teatro Nuevo México" (TNM) in the Zarzuela series as both a chorus member and a supporting lead. This is her first time performing with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

REBECCA HELBOM, soprano, was born and raised in Västerås, Sweden. She moved to Albuquerque in August 2008, and is currently a student at the University of New Mexico, pursuing a major in vocal performance under the direction of Jacqueline Zander-Wall. She also plays on the UNM Women’s Golf Team, and the Swedish National Golf Team. Furthermore Miss Hellbom sings in the Cathedral Choir of St John, and in Las Cantantes (The UNM Women’s ensemble), both directed by Dr. Maxine Thevenot. She has travelled with the Cathedral Choir to England where they

sang at St Paul’s Cathedral and Southwark Cathedral in London, and York Minster in York. This June (2012) she will go on tour with both Las Cantantes and the Cathedral Choir to NYC. After college she would like to attend graduate school, and in the future join an opera company. With the UNM Opera Studio Rebecca has performed the roles of Dorabella from Così fan

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especially during the summer months when he was readying operas for the upcoming theatrical season. Handel completed Part I in six days, Part II in nine and Part III in another six, with three more days for fleshing out the orchestration. Although a sincere Christian, the speed at which Handel produced such transcendent and enduring music owes more to his gifts as a composer rather than to the passion of his religious beliefs.

Messiah received warm reviews in the Dublin newspapers even before its premiere. One reviewer, after attending a rehearsal, wrote “Yesterday Morning, at the Musick Hall … there was a public Rehearsal of the Messiah, Mr. Handel’s new sacred Oratorio, which in the opinion of the best Judges, far surpasses anything of that Nature, which has been performed in this or any other Kingdom.” Another review said of the actual performance, “Words are wanting to express the exquisite Delight it afforded to the admiring crouded Audience. The Sublime, the Grand, and the Tender, adapted to the most elevated, majestick and moving Words, conspired to transport and charm the ravished Heart and Ear.”

Violin 1 Debra Terry, concertmaster Sarah Tasker Alan Mar

Celli Pamela DeLisse Daniel Bowen

Violin 2 Nicolle Maniaci Anne Karlstrom Lauren Hunter

Bass Aaro Heinonen

Violas Rafael Howell David Chavez

Timpani Alexis Corbin

Harpsichord and Organ Continuo David Solem

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PROGRAM NOTES

The years immediately preceding the composition and premiere of Messiah were artistically and financially disastrous for George Frideric Handel. In 1737 he suffered a stroke but eventually recovered enough so that his playing was unaffected. The grandiose style of Italian opera seria for which Handel was best known was dwindling in popularity, so much so that after 1741 he stopped composing opera altogether. London could not support the remaining two opera companies that were vying for an ever-shrinking audience weary of foreign language in its entertainments. Indeed, Handel himself had witnessed the bankruptcy and failure of two of his own opera companies in the 1730s. Handel was a shrewd and practical composer; he saw the public’s waning interest in the musical form that had been his bread and butter for many years and started composing in a format he hoped the public would prefer, the oratorio.

Handel’s oratorios represent some of the best examples of that genre. He wrote many of them; Messiah was his ninth. Although other composers had written oratorios and the genre itself dates back to the early 1600s, the form of the oratorio as we know it was most fully developed by Handel. Handel regarded the oratorio as essentially an unstaged opera with a sacred plot, combining the drama of opera with the profundity of sacred themes, which appealed to both theater lovers and those of a more religious inclination. Like opera, oratorios were written in several parts that focused on the dramatic elements of the libretto. In cities where opera was banned, and during the Lenten season when opera houses were closed, oratorio satisfied the public’s desire for dramatic musical works.

An oratorio’s text, particularly a sacred oratorio, was of equal importance to the music. For Messiah, Handel teamed up with Charles Jennens, a collaborator as gifted with words as Handel was with music. One does not need to be either a musical or Biblical expert to appreciate the care with which Jennens chose and arranged the texts of Messiah’s libretto. Jennens’ selection of texts is masterful, drawing on many parts of the Bible, both well-known and obscure passages. Jennens’ libretto contains almost no direct narrative; it is a contemplative, rather than a dramatic, portrayal of the life, passion and resurrection of Christ. Jennens outlined the three parts of Messiah accordingly: The first part deals with the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah who would offer salvation, the prophecies of the Virgin birth and Christ’s many miracles and benevolent acts on earth. Part Two recounts Jesus’ suffering and the rejection of his teachings by the people, his agony on the cross and subsequent resurrection, the knowledge spread among the populace of his true identity as the son of God, and the spreading of the Gospel. In the final part, the texts deal with the promise of bodily resurrection after the day of judgment, the ultimate victory over death and the final deification of Jesus.

Jennens’ own religious beliefs directly informed his choice of texts for Messiah. Jennens was an Anglican who leaned toward orthodoxy and was caught between his refusal to swear loyalty to James II (which would require him to repudiate his beliefs) and his hatred of James’ Catholic relatives who stood ready to assume the throne. Because Jennens would not swear his allegiance to the king, he was effectively barred from public teaching appointments (this seeming obstacle actually freed him to pursue a life of scholarly leisure on his family’s estate in Leicestershire). In choosing the texts for Messiah, Jennens attacked what he saw as a pernicious religious threat, the rise of “natural religion” or Deism. The Deists believed in God as the prime creative force in the universe but not in divine intervention or revelation. The whole thrust of Messiah is therefore an affirmation of the very things Deism strove to discredit. With its emphasis on God the father offering his only begotten son, Jennens’ Messiah declares the supremacy of God’s compassion and the unwavering belief in both the incarnation and resurrection of Christ as the means to redeem the world.

Messiah’s lasting reputation is also due to Handel’s skillful rendering of biblical texts, which would have been as familiar to the audiences of his day as commercial jingles and pop song lyrics are to today’s listeners. Handel was a master of the concept of Affektenlehre, the Baroque aesthetic also known as text painting, which, as it suggests, audibly portrays the words through musical devices. A few examples can be heard in the following excerpts: the chorus, “All We Like Sheep,” features a melismatic (setting one syllable with many notes) ending to the word “astray” in the line “All we like sheep have gone astray” with the word itself going astray from the phrase.

In the opening tenor aria “Ev’ry Valley,” Handel sets the word “crooked” with a variety of bouncy dotted rhythmic figures and the word “straight” with strong single beats. In the first bass recitative, “Thus Saith the Lord,” the word “shake” rises on a long quaking melisma, with “the heavens” high in the bass range and “the earth” correspondingly low. In the bass aria “The People That Walked in Darkness,” the opening phrase “The people that walked in darkness” meanders as if lost through a dark minor key, which abruptly changes into a triumphant major with the words “have seen a great light.” This same technique of juxtaposing minor with major can be heard in the chorus, “Since by Man Came Death.” The opening lines begin in a somber minor key, which then bursts into the joyous relative major on the words “By man came also the resurrection of the dead.”

A number of myths regarding Handel’s composition of Messiah have persisted through the years. Some accounts describe him as sequestered away, refusing food and drink as he wrote in a white-hot religious fervor. Others describe his intense emotional state, weeping or gazing raptly into the distance, lost in an ecstasy of pious thought. The fact that Handel wrote Messiah in just 24 days has been taken as proof of his religious inspiration, but in fact Handel often composed quickly,

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tutte, Marcellina from Le nozze di Figaro, and Donna Anna from Don Giovanni. Besides opera, she loves baroque music. Rebecca is excited and looking forward to another season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

JENNA KLOEPPEL graduated from The George Washington University in 2008 with a degree in Psychology and Art History. During her time as an undergraduate, she performed with George Washington University Singers, Chamber Choir, Sirens A Cappella, and regularly participated in opera scenes, with roles such as the First Lady in Mozart’s Magic Flute and Celie in Pasatieri’s Signor Deluso. Jenna was a featured soloist in both University Singers and

Chamber Choir, and in 2004 performed at the Kennedy Center with the latter group. Jenna received an M.A. in Art and Museum Studies from Georgetown University this fall and is currently studying Native American Art History at UNM. She sings with the Cathedral Choir of St. John, and Messiah will be her second season singing with Polyphony.

YASMEEN LOOKMAN is pursuing a Bachelor of Music Education and Vocal Performance at the University of New Mexico under the vocal coaching of Sam Shepperson. This is her second year singing with The Cathedral of John’s Choir, the UNM Jazz Choir, and the UNM Women’s Ensemble, Las Cantantes. This is also her second year interning with the UNM Children’s Chorus. She is delighted to be singing her first concert with Polyphony: Voices of New

Mexico. Yasmeen will be performing the role of Cherubino from Le Nozze di Figaro with the UNM Opera Studio in November 2011 and will be touring with Las Cantantes and The Cathedral of St. John Choir in June 2012 to New York City. Yasmeen has been passionate about music all of her life and will continue along this path towards a career in music.

JENNIFER PEREZ, soprano, graduated in May 2012 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music with a concentration on vocal performance from the University of New Mexico. She has performed lead roles with the Sante Fe Opera Community Outreach programs and at UNM's Opera productions, including Letitia in Samuel Barber's The Old Maid and the

Thief; Dangerous Liaisons – scenes from various operas which included Giulietta in Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann. A soloist in the 2010 ACDA Denver conference and former member of UNM's concert choir, she has often been selected as a soprano soloist including Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Mozart's Requiem for the Festival Internazionale della Cultura Bergamo in Bergamo, Italy. A soprano section leader at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Jennifer is the featured soprano soloist in Britten's A Ceremony of Carols included on Polyphony's debut CD, Winter: an evocation. This marks her second season with Polyphony.

ALTOS AMY GILLESPIE has been active in the music community in Albuquerque since 2000 as a choral member and guitarist. Amy has a Bachelor of Arts in Contemporary Music, a Master’s in Management and is completing a Master’s in Music at UNM where she is a member of the University Chorus and sang with the Women’s choral ensemble Las Cantantes in 2009-2011. Recent performances have included Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Santa Fe Concert

Association Chorus, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music’s 28thClassical Guitar Workshop, NM Sing for Peace September 11th performance of The Armed Man and the guitarist in The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass with Albuquerque’s Quintessence. Currently Amy is proud to be a member of the chorus of the Cathedral of St. John is managing partner and teacher at Guitar Associates of Albuquerque and is the Chief Financial Officer for Council Rock Consulting, an international Bio-safety consulting firm.

LAUREN HUMBLE is a college freshman from Las Cruces, New Mexico who recently moved to Albuquerque to attend the University of New Mexico, studying Music Education. She has loved singing since she was very young, participating in many All-State and Solo and Ensemble festivals. Lauren sings in the University of New Mexico women’s choir, Las Cantantes, as well as the UNM Jazz Choir. She was selected from UNM to be part of the 2012

Collegiate Honor Choir. She aspires to someday be a high school choral director.

RENÉE MOTTELER is a Grammy ® Award winning member of the Los Angeles Chamber Singers & Cappella, who received the award for Best Small Ensemble in 2006 for the album Padilla: Sun of Justice. She moved to Albuquerque from Southern California and serves as the alto section leader for The Cathedral of St. John Choir. Renée received her Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies with a concentration in vocal performance from California State University, Long

Beach in 2006. Renée has performed all over the world with jazz choirs and as a soloist at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Ozone Jazz Festival, Neuchatel Jazz Festival, IAJE, Cuesta College Jazz Festival, and the Berkeley Jazz Festival, among others. In California, she was the cantor, alto section leader, and assistant conductor at St. Cyprian Catholic Church in Long Beach for 15 years. Renée has been a classroom teacher from elementary up through college age students, teaching vocal jazz, beginning music, choir, band, orchestra, and private voice lessons. She was also a lead/back up singer with the rock groups Gregg Young and the 2nd Street Band and the Gypsy Beggars. Renée has appeared in television commercials and has worked in the studio recording demo tapes for composers of classical, show tunes, jazz, and rock music, as well as recording jingles used commercially. Renée is a returning member of Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

LAUREN SAEGER is a local educator and musician. She has a Bachelor of Music degree in commercial music from Millikin University, a Master of Music Degree in vocal jazz studies from Georgia State University, and a Master of Library Science degree from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Currently, Lauren is a certified instructor at the Pajarito Yamaha Music School and an adjunct instructor at University of New Mexico teaching several classes

including directing the UNM Jazz Choir. In the five minutes of free time she has each week, she spends quality time with her dog, cats, and patient husband.

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SARAH WEILER, mezzo-soprano, is now in her third season with Polyphony. In addition to singing with Polyphony, she is a member of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and the Santa Fe Symphony Chorus. Ms. Weiler is also a member of Santa Fe Rep and will play the role of Catherine in their upcoming production of Pippin. She has performed many

solo works with Canticum Novum, including Bach's Cantata 106; and the role of Sorceress in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Vivaldi's Gloria, and selections from Beethoven's Mass in C, all with the Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus. Ms. Weiler received a master’s degree in Arts Administration from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, and currently works for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

MEREDITH WILDER, is about to complete her BA in Music at the University of New Mexico. She sings with the Cathedral Choir of St. John as well as Quintessence. During the first four years of her undergrad, she sang with UNM'S Las Cantantes (2007-2009) and the UNM Concert Choir (2009-2011). Meredith is active in both choir and music education in Albuquerque. Outside of choir, she is involved with the local folk/rock scene. This is her third year

with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

TENORS BRYAN BUTLER, tenor,has been singing since youth in church and school choirs of all kinds. He is currently employed as a staff astronomer at the Very Large Array in Socorro, most recently as a software manager for the Expanded Very Large Array project. His research interests are in radio wavelength observations of planets, moons, asteroids, and other bodies in the solar system. He received his doctorate in planetary science from the California

Institute of Technology, and while there he sang in the Mens and Mixed Glee Clubs, the Chamber Choir, and the madrigal group Cantores Atri Mortis. Since residing in New Mexico he has sung in the New Mexico Tech Chamber Choir and Concert Chorus and spent several years singing with the Renaissance group Quodlibet. He currently sings with Quintessence: Choral Artists of the Southwest and this is his third season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

ERIC PARKER is a native of Albuquerque. He studied voice with Bradley Ellingboe at the University of New Mexico as an undergraduate before moving to the east coast where he completed his PhD in physical chemistry at Cornell University in 1996. He returned to Albuquerque after graduate school and is currently employed at Sandia National Laboratories. In addition to singing with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Chorus and its successor the New

Mexico Symphonic Chorus for the last 11 years, Eric is a member of the Choir at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, where he is both a section leader and soloist. He has also appeared with local choral groups including Quintessence and Polyphony, Voices of New Mexico. In keeping with his recent activities, Eric has performed with choral groups of varying sizes all over the United States and in Europe at venues such as Canterbury Cathedral in England, the Muisikverein in Vienna, and at Carnegie Hall in NYC. In the process he has performed under the baton of many talented conductors including Maxine Thevenot, Roger Melone, Sir David Willcocks, Music Director Emeritus of King’s College Choir Cambridge and Rossen Milanov, then Associate Conductor and Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Eric appeared as a soloist with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra twice in 2010, singing works by Lerner and Loewe in June and Rachmaninoff’s Vespers in October. In October 2011 he appeared with the NMSC as tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, and in January of this year he sang the tenor solos in Honegger’s oratorio King David.

TODD PARKER studied voice with Kay Fowler at the University of New Mexico. He has performed as soloist and in ensemble with the Genesee Baroque Players, Ensemble Sine Nomine, and with members of Tafelmusik, and has served as tenor soloist for a program of Mozart’s sacred music at the Mostly Mozart Festival in Alice Tully Hall. He

sings currently with the St. John’s Cathedral Choir, with Cantat, and with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

NICHOLAS PRIOR, 23, is in his first year as Director of Choral Activities at Eisenhower Middle School in Albuquerque. He graduated top of his class from the University of New Mexico with his Bachelor's in Music Education in Spring of 2011. He has also studied music education at the University of Newcastle in Newcastle, Australia, and his professional teaching and singing has taken him to Texas, California, Ohio, Missouri, Nevada, New

York, and twice to Italy. Nicholas is the new Middle School representative for the New Mexico Activities Association in the Choral Division. He is in works with other choral directors in Albuquerque to help bring back the egregious amount of middle school choir programs that have been cut in the past 10 years. He is proud to be starting his second season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

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BASSES ROSS HOLMEN, a native of Albuquerque, began his musical career playing French horn in the recording studios of Los Angeles. Upon graduating from the University of Southern California he took the Principal position with the Veracruz Symphony in Mexico, after which he joined the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, a position he held for 17 years. He retired from the Symphony in 1999, and continues to play on occasion. Mr. Holmen’s musical talents are now used

singing with the Cathedral of St John Choir and Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

CHRISTOPHER IHLEFELD, baritone, received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Rollins College, Central Florida. Christopher established his professional singing career with Orlando Opera Company as a boy soprano at age eleven. While in Santa Fe he has performed extensively with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Canticum Novum, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Sangre De Cristo Chorale, Santa Fe Symphony Chorus, Coro De Camara and Theatrework. He is currently

serving his sixteenth year as staff singer and section leader at Holy Faith Episcopal Church. In addition to his singing career, Christopher is a portfolio manager and managing director with Thornburg Investment Management Company. This is Christopher's fifth year singing with the Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Baritone STEPHEN LEWIS is happy to perform once again with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico. A native of Amarillo, Texas, Stephen earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music and Theology at Dallas Christian College, and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting at Texas Tech University. In addition to an extensive choral background, Stephen has also appeared in a number of music theater roles, most recently portraying Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man

with Lubbock Moonlight Musicals. After four years in Lubbock, Stephen moved to the renaissance hill town of Asolo in northern Italy to study business. While abroad, he was pleased to perform in the Asolo Song Festival as soloist and director of the festival choir. Upon completion of his MBA, Stephen then found his way to the gorgeous desert climate of New Mexico. Currently residing in Albuquerque, Stephen is the choral director at St. Pius X High School. In addition to his duties there, he performs regularly with the Cathedral Choir of St. John’s Cathedral and the New Mexico Symphonic Chorus. Stephen has been featured as a soloist with each of these ensembles, as well as with Canticum Novum, the Albuquerque Youth Symphony and will soon perform with the Santa Fe Community Orchestra.

As a professional chorister, THOMAS MUNRO has sung with the New York Choral Artists under the batons of Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti and Lorin Maazel. As a soloist, he has performed with the Lowell House Opera Company (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Vertical Player Repertory (Brooklyn) and the UNM Opera Theatre. Roles have included Benoit (La Boheme), Il Dottore (La Traviata), Sylvester (Three Sisters Who are Not Sisters), Procolo (Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) and Tonio (Pagliacci, upcoming). His concert appearances have

included Carmina Burana and Winterreise. He is a graduate cum laude of Harvard University, where he studied English, and is currently working toward a second bachelor's degree in theory and composition at UNM. He is the music director at Trinity United Methodist Church in Albuquerque.

LEE J RICKARD is an astronomer by trade, and is currently working on the Long Wavelength Array project, in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico. He has a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Chicago. He began singing in the choir at St. Andrew Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, and until his move to Albuquerque, also sang with the Master Chorale of Washington (originally the Paul Hill Chorale) and

studied with Anne Hurley. In addition to working on the Board of Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, he sings with the New Mexico Symphonic Chorus and the Cathedral of St. John Choir.

JONATHAN SAEGER currently teaches middle school music and choir at Lincoln Middle School in Rio Rancho and serves as music director at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Albuquerque. Jonathan received his Bachelor of Music Education at Millikin University in Decatur, Illlinois. While at Millikin, he sang with the University Choir for three years, touring to Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Haiti and performed at a regional ACDA convention. For three

seasons Jonathan sang with the St. Charles Singers in St. Charles Illinois. During those three years the St. Charles Singers recorded two albums for Proteus Records and performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Dale Warland Singers. After teaching for seven years Jonathan earned his Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Illinois State University. While at Illinois State University he performed with the ISU Madrigal ensemble, Concert Choir and the early music ensemble where he played the crumhorn and recorder. Since moving to Albuquerque, Jonathan has sung with Quintessence and is pleased to be singing with Polyphony for a second time. Jonathan also currently serves as the NMMEA District 6 Choral Vice-President.