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DESERTCHORALE 1
DESERT
CHORALE
ON THE
ROAD
CONCERT
SCHEDULE
FEBRUARY 22ND, 2015 @ 7:00 P.M.
Cristo Rey Church
Santa Fe, NM
FEBRUARY 23RD, 2015 @ 7:30 P.M.
Metropolitan State University, King Center Concert Hall
Denver, CO
FEBRUARY 24TH, 2015 @ 7:30 P.M.
WITH ST. MARTIN’S CHAMBER CHOIR
Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church
Denver, CO
FEBRUARY 27TH, 2015 @ 11:00 A.M.
Cathedral of the Madeleine
Salt Lake City, UT
FEBRUARY 27TH, 2015 @ 3:00 P.M.
Cathedral of the Madeleine
Salt Lake City, UT
2 DESERTCHORALE
Santa Fe
DESERT
CHORALE
JOSHUA HABERMANN MUSIC DIRECTOR
CONTENTS
2
Concert Schedule
5
About the Desert Chorale
6
A Word from Joshua Habermann
8
Dancing the Mystery Program
9
Donors to the February 2015 Tour
10
Texts & Translations
14
Artist Biographies
17
Special Thanks
19
Support the Desert Chorale
20
2015 Summer Festival Schedule
The Santa Fe Desert Chorale receives generous
support from the National Endowment for the Arts,
New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of
Cultural Affairs, the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission
and the 1% Lodgers’ Tax, The Kerr Foundation, Inc.,
and other individuals, corporations and foundations.
For a full list of donors, please see our website at
www.desertchorale.org.
DESERTCHORALE 3
ST. MARTIN’S CHAMBER CHOIR
2014/2015
TIMOTHY J. KRUEGER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
DENVER, COLORADO
COMING
OF AGE
OUR 21ST SEASON
Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral :: Denver
St. Augustine Orthodox Church :: Denver
Holy Cross Lutheran Church :: Wheat Ridge
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church :: Denver
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church :: Denver
A CAMBRIDGE CHRISTMAS
Friday, Dec. 12, 7:30 pm
Sunday, Dec. 14, 3:00 pm
Friday, Dec. 19, 7:30 pm
Saturday, Feb. 14, 7:30 pm St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church :: Denver
ST. MARTINS CHAMBER CHOIR AND THE SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE
THE ART OF IMITATION: PALESTRINA
Friday, Nov. 7, 7:30 pm
Saturday, Nov. 8, 7:30 pm
Sunday, Nov. 9, 3:00 pm
HARDOUIN MASSES VOL. 2
TAKE TWO
MUSIC OF THE TSARS II
Friday, Oct. 3, 7:30 pm
Sunday, Oct. 5, 3:00 pm
TAKE ONE
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7:30 pm
BEAT BEAT DRUMS
THE CIVIL WAR AT 150
Friday, April 10, 7:30 pm
Holy Cross Lutheran Church :: Wheat Ridge
Saturday, April 11, 7:30 pm St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church :: Denver
Sunday, April 12, 3:00 pm St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church :: Denver
BYRD 4
Montview Blvd Presbyterian Church :: Denver
Holy Cross Lutheran Church :: Wheat Ridge
Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral :: Denver
Friday, May 29, 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 31, 3:00 pm
TICKETS
4 DESERTCHORALE
Montview Blvd Presbyterian Church :: Denver
Montview Blvd Presbyterian Church :: Denver
St. Gabriel the Archangel Episcopal Church
Cherry Hills Village
[email protected]
303-298-1970
www.stmartinschamberchoir.org
DESERT
CHORALE
THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DAVID BUESCHEL
President
SHERYL KELSEY, Ph.D.
Vice President
LYNN BICKLEY, M.D.
Secretary
WILLIAM H. LYNN, C.P.A.
Treasurer
J. Randle Adair, D.O., Ph.D.
Robert Gardner
Nina Hinson
Christopher Ihlefeld
Lynn Lee
Laurie Meyer
Susie Wilson, D.M.A.
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
JOSHUA HABERMANN
Music Director
JERRY NELSON
Interim Executive Director
CORY KLOSE
Director of Marketing
JO FISHER
Operations Manager
JOYCE POHL, C.P.A.
Accounting Manager
MARY BRZEZINSKI
Administrative Assistant
LESLIE RICH
House Manager
SAMUEL GRACE
Company Manager
THE SANTA FE DESERT CHORALE
311 E. Palace Ave.
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
(505) 988-2282
WWW.DESERTCHORALE.ORG
For more than 30 years, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale has been one of the nation’s
preeminent choral ensembles. With nationally recognized, professional singers
performing music spanning seven centuries, the Desert Chorale presents a Summer
Festival and Winter Festival each season. The organization also conducts educational
outreach, commissions new works from international composers and reaches nearly
10,000 people each year from across the country and around the world. Today, music
director Joshua Habermann leads the group of 24 singers in a range of concerts featuring
eclectic repertoire from Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century
masters, as well as new and specially commissioned works by contemporary composers.
Founder Lawrence Bandfield (1933–2009) conducted the first season in 1983 and
established the Desert Chorale as New Mexico’s first professional choir. A champion of
Hispanic music, Mr. Bandfield collaborated with scholars throughout the United States to
revive some of the great sacred music that arrived in the Americas via the Spanish Empire.
Not only were Mr. Bandfield and the Desert Chorale instrumental in the preservation of
Hispanic music, but they also added to the repertoire with commissions of new music
representative of the eclectic cultures of northern New Mexico.
The values that founder Lawrence Bandfield established sustain the Desert Chorale
today: diverse repertory performed by the finest professional musicians, an intimate
rapport with audience members and supporters, and strong relationships within the
community of Northern New Mexico, including collaborations with the Santa Fe Opera,
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus, Santa Fe Pro Musica,
University of New Mexico and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
Youth education and community outreach remain an important part of the Desert
Chorale’s mission, and have included: All-County Youth Chorus, the Desert Chorale’s
Children’s Choir, public lectures, pre-concert lectures, open rehearsals and performances
at community events on the Plaza and elsewhere in the city, at schools and at senior
residence communities.
DESERTCHORALE 5
JOSHUA
HABERMANN
a word from
ON SUFISM Although it is often regarded in the West as a branch of Islam, Sufism can be traced back to much earlier times. As Henry Midlin writes in
his introduction to Daniel Ladinsky’s translations of Hafiz, Sufis themselves say that their “way” has existed under a variety of names. In ancient Greece it
was associated with the wisdom schools of Pythagoras and Plato, and at the time of Jesus with the Gnostics. After Muhammad they adopted many of the
principles of Islam, and became known in the Muslim world as “Sufis”, a word which has alternately been translated as “wisdom,” “purity” and “wool” (for the
coarse woolen clothing of wandering dervishes).
Sufism in this form flourished from 800–1400 A.D., and master teachers and poets such as Rumi and Hafiz were renowned figures. Various schools had their
own emphases, some focusing on meditation, others on community service, and others on devotional practices such as singing, dance, and spiritual poetry
celebrating love for God. Both poets on our program are revered teachers and poets who lived at the height of the Sufi flowering, and have left for future
generations extraordinary treasures of poetic imagination.
ON RUMI Jalal ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi (1207–1273) is, by some accounts, the most widely read poet in the United States today. As difficult as this claim is
to verify, it begs the question of how a 13th-century mystic, born in the far-flung easternmost province of the Persian Empire, should come to be an American
best-seller.
One answer seems to lie in the ecumenical aspect of Rumi’s thought, which transcends national and linguistic boundaries. Indeed, his poetry is treasured
not only among Persian-speaking people, but also widely known in translation throughout the world. In addressing his central theme, mystical union with
the divine, Rumi treats his subject with an inclusivity and non-dogmatic approach that could be called post-sectarian. The personal (as opposed to the
institutional) experience of God reigns, and barriers are swept aside at every turn.
As Coleman Barks, a leading translator of Rumi, has written:
(The poems) are not so much about anything as spoken from within something. Call it enlightenment, ecstatic love, spirit, soul, truth, the ocean of
ilm (divine luminous wisdom), or the covenant of alast (the original agreement with God). Names do not matter. Some resonance of ocean resides in
everyone. Rumi’s poetry can be felt as a salt breeze from that, traveling inland.
ON HAFIZ Like Rumi, Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz (c. 1320–1389) has been known in the West for some time, largely through the work of Goethe, who
wrote: “In his poetry Hafiz has inscribed undeniable truth indelibly… This is a madness I know well–Hafiz has no peer.” The American poet Ralph Waldo
Emerson called Hafiz “a poet for poets” and in his journal added: “He fears nothing. He sees too far; he sees throughout; such is the only man I wish to… be.”
In Persian (Iranian) culture, poetry is something of a national pastime, and verses of the great Persian masters are studied, shared, and often quoted in daily
life. The Divan-i-Hafiz, which is the complete collection of Hafiz’ surviving poems, is considered a national treasure, occupying a beloved place alongside
the works of Rumi, his predecessor by approximately 100 years.
The essential nature of Hafiz’ verse has, as translator Daniel Ladinsky writes in his collection “The Gift,” “an audacious encouragement, [an] outrageous
onslaught of love, a transforming knowledge and generosity, [a] sweet, playful exuberant genius that is unparalleled in world literature… His words are a
music that comforts, empowers, enlightens.”
ON DANCING THE MYSTERY It is the unique nature of vocal music to live at the convergence of words and music. In this program poetry is juxtaposed with
music, which, it is hoped, resonates with the words of the poem. These composers are surely not all Sufis, nor even necessarily religious mystics of other
traditions. Only a few are known to be familiar with Rumi or Hafiz, and none are Persian. Indeed it might give some listeners pause that some of these texts
are sacred, some secular, and some live on the fertile border in between.
6 DESERTCHORALE
In response it may be helpful to remember that Rumi and Hafiz were just as
interested in writing about the drunks in the tavern as about the celestial spheres.
Their verse, and the music of this program’s composers, have as much to tell us
about this life as the next, and I dare say that the poets might remind us that such
distinctions have little to do with the larger picture.
As Hafiz writes:
We have not come to take prisoners
But to surrender even more deeply
To freedom and joy.
We have not come into this exquisite world
To hold ourselves hostage from love.
Run my dear, from anything
That may not strengthen
Your precious budding wings.
Run like hell my dear,
From anyone likely
To put a sharp knife
Into the sacred, tender vision
Of your beautiful heart.
We have a duty to befriend
Those aspects of obedience
That stand outside of our house
And shout to our reason
“O please, O please
Come out and play.”
For we have not come here to take prisoners
Or to confine our wondrous spirits,
But to experience ever and ever more deeply
Our divine courage, freedom and
Light!
Or perhaps this verse, which hints at the same idea, though in a more playful
vein:
Let your
Intelligence begin to rule
Whenever you sit with others
Using this sane idea:
Leave all your cocked guns in a field
Far from us,
One of those things
Might go
Off.
A word note on the logistics of the program: in order to preserve the thought-line
of the pairings of text and music, the audience is kindly requested to hold until the
breaks indicated in the program, at which point applause is warmly welcomed.
As acoustical spaces that are friendly to singing are often unfriendly to the spoken
word, all spoken and sung texts are printed in the program book so listeners can
follow along as desired.
JOSHUA HABERMANN
Music Director, Santa Fe Desert Chorale
DESERTCHORALE 7
program
DANCING
THE
MYSTERY
Today, like every day, we wake up empty
FEBRUARY 22
7:00 P.M.
Cristo Rey Church
Santa Fe, NM
and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
FEBRUARY 23
7:30 P.M.
Metropolitan State University
King Center Concert Hall
Denver, CO
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
–Jalal ud-din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273)
FEBRUARY 24
7:30 P.M.
WITH ST. MARTIN’S CHAMBER
CHOIR
Montview Boulevard
Presbyterian Church
Denver, CO
FEBRUARY 27
11:00 A.M.
Cathedral of the Madeleine
Salt Lake City, UT
Presented as part of the 2015
National Convention of the
American Choral Directors
Association
FEBRUARY 27
3:00 P.M.
Cathedral of the Madeleine
Salt Lake City, UT
Presented as part of the 2015
National Convention of the
American Choral Directors
Association
I am
A hole in the flute
That the Christ’s breath moves throughListen to this
Music.
–Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz (1325-1390)
Applause is welcomed at indicated breaks in the program
Gitanjali Chants
Craig Johnson (b. 1962)
Adinu (Sufi Song)
arr. Abu Khader/de Quadros
Reading: The Thousand-Stringed Instrument (Hafiz)
From Cantique des Cantiques
Jean-Yves Daniel Lesur (1908-2002)
2. La Voix du Bien-Aimée (The Voice of the Beloved)
Reading: Someone Untied Your Camel (Hafiz)
I Will Not Leave You Comfortless
88 DESERTCHORALE
DESERTCHORALE
William Byrd (1540–1623)
Reading: Each Note (Rumi)
From Songs from Behind the Caravan
1. We Have Come
2. Suffer No Grief
Abbie Betinis (b. 1980)
Reading: When the Violin (Hafiz)
supporters
of the
february tour
We’d like to give special thanks to
those donors who have provided
support for this Tour.
5. We Have Come (reprise)
For a full list of our donors and
supporters, please see our
website at desertchorale.org.
Reading: Find a Better Job (Hafiz)
From Heavenly Home
1. Unclouded Day
Shawn Kirchner (b. 1970)
Reading: All Day I Think About It (Rumi)
2. Angel Band
Reading: Quietness (Rumi)
3. Hallelujah
Reading: My Eyes So Soft (Hafiz)
Jerusalem
Michael McGlynn (b. 1964)
Reading: Whoever Brought Me Here (Rumi)
Way over in Beulah Lan’
arr. Stacey Gibbs
Dance when you’re broken open
Dance if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free.
–Rumi
And Love says:
“I will take care of you”
To everything that is near.
–Hafiz
American Choral Directors
Association
ACDA Southwestern Division
Dr. J. Randle Adair
Joe Alcorn & Sylvia Wittels
Lynn Bickley & Randy Schiffer
Daniel Billingsley
Betsy & Dave Bueschel
Paul & Susan Chapin
Dotty Davis
George & Marcia de Garmo
Susan & Conrad De Jong
Isabel & Raul Delgado
Margie Edwards & Ellie Edelstein
Gwen & Ralph Fuller
Robert R. Gardner & Kenneth R.
Marvel
Joshua & joanna Habermann
Nina Hinson & Scott Rasmussen
Christopher & Sarah Ihlefeld
Pamela Jackson
Christine H. Johnson
George Duncan & Sheryl Kelsey
Robert Kyr
Lynn F. Lee
William H. Lynn & Russell
Coffield
Ed & Anne Maglisceau
Laurie & Dick Meyer
Pamela & Don Michaelis
Jim & Roxanne Murphy
Jerry Nelson
Ralph Osterhout
Mary Lou & Alex Padilla
Andy & Sally Ritch
Don & Sally Roberts
Dan Rusthoi
David & Lee Takagi
Teodora Konstantinova &
Konstantin Konstantinov
Susie Wilson
DESERTCHORALE
DESERTCHORALE 99
TEXTS
AND
TRANSLATIONS
All Hafiz poetry is translated into English by Daniel Ladinsky (unless otherwise noted).
All Rumi poetry is translated into English by Coleman Barks (unless otherwise noted).
GITANJALI CHANTS
Craig Johnson (b. 1962)
Ever in my life have I sought thee with my songs.
It was they who led me from door to door,
and with them have I felt about me,
searching and touching my world.
It was my songs that taught me all the lessons I ever learnt:
they showed me secret paths,
they brought before my sight many a star
on the horizon of my heart.
They guided me all the day long
to the mysteries of the country of pleasure and pain,
and at last to what palace gate have they brought me
at the end of my journey?
You came down from your throne and stood at my cottage door.
I was singing all alone in a corner, and the melody caught your
ear.
You came down and stood at my cottage door.
Masters are many in our hall, and songs are sung there at all
hours.
But the simple carol of this novice struck at your love.
One plaintive little strain, mingled with the great music of the
world,
and with a flow’r for a prize, you came down
and stopped at my cottage door.
–Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) from Gitanjali
(“Song Offerings”)
ADINU (sung in Arabic)
arr. Abu Khader/de Quadros
Adinu bidinil hubbi
Anna tawaj-jahat raka’ibuhu
fal hubbu dini wa imani
I follow the religion of love
Wherever love is found
For love is my religion and my faith
Subhanaka Allahumma jalla ‘ulak
LuTfan bi’abdika khaliqi ruhmak
Ya kashifal balwa ‘ataytoka rajian
Arjuu riDaka falaysa li Illak
Almighty God of great dignity, our Creator
I ask you to be merciful on all
I come to You, the revealer of all obstacles
hoping for Your approval as I have none but you
–Subhanaka (from Islamic Ibtihal tradition)
READING: THE THOUSAND-STRINGED INSTRUMENT
The heart is
a thousand-stringed instrument.
Our sadness and fear comes from being
Out of tune with love.
All day long God coaxes my lips
To speak,
So that your tears will not stain
His green dress.
It is not that the Friend is vain,
It is just your life we care about.
Sometimes the Beloved
Takes my pen in hand,
For Hafiz is just a simple man.
The other day, the Old One
Wrote on the tavern wall:
“The heart is
The thousand-stringed instrument
That can only be tuned with love.”
–Hafiz
–Abu ‘Abdillah Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Arabi
(1165–1240)
From Cantique des Cantiques
Daniel Lesur (1908–2002)
Quddus, quddus, quddus
Anta alrabbul Illah
Assama ‘u wal ard
Mamluu’atani bi majdikal ath’im
2. LA VOIX DU BIEN-AIMÉ (THE VOICE OF THE BELOVED)
Holy, holy, holy
You are the Lord God
Heaven and earth
Are full of Your great glory
–Quddus (Isaiah 6:3)
10 DESERTCHORALE
Shéma shéma shéma
J’entends mon bien-aimé:
voici qu’il arrive sautant sur les montagnes,
bondissant sur les collines.
Mon bien-aimé est semblable à une gazelle,
a un jeune faon.
Mon-bien aimé élève la voix. Il me dit:
Lève-toi la mienne amie.
Hâte-toi ma colombe et viens
car déjà l’hiver est passé.
La pluie s’en est allée et retirée.
Sur notre terre les fleurs sont apparues,
La voix de la tourterelle est ouie en notre terre,
la voix de la tourterelle s’est fait entendre.
Le figuier a produit ses figues.
Les vignes florissantes exhalent leur parfum.
Montre moi ton visage ma colombe cachée
que ta voix sonne en mes oreilles
car douce est ta voix et beau ton visage.
Mon bien-aimé est à moi, et moi à lui,
il pait son troupeau parmi les lis.
Avant que poigne le jour et que s’abaiassent
les ombres, reviens!
Sois semblable, mon bien-aimé, a une gazelle,
au jeune faon sur les montagnes de l’alliance.
Hark! My beloved! Here he comes,
bounding over the mountains,
leaping over the hills.
My beloved is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
My beloved spoke, saying to me:
“Rise up, my darling;
my fair one, come away.
For the winter is past, the rain is over and gone,
the flowers appear upon the earth,
the turtle-dove’s cooing is heard in our land.
The green figs ripen on the fig trees
and the vine blossoms give forth their fragrance.
My dove hiding in the cliff face,
let me see your face and hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
My beloved is mine and I am his.
He grazes his flock among the lilies.
While the day is still cool and the shadows long,
turn, my beloved, and show yourself
like a gazelle or a young stag on the hills
where aromatic spices grow.
–compiled from Song of Songs
READING: SOMEONE UNTIED YOUR CAMEL
I cannot sit still with my countrymen in chains.
I cannot act mute
Hearing the world’s loneliness
Crying near the Beloved’s heart.
My love for God is such
That I could dance with Him tonight without you,
But I would rather have you there.
Is your caravan lost?
It is,
If you no longer weep from gratitude or happiness,
Or weep
From being cut deep with the awareness
Of the extraordinary beauty
That emanates from the most simple act
And common object.
My dear, is your caravan lost?
It is if you can no longer be kind to yourself
And loving to those who must live
With the sometimes difficult task of loving you.
At least come to know
That someone untied your camel last night
For I hear its gentle voice
Calling for God in the desert.
At least come to know
That Hafiz will always hold a lantern
With galaxies blooming inside
And that
I will always guide your soul to
The divine warmth and exhilaration
Of our Beloved’s
Tent.
–Hafiz
I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU COMFORTLESS
William Byrd (1540–1623)
I will not leave you comfortless, alleluia.
I will go and come again to you, alleluia,
And your heart shall rejoice, alleluia.
–John 14:18
READING: EACH NOTE
God picks up the reed-flute world and blows.
Each note is a need coming through one of us,
a passion, a longing-pain.
Remember the lips where the wind-breath originated,
and let your note be clear.
Don’t try to end it.
Be your note.
I’ll show you how it’s enough.
Go up to the roof at night
in this city of the soul.
Let everyone climb on their roofs
and sing their notes!
Sing loud!
–Rumi
From Songs from Behind the Caravan
Abbie Betinis (b. 1980)
1. WE HAVE COME (sung in Farsi)
Mâ, be-din dar, na pey-e heshmato jâh…âmade-‘im;
az-bad-e, hâdese ‘injâ, be-panâh, âmade-im.
Rahro-e manzel-e ‘eshqimo ze sarhadde ‘adam,
tâ, be-eqlim-e vojud, in-hame râh… âmade-im.
Langar-e helm-e to, ey kashti-ye tofiq, kojâst?
ke, dar in bahr-e karam, qarq-e gonâh… âmade-im.
Hâfez, in kherqe-ye pashmine bi-yandâz, ke mâ
az-pe-ye qâfele, bâ-‘âtash-e ‘âh… âmade-im!
We, to this door, seeking neither pride nor glory…we have come.
For shelter from ill-fortune, here… we have come.
Traveling along love’s journey, from the borders of nothingness,
Now into states of being, all this way… we have come.
DESERTCHORALE 11
O ship of grace, where is thy anchor of forbearance?
For in this ocean of generosity, immersed in sin… we have come.
Hafiz, throw off your woolen cloak, for we,
from behind the caravan,
With the fire of singing “ah!”… we have come.
2. SUFFER NO GRIEF
Yusof-e gom-gashte bâz-âyad be Kan’an. Qam ma-khor.
Kolbe-ye ahzân shavad, ruzi, golestân. Qam ma-khor…
Dar-biâbân, gar, be-shoq-e Ka’be, khâzi zad qadam,
sar-zanesh-hâ, gar konad khâr-e moqilân, Qam ma-khor.
Qam ma-khor, qam ma-khor, ey del.
Vin sar-e shuride bâz-âyad be-saman. Qam ma-khor…
O ey del, del-e qam-dide, ey! ey! Qam ma-khor...
Hich râhi nist, ka-ân-râ nist pa-âyân.
Joseph, forsaken, shall return to Canaan. Suffer no grief.
From the thorny stalks of family grief, one day, a rose garden.
Suffer no grief…
If you desire the Way and plant your pilgrim foot in the desert,
Then if the mighty Arabian thorn makes reproofs, suffer no grief…
Suffer no grief, suffer no grief, O heart.
Back to reason, comes this distraught head. Suffer no grief…
O heart, despairing heart, O! O! Suffer no grief…
There is no road that has no end.
READING: WHEN THE VIOLIN
When the violin can forgive the past
It starts singing.
When the violin can stop worrying about the future
You will become such a drunk laughing nuisance
That God will then lean down
And start combing you into His hair.
When the violin can forgive
Every wound caused by others
The heart starts singing.
–Hafiz
5. WE HAVE COME (REPRISE)
Mâ, be-din dar, na pey-e heshmato jâh…âmade-‘im;
Az-bad-e, ‘injâ, be-panâh, âmade-im.
Hâfez, in kherqe-ye pashmine bi-yandâz, ke mâ
Az-pe-ye qâfele, bâ-‘âtash-e ‘âh… âmade-im!
We, to this door, seeking neither pride nor glory… we have come....
For shelter from ill-fortune, here… we have come….
READING: FIND A BETTER JOB
Now
That
All your worry
Has proved such an
Unlucrative
Business,
Why
Not
Find a better
Job.
–Hafiz
Heavenly Home Shawn Kirchner (b. 1970)
1. UNCLOUDED DAY
O they tell me of a home far beyond the skies,
They tell me of a home far away,
And they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise:
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
O the land of cloudless days,
O the land of an unclouded sky,
O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise:
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
O they tell me of a home where my friends have gone,
They tell me of a land far away,
Where the tree of life in eternal bloom
Sheds its fragrance through the unclouded day.
O the land of cloudless days….
O they tell me of a King in His beauty there
They tell me that mine eyes shall behold
Where He sits on a throne that is bright as the sun
In the city that is made of gold.
O the land of cloudless days….
-Rev. J. K. Alwood (1828–1909)
READING: ALL DAY I THINK ABOUT IT
All day I think about it, then at night I say it.
Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing?
I have no idea.
My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that,
and I intend to end up there…
–Rumi
2. ANGEL BAND
The latest sun is sinking fast, my race is almost run,
My strongest trials now are past, my triumph is begun.
O come angel band, come and around me stand,
O bear me away on your snow-white wings to my immortal home.
Hafiz, throw off your woolen cloak, for we,
from behind the caravan,
With the fire of singing “ah!”… we have come.
I know I’m near the holy ranks of friends and kindred, dear,
I’ve brushed the dew on Jordan’s banks,
the crossing must be near.
O come angel band….
–Hafiz
translations by Wilberforce Clarke and Michael Boylan
I’ve almost reached my heav’nly home, my spirit loudly sings,
The Holy Ones, behold they come; I hear the noise of wings.
O come angel band….
–Jefferson Hascall (1807–1887)
12 DESERTCHORALE
READING: QUIETNESS
Inside this new love, die.
Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.
Do it now.
You’re covered with thick cloud.
Slide out the side. Die,
and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign
that you’ve died.
Your old life was a frantic running from silence.
The speechless moon comes out now.
–Rumi
JERUSALEM
Michael McGlynn (b. 1964)
Jerusalem our happy home
When shall we come to thee.
When shall our sorrow have an end?
Thy joy, when shall we see?
There’s cinnamon that scenteth sweet;
There palms spring on the ground.
No tongue can tell, no heart can think,
What joy do there abound.
Jerusalem our happy home….
For evermore the trees bear fruit,
And evermore they do spring.
And evermore the saints are glad,
And evermore they sing.
3. HALLELUJAH
Jerusalem our happy home….
And let this feeble body fail,
And let it faint or die;
My soul shall quit this mournful vale,
And sail to worlds on high.
–traditional Irish
And I’ll sing hallelujah,
And you’ll sing hallelujah,
And we’ll all sing hallelujah
When we arrive at home.
…. Who looks out with my eyes? What is the soul?
I cannot stop asking.
If I could taste one sip of an answer,
I could break out of this prison for drunks.
I didn’t come here of my own accord, and I can’t leave that way.
Whoever brought me here will have to take me home.
O what are all my suff’rings here
If Lord, Thou count me meet
With that enraptured host to appear
And worship at Thy feet!
And I’ll sing hallelujah,
And you’ll sing hallelujah,
And we’ll all sing hallelujah
When we arrive at home.
Give joy or grief, give ease or pain,
Take life or friends away,
But let me find them all again
In that eternal day.
And I’ll sing hallelujah,
And you’ll sing hallelujah,
And we’ll all sing hallelujah
When we arrive at home.
–Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
READING: WHOEVER BROUGHT ME HERE
–Rumi
WAY OVER IN BEULAH LAN’ arr. Stacey Gibbs
We gonna have a good, good time
Way over in Beulah Lan’.
Oh, when we get way over in Beulah Lan’,
Yes, way over in Beulah Lan’.
Oh, we gonna walk them golden streets….
Oh, we gonna drink of the Holy wine….
When we get to heaven, children….
We gonna have a good, good time
Way over in Beulah Lan’!
–traditional African American
READING: MY EYES SO SOFT
Don’t surrender your loneliness so quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice so tender,
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.
–Hafiz
DESERTCHORALE 13
artist biographies
JOSHUA
HABERMANN
MUSIC DIRECTOR
JOSHUA HABERMANN Music Director, is in his sixth season with the Santa
Fe Desert Chorale. Since joining the ensemble he has raised the ensemble’s
artistic profile and broadened its programming to include choral-orchestral
masterworks as well as cutting-edge a cappella programs.
Habermann has led honor choirs and choral festivals in North and Latin America,
Europe and Asia. As a singer (tenor) he has performed with the Oregon Bach
Festival Chorus (Eugene, Oregon), and Conspirare (Austin, Texas). Recording
credits include three projects with Conspirare: Through the Green Fuse,
Requiem, a Grammy nominee for best choral recording in 2006, and Threshold
of Night, a Grammy nominee for best choral recording and best classical album
in 2009.
In 2011, Joshua Habermann was named director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus,
the official vocal ensemble of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where he prepares
the 185-voice chorus for classical and pops series concerts. Highlights with the
DSO include performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Verdi’s Requiem,
Berlioz’ Te Deum, and Britten’s War Requiem, which was performed for the national meeting of the American Choral Directors’ Association in 2013.
From 1996-2008 Habermann was assistant conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and professor of music at San Francisco State University,
where under his direction the SFSU Chamber Singers received international engagements in Havana, Cuba, and undertook concert tours in Germany and
the Czech Republic, and China. In 2006 he led a collaboration between the SFSU Chamber Singers and the Orchestre des Jeunes de Provence in music
of Poulenc and the Requiem of Maurice Duruflé in concerts throughout France. National invitations include the Waging Peace Festival in Eugene, Oregon,
multiple appearances at the California Music Educators Convention, and an appearance at the American Choral Directors’ Association regional convention
in 2008.
From 2008-2011 Habermann was director of choral studies at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he led the graduate program in conducting,
and directed the Frost Chorale. Notable projects in Miami included an appearance at the Florida Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association
convention, and collaborations with the New World Symphony and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas in music of Ives, Schubert and Beethoven. During
this same period Habermann led the Masterchorale of South Florida in performances of masterworks such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation, and
Mozart’s Requiem.
A native of California, Joshua Habermann is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Texas at Austin, where he completed doctoral
studies in conducting with Craig Hella Johnson. He lives in Dallas with his wife Joanna, daughter Kira and son Kai.
14 DESERTCHORALE
DESERTCHORALE
14
SARAH BRAUER IHLEFELD, mezzo-soprano, enjoys a varied career of opera, oratorio, choral and
recital performance. Sarah earned her Master of Music degree from Rice University after completing
her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California. Sarah has appeared with
the Santa Fe Opera, Santa Fe Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Oregon Bach Festival, Houston
Bach Society, Aspen Music Festival and the Salem Chamber Orchestra, among others. Recent local
engagements include mezzo soprano soloist for the concert-drama Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín
with the University of New Mexico, created and conducted by Murry Sidlin, Mozart’s Requiem and
Bach’s Magnificat with the New Mexico Philharmonic, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and
Aeneas with the Santa Fe Symphony. Recent recordings include two discs with the Grammy nominated
professional chamber choir, Conspirare, and world-renowned classical label, Harmonia Mundi.
SARAH BRAUER IHLEFELD
JOHN BUFFETT
CAROL BURDEN
J.D. BURNETT
Baritone JOHN BUFFETT has established himself as a versatile musician with a repertoire ranging
from Monteverdi and Bach to Puccini and Sondheim. Praised by the Salt Lake Tribune for his “warm
tone and ringing top notes,” Mr. Buffett has sung with the Symphonies of Utah, San Antonio, and
Syracuse, the Rochester Philharmonic, Apolloʼs Fire, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Seraphic Fire,
The Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Ars Lyrica. Equally as comfortable on
the operatic stage, he has sung with the Opera Companies of Utah, Sarasota, Utah Festival Opera,
The Boston Early Music Festival, the Ohio Light Opera and Eastman Opera Theater. John has worked
with conductors including Robert Tweten, Patrick Dupré Quigley, Josh Habermann, Jeannette Sorrell,
Craig Jessop, Victor DeRenzi, Barbara Day Turner, and Paul OʼDette. Other career highlights include
appearances at the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. Mr.
Buffett received a Bachelors and Masters degree from the Eastman School of Music and has been a
young artist with Utah Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Memphis, and a fellow at the Tanglewood Music
Festival.
Soprano CAROL BURDEN was born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and earned her Master of Music
Degree from the Juilliard School. Shortly thereafter she apprenticed with Lyric Opera of Chicago, and
for the following fifteen years sang opera and oratorio throughout the United States and in Europe.
In recent years she has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3
(Espansiva), with the Singapore Symphony in Messiah, with the Mendelssohn Club in Carmina Burana
and the Mozart Grand Mass in C Minor, and with Ars Musica in Bach’s St. John Passion. Also close
to home, she has sung Mozart’s Exsultate, Jubilate with the Riverside Symphonia, and Bach Cantata
#140 (Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme) with The Princeton Singers. Other career highlights include
Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevilla, Messiah at Carnegie Hall with
Musica Sacra, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Poulenc’s Gloria with the
Savannah Symphony, Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5 and John Cage’s Theater Piece as part
of the Focus! Festival in New York. She also sings regularly with Kinnara Ensemble. Carol is delighted
to be making her Santa Fe Desert Chorale debut this year. She makes her home in Princeton, with her
husband and two children.
J.D. BURNETT, tenor, is Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of Georgia. He is
also the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Kinnara Ensemble, a chamber choir of professional
singers based in Princeton, New Jersey. His prior appointments include Assistant Conductor of the
Dallas Symphony Chorus, Associate Conductor of the Masterwork Chorus of New Jersey, Conductor
of the Young Men’s Ensemble of the New Jersey Youth Chorus, Artistic Director of the New Jersey
Chamber Singers, Assistant Conductor of the Westminster Choir, Music Director of the Houston
Masterworks Chorus, Music Director of Men’s Consort Houston. He has served on the choral music
faculties at San Jose State University, Montclair State University, and the University of North Texas.
Dr. Burnett did undergraduate study at Stanford University and Oklahoma State University and holds
advanced degrees in choral music from Westminster Choir College and the University of North Texas.
As a professional choral singer, Burnett has performed seasons, concerts, and recordings with the
Stillwater Chamber Singers, Cantare Houston, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Fuma Sacra, the Choir of
Trinity Church Wall Street, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and Conspirare.
A native of Atlanta, GEORGE CASE, tenor, is the Director of Choral Activities at The Boston
Conservatory where he directs the choral ensembles and the graduate choral conducting program.
George holds Doctoral and Masters degrees in conducting from the University of Michigan and a
Bachelors degree in vocal performance from Boston University. George is also the music director
for the Newburyport Choral Society, an 80-year old choral society on the north shore. A devoted
educator of young musicians, George was the Director of Choral and Vocal Programs at the Cobb
County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts in Atlanta, GA from 2007 to 2010 and faculty
member of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute from 2005-2012. In 2009, George’s choruses
were selected to participate in the Honor! Festival curated by Jessye Norman and Carnegie Hall with
Craig Jessop and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
artist
biographies
SOPRANO
Carol Burden
Megan Chartrand
Estelí Gomez
Kathlene Ritch
Margot Rood
Shari Alise Wilson
ALTO
Sarah Brauer Ihlefeld
Lexa Ferrill
Kirsten Kane
Helen Karloski
Keely J. Rhodes
Mitzi Westra
TENOR
JD Burnett
George Case
Andrew Crane
Patrick Muehleise
Eric Christopher Perry
Matthew Tresler
BASS
John Buffett
David Farwig
Harris Ipock
John Proft
Peter Walker
Brent Wells
GEORGE CASE
MEGAN CHARTRAND
Praised for her “soaring, diamantine high notes” (Opera News) and “blood-curdling virtuosity” (San
Francisco Enquirer), Canadian soprano MEGAN CHARTRAND feels equally at home singing early
music, art song, chamber music and concert repertoire. Her present season will feature solos in
Mozart‘s Requiem with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at the Staunton
Music Festival; Britten‘s Missa Brevis with the Yale Choral Artists; and Vivaldi’s Gloria with Seraphic
Fire, among others.Highlights of previous seasons include singing Dalila in Handel‘s Samson with
the American Classical Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall; Bach’s Mass in B minor, Cantata 198 and Haydn‘s
Die Schöpfung with conductor Masaaki Suzuki; the title role in Handel’s Esther at the ABS Academy;
Handel and Mozart arias with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra; and Handel’s Crudel Tiranno Amor
with The Alberta Baroque Ensemble. Megan graduated with a Masters of Music specializing in early
music, oratorio and chamber ensemble singing from the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music
and Yale School of Music studying with James Taylor. She also holds a Bachelor of Music from the
University of Alberta where she studied with Jolaine Kerley.
DESERTCHORALE
DESERTCHORALE 15
15
ANDREW CRANE, tenor, serves as Director of Choral Activities at East Carolina University in
Greenville, NC. He performs regularly as a soloist in the choral/orchestral repertoire, having
appeared with such groups as the Los Angeles Bach Festival, North Carolina Master Chorale,
San Bernardino Symphony, Utah Valley Symphony, and many others. As a professional chorister,
he has appeared with the Yale Choral Artists, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Dallas’ Vox
Humana, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Tennessee Chamber Chorus, and also performed Haydn’s Die
Schöpfung with the Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus under the direction of Helmuth Rilling. During
the 2014-2015 season he will perform as tenor soloist in the Bruckner Te Deum with the Lansing
Symphony Orchestra. Andrew holds BM and MM degrees from Brigham Young University, and the
DMA from Michigan State University, where he studied voice with Richard Fracker of the New York
Metropolitan Opera. He makes his home in eastern North Carolina with his wife and four children.
dana
winograd
cello
Originally from Los Angeles, cellist
DANA WINOGRAD received her
Bachelors and Masters degrees
in performance from the Juilliard
School in New York where she
studied with Harvey Shapiro and
Channing Robbins, as well as
members of the Juilliard String
Quartet for chamber music. After
graduation, Winograd led an active
freelance career in New York City,
including performances at Carnegie
Hall with the American Composer’s
Orchestra and the American
Symphony, Broadway appearances
(both in the pit and on stage) with
Phantom of The Opera, Cats, Beauty
and the Beast, and Once Upon a
Mattress, as well as playing backup
for Rod Stewart, Luther Vandross,
Lyle Lovett, Manhattan Transfer,
and Harry Connick Jr. Since moving
to Santa Fe in 1999, Winograd has
been a member of the New Mexico
Symphony (now New Mexico
Philharmonic), and is principal cellist
of the Santa Fe Symphony. She
has appeared as soloist with the
Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque,
the Plainfield Symphony in NJ and
the Julius Grossman Orchestra
in NY. As a chamber musician
Winograd plays frequently with
the Taos Chamber Music Group,
Albuquerque Chamber Soloists
and Chatter. She is one of Santa Fe
Symphony’s orchestra mentors for
the Santa Fe Public Schools, and
is also the cello teacher of many
budding musicians in the Santa Fe
area. She has recently been named
Artistic Director of the Santa Fe
Youth Symphony Association. Dana
and her husband Gil have started
a scholarship for Youth Symphony
kids, in honor of their recently
deceased dog, Sydney. They live
happily together with Sydney’s three
friends, Poco, Loco and Lily.
16
16 DESERTCHORALE
DESERTCHORALE
Baritone DAVID FARWIG has been hailed as a lyric baritone with a unique and beautiful sound,
unsurpassed clarity, flexibility, and deep expressivity. Whether in oratorio or recital, he is at home
bringing a full range of styles to the stage. As a professional solo and choral artist, he has performed
with various companies throughout the U.S. and Europe including the US Air Force Singing
Sergeants, the Carmel, Oregon and Victoria Bach Festivals, the Santa Fe Opera, the Baroque
Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Choral Arts Seattle, the Santa Fe
Symphony, Seraphic Fire, and Santa Fe Pro Musica. He was nominated for the Austin Critics Table
Award for his solo work in Robert Kyr’s A Time for Life, and won the same award in 2012 for his solo
work in Kyr’s cantata Songs of the Soul and is most recent critically acclaimed solo work, Samuel
Barber’s The Lovers, recorded with Conspirare in 2011 on the Harmonia Mundi record label. Farwig
recently earned his Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of
Missouri in Kansas City and is now based in Denver.
ANDREW CRANE
Mezzo-soprano LEXA FERRILL is a versatile performer of operatic, concert, and song repertoire.
Recent concert engagements include Beethoven Symphony No. 9 (Washington Idaho Symphony),
Bach St. John Passion (Palouse Choral Society), and Bach cantatas (Idaho Bach Festival). Ensemble
singing includes work with Seraphic Fire, Conspirare, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and the Oregon
Bach Festival Chorus. Operatic roles include Der Trommler (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), the Neighbor
(Mavra), Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Meg Page (Falstaff), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), and the
Secretary (The Consul). Ms. Ferrill balances larger-scale performances with song recitals. In fall of
2011 she was selected to participate in the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. Recent
recitals include a program of Argento’s Casa Guidi and A Few Words About Chekhov; and songs of
Britten and Debussy.
DAVID FARWIG
Praised for her “clear, bright voice” (New York Times) and “artistry that belies her young years”
(Kansas City Metropolis), soprano ESTELÍ GOMEZ is quickly gaining recognition as a stylish
interpreter of early and contemporary repertoires. In January 2014 she was awarded a Grammy
with contemporary octet Roomful of Teeth, for best chamber music/small ensemble performance;
in November 2011 she received first prize in the Canticum Gaudium International Early Music Vocal
Competition in Poznan, Poland. An avid performer of early and new music, Estelí can be heard on
the Juno-nominated recording Salsa Baroque with Montreal-based Ensemble Caprice, as well as
Roomful of Teeth‘s self-titled debut album, for which composer Caroline Shaw was awarded the 2013
Pulitzer Prize. Highlights of 2013-4 include teaching and performance residencies at Yale, Princeton,
and University of Oregon, Eugene; soprano solos in a recording of Robert Kyr’s Songs of the Soul
with Conspirare (Harmonia Mundi); Monteverdi‘s Vespers of 1610 in Washington, D.C. with Grammynominated chamber ensemble Seraphic Fire; and participation in Helmuth Rilling’s final season with
Oregon Bach Festival. Originally from Santa Cruz, California, Estelí received her Bachelor of Arts
with honors in music from Yale College, and Master of Music from McGill University, studying with
Sanford Sylvan. She currently travels and performs full-time.
LEXA FERRILL
HARRIS IPOCK, baritone, serves as Resident Conductor of the Harvard Glee Club at Harvard
University, where he also teaches private voice. He is currently finishing a doctoral degree in
choral conducting from the Eastman School of Music. Harris enjoys an active career as a soloist
and professional chorister. He is a member of Conspirare, a five-time Grammy-nominated ensemble
conducted by Craig Hella Johnson. He has also performed with Spire Chamber Ensemble, Publick
Musick, Cambridge Concentus, La Donna Musicale, Voices, Vox Lumine, Virginia Chorale, Norfolk
Chamber Consort, TodiSingers, and the North Carolina Symphony Baroque Choir. His recent
credits as a soloist include Bach’s St. John and St. Matthew Passions, and Magnificat, Haydn’s
Die Schöpfung, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart’s Requiem, and Handel’s Messiah. His
operatic roles include Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Céphale in Céphale et Procris, Corcoran in
HMS Pinafore, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and John Sorel in The Consul. Harris holds M.M.
degrees in choral conducting and vocal performance from East Carolina University, and B.M. and
B.A. degrees in vocal performance and economics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
ESTELÍ GOMEZ
KIRSTEN KANE, mezzo soprano, has been praised as “a consummate artist with a vividly expressive
voice and superb musical imagination. Her beautiful singing, her intelligence, and her keen sense of
dramatic focus and pacing are a world-class combination” (David Gordon, Adams Vocal Master Class
Director–Carmel Bach Festival). An avid recitalist, her collaborations include Sappho, Bantock’s song
cycle for mezzo soprano with pianist Irina Nuzova and narration by Jeffrey Duban, author of Ancient
and Modern Images of Sappho; a program of French salon song for the Jewish Museum New York’s
exhibit of Sarah Bernhardt; a semi-staged presentation of Ravel’s Shéhérazade with pianist Melinda
Coffey Armstead; and an evening with Hudson Soirées featuring song settings of Russian romantic
poet Mikhail Lermontov. Kirsten made her NY Philharmonic role debut as a Hen in Janáček’s The
Cunning Little Vixen, and chorus engagements have included NY City Opera, NY City Ballet, Bard
Summerscape Opera, Vienna Philharmonic, NY Virtuoso Singers, American Symphony Orchestra,
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival, Kinnara Ensemble and NY Choral Artists. A
favorite recent role was that of Venus in Grant Herreid’s L’Amour et la Folie (NY Continuo Collective)
at the Boston Early Music Festival. She will be featured in a performance of Jani Christou’s Six Songs
on Poems of T.S. Eliot in the spring at NY University with pianist Christos Marinos.
HARRIS IPOCK
KIRSTEN KANE
Mezzo soprano, HELEN KARLOSKI, is a versatile artist, equally at home in opera, oratorio, choral
and musical theater. As a soloist, Helen has sung Mozart’s Solemn Vespers with the Mostly Mozart
Festival, Haydn’s Theresienmesse with Voices of Ascension, Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with St. Andrew’s Music Society, Handel’s Dixit
Dominus with the Tucson Chamber Artists, and Duruflé’s Requiem with the Delaware Valley Choral.
Favorite performances include The Cunning Little Vixen (Hen) with the New York Philharmonic,
My Fair Lady starring Kelsey Grammar and Kelli O’Hara with the New York Philharmonic, Golijov’s
Ainadamar with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Les Huguenots and Oresteia at Bard SummerScape, and
the New York City premier of Elliot Goldenthal’s Grendel, directed by Academy Award-nominated
Julie Taymor. An accomplished ensemble singer, Ms. Karloski performs regularly with Conspirare,
the New York Choral Artists, Voices of Ascension, Handel and Haydn Society, Musica Sacra, New
York Virtuoso Singers, and Mostly Mozart Festival.
HELEN KARLOSKI
PATRICK MUEHLEISE
special
thanks
Concert Programming would not be
possible without assistance from
and support of many individuals,
businesses and organizations in our
PATRICK MUEHLEISE, tenor, is in demand throughout the country as a versatile singer in opera,
choral, and concert repertoire. Patrick regularly collaborates with nationally acclaimed ensembles
such as Seraphic Fire, Tucson Chamber Artists, and Music of the Baroque. Some notable previous
engagements include performances with The Santa Fe Opera, Haymarket Opera Company, Bella
Voce Camerata, The Chicago Arts Orchestra, and the American Chamber Orchestra in New York
City. Last season, Patrick made his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in the chorus of Wagner’s Parsifal
and recently made soloist appearances in Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions, Mozart’s Mass
in C minor and Coronation Mass, Haydn’s Seven Last Words, Handel’s Messiah, David Lang’s Little
Match Girl Passion, the role of Martin in Copland’s The Tender Land, and the title role in Britten’s
Albert Herring. This season continues to excite as Patrick performs Carmina Burana with Tucson
Chamber Artists, tours the Northeast with Seraphic Fire, and records an inaugural disc with the
new Apollo Master Chorale as they break ground in Minneapolis. Patrick is an active member of the
American Guild of Musical Artists and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and
can be heard on three nationally released albums with the Grammy-nominated ensemble Seraphic
Fire as well as three additional forthcoming albums with Seraphic Fire and Tucson Chamber Artists.
community and beyond.
FOR FAVORS LARGE & SMALL
The Church of the Holy Faith, Rev.
Kenneth J. G. Semon, Rector
Cristo Rey Church
Los Angeles Master Chorale:
Kevin Koelbl
Donna Lukacs
ERIC PERRY
ERIC PERRY is gaining national recognition for his musical insightfulness and dedication to the art
of ensemble; recently praised for his “sweet and appealing tone” by the Boston Globe. In 2010 he
made his national symphony debut in Krása’s Brundibár with the Phoenix Symphony. In 2011 he was
awarded Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute‘s Ivars Taurins Fellowship, where he sang the role
of Evangelist in Bach’s Johannes-Passion. Since, he has performed in Australia, Canada, Germany,
Iceland, and across the United States. Highlights of the 2013-14 season include Monteverdi’s
Vespero della Beata Virgine 1610 (one-per-part) conducted by Joshua Rifkin, and as a member of the
Oregon Bach Festival Berwick Chorus under Matthew Halls and Helmuth Rilling. Other appearances
include Emmanuel Music, Boston Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, Cantata Singers, Arizona
Bach Festival, Spire Chamber Ensemble, and Renaissance Men (which he is a co-founder). Equally
active in song literature, his recital of Australian contemporary music was featured in the Ballarat Art
Gallery’s Modern Masterpieces Exhibit in conjunction with the Australian Music Centre. As a choral
conductor, Mr. Perry led concerts with Plymouth State University’s Chorale and the New Hampshire
Music Educators‘ Association All-State Women’s Choir. Mr. Perry earned degrees from Fredonia
State University, Arizona State University, and University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He currently
serves on voice faculty at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and previously taught at
Plymouth State University and Federation University Australia.
Metropolitan State University: MB
Krueger
Kathlene Ritch
St. Martin’s Chamber Choir: Steve
Grupe and Tim Krueger
FOR HOUSING SINGERS
J.B. & Linda Beck
Mark Childers
Dotty Davis
Sue-Ellen & John de Beer
Margie Edwards & Ellie Edelstein
JOHN PROFT
KEELY J. RHODES
Since 2006, baritone JOHN PROFT has maintained an active singing career, traveling around the
country to perform with professional choirs and chamber ensembles in Austin, Atlanta, Boston,
Dallas, Kansas City, and Santa Fe. While getting his Bachelors in Music from University of North
Texas, he began singing professionally with the Dallas Bach Society and the Orpheus Chamber
Singers. Then, based in the thriving early-music scene of Boston, he began traveling to perform
with ensembles like Austin’s Grammy-nominated Conspirare, Miami’s Grammy-nominated Seraphic
Fire, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. As a soloist, he has performed with the Harvard Collegium
Musicum and in Boston Early Music Festival’s 2010 opera, Dido and Aeneas. He has worked with
world-renowned conductors Harry Christophers, Ton Koopman, and Craig Hella Johnson. In 2013,
John received his Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from Southern Methodist University and is
currently based in Sacramento, CA.
KEELY J. RHODES, mezzo-soprano, received the Bachelor’s of Music from Oberlin Conservatory
and Master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Texas in Austin. In academia,
Dr. Rhodes has served as a director of choirs, head of vocal studies, and an assistant professor of
music. She has also had the honor of serving as a Fulbright scholar to Italy in 2006-2007. Along
with teaching private voice lessons, Keely performs as a soloist and collaborative artist for choral,
chamber, and symphonic groups and as an opera singer in the United States, Europe, Central
America and South America.
Fairmont Heritage Place, El Corazon
de Santa Fe
Nina Hinson & Scott Rasmussen
Ann MacVicar
Mardie Norton
Sally Rogers & The Santa Fe Opera
Dan Rusthoi
FOR USHERING:
Ginny Barsky
Marty Carroll
Doug Escue
Laura Escue
KATHLENE RITCH
After earning a Bachelor’s of Music Studies degree from University of Texas at Austin, soprano
KATHLENE RITCH moved to New York City where she sang with such noted ensembles as New
York Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, and Vienna Philharmonic. In 2001, she made her solo debut
at Lincoln Center with American Symphony Orchestra in Liszt’s Dante’s Inferno. With that same
ensemble, she recorded a live concert version of Die aegyptische Helena as Hermione opposite
Deborah Voigt’s Helen. In June of 2011, Kathlene settled in Santa Fe to be the accompanist for Santa
Fe High School Choral Department and the Director of Royal School of Church Music at Church of
the Holy Faith. She also has her business, The Red-Headed Chef, but still finds time to sing with
ensembles around the country.
Pam Gilchrist
Martha Kallejian
Barbara Kuzminska
Marie Newsom
Madeline Pryor
Jolanta Tuzel
DESERTCHORALE
DESERTCHORALE 17
17
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MARGOT ROOD, soprano, hailed for her “luminosity and grace” by The New York Times, performs a
wide range of repertoire across American stages. Ms. Rood has appeared as soloist with some of the
United States’ premiere new music ensembles. Notable recent engagements include her Carnegie
Hall debut in the world premiere of Shawn Jaeger’s Letters Made with Gold under the direction of
Dawn Upshaw and Donnacha Dennehy, Kati Agocs’ Vessel and Soprano Evangelist in Arvo Pärt’s
Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, as
well as the world premiere of Christopher Trapani’s Past All Deceiving in New York City with Argento
Ensemble. Ms. Rood is a core member of Boston’s Lorelei Ensemble, an all-female vocal ensemble
dedicated to the performance of new music, and is a founding member of the Michigan Recital
Project, which features commissions by emerging composers. Also an accomplished and sensitive
ensemble singer, Ms. Rood performs regularly with top ensembles around the country including
Seraphic Fire, Tucson Chamber Artists, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Skylark Ensemble, Emmanuel
Music, Music at Marsh Chapel, and Handel and Haydn Society.
MARGOT ROOD
MATTHEW TRESLER, tenor, is director of choral and vocal music at Irvine Valley College, in Irvine,
California. An active ensemble singer, he sings with Conspirare, Seraphic Fire, Bach Collegium
San Diego, and Spire Ensemble. As a soloist, recent performances include Bach’s B Minor Mass in
Texas and Arizona, Magnificat in California, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 in Mexico and Hawaii. Matt
has performed with the New World Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony, Arizona Bach Festival, Victoria
Bach Festival, Early Music Hawaii, Master Chorale of South Florida, and Miami Bach Society. He
holds the B.M. in voice from Northern Arizona University and the M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in choral
conducting from the University of Miami.
Described as “rich-voiced” and “vivid” by a recent New York Times review, bass PETER WALKER
enjoys a varied and exciting career as singer of solo and ensemble repertoire. He recently revisited
the roles of Balthasar and Habbakuk in the Play of Daniel with Gotham Early Music and Trinity Wall
Street, and the title role of Telemann’s Pimpinone with the Texas Early Music Project. Recent notable
performances include singing and piping in Early Music New York’s Bohemian Christmas, Christus in
Telemann’s St. Luke Passion with St. Luke in the Fields, and baritone soloist in Rachmaninov’s Choral
Symphony with the Danbury Symphony. Highlights of the coming season will include appearances
with Early Music New York, Gotham Early Music, Texas Early Music Project, the Skylark Vocal
Ensemble, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and renaissance ensemble The Thirteen. Peter is a member
of the choir of St. Luke in the Fields, and is a core member of The Broken Consort as a singer and
bagpiper. His piping has been hailed as “impressive” and “exciting” by clevelandclassical.com. Peter
holds degrees from Vassar College and McGill University.
MATTHEW TRESLER
PETER WALKER
BRENT WELLS, bass, is the Director of Choral Activities at the College of Idaho in Caldwell, ID.
He frequently performs as a featured soloist and has enjoyed membership in many acclaimed
choral ensembles. In addition to the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Brent has sung professionally with
the Tennessee Chamber Chorus, Redlands Choral Artists, Mount Marty Choral Scholars, and also
performed the Berlioz Grande Messe des morts, with the Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus under the
direction of Robert Spano. He received his DMA in choral conducting at Michigan State University,
and his MM in choral conducting and BM in music education from Brigham Young University. His
publications include a series of articles appearing in the Choral Journal discussing the folk-song
collecting methodology and compositions of Percy Grainger.
MITZI WESTRA, mezzo-soprano, received her B.A. degree in music and religion from Augustana
College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; her master’s and doctoral degrees were received from
University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. While in Minneapolis, she spent 4 years performing,
touring, and recording with the Dale Warland Singers and was alto section leader for the DWS
Chamber Singers. She currently lives in Indianapolis, where she has appeared as a soloist with
Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, and New Century String Quartet,
as well as performing frequently on the University of Indianapolis Faculty Artist Series. She
currently teaches in the vocal department at University of Indianapolis, is the alto section leader and
Treble Choir director at Second Presbyterian Church, records for Aireborn Studios in Zionsville, and
maintains her own private studio.
Soprano SHARI ALISE WILSON is among the new generation of singers specializing in early and
modern music, demonstrating great versatility and stylistic sensitivity. Recent highlights include
performances with Sydney Skybetter & Associates and Ear Heart Music in David Lang’s Little Match
Girl Passion, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Conspirare at the Victoria Bach Festival, Buxtehude’s
Membra Jesu Nostri with Pegasus Early Music and New York Baroque, a world premiere performance
and recording of music by Gavin Bryars with Crossing Choir and Prism Quartet and a world premiere
performance of John Luther Adams: Sila at the Lincoln Center. She made her New York City solo
debut at Merkin Hall in the world premiere performance of Benjamin C.S. Boyle’s Cantata: To One in
Paradise, and has travelled to the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, where she performed in
choral concerts and operas, most notably working with Gian Carlo Menotti in Amahl and the Night
Visitors. Ms. Wilson is an active ensemble singer, performing with the 5-time Grammy-nominated
ensemble Conspirare (Austin), Crossing Choir (Philadelphia), Spire Ensemble (Kansas City), and
Boston’s Blue Heron, Handel and Haydn Society, and Emmanuel Music. She can be heard on the
newly-released Blue Heron discs of Nicholas Ludford’s “Missa Regnum mundi” and “Missa Inclina
cor meum”, Conspirare’s “Sacred Spirit of Russia”, and Kile Smith’s “Vespers” with Crossing Choir
and Piffaro.
BRENT WELLS
MITZI WESTRA
SHARI ALISE WILSON
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DESERTCHORALE
DESERTCHORALE 19
SANTAFEDESERTCHORALE
2015
SUMMER
FESTIVAL
TRANSCENDENCE
Showcasing Herbert Howells’ reflective and personal
Requiem, stunning repertoire for double choir, and five
centuries of great German music including works by
Schütz, Brahms, and Buchenberg.
JULY 9, 10, 11 @ 8PM
CATHEDRAL BASILICA, SANTA FE
JULY 12 @ 4PM
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. JOHN, ALBUQUERQUE
VENETIAN SPLENDOR
Performing excerpts from Monteverdi’s Sestina and
Songs of Love and War, double choir music by both Andrea
and Giovanni Gabrieli, and music written by women for
women–all of which contributed to Venice’s reputation as
the envy of the world. Accompanied by Richard Savino
on lute.
JULY 21, 24, 28, 30, AUGUST 4 @ 8PM
LORETTO CHAPEL, SANTA FE
*Summer Festival 2015 details are subject to change. Tickets
are available for purchase at www.desertchorale.org or by
calling (505) 988–2282.
20 DESERTCHORALE
SERENADE TO MUSIC
Featuring secular and sacred pieces of English choral
literature including Tudor music by Byrd and Gibbons,
songs by Finzi, Elgar, Britten, and Pearsall, and, of course,
Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece for choir, piano, and
sixteen soloists, Serenade to Music.
JULY 23, 25, 29, 31@ 8PM
CHURCH OF THE HOLY FAITH, SANTA FE
HIDDEN TREASURES
OF BYZANTIUM
A divine and meditative experience–the Desert Chorale
presents rich sacred music from Russia, a special
commission by Orthodox Priest and composer Ivan
Moody, and great spiritual works from Greece, Finland
and the United States.
AUGUST 6, 8 @ 8:30PM
CATHEDRAL BASILICA, SANTA FE
AUGUST 9 @ 4PM
CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. JOHN, ALBUQUERQUE