Sunday, December 9th, 2012
Cordier Auditorium
Scott Humphries, Conductor
Sleigh Ride | Leroy Anderson | |||
Concert Suite from The Polar Express | Alan Silvestri | |||
Christmas Singalong | John Finnegan | |||
God Bless Us Everyone |
Alan Silvrestri Glen Ballard |
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Shelley Ploss, soprano | ||||
Intermission | ||||
Hodie ("This Day") | Ralph Vaughan Williams | |||
I. Prologue |
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Daniel Belcher, baritone; Ben Kambs, tenor; Joni Camille Killian, soprano |
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Program Notes by James R. C. Adams |
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Sleigh Ride |
Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) |
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He is best known for his attractive melodies and jaunty rhythms in such pieces as The Syncopated Clock and Sleigh Ride. He was also notable for his use of unconventional instruments, as in The Typewriter and The Sandpaper Ballet (yes, a typewriter and sandpaper were both used as instruments). Anderson had been discovered by Arthur Fiedler, director of the Boston Pops Orchestra, and was championed by Fiedler, who invited him to conduct his own works with that orchestra. When he conducted The Typewriter, he did so wearing a green visor, with his sleeves rolled up, and pretending to be typing in time with the music. Sleigh Ride is perhaps the most often performed Anderson work. The Manchester Symphony Orchestra plays it very often during the holidays. |
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Concert Suite from The Polar Express |
Alan Silvestri (b. 1950) |
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The music for those movies is mostly orchestral, but he has also worked with electronic music in such films as The Clan of the Cave Bear, Delta Force, No Mercy, and The Flight of the Navigator. Alan Silvestri was born in New York City and grew up in nearby Teaneck, New Jersey. Unlike so many successful composers, he did not come from a very musical family. He says that his family was "not interested in music." He began to show an interest in drums when he was three (but who didn't?). Some people credit this early interest in drumming to his notable sense of rhythm in his later years. By the time he was in high school, he had taught himself to play a number of instruments, but mostly the guitar. He ascribes his career in films to an accident. He and his jazz band thought they had a contract, which turned out to be a fraud. To extract themselves, they went to Hollywood, where they made contact with a friend who wrote lyrics for some well-known performers. The friend got a phone call from a low-budget producer who mistakenly thought the friend was a composer instead of a lyricist. The friend put the caller on hold, and asked Silvestri if he wanted to do a film score. The deal was made. Silvestri was twenty years old. Having no experience in composition, Silvestri went to a bookstore and bought a book called, How to Score a Film. He spent the night reading it, and met the director the next day. He was given two weeks to score the film. The film was called The Doberman Gang, and received fairly good reviews. Silvestri's career was launched. |
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God Bless Us Everyone from Disney's A Christmas Carol |
Alan Silvestri (b. 1950) Glen Ballard (b. 1953) |
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Ballard was born in Natchez, Mississippi, and is a song-writer and producer of some repute. He is the founder of Java Records. He won the 2006 Grammy Award for "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture" for the song Believe from The Polar Express. He was also involved with the recording and writing of Michael Jackson's Thriller and Bad, as well as for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, which won a Grammy for "Best Rock Album" in 1995. In addition to Michael Jackson and Alanis Morrisette, he has written songs for The Pointer Sisters, Paula Abdul, Sheena Easton, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry, Stevie Nicks, and many others. In A Christmas Carol, Silvestri does include snatches of familiar Christmas carols, but the piece God Bless Us Everyone is original, with lyrics by Glen Ballard. |
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Hodie (This Day) |
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) |
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Vaughan Williams was not a proud man, speaking of his "amateurish technique," early on, but resolving to persevere. He later studied with Max Bruch in Berlin, and Maurice Ravel in Paris. He went on to become the most influential English composer of his generation, and is credited with rejuvenating English music. Like several of his contemporaries on the Continent, such as Bartok and Kodaly in Hungary, he was a collector of folk music, and was known for the use of Medieval modes, often the mixolydian, a scale system common to folk music. Vaughan Williams became a close friend of the English composer, Gustav Holst, who also was enamored with folk music. Throughout their lives, they submitted their works to each other for criticism. Vaughan Wiliams wrote a great deal of "religious" music, and was closely involved with church choirs and organ performances. I write "religious" in quotation marks because he was not religious in the conventional sense. He had been an atheist when he was at Cambridge, and then evolved into an agnostic, but he was deeply spiritual, if you can unravel the paradox. He was a very humane person, and had a reverence for the past, and the importance of each person who had contributed to that past in every way. One critic said that when listening to his music, one never knew whether he was hearing something very old -- or very new. Hodie (This Day) is a telling of the Nativity. The words are from various sources, including the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and works of John Milton, Miles Coverdale, Thomas Hardy, George Herbert, William Drummond, and the poet, Ursula Wood, who eventually married Vaughan Williams after the death of his wife. His "Englishness" is exemplefied by his use of so many English writers. |
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Manchester Symphony Orchestra Personnel |
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Violin I Elizabeth Smith, Concertmaster Lois Clond Sarah Hao Bill Klickman Rachel Nowak +^ Colleen Phillips Violin II Joyce Dubach * Tyler Krempasky + Linda Kummernuss Alyssa Loos +^ Vickey Smith Amy Ann Tylenda +^ Viola Margaret Sklenar * Benjamin Crim +^ Renée Neher + Carrie Shank +^ Loughlin Wylie + Cello Robert Lynn * Michael Rueff +^ Timothy Spahr Tony Spahr Bass Darrel Fiene * Jess Gaze Katie Huddleston +^ Piccolo/Flute Kathy Urbani * Kathy Davis Oboe George Donner * Nyssa Tierney Clarinet Lila D. Hammer * Mark W. Huntington Sarah Leininger +^ |
Bass Clarinet Sarah Leininger +^ Bassoon Erich Zummack * Elena Bohlander +^ Horn John Morse * Christen Adler ** Haleigh Mann +^ Michael Paynter +^ Kelly Weeks +^ Trumpet Steven Hammer * Nicholas Kenny Dennis Ulrey Trombone Jon Hartman * Chris Hartman +^ Larry Dockter Tuba Caleb Dehning Timpani Dave Robbins * Percussion Dave Robbins * Timothy Johnson + Mackenzi Lowry + Katie Lowther + Jeremy Nevil Piano/Celeste Alan Chambers Keyboard Tim Reed * Denotes principal + Denotes MU student ^ Denotes Keister Scholarship recipient ** Denotes assistant principal |
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Manchester A Cappella Choir Personnel |
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Soprano I Caitlin Kessler Courtney Mensing * Erika Reffitt Cassie Whitaker Soprano II Emily Goins Courtney Haines Emilie Hunt Angelina Jung Haleigh Mann Sheila Prather Darcy Robins * Tenor I Adam Ousley * Donnie Watkins Tenor II Levi Smith Jeremy Walters * Kahler Willits * denotes section leader |
Alto I Megan Garner Kelli Iler * Britney March Claire Miller Kandace Terry Miriam Zielinski Alto II Madeline Clark Ashley Dobrzykowski Alyssa McElwain Chris Minter * RaeAnne Schoeffler Bass I Eric Cupp Gabe Hoagland Caleb Noffsinger Jeremiah Sanders * Chris Teeters Bass II Tarek Al-Zoughbi Alex Drew * Dylan Hiner Josh Plank Michael Rueff Directors Debra Lynn, conductor Alex Drew, assistant conductor Alan Chambers, rehearsal pianist |
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Manchester Cantabile Personnel |
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Soprano I Courtney Haines Ashlea Koehl * Caitlin Yoder Soprano II Katelyn Carothers Kortney Jennings Tia Merritt Erika Reffitt * Amy Ann Tylenda |
Alto Abby Birnell Ashley Dobrzykowski * Hannah Glenn Janelle Jacowski Angelina Jung Louise Magiera * denotes section leader Directors Debra Lynn, conductor Joanne Case, rehearsal pianist |
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Children's Choir of Huntington County |
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Hailey Alford Julia Baker Kirsten Bickel Alexandria Christman Marianne Christman Mia Cotton Emily Cross Jacob Daugherty Reuben Davis Lindsay Felton Rachel Geders Melanie Gradeless Emma Gordon Gabi Haneline Lillian Holzinger Abi Kline Tori Kline Grace Koons Hannah Lehman Levi Lehman Brianna Mason Cat Meeken Eileen Mettler Alena Miller Gregory Miller Rachel Moore Lisa Nalliah Emily Paulette |
Lizzie Preston Haley Reynolds Audrey Rice Gracie Rice Leann Ringenberg Hannah Ringo Brydonne Rodriguez Kirsten Roller Eve Rowley Andrea Sands Hannah Schindler Brianna Shane Rebecca Short Cassie Sloan Morgan Stoltz Eva Thomson Hannah Thomson Josef Thomson Grace Tolson David Troyer Faith Vandermeir Kirsten Walker Pryce Whisenhunt Bailey Zook Directors Sharon Basinger Lehman, choral director Sue Nieman, accompanist |
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Northfield High School Treble Choir |
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Jenna Bartoo Allie Chaplin Maddy Dale Sierra Hobson Pfeiffer Xaviera Kaitlyn Prater Liddia Crace Javilyn Goshert |
Ali King Kelsy Reahard Kim Renfrow Taylor Renfrow Lizzy Rohn Director Mark Nevil |
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Northfield High School A Cappella Choir |
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Lexus Biehl Derrick Bone Matt Carey Hannah Cole Paige Cole Megan Corbran Sarah Driscoll Ali Dundas Jared Fawley Courtney Frank Allison Haupert Paige Holley Chase Hunt Abby Keaffaber Hannah Kinnett Clint Martin Allison Middaugh Jeremy Nevil |
Alex Peterson Polina Prater Katy Rickner Brody Ripplinger Johnny Ritchie Jessica Rose Kasey Rose Jessie Sears Baylee Shoemaker Morgan Sickafus Collen Tackett Kalanu Waston Dunn Tim Webb Mason Zolman Director Mark Nevil |
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![]() Mr. Belcher received a Grammy Award (for best opera recording) in 2011 for his role as Jaufré Rudel in Kaija Saariaho's opera L'Amour de Loin, conducted by Kent Nagano (CD on Harmonia Mundi label). Other recent performances include appearances at Carnegie Hall, Houston Grand Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, San Francisco Opera, New National Theater of Japan, Opera Ireland, St. Gallen Festspiele (Switzerland), New York City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Atelier, Garsington Festival, Arizona Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, and Opéra Montpelier, among others. Sought after frequently for his interpretations of Rossini roles, Mr. Belcher is also in demand to develop roles in new (or newly discovered) compositions. Most notable among his premiered roles are: Robert Keneedy in Robin De Raaff's Waiting for Miss Monroe (mentioned above), Securo in Luigi Cherubini's Koukourigi at Stadttheater Klagenfurt in Austria (recently released on DVD), John Brooke in Mark Adamo's Little Women at Houston Grand Opera (available on Naxos DVD), Baklashov in Tod Machover's Resurrection at Houston Grand Opera (CD on Albany label), Andy Warhol in Michael Daugherty's Jackie O at Houston Grand Opera (CD on London Decca label), and Prior Walter in Peter Eötvös' Angels in America at Théâtre de Châtalet, for which he received Le Cercle International des Amis et Mécenes du Chatalet Award. In the coming months, Mr. Belcher is scheduled to perform the role of Mercurio in Romeo et Juliette at Opera Colorado, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro at Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, and Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Central City Opera in Colorado. He is also scheduled to premiere a new chamber piece by Kaija Saariaho at Houston Grand Opera in February. ![]() ![]() While at IU, she studied with Metropolitan Opera baritone Timothy Noble and Distinguished Professor of Voice Scharmal Schrock. Ploss also participated in Opera Workshop under the direction of world-class soprano Carol Vaness and master classes with Nic Muni, James Marvel, and Virginia Zeani. Ms. Ploss is a native of Peru, Indiana, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Butler University along with her Masters in Music and Performance Diploma from IU. She recently became the newest Adjunct Voice Faculty member at Manchester University. |
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