Sunday, December 6th, 2015
Cordier Auditorium
Scott Humphries, Conductor
Winter Wonderland | Felix Bernard | |||
Concert Suite from The Polar Express | Alan Silvestri | |||
The Bells of Christmas | arr. Bob Krogstad | |||
Christmas Singalong | John Finnegan | |||
Sleigh Ride | Leroy Anderson | |||
With the Manchester Youth Strings | ||||
Cascade of Carols | Andrew H. Dabczynski | |||
Greensleeves | arr. Nicholas Hare | |||
Yuletide Season | John Moss | |||
Intermission | ||||
Excerpts from Messiah | George Frederic Handel | |||
with the Manchester Symphony Chorus, the Manchester University A Cappella Choir, and the Fairfield High School Chamber Singers Dr. Debra Lynn, conducting |
||||
I. Sinfonia |
||||
Soloists: Shelley Ploss, soprano Rebecca Dengler Kaufman, mezzo-soprano Benjamin Kambs, tenor Scott Avery, baritone |
||||
Semi-Chorus: Soprano I -- Kathy Fry-Miller, Kenzie Hare, Shannon Lee, Judy Myers-Walls Soprano II -- Beverly Eikenberry, Katherine Allen Haff, Emily Lynn, Bailey Short Alto -- Britney march, Mykayla Neilson, Laura Stone, Janina Traxler Tenor -- Angela Ebert, Ron Finney, Clayton Marcum, Paul Fry-Miller Bass -- Grant Ebert, Joshua Plank, Michael Rueff, Hamilton Sadler |
||||
The Adams Program Notes by James R. C. Adams |
||||
Winter Wonderland |
Felix Bernard (1897-1944) |
|||
Felix Bernard is one of those composers whose music is very well known, but whose name is not. He was born in New York and died in Los Angeles. In his own day, he was very successful, producing one-act musical comedies for vaudeville, and touring in the States and abroad. He had his own radio show, and he wrote songs for such notables as Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, and Sophie Tucker. His best-known song is Winter Wonderland, published in 1934, and is probably the only song most people can remember. The lyricist was Richard B. Smith. In case I am wrong about audiences not having heard of most of the other pieces Bernard wrote, here is a partial list: The Mailman's Got My Letter, Jane, You Opened My Eyes, I'd Rather Be Me, Cutest Kid in Town, Tomb Thumb and Tiny Teens, and The Whistlin' Cowboy. |
||||
The Bells of Christmas | arr. Bob Krogstad | |||
The distinctive and creative style of Bob Krogstad's arranging is apparent once again with this delightful and heartwarming holiday showcase for orchestra. With the clever weaving of several classic carols and holiday songs, this medley sparkles from beginning to end. Songs are: Carol of the Bells; Ding Dong Merrily on High; Jingle Bells; I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day; and Silver Bells. |
||||
Concert Suite from The Polar Express |
Alan Silvestri (b. 1950) |
|||
Alan Silvestri is a prolific composer of film scores, and surely all of you have heard his music. Among his film scores are Forest Gump, Back to the Future I, II, III, Cast Away, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Death Becomes Her, Contact, What Lies Beneath, Romancing the Stone, Cat's Eye, Fandango, The Abyss, Father of the Bride, The Bodyguard, Blown Away, Richie Rich, Judge Dredd, Contact, Stuart Little, The Mummy Returns, and, of course, The Polar Express. I could have gone on, but I'm low on ink. 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. |
||||
Sleigh Ride |
Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) |
|||
Leroy Anderson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1908, and died in Woodbury, Connecticut, in 1975. He studied composition at Harvard with George Enesco and Walter Piston. Anderson became very active in musical circles. He was chairman of the board of review of the American Society of Composers, and was a board member of the New Haven and Hartford symphony orchestras. He was a linguist, fluent in nine languages, but specializing in German and Scandinavian ones. He served with U.S. Intelligence in Iceland and in the United States during the Korean War in 1951. He was stationed at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina. While working there in Military Intelligence, he found time to write several of his most popular works, such as Blue Tango. 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. |
||||
Excerpts from Messiah |
George Frederic Handel (1685-1759) |
|||
George (or Georg) Frideric Handel (or Händel), that German-born British subject who wrote Italian music, was a bundle of contradictions. The varied spelling of his name reflects the mobility of artists and composers common to that period. Names were often spelled according to the practice of the country of residence. He spelled his name "Handel" on his petition for British citizenship. Handel had a complex personality. On the one hand, he was pious and sentimental to the point of crying over his own music when it dealt with the sufferings of the Lord. On the other hand, he had an uncontrollable temper which prompted associates to play practical jokes on him, sometimes resulting in violence. A prankster once untuned all the instruments just before a concert for the Prince of Wales, and Handel was so enraged that he picked up a kettle-drum and threw it at the concertmaster. He was persuaded to continue the concert only after the Prince made a personal plea. Handel had no patience with incompetence, but he did have a sense of humor. When a singer complaining about Handel's style of accompaniment threatened to jump on the harpsichord and smash it to pieces, Handel calmly replied that if the singer gave ample warning, he would publicize the event, because he was sure that more people would come to watch the singer jump on a harpsichord than to hear him sing. Handel was an almost exact contemporary of J.S. Bach, born in the same year and dying nine years later than Bach. They had similar backgrounds, came from the same part of Germany, were both devout Protestants, but they were temperamentally quite different. While Bach remained steadfastly middle class and spent his meager earnings on raising a large family, Handel was a cosmopolitan who traveled widely, made and lost fortunes, and mingled with the aristocracy and the intellectual elite. He was overwhelmed by Italy, where he spent much time. His Italianate operas were very successful, and brought him great fame in England soon after he arrived there. In the span of less than forty years, he wrote forty-six operas, all in Italian style. When the public's interest in Italian opera began to wane, Handel began to work more in the oratorio form. His "second career" made him even more famous, and today he is known mostly for his oratorios, of which his Messiah is the most performed. |
||||
Manchester Symphony Orchestra Personnel |
||||
Violin I Elizabeth Smith, Concertmaster Kayla Michaels +^ Thomas Dean, Student concertmaster +^ Rachel Felver Ilona Orban Linda Kummernuss Violin II Joyce Dubach * Wendy Kleintank Paula Merriman Alexandria Roskos +^ Tiffany Hanna + Abby McVay + Viola Julie Sadler * Carrie Shank +^ Margaret Sklenar Renée Neher +^ Olivia Jenks +^ Courtney Yount + Cello Robert Lynn * Michael Rueff +^ Chris Minning Bass Darrel Fiene * Katie Huddleston +^ Piccolo/Flute Kathy Davis * Kathy Urbani Alyssa Rocheck +^ Oboe George Donner * Nyssa Tierney |
Clarinet Lila D. Hammer * Mark W. Huntington Angela Ebert +^ Bassoon Erich Zummack * Freddie Lapierre +^ Horn Christen Adler * John Morse Laura Dickey +^ Trumpet Steven Hammer * Mykayla Neilson +^ Grant Ebert +^ Trombone Jon Hartman * Chris Hartman +^ Larry Dockter Tuba Nathan Crain +^ Timpani Dave Robbins * Percussion Dave Robbins * Mackenzi Lowry +^ Kevin Friermood +^ Lawrence Neumann + Piano/Organ Alan Chambers * Denotes principal + Denotes MU student ^ Denotes Keister Scholarship recipient ** Denotes assistant principal |
|||
Messiah Chorus Members |
||||
Sopranos FHS -- Sheryl Bandenberger ACC -- Hilary Cripe MSC -- Evie Daggett FHS -- Leah Dickerson MSC -- Beverly Eikenberry MSC -- Kathy Fry-Miller ACC -- Kenzie Hare MSC -- Karen Hartman ACC -- Shannon Lee MSC -- Barb Lochner FHS -- Mya Lorenz MHS -- Emily Lynn FHS -- Katie Meyer-Reed FHS -- Emily Miller FHS -- Danielle Miller MSC -- Judy Myers-Walls ACC -- Addison Neher ACC -- Emma Nickel FHS -- Maddison Read FHS -- Kali Reese FHS -- Samantha Shank ACC -- Bailey Short FHS -- Johnna Slabaugh MSC -- Linda Snapp MSC -- Tamara Sriver FHS -- Jenna Stephens ACC -- Kandace Terry MSC -- Sabine Thomas FHS -- Danielle Tuffle FHS -- Kylee Zollinger Tenors ACC -- Lucas Al-Zoughbi FHS -- Quinton Camino FHS -- Deron Corbin FHS -- Jediah Corbin ACC -- Angela Ebert MSC -- Ron Finney ACC -- Nolan McBride ACC -- Clayton Marcum MSC -- Paul Fry-Miller FHS -- Tim Hostetler FHS -- Dylan Kaufman FHS -- Jackson Landes FHS -- Jacob Meyer-Reed FHS -- Lucas Miller FHS -- Zach Munn FHS -- Spencer Roose FHS -- Josh Troxel ACC -- Donnie Watkins ACC -- Jeremy Williams ACC -- Michael Yanez FHS -- Alex Yoder FHS -- Chandler Yoder |
Altos ACC -- Katie Bowerman FHS -- Cheyene Emmons MSC -- Sandy Funk ACC -- Hannah Glenn MSC -- Katherine Haff FHS -- JoAna Hershberger FHS -- Delaney Hochstedler FHS -- Sidney Hochstedler MSC -- Pat Hoover FHS -- Calyn Howell FHS -- Hannelore Jones ACC -- Hailee Kimbrell ACC -- MacKenzi Lowry ACC -- MacKenzie McDonal ACC -- Britney March FHS -- Maddie Maurer FHS -- Lindsey Miller FHS -- Samanta Moreno MHS -- Lauren Myers ACC -- Haley Neilson ACC -- Mykayla Neilson MHS -- Lindsay Rice MSC -- Lisa Rice ACC -- Katie Peden FHS -- Winnifred Sceniak MSC -- RaeAnne Schoeffler MSC -- Joy Stiffler MSC -- Laura Stone FHS -- Morgenne Stutzman MSC -- Janina Traxler ACC -- Larissa Valdez FHS -- Anjelica Wampler FHS -- Kenney Watson Haynes FHS -- Jenna Zollinger Basses ACC -- Jacob Archambault FHS -- Andy Beer ACC -- Joshua Dold ACC -- Grant Ebert FHS -- Wynton Edwards ACC -- Kevin Friermood FHS -- Brant Gingerich FHS -- Brock Goeglein ACC -- Matthew Grothouse MSC -- Gabe Hoagland FHS -- Nate Holderman FHS -- Kyle Johns FHS -- Ethan Miller FHS -- Isaac Miller ACC -- Erik Nakajima ACC -- Caleb Noffsinger FHS -- Jared O'Brien FHS -- Alex Ortiz ACC -- Josh Plank ACC -- Michael Rueff MSC -- Hamilton Sadler FHS -- Aaron Skibbe FHS -- Kyle Stingel |
|||
ACC = Manchester University A Cappella Choir
Debra Lynn, director FHS = Fairfield High School Choir
Benjamin Kambs, director MHS = Manchester Junior-Senior High School Choir Marily Sexton Mason, director & pianist MSC = Manchester Symphony Chorus
Debra Lynn, director WHS = Wabash High School Choir
Susan Keefer, director |
||||
Manchester Youth Strings |
||||
Violins Emily Lynn Wendy Kleintank Pryce Whisenhunt Joy Chen Shirley Chen Jane Gayed Christian Papillon Mimi Papillon Cello Stephen Carnes |
||||
![]() 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 has been a Young Artist with La Musica Lirica, the Charley Creek Vocal Workshop, Opera Maya, and recently was a member of the Marcello Giordani Young Artist Program and the Crested Butte Music Festival. She is currently studying with Lynn Baker and Claudia Waite. 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. |
||||
![]() Currently, Rebecca is a professor at Goshen College as well as teaching voice to students at both Goshen High School and Fairfield Jr/Sr High School. She performs regularly with the Saint Joseph Valley Camerata as well as finding opportunities to serve as soloist in the Michiana area in the midst of raising her three beautiful children. |
||||
![]() His advanced high school chorus is a four-time state finalist in the ISSMA Concert Choir competition, placing as high as 4th in 2015. In March of 2012, Kambs' Jr. High Chorus performed at the regional convention of the American Chorus at the Indiana Music Educators Association Convention, and he now serves as the Indiana Choral Directors Association Repertoire and Standards Chair for High Schools. Ben currently resides in Constantine, Michigan, with his wife, Breana. |
||||
![]() As soloist, Mr. Avery has performed with the Marquette Choral Society, the Bay De Noc Choral Society, and the Muncie Symphony Orchestra. He was baritone soloist for The Seven Last Words of Christ (Dubois) for Warsaw Community Choir, and bass soloist for a Symphony of the Lakes presentation of Handel's Messiah. He served as co-director of the Warsaw Community Choir for three years which included a much-acclaimed performance of Handel's Messiah presented jointly by the Grace Festival Chorus and Orchestra and the Warsaw Community Choir in 2003. He also directed the Indiana Ambassadors of Music Concert Choir on three European tours. As clinician, Mr. Avery has directed Circle the State in Song as well as festivals and non-competitive events. He has also served as President of Indian Choral Directors Association, a six-year commitment. In addition to classical music endeavors, Mr. Avery has performed in numerous musical theatre and operetta productions. He directs the Ginn Handbells and the Sanctuary Choir of First United Methodist Church of Warsaw. |
||||