handel society of dartmouth college

presents
HANDEL SOCIETY OF
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
Robert Duff artistic director and conductor
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
MATTHÄUS-PASSION, BWV 244
Derek Chester tenor (Evangelist)
James Harrington bass-baritone (Jesus)
Brenna Wells soprano
Reginald Mobley countertenor
Dann Coakwell tenor
Douglas Williams bass-baritone
The Handel Society Children’s Chorus, Becky Luce conductor
These performances are made possible in part by generous support from the Choral Arts Foundation
of the Upper Valley (choralartsuv.org), the Gordon Russell 1955 Fund, the Glick Family Student
Ensemble Fund and Friends of the Handel Society.
Saturday, May 18 | 7 pm
Sunday, May 19 | 2 pm
2013 | Spaulding Auditorium | Dartmouth College
PROGRAM
Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244 (St. Matthew Passion)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
The program will be supertitled.
Limited printed copies of the text and translation for the visually impaired are available from the ushers.
Please hold your applause until the end of Part II.
PART I
Chorus: Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen / Come, daughters, help me lament
The Conspiracy Against Jesus (Matthew 26: 1-13)
Evangelist, Jesus: Da Jesus diese Rede vollendet hatte / Jesus had now finished all he wanted to say
Chorale: Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen / Heart’s beloved Jesus, how have You transgressed
Evangelist: Da versammleten sich die Hohenpriester / Then the chief priests and the elders assembled
Chorus: Ja nicht auf das Fest / It must not be during the festivities
The Anointing at Bethany
Evangelist: Da nun Jesus war zu Bethanien / Jesus was at Bethany
Chorus: Wozu dienet dieser Unrat / Why this waste?
Evangelist, Jesus: Da das Jesus merkete / But Jesus noticed this
Recitative (Alto): Du lieber Heiland du / O You dear Savior
Aria (Alto): Buß und Reu / Repentance and regret
Judas betrays Jesus (Matthew 26: 14-16)
Evangelist, Judas: Da ging hin der Zwölfen einer / Then one of the Twelve
Aria (Soprano): Blute nur, du liebes Herz / Bleed out, you loving heart
The Last Supper (Matthew 26: 17-29)
Evangelist: Aber am ersten Tage der süßen Brot / Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread
Chorus: Wo willst du, daß wir dir bereiten / Where do you want us to eat
Evangelist, Jesus: Er sprach: Gehet hin in die Stadt / He said: Go into the city
Evangelist: Und sie wurden sehr betrübt / They were greatly distressed
Chorus: Herr, bin ichs / Not me, Lord
Chorale: Ich bins, ich sollte büßen / It is I, I should atone
Evangelist, Jesus: Er antwortete und sprach / He answered and said
Recitative (Soprano): Wiewohl mein Herz in Tränen schwimmt / Although my heart is swimming in tears
Aria (Soprano): Ich will dir mein Herze schenken / I will give You my heart
The Mount of Olives and Peter’s Denial (Matthew 26: 30-35)
Evangelist, Jesus: Und da sie den Lobgesang gesprochen hatten / After the psalms had been sung
Chorale: Erkenne mich, mein Hüter / Acknowledge me, my Guardian
Evangelist, Jesus, Peter: Petrus aber antwortete und sprach zu ihm/ At this, Peter said to him,
Chorale: Ich will hier bei dir stehen / I will stay here with you
Gethsemane (Matthew 26: 36-42)
Evangelist, Jesus: Da kam Jesus mit ihnen zu einem Hofe / Then Jesus came with them to a plot of land
Recitative (Tenor): O Schmerz! hier zittert das gequälte Herz / O pain! Here the tormented heart trembles
Aria (Tenor): Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachen / I will watch with my Jesus
Evangelist, Jesus: Und ging hin ein wenig / And going on a little further
Recitative (Bass): Der Heiland fällt vor seinem Vater nieder/ The Savior falls down before His father
PROGRAM CONTINUED
Aria (Bass): Gerne will ich mich bequemem / Gladly will I force myself
Evangelist: Und er kam zu seinen Jüngern / He came back to the disciples
Chorale: Was mein Gott will, das gscheh allzeit / What my God wills always occurs
The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus (Matthew 26: 43-56)
Evangelist, Jesus, Judas: Und er kam und fand sie aber schlafend / And He came back again and found them sleeping
Aria (Soprano, Alto): So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen / Thus my Jesus is now captured
Chorus: Sind Blitze, sind Donner / Are lightning and thunder
Evangelist, Jesus: Und siehe, einer aus denen / And suddenly, one of the followers
Chorale: O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß / O mankind, mourn your great sins
• INTERMISSION •
PART II
Aria (Alto): Ach, nun ist mein Jesus hin / Alas, now my Jesus is gone
Jesus before the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26: 57-68)
Evangelist: Die aber Jesum gegriffen hatten / The men who had arrested Jesus led him off
Chorale: Mir hat die Welt trüglich gericht’ / The world has judged me deceitfully
Evangelist, High Priest I, Witness I, II: Und wiewohl viel fasche Zeugen herzutraten / But they could not find any
Recitative (Tenor): Mein Jesus schweigt zu falschen Lügen stille / My Jesus is silent at false lies
Aria (Tenor): Geduld / Patience
Evangelist, High Priest I, Jesus: Und der Hohepriester antwortete und sprach zu ihm / And the high priest said to him
Chorus: Er ist des Todes schuldig / He deserves to die
Evangelist: Da speieten sie aus / Then they spat in his face
Chorus: Weissage uns, Christe / Prophesy to us, Christ
Chorale: Wer hat dich so geschlagen / Who has struck you thus
Peter’s Denial (Matthew 26: 69-75)
Evangelist, Maidservant I, II, Peter: Petrus aber saß draußen im Palast / Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside
Chorus: Wahrlich, du bist auch einer von denen / You are certainly one of them too
Evangelist, Peter: Da hub er an, sich zu verfluchen / Then he started cursing and swearing
Aria (Alto): Erbarme dich / Have mercy, my God
Chorale: Bin ich gleich von dir gewichen / Although I have been separated from You
Judas’s Repentance (Matthew 27: 1-10)
Evangelist, Judas: Des Morgens aber hielten alle Hohepriester / When morning came, all the chief priests
Chorus: Was gehet uns das an / What is that to us
Evangelist, High Priest I, II: Und er warf die Silberlinge / And flinging down the silver pieces
Aria (Bass): Gebt mir meinem Jesum wider / Give me my Jesus back
Evangelist, Pilate, Jesus: Sie hielten aber einem Rat / So they discussed the matter
The Trial Before Pilate (Matthew 27: 11-26)
Chorale: Befiel du deine Wege / Commit your path
Evangelist, Pilate, Pilate’s Wife, Chorus: Auf das Fest / At festival time
Chorus: Laß ihn kreuzigen / Let him be crucified
Chorale: Wie wunderbarlich ist doch diese Strafe / How strange is this punishment
Evangelist, Pilate: Der Landpfleger sagte / He asked
PROGRAM CONTINUED
Recitative (Soprano): Er hat uns allen wohlgetan / He has done good things for all of us
Aria (Soprano): Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben / Out of love my Savior wants to die
Evangelist: Sie schrieen aber noch mehr / But they shouted all the louder
Chorus: Laß ihn kreuzigen / Let him be crucified
Evangelist, Pilate: Der aber Pilatus sahe / Then Pilate saw
Chorus: Sein Blut komme über uns / Let his blood be on us
Evangelist: Da gab er ihnen Barrabam los / Then he released Barrabas for them
Recitative (Alto): Erbarm es Gott / Forgive this, God
Aria (Alto): Können Tränen meiner Wangen / If the tears on my cheeks can do nothing
Jesus is crowned with thorns
Evangelist: Da nahmen die Kriegsknechte / Then the governor’s soldiers
Chorus: Gegrüßet seist du, Jüdenkönig / Hail, king of the Jews
Evangelist: Und speieten ihn an / And they spat on him
Chorale: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden / O Head, full of blood and wounds
Evangelist: Und da sie ihn verspottet hatten / And when they had finished making fun of him
Recitative (Bass): Ja freilich will in uns das Fleisch und Blut / Yes, willingly are flesh and blood
Aria(Bass): Komm süßes Kreuz / Come, sweet Cross
The Crucifixion (Matthew 27: 33-50)
Evangelist: Und da sie an die Stätte kamen / When they had reached a place
Chorus: Der du den Tempel Gottes zerbrichst / So you would destroy the Temple
Evangelist: Desgleichen auch die Hohenpriester / The chief priests with the scribes and elders
Chorus: Andern hat er geholfen / He saved others
Evangelist: Desgleichen schmäheten ihn auch die Mörder / Even the bandits who were crucified with him
Recitative (Alto): Ach Golgatha / Alas, Golgatha
Aria (Alto): Sehet, Jesus hat die Hand / Look, Jesus has stretched out His hands
The Death of Jesus
Evangelist, Jesus: Und von der sechsten Stunde an / From the sixth hour
Chorus: Der rufet dem Elias / The man is calling on Elijah
Evangelist: Und bald lief einer unter ihnen / And one of them quickly ran
Chorus: Halt! laß sehen / Wait! And see
Evangelist: Aber Jesus schriee abermal / But Jesus, again crying out
Chorale: Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden / When I must depart one day
The Earthquake (Matthew: 51-56)
Evangelist: Und siehe da, der Vorhang im Tempel zerriß / And suddenly, the veil of the Sanctuary was torn in two
Chorus: Wahrlich, dieser ist Gottes Sohn gewesen / In truth this man was the son of God
Evangelist: Und es waren viel Weiber da / And many women were there
Recitative (Bass): Am Abend, da es kühle war / In the evening, when it was cool
Aria (Bass): Mache dich, mein Herze, rein / Make yourself pure, my heart
The Burial (Matthew 27: 57-66)
Evangelist: Und Joseph nahm den Leib / So Joseph took the body
Chorus: Herr, wir haben gedacht / Your Excellency, we recall that this imposter said
Evangelist, Pilate: Pilatus sprach zu ihnen / Pilate said to them
Recitative (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass): Nun ist der Herr zur Ruh gebracht / Now the Lord is brought to rest
Chorus: Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder / We sit down with tears
PROGRAM NOTES
Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Bach spent the last twenty-six years of his life in
Leipzig, where he was in charge of the music at
the two principal churches, St. Thomas and St.
Nicholas. One of largest single services for which he
provided music was the afternoon of Good Friday,
when he offered a very large piece replaying the
events of Jesus’ Crucifixion. Ending as dark fell in
the late afternoon, worshippers were left to pass
Saturday in contemplation and to return on
Sunday for the glorious outburst of joy that would
open the Easter service. (The word “Passion” in
this context derives from the Latin patior, “to
suffer,” since it retells the Gospel accounts of
Jesus’ suffering from the moment of his arrest in
the Garden of Gethsemane to his death on
the cross.) Everything about the St. Matthew
Passion bespeaks Bach’s profound theological
understanding and his ability to convert both
abstract and concrete ideas into astonishing music.
The basis of the Passion is Matthew’s narrative of
the relevant events, chapters 26-27 of the Gospel.
Bach sets these two chapters to music in their
entirety, in a quasi-dramatic way. A tenor, the
Evangelist, sings the narrative passages, as if he is
recounting the story to the congregation. Direct
quotations in the text are sung by various singers
as if they were part of an opera (though without
costumes or acting). The narration is divided into
short “scenes,” each of which is followed by
musical commentary.
Bach enriches and extends the narrative framework with two specific kinds of text and music. He
draws from the poetic work of C. F. Henrici (whose
pen name was Picander) a series of recitatives and
arias that offer the personal emotional response of
individual singers to the events being narrated to
them. And usually, after such a personal response
from a soloist, the choir sings a chorale, one of the
hymns that formed the communal part of the
Lutheran service and that would have been
immediately familiar to every member of the
congregation.
From all the diverse elements—dramatic
recitative, expressive arioso, reflective aria, chorus
and chorale—Bach constructed the score as a
mosaic of different textures and sonorities. The
thread that runs throughout is the Gospel story,
broken up into individual “scenes” and related
in light, rapid recitative. Bach paid careful
attention to the declamation of words and provided
imaginative—even daring—harmonic underpinning
to shade the sense of each phrase, each significant
word. The scenes in recitative are the heart of the
Passion, a direct link to the manner in which the
tale has been reenacted liturgically for centuries.
The music that follows (accompanied recitative
and aria for a solo voice) is the personal reaction of
the individual Christian; and the scene usually ends
with a chorale representing all of Christendom.
The links of one element to another can be very
powerful. For example, when Jesus tells the
disciples, ”One of you will betray me,” they begin
to ask urgently, “Lord, is it I?” This comes to a
sudden brief silence, then all of Christendom,
represented by a simple chorale, replies, “It is I that
should atone…it was my soul that deserved it.”
Thus, at every point, Bach brings home to the
listener, with intense conviction and dramatic
power, the theological significance of the dramatic
scene.
One special feature of the recitative in the St.
Matthew Passion was taken by Bach from a
tradition that goes back at least as far as Heinrich
Schütz a century earlier: the words of Jesus,
unlike all the other dialogue in the story, are
accompanied by the strings. In the nineteenth
century this device came to be called a “halo.” It
appears throughout the work, every time Jesus
sings, except in his last utterance, “Eli, eli lama
sabachthani,” at the moment of his death. This one
PROGRAM NOTES CONTINUED
purposeful omission of the string accompaniment
generates a powerful sense of mortality.
In addition to the framework provided by the
Biblical story, Bach opens and closes each part
with a large musical set piece to anchor the action.
The very opening is one of the most brilliantly
conceived passages in all of music. It begins
dramatically in the middle of the story, imaginatively
depicting the slow and painful procession in which
Jesus carries his cross to Calvary, the place of
execution. The orchestra plays a dragging, halting
march that seems at first to be rooted to its
somber E minor. The choruses represent the
crowds in the street calling to one another to come
and witness the sight. Precisely at the moment
when the choirs sing “Behold him!—How?—Like a
lamb,” Bach adds on top of everything the chorale
melody O Lamm Gottes unschuldig (O innocent
Lamb of God) sung by the children’s choir.
This immense opening chorus is both a dramatic
sample of events to come and a commentary on
those events. If there were no text at all, it would
be called a chorale prelude, one of many examples
(usually for organ) in which Bach interprets the
significance of a chorale melody with an elaborate
musical setting. Thus the opening chorus suggests
by its size the immense scope of the work to follow
while at the same time giving a taste of its
expressive power and offering a theological
interpretation, all the while working into the story a
particularly striking dramatic element—the
procession to Calvary—that is treated only very
briefly in Matthew’s telling. Has any work’s opening
movement ever served more simultaneous
functions with such expressive and technical
success?
Part II recounts, in vivid detail, the interrogation,
the scourging and the execution of Jesus. It begins
with an aria of lament. A soloist, standing halfway
between a character in the Biblical account and
the congregation in Bach’s church, laments the
betrayal of Jesus which she has just witnessed.
This music could be the emotional highpoint of any
Baroque opera, an expression of the most serious
loss, except that the words would be
unsuitable and no opera composer of Bach’s day
would have had the daring to combine the
aria with the chorus’s sympathetic, supportive
response. Nor would an opera composer have
ended the aria with such dramatic power—in the
wrong key, dying away on the dominant, as if the
soloist had no strength left.
As in Part I, each fragment of the story is
interpreted at once for the audience. When Pilate
asks, “What evil has he done you?” the tenor
immediately responds in an arioso “He has done
good to us all,” and then continues with the aria,
“For love will my savior die.”
Finally, after the body of Jesus has been given over
to Joseph of Arimathea for burial and Pilate has
posted his guard at the tomb, the chorus ends
the Passion with one more set piece, a gentle
and subdued final chorus, a lullaby closing with
the words “gently rest.” This consoling music,
suggesting only a going to sleep, is for Bach and his
congregation the suitable conclusion to the horrors
of the Crucifixion. They know that Good Friday,
which ends in darkness and despair for the
disciples, will be followed by Easter morning. The
catharsis of grief that has been expressed here will
be changed to great joy; in the meantime they
must ponder on the message of the powerful
drama they have witnessed on this Friday afternoon.
© Steven Ledbetter
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Robert Duff conductor is the artistic director
of the Handel Society of Dartmouth College, and
teaches courses in music theory and musicianship
in the Music Department. Before coming to
Dartmouth in 2004, Dr. Duff served on the
faculties of Pomona College, Claremont Graduate
University, and Mount St. Mary’s College, and as
the Director of Music for the Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Los Angeles, where he directed
the music programs for nearly 300 parishes. He
holds degrees in conducting, piano and voice
from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst,
Temple University, and the University of Southern
California, where he earned a doctorate of
musical arts in 2000.
An active commissioner of new music, Dr. Duff has
given several world premieres of works for both
orchestral and choral forces. He was appointed by
Governor John Lynch as Councilor to the New
Hampshire Council on the Arts, and is currently
President of the Eastern Division of the American
Choral Directors Association.
Derek Chester tenor (Evangelist) has been
praised by the Miami Herald for his effortless
coloratura and firm, secure voice, and is steadily
making a name for himself in the world of classical
singing. Mr. Chester received his Bachelor’s
degree in Vocal Performance from the University
of Georgia as a student of Gregory Broughton. As
a student of renowned American tenor James
Taylor, he completed his Master’s Degree in Vocal
Performance of Oratorio, Early Music, Song and
Chamber Music in 2006 with a full scholarship
from the Yale School of Music and Institute of
Sacred Music. As a Fulbright Scholar, he spent a
year in Germany working as a freelance musician
and furthering his training as a student of
acclaimed German tenor Christoph Prégardien. In
Germany, he is a member of the Gächinger
Kantorei and has recently been heard as soloist in
Bach Cantatas 22 and 23 with the Bach Collegium
Stuttgart. He also has appeared as soloist at the
2006 and 2008 Oregon Bach Festivals under
Helmuth Rilling, as Evangelist in Bach’s St. John
Passion during Bach Woche 2007 in Stuttgart and
also at the 2007 Toronto Bach Festival under
Helmuth Rilling. He is a featured soloist with the
American Bach Soloists under Jeffrey Thomas,
and is on the roster of Miami’s Seraphic Fire
under Patrick Dupre Quigley. Mr. Chester’s 2006
recording as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John
Passion (1725 version, ReZound) under the baton
of Simon Carrington has received many accolades,
including rave reviews from Early Music and Choir
and Organ Magazine. He is in high demand as
an oratorio soloist with recent concert credits
including Bach’s Mass in B minor (American Bach
Soloists) and St. Matthew Passion (Evangelist,
Richmond Symphony), Septimius in Handel’s
Theodora (Bach Collegium San Diego), and
Mendelssohn’s Symphony #2: Lobgesang (Buffalo
Philharmonic). Acclaimed as a versatile tenor, Mr.
Chester has also excelled in the performance of
opera and musical theater. Theater and opera
credits include Nemorino in The Elixir of Love and
Simon Stimson in Our Town with the University of
North Texas Opera Theatre, Damon in Acis and
Galatea at the Staunton Music Festival, Abel/
Japheth in Children of Eden with New Works New
Haven, Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Le Nozze di
Figaro with Athena Grand Opera, Grosvenor in
Patience and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with the
University of Georgia Opera Theatre. Mr. Chester
is currently working on his doctorate in Opera and
Early Music, studying under Jennifer Lane at the
University of North Texas, where he is a doctoral
fellow, a teaching fellow, and works as a freelance
singer across North America and Europe.
James
Harrington
bass-baritone (Jesus)
debuted this past summer with Opera New
Jersey, and was called “alluring” by The
Philadelphia Inquirer. In the spring of 2013,
he sang the roles of Edison, Morgan and
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
CONTINUED
Westinghouse in the workshop of the new opera
Tesla in New York by composer Phil Kline,
produced by American Opera Projects. Back
home in Nashville, he was featured in the In
Excelsis Concert Series at St. George’s Episcopal
Church in a January recital of aria and art song. He
began 2012 with a debut with the Grammywinning Nashville Symphony as soloist in the
Duruflé Requiem, then debuted at Opera New
Jersey as Dick Deadeye in H.M.S. Pinafore. Later
that year, he joined Sarasota Opera as an
Apprentice Artist, where he covered the role of
Morpheus in the world premiere of Little Nemo in
Slumberland, by Daron Aric Hagen. He finished
the year with a company debut at Opera Naples
as the Jailer in Tosca. Harrington has previously
appeared as the Marquis in La Traviata and
Fouquier Tinville in Andrea Chenier at Nashville
Opera. He is a graduate of Berklee College of
Music in Boston, and a student of Thomas
Studebaker. In addition to his operatic pursuits, he
is an active vocal arranger and clinician, and has
extensive experience as a performer of jazz and
pop idioms.
Breena Wells soprano, with a voice described as
“fresh,” “ethereal,” “captivating” and “elegant,”
is garnering attention for her varied performances.
Her recent operatic roles include La Poésie and La
Paix in Les Arts Florissants, Galatea in Acis and
Galatea, Venus in L’Europe Galante, Sandman in
Hansel and Gretel, Anna II in The Seven Deadly
Sins, and Première Nymphe de l’Acheron in the
Boston Early Music Festival’s production and
Grammy-nominated recording of Lully’s Psyché. In
2005 she made her Carnegie Weill Hall Debut as a
winner of the International Chamber Music
Ensemble Competition, and returned to Carnegie
Hall under the baton of Ton Koopman as a Young
Artist. Ms. Wells has sung and recorded with such
acclaimed ensembles as the BEMF Orchestra,
Blue Heron, Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra,
Boston Baroque, Opera Boston, L’Académie, and
The Handel and Haydn Society. She has appeared
in many festivals and programs worldwide,
including the London Handel Festival, Aldeburgh
Festival, Amherst Early Music Festival, BBC Proms;
and in both 2008 and 2009, she was selected to
perform in the Early Music Seminars at the
Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, Italy. She is
featured on two new BEMF recordings, MarcAntoine Charpentier’s Acteon and John Blow's
Venus and Adonis, as well as the critically acclaimed
Blue Heron Renaissance Choir recording, Music
From the Peterhouse Partbooks, Vol 1.
Highlights from recent seasons include her
soloist debut at Symphony Hall under the
direction of Harry Christophers, appearances as
the First Witch in the BEMF Chamber Opera
production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas,
performances as the soprano soloist in Bach’s
Christmas Oratorio with the Harvard-Radcliffe
Chorus, and singing La Musique in Charpentier’s
Les Plaisirs de Versailles with the L’Académie
ensemble. She performed in the Yale Choral
Artists’ inaugural season, under the direction of
William Christie and joined the Austin-based
Ensemble VIII for performances including the
Couperin Leçons de Ténèbres. This season
includes solo appearances with L'Académie,
Exsultemus, Ensemble VIII, The Handel and
Haydn Society, Emmanuel Music, and Musica
Sacra, as well as soloist debuts with Boston
Baroque, Yale Choral Artists,and Boston Cecilia.
Miss Wells also returns as a Connecticut Early
Music Festival 2013 Vocal Ensemble member in
their program of Music in the Age of Caravaggio.
Reginald Mobley countertenor fully intended to
speak his art through watercolors and oil pastels
until circumstance demanded that his own voice
should speak for itself. Since reducing his visual
color palette to the black and white of a score, he
has endeavored to open a wider spectrum
onstage. Particularly noted for his “crystalline
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
CONTINUED
diction and pure, evenly produced tone” (Miami
Herald), as well as “elaborate and inventive
ornamentation” (South Florida Classical Review),
Reggie is rapidly making a name for himself as
soloist in Baroque, Classical and modern
repertoire. His natural and preferred habitat as a
soloist is within the works of Bach, Charpentier,
Handel and Purcell, as well as other known
Baroque Period mainstays. Not to be undone
by a strict diet of cantatas, odes and oratorios,
Reggie finds himself equally comfortable in
repertory of later periods and genres, including
Haydn’s Theresienmesse, Mozart’s Requiem,
Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Orff’s Carmina
Burana. He has also performed the title role of
Paris in the Florida premiere of John Eccles’
Judgment of Paris, under the direction of
Anthony Rooley and Evelyn Tubb.
A longtime member of the twice Grammynominated Miami-based professional vocal
ensemble Seraphic Fire, Reggie also has had the
privilege to lend his talents to other ensembles in
the US and abroad, including Apollo’s Fire, Vox
Early Music, Portland Baroque Orchestra,
Central Florida Symphony, North Carolina
Baroque Ensemble, Firebird Arts Alliance,
Ensemble VIII, San Antonio Symphony, Symphony
Nova Scotia under direction of Alexander
Weimann, and the Oregon Bach Festival under
the direction of Matthew Halls. Not long after
becoming a countertenor, he was engaged in
several musical theater productions as a principal
or secondary role. Most notable among them was
the titular role in Rupert Holmes’ Mystery of Edwin
Drood, and Jacey Squires in Meredith Willson’s
The Music Man. In addition to his work in musical
theater, he performed many cabaret shows and
sets of jazz standards and torch songs in jazz
clubs in and around Tokyo, Japan. Reggie
studied voice at the University of Florida with
Jean Ronald LaFond, and Florida State University
with Roy Delp.
Dann Coakwell tenor is sought after as a performer
of Bach, Handel and their contemporaries,
specializing in J.S. Bach’s Evangelist roles.
Additionally versed in the repertoire of Benjamin
Britten and other composers within the last century,
he also actively seeks out opportunities to
collaborate with modern composers and perform
new music. At Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in New
York, Coakwell has appeared as a soloist in
Handel’s Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline
directed by William Christie, Britten’s Serenade for
Tenor, Horn, and Strings with horn player William
Purvis, and as the lead role of Andrey in the world
premiere of Prokofiev’s newly discovered and
reconstructed opera act, Dalyekie Morya (Distant
Seas), directed by Boris Berman. Internationally, he
has performed the role of Evangelist in J.S. Bach’s
St. Matthew Passion on tour in Italy under Masaaki
Suzuki, and he has served as soloist under Helmuth
Rilling in Germany for a series of J.S. Bach’s
cantatas. Under Helmuth Rilling and Matthew
Halls at the Oregon Bach Festival, Coakwell has
appeared numerous times as a soloist, where he
has shared the stage with such internationally
acclaimed singers as Thomas Quasthoff and
James R. Taylor. With Grammy Award-nominated
Conspirare, under Craig Hella Johnson, Coakwell
has performed as a featured soloist in major works
such as Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio
and Mass in B minor, and upcoming in Beethoven’s
Missa Solemnis, for the ensemble’s 2013 twentiethanniversary celebration concert. He can be heard
as a soloist on the Harmonia Mundi record label in
the 2009 Grammy-nominated album, Conspirare:
A Company of Voices, and upcoming in 2014 on
The Sacred Spirit of Russia (working title). World
premieres in 2012 included the role of Ted Deakin
in Paul Crabtree’s new chamber opera, The Ghost
Train, in North Carolina, and The Illuminator in
David Evan Thomas’ new oratorio, The First
Apostle, in Houston.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
CONTINUED
Other recent and upcoming highlights include
appearances with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
in the San Francisco Bay area, where Coakwell
performed Handel’s Alexander’s Feast under
Nicholas McGegan in April 2012, and then
returned under Masaaki Suzuki in December 2012
for Handel’s Messiah, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, and
Cantata BWV 63, Christen, ätzet diesen Tag. As
Bach Evangelist in 2013, he performs St. Matthew
Passion with the Colorado Bach Ensemble and
Christmas Oratorio (including arias) under Julian
Wachner at Trinity Wall Street Church in New York.
In 2014, he will perform as Evangelist in St. John
Passion under Craig Hella Johnson in Victoria
and San Marcos, TX. As Bach aria soloist, Coakwell
performed St. Matthew Passion under Helmuth
Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival in 2012
alongside rising star Nicholas Phan as Evangelist;
in 2013, he reprises the same role with
world-renowned
English-German
Evangelist
Rufus Müller under John Scott at Saint Thomas
Church Fifth Avenue; and he performs St. John
Passion with Voices of Ascension in New York.
Additionally, after having concluded 2012 with
performances of Britten’s Serenade for Tenor,
Horn, and Strings in New Haven and Norfolk, CT,
Coakwell rang in 2013, the 100th anniversary of
Benjamin Britten’s birth year, with a performance
of Britten’s Canticle III: Still Falls the Rain in Houston.
Douglas Williams bass-baritone, in addition to a
well established international career in concert
music, is increasingly recognized for his acting
talents on the opera stage. In this regard the The
New York Times noted his “superb sense of drama,”
and the Seattle Times observed his “formidable
stage presence.” In June 2012 he made his
European opera debut in Alessandro Scarlatti’s
Tigrane at the Opéra de Nice. Born in Connecticut,
Williams studied singing, piano, trombone, dance
and theater from an early age. He then studied
music at New England Conservatory and Yale
University. In 2009, Mr. Williams made his debut
with the Houston Symphony in Handel’s Messiah.
The same season he made his European concert
debut at the Paris Salle Pleyel in Purcell’s King
Arthur conducted by Christophe Rousset with Les
Talens Lyriques and sang under the musical
direction of Stephen Stubbs in Monteverdi’s Il
Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria in a celebrated production
directed by William Kentridge with the Handspring
Puppet Company of South Africa. He has also
appeared in other prestigious halls, such as Lincoln
Center, Kennedy Center, the Tanglewood Festival,
the Washington National Cathedral, the Frankfurt’s
Countertenore Oper and Stuttgart’s Mozart-Saal.
Williams has sung Bach under the direction of
John Nelson, Bruno Weil, David Hoose, and Helmut
Rilling, Sir David Wilcocks with Mozart and Haydn
with Sir Neville Marriner, Mahler with Manfred
Schreier. He is a frequent collaborator with
British conductor Christopher Warren-Green, most
recently for Handel’s Messiah with the Detroit
Symphony Orchestra.
In the 2011-2012 season he participated in the
creation of It Happens Like This at Tanglewood, a
new stage work by Charles Wuorinen, Pulitzer Prize
winner. Under the direction of Brad Lubman he
reprised the role in the premiere at the
Guggenheim Museum in New York. At the Brooklyn
Academy of Music he sang the role of Compère in
Four Saints in Three Acts by Virgil Thomson in the
production of Mark Morris and conducted by
Stefan Asbury. Since his debut with the Boston
Early Music Festival in 2003, he has participated in
many productions under the musical direction of
Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs: In 2010, he sang
Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas by Purcell at Jordan
Hall in Boston. From 2009 to 2011 he performed
Polyphemus in Acis and Galatea by Handel in the
production of Gilbert Blin performed in Boston,
Kansas City, Seattle, Vancouver and New York.
Under the musical direction of Simon Carrington,
Douglas Williams sings the role of Jesus in Bach’s
Johannes-Passion recorded by the Yale Schola
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
CONTINUED
Cantorum, described as “astonishing” by Early
Music Review, and as a soloist in the Vespers of
Heinrich Biber on a recording of the Yale Schola
Cantorum considered “lively and sensitive” by
Goldberg Magazine. He can also be heard on the
recording of Lully’s Psyché with the Boston Early
Music Festival, nominated for a Grammy Award for
Best Opera Recording of 2008.
Handel Society of Dartmouth College is the
oldest student, faculty, staff and community
organization in the United States devoted to the
performance of choral-orchestral major works.
The Society was founded in 1807 by Dartmouth
faculty and students to “promote the cause of true
and genuine sacred music.” Led by John
Hubbard, Dartmouth Professor of Mathematics and
Philosophy, the Society sought to advance the
works of Baroque masters through performance.
Members of the Society believed the grand
choruses of George Frideric Handel exemplified
their goals and thus adopted his name for their
group. Since its inception, the Handel Society has
grown considerably in size and in its scope of
programming. Today comprising 100 members
drawn from the Dartmouth student body, faculty
and staff, and the Upper Valley community, the
Society performs three concerts a year of major
works both old and new. For more information
about the Handel Society, call 603-646-3414 or
visit our website at www.handelsociety.org.
Erma Mellinger vocal coach has been a principal
artist with many opera companies across the
United States, including the Cleveland Opera,
the Florida Grand Opera, the Dallas Opera,
the Sarasota Opera, the Chautauqua Opera, the
Fresno International Grand Opera, Opera North,
the Pittsburgh Opera Theater, and the Shreveport
Opera. Her roles, in over thirty operas, include:
Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così
Fan Tutte, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Idamante
in Idomeneo, Empress Ottavia in L’incoronazione
di Poppea, Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann,
Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino, Prince Orlofsky
in Die Fledermaus, Prince Charming in Cendrillon,
Martha in Faust, Tisbe in La Cenerentola and Berta
in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
Hailed for her “rich, vibrant, creamy voice,” Ms.
Mellinger is also at home on the concert and
recital stage. She has appeared as soloist with
many major orchestras, including the Fort Wayne
Philharmonic, the Monterey Symphony, the
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Florida
Symphony Orchestra, the Westfield Symphony,
the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra,
and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. She has
given solo recitals sponsored by the Buffalo
Opera, the Adirondack Ensemble, Chamber Works
at Dartmouth College, and Classicopia.
Ms. Mellinger graduated first in her class from
Northwestern University, where she received her
Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance.
She earned her Master of Music Degree from
Eastman School of Music, where she also received
honors in performance and teaching. She is a
frequent guest artist on the Dartmouth campus
performing regularly with the Handel Society, the
Wind Symphony and the Dartmouth Symphony
Orchestra. Ms. Mellinger began teaching voice at
Dartmouth in 1996.
Evelyn Zuckerman collaborative pianist holds
Bachelor of Music and Master of Science degrees
from the Juilliard School. She began her piano
studies at age three, and by age six was performing
concerts throughout her native New York City. She
has performed at New York’s Town Hall, Carnegie
Recital Hall and the Kaufmann Auditorium and in
the major concert halls in Boston, as well as
performing on television and radio since early
childhood. She was rehearsal pianist for the Boston
Symphony and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus,
working with Seiji Ozawa, Colin Davis, and Leonard
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
CONTINUED
Bernstein among others. In Boston, she taught at
Tufts University and the New England Conservatory
of Music. With the contemporary chamber music
ensemble, the Boston Musica Viva, she had a
series in Cambridge, MA, and toured Europe. Her
recordings can be heard on the CRI, Delos and
Musical Heritage Society labels. Currently, in
addition to being accompanist for the Handel
Society, Evelyn is the pianist and harpsichordist for
the conductorless chamber orchestra, Camerata
New England, teaches piano, and coaches singers
and chamber groups. In addition, Evelyn is a licensed
massage therapist and practices craniosacral
therapy in her White River Junction office.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks are extended to the Board of Directors of the Handel Society and the numerous members-at-large of the
organization, community and student, for their fine work on behalf of the Handel Society.
We thank the Choral Arts Foundation of the Upper Valley and the Friends of the Handel Society (Dartmouth College
alumni, past and present community Handel Society members, and regional audience supporters of the Handel
Society) for the financial support of the Handel Society’s concert season.
Additional thanks to Hilary Pridgen of The Trumbull House for providing accommodations for guest soloists. The Trumbull
Bed & Breakfast, 40 Etna Road, Hanover, NH 03755; (603) 643-2370 or toll-free (800) 651-5141; www.trumbullhouse.com
For information on the Choral Arts Foundation of the Upper Valley, please contact:
Choral Arts Foundation of the Upper Valley
P.O. Box 716, Hanover, NH 03755
info@ChoralArtsUV.org
DARTMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
ANTHONY PRINCIOTTI conductor
GUSTAV MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 5
SAT | MAY 25 | 8 PM | SPAULDING AUDITORIUM
Mahler’s best-known work, his Fifth Symphony,, strives
to confront the most essential challenges of human
existence as its lyrical melodies and sudden mood shifts
struggle between darkness and light. Perhaps written
for his new wife, Alma, the final movement is an
intimate oasis in this sweeping work, an exquisite
interlude of yearning, hope and angst.
For tickets or more info call the Box Office at 603.646.2422 or visit hop.dartmouth.edu. Sign up for
weekly HopMail bulletins online or become a fan of “Hopkins Center, Dartmouth” on Facebook
HANDEL SOCIETY OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
Robert Duff conductor
Erma Mellinger vocal coach
Evelyn Zuckerman collaborative pianist
Kristen Colwell ’13 student manager
CHORUS I
Soprano
Elin Beck ‘12
Eugenia Braasch*
Trish Heatherton
Kendall Hoyt*
Ashley Kolste
Serena Liu ‘14
Heather Anne McMunigal
Emily Weyburne G
Meg Darrow Williams
Alto
Nana Adjeiwaa-Manu ‘16
Carissa Aoki G*
Kathy Christie
Kristen Colwell ‘13*
Jodie Dionne-Odom
Johanna Evans ‘10
Linda L. Fowler
Ridie Wilson Ghezzi
Melissa Herron
Ellen Irwin ‘14
Kristi Medill,
Rosemary Orgren
Bonnie Robinson*
Charlotte Smith ‘16
Jacqueline Smith*
Elisebeth Sullivan
Averill Tinker*
Ulrike G.K. Wegst
Tenor
Gary E. Barton
John Damianos ‘16
Scot Drysdale
Paul Kram
David Thron
Richard Waddell
Adam Weinstein ‘98*
Patrick Yukman ‘14
Bass
John Archer
Austin Boral ‘16
William Braasch
Martin W. Cherry
Robert Fogg
Nicholas Gannon ‘15
Tom Gray
Ethan Klein ‘16
Daniel Meerson
Jimmy Ragan ‘16
Bob Wetzel ‘76
CHORUS II
Soprano
Alexandra Aird ‘13
Alice Bennett
Daniela Childers ‘16
Karen Endicott
Mardy High
Ling Jing ‘15
Karolína Křelinová ‘14
Elaine McIntyre
Joan Stepenske
Debbie Travers G
Gretchen Twork
Margot Yecies ‘15
Alto
Elizabeth Adams
Carol Barr*
Anna Leah Berstein Simpson ‘13
Andrea N. Brown
Helen Clark
Joanne Coburn*
Joan Cooke
Cally Gilbert
Nicole Johnson
Judy Pond*
Margaret Robinson
Diana J. Simpson ‘16
Jessica Thompson G
Tenor
Peter Butler ‘14
Michael Cukan
Gregory M. Gauthier
Rob Howe*
Joel Lazar
David T. Robinson*
Stan Stys
John Torrey
Bass
Kenneth Bauer
Andrew Beaubien ‘16
Stephen Campbell
David C. Clark
John Cofer ‘15*
Charles Faulkner
Evan J. Griffith ‘15
Terry W. Martin
Andrew Nalani ‘16
Marvin Rogers*
Samuel Stratton ‘15
*Member, Handel Society Board of Directors
G=Graduate Student
ORCHESTRA
ORCHESTRA I
Violin I
Elizabeth Young concertmaster
Rachel Handman
Jane Kittredge
Bass
David Goodchild
Flute
Alison Hale
Violin II
Bozena O’Brien principal
Etleva Hima-Buli
Oboe
Margaret Herlehy principal
Kathy DiCola
Viola
Russell Wilson principal
Leslie Sonder
Bassoon
Janet Polk
Cello
John Dunlop
Cembalo
Gregory Hayes
ORCHESTRA II
Violin I
Kathy Andrew concertmaster
Peggy Spencer
Ralph Allen
Violin II
Colleen Jennings principal
Sarah Briggs
Viola
Roger Ellsworth principal
Liz Reid
Cello
Iris Jortner
Bass
Dan Gorn
Flute
Susan Thomas principal
Heidi Baxter
Oboe
Cheryl Bishkoff principal
Jason Smoller
Bassoon
Rebecca Eldridge
Organ
Brett Maguire
Viola da gamba
Alice Robbins
HANDEL SOCIETY CHILDREN’S CHORUS
Prepared by Becky Luce conductor
Grace Ashton, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Aida Bauer, Marion Cross School, Norwich
Charlie Bell, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Josephine Bourne, Lebanon Middle School, Lebanon
Sophia Brackett, Bernice A. Ray School, Etna
Camilla Bobrowicz, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Riley Brooks, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Theresa Calledrella, Hanover Street School, Lebanon
Ella Caterini, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Emily Cheevers, New England Classical Academy, Lebanon
Jasmine Chu, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Esperanza Daley, Plainfield Elementary School, Plainfield
Joseph Davis, Bernice A. Ray School, Etna
Misia Delgado, Lebanon Middle School, Lebanon
Cordelia Diether, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Helen Rose Dustin-Thompson, Marion Cross School, Norwich
Emma Duff-Pierce, Bernice A. Ray School, Etna
Kiley Edwards, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Elizabeth Fallon, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Sasha Green, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Elizabeth Hardt, Home School, Canaan
Annabelle Hawke, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Miriam Herron, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Amalia Hickey, Mt. Lebanon School, Lebanon
Natalie Junio-Thompson, Marion Cross School, Norwich
Hopie Lovell, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Arabella Snyder, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Bridget Meehan, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Stella Menkov, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Ani Menkov, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Sophie Mitchell, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Sabin Mitchell, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Lena Nordstrom, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Marie Pillsbury, Home School, Hanover
Ethan Preis, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Curtis Rice, Bernice A. Ray School, Etna
Alicia Sanyal, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Clara Smyrski, Mt. Lebanon School, Lebanon
Helah Snelling, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Meg Snyder, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Tess Snyder, Richmond Middle School, Hanover
Zoe Starkey, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Hailey Swett, Upper Valley Waldorf School, Norwich
Madeleine Tally, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Sophie Usherwood, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Alexander Velichkov, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Lily Versteeg, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Grace Wenger, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Maggie Wenger, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Kayra Yaman, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Eren Yaman, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
Kaiyang Zhang, Bernice A. Ray School, Hanover
HOPKINS CENTER MANAGEMENT STAFF
Jeffrey H. James Howard Gilman Director
Marga Rahmann Associate Director/General Manager Joseph Clifford Director of Audience Engagement
Jay Cary Business and Administrative Officer Bill Pence Director of Hopkins Center Film
Margaret Lawrence Director of Programming Joshua Price Kol Director of Student Performance Programs
Please turn off your cell
phone inside the theater.
R
Assistive Listening Devices
available in the lobby.
D A RT M O UTH
Recycling bins
RECYCLES provided in the lobby.