Passion Week - Audivi Vocem

AUDIVI VOCEM PRESENTS
Saturday, March 28, 2015 — 7:30 p.m.
Bethlehem United Church of Christ
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Passion Week
Bartolomeo Tromboncino
1470–c1535
Adoramus te Christe
Gregorio Allegri
1582–1652
Miserere
Carlo Gesualdo
c1561–1613
from Responsoria
Johann Bach
1604–1673
xxiii.
xxvii.
O vos omnes
Sepulto Domino
Unser Leben ist ein Schatten
—Pause—
Heinrich von Herzogenberg
1843–1900
Heilig ist Gott
Maximilian Steinberg
1883–1946
from Passion Week, Op. 13
ii. Se Zhenih griadet
iii. Chertog Tvoy
viii. Razboynika blagorazumnago
ix. Ne riday Mene, Mati
James MacMillan
b. 1959
Christus vincit
Tomás Luis de Victoria
1548–1611
Sanctus
from Missa pro Victoria
Bartolomeo Tromboncino
1470–c1535
(1508)
Adoramus te Christe
et benedicimus tibi
quia per crucem tuam
redemisti mundum.
We adore you, O Christ,
and we bless you.
For by your holy cross and passion
you have redeemed the world.
—From the Latin liturgy
Gregorio Allegri
1582–1652
Miserere mei Deus:
secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.
Have mercy upon me, O God:
after thy great goodness.
Et secundum multitudinem miserationum
tuarum: dele iniquitatem meam.
According to the multitude of thy
mercies: do away mine offences.
Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea:
et a peccato meo munda me.
Wash me throughly from my wickedness:
and cleanse me from my sin.
Asperges me hyssopo et mundabor:
lavabis me et super nivem dealbabor.
Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean: thou shalt wash me, and I
shall be whiter than snow.
Auditui meo dabis gaudium et laetitiam:
et exultabunt ossa humiliata.
Thou shalt make me hear of joy, and
gladness: that the bones, which thou hast
broken, may rejoice.
Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis:
et omnes iniquitates meas dele.
Turn thy face from my sins:
and put out all my misdeeds.
Cor mundum crea in me Deus:
et spiritum rectum innova in visceribus
meis.
Make me a clean heart, O God:
and renew a right spirit within me.
Domine labia mea aperies:
et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam.
Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord:
and my mouth shall shew thy praise.
Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium
dedissem utique:
holocaustis non delectaberis.
For thou desirest no sacrifice,
else I would give it thee:
but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings.
Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus:
cor contritum et humiliatum Deus
non despicies.
The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit:
a broken and contrite heart, O God,
shalt thou not despise.
Benigne fac Domine in bona voluntate tua
Sion: ut aedificentur muri Jerusalem.
O be favourable, and gracious unto Sion:
build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Tunc acceptabis sacrificium justitiae
oblationes et holocausta:
tunc imponent super altare tuum vitulos.
Then shalt thou be pleased with the
sacrifice of righteousness, with the burntofferings and oblations: then shall they
offer young bullocks upon thine altar.
—Psalm 51:1–2, 7–10, 15–19
Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, Count of Conza
c1561–1613
from Responsoria (1611)
O vos omnes qui transitis per viam
attendite et videte si est dolor similis
sicut dolor meus
attendite universi populi
et videte dolorem meum.
O all ye who pass along this way,
attend and see if there is any sorrow
like unto my sorrow.
Attend, all ye people,
and see my sorrow.
—Lamentations 1:12
Sepulto Domino
signatum est monumentum
volventes lapidem
ad ostium monumenti
ponentes milites qui custodirent illum
accedentes principes sacerdotum
ad Pilatum petierunt illum.
When our Lord was buried,
they sealed up the tomb,
rolling a stone
before the mouth of the tomb,
and placing soldiers to guard him.
The chief priests went to Pilate
and petitioned him to place soldiers.
—Matthew 27:62–66
Johann Bach
1604–1673
Unser Leben ist ein Schatten auf Erden.
Our life on earth is a shadow.
Ich weiß wohl daß unser Leben
oft nur als ein Nebel ist,
denn wir hier zu jeder Frist
mit dem Tode seind umgeben,
drum ob's heute nicht geschicht,
meinen Jesum laß ich nicht.
I know well that our life
is often nothing more than a mist,
since here at every moment
we are surrounded by death;
even if today my time does not come,
I will not leave my Jesus.
Sterb ich bald so komm ich abe
von der Welt Beschwerlichkeit,
ruhe bis zur vollen Freud,
und weiß daß im finstern Grabe
Jesus ist mein helles Licht,
meinen Jesum laß ich nicht!
If I die soon, then I will be quit
of the world's burdens,
taking my rest in consummate joy,
and know that in the gloomy grave
Jesus is my bright light:
I will not leave my Jesus!
Ich bin die Auferstehung
und das Leben, wer an mich gläubet,
der wird leben, ob er gleich stürbe,
und wer da lebet und gläubet an mich,
der wird nimmermehr sterben.
"I am the resurrection and the life:
those who believe in me shall live,
regardless of whether they die,
and those living who believe in me
shall nevermore truly perish."
Weil du vom Tod erstanden bist,
werd' ich im Grab nicht bleiben,
mein höchster Trost dein' Auffahrt ist,
Todsfurcht kann sie vertreiben,
denn wo du bist da komm ich hin,
daß ich stets bei dir eb' und bin,
drum fahr ich hin mit Freuden.
Because you rose from death,
I will not stay in my grave.
My highest comfort is your ascension,
which can drive off fear of death.
For where you are, there I will come,
so that in your presence I live and exist:
therefore I depart in joy.
Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig
ist der Menschen Leben!
Wie ein Nebel bald entstehet
und auch wieder bald vergehet,
so ist unser Leben, sehet!
Ah, how fleeting, ah, how futile
is human life!
Like a mist it arises quickly
and just as quickly vanishes:
that's our life—look and see!
Ach wie nichtig, ach wie flüchtig
sind der Menschen Sachen!
Ah, how futile, ah, how fleeting
are human affairs!
Alles, alles was wir sehen,
das muß fallen und vergehen,
wer Gott fürcht', bleibt ewig stehen.
All, all that we see,
all must collapse and vanish.
Whoever fears God will stand forever.
Ach Herr lehr uns bedenken wohl,
daß wir sind sterblich allzumal!
Auch wir allhier keins Bleibens han,
müßen alle davon,
gelehrt, reich, jung, alt, oder schön,
müßen alle davon.
Ah, Lord, teach us to ponder carefully
that we are inescapably mortal!
And that here we have no abiding,
but must all depart, whether
learned, rich, young, old, or beautiful:
all must depart.
—1 Chronicles 29:15; Johann Flittner;
John 11:25–26; Nikolaus Herman;
Michael Franck; Johann Leon
Leopold Heinrich Picot de Peccaduc, Freiherr von Herzogenberg
1843–1900
from Liturgische Gesänge, Op. 81, No. 2 (1892)
Heilig ist Gott, der Herre Zebaoth!
Sein Ehr die ganze Welt erfüllet hat.
Holy is God, the Lord of Sabaoth!
The whole world has fulfilled his honor.
—Martin Luther
Maximilian Oseyevich Steinberg
1883–1946
from Passion Week, Op. 13 (1923)
Se zhenih griadet
f polunoshchi,
i blazhen rab, yegozhe
obriashchet bdiashcha;
nedostoin zhe paki, yegozhe
obriashchet univayushcha.
Bliudi, ubo, dushe moya,
ne snom otiagotisia,
da ne smerti predana budeshi,
i Tsarstviya vne zatvorishisia.
No vospriani zovushchi:
"Sviat, Sviat, Sviat yesi, Bozhe,
Bogoroditseyu pomiluy nas!"
Behold, the Bridegroom comes
at midnight,
and blessed is the servant
whom He shall find vigilant;
and, again, unworthy is the servant
whom He shall find heedless.
Keep watch, therefore, O my soul,
do not be weighed down with sleep,
lest you be given over to death,
and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom;
but rouse yourself, crying:
"Holy, holy, holy art Thou, O God!
Through the Virgin have mercy on us!"
Chertog Tvoy
vizhdu, Spase moy, ukrashenniy,
i odezhdi ne imam,
da vnidu v' on.
Prosveti odeyaniye dushi moyeya,
Svetodavche, i spasi mia.
Thy bridal chamber
I see, O my Savior, adorned,
and I have no wedding garment,
that I may enter it.
Enlighten the raiment of my soul,
O Giver of Light, and save me.
Razboynika blagorazumnago
vo yedinom chase rayevi
spodobil yesi, Ghospodi;
i mene drevom krestnim
prosveti i spasi mia.
The wise thief
in a single moment didst Thou
make worthy of paradise, O Lord.
By the wood of Thy cross
illumine me as well, and save me.
Ne riday Mene, Mati,
zriashchi vo grobe, Yegozhe vo chreve
bez semene zachala yesi Sina;
vosstanu bo i proslavliusia,
i voznesu so slavoyu
neprestanno yako Bog,
veroyu i liuboviyu Tia velichayushchiya.
Do not lament Me, O Mother,
seeing Me in the tomb, the Son conceived
in the womb without seed;
for I shall arise and be glorified,
and I shall exalt with glory
unceasingly as, God,
all who in faith and in love magnify thee.
James Loy MacMillan
b. 1959
(1994)
Christus vincit
Christus regnat
Christus imperat.
Alleluia.
Christ conquers,
Christ reigns,
Christ commands all.
Alleluia!
Tomás Luis de Victoria
1548–1611
from Missa pro Victoria (1600)
Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth
pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua
Hosanna in excelsis
benedictus qui venit
in nomine Domini.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts,
Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who cometh
in the name of the Lord.
Audivi Vocem
Soprano
Victoria Fraser
Tory Wood
Arianne Abela
Alto
Lara Alami
Wendall Bloom
Tenor
Brian White
Noah Horn
Bass
Jeremy Peters
Glenn Miller
Noah Horn, artistic director
Audivi Vocem is a professional vocal ensemble of 7–9 singers based in Ann Arbor,
Michigan. Founded in 2013, Audivi Vocem presents music of all eras, ranging from 12century polyphony to world premieres by leading choral composers. Its members have
performed with many of the country’s leading ensembles, have appeared on America's
Got Talent, and are either full-time musicians or pursuing graduate degrees in music.
The ensemble rehearses collaboratively, with Noah Horn serving as artistic director. Past
performances include multiple events at the Detroit Institute of Arts and programs in
Ann Arbor, Dexter, and Grosse Pointe Woods. In June 2015, Audivi Vocem will visit the
East Coast to sing as the featured professional ensemble for the New England Regional
American Guild of Organists convention.
A native of Anchorage, Alaska, Victoria Fraser holds a degree in music
from Smith College, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with high
honors in composition. She went on to receive her Master’s of Vocal
Performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the
tutelage of Pamela Fry. Fluent in four languages, Victoria has traveled
extensively and performed in choirs around the world including Il Coro
del Duomo in Florence, Italy as both soloist and chorus member; the
Vocalensemble Frankfurt Dom, in Frankfurt, Germany; and most
recently, Vox Humana in Dallas and the Berwick Chamber Chorus at the
Oregon Bach Festival. Also passionate about the outdoors, Victoria is a
certified PADI Dive Master and an avid downhill skier.
Tory Wood, soprano, is a native of Escanaba, MI, in the Upper
Peninsula. She is currently in her second year of study pursuing a
Masters of Music in Performance from the University of Michigan under
the tutelage of tenor Stanford Olsen. Prior to her studies at U of M, Tory
attended Lawrence University in Appleton, WI, where she earned her
Bachelors of Music in Performance, studying with soprano Joanne
Bozeman and appearing in many opera, oratorio, and musical theater
productions. For the past two summers, Tory has been a featured soloist
with the Pine Mountain Music Festival based in Houghton, MI, and will
return to sing the soprano solo in Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 this July. During her time in Ann
Arbor, Tory has appeared in the University Opera Theatre’s past two mainstage productions as
Kitty Hart in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and the Erste Knabe in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and will
perform with the Michigan Pops Orchestra this spring. Although Tory has previously recorded
with Audivi Vocem, this is her first live performance with the group and she is delighted to
perform with such wonderful musicians.
Arianne Abela is currently a Doctoral Student in Choral Conducting at
the University of Michigan with Dr. Jerry Blackstone. Abela has served
as director of the University of Michigan Residential College singers,
Chorus Master for the University of Michigan Opera productions,
Assistant conductor for University Musical Society's Choral Union, and
Assistant conductor for the University of Michigan Chamber Choir. She
is currently the Director of Music at Bethlehem UCC in Ann Arbor,
Michigan. Arianne Abela is the founder and conductor of 3 Penny
Chorus and Orchestra, volunteer orchestra and chorus of 60 that was recently featured in the
quarter finals of America's Got Talent (Season 8) at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. The
ensemble has performed for various charities and fundraisers and has performed on NBC's
Today Show and are featured on the soundtrack of Walk of Shame, film starring Elizabeth Banks.
Abela has a masters degree from Yale University with Marguerite Brooks, Jeffrey Douma and
Simon Carrington. She has conducted choirs at Yale University, served as assistant conductor for
the Yale Alumni Chorus and has served on faculty at Wesleyan University, Notre Dame High
School, Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, and The Westover School for Girls.
Lara Alami, mezzo-soprano, has performed regularly with Sounding
Light, a choral ensemble since 2003. Performing highlights include
Bach’s St. John’s Passion, Brahms’ Requiem, and the premier of Anne
Wilson’s Song of Hope. She was honored to solo for the title track on
Clear Blue Morning, an album released by Sounding Light. Lara is a
soloist and section leader with Detroit Concert Choir, having recently
performed the role of Lieschen in Bach’s Coffee Cantata. She has also
performed as Ethnic soloist, in Aramaic and Arabic with Metropolitan
Detroit Chorale, in Carl Jenkins’ Stabat Mater. She recently joined Motor
City Lyric Opera outreach, performing the role of Third Lady for high
school students in Detroit. Lara sings as freelance chorister at several
Metro Detroit churches, including St. John’s Episcopal in Detroit, and
Grosse Pointe Memorial Church. She has been featured soloist in the Durufle’ Requiem at St.
John’s, and most recently at First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham. When she is not singing,
Lara paints and exhibits her artwork in the Detroit area. Lara lives in Troy with her husband and
three children.
Wendall Bloom has a diverse performance background which includes
opera, oratorio, early music, chamber music, choral music, recitals,
cabaret and musical theatre. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education
degree from Cornell College and an MFA in Vocal Performance from the
University of Iowa. She is one of five founders of the Community Music
School of Ann Arbor.
Among her appearances as a concert soloist have been performances
with the Ann Arbor Symphony, Saginaw Choral Society, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Detroit
Symphony, Flint Symphony, Jackson Symphony, Lansing Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony,
Toledo Symphony, and Rackham Symphonic Choir. Ms. Bloom spent three years performing and
touring with the baroque orchestra, Ars Musica. She has sung frequently with another early
music ensemble, Vox, a 12-voice a cappella choir. She has sung as a soloist with the Michigan
Bach Festival, Cayman Island International Music Festival, and the Classical Music Seminar of
Eisenstadt, Austria. Her quartet, SATB, performed and toured extensively together for 15 years.
She is a regular member of Conspirare, a Grammy-nominated professional choir in Austin, Texas,
and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale in New Mexico.
Ms. Bloom has sung in numerous operatic and musical theatre roles, including Desiree in A Little
Night Music and the title roles in Carmen, Kiss Me Kate, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. In 2004
she appeared as Stella Deems in Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in a performance featuring several
members of the original cast. In October 2003 she was featured in the premiere performance of a
new major work by Enid Sutherland, Daphne and Apollo Remade.
Wendy is currently the director of the Flint Festival Chorus at the Flint Institute of Music, and
prepares that choir for performances with the Flint Symphony. They will present Britten’s War
Requiem in April. She also spearheads Wine, Women and Song, a popular production at
Kerrytown Concert House now entering its 14th season.
Brian White, tenor, has performed with a variety of choral and
instrumental groups in Southeastern Michigan. In recent seasons he has
performed as featured soloist with the Many Voices ... One Song
chamber choir sounding light, the Choir of Christ Church Grosse Pointe,
Ann Arbor Vocal Arts Ensemble, Sine Nomine, Canterbury Singers,
Vox, and with a number of local and regional church choirs. Brian has
performed the role of Obadiah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Nicolas in
Britten’s St. Nicolas, the Evangelist in the Bach St. Matthew Passion, St.
John Passion, and St. Mark Passion, as well as solos in the Bach B Minor
Mass, Haydn Creation, Dvorak Stabat Mater, and Richard Einhorn’s
Voices of Light. He has toured with choirs internationally to Britain,
France, and Italy singing in various cathedrals and churches including
Westminster Abbey, York Minster, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Saint-Sulpice, and the Vatican. In 2004 he
toured with an Ann Arbor choir to Russia, Ukraine and Estonia. Brian is a research engineer and
IT manager for Michigan Tech Research Institute in Ann Arbor when he is not performing.
Noah Horn serves as the music director of Grosse Pointe Woods
Presbyterian Church, the Madison Chorale, and co-founder and artistic
director for Audivi Vocem. In the fall of 2014, he served as Director of
Choral Activities at Western Michigan University. He has led a bevy of
music programs, including the professional choir at Christ Church, New
Haven, and the Wesleyan University Orchestra. He has conducted
ensembles in Greece, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. In addition to
his conducting activities, he has performed organ recitals in many U.S.
states and in Germany. As a tenor, he has sung a variety of solo roles
with choir and orchestra ranging from Handel to Britten’s “St. Nicolas.”
He has recorded albums for Naxos and Delos with professional
ensembles, and participated with 3Penny in the final rounds of
America’s Got Talent 2013. He remains active as a collaborative pianist,
harpsichordist, trumpet player, composer, and website designer and
programmer. He holds degrees from Yale University and Oberlin College. He grew up in
Davenport, Iowa, and lives in Ann Arbor with his wife, Arianne Abela.
Growing up in Traverse City, Michigan, Jeremy Peters had the pleasure
of access to the world renowned Interlochen Arts Academy, studying
voice with Jeffrey Norris, and trombone with Tom Riccobono. He's
resided in Ann Arbor, MI ever since, studying at the University of
Michigan (B.A. 2004 Political Science & Music) with George Shirley. He
has had the pleasure of singing under the batons of Valery Gergiev, John
Adams, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Leonard Slatkin, Jeffrey Douma,
Kenneth Kiesler, Jerry Blackstone, Theo Morrison, Scott Hanoian, and
many others. He is a fellow of the Academy of Saint Cecilia, and a voting member of the
Recording Academy.
Jeremy is an active recording and performing artist of both classical and popular music and has
sung or played with Audivi Vocem, Choirs of Christ Church Grosse Pointe, The Friars, Dale
Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Chris Bathgate, Matt Jones, The Silent Years, Frontier Ruckus, Mannheim
Steamroller, and more.
Outside of performance, Jeremy is the Director of Creative Licensing and Business Affairs for
Ghostly International and Ghostly Songs, is a partner in Quite Scientific Records, and is Planning
Commissioner in Ann Arbor and on the Board of Directors of 826michigan.
Glenn Miller is well-known throughout the country for his unique
basso profundo voice. He has performed and toured regularly with
Conspirare, the Austin, Texas based professional chamber choir, as well
as with many other leading ensembles, including Clarion Music Society
(New York City), the Harvard University Collegium, the Yale University
Choral Artists,), the Choir of Men and Boys of St. Thomas Church (New
York City), the Oregon Bach Festival, Vox Early Music Ensemble (Ann
Arbor) and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, as well as with the Robert Shaw
Festival Singers, the Choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, the New
York Choral Artists, and the Salt Lake City Choral Artists. He has been
involved in many recording projects with significant basso profundo
parts, with a new release in January on the Harmonia Mundi label with
Conspirare titled “The Sacred Spirit of Russia”, on which he is featured
in one of the lowest solos ever composed, Chesnokov’s Do not reject me in my old age, for which
he received an Austin TX Critics’ Circle award in 2013 as best singer. Other recordings include
numerous other recordings with Conspirare, two recordings of the Rachmaninoff Vespers,
including the landmark 1989 recording with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers under the direction
of Robert Shaw and one with the Choir of St. Thomas Church, New York City under the direction
of John Scott, and a recording of the La Rue Requiem by Vox Early Music Ensemble which won
the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award. As a vocal soloist he has
performed under Robert Shaw with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the St. Louis Orchestra.
He is also Director of Music and Organist at Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills, MI, where he
directs an extensive program which includes a professional adult choir, boys and girls’ choirs,
and a concert series.