The final concert of the season, on the 200th anniversary of his birth, features several commissioned choral works that use the poetry of Walt Whitman. The concert begins with settings of Whitman’s poetry by twentieth century American composers Howard Hanson and Gregg Smith. Along with reprises of two Dessoff commissions from earlier in the season, the second half of the concert will offer two world premieres – a commissioned work by Eve Beglarian and Mathew Aucoin’s commissioned choral excerpts from his critically acclaimed opera, Crossing.
Pre-concert talk: 7:15 pm
Composers Writing to Whitman
Dr. Malcolm J. Merriweather along with
Eve Beglarian
Tania Leon
Douglas Geers
Mathew Aucoin
Song of Democracy Howard Hanson (1896-1981)
Quicksand Years Ian Sturges Milliken (b. 1984)
Whitman’s New York Gregg Smith (1931-2016)
WHITMAN PREMIERE Eve Beglarian (b. 1958)
WHITMAN PREMIERE Tania León (b. 1943)
WHITMAN PREMIERE Douglas Geers (b. 1968)
Crossing Matthew Aucoin (b. 1990)
Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
Malcolm J. Merriweather, clinician
Merriweather performs Three Dream Portraits by Margaret Bonds with organist, Nathaniel Gumbs. The program also includes chamber music for various instruments all in the splendor of the Church of St. Luke & St. Simon Cyrene.
Malcolm will be guest clinician and recitalist for the insittute. His seminars will focus on English/German Diction, solo singing, and choral conducting.
The Dessoff Choirs will join Roomful of Teeth in a performance of Eve Beglarian’s None more than you. The ensemble of Grammy Award-winning vocal titans led by Williams College professor Brad Wells, returned to its summer home at MASS MoCA creating new works and honing techniques. Teeth’s residency culminated in an unforgettable performance, which includrf Richard Beaudoin’s Another Woman of Another Kind featuring Claire Chase and a new arrangement of David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion.
Merriweather will present the “Calamus Songs” of Gregg Smith with pianist, Nissa Kahle and flutist, Lish Lindsey.
Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
Sing with The Dessoff Choirs as we gather to lift our voices in holiday cheer with one of the most beloved choral masterpieces, Handel’s Messiah.
Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
The Dessoff Choirs ushers in the winter solstice with a reprise performance of Margaret Bonds’ The Ballad of the Brown King, coinciding with Dessoff’s CD release of this never-before recorded work. A holiday cantata focusing on Balthazar of the Three Kings, the text was written by Langston Hughes and the entire work was written in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. The concert opens with traditional holiday motets and concludes with Silent Night by candlelight and the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah.
Pre-concert talk with Dr. Ashley Jackson – 3:15 pm
Rise up, Shepherd, and Follow | André J. Thomas (b. 1952) |
Carol: O come all ye faithful | John Francis Wade (1711-1786) |
Arr. David Willcocks (b. 1919-2015) | |
The snow lay on the ground | Julian Wachner (b. 1969) |
Carol: Hark the herald angels sing | Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) |
Arr. Daniel Fortune and Malcolm J. Merriweather | |
The Ballad of the Brown King | Margaret Bonds (1913-1972) |
Carol: Silent Night | Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) |
Hallelujah from Messiah | George Friderick Handel (1685-1759) |