“American Landscapes”
Tickets
April 12, 2024, at 7:30 pm, Christ Church, Exeter buy now
April 14, 2024, at 3:00 pm, South Church buy now
Program
“I’ll Fly Away”, trad., arr. Tim Keeler
“Calling My Children Home”, arr. Joseph Jennings
“Cloud Anthem”, by Oliver Caplan, lyrics by Richard Blanco
“Sweet Rivers”, by Shawn Kirchner
“Unclouded Day”, arr. Shawn Kirchner
“I’ll Be on My Way”, by Shawn Kirchner
Shaker tunes, arr. Kevin Siegfried
“I Hunger and Thirst”
“Come to Zion”
“Angels Hovering ‘Round”
Spirituals
“Little David, Play on your Harp”, arr. Rollo Dilworth
“Walk Together, Children”, arr. Moses Hogan
“Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord”, arr. Undine S. Moore
Program Notes
Today we honor several genres of American vocal music – hymnody, the African American spiritual, Shaker songs and a new piece composed during the pandemic which addresses human connection. We hope you find the music uplifting and inspirational. A few notes follow below:
Shawn Kirchner, a Los Angeles – based composer and arranger, enjoys writing folk tunes in a bluegrass style. Both texts, Unclouded Day and Sweet Rivers, quote early 19th century hymns arranged into multiple voice parts – the former in a gospel style, the latter with banjo-like accompaniment on piano. Our concert closer I’ll Be On My Way is an emotional send-off to another place.
The Shakers, a sect of Christianity splintered from the Quaker community in Manchester, England, were established in the U.S. colonies in 1774 when their leader, Mother Ann, departed for Watervliet, New York. The population peaked at 9,000 in the 1840s/50s and declined after the Civil War. The Sabbathday Lake, Maine, community remains the one active Shaker village today. Worship services included ecstatic dancing, singing and shaking, earning the name “Shaking Quakers” and leaving over 10,000 songs in the repertoire. Composer Kevin Siegfried (formerly of Dover, N.H.) has made a lifelong study of Shaker music and arranged a multitude of original tunes for voices. “I Hunger and Thirst” originated in Alfred, Maine, in 1837 and is based on a version sung by Sister R. Mildred Barker (d. 1990). A pentatonic melody is the basis for “Angels Hovering ‘Round” in a Revivalist collection from 1868. The third selection Come to Zion features a rousing tune based on open fifths and octaves, lending a stark sound; it’s an example of a “gift song” received in 1864 by Paulina Bates, a Shaker visionary from Watervliet.
The African American spiritual tells human stories – of joy and sorrow, of redemption and revelry – through the lens of the enslaved person. Many texts were inspired by chronicles of freedom and deliverance in the Hebrew Bible as well as the New Testament. What is our connection to the feelings in these songs? Little David Play on Your Harp narrates David’s victory over Goliath while Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord, explores the power of prayer which saves Daniel from being thrown to the lions (Daniel 6:20). Daniel, Daniel is the most well-known piece by Undine Smith Moore, the “dean of black women composers.” She was the first graduate of Fisk University to attend Juilliard, graduating in 1926 and having a forty-five year teaching career at Virginia State University.
Two familiar songs address the meaning of home – the comfort of returning or a new beginning: Calling My Children Home and I’ll Fly Away. The arrangements are by members of Chanticleer, the Grammy award-winning all male professional vocal ensemble out of San Fransisco.
Our cornerstone piece, Cloud Anthem, was created during the pandemic by Oliver Caplan, Boston-based composer and Dartmouth graduate. Caplan is Artistic Director of the American Prize-winning Juventas New Music Ensemble, devoted to the music of emerging composers. His music is influenced by the resilience of the human spirit and celebrates stories of social justice, conservation and community. His works have been performed nationwide, including by the N.H. Master Chorale.
Cloud Anthem is a fascinating piece of poetry by Richard Blanco, excerpted from his larger collection How to Love a Country (2019). Awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Biden, Blanco became the first openly gay, Latinx and immigrant person to speak at President Obama’s second inaugural in 2013. Blanco teaches at Florida International University in Miami and has a home in Bethel, Maine. The poem calls out micro aggressions in today’s world and calls us to choose humility and gentleness. Blanco invites us to care for the earth, to listen to each other, to “soften our edges,” and “abide as one together in one single sky”.
–PSF
Tenor soloist Neal Ferreira
Praised for his “rich, powerful voice” and “bravura-filled stage presence,” Neal Ferreira is a nationally recognized lyric tenor known for his cultivated vocalism and eloquent expression. Dubbed a “Boston mainstay” by the Boston Globe, he recently appeared with Boston Lyric Opera in the New England premiere of Rhiannon Giddens’ and Michael Abels’ Pulitzer Prize winning opera, Omar (Auctioneer/Taylor). The tenor regularly appears with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and returns in 2024 for performances of Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk at Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall, under the baton of Maestro Andris Nelsons.
A much sought-after interpreter of new music, Mr. Ferreira made his European debut in 2021 as Laertes in the world premiere of Joseph Summer’s Hamlet with State Opera Rousse, Bulgaria. His successful performance as the Visitor in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Philip Glass’ In the Penal Colony was called “poignant” by the Wall Street Journal and “perfect” by Opera News. The tenor can be heard on the premiere recordings of numerous operas, including Charles Wuorinen’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories (BMOP/Sound), James MacMillan’s Clemency (BIS), Joseph Summer’s The Tempest (Albany), and Mario Castenuovo Tedesco’s The Importance of Being Earnest (Odyssey Opera).
In a professional career spanning two decades, Ferreira has appeared with an array of companies including Florida Grand Opera, the Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Colorado, Virginia Opera, Anchorage Opera, Syracuse Opera, American Repertory Theatre, Handel and Haydn Society, Odyssey Opera, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Emmanuel Music, and Guerilla Opera.
The tenor’s 2023-24 engagements include the role of Flavio in Norma with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, as well as a return to Boston Lyric Opera as Loud Stone in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice, conducted by the composer. In spring 2024, he will sing the Doctor in Dominick Argento’s The Voyage of Edgar Allen Poe with Odyssey Opera.