WSU Chamber Singers NW-NAfME Performance
Saturday February 15, 2025
2:00pm – Spokane Convention Center Room 100C
The WSU Chamber Singers is an auditioned choral ensemble at Washington State University made up of members pursuing music degrees and non-music degrees. These singers rehearse twice a week for 75 minutes and perform an eclectic array of repertoire from renaissance to jazz.
Program
Ambe Andrew Balfour (b. 1967)
- This piece is based on an original song in Ojibway that was gifted by traditional drummer and singer Cory Campbell to Andrew Balfour and the University of Manitoba Concert Choir. Cory describes the song as a “call to the people to the ceremonial way of life or to the red road or, quite frankly, to whatever we have going on, because everything happens with spirit and in spirit.” – Program notes by Andrew Balfour.
- Published by Cypress Press
- Text by Cory Campbell
- Ambe, ambe Anishinaabeg. Come in two-legged beings
- Biindigeg Anishinaageb come in all people
- Mino-bimaadixiwin omaa There is good life here
- Ambe! Come in!
Kaipaava Finnish Folk Song, arr. Essi Wuorela (b. 1971) and Jussi Chydenius (b. 1972)
- Ashley Myers, MaKenna Wagnon, Bridget Murphy, soloists
- The power of this song is its simple writing and adherence to it’s main aesthetics: sadness and darkness. Beginning with an alto solo, the arrangers weave choral accompaniment throughout which support and enhances the sense of loss and desperation emanating from the melody.
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Text: Finnish Folk Song
Ja ilman kuuta ja aurinkoa And without the moon or sun to shine,
tämä maailma pimiä on. this world it is so dark,
Sula raijaijai, sula rallallei, With a “fa la la” and a “fa la la,”
tämä maailma pimiä on. this world it is so dark.
Ja yhden pojan tähden And for the sake of one fine boy
minun sydämeni kipiä on. my heart is troubled and sad,
Sula raijaijai, sula rallallei, With a “fa la la” and a “fa la la,”
minun sydämeni kipiä on. my heart is troubled and sad.
Sinä hienoinenkuin heinä, You are fine like the grass on the meadow,
mina matala niinkuin maa. I am lowly like the earth.
Sula raijaijai, sula rallallei, With a “fa la la” and a “fa la la,”
mina matala niinkuin maa. I am lowly like the earth.
Oi jos sinä kultani tienäisit Oh, if you knew, my beloved,
mitten ikävä minulla on! how much I miss you now!
Niin var maanhan sinä For sure you would hasten back to me
rientäisit,etkä matkalla viipyisi. and not tarry on your way.
Sula raijaijai, sula rallallei, With a “fa la la” and a “fa la la,”
etkä matkalla viipyisi. and not tarry on your way.
Love of Fire John Conahan (b. 1974)
- Daniela Alpire, soloist
- John Conahan smartly weaves disperate melodies and affects together through return of melodic material, text repetition, and tonal symmetry. Just as fire can build over time and suddenly be extinguished, Conahan keeps us guessing what will happen next.
- Text by Sarah Hudlow: Sweeter than spring’s light, Colder than the darkest snow. We soar, Then wait for the fall. Glimmer, shimmer, shine: Stars hold such promise. they are only dust: Burning reactions of self-destruct. Here for a moment, Gone forever. Wishing for more, Knowing too much. Emotions strong and pure Clouded in doubt and fear. Love of fire and ice, Burning cold in my heart.
Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder from Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orléans Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
- Troi Chansons de Charles d’Orléans are set by Debussy to the medieval poetry of Charles, Duke of Orléans. He began this set in 1898 and finished in 1908. The piece, in a modified ABA form, allows the choir to treat each line as a precious treat to unwrap. Although some rhythmic cells are common throughout, these separate phrases allow for maximum expression line by line.
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Text by Charles d’Orleans: Sung in French
Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder, Lord! how good to look on her,
La gracieuse bonne et belle; The good and fair and gracious lady;
Pour les grans biens que sont en elle, For the high qualities within her,
Chascun est prest de la louer. All are eager to praise her.
Qui se pourroit d’elle lasser? Who could ever tire of her?
Tousjours sa beauté renouvelle. Her beauty always increases.Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder, Lord! how good to look on her,
La gracieuse bonne et belle! The good and fair and gracious lady!
Par deça, ne delà, la mer, The ocean knows of no woman in any quarter,
Ne scay dame, ne damoiselle Married or single, who is as perfect
Qui soit en tous biens parfais telle! As she in every way.
C’est un songe d’y penser. You would never dream of such a thing;
Dieu! qu’il la fait bon regarder! Lord! how good it is to look on her!
Charlie Is My Darling Scottish Folksong, arr. Sarah Rimkus (b. 1990)
- This is a fast, fun arrangement of the traditional Robert Burns version of Charlie is my Darling. It was written for inclusion of The Immortal Memory, an album of Burns’ music released by the Unversity of Aberdeen Chamber Choir and their director, Professor Paul Mealor, in January 2017, debuting at number three on the classical charts in the United Kingdom. The arrangement has been performed in the throne room of Buckingham Palace and is a favorite of Prince Charles himself. – Program notes by Sarah Rimkus.
- Text: Traditional Scottish: Charlie is my darling, my darling, my darling, Charlie is my darling, the young chevalier. ‘Twas on a Monday morning Bright early in the year, When Charlie came to our town, The young chevalier. As he was walking up the street, The city for to view, O there he spied a bonnie lass, The windae peekin’ through. Sae lights he jumped up the stair, And tirl’d at the pin, and wha’ sae ready as hersel’ To let the laddie in? He set his Jenny on his knee, All in his highland dress, For brawly weel he ken’d the way, To please a bonnie lass. It’s up yon heathery mountain, And down yon scroggy glen, We daur na’ gang a-milking, For Charlie and his men.
For You I Will Be an Island Jennifer Lucy Cook
- MaKenna Wagnon, soloist
- “For You I WIll Be An Island” was written while in quarantine, when the greatest act of love that one person could show to another was to keep a healthy distance. this strange phenomenon stood in stark contrast to the tangible way I normally prefer to show love: with hugs, kisses, and closeness. Quarantine felt to me very similar to other rare times when distance means love, like when a relationship seems to have run its course or when love isn’t returned in kind. When all that’s left to do it to keep a flame and wish them well from afar: “find me where love collides with letting go.” In the piece you’ll hear waves humming all the words left unsaid, the voices dividing with the widest intervals possible before coming back together for clusters, and long phrases that stretch for miles. It is my hope that “For You I Will Be An Island” can evoke the strange beauty in loneliness, in whatever form it shows up for you.” – Program notes by Jennifer Lucy Cook.
- Text by Jennifer Lucy Cook: For you I will be an island, A solo shelter. For you I will be an island miles away. For you I will be surrounded with only water. For you I will be surrounded by blue and gray. And when the coast is clear, come let me know. Find me where love collides with letting go. For you I will be uncharted except by starlight; For you I will be uncharted, come what may. And when the coast is clear, come let me know. Find me where love collides with letting go. Now we divide to conquer. Only the waves for comfort. For you I will be an island a solo shelter. For you I will be an island Miles away. Miles away.
Jenny Kiss’d Me Eric Barnum (b. 1979)
- Jenny Kiss’d Me, a deceptively simple lyric by English essayist and poet James Leigh Hunt (1784-1881), reflects on a fleeting moment in a manner at one lighthearted and poignant. The “Jenny” of the poem was Jane Welsh Carlyle, wife of fellow writer Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), who upon hearing from Hunt about his recovery from a long illness, uncharacteristically leaped up and kissed him. The poem’s narrator avoids bitterness by reflecting on something bright and memorable that happened to him, which in its way overshadows the more mundane miseries attendant on much of his life. Witty and defiant, the poet assert that whatever else might have occurred, he mattered when Jenny kissed hum. – Program notes by Eric Barnum.
- Text by James Leigh Hunt: Jenny kiss’d me when we met, Jumping from the chair she sat in; time you thief, who love to get Sweets into your list, put that in! Say I’m weary, say I’m sad, Say that health and wealth have miss’d me, Say I’m growing old, but add, Jenny kiss’d me.
WSU Chamber Singers
- Dean Luethi, conductor
- MaKenna Wagnon, Academic Student Employee (Graduate TA)
- Soprano: Emma Aichele, Kayla Mommsen, Bridget Murphy, Annie Reyes, MaKenna Wagnon
- Alto: Daniela Alpire, Marlie Jackson, Ashley Myers, Mila Rybachuk
- Tenor: Jake Carlon, Corey Gardner, Ryan Lockhart, Andon Merrick
- Bass: James McLelland, Landon Carter, Manny Caldwell, Cohen Storch
Special thanks to Dr. Julie Anne Wieck, Dr. Matthew Myers, and our academic student employee (Graduate TA) MaKenna Wagnon.
Program notes by Dean Luethi unless otherwise noted.