PROGRAM NOTES Carl Orff Carl Orff has gained notoriety for both his music compositions and his work in music education. Orff was born in Munich on July 10. 1895, and died on March 29, 1982. He studied at the Munich Music Academy and later with Heinrich Kaminski. In 1924, with Dorothee Gunther, he founded the Guntherschule, a music school that put into practice his ideas on music education that music should generate physical movement, that physical movement should generate music, and that improvising on simple percussion instruments, starting with the rhythmic patterns of everyday speech, should be a central part of even child's education. Out of his experience at the Guntherschule came Orff's ive-volume teaching course, Schulwerke, an important publication that links music, speech, and gesture. The irst work by Orff that showed the inluence of his rethinking of the fundamental concepts of music was Carmina Burana, a scenic cantata he composed in 1935 and 1936. On its completion, he disowned all of his previous music, making Carmina Burana, one of the most intense and spine-tingling masterpieces of 20th-century music, in effect, his irst composition. Carmina Burana means "Songs of Beuern (Bavaria)." Orff's music is based on 13th-century poems that were discovered in the library of a Bavarian monastery and were written by party-mad poets of the day, who were called Goliards. They describe drinking, dancing, eating, carousing, and making love. Orff's music captures these unvarnished sentiments through pounding rhythms, rip-roaring sonorities, lowing melodies, and kaleidoscopic aural effects from the massed musical forces. A particular challenge is the delivery of the Medieval Latin and medieval high German texts. The 24 poems Orff chose for his settings are grouped into three main sections. The irst section opens with a hymn of "Fortune, the Empress of the World" and continues with songs about springtime and nature. Section two is entitled "In the Tavern" and contains several bawdy drinking songs. The third section, "Courts of Love," expresses youthful fascination and preoccupation with the opposite sex. The thread that runs throughout is the working of Fortuna, the goddess of fate. A return of the opening chorus brings this impressive cantata to a close. Katherine Wessinger Praised by The New York Times as a soprano with a genuinely angelic voice, Katherine Wessinger brings freshness and uncommon musicality to a wide repertoire on the concert, opera, and recital stage. Highlights of the 2013-14 season include Barber Knoxville, Summer 1915 with The Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra, Carmina Burana with the Mansield University Festival Chorus, and Bach Cantatas 147 and 156 with the St. Andrew Chorale and Orchestra.
Ms. Wessinger made three important debuts in New York City during the 2012-13 season. She began the season as soprano soloist in Mozart s Solemn Vespers and Bach s Magniicat in D Major at the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space series conducted by K. Scott Warren. Ms. Wessinger was soprano soloist in Bach s Christmas Oratorio with Canticum Novum led by Harold Rosenbaum, and, most dramatically, made her Carnegie Hall debut stepping in on one day s notice to sing Gabriel in Haydn s Creation with the New York Virtuoso Singers and the Orchestra of St. Luke s, also conducted by Harold Rosenbaum. A frequent soloist with the St. Andrew Music Society and Orchestra led by Andrew Henderson, Ms. Wessinger sang Mendelssohn s Hear My Prayer in spring 2012 and was soprano soloist in Bach s St. Matthew Passion in spring 2013. With the St. Andrew Music Society, Ms. Wessinger sang the New York City premiere of the recently discovered Handel Gloria. She has sung internationally with the Italy and USA Alba Music Festival, performing Mahler Symphony No. 4, Del Tredici Dracula, and Bach Cantata No. 51 under the direction of Jeffrey Silberschlag, and at the River Concert Series under the direction of Larry Vote. Other solo performances include the Rutter Requiem with director Tom Hall, and Handel s Messiah and Part V of Bach s Christmas Oratorio with the renowned Handel Choir of Baltimore. She has also performed Handel s Messiah with J. Reilly Lewis at Clarendon United Methodist Church in Arlington, VA, and with Henry Lowe at The Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore, MD. In addition to her work as a concert soloist, Ms. Wessinger performs opera from the Baroque through the 21st century. Her operatic performances have included Rhomilda in Handel s Xerxes, Bystrouska in Janaceck s The Cunning Little Vixen, sung in Czech, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Karolina in Smetana s Two Widow s, and Birdsong in Mozart s The Impressario. Todd E. Ranney Baritone Todd E. Ranney has performed over 100 productions throughout the Midwest with the Michigan Opera Theater, Cleveland Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Iowa, Ohio Light Opera, Indiana Opera North, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Pennsylvania Lyric Opera Theater, and Dayton Opera. Some of his roles include Figaro, Germont, Don Giovanni, Guglielmo, Papageno, Marcello, Tonio, and Gianni Schicchi. Dr. Ranney also performed 12 seasons with Cleveland Opera as an Associate Artist and was featured in numerous productions including Carmen, Die Meistersinger, Romeo and Juliet, and H.M.S. Pinafore. He is the founding Artistic Director of Akron Lyric Opera Theatre where he directed/produced Madame Butterly, Cosi fan Tutti, La Bohème, Carmen, The Magic Flute and Madama Butterly. Last season, he directed/produced and sang the role of The Wolf in Little Red Riding Hood with The Children s Concert Society and appeared with Pennsylvania Lyric Opera as Tonio in Pagliacci and the title role of Gianni Schicchi, while also directing that performance. Dr. Ranney has been a featured soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra at both the Blossom Music Center and Severance Hall and has sung with the Symphony Orchestras of Dayton, Akron, Lakeside, Wooster, and the Cleveland Pops at Severance Hall. He performed Jesus in Bach s St. Matthew Passion with the Summit Choral Society, and the Narrator in King David with the Festival Chorus at Mansield University.
Dr. Ranney is an Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at Mansield University of Pennsylvania where he teaches studio voice and has directed and produced several operas including: The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, The Tender Land and The Old Maid and the Thief, entirely cast with students and orchestra in full production. As an active accompanist, he assists the Mansield Concert Choir and students in recital during the school year and recently directed and accompanied the opera The Outcasts of Poker Flat by Samuel Adler with the composer in residence. He maintains a private vocal studio in the Northeast Ohio area of Cleveland and Akron specializing in the high school male voice. Dr. Ranney is a member of NATS, NOA, and Phi Mu Alpha. He has also served as voice teacher and opera director on the faculties of Heidelberg College, the College of Wooster, and Youngstown State University and has served on the piano-accompanying staff at The University of Akron, Baldwin Wallace College and the Cleveland Opera. He holds duel Masters Degrees in Voice and Piano from The Cleveland Institute of Music and completed his DMA at The Ohio State University in voice studying with Robin Rice with an emphasis in choral conducting with Hilary Apfelstadt and vocal pedagogy with Karen Peeler. Derrek Stark Derrek Stark, Tenor, is a native of Bath, NY where he began studies in voice and piano culminating in a Bachelor s of Music in Vocal Performance from Mansield University, where he studied with Dr. Todd Ranney. Mr. Stark is currently pursuing a Master s Degree at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where he studies with Ms. Carol Vaness. Always an active musician and collaborator, he has served as accompanist for local theater groups playing piano for: Aida, Cabaret, Pajama Game, Mame, John and Jen, and others. His performance credits include: Billy Bigelow in Carousel, Don Basilio in La Nozze di Figaro, Tamino in Die Zauberlöte, Tommy Innocent in The Outcasts of Poker Flats, Fenton in Falstaff, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, and Alfredo in La Traviata. He is very grateful to return to Mansield University to collaborate with such amazing artists in this performance of Carl Orff s Carmina Burana. Future engagements include a guest artist appearance as Roldofo in La Bohème with Opera Experience of the Southeast. Peggy Dettwiler Peggy Dettwiler is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Mansield University in Mansield, Pennsylvania, where she conducts the Concert Choir, Festival Chorus, and Chamber Singers, and teaches choral conducting and methods. Before coming to Mansield, she was a graduate assistant conductor for Donald Neuen at the Eastman School of Music, where she received a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Conducting. She also has a Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Master of Music Degree in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Dr. Dettwiler is past president of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the ACDA and is currently serving as the Pennsylvania representative on the Board of Directors for the National Collegiate Choral Organization.
Dr. Dettwiler has served as a guest conductor throughout the United States, working with singers of all ages from university, public school, church, to community choruses. She has given presentations and clinics at numerous conventions for the American Choral Directors Association and the National Association for Music Educators. Dr. Dettwiler has developed two pedagogical DVDs entitled, Developing a Choral Color Palette and Sing in Style. She received the 2010 Elaine Brown Award for Choral Excellence from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association and was awarded 2nd place both in 2011 and in 2013 for the American Prize in Choral Conducting. She made her debut conducting in Carnegie Hall in January of 2014 and presented an interest session at the World Choral Symposium in Seoul, Korea, in August of 2014. Nancy Boston Nancy Boston, Professor of Piano at Mansield University, earned the Bachelor of Music degree, cum laude, from Lawrence University. She received the MM and DMA Degrees in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory. Dr. Boston has specialized in the performance of music by female composers for the past 20 years, presenting many solo and chamber concerts. Her interest in the ield of women and music has led to lecture presentations of Good Daughters of Music, tracing the emergence of female composers in the United States, at numerous college campuses in the eastern U.S. Dr. Boston has also given lecture/recitals at two conventions for the International Festival of Women Composers. In addition to solo performances throughout the United States, she has appeared in concert in Paris, France, St. Petersburg, Russia, Ernen, Switzerland, New Zealand and Guelph, Canada. She has been an active adjudicator for piano competitions and festivals on the local, state and regional levels. After a concert tour in spring of 2006, she recorded a CD American Women: Modern Voices in Piano Music. Since its release in September, the CD has received glowing reviews. The CD has been featured on classical radio programs, including Classical Discoveries in New Jersey, and Women s History Month on WVYI (PA). Vicki Fensterbush Vicki Fensterbush is a graduate student in the Master of Arts of Choral Conducting program at Mansield University. During this past year, she has conducted several selections with the Women s Choir, Men s Choir, Chamber Singers, Festival Chorus, and Concert Choir. She also received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Mansield University as a piano major in 1993. Ms. Fensterbush has taught all grade levels of music and choirs for the past twenty years. Beginning in 1993, she served on the faculty of the Southern Tioga School District at Mansield Junior-Senior High and North Penn Junior-Senior High Schools. Since 1999, she has been teaching in the Miflin County School District, where, for twelve years, she led various levels of mixed choirs, vocal jazz ensembles, and barbershop quartets, directed several musicals and been host to numerous choral and band festivals for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association in Lewistown Area High School. Due to a consolidation of schools within the district in 2012, her current assignment is Grade Six General Music and Grade Seven Chorus.
FESTIVAL CHORUS The Festival Chorus is a mixed chorus of over 100 voices, which is open to all university students as well as community singers. The group rehearses three hours a week and performs a wide variety of choral styles in the fall semester and major choral works during the spring semester. Large scale performances with orchestra and professional soloists include Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi s Gloria, Orff 's Carmina Burana, Haydn's Creation and Mass in Time of War, Mendelssohn s Elijah, Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem, Mozart s Mass in C Minor, Bach s Mass in B Minor, Honegger's King David, Jenkins The Armed Man: A Mass of Peace, and the Requiems by Brahms, Mozart, Fauré, Rutter, and Verdi. Members of the group also join with the Concert Choir to form separate women s and men s choruses in the fall semester. The Festival Chorus has produced eleven CDs and numerous cassette recordings. Soprano 1 Erin Bemis Arlene Boruchowitz Clarissa Daghita Morgan DuBrey Enaw Elonge Meghan Fuqua Angie Kilyan Sarah Kois Prema Junius Kate Means Justina Sechrist Michelle M. Smith Paige Terwilliger Barbara J. Winters Soprano 2 Shanice Brandon Bobbie Brignola Carolyn Crow Sarah Haley Marjory Harris Jeanne Kagle Alyssa Kennedy Nancy Kepner Sharon Kleindienst Casey Knapp Katy Janower Jessica Lyles Yvonne Maris Lena Monroe Katelyn Muirhead Danielle Murray Melissa Netzband Lindsey Rodbourn Liz Salatino Nicole Smyth Alexis Snyder Tacie Tews Riley Thomas Sarah Ulmer Marcia West Margaret West Alto 1 Jen Bolinger Rose Boone Amanda Clark Maria Cruz Nicole Dgien Ariana Emenheiser Jamie Herman Katie Holdren Erin Kearney Katlyn Kelly Sharon Mummert Kelly Purdy Casaundera Saunders Pingyi Song Marianna Stahl Jenna Townsend Gloria Troost Alyssa Trostle Lacey Vanderpoel Deanna Yoder Alto 2 Elisabeth Bagg Shelby Bartlett Joan Berresford Amanda Coughenour Patricia Darrow Carolyn Farrell Vicki Fensterbush Yiqi Huang Carol Johnson Mattie Joyner Darby Kasper Kathleen Kasper Ashley Morey Ke Mu Zoe Noyes Marissa Pattison Hannah Powers Emily Shosh Patty Spisak Brianna Walker Cheryl Walters Tenor 1 Alex Feliciano Aaron Ferster Seth Hampton Michael Lombardo Ken Means Eli Sauls Dale Scrivener Zachary Sigafoes Richard Weston Tim Wilbourn Tenor 2 Dean Abraham Matthew Anson Austin Boroch Jesse Carr Scott Chamberlain Rob Garrison John Golden Vincenzo Mignano James Scarantino Jake Wilson Bass 1 Geoffrey Baker Sean Bergold Benjamin Bloodgood Brandon Cain Emory Davies Michael Florkowski Nick Goldkranz W. Reece Havrilla Jacob Kerbaugh Malcolm Layaou Andrew Putt Dave Rappleye Mitchell Sensenig Steven Shade Tyler Stauffer Kenneth Unger Mark Weisen Nathan Wilcox Bass 2 Marvin Bunch Keith Day Ryan Heiserman Gavin Herman John Mink Kyle Muldoon Jacob Myers Ryan Stanley Nicholas Wathen Thomas Wierbowski Kaiqi Xu Accompanist Mitchell Sensenig Assistant Vicki Fensterbush, Choral
HAMILTON-GIBSON CHILDREN S CHOIR After teaching for 20 years, Thomas W. Putnam founded and is currently Artistic Director of Hamilton-Gibson Productions a community performing arts program based in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. The group performs stage plays and musicals, workshops in schools, and hosts the Hamilton-Gibson Children s Choirs. The choral program consists of four choirs comprised of singers in grades 2 through 12 from throughout Tioga County. The singers in grades 5 to 12 have nearly completed their goal of singing in all 67 counties in the state of Pennsylvania. Maggie Brennan Elizabeth Buck Grayden Button Jesse Edwards Aidan Fletcher Astrid Hakvaag Sarah Hart Brooke Hulslander Jasmine Iseri Zoe Iseri Sabrina Messineo Simon Messineo Alex Moore Elizabeth Perry Aidan Putnam Daniel Putnam Peter Scolari Isaac Wagner Alan Weed PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE Adam Dodge Michael Iorio Graham Kerick Coleman A. Lidle Chris Medycki Freshman Music Technology Major from Tunkhannock, PA Sophomore Music Performance Major from Lalin, PA Graduate Student in Instrumental Conducting from Windsor Locks, CT Freshman Music Education Major from Hershey, PA Senior Music Business Major from Covington, PA Adam F. Brennan is an active composer, arranger, performer and clinician in band and percussion. He is the Director of The Spirit and The Pride of Pennsylvania - The Mansield University Marching Band, a group for which he writes all of the music. Dr. Brennan conducts the outstanding Concert Wind Ensemble, and works with the Concert Percussion Ensemble, Mexican Marimba Band, and the newly formed MU Steel Pan ensemble. He teaches courses in percussion pedagogy, drill design, and instrumental conducting. Chelsi Reed, recording engineer David B. Wetzel, editing and mixing This recording is funded in part with Student Activity Fees.
CARMINA BURANA Carl Orf (1895-1982) FORTUNA IMPERATRIX MUNDI (Fortune, Empress of the World) 1. Fortuna (O Fortuna) 2:18 2. Fortuna plango vulnera (I lament the wounds that Fortune deals) 2:40 III. COUR D AMOURS (The Courts of Love) 15. Amor volat undique (Love lies everywhere) 3:07 Katherine Wessinger, soprano Hamilton-Gibson Children s Choir 16. Dies, nox et omni (Day, night and all the world) 2:36 17. Stetit puella (There stood a young girl) 1:36 Katherine Wessinger, soprano 18. Circa mea pectora (My breast is illed with sighing) 2:10 19. Si puer cum puellula (If a boy and a girl) :57 Small men s ensemble 20. Veni, veni, venias (Come, come pray come) 1:03 21. In trutina (In the scales) 2:02 Katherine Wessinger, soprano 22. Tempus est iocundum (Pleasant is the season) 2:35 Soprano and baritone Hamilton-Gibson Children s Choir 23. Dulcissime (Sweetest boy) :35 Katherine Wessinger, soprano I. PRIMO VERE (Springtime) 3. Veris leta facies (The joyous face of spring) 3:56 4. Omnia Sol temperat (All things are tempered by the Sun) 2:38 5. Ecce gratum (Behold, the welcome) 2:33 UF DEM ANGER (On the green) 6. Tanz (Dance) 1:47 7. Floret silva nobilis (The noble forest) 3:19 8. Chramer, gip die varwe mir (Salesman! give me colored paint) 3:22 9. Reie (Dance) 4:49 Swaz hi gat umbe (They who here go dancing round) Chume, chum geselle min (Come, come dear heart of mine) Swaz hie gat umbe (They who here go dancing round) 10. Were diu werlt alle min (If the whole world were but mine) :55 II. IN TABERNA (In the tavern) 11. Estuans interius (Seething inside) 2:40 12. Olin lacus colueram (Once on lakes I made my home) 3:20 Derrek Stark, tenor 13. Ego sum abbas (I am the abbot of Cucany) 1:29 14. In taberna quando sumus (When we are in the tavern) 3:08 BLANZIFLOR ET HELENA (Blanzilor and Helena) 24. Ave formosissima (Hail to thee most lovely) 1:37 FORTUNA IMPERATRIX MUNDI (Fortune Empress of the World) 25. Fortuna (O Fortune) 2:40 26. ENCORE: Libiamo né Lieti Calici from La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi 3:38