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Welcome

Welcome to Passion and Resurrection, a major event in the lives of both Chor Leoni and Elektra this season. We particularly wanted to put the two choirs together in the first year of Chor Leoni’s new leadership, and chose a program that features us together as a mixed choir for the whole evening.

Tonight’s program is focused around major, contemporary works by David Lang and Ēriks Ešenvalds on the subject of the passion and resurrection. In their vastly different styles, both pay tribute to the passions of Johann Sebastian Bach. In the sparse and mesmerizing minimalist style of David Lang, you will hear storytelling (homage to Bach’s Evangelists) as small ensembles sing the familiar and sobering story of The Little Match Girl. The choir represents the people on the street, or the congregation, commenting and reflecting. A backdrop of urban landscapes sets the scene. Similarly in the Ešenvalds, the soprano soloist takes the very personal roles of the two Marys, and the choir is both participant and observer. Pervading both works is a sense of tension and inevitability as their well-known stories unfold.

Many people have poured their hearts and souls into this collaboration and what we bring you tonight is the result of their hard work and commitment. Our sincere thanks to the staffs, boards, and volunteers of both choirs, to our singers in their many roles, to Rachel Fenlon and the instrumentalists on stage, and to the Vancouver Foundation for supporting this project.

Thank you for being with us.

Morna EdmundsonArtistic DirectorElektra Women’s Choir

Martha Lou Henley Charitable Foundation

Erick Lichte Artistic Director Chor Leoni Men’s Choir

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Passion and Resurrection

April 12, 2014 | Chan Centre for the Performing Arts UBC | Vancouver, British Columbia

Chor Leoni Men’s Choir | Erick Lichte, Artistic Director

Elektra Women’s Choir | Morna Edmundson, Artistic Director

With soprano Rachel Fenlon

Programme

the little match girl passion .............................................................................................. David Lang

by arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc. publisher and copyright owner

Come, DaughterIt Was Terribly ColdDearest HeartIn an Old ApronPenance and RemorseLights Were ShiningPatience, Patience!Ah! PerhapsHave Mercy, My GodShe Lighted Another MatchFrom the Sixth HourShe Again Rubbed a MatchWhen It Is Time For Me to GoIn the Dawn of MorningWe Sit and Cry

Small ensemble singers/soloists: Stephen Baker, Rick Bennett, Paul Birch, Stash Bylicki, Stephanie Ching, James Emery, Grace Fatkin, Byron Hanson, Kyle Harland, Barry Honda,

Peter Joosten, Danica Kell, Shelley Koke, Rod Locke, Greg Martin, Caitlin Robinson,Stephanie Schollen, Nick Sommer, Stella Tung, Nicholas van der Velden, Carol Westdal, John Wyness

Percussion: Michael Soderling with Corey Hollett, Sheila Little, and Greg Martin

Photography: Shannon Lythgoe

Amazing Grace ............................................................................hymn, arranged Ēriks EšenvaldsSoloist: Rachel Fenlon

Intermission

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The Keeping of the Soul .....................................................................................Jay Gordon Canadian premiere

Soloists: Danica Kell, Stephen Baker, Nick Sommer, Byron Hanson

Passion and Resurrection ..................................................................................Ēriks EšenvaldsSoloist: Rachel Fenlon

I: Parce mihi, DomineII: My Soul is Very SorrowfulIII: At Thy Mystic SupperIV: O dulce lignum

String Orchestra 1st Violin: Patricia Shih, Mary Sokol-Brown

2nd Violin: Yuel Yawney, Dominic WooViola: Nikita Pogrebnoy, Henry Lee

Cello: Bo Peng, Peter CatonBass: Wilmer Fawcett, Leanna Wong

Rehearsal pianists: Ken Cormier and Stephen Smith

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Programme Notes

the little match girl passion (for chorus) – by David Lang

I wanted to tell a story. A particular story — in fact, the story of The Little Match Girl by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The original is ostensibly for children, and it has that shocking combination of danger and morality that many famous children’s stories do. A poor young girl, whose father beats her, tries unsuccessfully to sell matches on the street, is ignored, and freezes to death. Through it all she somehow retains her Christian purity of spirit, but it is not a pretty story.

What drew me to The Little Match Girl is that the strength of the story lies not in its plot but in the fact that all its parts—the horror and the beauty—are constantly suffused with their opposites. The girl’s bitter present is locked together with the sweetness of her past memories; her poverty is always suffused with her hopefulness. There is a kind of naive equilibrium between suffering and hope.

There are many ways to tell this story. One could convincingly tell it as a story about faith or as an allegory about poverty. What has always interested me, however, is that Andersen tells this story as a kind of parable, drawing a religious and moral equivalency between the suffering of the poor girl and the suffering of Jesus. The girl suffers, is scorned by the crowd, dies, and is transfigured. I started wondering what secrets could be unlocked from this story if one took its Christian nature to its conclusion and unfolded it, as Christian composers have traditionally done in musical settings of the Passion of Jesus.

The most interesting thing about how the Passion story is told is that it can include texts other than the story itself. These texts are the reactions of the crowd, penitential thoughts, statements of general sorrow, shock, or remorse. These are devotional guideposts, the markers for our own responses to the story, and they have the effect of making the audience more than spectators to the sorrowful events onstage. These responses can have a huge range—in Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, these extra texts range from famous chorales that his congregation was expected to sing along with to completely invented characters, such as the ‘’Daughter of Zion’’ and the ‘’Chorus of Believers.’’ The Passion format—the telling of a story while simultaneously commenting upon it—has the effect of placing us in the middle of the action, and it gives the narrative a powerful inevitability.

My piece is called The Little Match Girl Passion and it sets Hans Christian Andersen’s story The Little Match Girl in the format of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, interspersing Andersen’s narrative with my versions of the crowd and character responses from Bach’s Passion. The text is by me, after texts by Hans Christian Andersen, H. P. Paulli (the first translator of the story into English, in 1872), Picander (the nom de plume of Christian Friedrich Henrici, the librettist of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion), and the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. The word ‘’passion’’ comes from the Latin word for suffering. There is no Bach in my piece and there is no Jesus—rather the suffering of the Little Match Girl has been substituted for Jesus’s, elevating (I hope) her sorrow to a higher plane.

~ David Lang

Passion & Resurrection – by Ēriks Ešenvalds

Passion and Resurrection was written in 2005 and premiered by the State Choir Latvija. Eschewing the single narrative perspective that characterizes the great Passion settings of the past, the composer has assembled an interlocking mosaic of texts from the gospels, from Byzantine and Roman liturgies, and from the Old Testament. The result (though given a seamless continuity by the music) is fragmentary—a series of snapshots, the tale told elliptically (if directly), combining action and reflection in equal measure; linear chronology is not always strictly

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observed, and the story begins with a fallen woman acknowledging the divinity of Jesus, and ends with Mary Magdalene (who may be that same fallen woman) recognizing the risen Christ.

This circularity (and there are similar echoes and pre-echoes within the narrative) serves to emphasize that these are not historical events but are occurring in an eternal present, just as the passion and resurrection of Christ are re-enacted and re-experienced by Christians every week.

There are no designated characters in the piece: the chorus voices the words of Jesus and reports on events. The prominent solo soprano is a distinctively Marian and maternal presence, as the woman who anoints Christ’s feet, as the visionary Mary Magdalene, and as a tenderly sympathetic observer of Jesus and his mother’s suffering. The string ensemble by turns amplifies the choral textures, offers a static underpinning with sustained drones, and subtly undercuts the vocal message with ironic counterpoints of its own.

The work is in four parts, each prefaced by lines from scripture, which play without a break. Part I opens with four solo voices singing a setting of “Parce mihi” by the sixteenth-century Spaniard Cristóbal de Morales; seemingly preludial, this objet trouvé is soon established as an important other-worldly presence as gently dissonant string chords are laid over it, and the solo quartet returns subsequently with Morales-derived material, always a hauntingly alien feature in the musical landscape. The soprano recitative that follows is both lamenting and ecstatic, supported by long-drawn string textures which reveal the distinctive harmonic tincture of the work—fluidly modal, flecked with chromaticism, and inclined to downwards semitonal step-movement in the bass. The choral benediction that ends this section has a beatific calm, though as it dissolves into whispers uncertainty returns with an uneasily transparent string chorale.

Part II begins with open-fifth drones in the lower instruments, anchoring the restless lament of the choir in a static D minor, sardonic violin figures offering their own dissident commentary. As the drama intensifies, the sense of foreboding increases, with downward harmonic shifts and greater chromatic density. There is a pounding muscularity to this account of Jesus’s humiliation which culminates in hammered shouts of ‘crucify’, haloed by a shrieking string texture ‘imitating extremely nervous clamours of seagulls’ (the composer instructs). After a fortissimo call for forgiveness, ‘they know not what they do’, subject to multiple repetitions, the solo quartet returns, their tonal certainties anointed with healing balm from the soprano, though as the chorus murmurs a Latin version of the quartet’s words, instability returns as the strings tell a different harmonic story.

Part III has a simple rondo structure. Over an ‘eternal’ pedal C, the soloist offers up an extended meditation, ambiguous in modality and embellished with grace notes and glissandi, while a single violin provides an agitated, flickering descant. Twice the soloist is answered by the choir with luminous diatonic clarity, as two lone sopranos soar to seraphic heights; the second time around this blissful resignation erupts into anguished cries and the final grieving is shared by the soloist and the choir, the strings adding to the desolation with subtle enrichments of the voicing. Again, the solo quartet has the last word, as Jesus gives up his spirit.

The melismatic, rapturous unaccompanied solo that opens Part IV is echoed by hushed choral chanting, cushioned by strings. The landscape is bare, as sighing pairs of chords haltingly descend over an inner pedal. The dazzling moment when ‘the Lord is risen’ is exultant and brief; there is a hiatus of uncertainty before the act of recognition that is the crux of the matter is heralded by the solo quartet. Their rapt repetitions of ‘Mariam’ draw in the choir, hesitant at first yet ultimately glowing as they settle into a gentle oscillation of two chords; the voice of Mary Magdalene soars above them with quiet radiance. Over and over again they call to each other, hypnotic and serene, as a luminescent string chorale slowly ascends to the heights.

~ notes by Gabriel Jackson

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With a mandate to inspire and lead in the choral art form through excellence in performance and through the creation, exploration and celebration of women’s repertoire, Vancouver’s renowned Elektra Women’s Choir maintains a leadership role in the international classical women’s choir movement. Finding, commissioning, and disseminating quality repertoire for women’s choirs is at the core of the choir’s activities, focused around a three-concert subscription series in which the choir welcomes prominent and emerging performers to present concerts that are among Vancouver’s top choral events each year. Commissioning has always been a priority for Elektra, and in its 27-year history the choir has brought to life nearly 70 new Canadian works, some of which are now performed by choirs the world over.

Elektra has a rich history of awards and national and international appearances, including representing Canada at the World Symposium on Choral Music in Sydney, Australia, and multiple appearances at conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, and the Association of Canadian Choral Communities. As well, the choir has toured throughout Western Canada and was an invited guest to Festival 500 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. In 2015, Elektra will host its third Tapestry International: a Celebration of Women’s Choirs, in Vancouver.

Elektra offers a series of outreach programs annually, with strong emphasis on encouraging and developing the skills of youth. These include the Mira Mentorship Program for High School Students, a Choral Leadership for Young Women workshop, a conductor Mentorship Program, Reading Sessions of New Works, and Singing workshops for women of all ages.

The choir has released eleven CDs and several single track recordings all readily available through cdBaby.com, iTunes, and www.elektra.ca. The choir’s recordings are in constant demand locally, nationally, and internationally.

Elektra was founded in 1987 by co-conductors Morna Edmundson and the late Diane Loomer, C.M.The choir is currently conducted by Morna Edmundson. Elektra is honoured to work with an outstanding accompanist and composer, Dr. Stephen Smith.

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Morna Edmundson, Artistic Director, Elektra Women’s Choir

Morna Edmundson is one of Canada’s best-known choral conductors, with special interests in the areas of tone colour, language, and interpretation. Ms. Edmundson is best known for her 27 years of accomplishment as Co-Founder and Co-Conductor of Elektra Women’s choir, with which she has received numerous honours and awards. At the end of the 2008/2009 season, Morna was appointed Artistic Director of Elektra.

Morna previously served as Associate Director of Coastal Sound Music Academy and was also the Music Director of the mixed-voice Youth

Chamber Choir. She has adjudicated in North America, Europe, and Asia and has conducted honour choirs in several states, co-directed the ACDA National Women’s Honor Choir, and gives frequent workshops with choirs of all ages. Ms Edmundson has given lectures on her work at local, national, and international meetings of choral professionals. For six years she served on the Board of the Directors of the International Federation for Choral Music. In May 2000 she was presented with the Healey Willan Award for outstanding service to the BC Choral Federation, an organization she serves as a member of the President’s Advisory Council.

In February 2009 Morna was a recipient of the BC Community Achievement Award, which recognized her gifted organizational talent, leadership by example, and Morna’s encouragement of others to pursue their musical and choral goals. In 2010 she was proud to receive the prestigious YWCA Metro Vancouver Woman of Distinction Award for Arts & Culture given for her outstanding achievements which contribute to the well-being and future of our community. Morna is also an accomplished arts administrator and cultural leader in Vancouver. Morna was elected to the Board of Chorus America in spring of 2013.

Ms. Edmundson holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of British Columbia, a Diploma in Choir Pedagogy from the Stockholm Conservatory where her teachers included Eric Ericson, and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Western Washington University.

Members of Elektra Women’s Choir

Soprano 1: Grace Fatkin, Susanna Henderson, Danica Kell, Shannon Lythgoe, Ashley McConnell, Janine Magaw, Christy Mahlberg, Allison Penner*,

Rachael Nelson, Jillian Schina, Alessia Todde

Soprano 2: Tanya Battaglia, Joanna Bevaart, Marisa Gaetanne, Catherine Haebler, Shelley Koke, Catherine Lee, Oksana Legebokoff, Katrin Lohuaru,

Katie Longworth, Susan Ohannesian, Sharon Schermbrucker, Kathryn Slemko, Allison Tremblay*, Moyra Van Nus, Carol Westdal

Alto 1: Beth Busby, Fiona Chan, Alia Chua, Susan Edwards, Sheila Little, Stephanie Loo*, Rosemary Speakman, Joscelyn Tan, Stella Tung, Alison Stilwell

Alto 2: Stephanie Ching, Rosalyn Clark, Elisabeth Finch, Corinne Norbraten*, Denise O’Brien, Kelly Proznick, Caitlin Robinson, Deirdre Rogers,

Carmen Rosen, Stephanie Schollen, Bernice Slemko

* Section Leaders

Honorary Patrons: Nancy Argenta, Jane Coop, C.M., Martha Lou Henley, C.M.,Dr. Richard Loomer, Shelagh Rogers, O.C., Bramwell Tovey, O.C., O.M.

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Known internationally and loved locally, Chor Leoni Men’s Choir is recognized as one of the vanguard male vocal ensembles in North America. With stylistic grace and an adventurous spirit, Vancouver’s Singing Lions have enriched and transformed people’s lives through singing for over twenty years. Chor Leoni performs in many languages and styles and genres, always aiming to communicate, engage, and entertain.

The ensemble has been honoured with many awards at the national and international level including five 1st place awards in the CBC National Radio Competition for Amateur Choirs. In July 2012, Chor Leoni won a dozen awards at the 51st Concorso Internazionale di Canto Corale “Seghizzi” (Italy), including 1st place trophies in the 19th and 20th Century categories, two Audience Favourite awards, and second place in the competition’s overall Grand Prix. Chor Leoni prides itself on its musical ambassadorship for Vancouver and Canada and has performed at major music festivals and concert venues across Canada and the United States. Internationally, the choir has shared its music in Italy, Croatia, Bosnia, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

Chor Leoni has been a champion of new music and has commissioned hundreds of pieces for male choir, ranging from pop and folksong arrangements to modern works. The ensemble has commissioned works by notable composers such as Robert Sund, Stephen Chatman, Bruce Sled, Malcolm Forsyth, Jocelyn Morlock, R. Murray Schafer, Bob Chilcott, Steven Smith, and Peter Togni among others.

Believing in the transformative power of male singing, Chor Leoni annually engages young male singers in two successful education programs. PROMYS (PROgram for Mentoring Young Singers) invites some of the most talented male singers from the Lower Mainland to join with Chor Leoni in rehearsals and performances and MYVoice (Mobilizing Young men’s Voices) provides an opportunity for teenage boys to come together in all-male choirs to find their changed voices, develop their confidence, and nurture their interest and commitment to music and culture.

Chor Leoni was founded in 1992 by Diane Loomer, C.M. and is currently conducted by Erick Lichte.

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Erick Lichte, Artistic Director, Chor Leoni Men’s Choir

Erick Lichte has carved out a distinct niche in the vocal music world and concert life of North America. The Washington Post has hailed the “audacity” of his programming, the Chicago Tribune has noted the “meticulous preparation” of his choirs and Fanfare Magazine declared that he created and helmed “the premier men’s vocal ensemble in the United States.”

As a founding member, singer and Artistic Director of the male vocal ensemble Cantus, Lichte created and sustained one of only two full-time vocal ensembles in the United States. From 2000-2009, Lichte’s programming and artistic direction were heard in over sixty concerts a year and he has collaborated with artists

such as Bobby McFerrin, the Boston Pops, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Doc Severinsen, and the Minnesota Orchestra. His work with Cantus garnered the 2009 Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the highest honour from the professional choral organization Chorus America.

As a choral conductor, Lichte has served as conductor for many professional, educational, and amateur choral ensembles. In January of 2013, he began his tenure as Artistic Director of Chor Leoni Men’s Choir based in Vancouver, BC. Lichte is an active clinician and guest conductor, and is especially passionate in his work to get young men singing. Lichte is a published composer and arranger, especially known for his writing in All is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914 which has been taken on five North American tours and will, this year, be presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Members of Chor Leoni

First Tenors: Pete Chamberlain, Stephen Cropper, Corey Hollett, Ken Hollett, Shaun Jackman, Tom Kidd, Mark MacDonald*, Jason McArthur, Cliff Reinhardt,

Hyo Shim, Gareth Simpson, Nick Sommer, Peter Spira, William Ting

Second Tenors: Stephen Baker, James Carter, Kevin Chiang, Byron Hanson*, Kyle Harland, Bruce Hoffman, Ray Horst, Liam Kearns, Jim Knight, Rod Locke,

Ben Scoten, Keith Sinclair, Ted Steiner, John Wyness

Baritones: Joseph Anthony, Nate Chan, Ryan Cho, Rob Folley, Noel Hollett, Philip Jack, Mike Jackman, Peter Joosten, Paul Larocque, David Love,

Greg Martin*, Rob McAllister, Greg Mohr, Daniel Sheinin

Basses: Douglas Au-Lange, Rick Bennett, Paul Birch, Stash Bylicki, Steve Castle,Garth Edwards, James Emery, Ed Friesen, Michael Hall, Barry Honda,

Eric Kristensen, Chris Moore, Bob Rankin, Michael Soderling*, Nicholas van der Velden

*Section Leaders

Honorary Lifetime Members: Christopher Gaze, O.B.C., M.S.M., Martha Lou Henley, C.M.

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Rachel Fenlon, soprano

Described as a “classic ingénue, trilling into the vocal stratosphere on demand” (The Vancouver Sun), soprano Rachel Fenlon is a rising young Canadian star on the classical singing scene. Rachel grew up in Victoria, BC, and is a graduate from the University of British Columbia, where she received her Master’s degree in opera performance, with additional training from Vancouver Opera’s Young Artist Coaching Intensive, the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy (COSI), the Vancouver International Song Institute, and the European Music Academy in the Czech Republic. She is an alumna of Vancouver Opera’s 2012 Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Program. “This young artist’s vocal skills should

take her anywhere she wants to go. From a slight frame, she produces beauty and controlled power, with a fine acting ability.” (Opera Canada)

Rachel’s recent operatic performances include Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Vancouver Opera; Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Vancouver Opera, UBC, the European Music Academy, and the Westben Arts Festival; Adina in L’elisir d’amore (COSI); and Mimi in La Bohème with Opera and Arias at Bard on the Beach.

Ms. Fenlon has been featured as a soloist with the Victoria Symphony, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Northern Czech Philharmonic, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Vancouver Bach Choir, the Toronto Summer Music Festival, and City Opera Vancouver. Her solo oratorio credits include Handel’s Messiah, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Bach’s Magnificat, and Beethoven’s Mass in C, as well as a concert performance of Lisa in Lehár’s Das Land des Lächelns with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Eternal LightMozart and Lauridsen8pm Friday, April 18, 2014Orpheum Theatre

Shannon Mercer, soprano | Anita Krause, altoCarman J. Price, tenor | Wim Vermeulen, bassVancouver Chamber Choir | Pacifica SingersVancouver Chamber OrchestraJon Washburn, conductor

Enter into the Eternal Light of great choral music in this Good Friday concert in the Orpheum - Mozart’svenerable masterpiece, Requiem, and the modernlyricism of Morten Lauridsen’s beautiful Lux Aeterna -with the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Pacifica Singers,soloists and orchestra.

www.vancouverchamberchoir.com1-855-985-ARTS (2787)

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Ēriks Ešenvalds, composer

Ēriks Ešenvalds is one of the most sought-after choral composers working today, with performances on every continent. Born in Riga in 1977, he studied at the Latvian Baptist Theological Seminary (1995-97) before obtaining his Masters degree in composition (2004) from the Latvian Academy of Music under the tutelage of Selga Mence.

From 2002-2011 he was a member of the State Choir “Latvija”, during which time he began to compose professionally. In 2011 he was awarded the two year position of Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge University. Ēriks Ešenvalds has won multiple awards for his work, including the Latvian Great Music Prize (2005 & 2007). The International Rostrum of Composers awarded him first prize in 2006 for The Legend of the Walled-in Woman; he was made a laureate of the Copyright Award in 2006 and was “The Year’s New-Composer Discovery” of the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2010, the same year he was nominated for the British Composer Award. In 2011 the Kamer Youth Choir’s CD O Salutaris featuring choral music exclusively by Ēriks Ešenvalds won the Latvian Music Records Award as the best academic music album of the year.

Ēriks Ešenvalds’s compositions have been premiered by ensembles including the Britten Sinfonia, the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge, the Choir of Merton College Oxford, the Latvian Radio Choir, the State Choir “Latvija”, the Kamer Youth Choir, Sinfonietta Riga, the Bavarian Radio Choir, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands National Children’s Choir, Salt Lake Vocal Artists, The Crossing, Portland State University Chamber Choir, the Choir of the West at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, The University of Louisville Cardinal Singers, and the latest, entitled City Songs, by the Holst Singers and Imogen Heap at the 2013 “Voices Now” Festival in London. In 2007 the Latvian National Opera staged his first opera Joseph is a Fruitful Bough.

His music has been performed at numerous international festivals including Klangsparen in Austria, the Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, Tenso Days in France, the Haarlem Choir Biennale in the Netherlands, Voices Now in the UK, the World Choir Games in China, ACDA National Conference and the Spoleto Festival in the USA, and at concerts all over the world.

Two new vocal arrangements will be recorded and released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2014.

David Lang, composer

Musical America’s 2013 Composer of the Year and recipient of Carnegie Hall’s Debs Composer’s Chair for 2013-2014, David Lang is one of America’s most performed composers. Many of his works resemble each other only in the fierce intelligence and clarity of vision that inform their structures. His catalogue is extensive, and his opera, orchestra, chamber and solo works are by turns ominous, ethereal, urgent, hypnotic, unsettling and very emotionally direct. Much of his work seeks to expand the definition of virtuosity in music — even the deceptively simple pieces can be fiendishly difficult to play and require incredible concentration by musicians and audiences alike.

the little match girl passion, commissioned by Carnegie Hall for Paul Hillier’s vocal ensemble Theater of Voices, was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for music. Of the piece, Pulitzer-juror and Washington Post columnist Tim Page said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been so moved by a new, and largely unheralded, composition as I was by David Lang’s the little match girl passion, which is unlike any music I know.”

“There is no name yet for this kind of music,” wrote Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed of Lang’s work, but its time has arrived and his works are being heard around the globe in performances by the BBC Symphony, the International Contemporary Ensemble, eighth blackbird, Santa Fe Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, the Boston Symphony, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, and the Kronos Quartet; at Tanglewood, the BBC Proms, MusicNOW festival, The Munich Biennale, the Settembre Musica Festival, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival and the Almeida, Holland, Berlin, Adelaide and Strasbourg Festivals; in theater productions in New York, San Francisco and London; alongside the choreography of Benjamin Millepied, Twyla Tharp, La La La Human Steps, The Netherlands Dance Theater, Susan Marshall and the Paris Opera Ballet; and at Lincoln Center, the Southbank Centre, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Barbican Centre, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

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Lang is co-founder and co-artistic director of New York’s legendary music collective Bang on a Can. His work has been recorded on the Sony Classical, Harmonia Mundi, Teldec, BMG, Point, Chandos, Argo/Decca, and Cantaloupe labels, among others.

The choirs would like to thank the individual sponsors and volunteers from each organization that have helped make this concert possible.

Alia Chua, David Carpenter, Gerald Harder (St. James Anglican Church), Ēriks Ešenvalds, Catherine and Roland Haebler, Kevin Fatkin, Don Harder,

Roz Hollett, David Lang (permission for use of photography), Shannon Lythgoe, Rob McAllister, Paul Nash, Bryn Nixon, Denise O’Brien,

Ryerson United Church, Ron Slemko, Michael Soderling, UBC School of Music, Valerie Weeks, Sue Wyness, Willi Zwozdesky

Chor Leoni Board of Directors

President: James EmeryVice President: Ted Chiasson

Treasurer: Marni JohnsonSecretary: Rod Locke

Members at Large:Bob Baker, Lawrence Burr, Stash Bylicki, James Carter, Paul Larocque, Rob McAllister

Administration: Erick Lichte, Artistic Director

Bruce Hoffman, Manager of Marketing, Publicity & Patron RelationsDavid Carpenter, Production Manager

Honorary Patrons:Judith Forst, O.C.,O.B.C., Martha Lou Henley, C.M., Brett Polegato,

Robert Sund, Bramwell Tovey, O.C.

Elektra Women’s Choir Board of Directors:

President: Holly KennedyVice President: Alessia Todde

Treasurer: Jenny Li Secretary: Stella Tung

Directors: Susanna Henderson, Stephanie Loo, Allison Penner

Administration: Morna Edmundson, Artistic DirectorBernice Slemko, General Manager

Shannon Lythgoe, Marketing DirectorSusan Ohannesian, Librarian

Honorary Patrons: Nancy Argenta, Jane Coop, C.M., Martha Lou Henley, C.M.,

Dr. Richard Loomer, Shelagh Rogers, O.C., Bramwell Tovey, O.C.

Did you enjoy this performance? We would love to hear from you!

info@chorleoni.orgmanager@elektra.ca

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Diane Loomer Commissioning Funds for Chor Leoni Men’s Choir and Elektra Women’s Choir

Both Elektra and Chor Leoni have established commissioning funds in honour of the late Diane Loomer, C.M. We are thankful to each donor who has generously supported these endeavours.

If you would like further information, please contact the choirs’ offices:

Elektra 604.739.1255 | Chor Leoni 604.263.7061

Chor Leoni Donors

Chor Leoni names its giving levels after the stars of the constellation Leo, the Lion. Thank you to all of our benefactors and friends. Your generosity helps us shine!

This list acknowledges donations received up to March 15, 2014. If you detect any errors or omissions, please call the choir office at 604.263.7061.

Regulus ($5,000+): Alix Brown, Pete Chamberlain*, Estate of Diane Loomer, Dick Loomer, Martha Lou Henley Charitable Foundation, Jeff Mooney & Suzanne Bolton, Peter & Joanne Brown Foundation, Royal Bank of Canada Foundation, Carole Taylor

Nova ($1750 to $4,999): Rick* & Lorraine Bennett, Stephanie Carlson, James & Leslie Carter, Richard & Valerie Dunsterville, Hager (Bob & Judy) Family Fund, Joan Henderson, Marni Johnson & Gordon Roberts, Larry & Sherry Killam, Erick & Beverly Watt

Denebola ($450 - $1749): Bob & Anne Andrew, Larry & Maggie Burr, Joyce Campkin, Vincent Carey & Ed Friesen* – in loving memory of Diane Loomer and thanksgiving for Erick Lichte, Ted & Dorothy Chiasson, Ryan Christison, Margaret & Elie Debanne, Moh and Yolanda Faris, Carol & Richard Henriquez, Iredale Group Architecture, Elsie Jang, Liam Kearns*, Tom Kidd*, Grace MacDonald, Robert Manley, Les Nerling* & Ellen Giesbrecht, Joan McLeod, Bob* & Margaret Rankin, RBC Day of Service Coordinator, Janine Reid, Ian & Jane Strang, Jamie & Claire Wright

Rasalas ($25 to $449): Judith Allen, Sue Anderlini, Joan Anderson, Joseph Anthony*, Joan Apel, Gordon & Minke Armstrong, Douglas Au-Lange*, Dennis and Holly Back, Jordan Back*, Laura & Paul Baker, Stephen Baker*, Patricia Bice, Paul Birch*, Noreen Boyer, Dick & Val Bradshaw, John & Ruth Brock, Stash Bylicki*, Marnie Carter, Ken & Elaine Carty, Steve Castle*, Mike Cavaletto* & Jason McArthur*, Nate Chan*, Kevin Chiang*, Ryan Cho*, Gretchen Cleveland, Stuart & Meg Clyne, Burke & Hanneke Corbet, Ken Cormier*, Celine & John Cripps, Russell Cripps*, Tony & Jane Davies, Bill Denault, Bernard & Brenda Dewonck, Valerie A Duma, Rob Easton*, Garth Edwards*, Ian Farthing, Chris & Suzanne Finch, Richard Floyd & Verian Farnsworth, Christopher Gaze, Sally & Michael Geller, Rusty & Lindy Goepel, Norma Goldie, June & Paddy Gooderham, Doug Graeb*, Gillian Grassett, Hilda Gregory, Judy Hager, Michael Hall*, Kyle Harland*, Martha Hazevoet, Peter & Joan Hebb, Bruce Hoffman*, Corey Hollett*, Ken* & Roz Hollett, Noel Hollett*, Barry Honda*, Ray Horst*, Patti & Dave Howard, Don & Pat Hudson, Jean Hurst, Heather Ireland, Phil Jack*, Mike Jackman*, Shaun Jackman*, Jim & Ruth Jackson, Patti Janssen, Peter Joosten*, Jacquie Joys, Gary & Louise Kenwood, Linda King, Jim Knight*, Eric Kristensen*, Doug & Beverly Lambert, Bill & Denny Lang, Paul Larocque*, Lynne Lepin, Judith Lerner, Rod Locke*, Sue & Clive Lonsdale, David Love*, Penny & Peter Lusztig, Mark MacDonald*, Rob McAllister* & James Emery*, William Ross McEachern, Gerald & Sheahan McGavin, Nancy McMillin, Greg Magirescu*, Greg Martin*, Rob Mayhew, Peter Mercer & Ginger Shaw, Alan & Mary Lou Miles, Greg Mohr*, Chris Moore*, Christine Nicolas, John & Diane Norton, Michael O’Brian & Inna Vlassev, Jean Oland, Sydney Preston, Miles Ramsay, Cliff Reinhardt*, Peggy Robertson, Clare Saadien, Marion & Andy Shaw, Daniel Sheinin*, Hyo Shim*, Gareth Simpson*, Keith Sinclair*, Michael Soderling*, Nick Sommer*, Peter Spira*, Ted Steiner*, Joan Stewart, Mary-Anne Stowe, Lesley Stowe & Geoffrey Scott, Kerry Strayton, Barbara Sutherland, Elke Swantje, William Ting*, Ken & Patsy Tolmie, Edward Trevor-Smith, Colleen & David Torrison, Susan Wade, Richard & Mavourneen Wadge, Beverly Wallace & Roger Girard, James Wright, John Wyness*

*Indicates current members of Chor Leoni.

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Elektra Donors

Elektra gratefully acknowledges the support of the following generous donors and benefactors. This list is complete up to March 15, 2014. If there are any errors or omissions, please contact the Elektra office at 604.739.1255.

Conductor’s Circle ($5000+): Elisabeth & David Finch, Estate of Katherine Heller, Martha Lou Henley Charitable Foundation, Sheila Little, Dick Loomer, Estate of Diane Loomer, C.M., Telus Community Board, The Vancouver Foundation

Legacy ($1000 to $4999): Rosalyn Clark, Grace Groot, Catherine & Roland Haebler, Shannon Lythgoe, Corinne Norbraten, Erik Norbraten, Garth Norbraten

From the Heart ($750 to $749): Allison Tremblay

Classic Elektra ($250 to $749): Bob & Anne Andrew, Doug Dunsmore, Morna Edmundson, Bruce Hoffman (in Memory of Diane Loomer), Carol & Barry Lasko, Jenny Li, Tom & Corinne Longworth, Diane McConnell, Vivian & Gerry Norbraten, Denise O’Brien & Jim Logan, Susan & Paul Ohannesian, Sandra & Nick Phillips, PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada Foundation, Chris & Patricia Robinson, Bernice & Ron Slemko, Gerald & Ann Soon, Kathleen Speakman & Leslie Uyeda, Team TELUS Cares, Cathryn Wilson & Charlie Ker, Anonymous

Child of Grace (up to $249): Pat Abbot, Anne Marie Aleliunas, Tanya Battaglia, Cheryl Bertoia (in memory of Marilynn Birk), Beth Busby, Fiona Chan, Stephanie Ching, Alia Chua, Carolyn Cooper (in memory of Marilynn Birk), Gloria Davies, Dawn Boudreau Music, Oliver Day, Karen Dionne, Jane Dunlop, Susan Edwards, Grace Fatkin, Marisa Gaetane, Evelyn & Edgar Harden, Susanna Henderson, Sue Hodgkinson (in memory of Marilynn Birk), Danica Kell, Anita Kennedy, Holly Kennedy, Shelley Koke, Miriam Lagus, Carol Lasko (in memory of Marilynn Birk), Catherine Lee, Oksana Legebokoff, Katrin Lohuaru, Katie Longworth & Brendan McAleer, Stephanie Loo, Barbara Lucas (in memory of Marilynn Birk), Kate MacColl, Janine Magaw, Christy Mahlberg, Tina Mak, Maureen Malowany, Rob Mayhew, Ashley McConnell, Janice Moger, Rachel Nelson, Ann Neumann, Allison Penner, Philharmonic Choir of NSO, Sharla Potrie, Kelly Proznick, Lou Ann Reese, Caitlin Robinson, Deirdre Rogers, Carmen Rosen, Don & Ginny Russell, Erika Salas, Sharon Schermbrucker, Jillian Schina, Stephanie Schollen, Adrian Shaw, Kathryn Slemko, Bob & Gwen Smith, Rosemary Speakman, Alison Stillwell, Joscelyn Tan, Alessia Todde, Laurie Townsend, Stella Tung, Moyra Van Nus, Carol Westdal, Anonymous

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THE EARLY EDITION

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Chor Leoni IdolTuesday May 20 | 6:30pmVancouver FanClub, 1050 Granville St

$15 (no minors)

604.684.2787 TicketsTonight.ca

Eight of Chor Leoni's finest singersbattle for karaoke supremacy in thishilarious American Idol-like fundraiserwhere your donations crown the first-ever Chor Leoni Idol. Come for dinner,come for a drink, and vote as often or asmuch as you like. Chor Leoni Idol putsthe "fun" back in fundraiser!

Come experience Elektra's artistry! For more information visit

Saturday, March 14, 20157:30 pM ryerSon united church

Featuring Canada's leading percussionist Beverley Johnston

Featuring A Touch of Brass and Eric Hamber Women's Chorale

elektra.ca

INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNEDLOCALLY LOVEDWE ARE CHOR LEONI

2014/2015 SEASON

ERICK LICHTEA R T I S T I C D I R E C T O R

A Great Service 22nd annual Remembrance Day concertsNovember 8 | New WestminsterNovember 11 | West VancouverNovember 11 | Vancouver

All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914December 19 - 21 | Vancouver Playhouse

VanMan Choral SummitMarch 7 | Chan Centre

The Dream We CarryApril 18 | VancouverApril 19 | West Vancouver

Chor Leoni IdolMay 12 | Vancouver

Manely CanadianJune 22 & 29 | Bard on the Beach

chorleoni.org

On sale May 20!

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Saturday, April 12, 2014Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC

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Saturday, May 10th, 2014 • 7:30 pm

Monday June 23 & 30 | 3pm & 8pmBMO Mainstage tent at Bard on the BeachVanier Park, Vancouver

Matinées: $37 | $15 youth

Evening shows: $37 Tickets available now!

604.739.0559 bardonthebeach.org

Number one hits, showstoppers, and more!Tuesday May 20 | 6:30pm

Vancouver FanClub, 1050 Granville St

$15 (no minors)

604.684.2787TicketsTonight.ca

An American Idol-like fundraiser where you help crown the first Chor Leoni Idol!

Manely #1’sChor Leoni Idol

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