NAfME Northwest Division Conference Performance
Saturday, February 15, 2025
2:00pm Concert Session
Spokane Convention Center 100C, Spokane, Washington
Palouse Choral Society Personnel
Soprano
Susan Beamer
Diamond Beverly-Porter
Fae Bigler
Tiffany Boswell
Deborah Collins
Jane Dostart
Ally Fraser
Ellen Grover-Fricks
Mackenzie Jacobs
Tricia James
Terry Keller
Monique Lillard
Lucinda Meshberg
Emma Price
Lauren Ray
Sara Refsland
Tabitha Reinhardt
Sherol Scott
Victoria Sundin *
Ali Tong
Alisa Toy
MaKenna Wagnon
Janice Willard
Julia Woods
Alto
Sarah Anderson
Destiny Barker
Jennifer Bledsoe
Kerry Darnall
Allison Drennen
Rachel Faulkner
Morgan Fitzgerald
Jill Freuden *
Conny Kirchhoff
Kirsten LaPaglia
Madi Lingle
Leesa Love
Martha Lovett
Holly McCollister
Shelley McGuire
Jennifer Miller
Mac Murphy
Ozlem Oner
Katie Rasmussen
Stephanie Sant
Emma Schmidt
Shelby Shutt
Mere Sleight
Ashley Smith
Lizzie Stedman
Meghan Sullivan
Shelley Tomsovic
Lena Udekwu
Karen Weathermon
Carole Wells
Anneliese Zook
Tenor
Atom Allison
Tyler Barton
Ken Bertapelle
Brent Bertsch
Joe Cook
Kasey Craig
Niko Efstathioy
Darcy Howser
Christina Jones
Dexter Jones *
Luxien Landrus
Robin O’Brien
Dan Pierce
Roland Robinson
Carson Robison
Joseph Scott
Shayler Slothower
Rod Sprague
Kahlin Wacker
Bass
Allen Alstad
Sylvester Bullock
Jacob Clement
J. Kyle Coleman
Brian Collins *
Orion Green
Jordan Hardy
Kevin Hudson
Kent Keller
Alex Lardie
Zach Mayberry
Eric Nilsson
Tim Prather
Parker Smith
Ray Wallace
Kevin Watt
Leonard West
*Section leader
Program Notes, Texts, and Translations
Past Life Melodies
Sarah Hopkins (b. 1958)
Morton Music
“Past Life Melodies” was composed in 1991 by Sarah Hopkins for St. Peters Lutheran College, a high school in Brisbane, Australia. It was commissioned specifically for the St. Peters Chorale compact disc Until I Saw: Contemporary Australian Choral Music. Sarah Hopkins is a renowned and respected Australian composer who has created a very distinguished place for unique music on the world stage.
The materials for “Past Life Melodies” evolved over a period of years, the process commencing well before St. Peters Chorale requested a piece.
The melodic ideas of the work, like those in all of Sarah Hopkins’s music, are simple in structure and reach deep into the soul. The first melody was one which haunted the composer for many years – a melody which came to her at moments of deep emotion.
The second melody reflects her considerable interest in the music of various world cultures, and in this particular case her eight years of residence in Darwin in the north of Australia, where she had much contact with Australian Aboriginal art and music.
The third section of the work utilizes a concept called harmonic-overtone singing, which is as ancient a technique as singing itself. Here the separate harmonic voices weave and dart like “golden threads” above the earthy drone sustained by the main body of the choir.
The richness and subtlety of colors and the earthy hearty quality of the voices, along with an inner rhythm of very simple ideas and materials, offers the listener a communication with the very heart and soul of music itself.
Program Note by Stephen Leek,
Copyright Morton Music
Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down
Paul Caldwell (b. 1963) & Sean Ivory (b. 1969)
Traditional Gospel Refrain with added text by the composers
Earthsongs
Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory regularly collaborate as composers as well as arrangers of folk and world music. Caldwell serves as artistic director of the Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus, and Ivory works as conductor of the Calvin Alumni Choir and Calvin Oratorio Society in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They began collaborating when they worked together with the Grand Rapids Youth Chorus. “Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down” takes its inspiration from a traditional Appalachian refrain that was popular with gospel singers in the early twentieth century. The verses of the tune are newly composed and written in South Carolinian dialect in the speech cadence of Caldwell’s father, who passed away shortly before they wrote the piece. Its message of confidence in an eternal life after challenges on earth can certainly be applied to the death of the composer’s father, but it can also be related directly to civil rights and empowerment for people with disabilities.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
They ain't no grave can keep a sinner underground.
Oh, I will listen for the trumpet sound.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
You know they rolled a stone on Jesus.
And then they tried to bury me.
But then the Holy Ghost, it freed us.
So we could live eternally.
Sister, you better get your ticket if you wanna ride.
In the mornin' when Jesus call my number,
I'll be on the other side.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
They ain't no grave can keep a sinner underground.
Oh, I will listen for the trumpet sound.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
Ain't no grave is gonna hold me.
Ain’t no man is gonna bury me.
Ain’t no serpent gonna trick me.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
I will fly to Jesus in the mornin' when I die.
I know he will take me up to live with him on high.
I will fly with Jesus in the mornin’.
Don't look here. I'll be way up in the sky.
Soon one day he's gonna call me up to heaven for a chariot ride.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
They ain't no grave can keep a sinner underground.
Oh, I will listen for the trumpet sound.
Ain't no grave can hold my body down.
Ain't no grave dug deep enough to hold me.
Ain't no devil been slick enough to trick me.
Ain't no grave digger man enough to bury me.
You can’t hold me down!
Ain’t no grave can hold me down.
You can’t keep me underground.
When the silver trumpet sounds,
Ain’t no grave can hold me down.
Ain’t no grave ever been dug so low.
No grave digger ever been born so strong.
Ain’t no man that can, ain’t no devil can,
Ain’t no grave can hold me.
Ain’t no grave that goes so low,
Ain’t no grave dug low enough down.
Os justi
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Text from Psalm 36:30-31
Choral Public Domain Library
Anton Bruckner was born in 1824 near Linz, Austria, and he began his musical training early in life, becoming a chorister at the monastic church of St. Florian, where he later served as organist before taking a position at the Linz Cathedral. He earned fame as a concert organist but was also a trained composer who earned a diploma from the Vienna Conservatory. His works are carefully constructed and often appeared in multiple different versions before the final drafts. As a devout Catholic, his works were influenced by the traditions of sacred music and exhibit some Renaissance-style characters – but as a contemporary of Wagner, he too displayed the contemporary propensity for long phrases and extended harmonies. "Os Justi" comes from Bruckner's set of Three Graduals, intended to be sung liturgically between the epistle and gospel readings. "Os Justi" features expansive chords with tonal harmony that is extended through chains of suspensions in the tenor part. The middle section of the piece features counterpoint reflective of the Cecilian movement, a Romantic-era propensity for writing in the equal-voiced imitative polyphony of the Renaissance.
Latin Text/English Translation
Os justi meditabitur sapientiam,
The mouth of the righteous offers wisdom:
et lingua ejus loquetur judicium,
and his tongue speaks what is just.
Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius,
The law of his God is in his heart,
et non supplantabuntur gressus ejus. Alleluia.
and his steps will not be impeded. Alleluia.
Bugtong-Bugtong
Words and Music by Ian Gabriel Torres Corpuz (b. 1995)
Premiered by the Palouse Choral Society in November 2024
Manuscript
Ian Gabriel Torres Corpuz is a conductor, composer, and music educator in the Philippines. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music education and choral conducting from Centro Escolar University. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in music education at his alma mater, where he also teaches ear training, ensembles, and music education courses. He is active as a composer with many compositions published through MuzikSea, the largest online publishing resource for Southeast Asian composers. His composition “Bugtong-Bugtong,” the winner of the Palouse Choral Society’s third annual composition contest, centers on the enjoyment of deciphering a riddle. The piece is in ABA form, with the opening and closing sections offering refrains about the process of figuring out a riddle. The B section is aleatoric and includes four riddles spoken above the choir’s continued performance. The upbeat rhythms of the piece are a testament to its lighthearted style.
Tagalog Text/English Translation
Subukin ang talas ng ‘yong isipan
Partake in a mental challenge.
Mag muni-muni ng sagot, palaisipan.
Ponder the solution to the puzzle.
Bugtong-bugtong, subukang sagutin,
Riddle, riddle, strive to answer
Bugtong-bugtong, handa ng laruin
Riddle, riddle, let the game begin
Nilay ng nilay ang malawak na isipan,
The sharp mind delves into deep thought,
Ang bawat pahiwatig iyong pag-aralan,
You must think and examine every possible clue.
Bugtong-bugtong, subukang sagutin,
Riddle, riddle, give it a try.
Bugtong-bugtong, sagot mo’y sambitin
Riddle, riddle, express your answer
Bugtong-bugtong,
Riddle, riddle,
isda ko sa Maribeles,
My fish from Maribeles,
nasa loob and kaliskis.
Its scales are located inside.
Answer: Sili
Answer: Chili Pepper
Bugtong-bugtong,
Riddle, riddle,
langit sa itaas, langit sa ibaba,
A heaven above, and a heaven below,
may tubing sa gitna.
in between, found water.
Answer: Niyog/Buko
Answer: Coconut
Bugtong-bugtong,
Riddle, riddle,
hindi Reyna, hindi rin Prinsesa,
She is not a Queen, neither she is a princess.
ngunit, may suot na korona.
Yet, she wears a crown
Answer: Bayabas
Answer: Guava
Bugtong-bugtong,
Riddle, riddle,
isa lamang ang pasukan,
There’s just only one passageway,
ngunit, may tatlong lagusan.
Yet, there are three exits.
Answer: Damit
Answer: Clothes
Peace I Leave with You
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Text from John 14:27
Choral Public Domain Library
Amy Beach is often regarded as the finest American choral composer of the Romantic era. She was a member of the Second New England School of American composers (the first being led by William Billings in the Classical Era). In her youth, she was recognized as a piano prodigy and performed as soloist with the Boston Symphony at age 18. That same year, she was married and stopped her public performing career until the death of her husband in 1910. She then toured Europe and the United States as a performer. She was a prominent advocate for music, leading both the Music Teachers National Association and Music Educators National Conference (now known as NAfME). She also cofounded the Society of American Women Composers in 1925. “Peace I Leave with You” is the third of her Three Choral Responses, published in 1891.
Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you.
Not as the world giveth give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled.
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