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A Circle Unbroken
Four Decades of Choral Unity

Kaiserslautern, Schillerplatz Anniversary Stage

08. September 2026

Director: Eric Weddle
Piano: Lothar Bendel

The Choir

Soprano:
Monica Alent, Angela Benra, Ka'lelah Bryant-Tillis, Morgan Cessac, Maria von Emmert,
Marianne von Hagen-Baralt, Ashley Han, Jane Kettering, Haley Maddox, Jo Mitchell,
Anna Pelikan, Alexandra Ramos, Carina Schifferdecker, Gosia Schulze,
Susanne Schwetschke, Jutta Strobel, Nicole Thomas, Kristina Wise, Jennifer Young,
Natalie Werner, Barbara Ziska

Alto:
Jone Ambraziejiene, Hannah Aurand, Luisa Benra, Claudia Cafuk, Malinda Cox,
Konnie Deßloch, Anne Doll, Kathrin Galijasevic, Christine Gauer, Waltraud Herrgen,
Christy Keating, Susi Krueger, Marion Müller, Simone Neifeld, Christine Petry, Sarah Ringer,
Marlies Röpke, Elsie Smith, Noël Sprenkle, Michelle Walker, Kortney Whaley

Tenor:
Daniel Armstrong, Bryan Fox, Christoph Hartmüller, Tyler Kersten, Bruce King,
Kyle La Barre, Spencer Lee, Michael Reed-Price, Scott Thomsen, Robby Wetzler

Bass:
Guillaume Allardice, Alex Benra, Patrick Casey, Michael Cohen, Stefan Deßloch,
Andreas Fordan, Joel Foster, Hans Kauf, Jordan Lamothe, Spencer Lee, Jan Neifeld

Program Order

Solo: Christoph Hartmüller
Percussion: Hannah Aurand

Todd Tozama Matshikiza (1921–1968) was a South African journalist, composer, and jazz pianist. His song “Tshotsholoza,” written during the apartheid era, is often seen as an expression of hope, unity, and resilience and is considered South Africa’s unofficial anthem. Originally sung by miners in the mines, it conveys a longing for home and community, while also serving as a hymn of progress and strength. The song symbolizes moving forward - both literally as a train song and figuratively as an inspiration for social and personal change.

Lyrics translated:
Go forward, go forward on those mountains;
The train is coming from South Africa.
You are running away on those mountains;
The train is coming from South Africa.

The Hungarian dance song “Tambur” was published in 1583 as an instrumental piece by German organist and composer Jacob Paix (1550–1623) in an anthology. The Hungarian conductor, composer, and music educator Lajos Bárdos (1899–1986) created the choral arrangement in 1951. He composed primarily sacred and secular choral works, both for a cappella choirs and for choir and orchestra, and is considered one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Hungarian music.

Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (1792–1868) was one of the most important Italian opera composers; his operas Il barbiere di Siviglia, L’italiana in Algeri, and *La Cenerentola are part of the standard repertoire of opera houses worldwide. Il Carnevale di Venezia is a carnival joke for male voices (two tenors and two basses from Rossini's circle of friends, including Paganini) and guitar accompaniment. The singers pretend to be blind beggars who of course pursue beautiful women. With added piano accompaniment, this later became a popular choral piece. 

Lyrics translated:
Blind we are, born
to feed on courtesy;
on such a merry day,
mercy should not be denied us!

Beautiful women, dear women,
for God's sake, don't be stingy,
show the poor blind
a little charity!

We are all poor little fellows
who, playing bells and swinging clappers,
with do, re, mi, fa, sol, la
ask you for a donation 

Oh, help us, you dear women,
be merciful to us poor people!
We may be poor, but we're good connoisseurs,
ready to take what we're given!
Oh, help us out of mercy,
because the carnival is coming to an end!

John Farmer (c.1570–c.1601) was an important composer of the English madrigal school, also known for his four-part choral settings of ancient church psalms. He served as an organist and choirmaster in Dublin and London.

Fair Phyllis is a jocular four-part madrigal by Farmer that was published in 1599 by William Barley in a collection entitled The First Set of English Madrigals to Four Voices. Farmer dedicated the collection to his patron, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.The text, whose author is unknown, presents a brief mock-pastoral narrative that playfully engages with traditional pastoral themes.

A native of North Carolina, David Eddleman (born1936) has taught at all levels of Music Education and for 24 years he was a Senior Editor at Silver Burdett Ginn, a leading publisher of classroom music materials, where he designed classroom music curricula. Well known, in particular, as a composer of choral music, he has over 700 titles published with a broad spectrum of publishers. "What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?"  was sung to accompany certain work tasks aboard sailing ships, especially those that required a brisk walking pace. It is believed to originate in the early 19th century or earlier, during a period when ships' crews, especially those of military vessels, were large enough to permit hauling a rope whilst simply marching along the deck. It became a popular song around 1900 and was recorded hundreds of times by various artists.

Fueled by a passion for combining tradition and innovation, American composer Michael John Trotta (b.1978) creates music that resonates with modern audiences around the world. From Carnegie Hall to cathedrals and concert halls around the world, he creates “elegant, singable music with a strong, spiritual heft” (Choir and Organ Magazine).

Trotta’s father passed away unexpectedly when he was seven, and music became his solace. He said: “As a singer in choir, and later as a conductor and composer, I fell in love with the choral masterworks of the genre: the gravitas of Brahms, the tenderness of Faure and the juxtaposition of old and new in the Duruflé. When I was commissioned to write a Requiem, I sought to both honour this tradition while at the same time bringing it to modern day listeners.”

Lyrics translated:
Day of wrath and day of judgment,
Earth shall perish in an instant,
as foretold by prophets ancient.

Death and nature both are shaken,
as creation re-awakens,
to its Judge an answer making.

Remember me, merciful Jesus,
let me not perish (that terrible day).
Therefore, Gracious God, spare them (me),
grant eternal rest to them.

Save me!

Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre (b. 1970), is among today’s most popular musicians. A graduate of The Juilliard School, his works are performed worldwide, and his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united well over 100,000 singers from more than 145 countries. Among his recent accolades and awards, Eric received the Richard D. Colburn Award from the Colburn School and an Honorary Doctor of Arts from Chapman University (CA). Eric Whitacre wrote “Sing Gently” for Virtual Choir #6 (featuring more than 17,000 singers). In response to COVID-19 and the isolation and division brought about by the pandemic, Eric wrote the lyrics and music in the hope that “Sing Gently” might offer a little comfort to those who need it and encourage people to treat one another with compassion, gentleness, and kindness.

Ederlezi (also known as Hıdrellez) is St. George's Day, celebrated by many Roma in the Balkans as a spring festival. The text describes how the Roma celebrate the festival, sacrifice lambs (“e bakren čhinen”), and dance. It is a song about community, tradition, and the beginning of spring.

Imre Ploeg (b. 1990) graduated summa cum laude from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague in Music Education. He followed various training courses and courses in choral conducting and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in choral conducting. He is artistic director of Consensus Vocalis, Chamber Choir JIP and Chamber Choir Ilmatar.

Lyrics translated:
Saint-George's Day

All Roma, mommy, are dancing the oro,
are celebrating this day

They give us, daddy, a lamb.
All Roma, daddy, are slaughtering the lambs.

Hey, all Roma, daddy, all Roma, mommy.
Our day, the feast of Saint-George!
They give us, daddy, a lamb.
All Roma, daddy, are slaughtering the lambs.

Hey, the feast of Saint-George! All Roma, mommy!
Hey, all Roma, daddy, all Roma, mommy!
The feast of Saint-George. All Roma, mommy.

Bridge Over Troubled Water, written by Paul Simon (born 1941) and recorded by the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel in 1970, won 5 Grammy awards and is the duo's most successful single. It was originally inspired by a line in the gospel tune "Mary Don't You Weep" by the Swan Silvertones. So it is not surprising that a well-known interpretation by Luther Vandross and Jennifer Holliday in the "All-Star Gospel Session" of 1987 reestablished this original gospel spirit. Kirby Shaw (born in 1941 as well) refers to this gospel version for stylistic authenticity in his 2005 choral arrangement of the song.  Shaw has degrees in Music Education and Choral Composition from San Jose State University and a DMA degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington.  He taught in the Mt. Shasta public schools before joining the faculty at College of the Siskiyous in California where he founded and directed the innovative and highly acclaimed COS Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He also pioneered similar groups at Colorado State University and The University of Missouri - Kansas City, and is now directing The Kirby Shaw Singers in Ashland, Oregon. A composer/arranger with nearly 3000 choral compositions/arrangements in print, Shaw's music is sung around the world and has sold over 20 million copies. 

The Spiritual (Negro/African American spiritual) is a genre of Christian music that emerged from the17th-century American slavery, merging sub-Saharan African cultural traditions with the traumatic, lived experience of bondage. It is a deeply emotional, often improvised, oral tradition of sacred songs that served as coded messages of protest, survival, and faith.

Like most Spirituals, the original author of “Soon Ah Will Be Done” is unknown. William L. Dawson set it for mixed voices in 1934, the same year that his extensive “Negro Folk Symphony” was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York.  Later versions of “Soon…” have been released in a slower, bluesy style, including a highly regarded 1959 version by the renowned gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. Sinead O’Connor, the late Irish singer, upon releasing her version of the song in 2020, commented: “It's written that the world will become the Garden of Eden which it was intended to be, and that to me is what the song is saying."

Trio: Haley Maddox, Gosia Schulze, Kortney Whaley

The hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” first appeared in the 1908 Alexander’s Gospel Songs, with words by Ada Ruth Habershon and music by Charles H. Gabriel. The hymn was substantially reworked (and the lyrics of the verses replaced) by A.P. Carter for The Carter Family in 1935 and experienced a popular renaissance when it was released by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1972. The updated lyrics in this arrangement were written by folk singers Betsy Rose, Cathy Winter, and Marcia Taylor, and printed in the marvelous folk song resource Rise Up Singing (ed. Peter Blood, ©1988 Sing Out Corporation).

J. David Moore (b. 1962), American composer and arranger, has written hundreds of arrangements of vocal jazz, spirituals, barbershop quartet, Celtic mouth music, Civil Rights marching songs, early American hymn tunes, sixteenth-century madrigals, and folk music in Ukrainian, Gaelic, Austrian, Brazilian Portuguese, French, and Latin. His own compositions include art song, oratorios, music for percussion ensemble, string quartet, wind ensemble, baroque orchestra, and tuned wine glasses. He has won numerous grants, awards, and residencies from many organizations such as ASCAP, the Jerome Foundation, the American Composers Forum, and was the recipient of the 2001 McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians, along with his a cappella group Dare To Breathe.

Inspired by folk melodies and words, the Ukrainian composer, conductor, ethnomusicologist, and teacher Mykola Leontovich (1877-1921) wrote the first version of this song sometime between 1901 and 1916. It was originally a new year's celebration song, which tells a tale of a swallow flying into a household to proclaim the bountiful year that the family will have.  In 1936, American composer, music educator, and choral conductor Peter J. Wilhousky (1902-1978) rearranged the melody with new lyrics for NBC radio network's symphony orchestra and turned it into the popular Christmas song many people know today.

"Jingle Bells" is one of the most commonly sung Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. Greg Gilpin used  Pierpont's original lyrics and the rythmic pattern of his piece to create a new vibrant setting in minor mode. Greg Gilpin (born 1964) is a celebrated ASCAP award-winning choral composer and arranger and a highly respected choral conductor. He is known throughout the United States leading performances at New York City’s iconic Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as well as Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. His international appearances include the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, Royal Festival Hall in London, England and Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. Mr. Gilpin is also a producer and musician in the recording industry and is Director of Educational Choral Publications for Shawnee Press, a distinguished choral publisher.

Percusssion: Hannah Aurand

Robert T. Gibson is a conductor, clinician, composer/arranger, lecturer, and educator who desires to develop future music educators for the next generation. He is the recipient of the 2020 Missouri Choral Director Association Opus Award for his arrangement of “We Shall Overcome” and has received various awards for his leadership and dedication to the choral world as well as his leadership in the communities he has served.

"It's All Right" is a 1963 song recorded by The Impressions and written by the group's lead singer, Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999).  Jon Batiste's cover in Disney/Pixar's "Soul" brought this early Curtis Mayfield song to a whole new generation. Built on a soulful groove, jazzy twists, and a feel-good vibe, this choral arrangement is based on the Batiste version from the film.