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A Circle Unbroken

Four Decades of Choral Unity

Director: Eric Weddle

Piano: Lothar Bendel

The Choir

Soprano:
Monica Alent, Angela Benra, Ka'lelah Bryant-Tillis, Morgan Cessac, Mariella Collinsworth.
Flora Cordero, Marianne von Hagen-Baralt, Anastasiia Lavrenova, Haley Maddox,
Keysha Martinez, Pauline Olsen, Alexandra Ramos, Gosia Schulze,
Antje Siegers, Jutta Strobel, Nicole Thomas, Kristina Wise, Jennifer Young, Barbara Ziska

Alto:
Jone Ambraziejiene, Hannah Aurand, Luisa Benra, Claudia Cafuk, Malinda Cox,
Konnie Deßloch, Anne Doll, Tess Foster, Kathrin Galijasevic, Christine Gauer,
Waltraud Herrgen, Christy Keating, Susi Krueger, Simone Neifeld,
Christine Petry, Marlies Röpke, Sarah Rose, Kathryn Rose, Susanne Schwetschke,
Madeline Slagley, Elsie Smith, Noël Sprenkle, Michelle Walker,
Thrinh Weinhold, Kortney Whaley

Tenor:
Daniel Armstrong, Bryan Fox, Christoph Hartmüller, Tyler Kersten,
Spencer Lee, Michael Reed-Price, Ian Rose, Robert Rose,
Scott Thomsen, Robby Wetzler

Bass:
Ari Basurto-Olsen, Alex Benra, Patrick Casey, Michael Cohen, Stefan Deßloch,
Andreas Fordan, Joel Foster, Hans Kauf, Jordan Lamothe, 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.

Our performances: 2022, 2023, 2025

Solos: Stefan Deßloch, Christoph Hartmüller
Small Ensemble:
  Morgan Cessac, Kristina Wise - Soprano
  Claudia Cafuk, Konnie Deßloch - Alto
  Dan Armstrong, Christoph Hartmüller - Tenor

Franz Xaver Biebl (1906–2001) served, among other roles, as a lecturer in music theory and choral singing at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and later as choir director in Fürstenfeldbruck and head of the choral department at Bayerischer Rundfunk. A cappella choral music was at the heart of his compositional work.

Originally written in 1959 for a fire department choir, his “Ave Maria” remained largely unknown for many years. Then, in 1970, it was premiered in the United States by the Cornell University Vocal Ensemble - which Biebl had met in Munich during a radio recording as part of a tour of Germany - and soon gained great popularity there, particularly after being included in the repertoire of the professional vocal ensemble Chanticleer. Biebl’s 1985 revision for mixed choir turned his “little song,” as Biebl modestly called it, into one of the most popular choral works of our time.

Lyrics translated:
The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with Thee:
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word.

Hail Mary, ...

And the Word was made flesh. And dwelt amongst us.

Hail Mary, ...

Amen

Our performances: 2014, 2023

Solos: Barbara Ziska, Hannah Aurand, Robby Wetzler, Hans Kauf

Robert Schumann (1810–1856) was one of the most important composers of the Romantic period. He possessed a dual talent for literature and music and described himself as a “poet of sound.” In 1840, he composed one of the most popular choral ballads of the Romantic period, based on a poem by Emanuel Geibel. The colorful, poetic image of the so-called “gypsy” (the common external definition of Sinti and Roma at the time) was heavily influenced by clichés typical of the time and served in many works as the embodiment of Romantic longings such as freedom, closeness to nature, and spontaneity, even wildness.

In this positive sense, we would like our performance to be understood as a document of its time. It is in no way our intention to distract from the crimes committed against Roma and Sinti under National Socialism or to discriminate against this population group in any way.

Lyrics translated:
In the shaded wood, among the beech tree’s boughs
Things stir and rustle and murmur;
The flames flicker, the glow dances
Round coloured forms, round foliage and stone.

It is the gypsies who throng there
With flashing eyes and waving hair,
Suckled alongside the sacred Nile,
Bronzed by Spain’s southern heat.

Around the blazing fire in the burgeoning green
The bold, wild men are stretched,
The women crouch and prepare the meal,
And busily fill the ancient goblet.

And fables and songs sound all around,
Colourful and blooming as the gardens of Spain,
And the old gypsy recites to the listening throng
Her magic spells against famine and danger.

Dark-eyed girls begin the dance;
Torches sparkle in the reddish gleam,
Passionate guitars entice, cymbals sound,
As the dance grows wilder and wilder.

Then, exhausted, they rest from the nightly dance,
The beech trees rustle them to sleep,
And, banished from their native land,
They see in dreams that happy land.

But when the day dawns in the east,
The nocturnal visions fade;
The mule at daybreak paws at the ground,
The figures set off, but who knows where?

Our performances: 2015, 2017

Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978) is a Norwegian pianist and composer whose works are influenced by classical, jazz, folk, and pop music. Ubi Caritas, one of his early choral pieces, is probably his most performed and popular works today. 

Gjeilo describes the inspiration for this piece in the following way (see olagjeilo.com).

“The first time I sang in a choir was in high school; I went to a music high school in Norway and choir was obligatory. I loved it from the start, and the first piece we read through was Maurice Duruflé’s Ubi Caritas, which to me is the perfect a cappella piece. ​So when I set the same text myself a few years later, it was inevitably influenced by his incomparable setting – though while Duruflé used an existing, traditional chant in his incomparable work, I used chant more as a general inspiration.”

Lyrics translated:
Where charity and love are, God is there.
Christ's love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

Our performances: 2013, 2023

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!

Our performances: 2025

Guest Conductor: Dr. Patrick Casey (our choir director 2008-2013)

American composer Morten Lauridsen (b.1943), a National Medal of Arts recipient (2007), was composer-in-residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale (1994–2001) and has been a professor of composition at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music for more than 40 years.

James Rufus Agee (1909–1955) was an American poet, journalist, social activist, screenwriter, and film critic. His poem “Description of Elysium” (first published in 1934) contains the lyrics used in the song. Lauridsen calls Agee’s poem “very pantheistic, the poem, feeling at one with nature, the wondrous awe that one has being within nature.”

Our performances: 2013

Guest Conductor: Dr. Patrick Casey

American composer Frank Ticheli (b. 1958) has been frequently commissioned as a composer for a wide variety of instrumental genres since completing his formal music study in the 1980’s. His largest output has been in symphonic music, yet he has many chamber music titles in his catalog as well. Earth Song (2007) is his third of only eight works exclusively for chorus. This a cappella setting is a poignant cry for peace in a war-torn world. The original text tells a story of music as refuge for humankind’s shortcomings.

Our performances: 2013, 2024

Solo: Robby Wetzler

Stephen Ross and Benjamin Lunstad are vocalists in “Face,” a male band consisting of five men who sing a cappella arrangements, based in Boulder, Colorado. Their music is steeped in folk and rock traditions, and their popularity has taken them across the globe performing for the past two decades. The Parting Glass is a sample from their repertoire, a traditional Irish folk song full of the gratitude and positive energy often found in Irish folk music.

Our performances: 2019

Audrey Snyder (b. 1953) is a professional American composer and arranger. She has received numerous awards and is today regarded as one of the world’s leading choral composers. Her original compositions and arrangements span the entire spectrum of choral music, from medieval and Renaissance transcriptions to contemporary pop. 

James Mercer Langston Hughes (1902–1967) was a poet and American writer associated with the African American artistic movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. His poem “I, Too, Sing America” became an icon of the civil rights movement. 

Our performances: 2022

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.

Our performances: 2017

This classic by the British progressive rock band Procol Harum was one of the band’s biggest hits, alongside “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” Gary Brooker (1945–2022), the band’s musical mastermind, later expanded the song to include additional Latin lyrics and a choral arrangement for a backing choir. This version can be heard on the Gary Brooker Ensemble’s 1997 live album *Within Our House*; a very popular 2006 recording featuring the Danish National Orchestra and Choir can be found on YouTube. However, the piece did not become a full choral arrangement until our bass singer Hans Kauf (b. 1958) wrote it for our choir in 2024.

Our performances: 2024

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.

Our performances: 2010, 2012, 2022

A Little Ludwig is based on themes by Ludwig van Beethoven  (Für Elise, Moonlight Sonata, Pathétique Sonata, and Fifth and Ninth Symphonies). It was arranged by Jim Clements for the ensemble VOCES8 in 2020 to honor and humorously celebrate Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th Birthday in concerts. 

Jim Clements (b. 1983) is a British singer, composer and arranger. As a consort singer and oratorio soloist, performing with many of the world’s finest vocal ensembles, including the BBC Singers, Ex Cathedra, Opera Rara, and the choirs of St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. He was a member of the GRAMMY-nominated vocal ensemble Stile Antico for seven years. In addition to his ongoing relationship with VOCES8 – who have performed more than a hundred of his arrangements in over a thousand concerts around the globe – he has written for artists including The King’s Singers, Paul Simon, Bryn Terfel, Tim Minchin, Tom Jones, and Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Our performances: 2024

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).

Originally set to American poet Robert Frost’s poem Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, the text of Sleep later had to be replaced because permission to use the poem was not granted by Frost’s heirs. Tony Silvestri (b. 1965), according to Whitacre, “wrote an absolutely exquisite poem, finding a completely different (but equally beautiful) message in the music [he] had already written.”

Our performances: 2023

Speaker: Joel Foster
Solos: Robby Wetzler, Mariella Collinsworth
Wind chimes: Hannah Aurand
Bass drum: Morgan Cessac
Thunder sheet: Anne Doll
Handbells: Monica Alent, Luisa Benra, Patrick Casey, Kathrin Galijasevic, Elsie Smith, Noël Sprenkle, Kortney Whaley 

‘The Cloudburst is a ceremony’, Whitacre writes, ‘a celebration of the unleashed kinetic energy in all things. The mood throughout is reverent, meditative and centered … the performer must take the spiritual journey with total respect for the power of the water and profundity of the rebirth.’ New-agey stuff on paper, perhaps, but the musical results are wholly convincing and lacking in phoniness. Magical new sounds, singability and a special atmosphere, simply and resourcefully achieved—considerable achievements from a composer twenty-two at the time, whose exposure to classical music and its notation was non-existent just a few years previously.
from notes by Meurig Bowen © 2006

Lyrics translated:
The broken water-jar

The rain…
Eyes of shadow-water,
eyes of well-water,
eyes of dream-water.

Blue suns, green whirlwinds,
birdbeaks of light pecking open
pomegranate stars.

But tell me, burnt earth, is there no water?
Only blood, only dust,
Only naked footsteps on the thorns?

The rain awakens…

We must sleep with open eyes,
we must dream with our hands,
we must dream the dreams of a river seeking its course,
of the sun dreaming its worlds,
we must dream aloud,
we must sing till the song puts forth roots,
trunk, branches, birds, stars,
we must find the lost word,
and remember what the blood,
the tides, the earth, and the body say,
and return to the point of departure…

Octavio Paz, 1914-1998
(Adapted by Eric Whitacre, Translation by Lysander Kemp)

Ensemble:
  Monica Alent, Flora Cordero, Haley Maddox, Gosia Schulze - Soprano
  Konnie Deßloch, Anne Doll, Kortney Whaley, Barbara Ziska - Alto

Kevin Brereton (b. 1972), known by his stage name k-os, is a Canadian hip-hop artist. His 2004 single “Crabbuckit” went platinum and earned him several awards. Melody Hine has been singing barbershop in various quartets and choruses since she was 14. She earned her music education degree from the University of Georgia, and after that spent a year working for Disney World and Universal Studios. She then taught middle school chorus for seven years before completing her master’s degree in Education Policy. She currently works as a full-time arranger, coach and director. She arranged Crabbuckit originally for the vocal ensemble GQ.

The title and work refers to the crab in the bucket syndrome where a group of crabs will pull down any crab that tries to escape, thereby ensuring their collective demise. The song uses this term to describe overcoming envy and negativity to "move up".

Trio: Haley Maddox, Gosia Schulze, Noël Sprenkle

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.

Our performances: 2025

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."

Our performances: 2011, 2012, 2022

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.

Our performances: 2023