SHOWCASE CHORAL ENSEMBLES
2020 CMEA IN-SERVICE CONFERENCE
The CT-ACDA is thrilled to celebrate the work of our colleagues and students! Congratulations to the following Directors and Ensembles for being chosen as the Showcase Choral Ensembles for the 2020 Connecticut Music Educators Association In-Service Conference:
LAUREN VERNEY-FINK - Bel Canto Singers, Fairfield Warde High School
COLLEEN THOMPSON - The Simsbury Singers, Simsbury High School
SARAH IADAROLA - One Voice-Select Mixed Ensemble, North Haven High School
LAUREN SUGRUE-TAIT - Long Lots Singers, Long Lots Elementary School - Westport
ETHAN NASH - The Glastonbury High School Concert Choir, Glastonbury High School
Each ensemble has provided their repertoire, program notes, photographs and ensemble recordings and videos, directly embedded in this email!
PLEASE - take the time to read, listen, watch and explore the extraordinary work of our colleagues and students. You'll be glad you did!
Fairfield Warde High School Bel Canto Singers
Fairfield Warde High School, Fairfield, CT
Lauren Verney-Fink, Director
Hark I Hear the Harps Eternal - attributed to F.R. Warre, arr. Alice Parker
Mandoline - Claude Debussy, arr. Alan Raines
Psalm 23 - Franz Schubert, ed. John Rutter
Our Light - Steve Danyew - Commissioned for the Fairfield Public Schools Bel Canto Singers - RECORDING
Muié Rendêra - Northeastern Brazilian Folk Songs, arr. Pinto Fonseca - RECORDING
Light in the Hallway - Mae, Hoying, & Grassi, arr. Jacob Narverud
Rise Up - Jake Runestad
The Fairfield Warde High School Bel Canto Singers were incredibly honored to be selected as a Showcase ensemble for this year's CMEA In-Service Conference. Given that this is the first year of this choir's existence, it was even more special and validating to have been chosen for the Conference. Before now, Fairfield high schools offered 3 curricular choral ensembles. A beginning level SATB group, an intermediate level SSA group, and an advanced SATB choir. After last year's curriculum revisions, we added this 4th curricular choir as a way to better group students based on their vocal skill level which, in turn, ensures that they are each being appropriately challenged. The Bel Canto Singers is our advanced SSAA+ choir and is intended for singers at our Fairfield Vocal Skill Level VIII.
Earlier this school year, the FWHS Bel Canto Singers had the pleasure of premiering "Our Light" by Steve Danyew. This piece was commissioned in the summer of 2019 by the Fairfield Public Schools to celebrate the creation of our new choirs. The students from both the Fairfield Warde High School and the Fairfield Ludlowe High School Bel Canto Singers wrote the lyrics for the piece.
Our Light
We are one, we are all, we stand together, we’ll never fall.
We sing for love, we sing for strength, we are united, we’ll never shake.
We sing this song to leave our mark for friends to come and take our part.
And when we go, we will stay near, for music never leaves our hearts and ears
Though there are times when things get rough, sometimes we feel we’re not enough
Though we may feel like we’re not winning, we must trust our new beginnings
May our message be the light that takes your future to new heights
We leave this here to share our call our tale of love and hope for all.
Lauren (Harmata) Verney-Fink is the Choir Director at Fairfield Warde High School where she directs 4 curricular choirs and an extra-curricular coed a cappella ensemble.
In her 9 years teaching at FWHS, she has also taught Voice Class, Music Theory, Piano Skills, and Music Technology.
Recently, Lauren had the honor of guest conducting the Dutchess County, NY Junior High All County Choir, the Charter Oak Music Festival High School Mixed Choir in Colchester, and she directed the 4-8 the grade ensemble at Camp A Cappella CT in Westport. Prior to teaching in Fairfield, Lauren taught middle school choir in Westchester County, New York and Fairfax County, Virginia. She holds degrees from James Madison University (Bachelor of Music) and the University of Hartford's Hartt School of Music (Master of Music Education). Lauren served as the Professional Development and In-Service Conference Chair on the CT Music Educators Association Executive Council from 2014 to 2016 and was CMEA All-State Choir Chair in 2012 and 2013.
SIMSBURY SINGERS
Simsbury High School, Simsbury, CT
Colleen Thompson - Director
He Never Failed Me Yet - Robert Ray
Rock-A My Soul - Spiritual, arr. Stacey V. Gibbs
Through Love to Light - Elaine Hagenberg, text: Richard Watson Gilder
Afternoon on a Hill - Colin Britt, text: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Agnus Dei from Missa Secunda - Hans Leo Hassler, ed. Leavitt
Kuimba Nafsi Yangu - Jacob Narverud
Kuimba Nafsi Yangu - Jacob Narverud
We were fortunate enough to work with Dr. Narverud during a workshop at school in February. He told us what the Swahili words meant:
Sing my soul, sing my heart, Sing for peace, sing for joy. There is so much love here, yes!
The words really resonated with the students and helped us put together a more joyful, energized performance. He challenged us to work harder in rehearsal and really live up to our potential! Something that was very helpful to students was his reminder to engage their face when they are singing. It is a seemingly simple reminder, but many of them stated that they continued to work on this in future rehearsals and it really helped them with resonance and energy. Here is a clip from our workshop: Kuimba workshop clip Here is a recording from our last rehearsal together on 3-13-2020: Kuimba in-class recording
Agnus Dei from Missa Secunda - Hans Leo Hassler, ed. Leavitt
While rehearsing this piece, we talked about music elements that were indicative of Hassler’s music and pieces written during this time period, late-Renaissance/early-Baroque. We compared it to other settings of Agnus Dei we had sung, and worked on ways to make the final “grant us peace” cadence different than the initial “have mercy on us” text. We had planned to rehearse this piece in quartets one-on-a-part, and sing it in mixed formation.
Here is a recording from our last rehearsal today (rough start and all!): Agnus Dei in-class recording
Afternoon on a Hill - Colin Britt, text: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Through Love to Light - Elaine Hagenberg, text: Richard Watson Gilder
We were planning to perform Afternoon on a Hill and Through Love to Light as a set - going from the acappella piece right into the piano introduction. Our student accompanist, senior Anthea Luo, is not a member of Simsbury Singers, but had a free period so was preparing to accompany our entire CMEA set. She is an accomplished pianist, pianist for the SHS chamber orchestra and incredibly talented student accompanist! These were our most difficult pieces to learn. Afternoon on a Hill requires sophisticated placement and breath support to sing long lines and make sometimes gradual, sometimes sudden dynamic shifts. Through Love to Light is in cut time and we were still working on feeling the meter. We loved how the piece built to a climactic ending - and juxtaposition of the held notes with the moving notes - especially the Sop 2, Tenor 2 and alto 1 who got to important lines at critical moments! Listening back to our in-class recording was extremely bitter-sweet. We so wanted those last few rehearsals to realize our vision of these pieces, and see the audience’s reaction in performance. In-class rehearsal recording of Through Love: Through Love to Light
Rock-A My Soul - Spiritual, arr. Stacey V. Gibbs
We started working on this piece early in the year and had already performed it at the October concert and at several events since. It was one of our favorites, and we decided to resurrect it in this set. Here is our performance of the piece in concert in October, 2019: Rock-a My Soul
He Never Failed Me Yet - Robert Ray
Ian Costello, Guitar - Anthea Luo, Piano - Luke Pace, Bass - Alex Peluso, Percussion
I have loved this piece since I was in high school, as my sister and I both remember singing it at choir festivals. I love introducing pieces to my high school singers that I sang when I was their age, carrying on that tradition. We have been developing our Gospel chops over the past few years at Simsbury High School, and we have an after school Gospel choir that is co-directed by me and our music supervisor Angela Griffin and our Open-Choice liaison, Gertrude Banks. Several students in Simsbury Singers are in the Gospel Choir, and our bassist and guitarist for this piece are also singers in the ensemble. We were planning to have literally dozens of soloists and do an extended version of the final Special Chorus, inviting students to improv live in performance at CMEA. We were fortunate to get one last run-through in before we closed… it ended up being more of a jam session, with us assigning solos and playing with improv live during the run. (It was our first time with instruments.) I’m sharing not as a final product, but as a demonstration of how we work through Gospel style pieces in rehearsal: He Never Failed Me Yet
Colleen Thompson is the choral director at Simsbury High School in Simsbury, CT. She is a frequent clinician and guest conductor, working with choirs and music educators at all levels. As the middle school choir director at Henry James in Simsbury, her Select Chorus performed at the 2011 ACDA Eastern Division conference and the 2012 OAKE National Conference.
Her high school chamber choir, Simsbury Singers, performed at the 2015 and 2018 CMEA Conference and the 2019 NAfME Eastern Division Conference in Pittsburgh. Colleen has presented workshops for OAKE, ACDA and CMEA, and has worked with teachers in CT and MA on common-assessment projects. She received a BME from Baldwin-Wallace University, a MMed with Kodály certification from The Hartt School, and a Sixth Year in Educational Leadership from the University of Connecticut. Colleen was the Simsbury Public Schools Teacher of the Year for the 2017-2018 school year, and was a semi-finalist for the 2017-2018 CT Teacher of the Year. She was named the CT ACDA Choral Director of the Year in 2019. She lives in Simsbury, CT with her husband Carl and son Cowen.
ONE VOICE - SELECT MIXED ENSEMBLE
North Haven High School, North Haven, CT
Sarah Iadarola - Director
Annabel - Timothy Takach
Gentle Annie - arr. Thomas Juneau
Esto Les Digo - Kinley Lange
Rest - Ralph Vaughn Williams
The Lord Bless You and Keep You - Peter C. Lukin. RECORDING
The eighteen musicians who come together this year as One Voice are a particularly remarkable set of young people. Among them are CMEA Southern Region and All State musicians, ECA students, varsity athletes, Future Problem Solvers, dancers, thespians, instrumentalists, and academics. Representing grades nine through twelve, they entered this year with anywhere from 6 months to a lifetime of vocal and choral experience. Nevertheless, it was clear from our first rehearsal that this group was going to create some incredible musical moments.
For many years, North Haven students have traveled to participate in festival adjudications each spring. While these trips have long been a highlight for our students, this year was to be a different year (boy, is it ever!) and so I sought out a new event that might be the pinnacle performance for One Voice 2020. These students were thrilled to be selected as one of the CMEA Showcase Ensembles, and looked forward to their performance for musicians and educators from across the state. They embraced the challenge of mastering complex choral works, and I am incredibly proud of their artistic and personal growth. These students were never easily discouraged, and they were not satisfied with a performance, simply because it had been completed; mature musicians understand that refining music for the sake of a beautiful and aesthetic experience is an unending journey. These students did not settle for a “lather, rinse, repeat” kind of concert preparation, but instead sought the pride of a song well sung. It has been thrilling to witness, and it has made this year memorable for all the right reasons.
I give my thanks to One Voice 2019, Ralph Iadarola, Ken Tedeschi, Brian Hutton, NHHS administration, and most especially to One Voice 2020 and their families. -Sarah Iadarola
Sarah Iadarola is the choir director and music theory teacher at North Haven High School in North Haven, CT. Under her direction, NHHS choral ensembles have prepared and performed a wide array of choral repertoire for concerts and adjudications. Notable composers of such works include Johannes Brahms, Gyorgy Orban, and Susan LaBarr.
Since 2015, her ensembles have earned twelve Superior ratings at Festivals of Music adjudications. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Providence College, and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Music Education with Central Connecticut State University. Sarah is an avid choral accompanist and musical theater pit musician.
LONG LOTS SINGERS
Long Lots Elementary School, Westport, CT
Jacqueline Sugrue-Tait, Director
How Can I Keep From Singing? - Robert Wadsworth Lowry arr. Ginger Littleton
Marienwürmchen - Johannes Brahms arr. Mary Goetze
De Colores - Folk Song arr. Sugrue
Kusimama - Jim Papoulis
Manx Lullaby - Celtic Folk Song arr. Lori-Anne Dolloff
Bhombela - Will Skaff
Sisi Ni Moja - Jacob Narverud
Music All Around - Worl premiere by Linda Sobo
How Can I Keep From Singing? was written by Robert Lowry (1826-1899) in 1869 and was adopted into Quaker communities in the early 20th century. While it is unclear who wrote the lyrics, many credit Anne Warner as the poet. Despite slight variations between different versions of this text, the message of optimism in the midst of despair pervades these timeless lyrics. Pete Seeger popularized the tune in the 1950’s as a testament to the power of music. This song has endured several lifetimes already in American culture.
The text in our version speaks to the power of singing: when the storm around you rages, when injustice persists, when life flows, when love reigns, when time tolls on. No storm can shake my inmost calm - While to that rock I’m clinging. It sounds an echo in my soul - How can I keep from singing?
Marienwürmchen (Ladybird) is movement No. 6 from Seven Children’s Songs written by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). The songs are settings of poems by Florence Hoare and written specifically for children’s voices. They were composed in 1858 for the children of Brahms’ close friends Robert and Clara Schumann. Brahms delighted in the beauty of the folk songs of his homeland and added artful accompaniments. While intended for solo voice, “Marienwürmchen”, with its simple lyrical melody, is particularly appropriate for young singers. The text is similar to the traditional rhyme which many American children know:
Lady bug, lady bug, fly away home - Your house is on fire and your children are gone.
The origins of De Colores are not clear, but one popular story says it was composed by a group of pilgrims on the mountain roads of Spain in the sixteenth century. It is now sung all over the Spanish-speaking world on special occasions. People hold hands and sway as they sing these familiar words about the fields dressed in the colors of springtime.
The text of Kusimama by Jim Papoulis is in Swahili and English. It is about standing tall on the earth, not with anger or aggression, but with hope, strength, acceptance, and positivity.
Manx Lullaby (Arrane Ny Clean) is a traditional folk song from The Isle of Man, which is located in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. Many Celtic folk songs make reference to birds, which are important symbols of Celtic cultural identity. The Manx language is similar to Gaelic, and the sung oh horo hi ri ri are sounds used to imitate a dove’s cooing as someone rocks a baby to sleep.
Bhombela is a traditional South African stick passing game. The Zulu text tells of a mother and her children riding on a train. As with all folk songs, the lyrics and pitches vary slightly by region, and it continues to evolve over time.
Sisi Ni Moja by Jacob Narverud (b.1986) translates to “we are one” in Swahili. It celebrates unity and community through cultures, recognizing that all human beings have much in common. Jacob Narverud writes,
“Heja” is a non-word with no literal meaning, and does not represent any specific culture. It is given a more instrumental treatment in the chorus, acting as a joyful, declamatory backdrop to the song’s message of unity. When I wrote this piece I specifically chose chord progressions that would be familiar to the ear of both the audience and the singers performing. These popular music chord progressions, coupled with the speech driven rhythms and repetition in the piano, allow listeners to feel an instant connection to the music and focus on the message of the text."
Music All Around *World Premiere* This upbeat choral song reminds us that music surrounds us. From the "bluebird singing her song, to the rush of the leaves when they're blowing around, to the crash of the sea when it's stormy and dark," music is everywhere. "Every little noise in the universe is the voice and the spirit of the living earth. So open your heart and take in the sound, there is Music All Around." This unison or SA piece can be performed with solo piano, a pre-recorded accompaniment track, or as a multi-ensemble piece with the choir accompanied by piano, percussion, strings, and wind instruments. - Linda Sobo, 2020
Linda Sobo lives in Newtown, Connecticut and had a psychotherapy practice for over thirty years. The hours of her life have been filled with career and family…and writing music, both choral pieces and pop ballads. Her choral songs are performed widely in school concerts, musical plays, religious services, and special events, from the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland to the David Letterman show. Anna Oceanna, a children's musical co-written with her husband, was performed at TheatreWorks in New Milford, Connecticut. Especially in these times, her children’s choral pieces bring hope and demonstrate that music is a vital way to facilitate support and understanding between people. Her pop ballads range from an inspirational song for weddings to ballads of heartbreak, love, and joy.
Jacqueline Sugrue-Tait is an elementary core music teacher and choir director at Long Lots School in Westport, Connecticut. She is the conductor of the Concert Choir of the 340-member Fairfield County Children's Choir, and performs as a soprano in the Connecticut Choral Artists (Concora).
Jacqueline earned her Master of Music Education degree from Columbia University’s Teachers College. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education, with an emphasis in piano and voice, from The Hartt School. Jacqueline has received all levels of the Kodály Certification from the InterMuse Academy in Provo, Utah, and is fully certified in the Feierabend Approach. She has presented at in-service conferences at the state, regional, and national levels through CMEA, OAKE, and KESNE.
GLASTONBURY HIGH SCHOOL CONCERT CHOIR
Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, CT
Dr. Ethan Nash - Director
Exultate Justi - Lodovico da Viadana - RECORDING
Salley Gardens - arr. Ethan Nash - RECORDING
O Heiland reiss die Himmel auf - Johannes Brahms
I Got a Key - arr. Robert Shaw and Alice Parker - RECORDING
By and By - arr. Carol Barnett
Sleep - Eric Whitacre - RECORDING
Uri Tziyon - Moshe Wilenksy
Ethan Nash has a BA in Music from Yale and a DMA and Masters in Choral Conducting from Hartt School. He has been the Director of Choirs at Glastonbury HS since 2007,and the Artistic Director of West Hartford Women's Chorale since 2010. Ethan is the author of the earthsongs choral music publication "Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire: Volume IV, Hebrew Texts."
He sings with CONCORA, has been a cantorial soloist at Yale University and local synagogues and has worked at Wesleyan University's Center for Creative Youth in the Musical Theater department most summers since 2004. Ethan is an avid Mets fan, bowler, softball player and PEZ collector. Ethan lives in Wethersfield with his wife, Danica, their sons, Ari and Elliot and their dog, Charlie.
