21st Annual Festival of Lights Program

Department of
Music

DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
CHOIRS

FE ST IVAL OF L I G H TS

Scot Hanna-Weir, music director and conductor
Dan Cromeenes, piano

Saturday, December 5, 2020 | 5:00 p.m.
Live Virtual Performance

PROGRAM

Welcome from the Mission Santa Clara
Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S. J.

Scot Hanna-Weir

Glow Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)
SCU Concert Choir Virtual Project

Dan Cromeenes, piano

Bogoroditse Devo Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)
2018 SCU Concert Choir

He Will See You Through arr. Rhiannon Giddens and Scot Hanna-Weir

SCU Chamber Singers Virtual Project

Rhiannon Giddens, soloist

O Magnum Mysterium Ivo Antognini (b. 1963)

2018 SCU Chamber Singers

Sure on this Shining Night Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943)

2017 SCU Concert Choir

Dan Cromeenes, piano

Silent Night Franz Gruber (1787-1863)

arr. Scot Hanna-Weir

SCU Concert Choir and Alumni Virtual Project

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PROGRAM NOTES

For more than two decades, the annual Festival of Lights has signaled the beginning of the
holiday season for so many in our community. But in those years of performances of carols and
candles, there has never been a concert quite like this. In the midst of the global pandemic,
choral ensembles across the country have had to find new ways to make music together to
keep our singers and audiences safe. While we yearn deeply for a return to in-person perfor-
mances, there are some bright spots. For one, it has become incredibly clear how vital the op-
portunity to sing with each other and to build community through music making is for so many
of our Santa Clara University students and alumni. In the midst of zoom classes, uncertain
career prospects, and the stressors of different living situations and other insecurities, music
can continue to serve as a refuge—a different kind of place for creative expression, friendship,
and common purpose. Additionally, some of our experiments in technology have led to new
possibilities in performance. Our Chamber Singers were the first University ensemble in the
country to perform a live concert from multiple locations across the internet, and our virtual
choir projects have allowed not only current students, but our wonderful alumni to have the
opportunity to sing with us once again.
This evening’s performance features some of our favorite repertoire from the Festival of
Lights with some highlights of recent performances from our archives as well as newly created
projects that were recorded individually by our singers in their own homes and then stitched
together through video and audio editing software to create the final performance. We pres-
ent the premiere of three new performances of this type this evening: Eric Whitacre’s Glow,
Rhiannon Giddens’ He Will See You Through, and our traditional arrangement of Franz
Gruber’s Silent Night.
Eric Whitacre has enjoyed quite a bit of notoriety in the virtual choir space with his large
scale virtual choir projects of his compositions. It seemed appropriate to honor that by per-
forming Glow, which was originally written for a virtual choir performance and premiered by
the World of Color Honor Choir as featured in Walt Disney World’s 2013 World of Color Win-
ter Dreams Show with 1473 from all 50 states. While Whitacre is certainly famous for his virtual
choirs, he has only produced six in his career, has done so with a large team of professional
audio and video engineers, and has himself spoken at length about how it is not a replacement
for live choir. At the time of this premiere, our SCU Choirs have created 7 virtual choir proj-
ects and performed two live-remote concerts. These times are truly extraordinary.

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Arvo Pärt is an estonian composer best known for his particular minimalist compositional style
of tintinnabuli. His music is mostly religious, haunting, and atmospheric. Bogoróditse Djévo
by contrast is a bombastic and rhythmically intricate piece that explodes the familiar text of
the Ave Maria. Written in Church Slavonic, the broadening of the middle section is evocative
of the choral music of Rachmaninov or Tchaikovsky. The piece was commissioned by King’s
College Choir, Cambridge, for their festival of Nine Lessons and Carols performed annually
on Christmas Eve. This performance was recorded live in the Mission Santa Clara as part of
our 2018 Festival of Lights.

Bogoroditse Devo, raduisya, Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos,
Blagodatnaya Mariye, Gospod s Toboyu. Mary full of grace, the Lord is with Thee.
Blessed art Thou among women,
Blagoslovenna Ty v zhenakh, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb,
i blagosloven plod chreva Tvoyego, for Thou hast borne the Savior of our souls.
yako Spasa rodila esi dush nashikh.

Ave Maria; Based on Luke 1

Our choirs were lucky to collaborate with our Santa Clara University Sinatra Artist-in-Res-
idence, Rhiannon Giddens in February of 2020, before the pandemic moved us to remote
learning. We had grand plans of large concerts and creative collaborations for the Spring,
but are thrilled that Giddens has returned this academic year in a virtual residency. Part of
our Spring 2020 plan was to perform an arrangement of He Will See You Through from her
album There Is No Other. Giddens recorded some harmonies for her composition and then we
collaborated to bring this particular arrangement to life and are so thankful to the Center for
Arts and Humanities and the College of Arts and Sciences for their support in making this col-
laboration happen. For our students, He Will See You Through is a song of hope and promise.
We have taken great comfort in listening to Giddens’ original recording and sketches and are
thrilled to collaborate to bring this new version to life.

Swiss-born Ivo Antognini trained initially as a jazz pianist but has since discovered his passion
for composition, particularly in the choral genre. While serving as composer in residence for
Coro Calicantus he was able to bring many of his compositions to the 8th World Choral Music
Symposium. Since then, his works have been performed by top ensembles around the world.
His O Magnum Mysterium sets an incredibly well-known text treated by composers from the
Renaissance through the present day and honors this tradition with its polyphonic leanings
while at the same time using some more modern conventions of harmonic shifts and subtle
dynamic shading. This performance was recorded live in the Mission Santa Santa Clara as part
of our 2018 Festival of Lights.

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O Magnum Mysterium O great mystery
et admirabile sacramentum, and wondrous sacrament
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, that animals should see Lord born,
lying in manger!
iacentem in presepio! blessed virgin, whose womb was worthy
Beata virgo, cuius viscera meruerunt to bear Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia.
portare Dominum Jesum Christum.
Alleluia.

Responsorial Chant from the Matins of Christmas

Almost every year since 2013, we have concluded our Festival of Lights with a setting of James
Agee’s Sure on this Shining Night that leads into singing Franz Gruber’s Silent Night in the
round, surrounding our audience with candlelight. This tradition is a great joy to our current
students and a fond memory of our alumni, and it brings us great joy to present our 2017 per-
formance of Morten Lauridsen Sure on this Shining Night. When we performed this piece in
2013, I arranged a new version of Silent Night that uses the harmonic language that is so famil-
iar in Lauridsen’s writing and so beautifully expressed in Sure on this Shining Night. We have
sung this arrangement every year since and this evening’s performance features alumni from
many generations of SCU choirs as well as our new class of 2024 for whom this is their first
opportunity to participate in this tradition. While it is not quite the same to sit in your living
room and listen to this performance, we hope it transports you back to our beautiful mission
and that you can imagine it filled by the sounds of our choral voices. We wish you the warmest,
safest, and healthiest of holiday seasons and hope to see you at a concert in-person soon.

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SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY
CONCERT CHOIR AND CHAMBER SINGERS

Alexandra Beccari

Frances Bertotti-Metoyer*

Eric Bressinger

Samuel Broyles*

Kate Cocales

Jesse Ding*

Katherine Elkind*

Sophia Flores

Autumn Fowler-Vogel

Hayden Gibb*

Abhinav Gokhale*

Mary Harmon*

Sarah Beth Johnson

Jordan Johnson-Wojnicki*

Kyle Kinard*

Valerie Kuan

Jacob Mendes

Wylie Merritt*

Tasha Moorjani*

Hannah O’Connell*

Conrad Park

Charlotte Parque

Sophie Posse*

C. J. Purdy

Rebecca Ridao

Gabrielle Rosenberg

Kennedy Ruiz

Lily Schumacher

Prim Waranimman*

Sam Williams

Cathy Yin*

Jiakai Zhu*

6 Emily Zmurk *denotes Chamber Singer

DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC

Department Chair SCLOrk (Laptop Orchestra): Vocal Studies
Bruno Ruviaro Bruno Ruviaro Leroy Kromm, Bass-Baritone
Music Theory Scot Hanna-Weir, Baritone
John Kennedy Music Theatre Workshop: Debra Lambert, Mezzo-Soprano
Nancy Wait-Kromm Jenny Matteucci, Soprano
Teresa McCollough Wind Ensemble:
Anthony Rivera Anthony Rivera Aimée Puentes, Soprano
Bruno Ruviaro Michele Rivard, Mezzo-Soprano
Musicianship World Music Ensemble:
William Stevens Ray Furuta Nancy Wait-Kromm, Soprano
Composition Strings
Vivian Fung Conducting
John Kennedy Scot Hanna-Weir Motoko Toba, Violin
Bruno Ruviaro Alexandra Leem, Viola
Music History John Kennedy Frederic Rosselet, Cello
Scot Hanna-Weir Anthony Rivera Karen Thielen, Harp
John Kennedy
Anthony Rivera Woodwinds Jazz Studies
Ray Furuta, Flute Kristin Strom, Saxophone
Nancy Wait-Kromm Adrienne Malley, Oboe Carl Schultz, Saxophone
Ethnomusicology Ginger Kroft, Clarinet Richard Roper, Trumpet
Shawn Jones, Bassoon
Ray Furuta Anthony Rivera, Saxophone Jon Dryden, Piano
Christina Zanfagna William Stevens, Piano
Performing Ensembles Brass
Chamber Singers and Richard Roper, Trumpet Bill Cefalu, Guitar
Leslie Hart, French Horn Jim Witzel, Guitar
Concert Choir: Daniel Robbins, Jazz Bass
Scot Hanna-Weir Tony Clements, Recording Engineering
Jazz Ensemble and Euphonium and Tuba
Jeff Hanson
Jazz Combos: Percussion Robin Whitehouse
Carl Schultz John Kennedy Staff Accompanist
Orchestra and Dan Cromeenes
New Music Ensemble: Frank Wyant
John Kennedy Piano Nicolas Dold
Daniel Lockert
Hans Boepple Elizabeth Neff
Nicholas Dold Department Manager
Teresa McCollough Katie Williams

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DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC DONORS

PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE ASSOCIATE DONOR
THE ARGOSY FOUNDATION BRENT IZUTSU GIOVANNI CASTILLO
JANET MURPHY
DR. LEE & FRIEND
MRS. KAY GREENWALD SPONSOR CHRISTINA ANDRADE
MRS. BEA KUTEMAN HARRIS IVY DEPNER RAVISHANKAR BHASKARAN
MR. AND MRS THOMAS E. LANCTOT NORMAN DITTMANN
HAUNANI NAKABARA MARY AND JOHN DOYLE DOLORES BRAVO
SUSAN KOMETANI GREGORY HECATHORN
BENEFACTOR ROBERT LOWERY
BRYN AND HANS BOEPPLE PAMELA ALLSTON MADDEN TRESE NINO
KATHY MATTINGLY DOUG PICKERING
ANTHONY RAYMOND
DOROTHY SHOUP

SCU•PRESENTS DONORS 2020-2021

SPONSOR MARIANNE POBLENZ DJUWITA HARJADI
ANDRE ABRAHAMIANS PATTI SIMONE SANDRA HOWARD
DONNA JOHNS
CHARLES BARKIS PATRICIA TENNANT
PUJA BOHACEK RICHARD UPTON ASHLEY LUCAS
KRISTEN BROWN BARBARA WADORS ROSLYN LYONS
CLAIRE HAWLEY HUDSON WASHBURN KATHY MATTINGLY
JOHN LEWIS JULEY YAKOMINICH RUTH MIKUSKO
MARY MILLER
DONOR JASON YEE JENN PORET
KATHERINE ALMAZOL FRIEND
LISA REYES
DAWN BURTON MOLLY AUFDERMAUER TARA STEELE
PATRICIA CAIN NICOLE BANKS NORMA WELLES
ESTHER GOES J WENTWORTH
LAUREN JOHN JUDY BOCCIGNONE JILLIAN YAKOMINICH
ERICA MIKESH PATRICIA CURIA
BARBARA MURRAY ERIC EKLUND
CHARLES NOYA JULIE GARCIA

BARBARA GREEN-AJUFO
DJUWITA HARJADI

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING!

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