SCHOOL  OF  MUSIC     PO  BOX  6111  /  Creative  Arts  Center     Morgantown  WV    26506-­‐6111                                    www.music.wvu.edu     Office:  304.293.5511    FAX:  304.293.7491           Equal  Opportunity/Affirmative  Action  Institution

Educational  Matinee  Information  Packet  WVU  Chamber  Singers,  Men’s  Glee  Club,  Women’s  Choir  

A  Winter  Gala  –  A  Celebration  of  the  Season      Purpose  of  the  series    The  WVU  School  of  Music  is  offering  a  series  of  weekday  matinee  performances,  open  to  all  grades  and  ages  from  public  schools,   private   schools   and   homeschool   groups.   The   performances   provide   an   opportunity   to   enhance   school  curriculum  and  to  expose  students  to  the  arts.  Performances  start  at  10:00  a.m.  and  are  typically  75  minutes  in  length  without   intermission.     The  WVU   School   of  Music   ensembles  will   include   Symphony   Orchestra,   Percussion   Ensemble,  WVU  Choirs,  Wind  Symphony,  and  Jazz  Ensembles.            

College of Creative Arts College of Creative Arts

SCHOOL  OF  MUSIC     PO  BOX  6111  /  Creative  Arts  Center     Morgantown  WV    26506-­‐6111                                    www.music.wvu.edu     Office:  304.293.5511    FAX:  304.293.7491           Equal  Opportunity/Affirmative  Action  Institution

     Director  spotlight      Dr.  Kym  Scott  is  the  Director  of  Choral  Activities  at  West  Virginia  University  where  she  conducts  the  WVU  Chamber  Singers,  Men’s  Glee  Club,  and  the  West  Virginia  Community  Choir  as  well  as  teaching  conducting,  choral  techniques,  and  choral  literature.  She  has  directed  choirs  in  Australia,  Asia,  Europe,  the  UK,  and  the  United  States,  including  several  performances  by  the  USC  Chamber  Singers  with  The  Rolling  Stones  in  Los  Angeles  and  Anaheim  during  their  “50  and  counting”  world  tour.      Dr.  Scott  regularly  presents  at  state,  regional,  national,  and  international  conferences  and  has  conducted  All-­‐State  and  Festival  Choirs.  She  is  currently  the  state  vice-­‐president  for  the  West  Virginia  chapter  of  the  American  Choral  Director’s  Association.  Having  worked  with  all  age  groups,  Scott  is  particularly  passionate  about  choral  music  in  the  community.  She  has  conducted  community  choirs  for  almost  twenty  years,  and  has  worked  with  choirs  for  the  homeless,  disadvantaged,  and  incarcerated.      Letícia  Grützmann  is  the  founding  conductor  and  artistic  director  of  the  Vox  Principalis  Choral  Association.  She  is  pursuing  her  doctorate  in  conducting  at  West  Virginia  University  dedicating  her  degree  to  the  research  of  performance  practices.  Originally  from  Brazil,  she  received  two  bachelors  degrees:  Choral  Conducting  and  Music  Education  –  singing  emphasis.  Grützmann  has  a  vast  amount  of  choral  conducting  experience  having  worked  with  choirs  of  all  ages  and  of  several  levels,  from  community,  school,  and  church  choirs  to  collegiate  and  professional  choirs.        Grützmann  moved  to  Morgantown  in  2015  and  graduated  in  2017  with  a  dual  Masters  Degree  in  Conducting  and  Voice  Performance.  For  her  success  as  a  student,  she  was  three  times  awarded  a  scholarship  by  the  honorable  “Valerie  Canady  Trust  Foundation.”  She  is  currently  a  Graduate  Assistant  in  the  Choral  Program  at  WVU,  where  is  the  conductor  of  the  WVU  Women’s  Choir.  Letícia  also  has  a  private  studio  teaching  voice  and  conducting.  She  has  also  served  as  a  clinician  in  conferences  for  ACDA  and  WVMEA.      Ensemble  backgrounds  and  history      The  WVU  Choral  program  includes  four  choirs:  Chamber  Singers,  Men’s  Glee  Club,  Women’s  Choir,  and  the  West  Virginia  Community  Choir.  The  choir  program  has  been  in  existence  for  over  one  hundred  years  and  has  been  a  central  part  of  the  WVU  School  of  Music  throughout  this  time.  The  choir  program  has  an  ensemble  for  everyone  who  wishes  to  sing,  whether  a  student,  faculty  or  staff  member,  or  a  member  of  the  wider  community.  Several  of  the  choirs  are  non-­‐audition  and  students  from  a  variety  of  disciplines  across  campus  are  involved  in  singing  at  WVU.    Overall  theme  of  the  performance  –  A  Winter  Gala  –  A  celebration  of  the  season.    While  the  holidays  bring  a  variety  of  well-­‐known  holiday  music  to  the  forefront,  this  program  will  feature  a  mixture  of  well-­‐known  carols,  along  with  several  pieces  that  showcase  different  cultures  and  styles  of  music.  The  students  will  also  have  the  opportunity  to  participate  in  the  performance,  through  singing  and  movement.          

College of Creative Arts

SCHOOL  OF  MUSIC     PO  BOX  6111  /  Creative  Arts  Center     Morgantown  WV    26506-­‐6111                                    www.music.wvu.edu     Office:  304.293.5511    FAX:  304.293.7491           Equal  Opportunity/Affirmative  Action  Institution

     About  the  music    Chamber  Singers    Benjamin  Britten’s  A  Ceremony  of  Carols,  first  published  in  1943,  is  a  well-­‐known  work  written  for  harp  and  treble  voices.  Later,  an  edition  (1955)  was  released  for  mixed  voices.  That  is  the  edition  that  you  will  hear  today.  The  Procession  opens  the  work  and  Wolcum  Yole  immediately  follows.  The  work  was  written  in  a  version  of  old  English.  Angels  from  the  Realms  of  Glory  is  a  popular  Christmas  song.  This  arrangement,  by  Dan  Forrest  is  embellished  with  four  hands  at  the  piano,  percussion,  and  violin.  Es  ist  ein  Ros  entsprungen  first  appeared  in  a  Hymn  Book  in  1599.  We  do  not  know  who  wrote  the  words  or  the  melody  but  this  arrangement  was  written  by  Hugo  Distler  (1908  –  1942).  The  title  translates  to  “Lo,  How  a  Rose  E’er  Blooming”  and  compares  the  blooming  of  a  Rose  to  the  birth  of  baby  Jesus.  The  final  piece  that  Chamber  Singers  will  perform  is  Festejo  de  Navidad  and  comes  from  Peru.  It  depicts  the  celebration  of  a  Christmas  party  and  the  shouts  that  you  hear  are  the  party-­‐goers  enjoying  themselves.    Men’s  Glee  Club    Betelehemu  is  a  Nigerian  Christmas  song.  Betelehemu  means  Bethlehem  in  the  Yoruba  language.  This  arrangement  features  some  choralography  that  we  will  be  asking  the  students  to  join  in  on  as  well  as  percussion.  See,  Amid  the  Winter’s  Snow  is  a  beautiful  arrangement  by  Dan  Forrest.  It  features  our  graduate  string  quartet  and  percussionists.  Sleigh  Ride  is  a  popular  Christmas  song  and  for  this  performance,  our  singers  will  be  joined  by  some  of  our  jazz  musicians  on  bass  and  drumset.    Women’s  Choir    For  the  beauty  of  the  earth  is  by  the  well-­‐known  British  choral  composer,  John  Rutter.  This  song  of  praise  explores  how  the  beauty  of  nature,  and  the  joy  of  human  and  spiritual  love  come  together  in  unity.  Cradle  Hymn  is  a  lullaby  based  on  the  text  written  by  Isaac  Watts  in  the  early  eighteenth  century.  The  composer,  Kim  André  Arnesen  (b.  1980)  beautifully  depicts  the  setting  of  the  baby  Jesus  in  the  cradle  surrounded  by  the  angels  and  shepherds.  Go  Where  I  Send  Thee  is  a  gospel  arrangement  of  a  spiritual  from  the  African-­‐American  folk  tradition  by  contemporary  composers,  Paul  Caldwell  and  Sean  Ivory.  In  it,  the  composers  take  small  snippets  of  text  from  various  biblical  stories.  Mister  Santa  is  a  Christmas  version  of  the  pop  song  Mr.  Sandman  which  was  first  recorded  in  1954.  The  arranger  took  the  original  melody  and  added  Christmas  themed  text.            

College of Creative Arts