wcu_americanspirit_issuu

1The American Spirit

FROM THE PRES IDENT

As President, as well as a singing member of the Waukesha Choral Union, it is my honor and privilege to welcome you to the Waukesha Choral Union’s first concert of the 2012-2013 season. We are especially pleased to be collaborating for the first time with the Oconomowoc Chamber Orchestra. We hope that our performance of The American Spirit will bring as much enjoyment to you as it already has for us.

Spirit of Creativity, our 2012-2013 season, has been made possible not only by the hard work and dedication of our singers and musicians, but also by the support of our donors, advertisers, sponsors, volunteers, and all those who attend our concerts. In order to be successful, our organization needs the efforts of all of these participants.

Something new this season is the addition of the Fashionable Tidings Luncheon on Wednesday, November 28, 2012, at Merrill Hills Country Club. This fashion show, produced by local designer Bruce Paul Goodman, promises to be a stylish start to the holiday season. It’s also a fun way to support the Waukesha Choral Union. Seating is limited; tickets are available at today’s concert.

Next May’s concert, Something Old & Something New, will culminate a two-year collaborative effort to present a world premier artistic presentation. From a contest among middle and high school students throughout Waukesha County we have selected a six-part text written by Abby Lewis, a Waukesha South student. Local composer Paula Foley Tillen is now in the process of writing a commissioned piece of music for the Waukesha Choral Union. It is our plan to supplement the musical presentation with visual art works, also created by

Waukesha County students. It promises to be a truly memorable experience for audience and singers alike.

As a member of today’s audience you are an important piece of our continued success. Please invite friends, family members, and neighbors to experience the wonderful

performances that will make up the rest of our 2012-2013 season.

Tom CustisWaukesha Choral Union President

2 Waukesha Choral Union

Waukesha Choral Union has been musically active in the community for over 60 years. WCU was featured in WISN-TV’s Season to Celebrate broadcast during Christmas of 2011. Originally a combination of Carroll College students and community singers, WCU took its present form as an auditioned choir in 1978. Recent collaborative partners include the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Bel Canto Chorus, Milwaukee Choristers, Carroll University Choirs, and the choirs of Waukesha South High School, Muskego High School, and Hartford Union High School.

abOuT waukESHa cHOR al uNION

MISS ION

The Waukesha Choral Union will challenge, enrich, and engage its singing members, audiences, and community through the pursuit of excellence and a variety of programming. The WCU mission includes expansion of the effectiveness of its educational efforts throughout Waukesha County through collaboration.

STay cONNEcTED

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Board of DirectorsPresident: Tom CustisVice President: OpenTreasurer: Tom CustisSecretary: Susan WallenslagerEx-officio: Ernest Brusubardis, IIIPhyllis CramerMitch GrulkeBarbara MillerTom Smith

Committee ChairsMarketing: Jim LaBelleMembership: Colleen Reske

AdministrationArtistic Director: Ernest Brusubardis IIIMarketing Manager: Jim LaBelle

waukESHa cHOR al uNION


aRTISTIc D IREcTOR

Ernest Brusubardis III, Artistic Director of the

Waukesha Choral Union, is a graduate of UW Milwaukee with the Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in

Music and the Master’s Degree in Music Education

with an emphasis on choral conducting. His other

choral directorships include the advanced ensembles of Hartford Union High School and the Brusubardis-Dzimente Latvian Choir, a podium he shares with his father. His expertise in this latter pursuit has earned him the chief conductorship of Latvian Song Festivals in the United States, Canada, and Latvia.

As a music theater enthusiast, he conducts the orchestra for the annual productions at Hartford Union High School and boasts a record as music director for community theater productions throughout Southeastern Wisconsin, including Menomonee Falls Patio Players, On the Wall and Off the Wall theaters, Archangel Productions, and shows at the UW Milwaukee and West Bend extensions.


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FROM THE aRTISTIc D IREcTOR

Welcome to the Waukesha Choral Union’s season opener, The American Spirit. This evening you will hear inspiring works by two American composers performed in collaboration with our guests, the Oconomowoc Chamber Orchestra.

David Diamond’s Rounds for String Orchestra was commissioned by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra during World War II to uplift the spirits of a people struggling through war.

Irving Berlin’s God Bless America ,arranged by Michael Karasis, is a patriotic song that has raised American spirits for generations. Originally composed in 1918, Berlin revived it in 1938 during the uncertain times before the war. From that day forward, it has been America’s hymn.

The cornerstone of tonight’s collaboration will be Michael Karasis’ An American Civil War Memorial. This oratorio brings the experience of the Civil War alive through the writings of the hearts and minds of brother and sister Americans. The final movement reminds us not to forget the cost of freedom and brotherhood. May we never forget it.

It is WCU’s honor to collaborate in such a venture with the Oconomowoc Chamber Orchestra and composer Dr. Michael Karasis. Without such fine musicians and colleagues as these, events like tonight would not be possible.

May gratitude abound!

Ernie BrusubardisWaukesha Choral Union Artistic Director

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The Shattuck Music Center houses a recital hall that seats 150, an auditorium that seats 1350, and a Schantz 72 stop pipe organ. The Department of Music has a large band-practice room, teaching studios, a multi-sensing room, a computerized music laboratory, and classrooms.

Carroll University, often called Wisconsin’s pioneer college, is the oldest four-year institution of higher education

in the state. In 1841, settlers living in the Wisconsin Territory community of Prairieville established the academy that five years later would become Carroll College. Soon after its founding, Carroll affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and adopted the motto “Christo et Litteris,” which means “for Christ and Learning.”

Carroll was chartered by the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature on Jan. 31, 1846, two years before Wisconsin became a state. On May 10, 2008, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to change the institution’s name to Carroll University, effective July 1, 2008.

Throughout Carroll’s history, the hallmarks of its educational experience have been teaching excellence and individualized attention.

TODay ’S vENuE

7:30 PM, Saturday, OctOber 20, 2012Chapel of Christ Triumphant

concordia university Wisconsin12800 North Lake Shore drive, Mequon, WI

Tickets: adult $25, senior $20, students $15Purchase online or by phone: 414/376-5878

www.milwaukeechoralartists.org

Milwaukee choral artists and the National Lutheran choir

Milwaukee choral artists National Lutheran choir


The Oconomowoc Chamber Orchestra, Roberta Carpenter, Conductor, is the professional ensemble within the OCO parent organization. They bring together high caliber musicians, both local and regional, in a semi-professional setting, to perform vital, varied and engaging concerts for our community. The Oconomowoc Chamber Orchestra performed a Debut Concert featuring two compositions written for Lake Country. The full concert was recorded and for two years, photographic, video, aerial and artistic images of Lake Country were assembled, and then set to the music

from the concert. The Debut Concert DVD was selected as the 3rd place winner in The American Prize Awards for recordings in the arts. The OCO Parent Organization also hosts the Lake Country Orchestra, which is open to area avocational musicians. Information on all OCO programs is available at www.oconchamberorch.org.

A versatile musician and Wisconsin native, Roberta Carpenter is a conductor, violinist, and teacher. Currently Music Director of the Oconomowoc Chamber Orchestra, Carpenter has directed orchestras in the Czech Republic, Poland, the Whitewater, Beloit/Janesville, and Harper Symphonies, Vidin Philharmonic, and the Oconomowoc, Concord, and Appleton Chamber Orchestras.

Roberta has served on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Carroll University. She has also taught in the extension programs for Alverno College and Lawrence University. Roberta completed the coursework for a Doctoral Degree in Violin Performance and Orchestral Conducting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds Master of Music and Bachelor of the Fine Arts degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, graduating with honors.

OcONOMOwOc cHa MbER ORcHESTR a

OcONOMOwOc cHa MbER ORcHESTR a ROSTER

FLuTeLesley Conger-HatchJoelle Willems

PiCCOLONancy Hart

OBOeMalia SmithKaylyn Reumler

CLAriNeTEve GalvaniVojislav Brankov

BASS CLAriNeTJim Skaleski

BASSOONEric Heitkemper

HOrNWes HatchShelly GrothausTheresa Jahnke OestricherDain Shuler

TrumPeT David NaegeleJacob KallmannBill Eddington

TrOmBONe Adam HoukMike Dugan

BASS TrOmBONeMotoaki Kashino

TuBA Steve Marcus

TimPANi Richard Farvour

PerCuSSiON Robert KriefallRuth Steinbart

ViOLiN 1 Jennifer D’AlessioDaniel EichingerJoAnne HasselerSara KureckTony PerezElizabeth ZempelDr. Michael Karasis(Civil War Memorial only)

ViOLiN 2Suzanne IgnaszakSarah EmranKaren SchroederTammy ThurmanLygia Topolovec

ViOLA Bob IgnaszakJackie BakerPaul Dawson

CeLLO Paul KilpatrickJanet MarshallKaren Bechtel

DOuBLe BASS John BabbittMike Steen


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Spirit of Creativity2012-2013 Season

THe AmeriCAN SPiriTSaturday, October 13, 2012

Shattuck Auditorium, Carroll University

Oconomowoc Chamber Orchestra, Roberta Carpenter, ConductorWaukesha Choral Union, Ernest Brusubardis III, Artistic Director

Indra Brusubardis, SopranoJim LaBelle, Narrator

Rounds for String Orchestra……………………….David Diamond Allegro, molto vivace Adagio Allegro vigoroso

God Bless America…………………………………Dr. Michael Karasis Indra Brusubardis, Soprano

Intermission

An American Civil War Memorial………………… Dr. Michael KarasisJim LaBelle, Narrator

1. Overture 2. Plantation Memories 3. First Encounter 4. Letters from Home 5A. Picket’s Charge 5B. Soldier’s Lament 6. Andersonville 7. That They Shall Not Have Died In Vain 8. Appomattox 9. Anthem to Brotherhood


Waukesha CiviC TheaTre

October 19 to 20, 2012

October 26 to

November 11, 2012

COmic dance variety show COMIC DRAMA

November 17, 2012

November 30 to

December 16, 2012

musical concert musicAL variety show

www.waukeshacivictheatre • Box Office: 262.547.0708


Amanda McFall, Accompanist

SOPrANOKaren BieszkIndra BrusubardisTina CongdonPhyllis CramerPaula CustisSummer GrandeNaomi GuzmanPatricia HummelEsther KramerBarbara MillerJennifer NienhausRena PettSally SchwarzCarol SlaybaughMary StephaniKathi StoiberTasha TwesmeEileen Zimmerman

ALTOMary CarvalhoMaureen HairBeth HeflinWendy MullerColleen ReskeMichele RinkaJudy RosynekSusan TillChristy WalkerSue WallenslagerAnne Wander

TeNOrJohn ClauszTom CustisPaul McCoy

BASSRich BlauveltNorm GoeschkoCharlie HummelTom SmithAlan ThompsonGregory Youngs

waukESHa cHOR al uNION

aDDITIONal INFOR M aTION

Waukesha Choral Union is always seeking new members. To schedule an auditionplease call (414) 297-9310 or email at [email protected] Spirit of Creativity, the 2012-2013 Waukesha Choral Union season, is sponsored in part by grants from Arts Waukesha, and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.


The Waukesha Choral Union is deeply grateful to these donors for their meaningful financial support. Their commitment to live, local music will help the WCU remain affordable and accessible to the communities we serve.

cONTR IbuTORS

Maestro ($2,500 and above) Anthony and Andrea Bryant

Family Fund Jo Ann Portz

Conductor ($1,000 to $2,499) Arts WaukeshaA donation in memory of

James L. and Dorothy Goff Frisch

Wisconsin Arts Board

Soloist ($500 to $999) Tom and Paula Custis Mary Stephani Waukesha State Bank

Chorister ($250 to $499) John Gustafson Tom Smith Richard and Carol Snook Alan Thompson Tom’s Heating Service

Patron ($100 to $249) Steven Ayers Marion A. Eales Practical Club Dick Smith

Accompanist ($25 to $99) Ed Butte GE Foundation Harry and Ingrid Goeschko Norman Goeschko Tom and Pat Gregory Pat Hummel Mary A. Jervis Charmaine and James

LaBelle Sally Schwarz Ruth and Glenn Van

Haitsma Anne Wandler

DONaTE TO THE waukESHa cHOR al uNION

OnLine www.ChoralUnion.org email [email protected] Phone 262-549-4863 mail Waukesha Choral Union, PO Box 495, Waukesha, WI 53187

Advertise in our next concert program Call 262-901-5325 or eMail [email protected]

Select #918425 Waukesha Choral union for the Pick’n Save We Care Program

Waukesha Choral Union is a tax-exempt 501.C.3 non-profit organization. Your donation may be tax deductible, consult your financial advisor.

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F a l l 2 0 1 2 A r t s E v e n t sOct. 18 – Nov. 20

“Book Passages: A Visual Journey” by William Zuback

Archival Ink Jet PhotographsMain Hall

Reception: Thursday, Oct. 18, 5-7 p.m.

Oct. 19, 7 p.m.Oct. 20, 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.

Student Production: “The Shape of Things”

by Neil LaButeOtteson Theatre

Nov. 4, 4 p.m.Faculty Recital featuring

Dan Roberdeau, clarinet; Jamie Hofman, viola; Karen Bechtel, cellist and Shanti Daya, piano

Dorothy Goff Frisch Recital Hall

Nov. 16, 7 p.m.Nov. 17, 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.

Faculty Directed Musical: “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”

by Rupert HolmesOtteson Theatre

Dec. 1 & 2, 7:30 p.m.Christmas at Carroll

Shattuck Music Center

Call 262.524.7633 for ticket information.www.carrollu.edu


Keeping the Waukesha Choral Union singing takes money as well as time, effort and audiences. Show your support by coming to our performances, singing with us, liking us on Facebook, making a donation, or advertising in our print programs. We are a 501(c)(3) organization and your donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

SHOw yOuR SuPPORT

S INg wITH waukESHa cHOR al uNION

The Waukesha Choral Union derives its strength and quality from its members’ passion for singing and is always seeking new voices interested in:

• Improving your singing ability • Performing Handel’s Messiah with an orchestra • Exploring new musical genres • Socializing with other singers • Being a part of a growing, dynamic arts organization

To schedule an audition please call (414) 297-9310 or email [email protected].

REHEaRSalS

vOluNTEER OPPORTuNITIES

aDvERTISE wITH waukESHa cHOR al uNION

Tuesday nights at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, 2016 Center Road, Waukesha, WI

The Waukesha Choral Union is always in need of an extra pair of hands. Call (414) 297-9310 or email [email protected] to help out.

Our audience is encouraged to support those businesses that advertise in our concert programs. All ads include a link on our website. Single concert advertising available.


cOMPOSERS cORNER

David Diamond: Rounds for String Orchestra

David Leo Diamond (July 9, 1915 – June 13, 2005) was an American composer of classical music. He was born in

Rochester, NY, studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Eastman School of Music, also receiving lessons from Roger Sessions in New York City and Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Diamond won a number of awards and is considered one of the preeminent American composers of his generation.

Diamond’s most popular piece is Rounds for String Orchestra (1944). Among his other works are eleven symphonies (the last in 1993), concertos including three for violin, eleven string quartets, music for wind ensemble, other chamber music, piano pieces and vocal music.

Diamond was also named honorary composer-in-residence of the Seattle Symphony. He was a longtime member of the Juilliard School faculty. In 1995, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

Diamond composed Rounds for String Orchestra on a commission from the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. In Rounds, the music is rhythmically vivacious and has the feel of American folk tunes. In response to the turmoil surrounding the ongoing World War and a musical society who was trying to define the difference between music and noise, structure and non-structure, harmony and atonality, David Diamond was asked to write a piece which would be accessible and upbeat. He succeeded. Rounds was performed extensively following its premiere, continues to be popular, and received the New York Critics’ Circle citation in 1945.

THE BRITISH SPIRIT

Salute to Our Veterans: Battle of Britain

Sunday, November 11th, 3:00pm Shattuck Auditorium - Carroll University

A Royal Christmas Tuesday, December 4th, 7:30pm

Shattuck Auditorium - Carroll University

To Purchase: Online: WisconsinPhilharmonic.org Phone: 262-547-1858 In Person: 234 W Main St Suite 9 Waukesha, WI 53186

Tickets $17-37

65th Anniversary Season

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cOMPOSERS cORNER c o n t.

Dr. Michael Karasis: An American Civil War Memorial

Dr. Michael Karasis began studying the violin and composition while in surgical training in Springfield,

Illinois during the mid-1970s. Over the ensuing years, he has composed a number of works for both chamber groups and full orchestra. These works include six string quartets, violin and piano sonatas, a wind and string octet and Elegy for solo voice and string orchestra, dedicated to the tragedy of September 11th.

Larger works include a musical drama entitled Cathedral; an orchestral tone poem Ozymandias; Images, a set of six orchestral tone poems; Missa Gloria, a Roman Catholic Mass; eleven symphonies; two concerti for violin and orchestra, and a concerto for four strings and orchestra. A recent work is a set of orchestral variations on an original theme. His work has been set to ballet by the Berkshire Ballet of Crystal Lake, IL.

His most recently completed works include: An American civil War Memorial and Government Issue, both complete oratorios for full orchestra, chorus, and narrators concerning America in her two greatest conflicts and To Life, a six-song cycle for soprano and bass voices and orchestra.

Dr. Karasis is composer in residence of the Orchestra of St. Vincent in Chicago. He is a violinist in the Harper Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Vincent, and the Fox Valley Symphony.

His An American Civil War Memorial (a 2-CD set) has been performed live at the Chicago Historical Society with the late

Bel Canto Chorus and Boy Choirs present the live world premiere of Alexander Levine’s eloquent,

unaccompanied Prayers for Mankind, celebrating unity, humanity,

wisdom, and love.

c h o r u s

Tickets $20-$25Senior and student discounts available

www.belcanto.org or 414.481.8801

PrAyers for MAnkind

Join us Sunday, October 21 at 3:00 pm

The Basilica of St. Josaphat2333 S. Sixth St., Milwaukee

BEL 061 12 October concert ad_half pg_v2.indd 1 9/25/12 1:23 PM


Senator Paul Simon narrating the works. Government Issue was premiered in Chicago by the Orchestra of St. Vincent in 2002, making use of four narrators depicting stories of World War II America. It was performed at the Chicago Historical Society in November 2003, again with Senator Paul Simon.

Dr. Karasis resides in Woodstock, IL and continues to compose for small and large orchestras.

Dr. Karasis wrote the notes to accompany tonight’s performance.

We sit upon the pinnacle of human history. From our past we can examine the roots of who we are and from what place we came. I have always believed that we as Americans have an undeniable obligation to understand as best we can what in the course of events allowed us to become the most privileged and fortunate society on Earth. By studying the Civil War, I came to a personal revelation.

The Civil War still touches us. Indeed we are inseparable from it. That horrendous conflict, with all that has been written and said, in the final analysis becomes the story of the common man. That can be said, to be sure, of many of history’s struggles; so what is it that makes the American Civil War any different? That answer seems to lie in the unique experience of America herself, what America stands for, as well as what she finds intolerable. This oratorio began to assemble itself in my mind after my first series of visits in 1997 to the great Civil War Battlefields. It was a mesmerizing experience to stand on those grounds. No religious experience could have made a deeper impression upon me. “Sacred ground” took on new meaning. Below my feet were the bones and countless told and untold stories of the common soldier who set firm in supreme sacrifice, my privileged right to call myself an American. The experience of having been there will never truly leave me. It was out of this confluence of feelings that this oratorio was born.

Specifically, this work utilizes a musical style that in no way would have been unfamiliar to the ear of the Private at Fredericksburg or the Sergeant at Gettysburg. It is composed as a universal statement in Victorian dress. This was the Victorian age as Europe and the rest of the world watched from a distance to see if this experiment of popular




government, this adolescent society could withstand in fact the greatest conflict this hemisphere has ever seen. And indeed, it did; for after the Civil War we not merely lived in the Americas of the revolution, but now in the United States of America.

Just as we must not forget who we are, we, so too, must not forget from where we came. For if we do forget, take for granted, or become indifferent, we are left to suffer the personal humiliations of a meaningless superficiality that is all too easy to accept.

Let us not wave our flag without looking up to it and in doing so confront our own destiny as the soldiers on those many battlefields confronted theirs. We are their privileged children.

From the nostalgia of “Plantation Memories” and the longing of “Letters from Home” there is contracted the fervent anticipations of glory and the fury of real battle. The realities of war must too give painful birth to lamentation and horror, but in the end an anthem can be sung to hope, brotherhood, and the insistence that “we must not forget.”

“The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.” - Abraham Lincoln, December, 1862


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