Distinguished Concerts International - New York

E. Whitacre

Sunday, March 15, 2009
2:00 pm

AVERY FISHER HALL, LINCOLN CENTER

The Choral Music of Whitacre

Including a world premiere courtesy of the DCINY Premiere Project

Eric Whitacre, Guest Conductor/Composer

Featuring Distinguished Concert Singers International: Canta Filia (Kansas City, MO); Capital High School (Helena, MT); Cedar Hill High School Choir (Cedar Hill, TX); Sprague High School (South Salem, OR)

Repertoire: 

• Animal Crackers I
• Animal Crackers II (World Premiere)
• Five Hebrew Love Songs
• Leonardo
• Lux Arumque
• Three Flower Songs
  
• Seal Lullaby
  
• Sleep 

Excellence in Education Series

Eric Whitacre, Guest Conductor

Olathe East Symphonic Winds (KS)
Eric Griffin, Director

Repertoire:

• Ralph Vaughan Williams: English Folk Song Suite – I. Seventeen Come Sunday
• Eric Whitacre: Cloudburst
  
• Beethoven: Sixth Symphony (the “Pastoral”)
  
• Dr. Andrew Boysen, Jr: Little White Lines
  
• John Mackey: Strange Humors

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Ensemble bios

United States

Canta Filia is a select ensemble of young women ages 14 to 20 at the Community Music & Dance Academy, an outreach program of the UMKC Conservatory of Music & Dance. Students in the ensemble attend a variety of high schools in the Kansas City metro area. Canta Filia is dedicated to excellence in the performance of choral music and to developing a community of friends who share a love of singing. The ensemble collaborates with the Kansas City Children's Chorus, but has also performed independently and with UMKC Conservatory ensembles, community groups, and visiting choirs.

Jennifer Benjamin, a native of Los Angeles, earned a B.A. in vocal performance and studied choral conducting with Paul Salamunovich at Loyola Marymount University. She moved to Kansas City in 1993 and received her M.M. in Music History and M.A. in Choral Education from the UMKC Conservatory of Music & Dance. At UMKC, she studied conducting with Charles Robinson and Eph Ehly. Jennifer served as Music Director at St. Teresa's Academy in Kansas City from 2000 to 2005. Under her direction, St. Teresa’s A Cappella Choir performed at the MMEA Conference in 2004 and the ACDA National Convention in 2005.

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Capital High School Chamber Singers (MT)

The Capital High School Chamber Singers are a group of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are a select, auditioned performing group. This Choir has received Superior Ratings at the District Festival. Individual students in this choir have also received the honors of performing at the State level Festivals, along with All-Northwest performances.

Darcy Schulz is currently the Choral Director at Capital High School in Helena, Montana. She has been in the education field for the past 20 years, teaching both in an institution and privately. She began her teaching career in both Elementary and Middle School Music.She got her degree in Music Education at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.

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Olathe East Symphonic Winds

The Olathe East Symphonic Winds are comprised of students from the Olathe East's Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band. Under the direction of Eric Griffin and Jeff Smikahl, the bands at Olathe East have received consistent acclaim for innovative programming and musical achievement. The music program at Olathe East represents a well-rounded offering of bands, choirs, and orchestra. Ensembles representing the Olathe East music program have performed in all regions of the United States and beyond, including England, Canada, the Hawaiian islands, and in New York City. The Olathe East Symphonic Winds are proud to debut at Lincoln Center.  

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The Sprague High School Concert Choir is one of five choral ensembles that continue a long tradition of choral singing at Sprague High School. Comprised of 117 singers, the Concert Choir has performed at national, state, and regional conventions of Music Educators National Conference and American Choral Directors Association. Sprague choirs have toured the northwest, Canada, California, Florida, and New York. In 2007, the choir placed first at the OSAAlACDA State Choir Championships for the fifth consecutive year, and also won the "Best in the Northwest choral festival” at the University of Portland for the eleventh straight year. In 2000, the Sprague Music Department was chosen as the National Grammy Signature School by the GRAMMY foundation.

Russell Christensen is in his 16th year as choral director at Sprague. Mr. Christensen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from University of Oregon, and a Master of Arts in Music Education from Western Oregon University. Mr. Christensen was named the "Oregon Music Educator of the Year" for 2007 by the Oregon Music Educators Association. In 2004, the Oregon Symphony Association in Salem recognized him as "Music Educator of the Year". He was also the first recipient of the Western Oregon University Alumni Excellence Award in Music. Mr. Christensen is a certified choral adjudicator in Oregon and is a coconductor of the Oregon Ambassadors of Music Choir. Mr. Christensen has been married to his wife Molly for 24 years and they have two children - Sara (20) and Kevin (18).

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