With Grace: The Music Of Gwyneth Walker
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center
Acts
Nancy Menk, Guest Conductor
Gwyneth Walker Music for Women's Voices
Featuring Distinguished Concerts Orchestra
and Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Repertoire:
How Can I Keep From Singing
I Thank You God
Songs for Women's Voices
This Train
Crossing the Bar
and Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Repertoire:
How Can I Keep From Singing
I Thank You God
Songs for Women's Voices
This Train
Crossing the Bar
Elizabeth Núñez, Director
SoHarmoniums
New York City's Own Women's Choir
Participating Groups
Colorado Women’s Chorale
SoHarmoniums Women's Choir
Canberra Girls Grammar School
Nazareth Academy Chorale
Saint Mary's College Women's Choir
Voca Lyrica
Williamsburg Women's Chorus
Special Guests
Artist's Name
Nancy Menk
Artist's Name
Elizabeth Núñez
Artist's Name
Gwyneth Walker
Participating Group Directors
SoHarmoniums Women's Choir
Elizabeth Núñez
Elizabeth McKinney Núñez is a conductor, choral clinician, soloist, and the associate conductor of the award-winning Young People’s Chorus of New York City. At YPC, she created and directs the acclaimed Cantare Chorus and serves as vocal coach for all six YPC divisions in rehearsals, performances, and international tours to countries on four continents. Elizabeth has conducted at venues large and small throughout New York City, from Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Jazz at Lincoln Center to Le Poisson Rouge and the Metropolitan Museum, as well as on national television. She also directs YPC’s Satellite Schools Program, serving over 900 children in New York City public schools. Elizabeth is founding artistic director of the SoHarmoniums Women’s Choir, a multi-generational ensemble formed in 2005 and based in Manhattan’s SoHo. She has given numerous workshops throughout the US and abroad as a sought-after choral clinician and conductor. As a singer, Elizabeth has performed at Carnegie Hall and made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2007 and returned to the role in 2010 and 2014.
Colorado Women’s Chorale
Jennifer Ferguson
Canberra Girls Grammar School
Melinda Sawers
Nazareth Academy Chorale
Katherine M. Chmelko
Ms. Katherine Chmelko is the Director of the Nazareth Academy Chorale. At Nazareth she also directs the Chorus and Pandamonium, a select a cappella ensemble. Under her direction her choirs have most recently toured Italy in 2013.
Ms. Chmelko is an avid choral singer and has sung with the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and the Archdiocesan Choir of Philadelphia. She is also the Director of Music at Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Collingswood, NJ.
Ms. Chmelko holds a B.M. in Music Education from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN where she studied with Dr. Nancy Menk.
Saint Mary's College Women's Choir
Nancy Menk
Nancy Menk holds the Mary Lou and Judd Leighton Chair in Music at Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, where she is Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, and Chair of the Music Department. She also teaches graduate conducting at the University of Notre Dame. At Saint Mary's College, Dr. Menk conducts the Women's Choir and the Collegiate Choir, teaches conducting, and prepares the Madrigal Singers for the annual Christmas Madrigal Dinners.
Under her direction, the Women’s Choir has performed on tour throughout the United States and it regularly commissions, performs, and records new works for women's voices for their series on the ProOrgano label. In February 2005 they performed for the ACDA National Convention in Los Angeles, CA, and in June 2012 they performed for the ACDA National Symposium on American Choral Music in Washington, DC. They made their first international tour visiting China in March 2011, and were named second place winners of The American Prize in Choral Performance for 2012. She is founder and conductor of the South Bend Chamber Singers, an ensemble of 32 select singers from the Michiana area. In 2000, the Singers were one of five finalists for the prestigious Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, given annually by Chorus America, and in 2004 they won the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming. They were invited to perform for the American Choral Directors Association Central Division Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana in March 2012. Both the Saint Mary’s Women’s Choir and the South Bend Chamber Singers regularly commission, perform, and record new works. Dr. Menk is also conductor of the 120-voice Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus. In November 2014 she made her sixth appearance at Carnegie Hall, conducting Carol Barnett’s The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass with Monroe Crossing and DCINY. She holds the B.S. and the M.A. degrees in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and the M.M. and the D.M.A. degrees in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Under her direction, the Women’s Choir has performed on tour throughout the United States and it regularly commissions, performs, and records new works for women's voices for their series on the ProOrgano label. In February 2005 they performed for the ACDA National Convention in Los Angeles, CA, and in June 2012 they performed for the ACDA National Symposium on American Choral Music in Washington, DC. They made their first international tour visiting China in March 2011, and were named second place winners of The American Prize in Choral Performance for 2012. She is founder and conductor of the South Bend Chamber Singers, an ensemble of 32 select singers from the Michiana area. In 2000, the Singers were one of five finalists for the prestigious Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, given annually by Chorus America, and in 2004 they won the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming. They were invited to perform for the American Choral Directors Association Central Division Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana in March 2012. Both the Saint Mary’s Women’s Choir and the South Bend Chamber Singers regularly commission, perform, and record new works. Dr. Menk is also conductor of the 120-voice Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus. In November 2014 she made her sixth appearance at Carnegie Hall, conducting Carol Barnett’s The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass with Monroe Crossing and DCINY. She holds the B.S. and the M.A. degrees in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and the M.M. and the D.M.A. degrees in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Voca Lyrica
Virginia Kerwin
Virginia Kerwin serves as the Executive Director of the Michigan School Vocal Music Association. An active adjudicator and clinician, she is a past MSVMA Teacher of the Year and MMEA Administrator of the Year. She has conducted honors choirs in Michigan and Ohio, and has served on the staffs of the All-State Camp at Interlochen and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. She has served on the music faculties of Central Michigan University, and Grand Valley State University. She is the founding director of Voca Lyrica, an adult women’s choir in Big Rapids Michigan.
Williamsburg Women's Chorus
Ann S. Porter
Ann S. Porter is in her tenth season directing the Williamsburg Women's Chorus. With a Master of Arts from the University of North Carolina, her career has included teaching public school music, teaching piano and voice, church music ministries, and directing community choirs and musical theater productions. Presently, she directs the Williamsburg Youth Chorale and the Choristers at Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Va.