Fitting to the season, the program will be comprised of works of thanksgiving.

Deo Gratias by Benjamin Britten (from Ceremony of Carols)
American Thanksgiving by Carol Barnett
We Gather Together by Stephen Paulus
Pilgrims’ Hymn by Stephen Paulus
The Promise of Living by Aaron Copland
Simple Gifts arr. by David Brunner and Aaron Copland
I Thank You God by Gwyneth Walker

Toward the Unknown Region by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Celebrations by Vincent Persichetti
Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking by Eric Stokes

The Southern Illinois Symphony Orchestra will join the Choral Union and Concert Choir to perform a variety of Italian favorites.  The program will begin with Gabrieli’s Hodie Christus Natus Est for double choir and the Kyrie and Gloria from Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.  And in the spirit of the season, it will close with holiday carols from Italy (or Italian composers),  including the “Shepherds’ Chorus” from Amahl and the Night Visitors (Menotti) and “Tu Scendi Dalle Stella” (Liguori), among others.  The program will close with a humorous look at music history in a piece called A Musicological Journey thru the Twelve Days of Christmas- fun for both audience and singers alike.

Lux Aeterna by Morten Lauridsen

• The Road Not Taken
• A Girl’s Garden
• Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening
• Choose Something Like a Star

• When I Can Read My Title Clear
• Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal

• Blow Ye The Trumpets
• Dan-u-el

The evening service in Christian churches is known as vespers or evensong.  Musical settings are traditionally calm and peaceful in nature, setting aside the toils and cares of the day in preparation for sleep.

The two major works on this program:

• Mozart’s Vespers (K. 339)
• Four movements from Rachmaninoff’s Vespers service

The other works on the program works are from the English evensong tradition:

• C.H.H. Parry’s “I Was Glad”
• Charles Villiers Stanford’s “The Lord is My Shepherd”

The Mozart is with small orchestra and organ, the Rachmaninoff are a cappella and the English pieces are with organ.

In keeping with a desire to expose SIU music students to the classics of the choral repertoire, while attempting to stray a bit from the beaten path, the CU will perform the less widely-performed portion of Messiah.

A musical tour of one of the most ancient and beautiful texts in Christian sacred music, as set by a variety of composers of different eras.

• Personent Hodie Medieval Latín poem arr. Lara Hoggard
• Deutsches Magnificat by Heinrich Schutz (1535-1672)
• Magnificat by René Clausen (1953-).  Arlene Transue, soprano
• Festival Magnificat by Daniel Pinkham (1923-2006).  Carlyn Zimmermann, conductor
• A Brass Menagerie, 1. Molto Allegro ed Energico by John Cheetham (1939-).  Faculty Brass Quintet
• Magnificat Jonathan Willcocks (1953-)

Susan Davenport conducts the SIUC Choral Union and Concert Choir, with Carlyn Zimmermann conducting the instrumental ensemble.  Special guests include soprano Arlene Transue, organist Anita Hutton and the Faculty Brass Quintet:

• Robert Allison, trumpet
• Jeanne Millikin, trumpet
• Jennifer Presar, horn
• Tim Pìtchford, trombone
• Chris Combest, tuba

The SIU Choral Union and the SIU Concert Choir, conducted by Susan Davenport,  perform various light works in German, accompanied by brass:

• Four Songs for Women’s Chorus, Two Horns and Harp by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). Carlyn Zimmermann, conductor. Kara Benyas, piano. Jennifer Presar and Jessica Drake, horns
• Six Horn Quartets by Nickolay Tcherepnin (1873-1945). SIUC Horn Choir Jennifer Presar, director
• Jagdlieder, Opus 137 by Robert Schumann (1810-1856) for male voices.  Men of the Choirs, Susan Davenport, conductor. Kathleen Manfredi, piano. Horn Choir, Jennifer Presar, director.   Performance excerpt
• Liebeslieder Walzer by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).  Kara Benyas, piano. Margaret Simmons, piano.  Kayley Fitt-Handzik, mezzo soprano. Cory Garmane, tenor.
• Zum Schloss by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).  Kara Benyas, piano. Margaret Simmons, piano.

The text of the oratorio follows Biblical accounts of the prophet Elijah. The musical style is Baroque, recalling Johann Sebastian Bach, a musician Mendelssohn deeply admired, with an overlay of the Romanticism of Mendelssohn.

Susan Davenport conducts the vocal ensembles, with soloists David Dillard, ??

Performance excerpts:

• Call him Louder
• The Fire Descends from Heavn
• And Then Shall your Light Break Forth

This semester’s concert will be a tour through the classic choruses of the opera repertoire.  A few of the pieces included are:

• “Polovtsian Dances” from Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin (1833–1887)
• “Anvil Chorus” from Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)   Performance excerpt
• “Make our Garden Grow” from Candide by Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)  Performance excerpt

Conductor: Susan Davenport

Soloists: