LINCOLN PORTRAIT
- COPLAND: Jubilee Variation
- COPLAND: Lincoln Portrait
- LaVonte Heard and Dorian Hall, narrators
- HAYDN: Paukenmesse
- Catherine Goode, Kristin Boggs Clark, LaVonte Heard, Dorian Hall, soloists
- Adrian College choir
The season's orchestral finale welcomes not only combined choirs but also a quartet of vocal soloists to bring down the house with Haydn's fiery Paukenmesse (the timpani mass). The rumbling drums join with two trumpets throughout this work that showcases soloists, choirs, and orchestra alike. Our Copland season wraps up with his shortest orchestral work, the Jubilee Variation, and Lincoln Portrait, which features narrators quoting some of the President's most powerful speeches.
About Guest Artists
Dorian Payton Hall
DORIAN PAYTON HALL (Baritone) is a freelance vocalist and music educator. More recently, he and Curtis Institute of Music faculty member Reese Revak presented a Virtual Concert of African American Art Songs and Arias that was featured in a spotlight by CBS-3 Philadelphia News.
A native of New Orleans, Dorian began his musical training in piano lessons with the late Mrs. Louise D. Gable, and also the Music Department of the New Orleans Public Schools. Later, he matriculated from Loyola University College of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree, and then his Masters from the University of Michigan.
As an active artist, he has appeared over the years with the Illinois Symphony, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Michigan Opera Theater (Detroit), New Orleans Opera, Capitol Opera, Delaware Valley Opera, the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, and the Brevard Music Festival. As a concert soloist, Mr. Hall has been featured in Handel's Messiah, the Faure Requiem, the Mozart Requiem, Mass in C Minor (Mozart), Brahms Requiem, Mass of the Children, A Gospel Mass, and others. His operatic credits include performances in Carmen, Faust Manon (Massenet), Rigoletto, Nabucco, Don Carlo, Aida, La Traviata, Satyagraha, La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, Manon Lescaut, Il Tabarro, Die Fledermaus, Der Fliegende Hollander, Tannhaeuser, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, L'enfant et les sortilèges, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Porgy and Bess, and the De Organizer.
As a frequent collaborator, Dorian has shared the stage with renowned artists such as the late Moses Hogan, Delfeayo Marsalis, Logan Skelton, Stephen Smith, Jerry Blackstone, Willis Patterson, Kenneth Kiesler, Timothy Cheek, Tyler Driskill, Anita Johnson, and Albinas Pringztas. Before Hurricane Katrina, Dorian served as an elementary vocal music teacher for both Edgar P. Harney and Morris F.X.Jeff Public Schools in New Orleans. He has also taught at summer programs such as the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan. Other teaching assignments and faculty positions have included Ann Arbor Public Schools, Ypsilanti Schools, Germantown Friends School, and the Settlement Music School of Philadelphia.
Dorian is currently a D.M.A pre-candidate at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance.
About Guest Artists
Catherine Goode
Praised for her "silvery bright soprano" (Houston Press) and "delicious interpretation" (Arts Louisville), coloratura soprano Catherine Goode's 2023-2024 season includes a house debut with Opera Birmingham, where she sings Helen's Voice in the world premiere of touch, and a return to Opera in the Heights, where she sings Clara in The Light in the Piazza. Her 2022-2023 season included role and house debuts at Central City Opera (Krysia—Two Remain; Adele [cover & family performance]—Die Fledermaus) and Salt Marsh Opera (Lauretta—Gianni Schicchi; The Plaintiff—Trial by Jury) and role debuts at Kentucky Opera (Della—The Gift of the Magi) and Opera in the Heights (Gilda—Rigoletto). From 2020 to 2022, Catherine performed with Virginia Opera (Woglinde—Das Rheingold; Kenzie—Earth to Kenzie (film); Musetta (cover)—La bohème; Barbarina (Susanna cover)—Le nozze di Figaro), Kentucky Opera (Amore (Euridice cover)—Orfeo ed Euridice), Merola Opera Program, and Opera in the Heights (Lucia and Susanna in a concert of highlights from Lucia di Lammermoor and Le nozze di Figaro). Cancellations due to COVID-19 included Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel) with Kentucky Opera; Lady with a Hand Mirror in Argento's Postcard from Morocco and Barbarina cover in Le nozze di Figaro (Merola Opera Program); and Drusilla in The Poppea Project (a new production of The Coronation of Poppea) with Opera Columbus.
In the 2019-2020 season, she was in the inaugural Resident Artist Program with Opera Columbus and Capital University. As a 2018-2019 Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist with Virginia Opera, she covered Adina (L'elisir d'amore) and sang Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly). Catherine spent two summers as an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera, covering Cunegonde (Candide, 2019) and Controller (Flight, 2018). She spent the summers of 2016 and 2017 as an Emerging Artist at Seagle Festival, performing Young Veronica in the world premiere of Evan Mack's Roscoe and Königin der Nacht (Die Zauberflöte).
As a frequent soloist, Catherine has sung the soprano solo in works ranging from Carmina Burana and Messiah to major choral works by Mozart and Rutter. A lover of collaborative performances and an avid recitalist, she regularly performs the works of both living and female composers and strives for innovative programming. Recent recital performances include Living Voices: Music by Living American Composers, at which she gave the world premiere of Mark Buller's Schlechtesübersetzung-lieder. In 2016, she presented The Story of Cinderella, a pastiche production telling the Cinderella narrative using art songs, arias, ensembles, and chants composed by women. The Story of Cinderella earned her a fellowship with Crested Butte Music Festival's RISE Camp in the summer of 2020. Catherine has had competition success in Alabama, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. She was an MONC—Great Lakes Region Finalist in 2020 and was awarded First Place at the 2020 Harold Haugh Light Opera Vocal Competition. Catherine is also a member of mirabai, a professional women's ensemble.
A native of Friendswood, Texas, Catherine completed Bachelor of Music degrees, summa cum laude, in vocal performance and music education from the University of Houston's Moores School of Music. She studied voice with soprano Cynthia Clayton and worked with opera director Buck Ross. Catherine completed a Master of Music degree in vocal performance at Michigan State University, where she studied with soprano Melanie Helton.
About Guest Artists
Kristin Clark
Kristin Clark, mezzo-soprano, has been lauded for her "technical prowess" and "approachability" (classical.net). She can be heard in the role of Electre on the 2015 GRAMMY nominated recording of Milhaud's L'Orestie d'Eschyle, for which Opera News described her voice as "slicing the air unassailably." In 2015, Dr. Clark made her solo debut in Carnegie Hall, singing Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the Blue Period Ensemble. She returns to Carnegie Hall in the summer of 2024 to sing Duruflé's Requiem with Manhattan Concert Productions. Particularly at home on the concert stage, Dr. Clark has appeared as a guest soloist with organizations such as the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Symphony, the Bozeman Symphony, the Oakland Choral Society, the University Musical Society, the Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra, and the Adrian Symphony. Other notable concert appearances include the world premiere of Susan Botti's Tagore Madrigals at the American Academy in Rome and a Canadian Tour of Aaron Copland's In the Beginning. Frequently performed works include Handel's Messiah, Duruflé's Requiem, Mozart's Mass in C Minor and Requiem, and Beethoven's Mass in C.
Opera audiences have seen Dr. Clark on stage with Michigan Opera Theatre, Arbor Opera Theatre, The Metropolitan Baroque Ensemble, the University of Michigan Opera Theatre, and the Blue Lake Summer Arts Festival. Favorite performances include the role of Dritte Magd in Elektra with Christine Goerke and the title roles in Dido and Aeneas, Hansel and Gretel, and Gluck's Armide. Dr. Clark's other operatic roles include Vlasta in The Passenger, Jo in Little Women, the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, Ruth in Pirates of Penzance. Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mercedes in Carmen, Madama Rose in Il Campanello, and Florence Pike in Albert Herring.
Dr. Clark completed her Doctorate in vocal performance at the University of Michigan, where she also received Master's degrees in vocal performance and choral conducting and an undergraduate degree in music education. As a graduate student in conducting, she led the University's Orpheus Singers and Residential College choirs, and she received the honor of conducting in master class with Helmuth Rilling. As a graduate student vocalist, Dr. Clark made solo appearances with every major choral and orchestral ensemble on campus, performed in recital with Martin Katz, and was selected to sing in master classes with Jessye Norman, Ann Baltz, and David Daniels. Dr. Clark also performed as a cover to Jessye Norman in a workshop of Laura Karpman's Ask Your Mama. As an alum, she has returned to her alma mater to perform works by De Falla and Gubaidulina with the University Symphony Orchestra and Band.
Dr. Clark is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts at Adrian College. She has previously held positions teaching voice for the University of Michigan musical theatre program and at Concordia University. In the summer, she has taught on the voice faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, MPulse Vocal Arts Institute and Musical Theatre Workshops, and the Interlochen Adult Choir Camp. Graduates of Dr. Clark's studio have gone on to perform leading and supporting roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in national tours, to pursue graduate studies in vocal performance, and to teach music in elementary, secondary, and collegiate classrooms.
LaVonté L. Heard
Sphinx MPower Grant Recipient LaVonté L. Heard is a graduate of The Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio (USA), where he graduated with a degree in Vocal Performance. He began graduate work at Louisiana State University in Opera Performance. Mr. Heard is also a graduate of Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, MI, where he received a Master of Education Degree in Educational Leadership. Mr. Heard is a 2023 University of Michigan- Ann Arbor graduate with a Master's degree in Choral Music Education. He is currently a Doctoral Student in Educational Leadership at Central Michigan University.
Heard has been lauded worldwide for his versatility in his Classical and "fiery" Gospel performances. "A thundering tenor" is how he was described by a well-wisher after his performance with the Jeremy Winston Chorale in Hamburg, Germany.
Heard's career has taken him all over the world. He has been heard with such companies as the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, Bach Society of Dayton, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Flint Symphony, and Sphinx Virtuosi. His singing engagements have spanned continents, appearing in China, Europe, South America, and the United States. Carnegie Hall (New York), Severance Hall (Cleveland, OH), Lincoln Center (New York), Kennedy Center (Washington DC), Dome of Salzburg (Salzburg, Austria), Schloss Mirabell (Salzburg, Austria) Municipal House (Prague, Czech Republic) are among the many concert halls and venues where Heard has appeared. These have made his professional life exciting and fulfilling. Still, his heart is with children and their access to the arts worldwide.
Heard is a proud member of Exigence Vocal Ensemble, founded by Eugene Rogers and the Jeremy Winston Chorale International. He is also affiliated with the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the National Association of Negro Musicians, the Arts Council of Greater Lansing, and the Earl Nelson Singers Company of Lansing, MI.
A dedicated Educator, Heard served as a music teacher in the Lansing School District and then the Arts Program Development Specialist. Heard is a sought-after clinician, having done masterclasses worldwide, reaching youth of all backgrounds. Heard transitioned out of Lansing Schools into the private sector in 2019 and founded Transcendence Vocal Arts Institute, which has grown in emphasis to become the Transcendence Performing Arts Centers, Inc., a growing network of schools and studios in Lansing, MI, and nationally. Heard's students have been heard in Concert Halls worldwide, including Carnegie Hall, the American Church in Paris, and the Municipal House in Prague, Czech Republic.
Heard will teach Voice in the TPAC Voice Studio and serve as the inaugural Artistic Director of the Verna D. Holley Project, priZm Chorale, and the TPAC Mosaic Children's Chorus.
Program Notes
Jubilee Variations
Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
The decade of the 1940s was a prolific period for Aaron Copland, the one in which he really began to incorporate American folk elements into his music, as he had long wanted to do. It was the decade of A Lincoln Portrait, in 1942, Rodeo, in 1942, and Appalachian Spring in 1944.
The Jubilee Variation was Copland's contribution to a second set of fanfares commissioned by Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1931 to 1946 who was also a composer. In 1942 Goossens had commissioned 18 composers to submit short fanfare-like pieces to be played together as a "stirring and significant" contribution to the war effort. Copland's contribution at that time was Fanfare for the Common Man. It was very popular and, of the 18 works in the suite, was the only one to endure.
In 1944, as the war dragged on, Goossens repeated his gesture by composing a very short theme and inviting 10 composers to contribute variations on this theme, this time for full orchestra. The Jubilee Variation was Copland's offering for this second suite. The set of variations was premiered in March of 1945 by the Cincinnati Symphony, conducted by Maestro Goossens. It is similar in form to the earlier fanfare but, as specified, composed for a full orchestra. Like the Common Man work, it was meant to be "simple, strong, noble and optimistic," according to its composer. It was performed a number of times but then fell into disuse. It has recently reappeared in the concert repertoire, often as an intro to other Copland works.
Copland's greatest achievement, according to Samuel Lipman, concert pianist and great admirer, was not so much his use of rhythm and harmony, or his inventive structure, but "his ability to evoke through melody the ‘mood of America' from the Civil War to World War II." Copland, in his later years said, "I no longer feel the need of seeking out conscious Americanism. Because we live here and work here, we can be certain that when our music is mature it will also be American."
Program Notes
A Lincoln Portrait
Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
A Lincoln Portrait was composed in 1942, having been commissioned by conductor André Kostelanetz during WWII. He asked Copland to create a musical portrait of an eminent American of his choice. Copland initially chose the words of Walt Whitman, but Kostelanetz urged him to choose a political figure, since America was at war, and Copland settled on Abraham Lincoln and his timeless rhetoric. Since by this time Copland was well into his American-style music period, he wove his own unique melodies with some familiar American folk tunes, including "Camptown Races," because it had been used as one of Lincoln's campaign songs. His sources included Lincoln's 1862 message to Congress, the Lincoln-Douglas debate of 1858 and the Gettysburg Address in 1863.
The piece opens with plaintive woodwinds and bright strings, then incorporates brass as it builds toward the narrative, which begins about eight minutes in. Listeners will hear two broad sections. The first is a narration of contrasting vignettes dealing with Lincoln and his time in history. The second is primarily a narration of Lincoln's own words, accompanied by the orchestra. As the music progresses, the orchestra follows the mood of the words, from tranquil to ominous, to fatalistic and then to triumphal. Music and narrative enhance each other brilliantly as Copland tells the story of Lincoln's part in "our great experiment in democracy" with its ideals of freedom and equality.
The work was premiered with Kostelanetz conducting the Cincinnati Symphony on May 14, 1942. The narration has been interpreted countless times to celebrate democracy, to console during times of unrest, to inspire Americans toward progress, and to move people to action when American principles are threatened. Famous narrators include President Barack Obama, Danny Glover, George Takei, Vincent Price, Charlton Heston, Gore Vidal and even Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister. Not long after her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been assassinated, Coretta Scott King appeared with Copland and the National Symphony Orchestra at Constitution Hall in Washington DC. At that time an observer said, "When, if ever before, did it carry quite the same significance as from the lips of Mrs. King to hear those lines from Gettysburg."
Program Notes
Missa in tempore belli (Mass in Time of War)
AKA Paukenmesse, AKA Timpani Mass
Franz Josef Haydn composed 12 masses in addition to 104 symphonies, 50 concertos, 84 string quartets, and a host of other works for various commissions. The Missa in terpore belli is one of his final masses and was premiered on September 13, 1796. At that time Europe was engaged in the French Revolution, pitting France against England, Austria, Russia and several other European countries. Vienna, where Haydn lived and worked, was expecting the arrival of Napoleon's armies.
While Haydn did not typically involve himself in political matters, he felt the atmosphere all around him. He named his work Mass in Time of War and incorporated the sense of foreboding felt at that time. The introductions to the first and last movements have a nervous quality which resolves and reappears as the music progresses. This, along with moving military fanfares, must have impressed, and perhaps comforted, the apprehensive audience listening to the early performances of this work. The early timpani solo followed by trumpet fanfares gave the Mass in Time of War its popular alternate name, the Paukenmesse, or Timpani Mass.
The war continued through the remainder of Haydn's life.
Napoleon captured and occupied Vienna in early 1809 just before Haydn died. Napoleon knew of Haydn and the enormous respect he had garnered. One of his first orders after entering the city was to have an armed guard stationed around Haydn's house to protect him from any danger.
The work opens with a symphonic sound, a slow introduction to the main theme. In the Kyrie we hear the timpani for the first time. The Gloria is reminiscent of an Italian symphony and contains a beautiful virtuoso cello solo. The Credo contains the entrance of each voice taking a different line of the text, and ending with soloists and chorus alternating voices. The Benedictus features the solo quartet with the three lower voices supporting the soprano. It elicits a sense of foreboding which continues into the Agnus Dei. It opens in a minor key, with the ominous timpani in the background. As it proceeds the music becomes lighter, there are fanfares from the trumpets, and a cheerful "dona nobis pacem" (grant us peace) ends the mass.
Concert Information
Friday, May 2, 2025 at 7:30 PM