Can We SIng The Darkness to Light

Nebraska We~,: ·· Departme·~~': .

Can We Sing the Darkness to Light? Nebraska Wesleyan University Choir January 2020 Choir Tour Tom Trenney, conductor Anne Wilson, accompanist OUR PROGRAM l.,. . Lost in the Night Finnish folk melody/ arr. Kyle Haugen (text is Finnish traditional/ translated by Olav Lee) Lost in the night do the people yet languish, longing for morning the darkness to vanquish, plaintively heaving a sigh full of anguish. Will not day come soon? Will not day come soon? Must we be vainly awaiting the morrow? Shall those who have light no light let us borrow, Giving no heed to our burden of sorrow? Will you help us soon? Will you help us soon? Sorrowing wanderers in darkness yet dwelling, dawned has the day of a radiance excelling, death's dreaded darkness forever dispelling. Christ is coming soon. Christ is coming soon. Will not day come soon? Come and save us soon! Christ is coming soon!

Hear My Prayer, 0 Lord Henry Purcell (text: Psalm 102: 1) Hea r my prayer, 0 Lord, and let me crying co me unto Thee . Silence may be kept. Seek Him that Maketh the Seven Stars Jonathan Dove (text: Amos 5:8; Psalm 139) Seek him that maketh the seven st ars and Orion and turneth the shadow of death into the morning. Alleluia, yea, the darkness sh ineth as the day, the night is light about me . Amen. We Three Kings of Orient Are /arr. .:h.::i ~my B~ nkson and Tom Trenney .,.I\\ij .I l II - - .-:, \\ :,, .. -, ' ,-., ,., .. - _ -L.....,. - ru _, . , H• pfAll, harmony: Men, unison: We three kings 0 - n - ent are; bear - ing Women, unison: Born a King plain, g?ld I m cense Choir: Frank - is mine; [ ·, All, harmony: no w Myrrh nous fume .. -- ..... - .. .... rise; Glo - - - - -- - - --··L - on Beth - le - hem's m - cense to of - fer have its bit - ter per - breathes a be hold him a King and ... ,. -:::J •- -,_ ,_ I If ' --::J' 'T I r gifts we tra - verse a far, fiel d and fo un - tain, bring to crown him a gain, King for ev - er. owns a nigh; prayer and prais ing, life of de - i ty g loom ; sor rowing, sigh - ing. God and gath -- er flee ; Al le tu ia, Sac - mg - ri d

tJ moor and moun - tain, fol - low - mg yon - der reign. nev - ver. us high. ceas - ing 0 - ver mg all to tomb. ing, the God Most skies. glad - ly ing, wor - s~ip - the ia, - cold bleed - ing, sealed In sounds through and Al le Refrain All, harmony: O___ star of won - der, star of light, star with roy - al beau - ty bright, . thy per - feet light. Brightest and Best II. (text by Reginald Heber) from Southern Harmony/arr. Shawn Kirchner Kellyn Vuchetich, Violin Hail the blessed morn, see the great Mediator down from the regions of glory descend! Shepherds go worship the babe in the manger, lo, for his guard the bright angels attend.

Refrain: Brightest and best of the stars of the morning, dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid; Star in the East, the horizon adorning, guide where our infant Redeemer is laid. Cold on His cradle the dew-drops are shining, low lies His bed with the beasts of the stall; Angels adore Him in slumber reclining, Maker and Monarch and Savior of all. (Refrain.) Shall we not yield him, in costly devotion, odours of Edom, and offerings divine? Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean, myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine? (Refrain.) One Sweet Little Baby G. McClure & W. Ki n rQ::~son/ a rr. Shawn Kirchner (Text by Wes Kinneson and Glenn McClure) Refrain: All for the love of one sw c2t little ba by, All for the love of one sweet baby child , All for the love of one sweet little baby, we have co me so far. Oh Mary, shining glory! The Lord smiles upon you. What a blessing is this little baby that you brought t o our world. 0, a good old man named Simeon said, \"I'm never gonna rest till I see that Messiah child, and hold him to my breast.\" Many gonna speak against you, child. They'll crucify all that's true. And your mother Mary she will bear a pain that will pierce her heart through. Oh Jerusalem, your children are so tired of war My Lord, it's time to walk with your children once more. (Refrain)

III. Indodana South African/arr. Michael Barrett and Ralf Schmitt (text is south African traditional, sung in isiXhosa) Women : Ngob' umthatile umtwana wakho, uh/ale nathi hololo helele. The Lord has taken his son who lived amongst us. Jndodana ka nkulunkulu bayi'bethelela hololo helele. The son of the Lord God was crucified. Men: Hololo Baba Jehova. (''Hololo\" represents crying and has no translation .) Father Jehova. Zjem zj a baba. (\"Zjem zja\" is expressive with no meaning) father. Can We Sing the Darkness t o ,Jght? Kyle Pederson (text by Kyle Pederson) What if instead of more viole nce, we let our weapons fall silent? No more revenge or retribution; no more war or persecution. It could be beautiful. What if instead of our judgment, we soften our hearts that have hardened? Instead of certainty and pride, we love and sacrifice. It could be beautiful. Can we see the other as our sister or our brother? Can we sing the darkness to light? Sounding chords of compassion and grace Set the swords of judgment aside Let mercy's eyes see the other human face. Silence may be kept

Our Love Can Mend the World Ton, Trenney (text by Tom Trenney and William Penn) The world seems so eager to threaten, but L~ve remains pa t ie nt and kind. The world strives for wealth, might and power, but Love tongs for soul, heart and mind . The world plays a loud, clanging cymbal, but Love sings its still small voice. The world delights in bearing false witness, but Love, in the truth, will rejoice! Let's see what Love can do to mend a broken world . The world makes our genders unequal, but Love treasures every design. The world lets our colors divide us, but Love makes the ra inbow its sign , The world harms with guns and with weapo ns, but Love gives the captive release. The world often hungers for violence, but Love always thirsts for our peace. Let's see what Love can do to mend a broken wo rld. The world shuns the immigrants' hunger, but Love feeds t he poor refugee. The world argues, \"They're not my child ren,\" but Love says, \"My child, come to m e \" Let's see what Love can do to men d •X oken wo r ld. Our love can mend the W < ld . Walk Together, Children African-American spiritual / a r r. Moses Hogan (text: African-American spiritual) There's a great camp meeting, Lord, in the prom ised land . 0 walk together, children, don 't you get wea ry. There's a great camp meeting in the promised land . Gonna walk and never ti re. Gonna sing and never t ire. Gonna shout a nd nev er t ire. There's a great ca mp meeting in t he promi sed land . A freewill offering w ill be co llected to defray th e expenses of the Neb raska Wesleya n Univer sity Choir t o ur. C

:!n ney IV. Jake Runestad ind . A silence Haunts Me (by Todd Boss, inspired by Beethoven 's Heiligenstadt Testament) Hear me brothers I have a confess i on pa i nful to make Six years I have endured a curse that deepens every day They say that soon I 'II cease to hear the very .1,n. music of my soul What should be the sense most perfect l n me fail s me shames me taunts me 1. A s i lence haunts me They ask me Do you hear the shepherd s i ng i ng faroff soft They ask me Do you hear a d i stant fluting dancing ::, joyously aloft No I thi nk so N o I think so No God am I Prometheus ex i led i n cha i ns for g ift i ng humankind my fi re Ti)u· my feel i ng Take my :I n s i ght Take my w i ng.,: ,, l~ff i ght but let me hear .1 the sear i ng roar ofa i r before score the ground Why S i lence J zs God 's reply and -;,_; I beg me take my l ife when lo I hear a grace and feel a r i ng i ng z n me after all So now as leaves li rrnh mm fall I make my mark ands i gn my -wme and turn again in to touch my flame of mus i c to the world a broken man as best I can As ever Faithfully Yours A bell A bell Hear me and be well Silence may be kept.

V. Tom Trenney I Will Make a Wa y! (text from Isaiah 43: 19-20 and 2 Corinthians 5:1 7) Behold! I will do a new thing! Everything old has passed away. See, everything old has become new. I will make a way in the wilderness. I will make rivers in the desert. Do not remember the former things or consider the ways of old. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and ostriches. For I give water in the wilderness, the desert shall be a pool. I will make a way in the wilderness. I will make rivers in the desert. Everything old is passed away. I will make a way!

·e nn e y Our Choir t. The Nebraska Wesleyan ~n ive'.sity Choir is one of four choral ensembles at Nebraska Wesleyan Uni vers ity _(NWU) in Lincoln, Nebraska. In addition t? nnual regional tours , the choir has been privileged to travel abroad ten tirnaes-most recently la st summer to Spain. ouring the 44-yea~ te n~re of P_rofessor Emeritus Dr. William Wyman as the choir's direc~or, U~1ve rs1ty Choir was honored to sing with many esteemed conductors, including Anto n Armstrong, Aaron Copland, Eric Ericson, Randall Thompson, Robert Sh aw 0 aul Salumonovich, Daniel Pinkham, and Sir David Willcocks. The choir has sung fo ur ', m es at Carnegie Hall and twice at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, an d has performed frequently with Lincoln's Symphony orchestra and the Om aha Sy mphony Orchestra. As part of this tour, the choir will be featured at the Nati onal Conference for Sacred Music in Charleston, south Carolina. Soprano Alto Leah Beran Sydnee Bell Holly Bingham Haley Cecava Anna Freivogel Elizabeth Drews Celeste Gann Olivia Groeteke Maggie Harris Gabriella Homolka Kristine Hoagstrom Madelynn Knudtson Anna Johnson Jessie Nelson Lindi Johnson Jillian Timperley Sophie Mosher Shelby Tourney Lacie Nelson Olivia Wirth Kellyn Vuchetich Bass Tenor Jack Dobson Noah Burger Jason Ezell Jimmy Lowe Timothy Johnson Joshua Reiff Treyson Rassfeld Ty ler Sorensen Joshua Schmidt Simeon Will iams Elijah Theulen Cameron Victo r Noah Wing

- ••••••• Our Conductor Tom Trenney is Visiting Assist Professor of Music and Conduc/nt of Choirs at Nebraska Wesleyanor University for the 2019-20 season. Tom is blessed to be in Li ncoln fo his eleve nth season as Minister 0; Music t o First-Plymouth Church where he shepherds th ree ' adult ch :i rs, accompanies the cong rec. ~io n on the Lied organ, prea ch,.· se mons, and serves as Artist ic .rector of the Abendmusik Co nce rt 2r ies . He is also Founder and Conductor of sound ir light-a professional choir based in Southeastern Michig an . T'Jm '::: .1 oi r s have sung for state, regional, and national conventions of _ -~ Ar -i ca n Choral Directors Association. .)f th e Wartburg Choir and In Fall 2018, Tom served as visiting , . JC Waverly, Iowa, where he Ritterchor Men's Chorus at Wartb u rg ,:. .,eg t= .:J rt burg . In Spring 2019, also was Artistic Director for Chri stm as VV itr Choi r at Doane University Tom served as visiting conductor of t he Do c:-, in Crete, Nebraska. Tom's choral compos it ions have been pub lish-.:: d by Augsb urg Fortress, Beckenhorst Press, E.C. Schi r me r/Galax y, Mo rni ngsta r, MusicS poke, Pavane, and G. Schir m er. Hi s m usic has bee n su ng in the churches and co lleges around t he coun tr, A graduate of th e Cle vd: ,,: : ,st it ute of Music and t he Eastman School of Music, Tom is grateful rt·, ,· i.i sp iration of h is t eachers and mentors~ ) especially Anto~ ~ rm st1·, ''1 _J, Dav id Da ~i dson , c ~a ig He Ila Johns~n) M'~~er Fred Rog ers , W1ll1 am \\:\\~::nert, An ne W il son ( t onight's acco m pani st .) a Todd Wilso n. ww w .tomtrenney·corn

Our Accompanist wuson is Organis~/Director of Mu_sic at Forest Anne sbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Hill pre ompanist and Instructor at Case Western staff ACCUniversity, Pianist and Choral Coach at Reser~end Heights High School, Rehearsal Pianist cieve aollo's Fire and a free-lance classical and jazz forusAiPcian about 'town. rTlh has won first or second prizes in seven national and international 5 ean competitions and has been featured on National Public Radio's ~~~pedreams\" program and Cleveland radio station WCLV's Not the Dead, White, Male Composers Hour. Her compositions have been performed at such venues as the Chautauqua Institution, the Aspen Music Festival, the Julliard School, and the Amsterdam cello Biennale. Anne hc1 s two adult daughters, and in her spare time she enjoys playing picklebaii and ping-pong. She also is a caller for local English country Dance groups. www.annewilsonmusic.com Our Guest Performer r::.'. rone Nathaniel Sullivan infuses his p ·x mances with \"great eloquence\" (ConcertoNet) a. \" natural expressiveness and warmth\" (Rutland 1-i c ,Jld). Recent credits include his Carnegie Hall solo debut in Finzi's Requiem da Camera with the NY Choral Society, and HK Gruber's Frankenstein!! with Stanford Live. Sullivan originated the roles of the Wolf in Gary S. Fagin's Jumping Mouse (2019) and Elias in PATH New Music Theatre's Simulacrum (2018). Recent awards in cl ude First Place in the NATS National Musical Theatre Competition, Third Place in the Orpheus Vocal Competition, and Third ;~ce in th~ Lyndci n Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition. Sullivan's 2019- season incl uc --; Laura Kaminsky's and Mark Campbell's As One with :en~r,sopran_o - Bouk (November), and the world premiere of Jacob s s Karkmc with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra (May). aSnudllivha.n rece,.veL~ ·1 1.s BM from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2014) 15 MM from the Bard College Conservatory of Music (2017) . www.nathanielsullivanbaritone .com b