A Cappella Choir & University Men's Chorus
A Cappella Choir &
University Men's Chorus
November 15, 2025
8 p.m.
Kobacker Hall
Program
A Cappella Choir
Dr. Adam Luebke, conductor
Kevin McGill, collaborative pianist
Grayson Abend, graduate assistant
Your Voices Tune from Alexander’s Feast | George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Your voices tune, and raise them high
Till th’echo from the vaulted sky
The blest Cecilia’s name;
Music to Heav’n and her we owe,
The greatest blessing that’s below;
Sound loudly then her fame:
Let’s imitate her notes above,
And may this evening ever prove,
Sacred to harmony and love.
~Newburgh Hamilton
O quam gloriosum | Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)
O quam gloriosum est regnum,
in quo cum Christo gaudent omnes Sancti.
Amicti stolis albis,
sequuntur Agnum quocumque ierit.
O how glorious is the kingdom,
wherein all the Saints rejoice with Christ!
Clothed in white robes,
they follow the Lamb wherever he goes.
~Antiphon for Second Vespers, Feast of All Saints
鳳陽花鼓 Fengyang Song (1998) | Mattea Williams (b. 1997)
Left hand a gong, right hand a drum
With gong and drum we sing a song.
No other song do we know how to sing,
We only know the Fengyang song
Fengyang, Fengyang flower drum
~traditional
Mata del anima sola | Antonio Estavez (1916-1988)
Riley Heather-Bergman, soloist
Mata del ánima sola,
boquerón de banco largo
ya podrás decir ahora
aqui durmió canta claro.
Con el silbo y la picada
de la brisa coleadora
la tarde catira y mora
entró al corralón callada.
La noche, yegua cansada,
sobre los bancos tremola
la crin y la negra cola
y en su silencio se pasma
tu corazón de fantasma.
Tree of the lonely soul,
Wide opening of the riverside-
Now you will be able to say:
Here slept Cantaclaro
With the whistle and the sting,
Of the twisting wind,
The dappled and violet dusk
Quietly entered the corral.
The nigh, tired mare,
Shakes her mane and black tail
Above the riverside;
And, in its silence,
Your ghostly heart is filled with awe.
~Alberto Arvelo Torrealbar
Ubi caritas (2007/2016) | Ola Gjeilo
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur.
Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
Christ’s love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
Stand in that River (2006) | Moira Smiley
Danielle Merced, soloist
I went to the river
But my river was dry
The dust rose up
To a darkened sky
Tell me, where is hope?
Where do the waters run clear?
I do not know my way from here
Come, and stand in that river
Current, gentle and slow
Send your troubles down water
Down on that water flow
When you stand in that river
Angels sing in your head
Secrets beyond every worry
Dreams beyond every dread
Tell me, sister, brother
Where does that river flow?
It flows down to the great water
Where soon my people will go
Oh, time passes
Passes on down the stream
Some days are so much sweeter
Some days pass like a dark dream
~~~intermission~~~
BGSU Men's Chorus
Dr. Richard Schnipke, conductor
C.J. Capen, pianist
Brock Burkett, graduate assistant
Songs We Share: A Legacy of Community
Gaudeamus | arr. Marshall Bartholomew (1885-1978)
Traditional German Melody
Latin:
Gaudeamus igitur
Juvenes dum sumus.
Post jucundam juventutem
Post molestam senectutem
Nos habebit humus.
Vivat academia, vivant professores!
Vivat membrum quodlibet,
vivant membra quaelibet
Semper sint in flore.
English Translation:
Therefore let us party
While we are young!
After pleasant youth
After troublesome old age
The earth will have us!
Long live the university!
Long live the professors!
Long live any student!
Long live any students whatsoever!
May they always be the best!
I Come Singing | Eric William Barnum (b. 1979)
Text by Jacob Auslander
Charles Ligus, percussion
I come singing the keen sweet smell of grass
Cut after rain,
And the cool ripple of drops that pass
Over the grain,
And the drenched light drifting across the plain.
I come chanting the mad bloom of the fall.
And the swallows
Rallying in clans to the rapid call
From the hollows,
And the wet west wind swooping down on the swallows.
I come shrilling the sharp white of December,
The night like quick steel
Swung by a gust in its plunge through the pallid ember
Of dusk, and the heel
Of the fierce green dark grinding the stars like steel.
Bell Tower | Katerina Gimon
Text by Rainer Maria Rilke (Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29)
Translated by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows (used by permission)
Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing
makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell.
As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.
Haste Thee, Nymph from L’Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato (HWV 55) | George Frederic Handel (1685-1759), ed. & arr. Eugene Rogers
Dr. Sarah Luebke, soloist
Air:
Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee
Jest and youthful jollity,
Quips and cranks, and wanton wiles,
Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles
Such as hang on Hebe’s cheek,
And love to live in dimple sleek,
Sport, that wrinkled care derides,
And laughter, holding both his sides.
Chorus:
Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee
Jest, and youthful jollity;
Sport, that wrinkled care derides,
And laughter, holding both his sides.
Teomehe-laul (The Serf’s Song) | Veljo Tormis
Estonian Folk Songs
Estonian:
Muudel on sängid ja muudel mängid,
mul ei sängi, mul ei mängi,
mure minul on ja teomehe hool,
ei neist pääse kuskile poole.
Kui mina vaeneke väsind olen,
kus ma selle koorma panen?
Mure panen musta parre pääl,
hoole heida õrre pääle.
Hommikul, tilluke, jälle teole,
väeti, härra välja pääle, --
mure tuleb parrelt põue taas,
hool see jookseb õue kaasa.
Oi jumal, oi jumal, jumaluke,
viska alla vinnaköied,
et ma üles taeva teomeheks saaks
Maarja loole, Looja maale.
English:
Others have beds and others have games
I have neither a bed nor a game,
Trouble I have and a bondman’s care,
No escape from them.
When I, poor me, get tired,
Where shall I lay this burden?
Trouble I set on the black beam,
Care I cast on the perch.
In the morning, bond again for me, the tiny,
The wee me, (again) onto my master’s field.
Trouble comes back into my bosom,
Care runs along into the yard.
Oh Lord, dear Lord,
Throw down some hoisting ropes
So I could enter the heavenly bond,
Make hay for Maria in the Creator’s realm.
We Toast the Days | Linda Kachelmeier (b. 1965)
Grayson Abend and Aaron Roos, soloists
When the clock strikes twelve
And another year has gone,
I give a kiss to you
As remembrance of the past we have shared
And the future yet to come.
We toast the days, both good and bad,
The old friends and the new.
When the clock strikes twelve
And another year has gone,
I give a kiss to you.
While the night is long
And the bitter cold has come,
We lengthen our embrace
To sustain us as we mourn our regrets
And the fear of days unknown.
We toast the days…
As we stand on the edge
Of another bright new year,
I take your hand in mine
With assurance of
The courage we will find
And the hope that leads us on.
We toast the days…
Leron, Leron sinta | arr. Saunder Choi (b. 1988)
Traditional Filipino folk song
Tagalog:
Leron, Leron sinta, buko ng papaya
Dala-dala’y buslo, sisidlan ng bunga,
Pagdating sa dulo’y, nabali ang sanga.
Kapos kapalaran, humanap ng iba.
Gumising ka, neneng; Tayo’y manampalok.
Dalhin mo ang buslong, sisidlan ng hinog.
Pagdating sa dulo’y, lalamba-lambayog.
Kumapit ka, neneng; Baka ka mahulog.
Ang iibigin ko’y babaeng maganda.
Ang rosas niya’y pito; Ang saya niya’y siyam.
Ang lalakarin niya’y parte ng dinulang.
Isang pinggang pansit ang kanyang kalaban.
English:
Leron, Leron my dear, blossoms of the papaya tree,
With a bamboo basket, he’d gather some fruits.
But when he reached the top (of the tree) the branch broke.
Oh, what a trick of fate, he had to search for another.
Wake up, *neneng; let’s pick some tamarind fruits.
Take the bamboo baskets, to put the ripe ones in.
Upon reaching the top (of the tree), the branches swayed heavily.
Hold on tight, neneng, as you might fall.
The one I will love is a beautiful girl.
She has seven roses and nine dresses.
The journey she will take is the distance of a table.
A plate of noodles is her foe!
*neneng is a colloquial term referring to a girl and does not have an adequate English translation.
Brothers, Sing On! | Edvard Greig (1843-1907), arr. Howard D. McKinney
Come and let our swelling song
Mount like the whirling wind,
As it meets our singing throng,
So Blithe of heart and mind
Care and sorrow now be gone
Brothers, sing on!
Youth is a wand’ring troubadour
Sailing the singing breeze,
Wooing a maid on a distant shore,
Over the tossing seas;
Steering by the stars above,
His vessel a song of love.
Brothers, sing on!
Errant minstrels, thus we greet you,
List to our voices strong,
With glad and open hearts we meet you
In our festival of song.
Care and sorrow now be gone,
Brothers, sing on!
Forward Falcons! | Wayne Bohrnstedt, Gilbert Fox, & Edith Ludwig Bell, arr. Will Baughman (b. 1993)
Aaron Roos, conductor
Forward Falcons!
Fight for victory.
BGSU!
Show our spirit.
Make them fear it.
Fight for ol’ BG
Forward Falcons!
Make the contest keen.
Hold up the fame
Of our mighty name
And win for Bowling Green
When all is but a memory
Of the bygone days
We’ll remember them always,
Those good ol’ by gone days
Ay Ziggy Zoomba Zoomba Zoomba
Ay Ziggy Zoomba Zoomba Ze
Ay Ziggy Zoomba Zoomba Zoomba
Ay Ziggy Zoomba Zoomba Ze
Roll along you BG warriors
Roll along and win for BGSU!
Alma Mater | Edith Ludwig Bell (1929-1988), arr. John M. Hyde
Alma mater hear us
As we praise thy name.
Make us worthy sons and daughters
Adding to thy fame.
Time will treat you kindly
And some years from now you’ll be
Ever dearer to our hearts,
Our University
From the halls of Ivy
Over to the campus scene,
Chimes ring out with gladness
For our dear Bowling Green.
When all is but a memory
Of the bygone days,
Hear our hymn dear Alma mater
As thy name we praise.
Adam Luebke, Ph. D is an accomplished musician, teacher, and administrator. Currently, he is Operations Manager for the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music and College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University.
As Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus for 10 years he led the chorus to artistic and organizational growth. He has worked with musicians as varied as conductor JoAnn Falletta, composer Richard Danielpour, and legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. His choruses have received critical acclaim “splendid” (Gramophone), “excellent” (Musical America), and “articulate, unified and vividly expressive” (Chautauqua Daily) and he received the GRAMMY® Award for Best Choral Performance in 2021.
A skilled administrator and leader, he has overseen programmatic, budget, and operational expansion of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus as well as collegiate vocal and choral programs. In addition to his management role at Bowling Green State University he also leads the A Cappella Choir. He was previously Associate Professor at the State University of New York at Fredonia and served on faculties at Houghton and Waldorf Universities.
He received his earliest musical training at the American Boychoir School, where he toured the world and performed on the great stages with Kurt Masur, Robert Shaw, André Previn, Kathleen Battle, Amy Grant, and more. He holds music degrees from St. Olaf College, Westminster Choir College, and Florida State University.
Kevin McGill taught himself to play the piano at the age of 12, and by the age of 14 was playing the organ for church services in his hometown of Richmond, Indiana. He attended the University of Evansville and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance. He received a Master of Music degree in piano performance and pedagogy from Bowling Green State University where he had assistantships in Opera accompanying and voice studio accompanying. His piano teachers include Laura Melton, Virginia Marks, Anne Hastings-Fiedler, and Cecilia Cho. After graduating, Kevin taught at Bowling Green State University and Bluffton University.
As an organist, Kevin was Director of Music Ministry at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Bowling Green, OH for 20 years. He has also toured Europe with various choirs. His organ teachers include Vernon Wolcott, Douglas Reed and Dwight Thomas.
Mr. McGill is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor of piano and choral accompanist at BGSU, pianist for The Toledo Masterworks Chorale, and organist at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church (Bowling Green). He is also active as a freelance collaborative pianist.
Dr. Richard Schnipke serves as Associate Professor of Music Performance and Director of Choral Activities at Bowling Green State University. His duties at BGSU include conducting the Collegiate Chorale and Men’s Chorus, as well as teaching graduate courses in choral repertoire and graduate and undergraduate conducting. Previously, Dr. Schnipke held faculty positions at Xavier University and The Ohio State University and spent 15 years as a public-school choral director. He holds degrees from Bowling Green State University and The Ohio State University and has done additional graduate studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Choirs under Schnipke’s direction have performed at national and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and have made numerous appearances at the Ohio Music Education Association Professional Development Conference and the Ohio Choral Directors Association Summer Conference. Schnipke’s choirs have also sung for the American Musicological Society and for several national seminars of the IMC: The Tenor-Bass Choral Consoritum. Dr. Schnipke also regularly prepares professional choruses for the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and frequently presents at state, regional, and national conference on the incorporation of Dalcroze Eurhythmics in the choral rehearsal.
Schnipke performs regularly as a professional chorister and has served as tenor section leader for Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble (Grammy Award winner, Craig Hella Johnson, music director). He is a Past-President of the Ohio Choral Directors Association, has served on the National Board of the National Collegiate Choral Organization, and is currently on the board of IMC: The Tenor-Bass Choral Consortium.
CJ Capen is musical coordinator and accompanist in the BGSU Department of Theatre & Film and collaborative pianist for the University Men's Chorus. He holds an MM in Collaborative Piano from University of North Carolina, Greensboro, a BFA in Piano Performance from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Choral Conducting from Messiah University.
He has been staff accompanist & vocal coach for Chicago Summer Opera, Elon University, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. He has served as keyboard artist for Georgetown Chorale, Vienna Chorale Society, and the semi-professional choir, "Voce Chamber Singers" from 2013-2023. He has toured China with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra flutist Lauren Sileo in 2014, given lecture recitals for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and he has given benefit concerts to include: S.O.M.E's 40th Anniversary Celebration, St Thomas More Cathedral Recital Series, Reston Drop-In Center, Cornerstone, and the Maryknoll Society.
He is also a conductor, having served as conductor for Opera Steamboat's production of "Frida", guest conductor for Reston Chorale's Messiah Sing-Along, conductor for the Arlington Diocese Choral Festival, choral director and musical director at Paul VI High School for many years, and he served as Director of Music at St John Neumann Church in Reston VA from 2008-2023, one of the largest churches in the Diocese of Arlington.
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Updated: 11/14/2025 11:17AM