BGSU @ ACDA 2024

American Choral Directors Association
Midwestern Conference

Volaré

Dr. Emily Pence Brown, conductor
Heather Goldman, collaborative pianist
Kourtney Syrus, graduate assistant

Thursday, February 8, 2024

2 P.M. 

Holland Performing Arts Center
1200 Douglas St
Omaha NE

Program

The Eyes of A Hurricane

Mahk Jchi (Heartbeat Drum Song) | Ulali, arr. Emily Pence Brown
          Isabella Olzak & Emma Zemancik, percussion

Mahk jchi tahm buooi yahmpi gidi
Mahk jchi taum buooi kan spewa ebi
Mahmpi wah hoka yee monk Tahond tani kiyee tiyee
Gee we-me eetiyee
Nanka yaht yamoonieah wajitse

Our hearts are full
and our minds are good.
Our ancestors come
and give us strength.
Stand tall, sing, dance
and never forget who you are
or where you come from

Rejoice, Rejoice T. 262 | William Byrd (1540-1623)

Rejoice, rejoice, with heart and voice,
In Christ his birth this day rejoice.

Famine Song | VDA, arr. Matthew Culloton (b. 1976)
          Laney Mitchell & Isabella Olzak, soloists

Ease my spirit, ease my soul,
please free my hands from this barren soil.
Ease my mother, ease my child,
earth and sky be reconciled.
Rain.
Weave my mother, weave my child,
Weave your baskets of rushes wild.
Weave my mother, weave my child.
Weave your baskets of rushes wild.
Out of heat, under sun
Comes the hunger to everyone.
Famine’s teeth, famine’s claw
On the sands of Africa.
Rain.

Sicut erat | Niccola Porpora (1686-1768)/Ralph Hunter

Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculórum. Amen.

As it was in the beginning, and now, and always, and in the ages of the ages. Amen.

This Sky Falls | Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980)
          Karla Kunk, soloist

The sky looks like it is fire
The lake, silver
And I wonder what my skin tastes like
After seeing something like this.
I watch as the night
Swallows the curve of the sun
Buttons up the darkness
Leaving us lone Pinpricks of light.
For surely This sky falls,
sinks Beneath my skin
Just as the cold does,
Just As the snow.
Just as the moon Does,
When it is waning
Just as the clouds do
When they can’t help but break.
Some moments I am nothing more
Than driftwood, fox prints,
Sometimes I am nothing more than flight.

Plakatap | Sydney Guillaume (b. 1982)
          Emma Zemancik, percussion

Enfants de tous pays,
Jeunesses de partout,
Chantez, sautez, dansez!
À pied ou en vélo,
Sacoche sur le dos,
Plakatap – Plakatap,
Plakatap – Plakatap!
Fêtez, chantez!
Célébrons d'un seul coeur la grande Humanité,
Et chantons tous en choeur notre Fraternité!
Malgré ce qui se passe,
En dépit de l’espace,
Nous sommes une famille
De garçons et de filles.
Vivons dans l’Unité
D’une seule Humanité.
Plakatap – Plakatap!
Avec le même amour,
Allons jour après jour,
Chantez, pompez, dansez
La Ronde Fraternelle
Des enfants de la Terre.
Plakatap – Plakatap,
Plakatap – Plakatap!

Children of all countries,
Youth from everywhere,
Sing, jump, dance!
On foot or by bike,
Our bags on our backs,
Plakatap – Plakatap,
Plakatap – Plakatap!
Let’s party, let’s sing!
Let’s celebrate Humanity with one heart,
And let us all sing our Fraternity in chorus!
Regardless of what’s happening,
In spite of the distance,
We are one family
Of young men and women.
Let us dwell in the Unity
Of one Humanity.
Plakatap – Plakatap!
United in the same love,
Let us go day by day,
Singing, jumping up and down, dancing
The Fraternal Dance
Of the children of the World.
Plakatap – Plakatap,
Plakatap – Plakatap!

After The Rain | Sarah Quartel (b. 1982)

The grass will shed its moisture,
The fog will life from the trees,
A new light will brighten the sky
And play in the drops that hang on all things
After the rain
Heed the days when the rain flows freely
In their greyness lies the seed of much thought.
Heed the day when the sky hangs low
And paints new colors on the earth
After the rain
Your heart will beat out a new gladness
If you let it happen.

Isabella Abucejo
Madison Alt
Sara Barnhill Murray
Makenna Batcho
Sylvia Bright
Shelby Brooks
Emily Buelsing
Karli Christ
Alyssa Desotell*
Desi Dunkle
Maddie Dykema
Madison Elliott
Kamiah Felver
Kiersten Grantz
Meredith Gulla
Jenna Hainer
Samantha Hill*
Alexandra Hoffer
Madison Hoffman
Katherine Johnson
Mackenzie Jones*
Aria King*
Madeline Kissinger
Karla Kunk
Ellie Lewis

Audrey Martin
Abigail Miller
Laney Mitchell*
Sarah Munson
Isabella Olzak*
Harley Partlow
Olivia Pedone
Julia Posadny
Zo Povlsen
Phoebe Saboley
Julianne Schramm
Amanda Simpson
Katie Skrovan
Lauren Steible
Annie Swanson
Kourtney Syrus
Emily Thornton
Alethia Toppins
Allison Twinning
Libby Vale
Cassidy Vanscoy
Elle Walters
Christina Worcester
Emma Zemancik

* Denotes choir officer

BrownEmilyPencewebsize

Dr. Emily Pence Brown serves as Associate Professor of Music Education at Bowling Green State University, where she teaches choral music education undergraduate courses and directs the Volaré Ensemble. She holds a Bachelors degree in music education from Rutgers University, a MME from The Florida State University and a PhD from The University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Brown taught high school choir, piano, and musical theater for five years in Florida before pursuing her PhD.

Dr. Brown’s research agenda includes teacher wellness, vocal health, self-determination, and the eradication of teacher attrition. She has presented her research nationally at the Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Education, and National Association for Music Educators conference, internationally at the International Society for Music Education’s bi-annual conference, and state music educator conferences in Florida, Indiana, and Ohio. Dr. Brown’s research on teacher vocal health and job-related stress has been published in Journal of Music Teacher Education and Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. Additional publications include Music Educators Journal, Research Perspectives on Music Education, and TRIAD.

Dr. Brown regularly commissions and premieres new works with the BGSU Volaré Ensemble. Recent commissions and premier recordings can be found in the Bowling Green State University Choral Series through Santa Barbara Music Publishing. Dr. Brown has guest conducted numerous festivals including the BGSU Falcon Choral Festival and Ball State University’s “Women in Song” festival.

Dr. Brown is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, and the Ohio Music Educators Association. She serves as the chair of the professional development committee for the Ohio Choral Directors Association.

Thanks for attending this performance. If you have enjoyed your experience, please consider donating to the College of Musical Arts in support of our students and programming. Donate online at bgsu.edu/givecma, or call Sara Zulch- Smith at 419-372-7309.

To our guests with disabilities, please indicate if you need special services, assistance or appropriate modifications to fully participate in our events by contacting Accessibility Services, access@bgsu.edu, 419-372-8495. Please notify us prior to the event.

Audience members are reminded to silence alarm watches, pagers and cellular phones before the performance. As a matter of courtesy and copyright law, no recording or unauthorized photographing is allowed. BGSU is a nonsmoking campus.

Updated: 02/02/2024 01:42PM