Chef Mattias Kriemelmeyer prepared a buffett lunch,
Tim Britton and Peter Doval demonstrated the uillean pipes
and concertina. We discussed plans for the final event of my residency
that will take place on October 11th at the Minnesota Marine
Art Museum in Winona, MN.
Duisigh Ensemble Members fro left to right, Peter Doval, Patrick O’Shea,
Elizabeth Oness, Brett Huus, Tim Britton, William Neil, Chad Oness, James
Armstrong, Eric Wheeler and Eric Heukeshoven. Member not attending:
Arane Lydon, Devin McCabe, Janet Heukeshoven and Paul Vance.
The premiere of Oratoria in the Chapel of Mary of the Angels at St. Mary’s University in Winona, MN. PatrickO’Shea conducting the SMU Chamber Singers and the Faculty Brass Quintet, Ann Elise Schoenecker, soprano and Gary Moss, baritone.
Chad Oness read his poem to begin the concert.
There Are Few Things
a new lamb insists upon.
There is really only one
thing, and so her bleats increase
into a screaming mantra.
But spring shadows a rough beast
who drags his feet through the grass
even in the day-long sun,
even as the light breezes
massage the dry pasture
slowly awake. Just when old
mother ewe can’t take one more
snowfall, the sky caps, the flakes
begin to dress her fleece, she
lays down on her bags and lows
the same prayer with her lambs.
4/3/09
LISTEN TO EXCERPTS FROM THE CONCERT:
Composite Tolling of the recorded bells in Winona
ARTICLE IN WINONA DAILY NEWS http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2009/04/17/news/03church.txt
April 18 Concert Residency
Premiere Week Residency Events
Tues., April 14th 7PM
Student Composer & Poet Seminar-WSU Performing Arts Center Room 112
Wed., April 15th 8:30AM
Baroque Mannerism & the Sonnets of Shakespeare
Professor John Kerr Literature Class SMU St. Mary’s Hall Room 134
Sat. April 18th 7:30 PM
Choirs Concert Chapel of Mary of the Angels
The St. Mary’s University Chamber Singers, directed by Patrick O’Shea with the SMU Faculty Brass Quintet will premiere my Oratoria on Saturday, April 18th at the Chapel of Mary of the Angels, Saint Teresa Campus, in Winona. The performance will also feature guest performers, soprano Ann Schoenecker and baritone Gary Moss. The score, a vibrant setting of seven poems by six Baroque poets, will incorporate the bells above the Chapel of Mary of the Angels in the live performance. I have also created a particularly sonorous effect by recording bells and carillons in the church towers that rise above the streets of Winona. Originally I had envisioned using the live bells at Mary of the Angels and then thought of how exciting it would be to create a composite bell sound from several churches of in Winona. The response from various parishes throughout Winona was enthusiastic. The bell’s of St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church, Central Methodist Church, St. Stanislaus Kostka Chruch, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Campus Center, as well as the Chapel of Mary of the Angels were recorded on several visits to Winona and will be part of a digital acoustic that I have created in my studio. I consider this piece a secular “oratorio” with implied lessons rising from the poetic prose that warn about the ravages of war, the importance of honor, the false lures of the material world, the certainty of death, the power of virtue in a temporal world, the urgency of loving, and the persistent march of time. My treatment of these settings alludes to their 16th century origins but the harmonic and rhythmic elements of my style propels them into the 21st century. The Chapel of Saint Mary of the Angels is a fitting location for the premiere of this work with the Chapel’s stained glass windows and mosaics, rich in blue, green, red, and gold, illuminating the performance. The Clerestory Windows high above the nave of the church have a direct relation with three of the poems. The Seraphim, represented with six wings and flames of fire, The Virtues, possessed with invincible courage, and The Powers bearing the sword and staff of judgment parallel the message in On Precious Stones, Virtue and On War respectively. The final section of the piece, The Clockmaker, will feature the bell acoustic in a grand gesture of time and timelessness. Ticket can be reserved at the Page Theatre Box Offie at 507-457-1715 .
Baritone Gary Moss enjoys a varied repertoire that includes Opera, Oratorio, Operetta and Musical Theater. Gary was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2003, and has sung roles with opera companies around the country such as Michigan Opera Theater, Toledo Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Washington East Opera, The Ohio Light Opera, and Skylight Opera Theatre. As a member of the San Francisco Opera Center’s Merola and Western Opera Theater programs, Gary toured the country as Guglielmo in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte. He has also participated in young artist programs at Glimmerglass Opera, Opera North, Toledo Opera, and The Aspen Music Festival. Gary had his European debut with La Musica Lirica in 2003 where he performed Mozart’s Requiem. He can be heard on various recordings on the NAXOS and Albany labels. Television appearances include the role of Pish-Tush in Skylight Opera Theatre’s 2005 production of The Mikado, which was broadcast on Wisconsin Public Television.
Dr. Moss holds an undergraduate degree in vocal performance from the University of Utah, and both a master’s degree and doctorate in vocal performance from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Lorna Haywood and Martin Katz. In March of 2008, Gary joined the roster of Wade Artist Management. In addition, he currently serves on the Voice Faculty at Luther College and the Musical Theater Faculty at Viterbo University.
Soprano, Dr. Ann Elise Schoenecker, a native of Iowa, has performed all genres of music from opera to oratorio to music theatre throughout the United States and Europe. She has appeared in over 30 opera and oratorio roles, most notably with the Boston Academy of Music. Dr. Schoenecker is a former Regional Metropolitan Opera Finalist and finalist in the Jenny Lind National Competition for Sopranos. She made her New York City debut in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana under award winning composer, Vance George. Dr. Schoenecker is a graduate of Luther College, the University of Missouri-Columbia under the tutelage of Costanza Cuccaro, and most recently received her D.M.A in Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Minnesota under Lawrence Weller and Dr. Clifton Ware. Dr. Schoenecker has previously taught at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Luther College, The Performing Arts Studios Vienna in Vienna, Austria, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Her students perform throughout the United State and Europe and have pursued graduate degrees at major universities throughout the United States. Dr. Ann Elise Schoenecker is currently an Assistant Professor of Music at Viterbo University in La Crosse, WI where she teaches lyric diction, song literature and applied voice.
Six church bells were recorded in Lutheran, Methodist, Episcopal and Catholic parishes in downtown Winona. Each parish bell was unique, the oldest bell was found in St. Paul’s Episcopal Chuch which was hung in 1894. Central United Methodist Church is the only lever carillon in Winona and the St. Matthews bell can be rung two diferrent ways. Both St. Teresa’s and St. Stans bells have electronic mechanisms to strike the bells. All of the bells have different pitches and timbre characteristics. The bells at the Lutheran Campus Center are a set of temple bells that Pastor John Carrier has arranged to accompany the groups hymn singing. This diverse mix of sound is the ideal resource for an imaginative digital sound sulpture.
The premiere of Oratoria in the Chapel of Mary of the Angels at St. Mary’s University in Winona, MN. PatrickO’Shea conducting the SMU Chamber Singers and the Faculty Brass Quintet, Ann Elise Schoenecker, soprano and Gary Moss, baritone.