Annual Christmas Concert of Solo Vocal Music In Commemoration of World AIDS Day

Featuring Vocal Students & Artists from High School through Graduate School & Beyond

Sunday, December 1, 2019, 2:00 P.M.

Forest Hill Presbyterian Church 4401 Forest Hill Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23225

PROGRAM

Welcome

The Christmas Song Robert Wells & Mel Tormé Elisabeth Carlton Dowdy, VCU Music Graduate; Professional Singer in Opera, Concert, & Church

Panis Angelicus Cesar Franck Joel Kumro, Music Director, Saint Benedict, & Professional Singer in Concert & Church

Still, Still, Still Traditional Austrian Carol Clair Dickinson, 16 years old; 10th Grader at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School; Athletics & Church Choir

Come to the Stable Geoffrey O’Hara & Daniel Twohig Michele Baez, VCU Music Graduate; Professional Singer in Opera, Concert, & Church

I’ll Be Home for Christmas , Walter Kent, & Suzanne Maerz, VCU Music Graduate; Professional Music Minister, Cellist, & Singer in Concert & Church

Reflections Bill Harrison, President & Executive Director, Diversity Richmond

In the Bleak Midwinter Gustav Holst & Christina Rossetti Jan Jones, Registered Nurse & Member of Many Choirs; First Public Concert as Soloist

Ding Dong Merrily on High Charles Wood, Thoinot Arbeau, & G. R. Woodward Katherine Virginia DeLoyht Music Graduate of William & Mary; Professional Singer in Opera, Concert, & Church Go Tell It On the Mountain Spiritual/Arranged by Harry T. Burleigh Peter Carr, VCU Business Major Student

The Virgin’s Slumber Song Max Reger Amanda Cullin, Professional Singer in Opera, Concert, & Church

Sweet Little Jesus Boy Robert MacGimsey Mary Ellen Stumpf, Development Professional & Member of Many Choirs and Choral Groups

Reflections Dr. Donnie G. Conner, LPC

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane Joyce Griffin, Professional Singer in Concert & Church

The People That Walked in Darkness, from MESSIAH George Frideric Handel Charles Lindsey, Professional Singer in Opera, Concert, and Church

Angels We Have Heard on High Traditional French Carol Kyle Billeter, VCU Theatre Graduate; Professional Singing Actress

Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray Spiritual/Arranged by Harry T. Burleigh Johnny Whitlock, 17 years old; 12th Grader at Saint Christopher’s School; Track & Member of Many Choirs

Away In a Manger Traditional Words; Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick & J. R. Murray Sybil Bowman, Professional Singer in Concert & Popular Venues

White Christmas Irving Berlin Stacey Wilson VCU Music Graduate; Music Minister, Ashland Christian Church, & Professional Singer in Concert & Church

Ride On, King Jesus Spiritual/Arranged by Hall Johnson Naima Orr, 17 years old; 12th Grader at The Collegiate School; Choir Member & Church Soloist

Silver Bells Jay Livingston & Ray Evans Dustin Shuman, Longwood University Music Graduate; Professional Singer in Concert & Church

O Holy Night Adolphe Adam Dr. Lisa Edwards Burrs Longwood University Music Faculty; Professional Singer in Concert, Opera, & Church

** In Loving Memory of All who have died from AIDS Immediately following this concert, you are cordially invited to a Reception in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you for coming! All are welcome! This Concert is made possible by a generous grant from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; the generosity of Diversity Richmond; the generosity of the community of Forest Hill Presbyterian Church; and the generosity of Julie & Peter Hains, Deanna & Michael Callahan, and Theresa Singleton. We will continue to offer our FREE Public Concerts for ALL. Other Intentional Free Concerts are performed for small groups of marginalized and underserved youth and adults, usually with students from City’s The Juilliard School or graduates of Juilliard, with Dr. Patrick Carlin, Piano. Diversity Richmond envisions a community where LGBTQ+ citizens are treated with respect and dignity, and their unique gifts are championed and celebrated, enriching the colorful fabric of our community. Forest Hill Presbyterian Church is a diverse, multi-cultural, intergenerational, intentional Faith Community rooted in love and committed to service and justice in the world. Your Free-Will Donations will be used to assist the marginalized, the poor, and those in need.

UPCOMING FREE CONCERTS

Sunday, January 19, 2020, 2:00 PM, Forest Hill Presbyterian Church “Annual Concert in Honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” Dr. Lisa Edwards Burrs, Vocalist; Naima Burrs, Violin; Dr. Patrick Carlin, Piano

Sunday, March 29, 2020, 2:00 PM, Forest Hill Presbyterian Church “Songs from Musicals & Famous Love Songs” Voice Students of Dr. Patrick Carlin, from High School through Graduate School and Beyond

Spring or Summer 2020 Date TBA “Mother & Daughter Vocal Concert” Michele Baez & Naima Orr, Graduating High School Senior

Additional Concerts will be announced during 2019-2020.

BILL HARRISON, President & Executive Director of Diversity Richmond, is legendary in Central Virginia. In April, he was named an OUTstanding Virginian in 2019. He has left his mark after almost 40 years in areas from public relations to philanthropy, changing minds and bettering lives with every role he‟s held. He was one of the first to challenge homophobia in the Richmond media and was on the front lines in the community‟s response to the AIDS crisis and the broader fight for visibility. He built the region‟s only LGBTQ community center into one of the state‟s leading support systems. In the process, he has received many accolades, including the Virginia Center of Inclusive Communities‟ Humanitarian of the Year recognition and the ROSMY Catalyst Award. Given his track record of courage and leadership, it‟s a surprise to hear him describe his journey as “pretty typical for an older white gay man in Virginia.” Yet in one sense the journey is all too typical: it begins in shame and isolation. When he was 19, his boss figured out Bill‟s homosexuality and fired him on the grounds of his “morals” after first informing Bill‟s parents. After an attempt at psychiatric “conversion,” Bill followed the pattern of many young gay men at the time: “put your sexual orientation in the back of your mind and hope to live out your life that way.” He got married, but the marriage dissolved after two years. The reason why got back to his hometown of Emporia. “People literally turned their backs when they saw me.” Looking back on how alone he felt, he can‟t help wishing he had had the resources available to youth today. “I am such a great fan of Side by Side,” he says. “If I had had their toll-free number back then, I would have been at a pay phone three nights a week, holding onto that light at the end of the tunnel.” Things got better after he was out. Bill started to return to Emporia more often. “I decided they‟re not going to take my family from me,” he says. His straight friends from childhood began to stand by him, and over time he realized he was not the only gay or lesbian person ever to come out of his hometown. Soon Bill set about trying to influence the world around him. He wrote letters to the editor of the Richmond News Leader, which took strong anti-gay positions. Fortunately, one thing he didn‟t have to worry about this time was alienating his family. “My parents never left my side,” says Bill, “even when all the neighbors read the op-eds.” Seeking fellowship and acceptance, Bill joined Dignity Integrity, a Catholic and Episcopal organization for gay and lesbian people. It was one of the few friendly spaces in Richmond in the 1970s. “Other than that, the bar was it,” says Bill. The group met at a Catholic church with Bill as president until, as he puts it, “we were kicked out when word of our good works got around.” Bill was building his career in public relations when the AIDS epidemic hit. When the newly formed Richmond AIDS Information Network (now Health Brigade) posted an opening in marketing and media, Bill saw a chance to combine his professional life with his activism. “I had to get the job,” he recalls. Bill got the job and found the organized grass-roots response to the crisis inspiring. “What a privilege it was to be there and watch our community respond,” he says. “We became family with complete strangers, building programs and creating services for ourselves even when other institutions turned their backs.” The tactic that Bill used to ensure the broadest support possible for LGBTQ rights was to make LGBTQ people familiar and visible, as exemplified by the late Guy Kinman‟s billboard proclaiming “Someone You Love Is Gay.” Bill regards this tactic as so successful that it has permanently changed Virginia‟s political climate. “Now we regularly see elected officials advocating for us even when they don‟t have to,” he says. In recognition of the power of being out and visible, Bill established Diversity Richmond‟s annual Guy Kinman Award in 2018. Bill also recognizes areas where the movement has fallen short. “We need to work on justice for both transgender people and people of color. With transgender justice, this must be a top priority. Gay men, lesbians and bisexual people enjoy privileges transgender people do not. Racial bias and white privilege are issues that demand serious, intentional conversations.” Diversity‟s strategic plan calls for action on both fronts. Bill recognizes that representation is a fraught issue that requires a degree of humility on the part of established institutions such as Diversity Richmond. Bill describes the need to “be quiet and listen; to ask, „As a white person, what do I really know?‟” Bill reflects, “I am a work-in-progress with a long way to go.” (From www.equalityvirginia.org)

DR. DONNIE G. CONNER, LCP, received his doctorate in counseling from the College of William and Mary. Dr. Conner opened his private practice in 1988. From its initiation, he specialized in providing psychotherapy services to marginalized clients including persons living with HIV. Donnie Conner also volunteered with numerous AIDS services organizations including facilitating the first HIV support group at Health Brigade. For his pioneering professional work Donnie Conner has been recognized with The American Counseling Associations‟ Humanitarian Award. The American Mental Health Counselors‟ Association selected Dr. Conner for its prestigious “Counselor Of The Year Award”. He has also been designated by Virginia Commonwealth University as a Distinguished Alumni. Dr. Conner in 2014 was recognized by Equality Virginia as an OUTstanding Virginian. More recently Diversity Richmond chose him as recipient of its “Standing On Your Shoulders Award” for his professional and volunteer services to the LGBTQ+ community.

DR. PATRICK CARLIN serves on the Music Faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University where he teaches music history and literature to undergraduate and graduate music majors and is the Director of Music at Forest Hill Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia. In addition, Pat is the recipient of several grants, including a very generous grant from The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, to perform free public concerts as well as intentional concerts for smaller groups and audiences in venues throughout the City of Richmond, Virginia, especially for the underserved and marginalized. These latter intentional concerts usually feature current Juilliard School students from or recent Juilliard graduates. In recent months, Pat has been a guest voice teacher at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music in New York. Pat maintains a large private studio of voice and piano students. Pat‟s voice and piano students have been admitted to major music schools, including The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Yale, and Indiana. Pat is a graduate of The Juilliard School (piano and voice), University of Dubuque (piano and voice), New York University (M.A. in college teaching/conducting; Ph.D. in college teaching/keyboard performance), University of Notre Dame (M.A. in theology/liturgical studies), and Virginia Commonwealth University (M.P.A. in public administration). In addition, he has studied music at Columbia University and theology at the Aquinas Institute of Theology. Pat‟s vocal teachers have included Eleanor Steber, Bernard Taylor, and William Toole; his piano and organ teachers have included Roger Boardman, Robert Harris, Rosina Lhevinne, Virginia Rice, Ruth Mahmoud, Ethel Lehrer, Robert Pace, John Ferguson, and Else Burtness; and his conducting teachers have included Rebecca Scott, John Gilbert, and Jon de Revere. For over 30 years, Pat served Cathedrals in Richmond, Virginia and Minnesota. Prior to moving to Richmond, Pat served churches in New York and Minnesota and taught music on the college and elementary school levels. His articles and reviews appear in several liturgical music journals. As a pianist, conductor, and organist, Pat has performed in hundreds of concerts in Richmond, Virginia. As a conductor, Pat has conducted The Richmond Symphony in major works, including Mahler‟s RESURRECTION SYMPHONY, Bruckner‟s REQUIEM, Handel‟s MESSIAH, and Beethoven‟s MASS IN C MAJOR, among many others. Pat is the proud father and father-in-law of Stephanie & Andrew and Sean & Carrie, and the proud Grandpa of JP, John Patrick!