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Sunday Evening, June 28, 2009, at 8:00

Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) Iris Derke, Co-Founder and General Director Jonathan Griffith , Co-Founder and Artistic Director

presents THE CHORAL MUSIC OF Eric Whitacre, Guest Conductor/Composer Charles Anthony Silvestri, Lyricist and Special Guest Distinguished Concerts Singers International

Program to be introduced from the stage

Five Hebrew Love Songs with String Quartet The Reckoning (by Hila Plitmann) Seal Lullaby She Weeps Over Rahoon

Intermission

Animal Crackers Vol. I i. The Panther ii. The Cow iii. The Firefly

Animal Crackers Vol. II i. The Canary ii. The Eel iii. The Kangaroo

A Boy and a Girl Cloudburst Lux Aurumque

“the moon is hiding in her hair” “i walked the boulevard” World Premiere, DCINY Premiere Project

Sleep With a Lily in Your Hand

Please hold your applause until the end of the last movement.

Avery Fisher Hall Please make certain your cellular phone, pager, or watch alarm is switched off. 06-28 DCINY:GP 6/18/09 4:19 PM Page 2

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Notes on the Program Five Hebrew Love Songs But a while ago two came up here, Text by Hila Plitmann And only one centimeter was left between us.” I. A picture is engraved in my heart; IV. Moving between light and darkness; What snow! A sort of silence envelopes your body, Like little dreams And your hair falls upon your face just so. Falling from the sky.

II. V. Light bride He was full of tenderness; She is all mine, She was very hard. And lightly And as much as she tried to stay thus, She will kiss me! Simply, and with no good reason, He took her into himself, III. And set her down “Mostly,” said the roof to the sky, In the softest, softest place. “the distance between you and I is endlessness;

The Reckoning humm hey hrrr

hrrr hey yay ololo You'll be maimed by infinite anger humm hey hrrrrr You'll be jailed by infinite grace And you'll return to places where We'll be so quietly waiting earth whispers… We'll be so silently asleep Go tender, hrrr hey yay ololo There is no more later; humm hey hrrrrr Your mountain's bloomed so high, hrrr hey ololo humm So steep. hrrr hey ololo humm

hrrr hey yay ololo Come and break in infinite Music Come explode in infinite Sky You'll be bound by infinite sorrow Come and taste the blood in your teeth You'll be crushed by infinite love And let the Seas kick life in you You will squander infinite happiness. Come and ache in infinite Question We'll stay so quietly listening Come and scream in infinite Why We'll dream so silently aware Come and burn in infinite Yes You will mistake your flesh for a vessel— For Now will be your reckoning. Your spirit bides her time with gentle care. 06-28 DCINY:GP 6/18/09 4:19 PM Page 3

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Seal Lullaby Where billow meets billow, then soft be Text by Rudyard Kipling thy pillow, Oh weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease! Oh! Hush thee, my baby, the night is The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark behind us, overtake thee, And black are the waters that sparkled Asleep in the arms of the slow so green. swinging seas! The moon, o’er the combers, looks downward to find us, At rest in the hollows that rustle between.

She Weeps Over Rahoon Ever unanswered, and the dark rain falling, Text by James Joyce Then as now.

Rain on Rahoon falls softly, softly falling, Dark too our hearts, O love, shall lie Where my dark lover lies. and cold Sad is his voice that calls me, sadly calling, As his sad heart has lain At grey moonrise. Under the moongrey nettles, the black mold Love, hear thou And muttering rain. How soft, how sad his voice is ever calling,

Animal Crackers Vol. I ii. Text by Ogden Nash The Cow The cow is of the bovine ilk; i. One end is moo, the other, milk. The Panther The panther is like a leopard, iii. Except it hasn’t been peppered. The Firefly Should you behold a panther crouch, The firefly’s flame is something for which Prepare to say Ouch. science has no name Better yet, if called by a panther, I can think of nothing eerier Don't anther. Than flying around with an unidentified glow on a person’s posterier.

Animal Crackers Vol. II ii. Text by Ogden Nash The Eel DCINY Premiere Project I don’t mind eels Except as meals. i. And the way they feels. The Canary The song of canaries iii. Never varies. The Kangaroo And when they’re molting O Kangaroo, O Kangaroo, They’re pretty revolting. Be grateful that you’re in the zoo, And not transmuted by a boomerang To zestful tangy Kangaroo meringue. 06-28 DCINY:GP 6/18/09 4:19 PM Page 4

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A Boy and a Girl Stretched out on the beach, Text by Octavio Paz Translation by Muriel Rukeyser a boy and a girl. Savoring their limes, Stretched out on the grass, giving their kisses like clouds exchanging foam. a boy and a girl. Savoring their oranges, Stretched out underground, giving their kisses like waves a boy and a girl. exchanging foam. Saying nothing, never kissing, giving silence for silence.

Cloudburst The rain awakens… Text by Octavio Paz Adapted by Eric Whitacre We must sleep with open eyes, Translation by Lysander Kemp we must dream with our hands, we must dream the dreams of a river The rain… seeking its course, Eyes of shadow-water of the sun dreaming its worlds, eyes of well-water, we must dream aloud, eyes of dream-water. we must sing till the song puts forth roots, Blue suns, green whirlwinds, trunk, branches, birds, stars, birdbeaks of light pecking open we must find the lost word, pomegranate stars. and remember what the blood, the tides, the earth, and the body say, But tell me, burnt earth, is there no water? and return to the point of departure… Only blood, only dust, Only naked footsteps on the thorns?

Lux Aurumque Light of Gold Text by Edward Esch Latin translation by Charles Anthony Silvestri

Lux, Light, Calida gravisque pura velut aurum Warm and heavy as pure gold Et canunt angeli molliter And the angels sing softly Modo natum. To the newborn baby. 06-28 DCINY:GP 6/18/09 4:19 PM Page 5

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“the moon is hiding in her hair” cover her briefness in singing Text by e.e. cummings close her with intricate faint birds World Premiere, DCINY Premiere Project by daisies and twilights deepen her, the moon is hiding in her hair. recite the upon her lily flesh of heaven the rain’s full of all dreams, draws down. pearls singly-whispering.

“i walked the boulevard” pleasantly elephantine Text by e.e. cummings World Premiere, DCINY Premiere Project while nearby the father a thick cheerful man i walked the boulevard with majestic bulbous lips i saw a dirty child and forlorn piggish hands skating on noisy wheels of joy joked to a girlish bore pathetic dress fluttering with busy rhythmic mouth behind her a mothermonster and silly purple eyelids with red grumbling face of how she was with child cluttered in pursuit

Sleep And yet my limbs seem made of lead Text by Charles Anthony Silvestri If there are noises in the night, A frightening shadow, flickering light… The evening hangs beneath the moon A silver thread on darkened dune Then I surrender unto sleep, With closing eyes and resting head Where clouds of dream give second sight I know that sleep is coming soon What dreams may come, both dark and deep Upon my pillow, safe in bed, Of flying wings and soaring leap A thousand pictures fill my head, As I surrender unto sleep I cannot sleep, my minds aflight, As I surrender unto sleep. 06-28 DCINY:GP 6/18/09 4:19 PM Page 6

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With a Lily in Your Hand Tamer of dark butterflies! Text by Federico Garcia Lorca I keep along my way, my way. English translation by Jerome Rothenberg After a thousand years have gone you’ll see me, o, my night love! O! o my night love! By the blue footpath, With a lily in your hand tamer of dark stars. I leave you, o my night love! I’ll make my way. Little widow, Little widow of my single star Until the universe, until the universe, I find you, I find you, until the universe can fit inside my heart.

Meet the Artists

His music has been featured on dozens of commercial and independent recordings. His first recording, The Music of Eric Whitacre , was hailed by The American Record Guide as one of the top 10 classical albums of 1997. In 2006, a full collection of Eric Whitacre his a cappella music, Cloudburst and Other Choral Works , was released on the An accomplished composer, conductor and renowned British classical label Hyperion lecturer, Eric Whitacre has quickly become Records. The album quickly became an one of the most popular and performed international best seller, appearing in the top composers of his generation. Many of ten of both Billboard’s and iTune’s Top Clas - Whitacre’s works have entered the stan - sical Albums charts. Two years after its dard choral and symphonic repertories and debut, the critically acclaimed release have become the subject of several recent continues to be a top-seller. The collection scholarly works and doctoral dissertations. earned a 2007 Grammy nomination for Best His works Water Night , Cloudburst , Sleep , Choral Performance. Lux Aurumque , and A Boy and a Girl are among the most popular choral works of Most recently, Whitacre has received the last decade, and his Ghost Train , acclaim for Paradise Lost: Shadows and Godzilla Eats Las Vegas , and October have Wings , a cutting edge musical. Winner of achieved equal success in the symphonic the ASCAP Harold Arlen award, this musi - wind community. Whitacre’s published cal also gained Whitacre the prestigious works have received thousands of perfor - Richard Rodgers Award for most promising mances and have sold well over 750,000 musical theater composer. copies worldwide. He has received compo - sition awards from the Barlow International Mr. Whitacre lives in Los Angeles with his Composition Competition, the American wife, celebrated soprano Hila Plitmann, and Choral Directors Association and the Amer - their son. ican Composers Forum. 06-28 DCINY:GP 6/18/09 4:19 PM Page 7

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Charles Anthony Silvestri Hila Plitmann

Acclaimed lyricist Charles Anthony Silvestri native Hila Plitmann, composer specializes in providing poetry for choral of “The Reckoning” and of the text for Eric composers. He enjoys the creative chal - Whitacre’s “Five Hebrew Love Songs,” has lenges and rewards of the collaborative become known worldwide for her astonish - process, and has provided lyrics for many ing musicianship and gossamer voice. A composers in different stages of their glittering soprano, she has worked with careers and for a wide variety of commis - many of today’s leading conductors, includ - sions and occasions. “Collaboration between ing Kurt Masur, , Marin Alsop, composer and poet is magic,” Silvestri Esa Pekka Salonen, Andrew Litton, and says. “It opens for the composer opportu - Steven Sloane. She has appeared as a nities for organic and dynamic creation not headliner with the , possible with previously published poetry, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago and gives the poet the thrill and responsibil - Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, ity that his words will be sung—not the Minnesota Orchestra, the Israel Philhar - read—and will be heard attached to an monic, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, emotional soundtrack. There’s magic and the New Israeli Opera, and numerous other power in the marriage of words and orchestras and ensembles in the U.S. and music.” His collaborations with celebrated abroad. Ms. Plitmann is building an impres - composer Eric Whitacre have sold hundreds sive catalogue of recordings, including of thousands of copies of sheet music, and releases on the Decca, Telarc, Naxos, CRI, have been sung by thousands of choirs and Disney labels. In constant demand as a around the world. singer of new and contemporary classical music, she has recently appeared as the In addition to writing choral lyrics, Silvestri soloist of several world premieres, including is also an accomplished artist/painter, spe - Paul Revere’s Ride with the Atlanta Sym - cializing in replicating Medieval manuscript phony, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning illumination and recreating the techniques composer ; Esa Pekka Salo - and materials of Gothic and Renaissance nen’s Wing on Wing with the Los Angeles painters. He is currently on the history fac - Philharmonic, the composer conducting; ulty at Washburn University in Topeka, Two Awakenings and a Double Lullaby , a Kansas. Born in 1965 in Las Vegas, Silvestri song cycle written for her by Pulitzer Prize has lived in Los Angeles and Rome. He cur - winner ; and Mr. Tam - rently writes, creates, teaches history, and bourine Man by Oscar- and Pulitzer makes his home in Lawrence, Kansas. For Prize-winning composer more, visit www.charlesanthonysilvestri.com. with the Minnesota Orchestra, for which 06-28 DCINY:GP 6/18/09 4:19 PM Page 8

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Ms. Plittman was awarded a 2008 Grammy Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher for Best Classical Performance. Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Town Hall in New York City. A strong Distinguished Concerts component of DCINY's mission, as stated International New York in the DCINY motto, “The Art of Perfor - Distinguished Concerts International New mance—The Power of Education,” is to York (DCINY) was founded by Iris Derke, enhance the concert experience through General Director, and Jonathan Griffith, educational programs and incentives. These Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. include support in meeting performance DCINY provides opportunities for choral, standards and optional master classes and instrumental, jazz, and chamber ensembles, seminars. As part of its educational mission, as well as conductors and soloists, to Distinguished Concerts International New perform at major venues such as Stern York initiated its Premiere Project with the Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie purpose of commissioning new works from Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, prominent composers for world premieres.

Distinguished Concert Singers International Participating in the first half:

Litchfield County Children’s Senior Choir (CT), Anna Jedd and Barbara Soderberg, Directors Southern California Children’s Concert Chorus and Ensemble Singers (CA), Lori Loftus, Director

Participating in the second half:

Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Performing Arts Touring Choir (PA), David Macbeth, Director Lone Star Youth Chorale (TX), Dinah Menger, Director Masterworks Chorale of San Mateo (CA), Bryan Baker, Director Monte Vista Christian School Chorus (CA), Tony Dehner, Director Shanghai American School Vocal Ensemble (China), Karolina Pek, Director Washington State University Concert Choir (WA), Lori Wiest, Director Waukesha North High School Concert Choir (WI), Joseph S. Hyland, Director Wausau Conservatory of Music's Choralation (WI), Julie Burgess, Director York College Concert Choir (NE), Clark Roush, Director

DCINY Administrative Staff Iris Derke, General Director Naghma Husain, Design and Promotions Jonathan Griffith, Artistic Director and Associate Principal Conductor Danuta Gross, Director of Finance and Johanna Kodlick, Director of Artistic Operations Administration Sara Sarakanti, Director of Promotions and Arupa Gopal, Executive Assistant Audience Development Julie Kostrey, Project Associate Phil Bravo, Production Manager and Jonathan Stark, Concert Operations Assistant Education Liaison

DCINY thanks its kind sponsors and partners in education: VH1 Save the Music, Education Through Music, and High 5. For more information and a full season listing please visit our website at www.DCINY.org or e-mail [email protected].

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