P R E S E N T TO THE WILD SUN OF WINTER ÉCOLE SECONDAIRE HIGHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL PARKING LOT, HIGH RIVER ONLINE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2021 7PM MST MICHÈLE WHEATLEY-BROWN Founder and Artistic Director High River Gift of Music Society It is truly uplifting to celebrate and share beautiful music with you in these challenging times. The High River Gift of Music Society is about creating close connections between artists and community. Within our isolation, through collaboration and creativity, we have found a way for music to bring us together. It is extremely exciting and rewarding to collaborate with the sublime professional chamber choir, Luminous Voices. With innovation, passion and dedication, this group has found a way to create a unique and unforgettable concert experience. Working together has helped us all flourish and regain our footing as we move forward to find ways to ensure live music endures. Music is essential to our humanity and concerts are vital to our communities. As you will experience this evening, music has the power to give our lives meaning. It is a source of solace and also of hope and joy. I hope you may find these in the concert this evening. I am profoundly grateful for the many people, businesses, and organizations who support us in our mission to connect us all through live music. And lastly, I am grateful for you. We could not do this without you - our audience; you are an integral part of the gift of music. Thank you for being here tonight, celebrating great music and community. Welcome! The High River Gift of Music Society gratefully acknowledges the generous support from our donors including the family and friends of Candice Scott. This concert is dedicated to the memory of Candice Scott, a devoted supporter and patron of the High River Gift of Music Society who touched many lives with her kindness, care and generosity. Thank you to the many organizations and people who help make the Gift of Music possible. AT HIGH RIVER GIFT OF MUSIC, OUR PURPOSE IS IN OUR NAME. ACCORDING TO THE DICTIONARY, THE TERM GIFT MEANS A PRESENT THAT IS WILLINGLY GIVEN TO ANOTHER TO SHOW AFFECTION. ALTERNATELY, IT CAN MEAN A SKILL OR APTITUDE. THE GREEK ROOT OF THE WORD MUSIC IS MOUSIKE, MEANING THE ART OF THE MUSES, THOSE GRACEFUL GODDESSES OF ART, POETRY, MUSIC AND DANCE. AS OUR NAME SUGGESTS WE EXIST TO PRESENT OUR AUDIENCE WITH AN EXTRAORDINARY GIFT – THE MUSICAL TALENT OF OUR ARTISTS. High River Gift of Music Society is a non-profit Board of Directors organization that has brought excellence in music to the community of High River since Leslie Lambert | PRESIDENT 2009. Our aim is to open the doors to the world Stan Penchuk | VICE-PRESIDENT of music through education, outreach activities Barb Haney-Jones | TREASURER and of course, incredible musical performances. Marie Lingwood | SECRETARY While our focus is primarily on classical music, Hendrik Greidanus | DIRECTOR you will find a wide range of instrumentalists Kuniko Porter | DIRECTOR and vocalists appearing on the High River stage. From the ancient Chinese pipa to the grand piano, from marimba to guitar to opera and Michèle Wheatley-Brown | ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ensemble choirs, we appreciate and support diversity and love to surprise our audience. No matter what the setting, our concerts We support our community by extending the celebrate music and community. The gift of music in other ways. We seek out artists combination of an enthusiastic audience, who are both communicative and talented, able generous volunteers, and musicians who to provide insight into how great music is communicate their music with passion inspired, composed and played. Each season is makes for an unforgettable experience. This capped with our Young Artists Extraordinaire is music that inspires, bridging cultures and event, welcoming talented local musicians as eras to bring people together. they embark on their musical careers with the support of our generous audience members. www.highrivergiftofmusic.com Music education workshops and masterclasses "SINCE JANUARY 2013, I MUST HAVE give students opportunities to learn from and be ATTENDED AT LEAST 50 CONCERTS OF inspired by some of the world’s finest musicians. CLASSICAL MUSIC IN NORTH AMERICA AND These interactions provide a very direct EUROPE. ONE OF THE BEST HAPPENED TO BE connection with the artist, the instrument and the music. We also share the gift of music IN HIGH RIVER, OF ALL PLACES.” through outreach activities, bringing our artists directly to audiences in senior’s homes and a Sudhir Jain variety of venues, including a local historic barn Letter to the Editor, Calgary Herald for family concerts. CHORAL MUSIC OF EXCELLENCE AND REFINEMENT TRANSCENDS TIME AND PLACE, EXPRESSES EMOTION AND EXPERIENCE, CONNECTS, AND TRANSFORMS COMMUNITIES. LUMINOUS VOICES, CALGARY’S PROFESSIONAL CHAMBER CHOIR, WAS FOUNDED IN 2012 BY CONDUCTOR AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR TIMOTHY SHANTZ. WE UNITE LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS AND ORGANIZATIONS TO ILLUMINATE CHORAL MUSIC OF THE PAST AND PRESENT, SPANNING CULTURES AND TRADITIONS. WE ENGAGE AUDIENCES IN CALGARY AND BEYOND THROUGH EXCEPTIONAL SONIC EXPERIENCES ENCOMPASSING LIVE AND VIRTUAL PERFORMANCES, RECORDINGS, WORKSHOPS, NEW COMMISSIONS BY CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS, AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT. Luminous Voices, founded in 2012 by Board of Directors conductor and Artistic Director Dr. Cathy Billington | PRESIDENT Timothy Shantz, continues to thrill David Partridge | VICE-PRESIDENT audiences in Calgary and beyond Christina Jahn | SECRETARY through performances, recordings and Tom Mirhady | TREASURER workshops. Rod McKay | DIRECTOR The choir has three commercial Meghan Goguen | GENERAL MANAGER recordings. The most recent is Sea Dreams, music by Peter-Anthony Togni released in July 2020 on the Leaf Music label. The Far West was released in May 2016. Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “beautifully sung, as everything here is, by the aptly named Luminous Voices under Timothy Shantz.” The Far West is the winner of the 2018 National Choral Award for Outstanding Choral Recording and 2016 National Choral Award for Outstanding Choral Composition from Choral “NO CHOIR CAN ACHIEVE THIS LEVEL OF Canada. The first recording, EXCELLENCE IN SUCH DIFFICULT MUSIC Mendelssohn’s Te Deum released in WITHOUT FINE SINGERS AND A CONDUCTOR OF TALENT AND ADVANCED March 2015 was the winner of the 2016 MUSICAL CAPABILITY. AND THIS Choral Canada award for Outstanding LATTER ROLE LUMINOUS VOICES HAS Choral Recording. Luminous Voices WITH TIMOTHY SHANTZ.” illuminates exceptional choral music of the past and present while supporting Kenneth DeLong, Calgary Herald contemporary composers by commissioning new works. www.luminousvoices.com TIMOTHY SHANTZ Founder and Artistic Director Luminous Voices Timothy Shantz brings a wealth of expertise and artistry to his roles as Chorus Master, Conductor and Artistic Director. He is an experienced conductor, collaborator, and tenor soloist. Shantz is Founder and Artistic Director of Calgary’s Professional Choir, Luminous Voices. He was Chorus Master for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra between 2008-2020, and served as Artistic Director of Spiritus Chamber Choir for 11 seasons during the same Shantz has several recordings to his name, period. In 2019, Timothy Shantz joined the including Sea Dreams by Peter-Anthony Department of Music at The University of Alberta Togni, Zachary Wadsworth’s The Far West as an Associate Professor. As conductor, Shantz (2016) of which Joshua Kosman of the San is recognized for the breadth of his work in early- Francisco Chronicle wrote “beautifully sung, music, contemporary works, virtuoso as everything here is, by the aptly named unaccompanied choral music, as well as large Luminous Voices under Timothy Shantz.” choral-orchestral masterpieces. Kenneth The Far West was awarded the 2018 DeLong of the Calgary Herald wrote, “It is hard National Choral Award for Outstanding to believe that it has been a full decade since Choral Recording and 2016 National Choral Timothy Shantz became the chorus master of Award for Outstanding Choral Composition the CPO Chorus. During this decade, Shantz, from Choral Canada. The choir’s first always energetic and full of initiative, has recording, Mendelssohn’s Te Deum earned transformed the choral life of the city.” Under his the 2016 Choral Canada award for direction, Spiritus Chamber Choir earned the Outstanding Choral Recording. Other Healey Willan Grand Prize from the Canada recordings include, James MacMillan's Council in 2017 and 2013 and has toured Seven Last Words (Spring 2014), All the Stars internationally, earning second prize at the Looked Down (2012) and of Stars and Fleischmann International Choral Competition Solitude (2010) with Spiritus Chamber Choir. in Cork, Ireland as well as second prize at the Performance highlights as tenor include Florilège Vocal de Tours in France. Händel's Messiah at Carnegie Hall, soloist and ensemble singer at the Carmel Bach Shantz has extensive experience preparing Festival (2008-2016) and twice with the choruses for other conductors and major Lucerne Festival Academy under the orchestral works collaborating with conductors direction of Pierre Boulez. Rune Bergmann, Christoph König, Matthew Halls, Paul Hillier, James MacMillan, Nicholas Shantz holds a Doctor of Music degree in McGegan, Roberto Minczuk, John Morris Russell, Choral Conducting from Indiana University Yoav Talmi, Ivars Tuarins and Jean-Marie Jacobs School of Music with a dissertation Zeitouni among others. He has also performed analyzing the unaccompanied choral work as tenor under the direction of Pierre Boulez, Sun-Dogs by composer James MacMillan. Frieder Bernius, Paul Goodwin, Paul Hillier, Andrew Megill, John Poole, Leonard Ratzlaff, Daniel Reuss, Robert Shaw, Richard Sparks, Jon Washburn and Bruno Weil. PROGRAM Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 7:00pm Beati Quorum Via Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)) Trapped in Stone Andrew Balfour* (b. 1967) Wake Me Up, Lord Uzee Brown Jr. (b. 1950) Ave Maria Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) Ave Maria Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) Nicholas Allen, baritone Mother’s Song Jocelyn Hagen (b.