Rotaļa
Juris Karlsons
Earthsongs Publishing

A Latvian folksong, “Rotala” means “the unclosed ring” and refers to a children’s dancing game in which the group joins hands and forms a circle. Karlsons sets this children’s game in sixteen separate parts with a whirlwind of extremely quick text. Separate parts are heard shouting “Vidu!” which is an invitation for the next child to take their place in the center of the circle.

Sung in Latvian:
Vidu! To the middle!
One came, the other went, one lets go, another waves, vidu!
The outstretched hand is not yet grabbed,
you already swing along in a circle, vidu!
Freely, freely the days spin.
Hither, thither, part and join your hands,
further joining, further swaying, vidu!
Freely swirl around!

– Jānis Pliekšāns (Rainis)

Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied (BWV 225, mvt. 1)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Carus-Verlag

Six of Johann Sebastian Bach’s motets (BWV 225–230) have survived, all composed during his years in Leipzig. Singet dem Herrn was composed around 1727, though its exact origin remains uncertain. It may have been written for a civic celebration in Leipzig, or possibly for a memorial observance. Regardless of its original purpose, the motet reflects a spirit of joy, praise, and deep trust in God that transcends any single occasion.

The text draws from Psalms 149 and 150 along with Johann Gramann’s hymn Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren, and unfolds across several contrasting sections. This evening, we share only the opening movement which sets Psalm 149: 1-3, a vibrant and exuberant call to praise.This movement is driven by the repeated call to “sing,” a word that returns again and again with infectious energy. The two choirs interact in lively, almost playful exchanges, creating a sense of praise expanding outward.

One of the most striking moments comes with Bach’s setting of the word “Reihen” (dance). Here, he writes an extended melisma that seems to embody the motion of dancing itself, unfolding with a lightness and circular energy that evokes the image in Psalm 149 of the people of God, often understood as the “children of Zion”, dancing in joyful praise. It is a beautiful example of Bach’s ability to bring the text to life, not just illustrating the word, but inviting us to experience its meaning.

That same sense of vitality carries into the exciting fugue on the text “die Kinder Zions sei’n fröhlich über ihren König.” It begins in choir one with SATB entrances while choir two returns to the opening material. After a time, the choirs exchange roles, with the fugue subject reappearing in choir two, now in reverse order of voices (BTAS), creating a sense of balance, play, and structural brilliance found in the opening movement.

Sung in German:
Sing to the Lord a new song.
The congregations of saints shall praise him.
Let Israel rejoice in the one who has made him.
Let the children of Zion be joyful by way of their king;
they shall praise his name with dancing, drums and harps.

– Psalm: 149:1-3

Mass for a cappella Double Choir
Frank Martin
Bärenreiter-Verlag

Composer’s note:
This mass, composed in 1922 (except for the Agnus Dei which dates from 1926), was a work of my own free will, without commission or remuneration. Indeed, at that time I knew of no choral conductor who could be interested in it. I never submitted it to the Society of Swiss Musicians for performance at one of their annual events. In fact, I had no desire to have it performed as I was afraid it would be judged on a purely aesthetic level. As far as I was concerned it was a matter between God and myself. The same was true later on for a Christmas oratorio. I felt that religious fervor should remain private and not be influenced by public opinion. So much so that this composition remained in a drawer for forty years, included as a formality in my list of works. It was there in 1962 that the conductor of the Bugenhagen-Kantorei in Hamburg, Mr. Franz W. Brunnert, saw it mentioned and asked me to send it to him for perusal. He and his choir gave the first performance in the autumn of 1963, 41 years after it was composed.

All the aforementioned shows clearly that, even though I wrote the mass for a large number of voices, it is music of an inward nature. My musical language has developed considerably since that period. There are some things in this work that I would no longer be able to write; there are also weaknesses that I would never repeat. (I would be guilty of others, who wouldn’t?). But there are also musical elements which are very close to me, such as the phrase “Et incarnatus est” that I had already used in the unpublished Christmas oratorio. It reappears almost identically in my oratorio Golgotha, enhancing the text “Comme il avait aimé les siens dans le monde, il les aima d’un suprême amour” (He [Jesus] loved his disciples who were in the world. So he now loved them to the very end.)

Let us hope that conviction, youth and some beauty can still be appreciated in this mass that is almost half a century old.

–  Frank Martin (translated by Rachel Ann Morgan)

Sung in Greek

Kyrie:
Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Sung in Latin

Gloria:

Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you.
We bless you.
We adore you.
We glorify you.
We give thanks to you for your great glory.
Lord God, King of heaven, omnipotent Father God.
Lord, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
Who removes the world’s sins, take pity on us.
Who removes the world’s sins, accept our prayers.
Who sits at the right hand of the Father, take pity on us.
Because you alone are holy.
You alone are Lord.
You alone are supreme, Jesus Christ.
With the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.

Credo:

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
And one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

Sanctus:
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God of the the Sabaoth.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is he who comes in the names of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!

Agnus Dei:
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

Hope
Zachary J. Moore
MusicSpoke Publishing

Composer’s Note:
I want to begin by saying that I struggle to write up-tempo music. As a composer, I tend to lean toward and connect to slow and emotional pieces. I have always been someone who strives to convey emotional complexity, therefore writing an up-tempo piece had to be purposeful and meaningful.

The inspiration for this score comes from the first time I was able to hear my son’s heartbeat in an ultrasound. It was a magical and exciting moment that I will never forget; however, everything leading up to that specific moment had an element of tension. Six months prior to hearing my son’s heartbeat my wife and found ourselves in a very similar situation with a different ultrasound. We arrived at the hospital excited to meet our child only to find out that we had miscarried. I had never felt so deflated and aimless in one sudden moment. It was as if I was a boat, drifting, with no direction in my life.

Fast forward to this ultrasound with my soon-to-be son, you can imagine the excitement and fear I felt all at once as the doctor prepared to give the ultrasound. Hearing the heartbeat of my son was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard, and it brought me to tears. Personally, it felt like such a hopeful relief.

The excitement and tension of that specific moment are what I sought to capture in this composition.

–  Zachary J. Moore

Give Me Your Stars
Lucy Walker
E.C. Schirmer Music Company

Composer’s Note:
Give Me Your Stars (2025), commissioned by VOCES8 to mark their 20th anniversary, is a setting of Sara Teasdale’s “Peace.” The poetry is lyrical and romantic, rich in natural imagery, first of the ocean and its tide, then of the skies and stars beyond. The opening melody, which becomes la musical anchor) as it recurs throughout the piece, is a gentle, Auid arc that mimics the movement of waves. The first stanza is built on this principle, gradually expanding and intensifying to a chromatic pinnacle before ebbing away with a melody which mirrors the opening.

Like the text, the music is structured in three stanzas with parallel melodies presented in different harmonic and atmospheric guises in each repetition. The second stanza explores a new, brighter key area, featuring the melody in the solo tenor, now at the base of the texture. With upper vocal ranges and soaring lines, the music here matches the skyward gesture of the poetry. We return to the home key for the final stanza, which begins with an introspective soprano solo. Departing from the familiar melodic path, the music builds to a rich and energized climax: “my deepening skies.” The final line of the poem, which gives the piece its title, provides a tender and wistful ending, and, as the music fades, with a comforting and distant sense of cyclicity, we hear the opening notes for a final time.

– Lucy Walker

Sung in English:
PEACE flows into me
As the tide to the pool by the shore;
It is mine forevermore,
It ebbs not back like the sea.
I am the pool of blue
That worships the vivid sky;
My hopes were heaven-high,
They are all fulfilled in you.
I am the pool of gold
When sunset burns and dies,—
You are my deepening skies,
Give me your stars to hold.

—Sara Teasdale from Rivers to the Sea (1915)

It is Well with My Soul
(When Peace like a River)
Horatio G. Spafford; arr. René Clausen
MorningStar Music Publishers

It Is Well with My Soul stands as one of the most enduring expressions of faith and resilience in the face of profound loss. The text was written by Horatio Spafford, a successful Chicago attorney and businessman whose life was marked by unimaginable tragedy. After losing much of his wealth in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and grieving the death of his young son, Spafford faced an even greater sorrow when his four daughters perished in a shipwreck while crossing the Atlantic. His wife alone survived, sending the now-famous telegram: “Saved alone. What shall I do?”

As Spafford traveled to meet her, he was told when his ship passed over the very place where his daughters had died. In that moment of deep grief, words of peace and assurance came to him—words that would become this beloved hymn. Rather than expressing despair, the text speaks with quiet strength, affirming a steady and unwavering trust: “Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know / It is well, it is well with my soul.”

What makes this hymn so powerful is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of faith within it. It does not deny life’s storms or attempt to resolve them easily. Instead, it acknowledges the reality of sorrow while holding fast to a deeper sense of peace—one grounded in trust, hope, and the assurance of something greater than the present moment.

It Is Well with My Soul continues to resonate because it gives voice to a truth many have experienced: that even in life’s most difficult moments, peace is still possible.

Come Unto Me
Bernice Johnson Reagon
Songtalk Publishing Company
Hal Leonard Corporation

Composer’s note:
The text for this composition is from the King James Version of the Bible, Matthew 11: 28-30. I created the choral setting for the Africans in America Peabody Award-winning film series on American slavery, produced by WGBH-TV, which aired on PBS in 1998. Executive producer, Orlando Bagwell, asked me to create the musical score for the series and in a unique supportive relationship with my daughter, musician, composer, singer Toshi Reagon, I created the score for the series. The fourth film of the series, judgment Day 1831-1865, included a segment on “The Great Awakening,” The opening sequence quoted this Biblical scripture, and my a cappella choral setting appears here. I learned scriptures in Sunday School and elementary school; however, there was a particular power when the text came from the pulpit. My father, Rev. Jesse Johnson, always read the scriptural passage that formed the foundation of his sermons. As a composer, my approach to this passage was to allow it to lyrically become melodic and then I created a “call and response” with harmony in the call as well as in the response sections. The text is in an echo” pattern, but the Call music is different from that of the Response. The Call is sung by a selected group, thus ensuring balance with the Response. The overall sensibility is to sing it as a gentle invitation, maintaining the sense of comfort and, yes, rescue that I always felt when hearing this scripture.

The song has a warm rich soft harmony sound and is sung at a moderate pace, the 6/8 pulse maintaining a sense of movement so that motion of the invitation is always present. It opens with a wide warm sonic energy, not loud, but clearly filling the space. There is a lift in the energy because of the change in the composition at “Take my yoke…” It is important that the singers go with the lift – here the sound is not as wide and the projectile energy is felt in the shift in the composition. The closing phrase of “Come unto me” returns to the feel of the opening. The last word in the ending phrase, “rest,” slips away without extending or a sharp release moving into the hum, keeping it lifted and charging the air.

– Bernice Johnson Reagon

Sung in English:
Come unto me, all ye that labor and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon thee, and learn of me;
For I am meek and lowly in heart;
And ye shall find rest unto your soul.

– Matthew: 11: 28-30

I Sat Down Under His Shadow
Edward C. Bairstow
Choral Public Domain Library

Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow was one of the leading voices in early twentieth century English church music. He served as organist of York Minster from 1913 until his death and was knighted in 1932 for his contributions to the field. Born in Huddersfield, he studied at Balliol College, Oxford, and later at the University of Durham, where he earned both his Bachelor and Doctor of Music degrees. After holding positions in London, Wigan, and Leeds, his work at York Minster helped shape a generation of Anglican church music.

Bairstow’s writing reflects a deep understanding of the human voice and a genuine sensitivity to text. His music is grounded, beautifully crafted, and expressive without ever feeling overstated. Among his most beloved works is I sat down under his shadow (1925), a piece that captures a sense of warmth, stillness, and quiet devotion. Its harmonic language has a gentle, almost mystical quality, and it continues to resonate for both singers and listeners alike.

Through Love to Light
Elaine Hagenberg
Elaine Hagenberg Music

Elaine Hagenberg’s Through Love to Light serves as the thematic centerpiece for today’s concert, offering a compelling reflection on love’s transformative power. The work traces a deeply human journey through struggle, uncertainty, and moments of heaviness, revealing how love meets us in those spaces and gently leads us forward. Hagenberg’s compositional voice is marked by clarity and sincerity, allowing the music to unfold organically as it moves from quiet introspection toward a more expansive and radiant sound.

The strength of this piece lies in its restraint. Rather than relying on dramatic gestures, it builds gradually, with harmonies that open and textures that bloom over time. The result is a musical landscape that feels both intimate and universal. Light is not presented as something sudden or distant, but as something gradually revealed through connection, compassion, and grace.

As the guiding idea behind today’s program, Through Love to Light shapes the arc of the music you will hear, inviting reflection on how love sustains, restores, and ultimately leads us toward something brighter.

Sung in English:

Through love to light!
Oh wonderful the way that leads
from darkness to the perfect day!
From darkness and from sorrow of the night
to morning that comes singing o’er the sea.
Through love to light!
Through light, O God, to thee,
who art the love of love,
the eternal light of light!

– “After-Song” (from The New Day) by Richard Watson Gilder

Come, Ye Disconsolate
arr. Michael Engelhard
Manuscript

Michael Engelhardt’s arrangement of Come, Ye Disconsolate, inspired by the recording by gospel artists Ted and Sheri, offers a warm and intimate setting of this deeply comforting text. Attributed to Thomas Moore, the text extends a gentle invitation to those who are weary or burdened, offering rest, healing, and hope. Drawing on the expressive style of Ted and Sheri, Engelhardt shapes the piece with a gospel influence, giving it a natural, heartfelt flow that allows the text to speak with clarity and sincerity.

Within the program, this piece serves as a natural bookend to the set that begins with Bernice Johnson Reagon’s Come Unto Me. Together, these texts frame a powerful invitation, one that calls us in, meets us where we are, and offers rest and renewal. Come, Ye Disconsolate closes that arc with a sense of quiet assurance, reminding us that even in the midst of struggle, we are gently led forward toward light.

Ain’t-A That Good News!
arr. Stacey V. Gibbs
Colla Voce Publishing

Stacey V. Gibbs is one of today’s leading arrangers of spirituals, known for combining authenticity with a fresh, contemporary voice. His settings honor the tradition while bringing rhythmic energy, expressive depth, and a strong connection to text and storytelling.

Ain’t a That Good News is a joyful spiritual rooted in hope and anticipation. Emerging from the lived experiences of enslaved African Americans, spirituals often carried layered meaning, expressing both a deep faith and a longing for freedom. The repeated refrain becomes a declaration of joy and assurance, pointing toward a promised future where suffering is replaced with peace and restoration. At the same time, it reflects the resilience and strength of a people who held onto hope in the midst of hardship.

Gibbs’s arrangement captures that spirit with driving rhythms, dynamic contrasts, and vibrant call and response writing, creating a work that is both engaging and deeply meaningful.

God Be in My Head
Robert A. Hobby
MorningStar Music Publishers

Robert A. Hobby’s God Be in My Head is a deeply personal and expressive setting of a text that first appeared in the Sarum Primer of 1541. Simple and direct, the prayer asks for God’s presence in every aspect of life—thought, sight, speech, and ultimately, one’s beginning and end. Hobby’s setting honors that simplicity while bringing a thoughtful and deeply human layer of meaning to the text.

The piece was commissioned by Barbara Hoffman as a gift to the choir of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Santa Monica on the occasion of her retirement. In a deeply intentional gesture, Hobby crafted the opening so that each section of the choir is featured in turn—basses, sopranos, tenors, and altos—allowing the conductor to make direct eye contact with each group. What begins as a series of individual lines gradually grows into a unified, homophonic texture, symbolizing both individuality and community within the ensemble.

Hobby saves the final line, “God be at my end and at my departing,” for the closing moments of the piece, where the music broadens and slows. This expansion reflects the natural slowing that often accompanies life’s end, giving the text a sense of weight and stillness that feels both reflective and profound.

Sung in English:

God be in my head,
and in my understanding;
God be in mine eyes,
and in my looking;
God be in my mouth,
and in my speaking;
God be in my heart,
and in my thinking;
God be at mine end,
and at my departing.

– Sarum Primer, 1558

El Aire Baila
Jake Runestad
Jake Runestad Music

Composer’s note:
Humberto Ak’abal was one of the most important poetic voices from Latin America. A member of the K’iche’ Mayan community in Guatemala, Ak’abal wrote with honesty, intensity, and passion, and has inspired millions around the world. Reading Humberto’s poetry is like living through the depths of history, like being gut-punched with core-shaking truths, like dancing with water, trees, and birds; he was a true Mayan Mystic. It is a great honor to have spent time with Humberto’s family and to be dear friends with his widow, Mayulí, to whom I dedicate this piece. This jubilant work takes cues from Ak’abal’s playful poem, “El Aire Baila” (The Air Dances), to paint a colorful journey into the poet’s imagination and the swirling air around us.

– Jake Runestad

Sung in Spanish:
The air dances
spreads its wings and soars round and round.

The air is a large bird,
flying high,
above the sky;
that’s why
we only feel the blowing of its wings.

– Translation by Jake Runestad

Witness
arr. Jack Halloran
Gentry Publications

Jack Halloran’s Witness is a spirited and rhythmically vibrant setting of a traditional spiritual, brought to life through his signature style and energy. Halloran, a native of Rock Rapids, Iowa, was an influential conductor, arranger, and composer whose work helped shape the sound of mid-20th century choral music, particularly through his work with the Norman Luboff Choir. His arrangements are known for their precision, clarity, and driving rhythmic momentum.

Witness tells the story of Samson with excitement and urgency, building on the call and response tradition that is central to the spiritual. Halloran’s setting uses layered entrances, rhythmic interplay, and dynamic contrasts to create a sense of forward motion and storytelling that feels almost theatrical. Each section of the choir contributes to the unfolding narrative, adding to the intensity and energy of the piece. The result is a work that is both musically engaging and dramatically compelling, capturing the vitality of the spiritual tradition while showcasing Halloran’s distinctive voice as an arranger.