Saturday, February 20, 2010
Theresa Severin, Soprano
Diane Atherton, Soprano
Christopher Dudley, Contralto
Robert Petillo, Tenor
Dileep Srihari, Tenor
Richard Dirksen, Baritone
Richard Hoffheins, Bass
William Neil, Organ
Player TBD, Double Bass
The Choral Arts Society Chamber Choir
Norman Scribner, Conductor
European Sacred Motets of the Renaissance
Italy
Ave Maria Josquin des Prés (ca. 1445-1521)
Sicut cervus desiderat Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)
Netherlands
Cantate Domino Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621)
Spain
Vere languores nostros Tomás Luis de Victoria (ca. 1548-1611)
England
Come, helpe, O God William Byrd (ca. 1540-1623)
I laid me down to rest William Byrd (ca. 1540-1623)
Sing joyfully unto God William Byrd (ca. 1540-1623)
INTERMISSION
Musikalische Exequien Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672)
(A German Requiem)
ABOUT THE PERFORMERS
Considered an institution among his choral contemporaries, Norman Scribner is one of Washington’s most versatile and respected musical figures. In 1965, Mr. Scribner founded The Choral Arts Society of Washington, and over the last 45 years has led and prepared the Choral Arts Chorus for numerous performances with the world’s leading conductors and orchestras, television appearances, recordings and tours, performing the standard repertoire, world premieres, and new works commissioned by the Society. Through his work with Choral Arts and beyond, Norman Scribner’s work has greatly influenced the quality of musical life in the nation’s capital for the last 45 years.
After graduating with honors from the Peabody Conservatory, Mr. Scribner taught at George Washington University, American University and the College of Church Musicians at Washington National Cathedral, and became organist/choirmaster of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, a position he held until May of 2007. Among his many career highlights, Mr. Scribner served as staff keyboard artist for the National Symphony Orchestra (1963 to 1967), as Chorus Master for the Washington Opera and as a member of the Choral Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts (1974-76), as well as preparing the Handel Festival Chorus for 11 years and producing the annual Christmas and Spring Festivals at the Kennedy Center (1972-76).
Mr. Scribner is well known as a composer with his compositions including commissioned pieces for the United Methodist Church and The British Institute, as well as numerous shorter instrumental, solo vocal, and choral works. Notable honors include Washingtonian magazine’s 1984 “Washingtonian of the Year,” the Cultural Alliance Founder’s Award in 2001, an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 2002, and the Peabody Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006.
Soprano Theresa Severin is a former soloist at Foundry United Methodist Church where she performed Brahms’ Requiem, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, Poulenc’s Gloria, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem and Serenade to Music, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Fauré’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in G, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Handel’s Messiah and Samson, Rutter’s Requiem and the Yizkor Requiem by Thomas Beveridge. Ms. Severin has been a frequent soloist with the Mercersburg (PA) Community Chorus and Orchestra, performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Verdi’s Requiem. Recently, Ms. Severin performed Bach’s Cantata BWV 51 with British conductor and organist, Peter Lea-Cox.
Ms. Severin has appeared as a soloist on The Choral Arts Society of Washington’s 2005 South America Tour. Other CASW solo appearances include the Christmas Music concerts of 2006, 2008 and 2009, Antiphonal Glories, and A Night at the Opera III under the direction of Heinz Fricke. Ms. Severin appeared as the soprano soloist at the French Embassy in a song recital and as soloist in Mozart’s Missa Solemnis in C Major in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. In November 2007, she appeared at the Library of Congress in a concert honoring the famed McDowell Colony and was a featured soloist for Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy honoring famed pianist Leon Fleisher in the nationally televised broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors. In 2009, Ms. Severin appeared again as a soloist for the Annual Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ms. Severin received a Master of Music in Voice Performance and a Bachelor of Music Education from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and is the choral director at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia.
British soprano Diane Atherton has recently garnered attention for her rich yet sparkling soprano, full of dramatic poise yet stylish interpretation. The Washington Post applauded her last month for her “silvery and winsome” performance in James Gray’s It was a Lover and his Lass with the US Army Chorus.
Diane has sung in every major concert hall in the British Isles and toured extensively throughout Europe, recorded for television and radio as well as many of the major record labels. On the concert platform in 2008 Diane sang Carmina Burana in the Alba Music Festival in Italy and also sang Belinda in Dido and Aeneas. She has recorded Handel’s Messiah for HTV and toured in Spain, Germany and Italy. Her recording of Purcell’s The Fairie Queen has received superb reviews worldwide and her performance of Carmina Burana with London Philharmonic choir under Mark Ermler was described in The Times as “virtuoso.”
Closer to home, work includes the US premiere of Kleiburg’s Requiem at Washington National Cathedral directed by Michael McCarthy and Haydn’s The Creation with Edward McClary. Future performances include a Rodgers and Hammerstein review with the Choral Arts Society at the Kennedy Center and a concert of contemporary music at The University of Maryland by the composer Elizabeth Mehl.
Diane is also becoming increasingly well known for her operatic work which includes Gilda in Rigoletto in the Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Adele in Die Fledermaus performed in France; Eve in J. Tal’s The Garden performed in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, where the Times offered “nothing but praise.”
Countertenor Chris Dudley, a native of Great Britain, came to the US in 2001 after attaining a BA in Music from the University of East Anglia. A graduate of the Masters of Music, Performance & Pedagogy Program of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins, Chris has been in great demand as a soloist in the Washington area. He obtained his early musical training as a choirboy in the Queen’s chapel at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Prior to coming to the US, Mr. Dudley was a Choral Scholar in the choir of Norwich Cathedral in England.
In 2006, he was a finalist in the Philadelphia Bach Competition and the Lead in the Peabody Chamber Opera production of Acteon. 2008 solo engagements included Cantata BWV 23 with the Washington Bach Consort, Handel’s Ode to Queen Anne HWV 42 with the Handel Choir of Baltimore, and the alto solos within Bach’s Magnificat with Washington National Cathedral. In 2009, he performed solos with The Choral Arts Society of Washington, and the Countertenor Solo in the Bernstein Missa Brevis with the Georgetown University Concert Choir & Chapel Hill Community Chorus. He sang a Purcell program, and Britten’s Canticle II with the Norfolk Chamber Consort. 2010 finds Chris singing the Chichester Psalm with the New Dominion Chorale, as well as cantata solos with the Washington Bach Consort.
Mr. Dudley is also Artistic Director of the Countertop Ensembles, a group of up to eight singers, who perform music of all genres. He founded the group in 2005, and audiences in the DC-area often enjoy a wide selection of their music. When Chris is not singing, he volunteers as an EMT and ambulance driver with the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, and has a full-time teaching studio. For more information, please visit his websites: countertopquartet.org | dudleyalto.com | dudleyvocalstudio.com.
Tenor Robert Petillo, called “one of the enduring joys of the local early-music scene” by the Washington Post, has soloed many times with virtually every oratorio society in the greater DC area over the past 30 years. Mr. Petillo last appeared with the Choral Art Society in a performance of Bach’s Cantata BWV 119 in February of 2009 at The National Presbyterian Church. Best known for his performances of Bach, Telemann, and Handel, he has taken part in concerts across the country as well as in Germany, Italy, and England. A co-founder of the Washington Kantorei in 1993, Mr. Petillo has assisted with editing unpublished church cantatas by Georg Philipp Telemann and giving them their first modern performance with that ensemble, along with premieres of many works by living composers.
In utter contrast, he also enjoys performing and recording popular songs of the 1920s and 30s with the internationally known syncopated pianist Alex Hassan. A member of The United States Army Chorus since 1986, Sgt. Major Petillo sings for important national occasions and for audiences of many thousands each year. He studied music at Rutgers University and the University of Maryland. For more information on his performing schedule, visit robertpetillo.com.
Tenor Dileep Srihari has previously appeared as a soloist with the Choral Arts Society on several occasions, including performances of Mozart’s Missa solemnis in C, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Bruckner’s Mass in E Minor, Gabrieli’s In Ecclesiis, Biebl’s Ave Maria, and MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross. He has also appeared as a soloist in concert series at the Library of Congress and at the Freeman Stage in Delaware. As a member of the Choral Arts Society, Mr. Srihari has appeared in Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Music Center at Strathmore, and London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral, and has previously appeared in Avery Fisher Hall and Pittsburgh’s Heinz Hall.
Mr. Srihari has performed under notable directors including Valery Gergiev, Mariss Janssons, Robert Page, Leonard Slatkin, and Norman Scribner. Mr. Srihari is an alumnus of the Cornell University Glee Club and a member of its Advisory Council, and has produced Glee Club concerts on several occasions including a Kennedy Center performance in January 2010. Mr. Srihari is a graduate of Cornell University and the Georgetown University Law Center, and practices telecommunications law in Washington, D.C.
In a career spanning six decades Richard Dirksen has appeared as a soloist with the Washington Cathedral Choir of Boys and Men, the Choral Arts Society, the Bach Consort, the Cathedral Choral Society, the Maryland Handel Festival, the Washington Handel Festival, the Oratorio Society of Washington, the Alexandria Choral Society, the Paul Hill Chorale, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Washington Opera Society, the National Gallery Series, and numerous chamber choruses.
Outside of Washington, Mr. Dirksen has been featured in the Bach Passions, the Verdi, Brahms, and Mozart Requiems, and many other oratorios, including the title roles of Handel’s Saul and Solomon, in San Francisco, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charlottesville, VA, Shenandoah Conservatory, Mercersburg, PA, Helena, MT, and, in the Monteverdi Vespers, in Venice, Italy.
Mr. Dirksen was a member of the original cast of Bernstein’s Mass which opened the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in 1971. He was a principal soloist in the world premiere of Gian-Carlo Menotti’s opera, The Egg, directed by the composer, and appeared with the National Symphony under Leonard Slatkin for the Concert Hall’s re-opening in 1998. In solo recitals he has performed works ranging from Schubert’s Winterreise to Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, and is featured on several recordings of the Washington Cathedral Choir, the Cathedral Choral Society, and the Choral Arts Society.
Mr. Dirksen is also recognized internationally as a specialist in the Art and Science of English Change Ringing and was Ringing Master of Washington Cathedral’s magnificent 10‑bell peal from its installation in 1963 until 1992.
Bass-Baritone Richard Hoffheins, a native of Michigan, has been featured as bass soloist in operas, oratorios and concert works throughout the region. The Washington Post wrote that Mr. Hoffheins portrayal of Frances Nurse in The Washington Opera’s production of The Crucible was “committed, intelligent and smoothly sung.”
Mr. Hoffheins has performed with the Washington National Opera (WNO) since 1993. He has also performed with the Washington Concert Opera, the Wolf Trap Opera Company, St. Alban’s choirs, the In Series, Opera Ensemble, Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia, Opera Americana, The Choral Arts Society of Washington, the Paul Hill Chorale, Oratorio Society of Washington, the Concert Artists of Baltimore, the Washington Chamber Symphony Chorus, the eight-voice vocal ensemble Jubilate, Singing A through Z (SAZ) and the Capitol Hill Choral Society. He was asked to participate in the WNO tour of Japan in 2003 and has also performed with the Heidelberg (GE) Stadt Oper. Mr. Hoffheins toured the Czech Republic as the bass soloist with Columbia Pro Cantare, and with the Choral Arts Society in their tours of Italy and Russia. He sang the title role of Mefistofele in a concert version of the Boito opera with the Piedmont Regional Orchestra. Mr. Hoffheins resides with his wife, Katherine, in Kensington, MD.
William Neil, Organist and Harpsichordist of the National Symphony Orchestra and the National Philharmonic, is one of the Nation’s Capital’s most noted keyboard artists. From 1998-2000, he was Organist of Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago, an esteemed post held by many of the world’s greatest organists. In 2001, he became Organist of The National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC.
Mr. Neil is also active as a harpsichordist and continuo player with period and modern instrument ensembles, performing music from the 18th to 21st centuries. He has performed with The Choral Arts Society of Washington at the Kennedy Center and Strathmore Center, and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. His concerts with the New York Trumpet Ensemble, Chicago’s Millar Brass Ensemble and Washington Symphonic Brass, appearances at national and international brass festivals, and recordings have earned him the reputation among brass musicians as “the trumpeters’ organist.”
Mr. Neil enjoys a national reputation as a performer, teacher and champion of new music. His recent MSR Classics CD, A Festive Proclamation, featuring premieres by Samuel Adler and Eric Ewazen, has been praised by Gramophone and Fanfare Magazine for its “grand performance” and “interpretive prowess.” William Neil grew up in Central Pennsylvania and attended Penn State University and Syracuse University. His teachers include Leonard Raver, Arthur Poister, Will Headlee and Anthony Newman. He has been a member of the music faculties at George Mason University and The Catholic University of America. Mr. Neil received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Penn State University in April of last year.
Double Bassist Jeffrey Koczela received his Bachelor’s degree in Music from Catholic University and did graduate studies at Catholic University and the University of Maryland.
Mr. Koczela has appeared as guest soloist with the U.S. Air Force Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony and has served as Principal Bassist with the Richmond Symphony, the Alexandria Symphony, the Washington Chamber Orchestra, the National Chamber Orchestra, the Washington Bach Consort and the Wolf Trap Orchestra. He has also performed with the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, Washington National Opera, Baltimore Opera, the Philadelphia Classical Symphony, Brandywine Baroque, the Vivaldi Project, and the Post-Classical Ensemble. He has performed with The Choral Arts Society of Washington many times as well as with many of Washington’s other choral groups.
Mr. Koczela has taught Double Bass at Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, the D.C. Youth Orchestra Program, the Levine School of Music, and the Masterworks Festival. He is currently on faculty at George Washington University, Howard University, and the National Philharmonic Summer Institute for Strings.
Now celebrating its 45th Anniversary Season, The Choral Arts Society of Washington is one of the major choral organizations in the United States. Under the leadership of its Founder and Artistic Director Norman Scribner, Choral Arts presents its symphonic chorus of 180 professional-caliber volunteer singers in an annual season subscription series at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and other DC-area venues. In addition, the Society has designed and implemented an award-winning educational program, and presented a variety of community outreach programs which include its popular Family Christmas Concerts and Annual Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The chorus has performed with leading symphony orchestras, sung under the world’s most distinguished conductors, produced 17 acclaimed recordings, toured nationally and internationally, and participated in numerous special events both live and televised. Choral Arts has an impressive history of commissioning and performing new works, as well as presenting area and world premieres of outstanding contemporary music.
Winner of the 2008 Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education, Choral Arts’ Education Programs reach K-12 teachers and students as well as burgeoning arts professionals at the university level through its in-school programs, the Partner High School Program, Arts Administration Internships, new Online Learning Community, and Curricular Materials (online and printed). Curriculum publications include Voices: A Teacher’s Guide (2008) and Celebrating Sacred Rhythms: A Teacher’s Guide (2009). Choral Arts also has a long standing dedication to Community Outreach programs, notably the Annual Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., now celebrating its 22nd year. The Tribute is a powerful concert experience where performers, guest choirs and conductors, composers, and celebrities join together to create a celebration of artistic diversity and expression dedicated to Dr. King’s vision.
Among its many awards and honors, Choral Arts has received the Washington Post Award for Excellence in Non-Profit Management (2002), the Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education (2008), the Washington Area Music Award (WAMMIE) for Best Choral Group (1999, 2000, 2008), and was the first choral group to be awarded a performance grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
