Deborah Simpkin King Artistic Director and Founder

Thriving through the Years Wisdom from the Foxhole

2018-2019 Season – Coming of Age

Saturday, November 10, 7PM St. John’s in the Village 218 W. 11th Street, NYC

Sunday, November 11, 5PM Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

94 Pine Street, Montclair, NJ

Marleen Provençal, Artist

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An Ember December Star of Wonder

Sunday, December 9, 5PM Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church 94 Pine Street, Montclair, NJ

Ember’s annual holiday concert focuses on musical favorites that will warm the heart. Ember singers present such selections as “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” “In Dulci Jubilo,” and “I Wonder as I Wander,” and invite audience members to join in singing familiar carols the whole family will know. Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s historic organ will be featured in the carol sing. Bring the whole family, and plan to enjoy holiday goodies in the undercroft following the concert.

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Deborah Simpkin King, PhD, is a visionary artistic director, noted conductor, and master teacher with a wide reach of influence. Dr. King currently serves as Artistic Director of two organizations: Schola Cantorum on Hudson (home of the Ember vocal ensemble and of PROJECT : ENCORE); and Crescent Concerts. She is also the Interim Director of Music at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Dr. King frequently takes on additional contracts/projects as a guest conductor and workshop clinician, most recently with Lincoln

Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. Ongoing leadership roles within the industry include her Chairmanship of the New York Choral Consortium (since 2012), Coordination of the NJ-ACDA HS Choral Festival (since 1994), and hosting of WWFM’s Sounds Choral. DeborahSKing.com

Announcing our Composer-in-Residence Cheryl Engelhardt

Cheryl B. Engelhardt is a composer, songwriter, and music business consultant. Cheryl graduated with degrees in Music and Biology from Cornell University, and went on to study orchestration at The Juilliard School of Music. In between choral commissions, film scores, and songwriting, she creates content for her musician-resource website, In The Key Of Success, as well as hosting a music business podcast “Key Conversations”. Currently, Cheryl participates as an original member of the non-profit choir Voices 21C with whom she has performed in France, Boston, Israel and Mexico. Voices 21C debuted her choral composition "We" in Jerusalem in August 2017 and her piece “The Listening”, inspired by a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, in Mexico City August 2018. Welcome, Cheryl!

EMBER SINGERS

Jed Aicher Maria Alu Mark Aro

Susan Baer Chris Baum

Frank Borroto Donna Graham

Laura Greenwald Marques Hollie

Gordon King Sherry Kosinski John Maderazo Frances Marsh

Joanna Mieleszko Alyson Navarro Amanda Regan

Caroline L. Sargent

Alison Self Karen Lea Siegel

Ilya Speranza Christopher Tefft Svetlana Tzenova

Alexander Wentworth Roger West Anna Willson

Those singing today’s concert represent approximately half of the auditioned singers in the Ember Family. Each concert is uniquely balanced around the needs of the music and singer availability.

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Curious about Ember singing membership?

Ember membership is a mix of singers who are active professionals and receive a stipend for their work; active professionals who donate their time and talent to the Ember mission; and deeply experienced avocational singers. All adhere to the same audition requirement, rehearsal schedule and high artistic bar. All are drawn to Ember by a love of artistic finesse and expression, of working with active composers, of music with a social mission. Do you read music?

Do you have vocal training and choral experience?

Are you drawn to new music and a wide range of musical expression?

Do you seek a singing family with which to grow and experience life in full color?

Yes? Talk with an Ember artist after the concert.

To inquire, or to schedule an audition:

Write to auditions@EmberEnsemble.org

or go directly to EmberEnsemble.org/auditions

to fill out and submit an audition request form.

Not a singer, but want to be part of the Ember Family?

It takes a village of committed individuals to support the artistic and social mission of Ember and its parent choral arts organization, Schola Cantorum on Hudson. Board members and committee members work directly with artistic leadership in planning, supporting and producing every concert, educational activity and new music initiative.

Regardless of your background, we welcome your expression of interest and your skills and talents that could help support the various promotional, operational, financial and developmental aspects of Ember’s mission of meaningful artistic impact.

Please feel free to let us know of your interest by speaking to us after the concert, or by writing to info@scholaonhudson.org.

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Ember Veterans Task Force

A special task force of veterans was formed in the summer of 2017 to work with Ember in its efforts to connect with veterans in ways that would be of meaning. We are grateful for their inspiring leadership. SFC (Ret.) Joseph F. Dunphy. US Army Signal Corps. Began as Radio Teletype Operator, various signal positions in support of armor at battalion, division and Corps levels. Called out of retirement briefly to respond to 9-11-2001 attack. Radio volunteer in support of the Red Cross. Gene Gitelson served in the US Army as a Combat Infantry Lieutenant in Vietnam for the 1st Infantry Division – the “Big Red One” from 1966-67. He led an Infantry Platoon conducting patrols in the jungles and rice paddies as well as commanding helicopter assaults into “hot” LZs. The US Military Academy at West Point produced an oral history of his personal and leadership experiences in Vietnam: “The Vietnam War as a Crucible for Leadership”. John L Smith was a Corporal United States Army Paratrooper. He is a Vietnam Veteran, Combat Wounded, Purple Heart Recipient, Air Medal Flights in Combat Zones. His background is in law enforcement and criminal justice. Thomas P. Walsh, Ed. D. studied Oceanography and Meteorology at the SUNY Maritime College, graduating in 1975. He was commissioned an ensign in the US Naval Reserve and sailed as a merchant marine officer. He retired in 1986 as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve.

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INSTRUMENTALISTS AND MEDIA

Collaborative Accompanist Matthew Oden Organist David Enlow The Englewood Chamber Players Gabriel Schaff, Artistic Director

Violin Gabriel Schaff Cello Peter Prosser Flute Lisa Arkis Oboe Rita Mitsel Horn Sara Cyrus Percussion Simon Boyar Harp Merynda Adams

Special thanks to Gene Gitelson for video research and selection.

Ember is a proud member of the NY and NJ Choral Consortia.

Ember is committed to accommodating audience members with accessibility issues whenever possible. If you require special assistance, please let an usher or box office individual know, and every effort will be made to assist you.

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Please silence all cell phones, pagers, watch alarms, and other electronic devices.

- Performance with a purpose - Please DO feel free to real-time Tweet, photograph, and share your live performance experience!

Thriving through the Years Wisdom from the Foxhole

I

Be It Therefore Resolved Joan Szymko Text by Kim Stafford

The Listening Cheryl B. Engelhardt Anna Willson, Mezzo

John Maderazo, Baritone

Live the Questions Jake Runestad Text from Rainer Rilke’s letter to Franz Kappus

II Requiem For The Living Dan Forrest

1. Introit – Kyrie 2. Vanitas Vanitatum 3. Agnus Dei 4. Sanctus 5. Lux Aeterna

III

We Cheryl B. Engelhardt

Requiem For The Living Bob Carlisle Mark Aro, Tenor

Let the Life I’ve Lived Speak for Me Gwyneth Walker

Mark Aro, Tenor Maria Alu, Soprano Anna Willson, Mezzo

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Be It Therefore Resolved Whereas the world is a house on fire; Whereas the nations are filled with

shouting; Whereas hope seems small, sometimes

a single bird on a wire left by migration behind.

Whereas kindness is seldom in the news and peace an abstraction while war is real;

Whereas my words are all I have; Whereas my life is short; Whereas I am afraid; Whereas I am free – despite all

fire and anger and fear; Be it therefore resolved a song shall

be my calling – a song not yet made shall be my vocation and peaceful words the work of my remaining days.

The Listening Violence! Silence! Silence! Violence! Time! Time has come for us to move on. We must move on. There is a new spirit rising. I turn my back when I hold my tongue. I cannot be silent. I cannot stand by and leave these words

unsung. I cannot be silent. Trust and praise is reason to make better

choices. But it’s our duty to speak for the voiceless. We must hear their broken cries. It starts with the listening. This is the re-creation of the listening … Interruption, oppression, suppression,

exploitation, violence, control, hypocrisy …

Somehow, this madness must stop. To be on the right side of the revolution

means it’s time we shift our view of peace so we can alter our evolution.

War is not the way. Can we be tranquil and somewhat tame,

rational while we stay sane? Solve the problem with a solution thereof, That being unconditional love? Love.

Not as a weak condition. But as the key for the ignition of peace. The time is now. There is a new spirit rising. We must act in the face of risk. We must choose to transform,

and we need to be brisk. I cannot be silent. I will not be silent. It is time to close the gap,

and stop the distancing, stop inhibiting, stop what we are witnessing.

It’s time to break the silence with the listening.

Live the Questions Have patience with all that is unresolved in

your heart and try to love the questions like locked rooms or books written in a foreign tongue.

Do not search for the answers, now for they cannot be given to you; you would not be able to live them.

The point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday in the future,

without noticing it, you will live your way into the answer.

Do not search for the answers now. Requiem For The Living

1. Introit - Kyrie Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux

perpetua luceat eis. Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro

veniet. Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.

Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Hear my prayer, for unto Thee all flesh shall come.

Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy; Lord have mercy.

2. Vanitas Vanitatum Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas! Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Lacrimosa, et locutus est, pereat dies in qua

natus sum.

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Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest. Full of tears, he said, Let the day perish

wherein I was born. 3. Agnus Dei Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,

miserere nobis, dona eis requiem. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona

nobis pacem, miserere nobis, dona eis requiem.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; grant them rest.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace; have mercy on us; grant them rest.

4. Sanctus Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis!

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest! 5. Lux Aeterna Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine: Cum sanctis tuis in aeternum: quia pius es. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.

May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord, in the company of Thy saints forever: for Thou art merciful. Let perpetual light shine on them.

Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Dona nobis pacem.

Rest eternal grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

Grant us peace.

We We. We. We. We weave in and out of the anchors that

tie others down. We. We. We swim free in the ocean. Free. But let me take a breath. The surface lies beneath us.

It lies beneath us. But still we lie to save ourselves,

so save me. For I am the other half of we. We. Let the Life I’ve lived Speak for Me Let the life I’ve lived speak for me. When I come to the end of the road,

and I lay down my heavy load, Let the life I’ve lived speak for me.

Let the friends I’ve made speak for me. When I come to the end of the road,

and I lay down my heavy load, Let the friends I’ve made speak for me.

Lay down your burden, and rest with the setting sun.

All the beauty of your life will shine when your day is done.

Let the love I’ve shared speak for me. Let the love that I’ve tried to share, and the

burdens I’ve struggled to bear, all this life of joy and care speak for me.

Let the life I’ve lived speak for me.

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We thank the following for their generous commitments to our 2017-2018 Season

Diamond Sponsors ($25,000+) Marjorie Bunnell Charitable Trust The Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation

Platinum Sponsors ($15,000+) Alexander Wentworth

Seraphim ($7,500+) New Jersey State Council on the Arts Richard Seeger Roger & Mary Lou West

Ember Angels ($5,000+) Deborah Simpkin King ExxonMobil Gordon King

Cherubim ($2,500+) AIG Matching Grants Program Tully Cheng Prudential Financial Caroline L. Sargent

Guardian Angels ($1,000+) Mark A. Aro Susan Baer & Warren Usdin Columbia University— Alice M. Ditson Fund for Music Andrew Jones Alyson B. Navarro

Angels ($500+) Charles & Erica Appel William & Christiana Carpenter Nicholas Cerrato Chris & Pamela Kyle Greene Laura Greenwald & David Strom Richard McAdams Morgan Stanley Alison & Chris Self

Sponsors ($250+) Maria A. Basile Frank Borroto Suzanne Block Glatt Pete Klosterman Sherry & Robert Kosinski Kevin & Sally Malanga Frances & Anthony Marsh Joyce Nestle Scott & Angel Pollack Amanda Regan Peggy Simpkin John L. Smith Ilya Speranza & Andy Squire Jose & Rowena Traverso Svetlana Tzenova & Bojidar Tzenov Barbara G. Weiland

Patrons ($100+) Anonymous Ismael Aponte The Bartol Charitable Foundation Michele Butchko Wladimir & Anne Giszpenc Give With Liberty Dorie Jefferson Sara & Vincent Livolsi Leslie M. Penny Elizabeth Rake Blane Shaw Michael Shapiro Donald & Karen Siegel James Splond Joseph Martin-Stowe André Weker Peggy Yates Amy Miles Ziebarth

Donors (up to $100) Costco Warehouse Corporation Maureen deBlasio Amy Elise deJong Jeff Flaster Frank & Karen Hunter Mary Lawler Tom Myers Bill Parker Nella Phillips Carol Quatrone Betsy Sargent & Garry Watson Kim Seltzer Elaine Terrell

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Thank You to the following for their generous Gala and Giving Tree contributions to our 2018 Musical Gala

Mari Alu Erica & Chuck Appel Mark A. Aro Susan Baer & Warren Usdin Frank Borroto Michele Butchko William Carpenter George Cermak Drude & Glen Crane Gene Gitelson Suzanne Block Glatt Donna Graham Christopher Greene Laura Greenwald

C.J. Harden Dorothy F. Jefferson

Dmitri Joseph Gordon King

John Maderazo Kevin & Sally Malanga

Frances Marsh Karen Massey Sarah Murcek

Alyson Navarro Joyce Nestle

Leslie M. Penny Scott & Angel Pollack

Amanda Regan Caroline L. Sargent

Richard Seeger Alison & Chris Self

Karen Lea Siegel John L. Smith

Svetlana Tzenova Elaine Walsh

Barbara G. Weiland Alexander Wentworth

Margaret Yates Amy Miles Ziebarth Larry Zimmerman

Thanks also to: Matthew Oden for providing his musical talents, the staff at the Highlawn Pavilion,

Alyson Brown Navarro, 2018 Gala chair, and Gala consultants Caroline L. Sargent and Alison Self

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Board of Directors Susan Baer, Chair

Richard Seeger, Treasurer Amanda Regan, Secretary

Tully Cheng, Gordon King, Alyson Brown Navarro, Alexander Wentworth, Mark Aro

Artistic and Executive Staff Deborah Simpkin King, PhD, Artistic Director and Founder

Kathleen Engles, Public Relations Consultant Wayne Eastwood, Webmaster

Matthew Oden, Collaborative Accompanist Anna Willson, PROJECT : ENCORE™ Director of Operations

Christopher Greene, Grant Writer

Support Staff Amanda Regan, Publications Manager

Wayne Eastwood, New Music Initiative Consultant Lynn Ho, Box Office Coordinator

Caroline L. Sargent, Development Advisor Susan Baer, Singer-Membership Coordinator

Alyson Brown Navarro, Branding and Marketing Consultant

Follow our Social Media Channels:

“Like” us on Facebook: facebook.com/EmberEnsemble Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/EmberEnsemble

Follow our SoundCloud Music channel: SoundCloud.com/ember-ensemble

Sign up to receive news at EmberEnsemble.org

Or write to us at: Schola Cantorum at Hudson

P. O. Box 3914 Jersey City, NJ 07303-3914

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Schola Choral Arts and YOU?

Core Value: Honoring the unique value and calling of every individual enriches life for all.

Core Belief: Music has a unique power to affect the human heart and soul, inviting each of us to become fully aware, mindful individuals.

Core Mission: Schola Cantorum on Hudson is committed to excellence in all facets of its artistry and human interaction through…

Innovative programming and performance designed to touch lives (performances by Ember)

Leadership through promotion and performance of new choral music (PROJECT : ENCORE)

Vibrant creative engagement with young artists (collaborative performances with Cantorum Young Singers, and Phoenix Singers)

Is the notion of contributing to the nurture of these life values compelling to you? Does your own life calling potentially intersect with ours?

Each of Schola’s three branches of activity—Performance; Education/Engagement; New Music Advocacy—thrives on visionary leadership and, of course, funding. If you have an interest in any or all of these areas, we’d like to talk with you about what your involvement could look like, as a possible leader and/or funder for our mission. Our commitment is to support your meaningful interaction at joyful competence.

Ember annually weaves a full season of concert activity around issues we believe warrant expansive visibility and thought, seeking to open hearts and minds to additional exploration. Each year, as a new social focus is selected for the season, Ember establishes a task force of individuals interested in working with us to broaden the impact of our full-season mission within the community. This season’s theme:

Coming of Age Celebrating, honoring, acknowledging (sometimes bemoaning) the ageing process, in our citizenry that is heavily weighted to individuals over the “retirement age” of 65.

Interested in involvement?

Know an organization to which we should reach out? info@EmberEnsemble.org

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to express our deepest appreciation for the hospitality of our rehearsal venue: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Jersey City, NJ

Rev. Jessica Lambert, Pastor, and Chris Greene, Music Director

Special thanks to our gracious performing homes: St. John’s in the Village Episcopal Church, West Village, NYC

The Rev. Graeme Napier, Rector, and Gordon King, Organist and Choirmaster and

St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Montclair, NJ Fr. A. Benny Prado, Pastor, and Preston Dibble, Music Director.

Special thanks to Marissa Valenti for logistics support at Mt. Carmel Church.

The work of Ember and its parent organization, Schola Cantorum on Hudson, is made possible in part by generous grants from The New Jersey Cultural Trust,

The Marjorie Bunnell Charitable Fund and

by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts

and with special thanks, the Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation.

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ST JOHN’S IN THE VILLAGE 218 W. 11TH STREET, NYC

St John’s in the Village is a place where music, both sacred and secular, is almost part of the architecture, whether presented liturgically or in concert or recital. St John’s professional choir sings regularly from September to June (11am on Sundays) and the children’s chorister program runs in school term time. Concert series are presented seasonally: featuring musicians local to Manhattan and from farther afield.

Sunday 11 November is the exact 100th anniversary of the Armistice, the end of the First World War. At 11am (the time the Armistice was enacted), the Choir of St John’s presents the Requiem of Gabriel Fauré in its full liturgical expressing commemorating by name those West Village men who lost their lives in WWI. Following the Requiem, the launch of Kenneth Davis’s new book More Deadly than War, covering both WWI and the ‘Spanish flu’, will be launched, with pre-lunch drinks, in the parish hall. Copies will be available for sale, and the author will present and sign copies.

See the website for all concerts and other musical events in the arts series (stjvny.org). Contact us (admin@stjvny.org) to receive the weekly e-bulletin listing up-coming events.

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Our Season Continues . . .

Celebrating the second half of life through the experiences of an America abounding with people of retirement age.

December 9, 2018: An Ember December

Ember’s annual holiday concert focuses on musical favorites that will warm the heart. Ember singers present such selections as “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” “In Dulci Jubilo,” and “I Wonder as I Wander,” and invite audience members to join in singing familiar carols the whole family will know. Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s historic organ will be featured in the carol sing. Bring the whole family, and plan to enjoy holiday goodies in the undercroft following the concert.

March 2-3, 2019: Carpe Diem! Ember is thrilled to collaborate with NYC’s Encore Creativity for Older Adults Chorale in the second concert in Ember’s Coming of Age season. Ember and Encore singers celebrate the many opportunities open to those whose work life is at last easing its demands.

May 18-19, 2019: A Second Simplicity A return to simplicity – and the possibility of sharing its joyful wisdom – is the subject of our final concert.