NEC Concert Choir + Joseph Nizich & Jennie Segal: Great Music for a Great (Virtual) Space
The NEC Concert Choir offers a program of choral works from the 17th century to the present which give voice to a wide range of emotions common to all human beings: joy, anger, nostalgia, delight, longing, and hope. This concert was created using a combination of in-person ensemble recording and remote submission.
From Erica J. Washburn:
Choral singing, whether in unison or in parts, is the oldest form of ensemble music making. It has lived for thousands of years despite human oppression and catastrophe.
The pandemic has required us to try our hand at replicating the traditionally intimate experience of choral singing while standing 16 feet apart, masked, and in some cases, separated by thousands of miles. What this pandemic could not change is the passion for choral artistry, and it most certainly was not going to prevent NEC choristers from dedicating themselves to finding a way, despite the challenges, to share their art.
Every human has a voice, whether the use of that instrument flows from their vocal cords or their hands. Every human must be seen and should be heard.
WATCH CONCERT STREAM:
- NEC Concert Choir
- Joseph Nizich '21 MM
- Jennie Segal '21 MM
- Da-Yu Liu, keyboards
- Sarah Tindall and Sameer Apte, cello
- Astghik Martirosyan, guest artist
Isabella Leonarda | Ave Regina caelorum
Ave, Regina caelorum
Ave, Regina caelorum
Ave, Domina Angelorum:
Salve, radix, salve, porta
Ex qua mundo lux est orta:
Gaude, Virgo gloriosa,
Super omnes speciosa,
Vale, o valde decora,
Et pro nobis Christum exora.Hail, O Queen of Heaven
Hail, O Queen of Heaven.
Hail, O Lady of Angels:
Hail! thou root, hail! thou gate
From whom unto the world a light has arisen:
Rejoice, O glorious Virgin,
Lovely beyond all others,
Farewell, most beautiful maiden,
And pray for us to Christ.Artists- Lina Chung and Runyu Feng, soloists
- Da-Yu Liu, harpsichord
- Sarah Tindall, cello
- Jennie Segal '21 MM, conductor
- Sopranos and Altos, NEC Concert Choir
Pärt Uusberg | Mis on inimene?
Mis on inimene?
Mis on inimene?
Kas ingli vari?
Või igatsushüüd hingeühtsuse poole?
Igaüks meist on pill,
läbi mille võrratuid vise vilistab Jumala tuul:
Hoia, küll siis hoitakse sind.
Doris KarevaWhat is human?
What is human?
The shadow of an angel?
Or a cry of yearning towards a union of souls?
Each of us a pipe
For God’s wind to whistle:
Take care, then you are cared for.Artists- Jennie Segal '21 MM, conductor
- Tenors and Basses, NEC Concert Choir
Johannes Brahms (arr. James McCullough) | O wüsst' ich doch den Weg zurück, op. 63
O wüsst’ ich doch den Weg zurück
O wüsst’ ich doch den Weg zurück,
Den lieben Weg zum Kinderland!
O warum sucht’ ich nach dem Glück
Und liess der Mutter Hand?
O wie mich sehnet auszuruh’n,
Von keinem Streben aufgeweckt,
Die müden Augen zuzutun,
Von Liebe sanft bedeckt!
Und nichts zu forschen, nichts zu späh’n,
Und nur zu träumen leicht und lind;
Der Zeiten Wandel nicht zu seh’n,
Zum zweiten Mal ein Kind!
O zeigt mir doch den Weg zurück,
Den lieben Weg zum Kinderland!
Vergebens such’ ich nach dem Glück,
Ringsum ist öder Strand!
Klaus Groth (1819–1899)O that I knew the way back home
O that I knew the way back home,
To joyful days in Childhood-land!
O tell me why I had to roam,
And leave my Mother’s hand?
O how I long to be at rest,
Yet strive for nothing to annoy,
Then close my tired eyes, and be blessed
With love and dreams of joy!
And to leave riches far behind,
And dream, instead, how to be free:
Then turn back time, and try to find
The child I lost in me!
O show me, now, the road to take,
That brings me back to Childhood’s door!
In vain that joy I could awake,
Then find an empty shore!
Translation by James McCulloughArtists- Da-Yu Liu, piano
- Joseph Nizich '21 MM, conductor
- Sopranos and Altos, NEC Concert Choir
Spiritual (arr. Stacey V. Gibbs) | Steal Away
Steal Away
I ain’t got long to stay here, no, I ain’t got long to stay here,
When my work down here is done an’ my race down here is run,
Then I’ll steal away home.
Steal away, steal away. steal away to Jesus,
Steal away, steal away home. I ain’t got long to stay here.
My Lord, He calls me, yes, my Lord, He calls me,
He calls me by the thunder. The trumpet sounds within-a my soul.
I ain’t got long to stay here.
Oh, steal away…
Traditional SpiritualArtists- Jack Keller, soloist
- Joseph Nizich '21 MM, conductor
- Tenors and Basses, NEC Concert Choir
Florence B. Price | The Moon Bridge
The Moon Bridge
The moon like a big, round ball of flame
Rose out of the silver bay,
And built a bridge of golden beams,
Where the fairies came to play.
I saw them dancing in jewel’d robes
On the wavelet’s rhythmic flow,
And I long’d to stand on the magic bridge,
In the moonlight’s mystic glow.
But over the sky a veil of mist
Thin, soft as a web of lace,
Was drawn, then parted, then came again,
With easy coquettish grace;
And the moon put on a somber mask,
And frowned on the rippling wave,
And the beautiful bridge went under the sea
Nor a beam could the fairies save!
I wondered if this would end their play,
And if, as the bridge went down,
They would lose their jewels so frail and fair,
And their queen her diamond crown!
But they glided away in merry mood,
To their home in the rosetree’s bow’rs,
And there they danced on the dewy grass,
Till the “wee sma’” morning hours.
Mary Rolofson GambleArtists- Da-Yu Liu, piano
- Jennie Segal '21 MM, conductor
- Sopranos and Altos, NEC Concert Choir
Larry Nickel | Long Black Arm
Long Black Arm
Be slowly lifted up, thou long black arm,
Great Gun towering…about to curse
…Reach at the Arrogance which needs thy harm
Beat it down before the sins grow worse.
Be slowly lifted up …toward Heaven
Great gun towering…long black arm
And when thy spell be cast complete and whole.
May God curse thee. and cut thee from our soul!
Wilfred Owen, from Sonnet on Seeing a Piece of our Heavy Artillery Brought into ActionArtists- Da-Yu Liu, piano
- Jennie Segal '21 MM, conductor
- Tenors and Basses, NEC Concert Choir
Caroline Shaw | From Rivers (2017)
From Rivers
To the sky from rivers.
We are beginning will be again.
We are beginning round and round.
We are beginning will be again.
We come together around you.
You are beginning will be again
We come together around you.
My feet in the river, my face to the sky.
Caroline ShawArtists- Astghik Martirosyan, soloist
- Sameer Apte, cello
- Joseph Nizich '21 MM, conductor
- Sopranos and Altos, NEC Concert Choir
NEC Concert Choir
Yüksel Çınar Atilla
Marina Beeson
Jádon Brooks
Lila Brucia
Kaitlin Burton
Pin Chieh Jewel Chen
Justin Chen
Lily Chien
Sophia Daisy Chesler
Haram Choi
Lina Chung
Su Cong
Despina-Nektaria Dassouras
Sophia Grace Donelan
Colleen Ernandes
Runyu Feng
Marissa Fieland
Molly Flynn
Jonathon Fornoff
Rae Frenette
Shengying Gu
Eric Guan
Yuntong Han
David Helder
Jack Keller
Minji Kim
Sunghyun Kim
Wanjoong Kim
Feiyi Liao
Jia-Nan Liu
Mingyang Ma
Sally Millar
Ji Young Mok
Tristan Murphy
Sarah Nalty
Joseph Nizich
Jimin Park
Ruoxi Peng
Emma Schoetz
Jennie Segal
Wenhao Shou
Cobi Tadros
Alexander Tsereteli
Joseph Vasconi
TanNi Wang
Hongjian Yan
Beyoncé Zambrano
Haiqi Zhang