An Evening of Lessons and Carols - "Winter Scenes": NEC Choruses, Back Bay Ringers, with organ, brass and percussion
NEC's choruses - Symphonic Choir, Chamber Singers, Youth Chorale and Children's Chorus - will join with an NEC brass and percussion ensemble, organist Thomas Handel, and the Back Bay Ringers to present a traditional Anglican Advent service including repertoire from many countries and participatory carol singing. A highlight of the evening will be the premiere of a commissioned work, Winter Scenes, by Anthony Maglione.
The concert is held in Boston's historic Church of the Covenant (67 Newbury Street), home of stained glass windows and a magnificent chandelier by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Erica J. Washburn, Laura Nevitt, and Calvin Isaac Wamser '24 MM conduct.
This is an in-person only concert.
- NEC Symphonic Choir
- NEC Chamber Singers
- NEC Youth Chorale
- NEC Children's Chorus
- Back Bay Ringers
- NEC Brass and Percussion
- Thomas Handel, organ
PRELUDE
Sergei Prokofiev (arr. Kevin McChesney)
Sleigh Ride (Troika) from Lt. Kijé Suite
Back Bay Ringers
Griff Gall, conductor
George Frideric Handel (arr. Henry Kihlken)
Give Thanks and Praise
NEC Children's Chorus
Thomas Handel, organ
Laura Nevitt, conductor
Thatcher Harrison
Broke a Nail Blues
Thatcher Harrison '23, guitar
Michael Praetorius
James Woodman
Johannes Brahms
Three Settings ofEs ist ein Ros' entsprungen
Thomas Handel, organ
Hugo Martin/Ralph Blaine
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Thatcher Harrison '23, guitar
Traditional (arr. Sandra Eithun)
The Holly and the Ivy
Back Bay Ringers
Griff Gall, conductor
Nicholas Myers
The Winter's Night
NEC Youth Chorale
Erica J. Washburn, conductorTraditional (arr. David Willcocks) | O come, all ye faithful
NEC Choruses
Audience
Brass and Percussion
Thomas Handel, organFirst Lesson
Genesis 3: 1-15 (read in English)
Reader: Maggie Storm (NEC ’24 MM)
God tells sinful Adam that he has lost the life of Paradise and that his seed will bruise the serpent’s heel.Reena Esmail | We Look for You (Evensong) from A Winter Breviary
NEC Chamber Singers
Erica J. Washburn, conductorProgram note
This set of three carols, on new texts by poet Rebecca Gayle Howell, traces a journey through the solstice, the longest night of the year. The texts follow the canonical hours of Evensong, Matins and Lauds, and the music maps onto Hindustani raags for those same hours (Raag Hamsadhwani, Malkauns, and Ahir Bhairav). This set is a meeting of cultures, and of the many ways we honor the darkness, and celebrate the return of light.
- Reena EsmailAnthony Maglione | Sleep, Sleep, Beauty Bright from Winter Scenes (2023)
World Premiere
Hannah Miller '25, soprano
NEC Symphonic Choir
Erica J. Washburn, conductorThird Lesson
Isaiah 9: 2, 6-7 (read in Tamil)
Reader: Anjulie Djearam (NEC ’27)
The peace that Christ will bring is foreshadowed.Anthony J. Maglione | Bells from Winter Scenes (2023)
World Premiere
NEC Symphonic Choir
Back Bay Ringers
Brass and Percussion
Erica J. Washburn, conductorFourth Lesson
Isaiah 11: 1-4, 6-10 (read in Spanish)
Reader: Nicholas Ottersberg Enriquez (NEC ’24)
Christ’s birth and kingdom are foretold by Isaiah.Anthony J. Maglione | A Winter Night from Winter Scenes
World Premiere
Molly Knight '25, soprano
Nancy Schoen '28 (Tufts/NEC), alto
NEC Symphonic Choir
Back Bay Ringers
Erica J. Washburn, conductorProgram note
Winter Scenes (2023) is a series of musical vignettes that capture the disparate emotions that many of us encounter when the year draws to a close. As the Holidays are a difficult time for many people, I tried to capture these experiences through a variety of poetry and textures. I hope to keep adding to these evocative, yet accessible settings year after year to create a collection from which people can pick and choose works based on specific concert needs.
“Sleep, Sleep, Beauty Bright” for a cappella choir is a setting of William Blake’s poem, “Cradle Song” which was part of his 1798 collection, Songs of Innocence. I chose this lullaby because it depicts the simplicity of childhood and the warm memories I have of youthful innocence. I imagine a parent singing to a child by firelight as the quiet of night falls all around. “A Winter Night” for handbells, hand chimes, and choir is a setting of Sara Teasdale’s poem by the same name. This work is meant to capture the beauty of solitude. The melancholy accompaniment by the hand chimes and handbells in conjunction with the long sustained lines of the choir are meant to evoke a sense of drifting into thought while looking out the window on a cold winter evening. “Bells” is a setting of the first stanza of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Bells” which depicts a joyful sleigh ride through the winter air. I love this stanza as it shows brilliance and joy from a writer most well known for his dark Gothic themes. So, I chose to set it to sound to depict a joyful sleigh ride through a busy street while people whisk around shopping for their holiday gifts.
- Anthony J. MaglioneTraditional (arr. David Willcocks) | The First Nowell
NEC Choruses
Audience
Brass and Percussion
Thomas Handel, organ
Erica J. Washburn, conductorFifth Lesson
Luke 1: 26-35, 37-38 (read in Igbo)
Reader: Valentine Umeh (NEC ’27)
The angel Gabriel salutes the Blessed Virgin Mary.Daniel Kantor | Night of Silence
NEC Children's Chorus
Thomas Handel, organ
Laura Nevitt, conductorCharles V. Stanford | The Blue Bird, op. 119 no. 3
soloists: Clara Van de Velde, Abigail Bilodeau, Ashley Chen
NEC Youth Chorale and NEC Children’s Chorus
Calvin Isaac Wamser ’24 MM, conductorSixth Lesson
Luke 2: 1, 3-7 (read in Cantonese)
Reader: Lena Wong (NEC ’25 MM)
St. Luke tells of the birth of Jesus.Traditional English (arr. Cathy Moklebust) | O Little Town of Bethlehem
Back Bay Ringers
Griff Gall, conductorTraditional (arr. David Willcocks) | Hark! The herald angels sing
NEC choruses
Audience
Brass and Percussion
Thomas Handel, organ
Erica J. Washburn, conductorSeventh Lesson
Luke 2: 8-16 (read in English)
Reader: Henri Youmans
The shepherds go to the manger.Reena Esmail | The Unexpected Early Hour (Lauds) from A Winter Breviary
NEC Chamber Singers
Erica J. Washburn, conductorJohann Sebastian Bach | Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645
Nan Ni '26 DMA, organ
Eighth Lesson
Matthew 2: 1-12 (read in French)
Reader: Coco Chapman ‘26
The Wise Men are led by the star to Jesus.Pavel Chesnokov | In Winter, op. 32 no. 2
NEC Chamber Singers
Erica J. Washburn, conductorNinth Lesson
John 1: 1–14 (read in English)
Reader: Maggie Storm, ’24 MM
St. John unfolds the great mystery of the Incarnation.Franz Gruber (arr. Dan Foster) | Silent Night
introduction
Thatcher Harrison '23, guitar
NEC Choruses
AudienceLowell Mason (arr. John Rutter) | Joy to the World!
NEC Choruses
Audience
Brass and Percussion
Thomas Handel, organ
Erica J. Washburn, conductorPostlude: Charles Widor | Toccata
Thomas Handel, organ
Performing Ensembles
Back Bay Ringers
Griff Gall, conductor and artistic directorSimon Dutton
Griff Gall
Marissa Gamache
Peter Grossmann
Sarah Hayes-Skelton
Ashley Hedberg
Jeff Johnson
Emlee C. Kohler
Stephanie LaShoto-Westfield
Emily Lindquist
Sally Meredith
Cade Murray
Anna Poplawski
Emily Schlosnagle
Susan Schultz
Erica Shaw
Casey Spring
Greg Urban
Adrianne Weir
Back Bay Ringers (BBR) is an advanced, auditioned community handbell ensemble based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 2003 as the nation’s first open and affirming handbell ensemble dedicated to friends and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, BBR has quickly developed a reputation for excellence with performances at the Shalin Liu Performance Center, Symphony Hall, the Boston Children’s Museum, and the Prudential Center, and has collaborated with renowned local arts organizations including The Handel and Haydn Society, The Boston Pops, Coro Allegro, and the Boston Children’s Chorus.
Under the leadership of artistic director Griff Gall, BBR has grown into one of the country’s most innovative handbell organizations. In its short history, BBR has founded the Boston Handbell Festival, an annual celebration bringing together the region’s best community and church handbell ensembles, with proceeds donated toward the purchase of handchimes for a selected Boston-area school. BBR has also commissioned multiple original works and arrangements, sponsored workshops with noted handbell composers, and performed throughout the Northeast. Perhaps one of the most unique collaborations for our ensemble was in 2014 when the ensemble was invited to perform part of the soundtrack for an episode of 48 Hours. In 2016, BBR was a featured performing ensemble at the Handbell Musicians of America National Seminar. BBR’s members and directors have become leaders in the national handbell community as clinicians, organizers, and administrators.
Back Bay Ringers’ commitment to community has led to the development of our Season of Giving Back concerts during the spring season, where BBR has supported partner organizations that serve the Greater Boston area in striving for social justice issues. Previous partners have included LGBT Asylum Task Force, Boston Living Center, and Stop Handgun Violence.
BBR has produced three recordings. BBR’s first recording, Merry and Bright: A Celebration of Carols with the Back Bay Ringers, was released in 2007, Perpetual Motion was released in the summer of 2010, and the ensemble’s latest recording, Comfort and Joy, was released in December 2013. The first two of these recordings are now available in a digital format wherever digital music is available.
NEC Preparatory School Children’s Chorus
Laura Nevitt, director
Lena Wong ’25 MM, student manager
Chris Lockman, rehearsal accompanist
Nina Dundas
Virginia Goldenheim
Julian Hirshfield
Savannah Kaminsky
Ivy Liao
Rachel Ma
Esthera Oglice
Jai Sathiraju
Judá Soto
Jessica Tang
Adam Zhang
Sam ZhouNEC Preparatory School Youth Chorale
Erica J. Washburn, director
Calvin Isaac Wamser ’24 MM, student manager
Da-Yu Liu, rehearsal accompanist
Abigail Bilodeau
Ashley Chen
Hannah Goodwin
Bailee Green
Esther Jin
Lindsay Kwon
Darya Leschiner
Madeline Lytton
Claire Park
Alla Petrosyan
Adam Pinto
Mia Snorek-Yates
Elin Thomas
Natalie Tulipani
Clara Van de Velde
Calvin Isaac Wamser
Lena Wong
Nicholas Ying
Henri Youmans
Honghao Howard Zheng
New England Conservatory Choruses (college)
Erica J. Washburn, Director of Choral Activities
Timothy Goliger, Bailee Green, Jackie Hu, Maggie Storm,
Calvin Isaac Wamser, Lena Wong, Henri Youmans,
and Honghao Howard Zheng - graduate conductors
Sally Millar, administrator
Lingbo Ma, Changjin Ha, and Da-Yu Liu, rehearsal accompanists
NEC Symphonic ChoirAislin Alancheril
* Andrés Almirall
Genie Alvarado
* Charleen Andujár Ortiz
* Ilan Balzac
Emelia Boydstun
Peter Butler
Gia Cellucci
Coco Chapman
Baian Chen
Chen Chen
Daniel Chen Wang
Xingyan Chen
Bryan Chiang
Su Cong
Yuxin Duan
Ivy Evers
* Felix Feist
Timothy Goliger
Bailee Green
Siyuan Guan
Jialin Han
Thatcher Harrison
Cameron Hayden
Jinyu He
Jackie Hu
Jane Ai Jian
Yoomin Kang
Dohyun Kim
Ian Yoo Kim
Molly Knight
Jinyoung Kweon
Julia LaGrand
Yu Lei
Lucci Zimeng Li
Matthew Li
Shawn Xiangyun Lian
Hao Wei Lin
Nine Lin
Angelina Pin-Hsin Lin
* Sally Millar
Hannah Miller
Yechan Min
Samuel Mincarelli
Yowon Nam
Yuhang Nan
Grace Navarro
Daniel Oslin
Daniela Pyne
Quinn Rosenberg
Nancy Schoen
Samuel Schwartz
Yide Shi
* Tamir Shimshoni
Yunsun Shin
Eunchae SongMaggie Storm
Minhyuk Suh
Haolun Alan Sun
Matthew Tirona
Valentine Umeh
Jason Vu
Calvin Isaac Wamser
Chenzhou Stephen Wang
Haowen Wang
Tianyou Wang
Yinuo Wang
Zhaoyuan Wang
McLain Weaver
Lena Wong
Shanshan Xie
Ian Yan
Chenran Yang
asmine Enje Yang
ShengQiao Ye
*Aimee Yermish
Yuki Yoshimi
Henri Youmans
Jessica Yuma
Honghao Howard Zheng
* Maggie Zheng
Jiarui Gary Zhou
*community member
NEC Chamber Singers
Pitiki Aliakai
Ashley Chen
Anjulie Djearam
Haijie Du
Timothy Goliger
Bailee Green
Jackie Hu
Siyu Leng
Corinne Luebke-Brown
Colin Miller
Yuanwei Ni
Nicholas Ottersberg Enriquez
Anna Poltronieri Tang
Rafe Schaberg
Rachel Solyn
Maggie Storm
Chloe Thum
Valentine Umeh
Calvin Isaac Wamser
Lena Wong
Yumeng Xing
Kerui Chris Yang
Henri Youmans
Honghao Howard Zheng
ConductorsConductor and mezzo-soprano Erica J. Washburn has been Director of Choral Activities at New England Conservatory since 2009. Known for her student-centric approach to classroom and rehearsal instruction, and commitment to the performance of new music, she is the recipient of several outstanding alumni awards, including the distinguished honor of induction to the Westminster Choir College Music Education Hall of Fame.
As a conductor, Washburn has worked with Kansas City, MO based Cardinalis, the Yale Schola Cantorum, the East Carolina University Women’s Chorale, and the Eastman Women’s Chorus. She is a sought-after guest clinician who frequently leads state and regional festival choruses, and spent five summers as a conductor and voicefaculty member for the New York State Summer School of the Arts School of ChoralStudies.
Under her direction the NEC choirs have been featured on several live and pre-recorded broadcasts, including the North Carolina based station WCPE Great Sacred Music, WICN Public Radio, and WGBH Boston. The choirs can also be heard in collaboration with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project on the BMOP/Sound recording Paul Moravec:The Blizzard Voices and, most recently, with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on their Deutsche Grammophon recording of Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 (released on October 20)
Washburn’s stage credits include appearances as Madame Lidoine in Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Rebecca Nurse in Robert Ward’s The Crucible, Mother/Allison in the premiere of Lee Hoiby’s This is the Rill Speaking and others. Her recital and orchestral solo credits are numerous, and her live premiere from Jordan Hall of the late Richard Toensing’s Night Songs and Evening Prayers with the New England Conservatory Symphonic Winds can be heard on Albany Records.Laura Nevitt is a conductor, composer, and educator based in Boston. She is Founder and Artistic Director of Lilith Vocal Ensemble, Children’s Chorus Director at NEC Prep, Associate Conductor at Voices Boston Children’s Choir, a Teaching Artist with Boston Lyric Opera and Handel & Haydn Society, and Music Director at First Parish UU in Needham, MA, where she is also Artistic Director of the newly formed “To The Fore” Concert Series, focused on bringing historically marginalized voices to the forefront.
As a composer, Laura is especially passionate about giving voice and space to gender marginalized musicians and poets through choral and vocal music. Their compositions have been performed by musicians across the country, including the Handel & Haydn Society Youth Choruses, Choral Arts Initiative, the Evelyn Duo, Voices Boston Children’s Choir, Boston Conservatory Choir, Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, Lilith Vocal Ensemble, BRACE New Music Choir, the UofSC Concert Choir, and the Choir of Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church in Cambridge.Griff Gall is the founding artistic director of the Back Bay Ringers, one of the premier handbell ensembles in New England. Under his direction, the ensemble has performed throughout the Greater Boston area and has developed a reputation for their musically sensitive performances. He has collaborated with many of the area's finest musical organizations including the Handel and Haydn Society, New England Conservatory Choral Department, the Boston Children's Chorus, and the Boston Pops.
Griff is an elementary music and movement specialist in the town of Danvers, Mass. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from Westminster Choir College, a Master of Music degree in Education from Boston University, and received his Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Education Leadership from Salem State University.
He is frequently invited as a guest clinician and conductor of workshops in handbell pedagogy, conducting, and Orff Schulwerk for local and national handbell and music education and handbell conferences, and is co-author of Ring, Dance, Play, first experiences with Choirchimes and Orff Schulwerk published by GIA. He is the recipient of the Donna Nagel Award for his contributions to the field of General Music from the Massachusetts Music Educators Association and the Spotlight Award from the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement.