The Lawrence University Concert Choir has performed with such diverse ensembles as Musica Sacra, Dave Brubeck and his quartet, and the National Choir of Israel. They have appeared at the North Central Divisional Convention of the ACDA (1992, 2006), the National Kodaly Music Educators Convention (1995, 1998), first choir ever to perform at the Regional Bandmasters Association Convention (1996) and many state convention appearances as well. They are proud to have made their first appearance at the National ACDA convention in 2009 under the direction of Richard Bjella. The choir is dedicated to performing both traditional and contemporary secular and sacred choral literature to the highest standards.
They have sung with such noted conductors as the late Richard Westenburg, the late Margaret Hillis, Paul Salamunovich, Sir David Willcocks and Don Moses, Jerry Rubino, Charles Bruffy, and in 2009 with Simon Carrington. They have appeared on state, regional and national ACDA conventions in recent years as well as the National Kodaly Music Educators Convention in New Orleans this year. Major works performed recently include the Britten War Requiem, Penerecki Credo, Shostakovich Execution of Stephan Razin, Argento Peter Quince at the Clavier , Brahms Requiem, Bach B Minor Mass, Verdi Requiem (on CD), Mahler Resurrection Symphony, Beethoven Ninth Symphony, the Bach St. John Passion and Magnificat, Stravinsky’s Les Noces and Songs of Children by Robert Convery (on CD).
The choirs membership represents many areas of musical study in the conservatory as well as the liberal arts disciplines. Their newest CD VOICES… was released to the following reviews: “…the best I’ve heard Past Life Melodies ” writes Dennis Shrock, former editor of the ACDA Choral Journal, “Excellent CD – guts, sensitivity, tonal variety, interesting repertoire” writes Craig Arnold of Manhattan Concert Productions, “I just need to tell you how perfectly fabulous it is” wrote Richard Westenburg of Musica Sacra, and Bob Youngquist NC ACDA former President writes “Prayer of the Children made me run to the computer to thank you.” It featured many contemporary American composers including Samuel Barber, Norman Dinnerstein, Eric Whiteacre and Moses Hogan with a wide array of poets from the classical and folk traditions. In addition, the music of Australian composer Sarah Hopkins, Finnish Composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, Czech composer Zdenek Lukas, Mongolian composer Se Enkhbayar, English composer Gustav Holst and others are also featured. VOICES 2…will be released in 2009.
View and listen to a video clip of the choir’s performance of Veljo Tormis’ Raua needmine and György Ligeti’s Reggel at the annual convention of the North Central Division of the American Choral Directors Association. The choir had the honor of being one of a select few that were invited to perform at Omaha’s Holland Performing Arts Center in conjunction with the March 2006 conference.
Recent RepertoireArgento Peter Quince at the Clavier
CPE Bach Magnificat
JS Bach b minor mass, Magnificat, St. John Passion
Brahms Requiem
Britten War Requiem, A boy was born
Bruckner Mass in e minor
Duruflé Requiem
Handel Messiah, Foundling Anthem
Haydn Creation
Kodaly Missa Brevis
Lindberg Jazz Requiem
Mahler Resurrection Symphony
Monteverdi Magnificat (from the Vespers)
Mozart Great Mass in c minor, Requiem
Orff Carmina Burana
Penerecki Credo
Poulenc Mass in G, Gloria
Respighi Laud to the Nativity
Rossini Stabat Mater
Stravinsky Les Noces, Symphony of Psalms
Vaughan Williams Mass in G, Dona Nobis
Verdi Four Sacred Songs, Requiem
Smaller significant works:H. Leslie Adams Love Song
Gregoria Allegri Miserere
anonymous (13th c.) Fas et nefas ambulant
anonymous (13th c.) Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf JS Bach
anonymous (13th c.) Lobet den Herrn
anonymous (13th c.) Wie schön leuchet der Morgentern
Henk Badings Trois Chansons Bretonnes
Samuel Barber Agnus Dei (choral arr. Adagio for strings), Anthony O Daly, Mary Hynes, Under the Willow Tree
Bela Bartok Four Slovak Songs
Leonard Bernstein Chichester Psalms, Choruses from the Lark, Make our Garden grow
Kurt Bestor arr. Andrea S. Klouse Prayer of the children
Vanraj Bhatia Varsha (Monsoon)
Franz Biebl Ave Maria
Hildegard von Bingen O frondens virgo, Vis Aeternitatis
Phillippe Bodin Motetus
Lili Boulanger Hymn au Soleil
Guillaume Bouzignac Noé, Noé! Pastores, cantate Domino
Johannes Brahms Nenia, Neues liebeslider, O schöne Nacht, Rhapsodie, Waldesnacht, du Wunderkühle, Wenn ein starker Gewappneter, Zigeunerlieder, Warum
Benjamin Britten Rejoice in the lamb, Wedding Anthem
Anton Bruckner Ecce sacerdos
chant Puer natus
Stephen Chatman There is sweet music here
Johannes Ciconia Venecie, Mundi Spendor Michael
Robert Convery Songs of Children
Aaron Copland In the beginning, Promise of Living, Stomp your foot, Las Agachandas
Luigi Dallapiccola Canti di prigionia (first movement)
Claude Debussy Nocturnes, Trois Chanson
Emile Desamours Alelouya (Pak Avisyen)
Nathaniel Dett O Holy Lord
Norman Dinerstein When David Heard
Maurice Duruflé Quatre Motets
Se Enkhbayar Naiman Sharag
John Corigliano Fern Hill
Giovanni Gabrieli In ecclesiis
Guido López-Gavilán El Guayaboso
Allen Gimbel Hine ma tov
Alberto Ginastera Lamentations of Jeremiah
Alberto Grau Duérmete apegado a mí, Kasar mie la gaji
arr. Jester Hairston Amen, Sometimes I feel like a motherless child
Andreas Hammerschmidt Alleluja, freuet euch ihr Christen alle
Joseph Haydn Alles hat seine Zeit
arr. Moses Hogan Elijah Rock, Hold on! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord
Sarah Hopkins Past Life Melodies
Gustav Holst I love my love
Clement Janequin Le Chant Des Oiseaux: Reveillez vous
Trond Kverno Ave maris stella
Morten Lauridsen O magnum mysterium
Jean Lhéritier Nigra Sum
Gyorgy Ligeti Ejszaka / Night, Reggel / Morning
Alonso Lobo Versa est in luctum
Zdenek Lukás Magna est vis veritatis
Guillaume Machaut Douce dame
Jaakko Mantyjarvi Pseudo-Yoik
Frank Martin Sanctus (from the Mass)
Giovanni Baptisma Martini Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina
David Maslanka A Litany for Courage and the Seasons
Miguel Matamoros arr. Electo silva Juramento
Felix Mendelssohn Heilig, Psalm 100
Andres Ohrwall Fabodpsalm fran dalarna, Brudmarsch fran jamtland
Palestrina Sicut Cervus, Tu es petrus
Arvo Pärt Magnificat
Donald Patriquin J¹entends le moulin
John Paynter The Rose
Daniel Pinkham Christmas Cantata, Easter Cantana
Peteris Plakidis Teiksma
Einojuhani Rautavaara Suite de Lorca Op. 72
Maurice Ravel Trois beaux oiseaux de paradis
Andrew Rindfleisch Careless Carols
Gioacchino Rossini I gondolieri
arr. Steven Sametz Kas tie tadi, La Villanella
F. Murray Schafer Fire
Samuel Scheidt In dulci jubilo
Franz Schubert Sehnsucht, An die Sonne, Jagerchor
Robert Schumann Talismane, Jagerlied
Heinrich Schütz Ach Herr, du Schöpfer aller Ding, Die mit Tränen säen, Meine Seele erhebt den Herren
Karen Seals Don’t be weary traveler
Charles V. Stanford The Blue Bird, Beatum Quorum via
Halsey Stevens Magnificat
Sweelinck Psalm 96, 90, Gaudete Omnes
Georgy Sviridov Eho (the Echo), Zorju bjut
Thomas Tallis Spem in Alium
John Taverner Svyati, Song for Athene, Agnus Die I (from Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas)
Frank Ticheli There will be rest
Veljo Tormis Raua Needmine, Rontuska
Heitor Villa-Lobos Ave Maria
Ralph Vaughan Williams Lord, Thou hast been our refuge, Serenade to Music, The Lark Ascending (arr. for choir, cello and violin solo by Steven Bjella)
setting by Gwyneth Walker Motherless Child
William Walton Set me as a seal
Eric Whitacre Cloudburst, Water Night, A boy and a girl, Sleep
Healey Willan An Apostrophe to the Heavenly Hosts
Conductor
- Stephen Sieck
Assistant Professor of Music
Stephen Sieck joins the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music as Co-Director of Choirs where he directs the Concert Choir and Viking Chorale. Prior to Lawrence, he served as Director of Choral and Vocal Studies at Emory & Henry College in Virginia, where he directed the Concert Choir, Men’s Ensemble, and Festival Choir, and taught private voice, lyric diction, advanced music theory and aural skills, and conducting and choral methods.
Stephen completed his Doctor of Musical Arts and Master’s of Music degrees in Choral Conducting and Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in music theory and musicology. At Illinois he was a recipient of the Schlanger Opera Fellowship, the Best Male Performance in Opera award, the Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, and the Outstanding Graduate Student in Choral Conducting. Prior to graduate school, Stephen served as the Director of Music at the Brentwood School, a 7th-12th grade college preparatory school in Los Angeles.
As a choral singer, Stephen has performed with ensembles such as the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Roger Wagner Chorale, and the Renaissance group Ensemble Choragós. As a tenor, Stephen performed the principal tenor roles in productions of The Mikado, The Fairy Queen, Don Giovanni, and Candide, and has sung in master-class with Dawn Upshaw.
As a scholar, Stephen has published on Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland, and Frank Martin in journals such as Tempo, The Choral Scholar, and The Choral Journal and presented research at conferences in England and Switzerland. An active clinician, Stephen has presented in ACDA and MENC conferences on working with tenors and on teaching diction to choirs.
Contact by e-mail: stephen.m.sieck@lawrence.edu
- Phillip Swan
Associate Professor of Music
Phillip A. Swan is the Co-Director of Choral Studies at Lawrence University and Musical Director for LU Musicals. Swan directs Cantala (LU Women’s Choir) and the LU Hybrid Ensemble (jazz, early, contemporary, and world music), teaches courses in conducting, musical theater, music education, supervises student teachers and coaches student organized a cappella groups. He is also active in the Appleton community, serving as choir director at Appleton Alliance Church and conductor for the community choir, the White Heron Chorale. Swan received his BA in music education from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, MM in Choral Conducting from UT El Paso, and has completed all coursework for the DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Miami (Florida). His doctoral essay is focused on the choral works of Eric Whitacre.
Swan served as a church music and youth director, performed in El Paso Pro Musica, and taught elementary general music in El Paso, Texas, before moving to Watertown, South Dakota in 1989, where he taught high school vocal music for ten years and was an active clinician and adjudicator. His duties at Watertown High School included: Fine Arts Department Chair, Bel Canto Singers (non-auditioned freshman chorus), Concert Choir (non-auditioned grade 10-12 chorus), Meistersingers (auditioned grade 11-12 chorus, who performed twice at the South Dakota Teacher Inservice), private voice lessons, two auditioned show choirs and director for the spring musicals (Hello Dolly, 1940's Radio Hour, The Wizard of Oz, Singin' In The Rain, and Into The Woods). Swan was also actively involved in the Watertown community as musical director of an auditioned community choir (Kampeska Chorale), Town Players (musical theater productions of Fiddler On The Roof and Camelot), and for nine years served as music director for Ninth Avenue United Methodist Church, directing both the sanctuary choir and praise team. Mr. Swan was also very involved in the South Dakota chapter of the American Choral Directors Association with involvements as the Vocal Jazz Repertory and Standards Chair, South Dakota ACDA Newsletter Editor, Co-chair for the 1999 SD Summer Conference, Registration Co-chair for the 1994 ACDA North Central Division Convention, tenor section leader for the 1993 and 1995 SD Honors Choir and Interim Senior High School Repertory and Standards Chairman. While pursuing his D.M.A. degree in Choral Conducting at the University of Miami, Swan served as senior Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Choral Studies Program, was director of the University Women's Chorale, sang in numerous ensembles (including the prestigious Jazz Vocal 1 and University Chorale) and served as Assistant Director of Music Ministries at Coral Gables Congregational Church.
In May 2008, Swan was honored to be selected by the LU student body as the recipient of the Mrs. H. K. Babcock Award. (The award is given to an individual from the Lawrence community, who through involvement and interaction with students has made a positive impact on the campus community.) Other awards include the South Dakota ACDA Encore Award (outstanding young choral director), Outstanding Young Men of America, Who?s Who Among American Teachers, the 1997 Northwestern University Summer Fellows Program, Alpha Epsilon Lambda (graduate honor society) and Pi Kappa Lambda (collegiate national music honor society). In March 2001, Swan was selected as one of four national finalists for the graduate choral conducting competition at the ACDA National Convention in San Antonio. Swan is an active clinician and recently returned from conducting the seventh annual Festival of Choirs (a regional choir festival involving approximately 200 high school students and teachers) in Muscat, Oman. Swan is a member of the American Choral Directors Association (serving as the Wisconsin Women?s Choirs R & S Chair), the College Music Society, and the Music Educators National Conference.
Contact by e-mail: phillip.a.swan@lawrence.edu
