ALL AUDIENCE MEMBERS MUST REMAIN MASKED AT ALL TIMES
Friday, April 1, 2022, 7:30pm, McCarthy Arts Center, Saint Michael’s College, Colchester VT 05439
Saturday, April 2, 2022, 7:30pm, First Congregational Church, 3624 Main Street, Manchester VT 05354
Sunday, April 3, 2022, 3:00pm, Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, Hanover NH 03755
Counterpoint, directed by Nathaniel G. Lew
Samantha Angstman & Alison Cerutti, pianos
Nicola Cannizzaro & D. Thomas Toner, percussion
This concert made possible through a grant from:
Singers
Sopranos: Colleen Flynn Campbell, Anne D’Olivo, Sudie Marcuse, Allison Steinmetz, Vickie Drew Wacek
Altos: Rebecca Bailey, Melissa Chesnut-Tangerman, Marjorie Drysdale, Maria Lamson, Linda Radtke
Tenors: Neil Cerutti, Brian Clancy, Skip Potter, Cameron Steinmetz
Basses: Zebulun McLellan, Karl Naden, Kevin Quigley, Matthew Skelly, Neil Wacek
Bios
Founded by legendary choral director and arranger Robert De Cormier in 2000, and based in Montpelier, Vermont, Counterpoint Vocal Ensemble is dedicated to performing choral chamber music and engaging with student musicians in Vermont and beyond. Praised for their “clarity, skill” and “sophisticated musical expressiveness,” the ensemble presents concerts throughout Vermont and the surrounding region and has toured the Midwest. Counterpoint has recorded seven CDs with Albany Records and has released five further CDs independently. Their repertory ranges all over the map, including folksongs from around the world, African-American spirituals, sacred music of many traditions, and concert works by classical composers of the past and our own age. Counterpoint Artistic Director Nathaniel G. Lew is also Professor of Fine Arts at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont, where he teaches music history, music theory and humanities, and directs the Honors Program.
Dr. Samantha Angstman is a pianist and teacher based in Williston, Vermont. As a performer, she is especially interested in 20th-century American piano music, particularly music by women composers. Sammy earned her Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in piano performance from Stony Brook University, where her principal teachers were Gilbert Kalish and Christina Dahl. During her time at Stony Brook, Sammy served the music department in a variety of roles including teaching undergraduate-level applied piano, keyboard skills, and musicianship courses and coordinating the graduate music department’s annual Piano Project. She was a recipient of the Staller Scholar Award and was fortunate to have had coachings with many of the faculty at Stony Brook, including members of the Emerson String Quartet. Prior to her graduate studies at Stony Brook, Sammy earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the New England Conservatory of Music. Sammy grew up in Williston and started taking piano lessons when she was seven. She has fond memories of her musical upbringing in Vermont and is very happy to have returned to the area. In addition to running a teaching studio based in Williston, Sammy works at the United Church of Hinesburg as the organist and pianist for Sunday services and is staff accompanist at St. Michael’s College.
Pianist Alison Bruce Cerutti has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout Vermont, in Canada with Elizabeth Reid; and as a collaborative pianist in the U.S. and France. For eight years, she studied with Louis Moyse and accompanied his flute master classes in Vermont and France, and after his death, performed with his former students in St. Amour, France. Cerutti has performed with her friend and colleague Elizabeth Reid since 2004, leading to ensembles such as the Cerutti-Reid Duo, Arioso, with contralto Linda Radtke; and the Northern Third Piano Quartet, with violinist Sofia Hirsch and cellist John Dunlop. Cerutti has also performed with Counterpoint, TURNmusic for the 2015 production of A Fleeting Animal, as an orchestra of one for Unadilla productions of Mikado, Gondoliers, and Pirates of Penzance, to name a few, as well as a collaborative pianist for Winooski Valley Festival, All State Music Festival Scholarship Winners, and a pianist for Music-COMP. She appeared as a soloist with the Norwich University Band Company in 2018 with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and with the Burlington Civic Symphony Orchestra in 2015 with the Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Vermont Philharmonic, and as part of a two piano duo with her brother Daniel Bruce. She has premiered works by Vermont composers Michael Close, Lydia Busler, Erik Nielsen, David Gunn, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz, and Canadian composer David Jaeger; and she can be heard in the soundtrack of Bess O’Brien’s documentary All of Me playing the music of Erik Nielsen. A Vermont native, she studied with Sylvia Parker, and earned degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and the Hartt School. She currently accompanies the Mad River Chorale and maintains an active piano studio in Northfield.
Nicola Cannizzaro is a professional percussionist living in Essex, VT. He spent the early part of his career freelancing in New York City where you could hear him in many ensembles from Broadway to Avery Fisher hall. A native Burlingtonian, Nic moved back to Vermont ten years ago with his wife and three daughters and has never looked back. Locally Nic performs with the Vermont Symphony and teaches private lessons and works with many schools band programs and the Vermont Youth Orchestra, bringing classical percussion to new young players.
Percussionist D. Thomas Toner is a Professor of Music at the University of Vermont where he teaches percussion and conducts the Concert Band, Vermont Wind Ensemble, and Percussion Ensemble. Dr. Toner is the Principal Percussionist of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, with whom he has performed a wide variety of music, including much of the standard orchestral repertoire, unusual 20th Century pieces (such as the solo snare drum part in Carl Nielsen’s clarinet concerto with soloist Richard Stoltzman), and “Pops” music with the likes of Peter, Paul, and Mary, and Tish Hinojosa. He has also appeared with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Massachusetts Chamber Players, the Bermuda Philharmonic, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and many other ensembles in the northeast. His eclectic career has included performances with the Clifford Ball Orchestra (for the rock band Phish), before Princess Grace and Princess Caroline of Monaco, at a world music festival in Bali, Indonesia, and with a native troupe in a torrential lightning storm in Ghana, West Africa. He has appeared as soloist with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra (including a “Made in Vermont” tour), been a featured artist on faculty recitals at the University of Massachusetts and Dartmouth, Williams, and Smith Colleges, and traveled to China three times, presenting recitals and masterclasses at the Inner Mongolian Arts College in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Dr. Toner appears on recordings with the Vermont Symphony, the Robert DeCormier Ensemble, on two solo recordings of Trey Anastasio and on numerous Counterpoint recordings. He was awarded both the Doctor of Musical Arts degree and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Music degree and Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst.
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Rehearsal space for Counterpoint provided by the Monteverdi Music School, 46 Barre Street, Montpelier.
Special thanks to Julie and Neil Freebern and the music students of Burr & Burton Academy, and to all our volunteers.
Program
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) — Missa Brevis (1955/1988)
*Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) — Three Sacred Pieces (1926-34, rev. 1949, 1964)
Cameron Steinmetz, solo countertenor
*Ave Maria – Kyrie – Gloria – *Credo – Sanctus – Benedictus – *Pater noster – Agnus Dei – Dona nobis pacem
Eric Ewazen (b. 1954) — The Bells (1982) (Poem by Edgar Allen Poe)
Silver Bells – Golden Bells – Brazen Bells – Iron Bells
Igor Stravinsky — Symphony of Psalms (1930)
Psalm 38: 13-14 (39: 12-13) – Psalm 39: 2-4 (40: 1-3) – Psalm 150
Texts
Bernstein — Missa Brevis
*Stravinsky — Three Sacred Pieces
*Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death. Amen.
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te, benedicimus te, adormaus te, glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis, Deus Pater ominpotens. Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris. Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you. We give you thanks for your great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten son of the Father, Jesus Christ. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. You who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. You who take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. You who sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone are holy, you alone are Lord, you alone are the Most High, O Jesus Christ, together with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
*Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum, non factum, consubstantialem Patri, per quem omnia facta sunt, qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de coelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine. Et homo factus est. Crucufixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas. Et ascendit in coelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria judicare vivos et mortuos, cujus regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre procedit, qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur, qui locutus est per prophetas. Et unam sanctam catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorem et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.
I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us people and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. He was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried. And he rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, and his Kingdom will have no end. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who together with the Father and the Son is adored and Glorified, who spoke through the prophets. And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins, and I await the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.
Blessed is the one that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
*Pater noster qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
Ewazen — The Bells (Poem by Edgar Allen Poe)
Hear the sledges with the bells —
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight ;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells —
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
Hear the mellow wedding bells
Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight!
From the molten-golden notes,
And all in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Oh, from out the sounding cells,
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
How it swells!
How it dwells
On the Future! how it tells
Of the rapture that impels
To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells —
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!
Hear the loud alarum bells —
Brazen bells!
What tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek,
Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Leaping higher, higher, higher,
With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor
Now — now to sit or never,
By the side of the pale-faced moon.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear, it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows ;
Yet, the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling,
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells —
Of the bells —
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells —
In the clamour and the clangour of the bells!
Hear the tolling of the bells —
Iron bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy meaning of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people — ah, the people —
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All alone,
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone —
They are neither man nor woman —
They are neither brute nor human —
They are Ghouls: —
And their king it is who tolls ;
And he rolls, rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A paean from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells ;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the paean of the bells —
Of the bells :
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells —
Of the bells, bells, bells —
To the sobbing of the bells ;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells —
Of the bells, bells, bells —
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells —
Bells, bells, bells —
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
Stravinsky — Symphony of Psalms
Exaudi orationem meam, Domine, et deprecationem meam. Auribus percipe lacrimas meas. Ne sileas, ne sileas. Quoniam advena ego sum apud te et peregrinus, sicut omnes patres mei. Remitte mihi, prius quam abeam et amplius non ero.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more. (38: 13-14; 39: 12-13)
Expectans expectavi Dominum, et intendit mihi. Et exaudivit preces meas; et exudit me da lacu miseriae, et de lato faecis. Et statuit super petram pedes meos: et direxis gressus meos. Et immisit in os meum canticum novrum, carmen Deo nostro. Videbunt multi, videbunt et timabunt: et aperabunt in Domino.
I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. (39: 2-4; 40: 1-3)
Alleluia. Laudate Dominum in sanctis Ejus. Laudate Erum firmamentis virtutis Ejus. Laudate Dominum. Laudate Eum in virtutibus Ejus. Laudate Eum secundum multitudinem magnitudinis Ejus. Laudate Eum in sono tubae. Laudate Eum. Alleluia. Laudate Dominum. Laudate Eum. Laudate Eum in timpano et choro. Laudate Eum in cordis et organo. Laudate Eum in cymbalis bene jubilantionibus. Laudate Eum, omnis spiritus laudate Dominum. Alleluia.
Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. (150)