15th Anniversary Concert
Something Inside so Strong
June 20, 21, and 22, 2003
Sundin Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota
After performing two dozen concerts from October to May, One Voice came home to Saint Paul for our 15th Anniversary concert June 20, 21, 22 at Sundin Hall, Hamline University. Something Inside So Strong featured a retrospective of musical highlights from the past 15 years including commissions by Gwyneth Walker, Jena Root and arrangements by former musical director, Paul Siskind. Old favorites included Mood Indigo, Wade in the Water, and the rhythmic Mongolian tongue-twister, Naiman Sharag.
In addition to the glorious choral harmonies of Brahms, Barber and Bernstein, the concert would not have been complete without One Voice's own brand of choral humor, two-stepping and tap-dancing, and thought-provoking stories from our history as one of the first GLBT community choruses.
Program Notes
Something Inside So Strong features repertoire from One Voice's history, both ancient and recent. The chorus first sang our concert opener, We are Everywhere, in 1993 with conductor Brian Middleton. We have needed to update the lyrics several times during the past decade since the number of states where queer folk are not "legal" has dropped from 24 to 14. At least we are moving in the right direction! Mood Indigo was first performed early in One Voice history (1989) at a concert, which also featured "South Key West" -- a hilarious gay-themed musical take-off of South Pacific, directed by Cindi Brickson.
Composer, Paul Siskind served as music director for One Voice from 1993-96 and offered the chorus his gift of composition in addition to serving as conductor. His arrangement of Bright Morning Stars is a chorus and audience favorite and in the early years was sung as a tribute to singers and friends lost to AIDS. Siskind also arranged the powerful anti-apartheid anthem, Something Inside So Strong, which closes the program and serves as the title and inspiration for this anniversary concert.
Ysaye Barnwell and Gwyneth Walker could be considered One Voice muses. The chorus has performed many of their powerful and compelling compositions through the years. Audiences may remember Breaths performed in the round at our Embracing the Elements concert in 1999. That same spring, One Voice commissioned Walker to compose Writings from the Wall, and she joined us for the premier performance.
One Voice has been fortunate to work with some amazingly talented artists in our 15 years. Tonight we feature Paul Kovakovic -- who has served as accompanist for One Voice for six years -- playing Rachmaninoff's Etude-Tableau. Jane Ramseyer Miller has worked with One Voice for more than half of its existence (8 years) and arranged Mother I Will Have A Husband from a traditional sixteenth-century madrigal by Vautor. Numerous choreographers have also contributed their gifts creating One Voice's own brand of choreography. This year Brian Sostek created the "moves" for Down at the Twist and Shout and Bones Be Good. Along with the choreography, props are an important fixture in One Voice concerts. Tag Sale Blues harkens back to the days of multiple props on stage, and honors the many garage sales that annually provide income for the chorus even today!
The fourth movement of the Brahms Requiem is one of the most beloved and frequently performed pieces of choral literature. Brahms referred to this requiem as a "human requiem" and the fourth movement is the centerpiece of the composition, which was intended to offer hope to the living.
Ramseyer Miller's interest in and commitment to global music has shaped the sound of One Voice's repertoire since she began as Artistic Director in 1995. The chorus regularly enjoys repertoire from a wide variety of cultures and languages -- which singers are expected to memorize! Naiman Sharag represents the wealth of choral music offered to us by community choruses around the world.
In programming concerts, One Voice also seeks out music by composers from under-represented communities -- GLBT composers, women, communities of color. In 1997, Hear Me Roar: A Celebration of Women Composers featured music of Ethel Smyth along with a set of three compositions by Minneapolis composer, Jena Root. March of the People is from this 1997 commission and highlights our ensemble, OVation. Conductor Lydia Hammesley, first introduced One Voice to Smyth's March of the Women in 1991.
Camilla Horne, who served as Interim-Music Director from 2002-3, is a local expert on gospel music and brought a wealth of folk and gospel music to One Voice. Wade in the Water is a traditional African American spiritual that was used as a "code song" to direct slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad.
Part of the One Voice mission is to provide opportunities for musical growth for singers. Ensembles provide an additional challenge for singers who want to explore their voices in a smaller setting. Our anniversary concert includes Up the Ladder to the Roof performed by OVation, and the Manhattan Transfer favorite, Operator. The chorus has a tradition of performing SA and TB selections and offers Toni Tennille's The Way I Want to Touch You as a special gender-bending tribute.
Our concert closes with music of two prominent gay composers, Samuel Barber (1910-81) and Leonard Bernstein (1918-90). Barber's Sure on this Shining Night is one of the most frequently performed compositions in the One Voice library. Beloved for his contributions to musical theatre, Bernstein's Make our Garden Grow" from Candide was the closing piece in One Voice's Faerie Home Companion II (2000). Somewhere from West Side Story is a song that long ago captured the hearts and emotions of the GLBT community in our search for belonging -- One Voice first sang it in our premier concert performance.
The majority of composers/arrangers in tonight's concert are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. GLBT artists have made profound contributions to the arts and we celebrate those contributions, and the historical role of GLBT choruses, with the music of Something Inside So Strong. Thank you for being a part of our history!
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