2015SpringProgramd

2015 SPRING CONCERT SERIES
the vast
www.MagicCityChoralSociety.org www.Facebook.com/MagicCityChoralSociety

2 | www.magiccitychoralsociety.org www.magiccitychoralsociety.org | 3
WELCOME
MAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETY
STATEMENT OF MISSION
Creating an inclusive community
of singers and supporters
united around the
performance of choral music
that entertains, educates, and inspires.
&
Committed to advancing the art of choral music by
performing great works of the past, commissioning
and performing new literature, and sharing the joy
and power of choral music with new and existing
audiences and singers.
MAGICCITYCHORALSOCIETYABOUT MAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETY
IN THE BEGINNING
The Magic City Choral Society
(MCCS) is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit
community-based organization
that was founded in October 2006.
The founders recognized a need in
the Birmingham metropolitan area
for an inclusive
community-
based choral
organization that
could provide
high quality choral/music education
and performance opportunities to
any male or female over 18 without
audition. In addition, the founders
desired that this organization
would combine artistic excellence
and social/community impact.
Therefore, access to excellent
choral music and community
service became the focus for MCCS
to achieve its mission. The MCCS
began to fulfill its mission by
employing part-time, highly-degreed
musicians/educators, establishing
non-auditioned men’s and women’s
choruses, providing scholarships,
offering music and vocal education
to members, providing free
concerts, seeking out collaborations
and partnerships,
engaging in
community
service, and
performing at
community and civic events.
CURRENT PROGRAM
Every year more than 100 people
participate without audition in the
Magic City Choral Society’s (MCCS)
men’s and women’s choruses and
the MCCS Chorale. The MCCS
makes up to $5,000 of scholarships
available to people in need who
desire to sing with the MCCS. The
choruses present three to four
Maintaining one of the nation’s
finest non-auditioned men’s and
women’s choruses
A donation has been made in Brad LaMonte’s
honor due to his fearless and long-term social
justice activism and relentless work to ensure full
inclusion of all people.

MAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETY
ABOUT MAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETY
free concerts each year and each
concert is performed at least twice
and often more. Each
concert series costs
MCCS an average of
$15,000 to produce
and represents a total of 12-
16 hours of live concerts. Our
concerts are choral masterworks of
the highest caliber that entertain,
educate, and inspire more than
2000 concert attendees from
across the region. MCCS features
Birmingham’s
greatest cultural
distinctions at each
performance: our
singers in some of
Birmingham’s finest
concert venues. Each performance
represents more than 60 hours of
music and vocal education, which
members receive during weekly
rehearsals August through May.
While the quality of performance
is immediately observable,
participants
possessing more
singing experience
and those with
degrees in music liken the kind of
education received through MCCS
as equivalent to that offered in
their collegiate studies. MCCS is
also committed to good citizenship
and the community. We pay forward
the good will and generosity we
receive by singing
an additional 10-11
outreach concerts
for other nonprofits,
community groups,
and organizations
throughout the year. In the past
six years, dedicated volunteers
have managed the administrative
needs of MCCS, however, because
of our steady growth, MCCS has
Highlighting Birmingham’s
cultural distinction
Providing educational
outreach to members and the
community
“Band of Angels” performance on 10/13/2013 - The Magic City Choral Society and the choirs of UAB, Ramsay
High School , and Alabama A&M University
MAGICCITYCHORALSOCIETYMAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETY
grown beyond the ability of only
our volunteers to manage the
organization without professional
assistance. During 2013-2014 fiscal
year, MCCS has hired a part-time
general manager
and development
coordinator
to meet these
needs and usher MCCS into the
next phase of its service to the
community. MCCS is a catalyst for
many good and profound things for
its members and for community.
Since 2007, the Magic
City Choral Society has
performed concerts in
the following venues:
Gadsden’s Wallace Hall,
the Southside Baptist Church, the
Alys Stephens Center, Samford’s
Wright Center, the BJCC Concert
Hall, Bluff Park United Methodist
Presenting free and live concerts
of choral masterworks
Music by the
community, for the
community
Church, Grace Episcopal Church,
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church,
the Pell City Center for Performing
Arts, the Montgomery Convention
and Visitors Bureau and River
Walk, the Alabama Shakespeare
Festival, and Covenant UMC in
Dothan Alabama. The MCCS has
also collaborated with the following
entities: Red Mountain Chamber
Orchestra, Magic City AIDS Walk,
the Nature Conservancy’s Earth
Day Celebration, PFLAG regional
conference, First Light Women’s
and Children’s Shelter, the Apollo
Bal, Integrity Alabama, Alabama
American Choral Directors
Association, the Seasoned
Performers,
Birmingham
AIDS Outreach,
Episcopal
Place, Pepper Place, Sloss Real
Estate, Central Alabama Pride,
AIDS Alabama, Southside Baptist
Food Bank, West Alabama AIDS
Outreach, the 1917 Clinic, Whatley
Middle School, Ramsay
High School Choir,
UAB Choir, Macy’s
Galleria, SAKS 5th
Avenue at the Summit,
and most recently,
the grand opening of the UAB
Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Applause: When the conductor drops his/her hands, it usually indicates the
end of a piece: applaud then. If the conductor’s hand(s) remain still/frozen
at the end of a piece of music, wait until he/she drops them.
Electronic Devices: Cell phones, watch alarms, pagers, cameras, and
other electronic devices should be turned off prior to performances in the
concert hall. These devices could cause a disturbance and are a distraction
to musicians and other patrons.
Dress: There is no set dress for concerts. Some patrons like to dress more
formally and wear suits and dresses, while others opt for the comfort of
jeans and t-shirts. Wear what makes you comfortable and best represents
yourself.
Talking: Even the quietest whispers can be heard in the concert hall and
can prove to be a distraction to patrons and musicians alike. Save your
comments until intermission or after the concert; it will give you and your
friends much more to discuss.
MAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETYCONCERT ETIQUETTE TIPS
B e c o m e P a r t o f t h e M a g i c
DONATE
Help MCCS Offset Concert Expenses And
Continue Offering Free Concerts
Make A Tax-Deductible Donation to MCCS
MAGICCITYCHORALSOCIETYPROGRAM
Men’s Chorus
Bonse Aba Andrew Fischer
Rhett Ryder, baritone
Women’s Chorus
Arise My Love Joan Szymko
Combined Choirs (The Master Chorale)
And This Shall Be For Music Mary Lynn Lightfoot
The Chorale
Five Mystical Songs Ralph Vaughan Williams
No. 1
No. 5
Clay McCollum, baritone
Homeward Bound Marta Keen/Mack Wilberg
Combined Choirs (The Master Chorale)
Across The Vast Eternal Sky Charles Silvestri/Ola Gjeilo
Famine Song Vida/Matthew Culloton
John Woods, Shun Reddock, Ami Goodnough, Julie Borden,
Kelly Duvall, and Julie Guier, soloists
Dona Nobis Pacem Ralph Vaughan Williams
No. 6, Nation Shall Not Lift Up A Sword Against Nation
Laura Graves, soloist
The Wind Beneath My Wings Tom Fettke & Thomas Grassi
Acrossthe vast
Eternal Sky

MAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETYLYRICS
Bonse Aba, Andrew Fischer
Bonse aba mu pokelela balipele maka akuba bana.
Kuba bana bakwa lesa. Muyayaya bakwa lesa.
Kubana eh!
Translation: All that sing have the right to be called the children of God.
Arise, My Love, Joan Szymko
Arise, my love, arise, my fair one, come away.
The winter is passed, the rains are all over and gone;
And the flowers appear on the earth,
And the time of our singing has come,
And a band of many colors is riding the sky.
Arise, my love.
Our winter is passed, the rains are all over and gone.
And we’ll gather at the river, that beautiful river;
And there’s just one river of Love,
Yes there’s just one river of Love.
Arise, arise, arise.
And This Shall Be for Music, Mary Lynn Lightfoot
I will make you brooches and toys for your delight of birdsong at morning and starshine at night.
And I will make a palace that’s fit for you and me, of green days in the forest and blue days at sea.
And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
Such a fine song for singing, the rare song to hear!
That only I remember, that only you admire, of the broad road that stretches and the roadside fire.
And this shall be for music, and this shall be for song. Brooches and toys for your delight,
Birdsong at morning and starshine at night. And this shall be for music when no one else is near,
Such a fine song for singing, the rare song to hear! That only I remember, that only you admire,
And this shall be for music!
Five Mystical Songs No.1 - Easter, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Rise, heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delays,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him may’st rise: That, as his death calcined thee to dust,
His life may make thee gold, and much more, just.
Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part With all thy art.
The cross taught all wood to resound his name, Who bore the same.
His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key Is best to celebrate this most high day.
Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song Pleasant and long:
Or since all music is but three parts vied,
And multiplied; O let thy blessed Spirit bear a part,
And make up our defects with his sweet art.
MAGICCITYCHORALSOCIETYLYRICS
Five Mystical Songs, No. 5, Antiphon, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Let all the world in every corner sing, My God and King.
The heavens are not too high, His praise may thither fly:
The earth is not too low,
His praises there may grow.
The Church with Psalms must shout, No door can keep them out:
But above all, the heart
Must bear the longest part.
Homeward Bound, Marta Keen/Mack Wilberg
In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red,
When the summer’s ceased its gleaming, when the corn is past its prime,
When adventure’s lost its meaning, I’ll be homeward bound in time.
Bind me not to the pasture; chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.
If you find it’s me you’re missing, if you’re hoping I’ll return,
to your thoughts I’ll soon be list’ning, in the road I’ll stop and turn.
Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end,
and the path I’ll be retracing when I’m homeward bound again.
Bind me not to the pasture; chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.
Across The Vast Eternal Sky, Ola Gjeilo
Sunlight shines on my face;
This is my grace, to be restored, born again, in flame!
When I was young, I flew in the velvet night;
Shining by day, a firebird bathed in light!
Grey now my feathers, which once were red and gold;
My destiny to soar up to the…
Sunlight shines on my face;
This is my grace, to be restored, born again, in flame!
Do not despair that I am gone away;
I will appear again when the sunset paints flames across the vast eternal sky.
Famine Song, Matthew Culloton
Ease my spirit, ease my soul, please free my hands from this barren soil.
Ease my mother, ease my child, earth and sky be reconciled.
Rain, rain, rain. Rain, rain, rain.
Weave, my mother, weave, my child, weave your baskets of rushes wild.
Out of heat, under sun, comes the hunger to ev’ry one.
Famine’s teeth, famine’s claw on the sands of Africa.

MAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETYLYRICS MAGICCITYCHORALSOCIETYMCCS ARTISTIC PERSONEL
Dona Nobis Pacem - the final movement, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
And none shall make them afraid, neither shall the sword go through their land.
Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Open to me the gates of righteousness, I will go into them.
Let all the nations be gathered together. And let the people be assembled;
and let them hear and say, it is the truth.
And it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues.
And they shall come and see my glory.
And I will set a sign among them, and they shall declare my glory among the nations.
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me,
So shall your seed and your name remain forever.
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.
Dona nobis pacem.
The Wind Beneath My Wings, Larry Henley & Jeff Silbar/Tom Fettke & Thomas Grassi
It must have been cold there in my shadow, to never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine. You always walked a step behind.
Now I was the one with all the glory, while you were the one with all the strength.
A beautiful face without a name, I never once heard you complain.
Did you ever know that you’re my hero, and ev’rything I’d like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle, ‘cause you are the wind beneath my wings.
It might have appeared to go unnoticed, but I’ve got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth, I would be nothing without you.
Did you ever know that you’re my hero, and ev’rything I’d like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle, ‘cause you are the wind beneath my wings.
I can fly.
ARTISTIC
DIRECTOR
Dr. Joseph Paul
Dease is a native
of Dothan, AL. He
earned a Bachelor
of Arts in Choral/
Vocal Music from
the University of
Montevallo (1995),
a Master of Music in Choral Conducting with
advanced studies in Vocal Pedagogy from East
Carolina University (1997), and a Ph.D. in
Choral Conducting/Choral Music Education
from the Florida State University College of
Music (2006). Currently, he is the Founding
Artistic Director and Conductor of the Magic
City Choral Society where he is the principal
conductor of the Men’ Chorus, Women’s
Chorus, and Chorale. His conducting and
teaching experiences include The University
of Alabma, The Red Mountain Chamber
Orchestra, members of the Alabama Symphony
Orchestra, the Red Mountain Theatre Summer
Youth Workshop, Opera Birmingham, The
Florida State University College of Music, the
Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra Chorus, East
Carolina University, and the Greenville Choral
Society and New Carolina Sinfonia. Dr. Dease
has studied under André Thomas, Judy Bowers,
Kevin Fenton, Cliff Madsen, Rhonda Fleming,
and Brad Logan. His early music mentors
include Gilda Wilkerson, Kathryn Foster, and
Judy and Gene Montgomery. Dr. Dease is an
active adjudicator and guest conductor, and is
a member of the American Choral Directors
Association, the National Association for Music
Education, the Voice Care Network, Chorus
America, and the Alabama Association of
Nonprofits.
PRINCIPAL
ACCOMPANIST
Ty Robert
Thornton began
his piano studies
at the age of 6. He
earned a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Piano
Pedagogy in 1978
and a Master of Arts
degree in Piano Performance in 1980, both
from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South
Carolina, where he studied with Mr. Warren
Mack. Mr. Thornton holds a Master of Music
in musicology from Florida State University
(1988), where he also completed the Certificate
in Early Music and pursued doctoral studies in
musicology. His post-graduate piano teachers
includeJuliaBenfer,Dr.JohnSalmon,andRobert
Sherwood. He studied piano and harpsichord
with Dr. Karyl Louwenaar, and organ with Dr.
Ronald Sider. He taught on the music faculties
of Pensacola Christian College, the University
of Alabama, and the Conservatory of Fine
and Performing Arts at Birmingham-Southern
College. He also worked as musical director
with Terrific New Theatre, Birmingham Festival
Theatre, the Drama department of Canterbury
United Methodist Church, and Dane Peterson’s
Theater, and served as accompanist for the
Opera and Musical Theatre Departments of
Birmingham-Southern College, the Pensacola
Opera, the Pensacola Choral Society, the
music department of the University of West
Florida, the Music and Drama Departments of
Pensacola Junior College, the Alabama Ballet,
and Opera Birmingham.
SUMMER SOIREE 2015
Sunday, July 12, 2015, 3-6 p.m.
Bridge Street Gallery & Loft
Join us for our annual summer fundraiser and special concert featuring
the MCCS combined choirs as the Master Chorale before they go to
the Alabama American Choral Directors’ Summer Conference as the
featured choir to represent YOU and the Magic City.

MAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETYMAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETY MAGICCITYCHORALSOCIETY
MCCS LEADERSHIP & MEMBERS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Trynna Brown
Board Chair
FedEx
Robert Noah
Vice-Chair
SteinMart
Brian White
Secretary
The Outsource Group
Jeremy Holley
Treasurer
Title Source, INC of Alabama
Dr. Joseph Paul Dease
Founding Artistic Director
Kelly Duvall
EBSCO
Pat Floyd,
Cathead Vodka
Laura Graves
Jefferson County Schools
Travis Harrell
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Lisa Venable
Event Coordinator
CHORUS LEADERSHIP
Lisa Abele Venable
WC President
Kat Martin
WC Vice-President
Shun Reddock
WC Secretary
Lynda Lollar-Goldstein
WC Treasurer
Terri Staples
WC Librarian
Travis Harrell
MC President
Jeremy Holley
MC Vice-President
Brian White
Librarian
WOMEN’S CHORUS
SOPRANO I
Julie Borden
Patty Cline
Kelly Duvall
Laura Graves
Julie Guier*
Susanna Hunter
Kat Martin
Judith Michaelson
Terri Staples
Lisa Abele Venable
SOPRANO II
Robyn E. Arnold
Marsha Borden
Anna Flemming*
Ami Goodnough
Karen Harris
Missy Hayes
ALTO I
Susan Bradley
Trynna Brown
Ashley H. Coutch
Amber Johnson
Alice Johnston
Michele Santiago
Rita Williamson*
ALTO II
Megan Cooper
Donna Davitte
Carol Martin
Thea Ostroy
Martha Jane Patton
Leshundra Reddock
Charlotte Rush*
*denotes section leader
MEN’S CHORUS
TENOR I
David Cantrell
Robert Noah
Paul Odem
George Rush
Paul Warnke*
Brian White
TENOR II
Travis Harrell
Jeremy Holley
Brad LaMonte
Micha Saunders
Brad Smith
BARITONE
Alan C. Davis
Bruce McClanahan
Clay A. McCollum
Rhett Ryder*
John Woods
Robby Wright
BASS II
Aaron Paul Brown
Tony Cox
Xavier Roberson
Zach Spitzer
In Memoriam
Stephen Elrod
Michael Clark
John Johnson
MCCS LEADERSHIP & MEMBERS

Thank You
The Magic City Choral Society is fortunate to have so many friends whose committment to the arts
over the past year enables us to present the quality and free concerts
MAGIC CITY CHORAL SOCIETY MAGICCITYCHORALSOCIETYMCCS SUPPORTERS MCCS SUPPORTERS
Benefactor
($2,500-$4,999)
Anonymous
Conductor’s Circle
($1,000-$2,499)
Title Source, Inc.
(Quicken Loans)
Katherine and Robert
Mason
David Gary
Cantata
($500-$999)
Rebecca Lancaster
Martha Jane Patton
Jim Barron
Meredith Smith
Charlotte Rush
Trynna Brown
Megan Cooper
Tony Cox and Joe Kojis
David Cantrell
Travis Harrell
Lisa and Charlie Venable
Robert and Missy Hayes
Anna Fleming
Octavo
($250-$499)
Illuminations
Sam Jackson
James B. Knight
George Rush
Donna Davitte
Kat Martin
Robyn E. Arnold
Gorman R. Jones and
Gerald LaSuer
Francis Greg Brinks
Edward and Ruth
LaMonte
Michael Fortson
Terri C. Staples
Paul Warnke
Jeff Solomon
John Woods
Laura Graves
Jennifer F. Kelley
Rita Williamson
Stan Kilgore
Patty Cline
Susanna Hunter
Chris Feagin
Julia Guier
Karen Harris
Marsha Borden
Rhett Ryder
Ashley H. Coutch
Sarah Hays
Lynn Hedl
Claude Bradley
Susan Bradley
Amanda Perry
Lynette Pope
Kelly Duvall
Tim Lybarger
Andrew Duxbury and
Tommy Thompson
Jeremy Holley
David C. Young
Linda Williams
Amber Johnson
Andrew Sims
Bruce McClanahan
Robert Noah
Brad LaMonte
Rosa Hooper
Matthew Parker
A Cappella
($100-$249)
Justin Dyar
Karen Salter
Thomas Waters
Joseph and Gloria Dease
Jonathan Barr
Ira and Anne Mitchell
Sam Akridge
Paul Billings and John
Hurley
King and Queen Apollo
XXXIX
Barbara Silor
H. Mack Jolly
Lynn Long
Melissa Godwin
B.J. Creel
Ami Goodnough
Greg Carroll
Diane Litsey
Kevin Weaver
Alice Johnston
Billy Jenkins
Micah Saunders
Deedra Atkisson and
Amy Atkisson
Robert Keller
Margie Miller
Bunky Wright
Eddie Merrell
Zachary Spitzer/
Coldwell Banker
Clint Marbut
John Stuckey
Leshundra Y. Reddock
Thea K. Ostroy
Hugh Comer
Candace N. Caine
Paul Odom
Clay McCollum
Carmen W. Preston
Michael Dunnavant
Anna Moman
Urban Home Market
Jeff Roberts &
Associates
Michele Santiago
Tommy Spina
Steven Sisco
Peter Sims
Ron Owen
Michael Finn
Becky Lawson
Julie Borden
Judith Michaelson
Jim Garner
Jacqueline Auer
Carol Martin
Brad Smith
Alan C. Davis
Joe Estrada
Robby Wright
David Lawshe
Phyllis Neill
Stephanie Perry
Friend
(Up to $99)
Urban Legendz
Ebonie Howard
Ralph Sokol
Brian White
Nancy Burleson
John Stanley Rich
Judith and Shawn Gittons
Ellen G. Johnston
Mary E. Jones
William Lockhart
Frank A. Romanowicz
Ralph Peck
Harriet B. Schaffer
Richard Tucker and Walter Logan
Jim Calhoun
Anna W. Trefethen
Cliff Thompson
Chelsea Meadow Girls
Kevin Dobbins
Debby and Bob Kristofco
Brian Geiger
Melanie Talbot
Jerry and Wendy Marcec
Austin Haley
Barbara Lawson
Betty Lawson
Tommy Burroughs
Don Peterson
Marion Hicklin
Maria Cabret
Dale Sanders
Kyle Henderson
Britton Ashmore
Brian Ponds
Michael D. Parker
Herman Jeff Richards
Richard Hicks
Damian Poche
Judy Bridgers
Judy Perry
Kenneth G. Hunt
Jason Walker
AT&T
James & Carla Hill
Ina R. Sims
Wes Owens
Derrick Griffey
Steven C. Parker
Nona Lockland
Amanda Meisner
Marilyn J. Majerik
S. Marion Hicklin
Brackie Zito
Henrietta Speaks
Steven Bearce
Wanda Cantrell
Karen E. Musgrove
Ashley Rhea
Matthew Geller
Ellis M. Files
Lisa Malone
David Perry
Elizabeth Brickell
Samuel Patton
Billie Sue Hulsey
TRIBUTES
In honor of Brad LaMonte
David Gary
Edward and Ruth LaMonte
In honor of Ms. Joy Thomas
Ralph Sokol
In honor of The Sims Boys
Debby and Bob Kristofco
In honor of Rita Williamson
Jerry and Wendy Marcec
In honor of Zach Spitzer
Sherry Staggs
In memory of
Louise Hall Gary
David Gary
In memory of Roy & Doris
Higginbotham
and Joseph Vetrano
Dianne Higginbotham-Vetrano
In memory of John Charles Fay, Jr.
Chelsea Meadow Girls
In memory of Lynn Daniel
Harriet B. Schaffer
Ira and Anne Mitchell
Marilyn J. Majerik
Nancy Burleson
In memory of Sandra Harris
Joseph and Gloria Dease
Thank You

16 | www.magiccitychoralsociety.org
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2015SpringProgramd

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2015SpringProgramd