Garyth Nair, Music Director and Conductor
Jason Asbury, Assistant Conductor and Accompanist
Large Print Edition
Summit Chorale is Chorus in Residence at Drew University
Baldwin Gymnasium in the Simon Forum at Drew University; Madison, NJ
Saturday, May 1, 1999, 8:00 pm
Memorable Mozart
Susan Blum, soprano
M. Beth Lohner, alto
Andi Campbell, soprano
Richard L. McKee, bass
Alan GaNun, tenor
Ethan Nash, baritone
Elaine F. Gennaro, soprano
Ian Smith, tenor
Ellis Hilton, bass
Steven Wetter, tenor
Amy Hutchins, mezzo-soprano
Eleanor Winslow, alto
Tara Worth, soprano
Jason Asbury, organ
Garyth Nair, conductor
Chamber Symphony of New Jersey
SUMMIT CHORALE
PROGRAM
I
Dixit Dominus from Vesperae solennes de confessore, K.339
soli:
Ms. Gennaro, Ms. Winslow, Mr. Smith, Mr. McKee
Ave verum corpus, K.618
II
Divertimento for strings in F Major, K.125c
Chamber Symphony of New Jersey
III
Excerpts from the Opera Idomeneo rè di Creta, K.366
Overture
Chamber Symphony of New Jersey
“Godiam la pace” from Act I
Cretesi:
Trojani:
Ms. Worth, Ms. Lohner
Mr. Smith, Mr. Nash
“Placido è il mar” from Act II
Eletra
Ms. Blum
— INTERMISSION —
15 minutes
IV
Mass in C minor, K.417a the “Great”
Kyrie
solo: Ms. Campbell
Gloria
Laudamus te
solo: Ms. Campbell
Gratias
Domine Deus
soli: Ms. Campbell, Ms. Hutchins
Qui tollis
Quoniam
soli: Ms. Hutchins, Ms. Campbell, Mr. GaNun
Jesu Christe
Cum Sancto Spiritu
Credo
Et incarnatus est
solo: Ms. Campbell
Sanctus
Benedictus
soli: Ms. Campbell, Ms. Hutchins, Mr. Wetter, Mr. Hilton
Chamber Symphony of New Jersey
SUMMIT CHORALE appeals to parents to assist their children in developing
courteous audience behavior.
Please turn off all electronic noisemakers, including pagers, cellular phones,
wristwatch alarms and the like which may disturb other audience members during
the performance.
Please do not use recording equipment or cameras requiring flash during the
performance.
Please refrain from smoking anywhere in this building.
THE 1999 C.Y. HAAS AWARD
is presented to
Alan B. GaNun
In recognition of Outstanding Contributions to
SUMMIT CHORALE
Look for these upcoming SUMMIT CHORALE events!
June 17, 1999 – 7:30PM
Christ Church; Summit, NJ
Springfield and New England
Avenues
Diamond Hill Summer Chorus - Rehearsals Begin
The anticipated return of the summer’s “most
happening” choral group! Look for information in the
lobby and on our website –
http://www.summitchorale.org/dhsc
July 29, 1999 – 8:00PM
The Presbyterian Church of
Chatham Township; Chatham, NJ
Diamond Hill Summer Chorus - Concert
Be sure to mark your calendars for what promises to
be a fun time for everyone – audience and singers
alike.
December 4, 1999 – 8:00pm
Our Lady of Sorrows RC Church;
South Orange, NJ
SUMMIT CHORALE – Concert
Kicking off our 91st season and the 30th under our
esteemed maestro Nair, we present the first program
of what is expected to be SUMMIT CHORALE’s biggest
season ever.
December 5, 1999 – 4:00pm
Crescent Avenue Presbyterian
Church; Plainfield, NJ
May, 2000
SUMMIT CHORALE – Concert
The world premiere of a new work by NJ composer
John Kaefer will send waves through the area’s choral
music community for years to come.
TRANSLATIONS
Dixit Dominus
Dixit Dominus Domino meo: sede a dextris meis,
donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum.
Virgam virtutis tuae emittet Dominus ex Sion:
dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum.
Tecum principium in die virtutis tuae,
in splendoribus sanctorum:
ex utero ante luciferum genui te.
Juravit Dominus et non pœnitebit eum:
Tu es sacerdos in æternum secundum
ordinem Melchisedech.
Dominus a dextris tuis
confregit in die irae suae reges.
Judicabit in nationibus, implebit ruinas;
conquassabit capita in terra multorum.
De torrente in via bibet:
propterea exaltabit caput.
The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
The Lord will send the rod of thy power out of Zion:
rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
With thee is the principality in the day of thy power
in the beauties of holiness:
from the womb before the morning star I begot thee.
The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent:
Thou art a priest for ever according to
the order of Melchisedech.
The Lord at thy right hand
hath broken kings in the day of His wrath.
He shall judge among nations, He shall fill ruins:
He shall crush the heads in many lands.
He shall drink of the torrent in the way:
therefore shall he lift up the head.
Gloria Patri et Filio
et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper
et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Ave verum corpus
Ave, verum corpus, natum de Maria Virgine:
Vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine;
Cujus latus perforatum unda fluxit et sanguine.
Esto nobis prægustatum in mortis examine.
Hail, true Flesh, born of the Virgin Mary:
Who hath truly suffered, broken on the cross for man;
From Whose pierced side flowed water and blood.
Be for us a foretaste of the trial of death.
Godiam la pace
[Tutti]
Godiam la pace, trionfi Amore:
Ora ogni core giubilerà.
Refrain [All]:
Let us enjoy peace, let Love triumph;
now every heart will rejoice.
[Due Cretesi]
Grazie a chiestinse face di guerra:
Or sì la terra riposo avrà.
[Two Cretans]
Thanks to him who extinguished the torches of war,
now the land can have peace.
[Due Troiani]
A voi dobbiamo pietosi Numi!
Ea quei bei lumi la libertà.
[Two Trojans]
We owe our liberty to you,
merciful gods, and to those lovely eyes.
Placido è il mar
[Coro]
Placido è il mar, andiamo, tutto ci rassicura.
Felice avrem ventura, sù sù,
partiamo or’or.
[Chorus]
The sea is calm, let us go, everything is reassuring.
We shall have good fortune, come come,
let us leave at once.
[Eletra]
Soavi Zeffiri soli spirate,
del freddo borea l’ira calmate,
D’aura piacevole cortesi siate,
se da voi spargesi per tutto amor.
[Electra]
Blow, gentle breezes only,
calm the anger of the icy North Wind.
Be generous with your pleasing breath,
which spreads love everywhere.
MASS
Kyrie
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Kyrie
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Gloria
Gloria in excelsis Deo,
et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Gloria
Glory be to God on high,
and on earth peace to men of good will.
Laudamus te, benedicimus te,
adoramus te, glorificamus te.
We praise Thee; we bless Thee;
we adore Thee; we glorify Thee.
Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
We give Thee thanks for Thy great glory.
Domine Deus rex cœlestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine Fili Unigenite, Jesu Christe.
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
O Lord God, heavenly king, God the Father almighty.O
Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son.O Lord God,
Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
miserere nobis.
Qui tollis peccata mundi,
suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Qui sedes ad dexteram patris,
miserere nobis.
Who takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Who takest away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer.
Who sittest at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
Quoniam tu solus sanctus,
tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus,
For Thou alone art holy,
Thou alone art the Lord, Thou alone art most high,
Jesu Christe,
Jesus Christ,
cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris.
Amen.
with the Holy Spirit,in the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Credo
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem
cœli et terrae,
visibilium omnium et invisibilium
Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum,
Filium Dei unigenitum.
Et ex Patre natum ante omnia sæcula.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 cœlis.
Credo
I believe in one God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God.
And born of the Father before all ages of the world.
God of God, light of light,
true God of true God.
Begotten, not made, of one being with the Father:
by Whom all things were made.
Who for us men, and for our salvation,
came down from heaven.
Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto
ex Maria Virgine: et homo factus est.
And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit
of the Virgin Mary:and was made man.
Sanctus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt cœli et terra gloria tua.
Osanna in excelsis.
Sanctus
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.
The heavens and the earth are full of Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Osanna in excelsis.
Blessed is He Who cometh in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
by Mary W. Helms
Forget Amadeus! Peter Shaffer’s play and the
subsequent film, although provocative and
entertaining, perpetuated many of the myths
about Wolfgang Mozart. Those legends
began almost immediately after Mozart’s
death; only lately have writers stopped taking
them at face value.
Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus
Mozart was born on January 27, 1756. His
aptitude for music was soon recognized by
his father and teacher, Leopold Mozart,
composer, Assistant Kapellmeister of the
Archepiscopal court of Salzburg and author
of an influential treatise on violin playing. As
a child, young Wolfgang and his older sister
“Nannerl” were paraded through the courts of
Europe as child prodigies.
Unable, as an adolescent, to obtain a more
prestigious post, Mozart came home to
Salzburg and accepted a position as
Konzertmeister and Assistant Organist.
When the reform-minded Hieronymus
Colloredo became Prince-Archbishop, his
determination to shorten and simplify
religious services frustrated Mozart’s musical
ambitions. Eventually, after many
acrimonious disputes (the last of which
included a literal kick in the pants), Mozart
left his position in Salzburg and set up
residence in Vienna in 1781.
While Mozart’s marriage a year later to
Constanze Weber in no way advanced his
career, theirs was a genuinely happy union in
spite of the death in infancy of all but two of
their six children. Nor was she the poor
manager depicted by her detractors, as she
amply proved after her husband’s death.
Biographers have long remarked upon
Mozart's debts, but at times he was quite
successful financially. Trying to thrive as an
independent artist, rather than the servant of a
court, it was important for him to keep up
appearances. Although he spent freely when
he had money, recent research suggests that
not all of Mozart's financial troubles were of
his own making, but were at least partly the
result of difficult economic conditions.
Potential patrons did not always appreciate
Mozart. During a period when every occasion
demanded new music, many people wanted
pieces they could easily understand on first
hearing; much of Mozart’s music was
considered too original and complex. Other
musicians may have been envious of his
talent, however, it is a measure of his merit
that Haydn both liked and admired him.
Mozart could certainly be tactless, crude, and
satirical but he was also lively, sociable,
witty, well mannered, kind and generous. In
short, he was a complicated man.
On December 5, 1791, Mozart died of the
rheumatic fever from which he had
periodically suffered since childhood. The
immediate cause may have been
endocarditisa heart valve infection that can
be a complication of rheumatic
feverexacerbated by bloodletting and
emetics. He was 35 years old.
That Mozart was given a pauper’s burial is a
myth; he had the same “third class” services
that most Austrians received. His funeral
took place in St. Stephen’s Cathedral and was
attended by friends and colleagues. He
was buried with five or six others in an
unmarked grave outside the city as required
by Emperor Joseph II’s “enlightened”
reforms, which enforced simplicity and
substituted practicality and hygiene for
extravagance and sentiment.
Although Mozart was known during his
lifetime as a keyboard virtuoso and violinist
as well as a composer, he is celebrated today
as a musical genius because of the amount,
variety, and excellence of his compositions.
He wrote over 600 worksoperas, masses,
symphonies, concertos, sonatas, concert arias,
numerous songs, string quartets and other
chamber works. Not everything Mozart
composed is a masterpiece. But he excelled
in every genre of his time, and he was the
veritable inventor of the piano concerto.
I
Composed in 1780, the Vesperae solennes de
confessore (K. 339) was the last piece of
music Mozart wrote for the Salzburg church
during a period of productivity between his
fruitless search for a position in Paris and his
move to Vienna. The text gives no clue to the
identity of the “confessor.” These settings of
Vespers psalms are necessarily concise to
conform to Archbishop Colloredo’s
requirements, but display an abundance of
musical ideas and great diversity of timbre
and compositional technique. The brilliant
and festive opening psalm, Dixit Dominus, is
a four-part chorus with a short solo quartet.
Except for the Requiem, Ave verum corpus
(K. 618) for four voice-parts, organ and
strings, was Mozart’s last sacred work,
composed in June, 1791, while visiting his
pregnant wife who was taking the waters at
Baden. He wrote it at the request of Anton
Stoll, schoolmaster and choir director of the
parish church who had performed some of
Mozart’s earlier church music and had
befriended Constanze. It was probably
intended for the celebration of the Feast of
Corpus Christi on June 23. Blending voiceleading and modulation intensified with a hint
of polyphony, this gem of a motet is
fashioned with such seamless perfection as to
appear simple.
II
The Divertimento for strings (K. 125c)
belongs to a set of three composed early in
1772 as Mozart was preparing for his third
tour of Italy. The designation “divertimento”
is almost certainly not Mozart’s; these threemovement pieces are sometimes classed as
quartets and have also been called the
“Salzburg Symphonies.” Such categories
were fluid in Mozart’s day, and these works
have enjoyed popularity both as string
quartets and as works for string orchestra. In
the third, in F major, the sprightly charm and
grace of the first movement give way to the
intertwining melodies and delicious
suspensions of the second. The final
movement is both vigorous and playful.
III
In the summer of 1780, Mozart received a
commission from Elector Karl Theodor of
Bavaria for an opera seria to be presented
during the 1781 Carnival in Munich, which
boasted the finest orchestra in Europe. It was
just the kind of opportunity for which he had
longed and he received permission for
temporary absence from his Salzburg duties.
In traditional opera seria, all action takes
place offstage, plot is conveyed through
recitatives, while dramatic and florid arias
and solo ensembles comment on the situation
or portray emotion. In Idomeneo, rè di Creta
(K. 366), Mozart brilliantly transformed this
static stereotype by using the orchestra to
maintain momentum and by providing a
greater role for the chorus as part of the plot,
not merely as decoration. It has been called
“patently the greatest opera seria ever
written.”
Idomeneo, with libretto in Italian by Salzburg
Court Chaplain Gianbattista Varesco, is based
on a French opera of 1712 taken from a
tragédy lyrique by Antoine Danchet. Its
subject, chosen by the Elector, was the
legendary tale of King Idomeneus of Crete,
familiar to everyone in its Biblical version,
the story of Jephtha. Both vow rashly to
sacrifice the first person they meet after they
reach homeIdomeneus, returning from the
destruction of Troy, vows to Poseidon during
a storm, then encounters his son, Idamantes.
The plot twists and turns, involving Electra
and the captured Ilia, daughter of King Priam
of Troy. Finally Poseidon is appeased
without the sacrifice and all ends happily.
The opera’s first performance was on
January 29, 1781, to great acclaim. In all
likelihood its success gave Mozart the final
burst of confidence he needed to decide, a
few weeks later, to strike out for himself
in Vienna.
Mozart composed the Overture to Idomeneo
after the rest of the opera was complete so it
could prepare the audience for what was to
come; it remains the most closely linked to
the drama of any of Mozart’s operas.
In D major, it is scored for flutes, oboes,
clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, drums
and strings. Its last three D major chords
serve as a bridge into the first act.
In Godiam la pace, the first chorus of the
opera, the people of Troy and Crete welcome
Idamantes’ freeing of Trojan prisoners;
repeated verses are separated by solos of two
Cretan women and two Trojan men. In the
second act, the scene is set in the harbor of
Kydonia as Electra bids farewell to Greek
soldiers, Cretan townsfolk and sailors.
Framing a solo by Electra, the chorus sings a
lovely barcarollePlacido è il maran
idyllic evocation of a tranquil sea that soon
proves to be the calm before the storm.
IV
Once in Vienna to stay, and convinced that
his future lay in opera, Mozart had no further
reason to write for the church, so it is
surprising to find that one of his first largescale compositions was the Mass in C minor
(K. 417a). Shortly before his wedding on
August 4, 1782, Mozart “made a promise in
my heart of hearts” to celebrate his marriage
to Constanze (and his thanks for her recovery
from an unspecified illness) by writing a mass
to be performed when he took her to Salzburg
to meet his father, who had opposed the
match. The journey was postponed several
times, and Wolfgang wrote to Leopold on
January 4, 1783, “…the score of half of a
mass, which is still lying here waiting to be
finished, is the best proof that I really made
the promise.”
When the visit finally took place in August,
the Mass was still not finished. Nevertheless,
according to Nannerl Mozart’s diary, it was
performed on October 26 at the Benedictine
church of St. Peter, (which was outside
Colloredo’s control) with Constanze
as soprano soloist. Which solos she sang, the
diary did not record, but they probably
included the Christe eleisonMozart had
composed vocalises for her based on that
material. Completed were the Kyrie, the
Gloria, the first parts of the Credo, the
Sanctus, and the Benedictus. Missing were
the rest of the Credo, the Agnus Dei and
Dona nobis pacem. For this performance
Mozart must have included parts of earlier
masses. The C minor Mass was to remain
unfinished, although he later adapted its first
two sections for a commissioned work on the
theme of King David’s repentance.
The Mass in C minor represents a significant
departure from earlier sacred music Mozart
had composed for Salzburg. It is far grander
in concept, taking the form of a “cantata
Mass” in the Baroque tradition, in which the
standard divisions are broken into separate
sections. Had it been completed, it would
have been as long as Bach’s Mass in B minor
or Beethoven’s Missa solemnis; nevertheless,
musically it deserves its nickname, the
“Great.” More importantly, it represents
Mozart’s new learnings from Bach and
Handel.
In Vienna, Mozart had met Baron Gottfried
van Swieten, Director of the Imperial Court
Library. This patron and lover of music was
particularly interested in old styles and had
obtained many Bach and Handel scores. He
hosted weekly musicales in which Mozart
participated and, for Mozart, the encounter
with these unfamiliar compositions brought a
crisis in his creative life as he discovered how
vital and exciting the “learned” polyphonic
style could be.
The choral sections of the C minor Mass most
completely reflect Mozart’s integration of the
older idiom into his own work. The music for
soloists is quite different, however, composed
in the florid “galant” style of contemporary
Italian opera. Between these two extremes,
the old and new coexist in the ensemble
movements for duet, trio and quartet.
As the Mass begins, the orchestra sets the
mood with a pulsing repeated figure. After
the first choral Kyrie, a soprano solo presents
the serene Christe; then the chorus returns in
a new development of the Kyrie themes.
Gloria begins in a burst of radiant sound,
followed by the contrasting pastoral style of
Et in terra pax. In Laudamus Te, a soprano
soloist praises God with melismas,
syncopations, and trills. Gratias is a short but
majestic five-part chorus. In Domine Deus,
two soprano lines cross in dramatic leaps
requiring great vocal dexterity. Reminiscent
of the Crucifixus of Bach’s Mass in B Minor,
the weighty Qui tollis for double chorus, with
its jagged, chromatic orchestral descending
scale, forms the center and spiritual climax of
the work. Quoniam includes yet another
fugue, this time for a trio of soloists. After
the mighty invocation of Jesu Christe, Mozart
constructs a brilliant double fugue, Cum
Sancto Spiritu, from two contrasting
elementsa broad theme built on two
ascending intervals of a fourth, and a short
pattern of eighth notes followed by a half
note. The choral five-voice Credo is an
affirmation alternating homophonic phrases
with counterpoint. The exquisite
Et incarnatus gives the soprano an aria
accompanied by strings, flute, oboe, bassoon
and organ, in which voice and instruments
expressively imitate each other with elegant
agility. The eight-part Sanctus is followed by
another masterful double chorus fugue, the
Osanna, the last part of which is repeated
after the Benedictus quartet to bring the work
to a close in an outpouring of exultation.
MEMBERS OF SUMMIT CHORALE
SOPRANOS
Joyce Ariyan
Susan Blum
Andi Campbell
Maya Daniels
Linda Eriksen
Elynn Finston
Elaine F. Gennaro
Mary Helms
Meredith Hutcheson1
Kalina Jastrebowska
Betty Merrick
Josephine Mescallado
Jeanne Minahan
Janet Painter
Julia Schleck2
Cindy Shalhoub
Tara Worth
TENORS
Michael Baruffi
Alan GaNun
Jonathan Greene
Edward McKelvey
R. Allan Muller1
Jack Paddon
Gretchen Royce1
Ian Smith
Steven Wetter
John Winslow
BASSES
Eric A. Campbell
Richard B. Cole
Pinney H. Colton, Jr.
Robert J. Grubb
Edward B. Harris
Jon Hauge1
Howard D. Helms
Ellis Hilton
Scott L. Kisch1
John F. Little
Richard L. McKee
Bruce Meyer
Ethan Nash
Arthur Perkins
Marc Poirier1
Christopher Roemmele1
Heinz D. Roth
William D. Stroker
Charles Tucker
ALTOS
Mary-Lauri Bartola1
Renata Cichocka
Ruth Cresson
Kathleen Diffley
Maralyn Feige
Jennifer Koch
Linda Langstaff
Janet G. Lazar
M. Beth Lohner
Carolyn McGee
Carter Jones Meyer
Terry Perkins
Robin Taylor Roth
Margaret Sherman
Connie Tronio
Barbara Tucker
Eleanor Winslow
Helen Winters
1
2
Member on Leave of Absence
Summit Chorale Scholarship recipient
MEMBERS EMERITUS OF SUMMIT CHORALE
Janice Haer
Alfreda Hays
SUMMIT CHORALE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Charles Tucker, President
Robert J. Grubb, Treasurer
Eric A. Campbell
Elaine Gennaro
Scott L. Kisch
Janet G. Lazar
Susan Blum, Vice President
Christopher Roemmele, Secretary
Carolyn McGee
Richard L. McKee
Larry Schwenk
Eleanor Winslow
CHAMBER SYMPHONY OF NEW JERSEY
VIOLIN I
Byung-Kook Kwak
Alice Poulson
Barbara Long
Marilyn Gibson
Elizabeth Miller
Ragga Petersdottir
Marie Pintavalle
VIOLIN II
Victoria Stewart
Eleanor Schiller
Susan Heerema
Sharon Holmes
Elizabeth Nielsen
Karin Lube
VIOLA
Kenneth Burward-Hoy
Lucy Corwin
CELLO
Virginia Burward-Hoy
Karen Conrad
BASS
Vincent Carano
FLUTE
Karla Moe
OBOE
Richard Foley
B. J. Karpen
BASSOON
James Jeter
Wendy Large
FRENCH HORN
Sharon Moe
Janet Lantz
TRUMPET
Donald Batchelder
David Simpson
TROMBONE
Douglas Edelman
Jay Shanman
Joseph Stanko
TIMPANI
Thomas Mulvaney
ORCHESTRA CONTRACTOR
Vincent Carano
WHO’S WHO
Garyth Nair has served as Music Director and Conductor of Summit Chorale since 1970. He
began his musical studies at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ. There he was
appointed Assistant Conductor for the famed Westminster Choir, the first student in the
College’s history to be so honored. He later studied at Tanglewood with the late Sir Adrian
Boult, and completed an M.A. in Musicology at New York University.
Appointed to the music faculty at Drew University in 1990, Mr. Nair currently is an
Associate Professor of Music, conductor of the University Orchestra and Chorale, and he
supervises the voice faculty. Recently, he has been involved in extensive research in the
physio-anatomy of vocal production and has established the Laboratory for Applied
Spectrogram in the Study of Singing (LAS3) in the Music Department. In conjunction with this
work, his new book, Voice — Tradition and Technology: A State-of-the-Art Voice Studio, is
forthcoming from Singular Publishing Group.
Mr. Nair is the founding Music Director of the Chamber Symphony of New Jersey, and
has also served as Music Director of the Westminster Choir College Alumni Chorus and
Director of the Heritage Strings, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York. In the latter post, he
conducted Summit Chorale and the Heritage Strings in benefit concerts for the Fund for Peace
and Justice in Ireland before capacity audiences at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, and at the
Cathedral. Mr. Nair is also currently Conductor for the Lakeland Youth Symphony senior
orchestra.
Mr. Nair’s guest conducting activity has taken him to the Philippines, where he
conducted the Manila Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera Chorus of Manila. Mr. Nair
was also Assistant Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, directing their
“Spotlight” concerts for young people. He made his formal concert debut with the Orchestra in
1985 in a performance which “...stamps him as an important new force in the New Jersey
orchestral scene,” according to critic Peter Edward Frank. Writing for The Star-Ledger, critic
Michael Redmond described Garyth Nair as “...one of the most brilliant and dynamic
conductors on the scene...a musician of extraordinary insight and sensitivity.
Jason Asbury is concluding his first year with Summit Chorale as Assistant Conductor and
Accompanist. Mr. Asbury received his Bachelor of Music from DePauw University of
Greencastle, IN, and his Master of Music from Westminster Choir College. In 1994, he
received a grant from DePauw University to attend the North German Organ Academy where
he spent the summer before continuing studies in Vienna the following semester.
Mr. Asbury is currently Organist and Choir Director at Prospect Presbyterian Church,
Maplewood, NJ, where he directs adult and children’s choirs as well as their Bell Choirs. He
also serves on the faculty of St. Ann’s School, Brooklyn Heights, NY, and the choral faculty of
Brooklyn Music School.
Mr. Asbury keeps an active performance schedule in the New York area as a concert
organist and choral accompanist. Recent recitals and tours include concerts at Carnegie Hall
and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, both in New York, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Honolulu, and a
Christmas tour with the American Boychoir.
He also coordinated a joint concert involving the Prospect Presbyterian Church Festival
Choir and the DePauw University Concert Choir held at Carnegie Hall in the spring of 1998.
Amy Hutchins is joining Summit Chorale for the first time with this performance of
Mozart’s Great Mass in C Major. Ms. Hutchins received her Bachelor’s Degree in dual majors
– Spanish Literature and Theater Arts – from Drew University, Madison, NJ, in 1998. During
her term at Drew, Amy privately studied voice with Garyth Nair and publicly acted in many of
the Theater Department’s productions including the May, 1998, performances of Falsettos. Ms.
Hutchins also took the opportunity to direct while on the stage at Drew. More recently, Amy
held an internship with the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival last summer.
Ms. Hutchins was very active during her sophomore through senior years in an all-female
a capella group, On a Different Note, which recorded two compact discs, one while under her
leadership. Besides singing, Amy also prepared some of the vocal arrangements the group
used.
Ms. Hutchins guest soloist appearances include the Duruflé Requiem with the
Diamond Hill Summer Chorus of 1996, the Seguidille from Bizet’s Carmen, and Dvošsrák’s
Song to the Moon from his opera, Rusalka – both with the Drew Chorale and Orchestra.
Amy recently moved to New York City to pursue her stage career.
Questions? Want more information about SUMMIT CHORALE?
Call (973) 762–8486
write us
P.O. Box 265; Summit, NJ 07902-0265
or visit us online
http://www.summitchorale.org