Marsh Madness! The Adventures of a Baby Soprano
[This blog entry was originally posted on May 24th, 2016 on another platform.]
Hi there.
Let’s get straight to business: I’d like to share a bit with you about how stinking wonderful Music at Marsh Chapel is.
Back in February 2014 when I auditioned at BU, I sat in on the Marsh Chapel Choir’s rehearsal of Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil and fell immediately and desperately in love. I knew, right then, that I had to move to Boston. I had to move to this beautiful, blizzard stricken city where people get off work and casually go make some of the most delicately polished and breathtaking music I’d ever had the pleasure of hearing. A huge, happy bubble of longing had taken up permanent residence in my chest, and I knew I simply must own that BU audition. You know the rest. I was accepted to Boston University despite my nice feelings of crippling self doubt and nearly cried all over Meredith Cornwell, who was very nice about it indeed. I waffled between a couple of schools for a bit, before finally submitting my decision to BU. Fast forward to August 2015, trundling through New York behind a U Haul. I got a very crackly phone call, this time from Scott Allen Jarrett. He offered me a position as a choral scholar at Marsh Chapel, you know, if I thought I’d be interested. Hold. The. Phone. Someone wants to PAY me to sing in the ensemble that captured my heart and mind in one simple evening rehearsal? Hmm. How do I phrase this? YES PLEASE, I AM THE MOST INTERESTED OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS EVER. And it turned out to be everything I could’ve wanted and much, much more. What follows is a list of everything the Marsh Chapel Choir sang this school year, leaving out service music, special services, and chamber music concerts.
I was incredibly honored to sing a healthy number of solos, as well.
Bach Cantatas:
Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66
Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6
Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret, BWV 31
Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4
J S BACH Easter Oratorio
Resilient Voices: 1915-2015
A concert dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide- MANSURIAN Requiem (Boston Premiere) with Harvard University Choruses and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project
The Forty-Second Service of Lessons and Carols
2 hours’ worth of wonderful carol arrangements
J S BACH St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244
James Kallembach’s The Most Sacred Body of Jesus
Good Friday- WORLD PREMIERE
“Regular” Sunday Repertoire:
Arise, my Love- Julian Wachner
Alleluia- Thompson
Os justi meditabitur- Bruckner
A New Song- James MacMillan
Hear my Prayer- Moses Hogan
Exaltabo te Domine- Palestrina
Verleih uns Frieden- Mendelssohn
Quam pulchri sunt- Victoria
Pater noster- Verdi
Notre Père- Duruflé
A Hymn for Peace- Alistair Coleman
Ubi caritas- Duruflé
Beati quorum via- Stanford
Haec dies- Byrd
Jubilate Deo- Britten
Mass of Creation- Haugen
I want Jesus to walk with me- arr. Moses Hogan
O taste and see- Vaughan Williams
Unsere Trübsal die zeitlich und leicht ist- J.L. Bach
Der Gerechte, ob er gleich- J.C. Bach
Justorum animae- Stanford
In paradisum (from Requiem, Op. 48) Fauré
Ochte nash- Nikolai Golovanov
God is gone up- Gerald Finzi
A spotless Rose- Howells
Magnificat “The Advent”- James Kallembach
O Radiant Dawn- James MacMillan
O thou the central orb- Charles Wood
Ave maris stella (from the 1610 Vespers)- Monteverdi
I’m gonna sing ‘til the spirit moves in my heart- arr. Moses Hogan
Set me as a seal- René Clausen
Sicut Moses- Schütz
Light of the world- Elgar
Herr, nun lässet du deinen Deiner- Mendelssohn
Laudate Dominum (Vespers, K339)- Mozart
Miserere mei, deus- Allegri
Hear my prayer- Purcell
Call to remembrance- Farrant
Love bade me welcome (Five Mystical Songs)- Vaughan Williams
Agnus Dei- Morley
Civitas sancti tui- Byrd
Fix me, Jesus- arr. Augustus O. Hill
Drop, drop slow tears- Leighton
Sing and Ponder- Larry Fleming
Ego sum panis vivus- Byrd
Tantum Ergo- Duruflé
O vos omnes- Pablo Casals
Hosanna to the Son of David- Gibbons
Rise up, my love- James Kallembach
Alleluia, Christus surrexit- Felice Anerio
Worthy is the Lamb (Messiah)- Handel
This joyful Eastertide- arr. Charles Wood
Mitte manum tuam- James MacMillan
Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt Coenantibus autem illis- Juan de Lienas
Thou didst rise (Vespers, Op. 37)- Rachmaninoff
Te Deum in C- Britten
To thee, victorious Leader (Vespers, Op. 37)- Rachmaninoff
The Beatitudes- Arvo Pärt
O sacrum convivium- Messiaen
And so, my friends- if I have gushed to you at any point during the last 8 months about Music at Marsh Chapel, know that I was severely understating how special it is. And at the urging of Scott, I’ve finally made time to sit and reflect upon it. I am a grateful baby soprano. Special thanks to Scott Allen Jarrett, Justin Blackwell, Carey Shunskis, Jacquelyn Stucker Drye, Kimberly Sizer Leeds, Doug Dodson, Sam Kreidenweis, Ethan DePuy, Dominick Joseph, Patrick Waters, Meg Weckworth, Kevin Neel, Sean Watland, and Anna Carro, for being mentors by example and a wonderful staff.