The McIntire Department of Music presents

Friday, November 20, 2015Old Cabell Hall

8:00pm

UVa Chamber Singers:Purcell’s Dido & Aeneaswith Three Notch’d Road

Michael Slon, Director

ProgramChaconne in G minor Henry Purcell from Fantasies and In Nomines (1680)

Dido and Aeneas (1689) Henry Purcelllibretto by Nahum Tate

Overture Act I – The Palace Act II, Scene 1 – The Cave

– Intermission –

Act II, Scene 2 – The Grove Act III – The Ships; The Palace

Soloists

Dido – Elena MullinsAeneas – David NewmanBelinda – Brianna MeeseSecond Woman – Sarah Davis IssaelkhourySorceress – Sarah Davis IssaelkhouryFirst Witch – Rachel MinkSecond Witch – Anne-Marie LloydSpirit – Hannah JefferySailor – Patrick Burns

Three Notch’d Road

Fiona Hughes & David McCormick – baroque violinsMartie Perry – violaJeremy Ward – bass violinJennifer Streeter – harpsichordBrian Kay – theorbo

Program NotesDido & Aeneas – Context and Summary

Just as Vivaldi wrote for the Ospedale della Pietà (an orphanage and musical school, principally for girls), Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas was first performed at a Chelsea School for Young Gentlewomen in 1689, with girls taking most of the solo parts. Nahum Tate authored the libretto, and the head of the school Josias Priest likely contributed dances for the instrumental sections. The opera was next heard in fragmented form around acts of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure during a 1700 London production. No score survives from the original 1689 performance (the first surviving score, the Tenbury manuscript, dates from the latter half of the eighteenth century); hence, structuring has likely changed since the original, and debate continues about missing numbers present in the libretto but not subsequent scores. Dido and Aeneas marked Purcell’s first opera, and one of the earliest examples of English opera. The tradition of concert performances, as you will hear this evening, dates back to eighteenth century performances by the Academy of Ancient Music and others.

The plot of the opera takes up the meeting of (and machinations around) Dido, Queen of Carthage, and Aeneas, the Trojan headed to found a new civilization in Italy, where he will become a progenitor of Rome. Act I opens in the palace of Dido, who is cheered and advised by Belinda on her relationship with Aeneas. All assure the queen, “The hero loves as well as you,” and Act I ends with an upbeat chorus and dance praising the triumphs of beauty and love.

Act II changes scene to the cave of a sorceress, an interpolation in Tate and Purcell’s version of the story. The witches prepare a deception whereby a spirit disguised as Mercury will remind Aeneas of his duty to continue on to Italy, and therefore abandon Dido. The chorus (having changed characters) cackles in delight, and the company brews up a storm to drive the royal party from a hunt in the grove. (According to tradition, the intermission generally occurs here.) Act II, Scene 2 takes us to the grove, where the hunt is in progress and Dido and Aeneas presumably are enjoying each other’s company. The sounds of the storm emerge, and as the party hastens back to town, Aeneas is detained by the deceptive spirit. He ponders the pair’s difficult fate as Act II ends.

Act III moves to the ship harbor, where the Trojan fleet is getting ready to set sail, taking duplicitous leave of their “nymphs on the shore.” The witches celebrate the success of their plan, and plot further havoc for Aeneas’s journey (not unlike the “Bon Voyage” send off in Candide.) The scene shifts to the Palace, where a distraught Dido (also known as Elissa) is consoled by her attendants. Aeneas appears and the charged conversation leads to parting. Dido commits herself to her fate, singing her lament – the opera’s most famous music, and an emotional affect of incredible poignancy created over a simple ostinato bass figure. The chorus and orchestra conclude with a solemn, tender reflection.

Dido & Aeneas - Movements

ACT I (The Palace)Overture Song (Belinda & Chorus): Shake the cloud from off your browSong (Dido): Ah! BelindaRecitative & Song (Belinda, Dido & Second Woman): Grief increases by concealingChorus: When Monarchs uniteDuet (Belinda, Second Woman) & Chorus: Fear no danger to ensueDanceRecitative (Belinda, Aeneas, & Dido): See, your royal guest appearsChorus: Cupid only throws the dartRecitative (Aeneas): If not for mine, for empire’s sakeSong (Belinda): Pursue thy conquest, LoveChorus: To the hills and the valesThe Triumphing Dance

ACT II Scene 1 (The Cave)Prelude for the WitchesRecitative (Sorceress): Wayward SistersChorus: Harm’s our delightRecitative (Sorceress): The Queen of Carthage, whom we hateChorus: Ha ha haDuet (Witches): But ere we this performChorus: In our deep vaulted cellEcho Dance of Furies

ACT II Scene 2 (The Grove)RitornelleSong (Belinda & Chorus): Thanks to these lonesome vales Song (Second Woman): Oft she visits this lone mountainA dance to entertain AeneasRecitative (Aeneas & Dido): Behold, upon my bending spearSong (Belinda) & Chorus: Haste, haste to townRecitative (Spirit & Aeneas): Stay, Prince

ACT III (The Ships)PreludeSong (Sailor) & Chorus: Come away, fellow sailorsThe Sailors’ DanceRecitative & Duet (Sorceress & Witches): See the flags and streamers curlingSong (Sorceress): Our next motionChorus: Destruction’s our delightDance (The Witches’ Dance)[Scene switches to The Palace] Recitative (Dido, Belinda & Aeneas): Your counsel all is urg’d in vainChorus: Great minds against themselves conspireRecitative (Dido): Thy hand, BelindaSong (Dido): When I am laid in earthChorus: With drooping wings ye cupids comeCupids Dance

Founded in 2005 and conducted by Michael Slon, the University of Virginia Chamber Singers is a select ensemble drawn from the University Singers, and performs a wide variety of music for chamber choir ranging from early music to contemporary compositions. Recent performances have included Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia, Vivaldi’s Magnificat, Copland’s In the Beginning, Allegri’s Miserere, Pärt’s Magnificat, Glass’s Three Songs, a program of English and Italian madrigals, and Bach’s Mass in B minor with the University Singers. In addition, the group has performed popular standards by Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, and the Beatles, a spoof concert of P.D.Q. Bach, and new music by Meredith Monk (with the Meredith Monk Vocal Ensemble) and Eric Whitacre. In 2010, the Chamber Singers made their first appearances at the Staunton Music Festival, including a performance with Grammy-award winning baritone Kevin McMillan. In 2012, they participated in a workshop with Peter Phillips, director of the world famous Tallis Scholars, and collaborated with Three Notch’d Road, Charlottesville’s professional Baroque ensemble. And in 2014, they were honored to perform for composer Philip Glass during his UVa Arts Board Residency.

For more info visit: www.music.virginia.edu/chamber-singers www.music.virginia.edu/usingers

To make a gift: See the Dept. of Music gift envelope, and designate Chamber Singers

UVa Chamber SingersMichael Slon, Director

Clay Pulsipher, Assistant ConductorJohn Mayhood, Accompanist

Peter Reischer, Student Manager

SopranosHannah JefferyEmily LeidyAnne-Marie LloydNatalie MayMarina SanusiSandra WinklerKelsie Zipprich

AltosTristen Gully- DavenportAlison LenertTaylor MorganMarie OlavereKatie RossbachSophia SocarrasJenny Yang

Tenors Patrick BurnsWesley DienerWalter FloydShieun ParkClay PulsipherAustin SalleyThomas Sumner

BassesWill DickinsonGenki HallTim LewisElliott PillsburyPeter ReischerBlake SelphPaulius SinkoraJacob Skowronek

Named for a colonial route that once spanned much of central Virginia, Three Notch’d Road: The Charlottesville Baroque Ensemble was founded in 2011 by local period-instrument specialists David McCormick (baroque violin), Fiona Hughes (baroque violin), and Anne Timberlake (recorder). As Central Virginia’s only professional ensemble providing a full season of exceptional baroque music on period instruments, Three Notch Road seeks to enrich the local performing arts scene by bringing an exciting and informed approach to music of the baroque era.

Three Notch’d Road has appeared at the Tuesday Concert Series at Church of the Epiphany (Washington, DC), the Good Shepherd Music Festival (Richmond, VA), the Bach-Handel Festival (Winchester, VA), and the Ewell Concert Series at The College of William & Mary (Williamsburg, VA). In December 2012, Three Notch’d Road performed music of Bach, Vivaldi, and Charpentier with the University of Virginia Chamber Singers under the direction of Michael Slon. Three Notch’d Road also recently presented a program featuring the music of Salamone Rossi for a cultural event at the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Elena Mullins is a soprano with wide-ranging interests in the field of early music. In the 2015 summer issue of Early Music America Magazine she was recognized as one of the country’s most promising early music performers. Elena has sung with The Newberry Consort, Apollo’s Fire, Three Notch’d Road, Generation Harmonique, and Quire Cleveland, and has attended the American Bach Soloists Academy, Urbino Early Music, the Madison Early Music Festival and the Vancouver Early Music Festival. Elena takes a scholarly interest in the performance practices of early repertoires, reaching back as far as the twelfth century. In 2013 she co-founded Alkemie, a medieval ensemble, which will present concerts through Gotham Early Music Scene, Capitol Early Music of D.C. and the Baltimore War Memorial Arts Initiative in the spring of 2016. Elena sings with the Schola Domenicana at The Church of Saint Catherine of Siena under the direction of James Wetzel. A student of Ellen Hargis, she holds a DMA in Historical Performance Practice from Case Western Reserve University and a BA in Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music. Elena is an avid performer and teacher of baroque dance.

Performer Bios

Baritone David Newman enjoys an active and varied concert career throughout North America. Hailed as “electrifying” by the Washington Post and noted by The Philadelphia Inquirer for his “eloquent, emotional singing,” he is in particular demand as a Baroque specialist. His recent Pilate in St. John Passion at the Bethlehem Bach Festival was also recorded for Analekta. He performs and records regularly with Opera Lafayette, including acclaimed productions of Monsigny’s Le Deserteur and Le Roi et Le Fermier, and the recently released Lalla Roukh by Felicien David. Mr. Newman teaches voice and music theory at James Madison University.

Sarah Issaelkhoury, a native of Virginia, holds a Bachelor of Music from James Madison University, and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan. Operatic roles include Cecilia March in Adamo’s Little Women, Meg Page in Verdi’s Falstaff, Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, Baba the Turk in Stravinksy’s The Rake’s Progress, Mrs. Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief, and more. In the fall of 2011, Sarah was seen as Angelina in La Cenerentola with Bel Cantanti Opera Company, where she was praised for singing with “flair and sincerity” (Maurice Saylor, Catholic University), and was described as “superb in all aspects of her performance.” (Michaele Sparacino, Opera Bel Canto Washington). In 2013 The Washington Post praised her performance of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia as “outstanding, tossing off coloratura with clarity and ease.” Sarah has premiered music by acclaimed composers Vera Ivanova, Zachary Wadsworth, Michael-Thomas Foumai, and Shen Yiwen. In February 2010, she performed in the New York premiere of Jeremy Beck’s one-act contemporary opera Review (mezzo-soprano). Sarah was a Young Artist with the Caramoor Bel Canto Opera program and with the Staunton Music Festival. She has performed solos in Durufle’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. Sarah sings with the Washington Bach Consort, Chantry, Bach Sinfonia, and and has appeared as a guest with Eya: Ensemble for Medieval Music. She has appeared as a soloist with the Capitol Hill Chorale, the Easton Choral Society, The Oratorio Society of Virginia, the Virginia Consort, the Handel Choir of Baltimore, and on the Epiphany Tuesday Concert Series. She runs a private voice studio in Leesburg, Virginia.

Brianna Meese, soprano, is a first year graduate student at The Boston Conservatory where she is pursuing her masters of music in vocal performance. A proud alumna of The University of Virginia, Brianna was a member of The University Singers and Chamber Singers and most recently performed Buxtehude’s “O Gottes Stadt” with the Baroque Ensemble. Past credits include Olympia in Franco American Vocal Academy’s Les Contes d’Hoffman and Papagena in the Atlantic Music Festival’s Die Zauberflöte. This upcoming spring, Brianna will appear in MetroWest Opera’s production of Mark Adamo’s Little Women as the cover of Amy March and as Barbarina in The Boston Conservatory’s spring production of Le Nozze di Figaro.

Active as a conductor of choral, orchestral, and operatic repertoire, Michael Slon is currently Conductor of the University Singers, Chamber Singers, and a professor on music faculty at the University of Virginia, where he also guest conducts the Charlottesville Symphony. Since 2011, he has served as Music Director of the Oratorio Society of Virginia. Recent repertoire with the choruses includes Bach’s Mass in B minor, Handel’s Coronation Anthems, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Verdi’s Requiem, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and shorter a cappella and accompanied works. Orchestral repertoire has included Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, and Copland’s Appalachian Spring, and opera and musical theatre engagements have included a production of Paulus’s The Three Hermits with Buffalo’s Opera Sacra, Bernstein’s Mass at Indiana University, Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George and Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza with the Heritage Theatre Festival, and South Pacific and The Magic Flute with the Ash Lawn Opera Festival. He is also an active guest conductor for honors choirs and orchestras. Prior to UVa, Mr. Slon served as visiting conducting faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory, and as assistant conductor of Cincinnati’s May Festival Chorus. His ensembles have collaborated with artists including Bobby McFerrin, Meredith Monk, and Franz Welser-Möst, and commissioned composers including Stephen Paulus, Forrest Pierce, Judith Shatin, and Eric Whitacre. He holds degrees from the Indiana University School of Music and Cornell University, where he was named a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and is also a pianist and writer—his first book Songs from the Hill came out in 1998, and he is currently at work on a Leonard Bernstein project.

Upcoming PerformancesFamily Holiday Concerts — 10th Anniversary

with the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of VirginiaSaturday, December 5, 8:00 pm

& Sunday, December 6, 3:30 pm

Old Cabell Hall

Messiah Sing-InTuesday, December 8, 8:00 pm

Old Cabell Hall

University SingersBach St. John Passion

Saturday, April 16, 8:00 pmOld Cabell Hall

Chamber SingersFriday, April 22, 8:00 pm

Old Cabell Hall

Tickets available at the UVa Arts Box Office: www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu | (434) 924-3376

AuditionsAuditions for the University Singers and Chamber Singers

take place at the beginning of each semester.

No prepared piece is required.

For more information, see www.music.virginia.edu/auditions.

A sign-up sheet for those interested will be available in the lobby during and after the performance.

The Chamber Singers wouldlike to thank the following:

Our guest performers: Three Notch’d Road, Sarah Davis Issaelkhoury, Brianna Meese, Elena Mullins, & David Newman;

The McIntire Department of Music, Matthew Burtner,Kristen Crawford, Marcy Day, Joel Jacobus, Tina Knight,

Joel Rubin, Kyle Ruempler, Kim Turner; President Teresa Sullivan; Vice President Patricia Lampkin; Vice Provost Jody Kielbasa & the

Office of the Vice Provost for the Arts; Dean Ian Baucom & the College of Arts and Sciences; Gene Schutt, Erin Hall, Adrienne Gardner & the College Development Office; the UVa Parents

Committee; our Alumni, Friends, and Family supporters.

Please consider supporting us with a gift using the enclosed envelope and indicating “UVA Choral Ensembles.” Thank you!