Friends, Family and Music Lovers,
On behalf of the Cantata Singers, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to this celebration of resilience, heritage, and the female voice. Today’s program is a virtual tapestry of stories. From the high-energy "fiddle" rhythms of the
Appalachian hills to the deep local roots of the Schumann family right here in Elmira, these works remind us of the legacies that shape us.We are especially pleased to welcome young singers from the Mynderse Academy (Seneca Falls High School) who will perform with us in today’s presentation of Elaine Hagenberg’s Illuminare.
We sincerely hope you enjoy this, the second concert of the 2025/2026 season! Please also remember that it is largely through your generous support that concerts such as this are possible. Your thoughtful giving at these events enables our mission to provide high quality choral music and accompaniment free of charge to all who wish to listen..
As we move from the rhythmic drive of Jennifer Higdon to the radiant light of Elaine Hagenberg, I invite you to do as Gwyneth Walker’s The Tree of Peace suggests: "Listen, listen to one another." Thank you for joining us and for being a vital part of our community’s living musical history.
With sincere thanks to you, our loyal audience,
Jeff DeMeritt, Cantata Singers President
Program Notes:
Beyond the joyous act of singing together, one of the greatest pleasures of what we Cantata Singers do is to share stories of and writings from lesser-known voices with you, our audience. As March is celebrated as ‘Women’s History Month,’ it is only fitting that we revive a piece of the ‘Festival of Women in the Arts’ we produced several years ago. Today’s program contains music by and about women in music—voices that deserve all the representation possible.
Our musical journey begins with the voice of 2011 Spelman College graduate Dr. B. E. (Brittney Elizabeth) Boykin. Currently the Director of Choral Activities at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Dr. Boykin is a celebrated composer whose works frequently explore the intersection of spirit, growth, and renewal. Music of Life, her most performed choral work, is a perfect example of that philosophy. Adapted from George Parsons Lathrop’s poem Music of Growth, the piece mirrors Boykin’s belief that music is the “safest place emotionally and spiritually.” Through both music and text, the work gives both singer and listener the chance to celebrate a shared moment of gratitude for the beauty of existence.
The program continues with the story of the extraordinary life of Helen May Martin (1893–1947), an American concert pianist who was both blind and deaf from infancy. Despite living in a world of total silence and darkness, Helen transformed her reality into a “vibrational expression of the soul.” Her mother, a former teacher, unlocked Helen’s potential through tactile methods, including guiding Helen’s hands over her own on the piano to communicate the physical aspects of music. By 1923, Helen had launched a professional career that would see her memorize over 500 classical works.
Z. Randall Stroope encountered Helen’s story while searching for a narrative to bridge the gap between physical touch and spiritual resilience. In his composition Hands—commissioned by the Deer Creek Chorale, founded by Elmira native Martha Banghart—Stroope mirrors Helen’s journey through his “own poetic lenses.” The piano accompaniment provides a driving, unyielding force that represents her incessant courage and the vibrations through which she perceived the world. The soaring choral lines provide contrast, anchoring on four pivotal words: Touch, Feel, Sense, and Know. Through these “rotating planets” of human experience, Stroope invites us to hear the “divine whispers” Helen felt in her fingertips and to celebrate the radiance of a spirit that refused to be silent.
Wanting Memories, by longtime Sweet Honey in the Rock member Dr. Ysaye Barnwell, was created as a tribute to her father and musical foundation—violinist and educator Donald Barnwell, following his death in 1987. Written in a layered, polyphonic style, the work begins from a place of deep grief; of being “stuck” in the past, of literally “wanting” (lacking) memories to fill the void. Gradually, the song shifts from mourning to empowerment. Its core message is the powerful realization that we all are the “sum of all the things we’ve done” and the “living legacy” of those who’ve come before us.
Fiddlin’, composed by Jennifer Higdon, is the first movement of Southern Grace, an eight-movement “portrait of the South” based on her upbringing in Tennessee and Georgia. With much of the material originally conceived for string quartet in the work Southern Harmony, the music was reimagined for choir in 1998. The lyrics utilize solfège syllables (do, re, mi, fa, sol, etc.) to create a wordless homage to Appalachian fiddle music in rhythm and energy.
In 1853, Clara Schumann composed a set of piano variations as a birthday gift for her husband, Robert. Based on a theme from his Bunte Blätter (Op. 99, No. 4), she humbly noted in her diary that she “did not think them a failure.” Those variations form the heart of Clara’s Piano, a work that serves as a love song to Clara’s musical legacy and her descendants who settled in Upstate New York three generations later. In 1932, Marie Schumann—named for Clara’s eldest daughter and lifelong confidante—married William Personius and moved to Elmira. The Personius family had been pillars of the Finger Lakes region since the early days of westward expansion. Today, the family continues to organize area Schumann Festivals to keep the memory of their great-great-grandparents thriving in Elmira, Corning, and beyond. Clara’s Piano was composed in 2023 in collaboration with Walt Personius as part of the Cantata Singers’ Story Music Project.
Gwyneth Walker’s 2002 The Tree of Peace feels particularly resonant in 2026. Drawing on her Quaker heritage, Walker adapted John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem, O Brother Man, into a more inclusive call for unity. She transformed the opening to “O, my sister and my brother,” and added the hauntingly critical admonition: “Listen, listen to one another.” The work climaxes on the powerful imagery of love treading out the fire of anger to plant a tree of peace in its ashes. Walker was inspired by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois/Oneida Nation) legend of the Great Tree of Peace. In this tradition, the Peacemaker brought the warring nations together at Onondaga Lake to bury their weapons beneath a Great White Pine. An underground river swept the instruments of war away, and the tree’s “Great White Roots” spread to the four corners of the earth, offering sure path to shelter to all who seek peace.
Illuminare, commissioned by a consortium of choirs during the early months of the Covid pandemic, is a five-movement journey that moves through the shadows of uncertainty toward the dawn of hope. Using a tapestry of Latin, Greek, and English texts, composer Elaine Hagenberg explores the universal human experience of searching for light in the darkness. The music is characterized by her signature "shimmering" textures—lush harmonic clusters that eventually give way to brilliant, expansive sonorities. Written as her first major multi-movement work, Illuminare does not merely describe light; it seeks to enact it, ending with a radiant affirmation of peace and clarity. It stands firmly as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
It is our sincere hope that today’s program brings to your life some of the resilience and light of Elaine Hagenberg’s music, the peace of Gwyneth Walker, the fire of Clara Schumann, the music of Brittney Boykin, the extraordinary fortitude of Helen May Martin, and the sheer fun of Jennifer Higdon. Today’s world could use a huge dose of all the gifts of these remarkable women. - - - Soli Deo Gloria! will wickham
THE CANTATA SINGERS ARE:
Soprano: Ruth Bruning, Andi Dietrich, Jessica Fierro, Karen Geer, Joy McFarland, Susan Nagle, Connie O'Herron, Joy Perry, Wendy Winnett, Nan Woodworth
Alto: Sally Davis, Judy Hambruch, Ruth Hauser, Gail Lewis, Jean Papandrea, Irene Peterson, Nancy Ruda, Betsy Sentigar, Annette Stevens, Robin Stork, Kathy Thorne
Tenor: Bill Brodginski, Mary Ann Marks, Pat Peters, Mimi Petrillose, Jake Schultze, Gary Tucker, Barry Winters
Bass: Jim Cook, Mark Cox, Stephen Nagle, Joe Ponzi, David Rosplock, Ron Tunison
Rehearsal Accompanist: Frances McLaren
Music Director: Will Wickham
Assistant Music Director: Mark Cox
We are honored to have members of the Mynderse Academy (Seneca Falls High School) Choir join us for this performance. Our own Joe Ponzi works with the music program at Mynderse, serving as a bridge between the adult community choir and the high school ensemble. The singers at Mynderse Academy loved Illuminare so much when they performed it last year that they jumped at the chance to sing it again today!
The Mynderse Academy vocal music program in the Seneca Falls Central School District offers chorus opportunities for high school students, with dedicated ensembles for 7th and 8th-grade levels as well. The program focuses on vocal technique and performances within the school community.
THE MYNDERSE ACADEMY SINGERS ARE:
Soprano: Emily Brown, Adrianna DeYulio, Audrey Knight, Julia Lamanna, Mary Little, Juliette Pagano
Alto: Rae Fox, Tiana Johnson, Natalie Kilpatrick, Mackenzie Morlang, Christina Pena, Grace Poole
Tenor: Aiden Lopez, Cody Schultz, Asa Smith, Brody Tanner
Bass: Nik Balzer, Noah Butler, Long Cao, Michael Kelley, Mason Ntuala, Jameson Olschewske, Isaac Smith
Music Director: Anna Luisi-Ellis
TODAY’S BAND MEMBERS ARE:
Piano Grace Cox, Dr. William Cowdery
Violin - Augusto Diemecke, Margaret Matthews, Gary Chollet, Rachel Allen
Viola - Max Buckholtz, Ashley English
Cello - Christine Lowe-Diemecke, Eric Johnson
Bass - Nic Mathison
Oboe - Jenna Cryderman
Flute - Jeanne Sperber
Horn - Rebecca Dodson-Webster, Linda Bergstrom
Timpani - Simon Bjarning
Percussion - Robert Frisk
The Cantata Singers offer most sincere thanks for help on this program to: Rev. Gary Brinn, Jenny Monroe and the people of The Park Church, Gary Tucker and the First Presbyterian Church of Elmira, Corning Community College, Gary Chollet and The Orchestra of the Southern Fingerlakes, Morgan Jolley, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Joe Ponzi, Doug Davis and Tony Papandrea
Today’s Program (including texts and translations!
Music of Life - - music by B. E. Boykin (b. 1989)
Poem by George Parsons Lathrop (1851-98)
Music is in all growing things;
And underneath the silky wings
Of smallest insects there is stirred
A pulse of air that must be heard.
Music is in all growing things.
Music is in all growing things,
Earth’s silence lives, and throbs, and sings,
If poet from the vibrant strings
Of his poor heart a measure flings.
Music is in all growing things.
Music is in all growing things,
It may be that Heaven hears and knows
Laugh not, that he no trumpet blows,
His language of low listenings,
Music is in all living things.
Hands - - music and words by Z. Randall Stroope (b 1953)
Touch
Feel
Sense
Know
Under the decree of fate’s circumstance
I look without seeing and hear without listening.
But my senses three in synchronized dance
Follow a new cadence of knowing and becoming.
My hands in celestial-like tapestry,
Weave rhythm’s language in brilliant synergy.
Hands embrace and Hands that help and Hands that reach and
Hands that change and Hands that hold and Hands create and
Hands that love and Hands that teach and Hands that pray and
Hands unite and Hands that comfort
Hands console and Hands surrender
Hands include and Hands that serve and Celebrate
Touching, feeling, sensing, and grasping the mystery
Of each finger in unrestrained poetry.
With your hand on mine, notes vibrated inner space
First in disguise, then a language of touch was born -
An eternal symphony spoken in divine whispers, divine wisdom
This harp of broken strings is now radiance transformed!
Touch
Feel
Sense
Know
Wanting Memories - - music and words by Ysaye M. Barnwell (b. 1946)
Melody Group - Judy Hambruch, Ruth Hauser, Gail Lewis, Betsy Sentigar, Kathy Thorne
I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me,
To see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
Yes I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me,
To see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
You used to rock me in the cradle of your arms,
You said you'd hold me till the pains of life were gone.
You said you'd comfort me in times like these and now I need you,
And now I need you, and you are gone.
So, I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me,
To see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
Since you've gone and left me, there's been so little beauty,
But I know I saw it clearly through your eyes.
Now the world outside is such a cold and bitter place,
Here inside I have few things that will console.
And when I try to hear your voice above the storms of life,
Then I remember all the things that I was told.
Yes I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me,
To see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
Yes I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me,
To see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
I think on the things that made me feel so wonderful when i was young.
I think on the things that made me laugh, made me dance, made me sing.
I think on the things that made me grow into a being full of pride.
I think on these things, for they are truth.
And I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me,
To see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
I thought that you were gone, but now I know you're with me,
You are the voice that whispers all I need to hear.
I know a please, a thank you, and a smile will take me far,
I know that I am you and you are me and we are one,
I know that who I am is numbered in each grain of sand,
I know that I've been blessed again, and over again.
Yes I am sitting here wanting memories to teach me,
To see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
Yes I am sitting here wanting memories to reach me,
To see the beauty in the world through my own eyes.
Fiddlin’ - - Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) (The words are the syllables of the Solfége method of learning to sing!)
Clara’s Piano - - w wickham Guest Pianist - Dr. William Cowdery
She played piano.
Clara created music.
She played with fire, filled music
with her passion and strength,
played with love and passion,
wrote with strength and with love.
Clara played with fire,
wrote with passion;
music, made with love.
Clara’s musical gift
poured into her pianos,
Graf, Breitkopf, Streicher and Erard,
into them all poured her heart,
into them all she poured her passion,
talent invested, her life through music.
That same passion talent and love
carries on through generations.
Felix, favored grandson she raised,
sailed his piano westward.
He brought Clara’s passion,
carried her talent,
the fire and her love to New York.
There, with Etelka, lived Clara’s passion,
music thrived in their home.
Talent and fire, passion and love,
Clara’s music found
a home in the new world
through their children.
Their daughter, Marie
gentle, gifted namesake
of Felix’s favored aunt
born with the talent
filled with the passion
Clara’s pianos knew so well,
carried the music
to upstate New York, Elmira, NY.
Filled with the passion,
filled with her fire,
Marie had Clara’s strength,
she was filled with Clara’s music,
she brought Clara’s passion
she brought Clara’s love,
Marie brought Clara’s piano
filled with Clara’s love.
The Tree of Peace - - Gwyneth Walker (lyrics adapted from John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem O Brother Man)
O, my sister and my brother, all who walk upon this earth,
fold to your hearts each other.
Where mercy dwells, the peace of the Lord is there.
To live rightly is to love one another
each kindness a gift, each deed a prayer.
O, my sister and my brother, fold to your hearts each other.
Listen, listen to one another.
Walk with reverence in the steps of those who have gone before,
where forgiveness and wisdom have stood.
So shall the wide earth become temple
each loving life a psalm of gratitude
walk with rev’rence
where forgiveness and wisdom have stood.
Listen, listen to one another.
Then shall all shackles fall.
The violence of war over the earth shall cease.
Love shall tread out the fire of anger,
and in its ashes plant a tree of peace.
Then shall all shackles fall.
The violence of war over the earth shall cease.
fold to your hearts each other
Love shall tread out the fire of anger,
Where mercy dwells, the Lord is there.
and in its ashes plant a tree of peace.
Listen, listen to one another, and plant a tree of peace.
There will be a 15 minute intermission
Illuminare - - Elaine Hagenberg (Latin and English texts compiled by Elaine Hagenberg)
1 Splendor (Splendor) - Saint Ambrose (340-397)
Splendor paternæ gloriæ,
de luce lucem proferens,
lux lucis et fons luminis,
diem dies illuminans.
Splendor of God’s glory,
brings forth light from light,
light of light, light’s living spring,
Day, all days illuminates.
2 Caritas (Charity) - Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
Caritas abundat in omnia,
de imis excellentissima
super sidera,
atque amantissima in omnia,
Quia summo regi
osculum pacis dedit.
Charity abounds in all,
from the depths most excellent
to beyond the stars,
and loving toward all,
she has given the highest king
the kiss of peace.
3 Nox (Night) Text from Aurelius Prudentius Celmens (348-413)
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison.
Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.
Nox et tenebræ et nubila
confusa mundi et turbida.
Caligo terræ scinditur,
percussa solis spiculo.
Night and darkness and fog,
confused world and turmoil.
The darkness of the earth is split,
struck by the spear of the sun.
4 Munera pacis - St. Gregory (540-604) and John 14:27
Ecce jam noctis tenuatur umbra,
Lux et auroræ ritulans coruscat:
Supplices rerum Dominum canora
Voce precemur:
Behold, now night and shadows fade,
the light of dawn shines brightly
With humble souls let us pray
to the Lord of all in song:
Ut reos culpæ miseratus, omnem
Pellat angorem, tribuat salutem,
Donet et nobis bona sempiternæ
Munera pacis
That He, having pity on the guilty,
may drive away all anguish,
grant salvation, and give us
the gift of eternal peace.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world giveth, give I to you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
5 Illuminare his - Canticle of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79)
Illuminare his qui in tenebris
et in umbra mortis sedent:
ad dirigendos pedes nostros in viam pacis.
Give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death:
to guide our feet in the way of peace.
Cantata Singers programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding in support of this project provided by The Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, The Arts Council of the Southern Finger Lakes, and by our audiences and other community partners.
Our great thanks to all who make these performances possible!
Sponsors - The Community Foundation of Elmira, Corning, and the Finger Lakes; New York State Council on the Arts; Gregg Learned; Kaye Newbury; The Alfred & Jane Ross Foundation
Benefactors - $250 plus - Lou Bleiler, Ruth Bruning, Anthony Ciccariello, Bob & Barb Chapman, James & Tracey Cook, Diane Edwards, Robin Fitzgerald, Mark & Kathy Lovell, Joy Perry, Richard Perry
Patrons - $100 - $249 - Tedd & Carol Arnold, Susan Bjerke, Lynda Brand, Bill Brodginski, James Burke, Judy Butterfield, Jean M. Campbell, Nancy Campbell, Gary & Bonnie Chollet, H. John Cumming, Jeff DeMeritt, Katie Daire, Lynn Decher—in memory of Martha Horton, Tom & Vera Dykes, John Fannin, Albert & Marilyn Heidi Gerth, Eleanor Haber, Judy Hambruch, Sherry & Jack Hoare, Sarah K. Hurley, Hank Jonas, Mary Ann & Ted Marks, Elizabeth McKamey, Frances McLaren, Susan & Stephen Nagle, Irene Peterson, Margaret Petrillose, Martha Pierce, Joe & Melody Ponzi, Fran & Robert Palumbo, Christina Roosa, Nancy Ruda, Mark & Leslie Sand—in memory of Lou Sand, Melissa Schroeder, Tricia Schucker & Lindsey Wickham, Annette Stevens, Betsy Sentigar, Ron Tunison, Lindsay Viana, Anne Welliver-Hartsing, Fred & Lynn Wickham, Lydia Wickham, Chris & Brittany-Beck Wickham, Barry & Jane Winters, Mary Wynings
Sponsors - $50-$99 - Jim Cook, Marie Crossley, Molly Cusick, Helen Czajkowski, Sally & Doug Davis, Patricia Farwell, John Humphries, William Hungerford, Dennis Kingsley, Keith Kraska, Daniel LaBar, Eileen Leslie, Gail Lewis, Kelly Lewis, Jan Liberatore, Margaret Lowman, Joy McFarland, Mila Meier, Jack Merrill, Connie O’Herron, Shari Paige & Richard Rich, David & Kim Panosian, Jean Papandrea, Marianna Raho, David Rosplock, Rev. Betsy Sentigar, Judith Edson Sheasley, Kathleen Shimeta & Dan Holland, Patricia Stowell, Kristen Sutherland, Faith & Mike Tarby, Ann Thorner, Karen Updegraff, Meg Wickham, Wendy Winnett, Nan Woodworth
Donors - $25 - $49 - David Brockway, Melody Chilson, Jamie Cooney, Nancy Cooper, Elizabeth Cowles, Saundra Curry, Edward Dougherty, James & Alicia Hare, Kim Hoare, Laurie Kraska, Laura Marley, Suzanne Mettler—in memory of Harry Hillman, Pat Peters, Joyce Rumsey, Marc & Lisa Rustici, Patricia Stadelmaier, B.C. Talbot, Cynthia Terry, Nancy Pangia, Eric Vavrasek, Marilynn Sullivan, Jane Winters, Kim Wolf
Other - Jan Aiello, Barbara Allen, Bruce Berman, Judy Born, Amy Chervinsky, Karen Dusek, Jessica Fierro, Elizabeth Gawinski, Robert Gilman, Margaret Matthews, Rachel Morgan, Susan Pawlak, Bonnie Root, Kim Quinn, Karen Rochester, Andrew Tunison, Cali & Cera Waite, Amanda Warren, Jaqueline Winston