Ravinia 2026 Issue 2

traditions. … After choosing an Allen hymn text, I composed my own 19th-century Protes- tant hymn, then generated material considering the musical characteristics of spirituals and oth- er African American religious choral music. Text from the original hymn is adapted and al- tered to reflect the more active, hortative nature of traditional African American choral music. I have always been fascinated by the Church Moans and the Long Meter Hymn singing in African American choral traditions. Both per- formance practices influence parts of Happy Shore .” Dr. Weston is the chair of the music de- partment at Drew University, where he teaches theory and composition. We conclude the first half of our program with two African American spirituals, which act as the culmination of our journey through Amer- ican early music. There is a Balm in Gilead , arranged by Music Director Emeritus Joseph H. Jennings , describes the healing grace of sal- vation through the love of Jesus. In 2014, Jen- nings was the first recipient of Chorus America’s Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award, acknowledging his contribution to the African American choral tradition. His 25-year tenure with Chanticleer as singer and Music Director transformed the group, and his gospel and spiritual arrange- ments became integral to Chanticleer’s identity. We are honored to maintain and continue that legacy today. Wade in the Water is a not-so-coded instruction for escaping enslaved people to leave the road and move into the water to avoid sniffing dogs and slave catchers. The arranger, Stephen M. Murphy , is a graduate of Oakwood University, where he studied with Jason Max Ferdinand, and Middle Tennessee State University, where he studied with former Take 6 baritone Cedric Dent. Murphy writes that, in this arrangement, his “de- sire was to capture the urgency in the message of this song. A starting point for me in which to achieve this was to provide a more rhythmic driven aspect than I had prior been used to hear- ing. In addition, as a lover of vocal jazz … I Trevor Weston embarked on an endeavor to lift the text off of the paper by experimenting with, and incorporating, expanded harmonies throughout the piece.” Classical American choral music found its foot- ing in the 20th century, with many composers drawing inspiration from traditions and sounds of the past. Composer and critic Virgil Thom- son often wove hymn tunes and American folk songs into his orchestral music. Thomson first set the shape-note tune My Shepherd Will Sup- ply My Need as an orchestral accompaniment for The River , a film sponsored by the US Gov- ernment and intended to raise awareness for the erosion of topsoil along the Mississippi River due to farming and timber practices in the 1930s. American classical choral music followed the shape of American society into the 21st century by continually pushing the boundaries of form, style, and subject matter. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we commissioned the Chicago-based composer Ayanna Woods to write us a piece that touched on some of our shared experiences during that time. The text for close[r], now is an erasure poem created by Woods. The source material is a Los Angeles Virgil Thomson (1983) Ayanna Woods Times editorial from March 2020 detailing the reasons why theaters and the performing arts should “close, now.” Woods restructured and resampled the article to create a new text full of questioning and yearning. She closes the piece with an imperative for the world: “come back to life.” Ayanna Woods is a Grammy Award– winning performer, composer, and bandleader from Chicago. Her music explores the spaces between acoustic and electronic, traditional and esoteric, wildly improvisational and math- ematically rigorous. In Hee-oo-oom-ha , American composer Toby Twining challenges our preconceptions about singing with extended vocal techniques like vo- cal fry, yodeling, and rhythmic panting. He com- bines these striking sounds with polyrhythms, mixed meters, and open harmonies to create a joyful celebration of song. Raised in Texas with family roots in country-swing and gospel, Twin- ing has moved from playing in rock and jazz bands, to singing Renaissance motets, to per- forming and composing experimental music. He moved to New York City in 1987, initially writing for modern dance choreographers who wanted the sounds of a new choral music. His group, Toby Twining Music, recorded many of his compositions on the albums Shaman (Sony Classics 1994), Chrysalid Requiem , and Eurydice (Cantaloupe Music 2002, 2011). His music has been performed and recorded internationally by solo artists and groups, including the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, Young People’s Chorus of NYC, and Roomful of Teeth. He is the recipient of Guggenheim and Pew Fellow- ships and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts 2013 Grants to Artists award. Twining lives in the Shenandoah Valley, where he works with student dancers, actors, and musicians at James Madison University. The remainder of our program explores Amer- ican popular music in many forms, from folk- songs (“American Folksong Medley,” “I’ll Fly Away”), to protest songs (“If I Had a Ham- mer”), to the Great American Songbook (“The Trolley Song”), to musical theater (“Home”), to parlor songs (“Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”), to bluegrass (“Calling My Children Home”), to country (“Lovesick Blues”). Also included are songs written or arranged by first- or second-generation immigrants, who help to keep our American cultural fabric rich and vibrant (“Blue Skies,” “Paraiso Soñado,” “Brahmamokate”). –Program notes by Tim Keeler RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JULY 20 – AUGUST 2 , 2026 84 AYANOHISA(WESTON);BERNARDGOTFRYD(THOMSON)