Marilyn Morgan, conductor
Evening
Text
Soon as the sun forsook the eastern main
The pealing thunder shook the heav’nly plain;
Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr’s wing
Exhales the incense of the blooming spring,
Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes,
And through the air their mingled music floats.
Through all the heav’ns what beauteous dies are spread!
But the west glories in the deepest red
So may our breasts with ev’ry virtue glow,
The living temples of our God below!
Fill’d with the praise of them who gives the light,
And draws the sable curtains of the night,
Let placid slumbers soothe each weary mind,
At morn to wake more heav’nly, more refin’d;
So shall the labors of the day begin
More pure, more guarded from the snares of sin.
Night’s leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes,
Then cease, my song, till fair Aurora rise.
- Poetry by Phillis Wheatley
Text
There will be rest, and sure stars shining
Over the rooftops crowned with snow,
A reign of rest, serene forgetting,
The music of stillness, holy and low.
I will make this world of my devising,
Out of a dream in my lonely mind,
I shall find the crystal of peace,
Above me - Stars, I shall find.
- Text by Sarah Teasdale (1884-1933)
Night
Taci Miner, soprano (Bachelors of Music, 2024)
Ashley Vasquez, piano
Text
Sleep, little baby, I love thee;
Sleep, little king, I am bending above thee!
How should I know what to sing
Here in my arms as I sing thee to sleep?
Hushaby low, rockaby so.
Kings may have wonderful jewels to bring,
Mother has only a kiss for her king!
Why should my singing so make me to weep?
Only to know that I love thee, I love thee,
Love thee, my little one, sleep.
- Text by Alfred Noyes (1880-1958)
Text
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Anthony Ruiz, chant incipit
Bethany Rasmussen, soprano
Translation & chant score
O sacred banquet, wherein Christ is received;
The memorial of his passion is renewed;
The soul is filled with grace;
And a pledge of future glory is given to us.
- Traditional Latin text
Nightmares
LeGrande Lolo, dancer
Translation, note, & score excerpt
My name is Legion [...] for we are many.
Note: This avant-garde choral art is a depiction of the psyche of one who is tormented
by inner conflict due to mental health. The composer, Matthew Brown, uses graphic
notation (ie. symbols, lines, and shapes) to evoke sound and feeling. Here are a few
excerpts from the score:
Healing SLEEP
Ashley Vasquez, piano
Text
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Katherine Cox, soprano (Bachelors of Music, 2024)
Ashley Vasquez, piano
Text
Sure on this shining night
Of starmade shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.
The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.
Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder
Wandering far alone
Of shadows on the stars.
- Poetry by James Agee (1909-1955)
Dreams of ROMANCE
Shain Salmon & Cassidy Blackham, dancers
Franky DeMartino, choreographer
Translation
Under the Bridge Mirabeau, the Seine flows softly,
And there our love comes back in mem’ries glowing.
How joy always comes after sorrow.
Night comes, the night strikes the hour,
The days are passing away - I remain.
Love passes away like this water current,
Love passes away as life is slowing
And as hope is violent.
Night comes, the night strikes the hour,
The days are passing away - I remain.
Days pass and weeks pass,
But neither time nor love returns.
Under the Bridge Mirabeau, the Seine flows softly.
Night comes, the night strikes the hour,
The days are passing away - I remain.
- Poetry by Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918)
Aubrey Fisher & Manny Santos, dancers
Monica Campbell, choreographer
Ashley Vasquez, piano
Translation
Madly, in your name I called
All the names, all the adored women,
All the flowers of the forest, all the goddesses,
All the women in the world,
In the books of history
And in all of the paintings,
All of the lovers of the poets,
Madly, I was calling God.
My love is bigger than me,
Bigger than this world.
The poor lovers crowined me king of vision
And imam of banishment and exile.
Madly, in your name, I was calling God.
- Text by Abdul al-Bayati (1926-1999)
Spiritual SEARCHING
Text
Reading of lovely Jerusalem,
Lovely, ruined Jerusalem.
We are brought to the port
Where the boats in line are
And the high tower on the hill
And the prows starting again into the mist.
For we must seek by going down,
Down into the city for our song,
Deep into the city for our peace.
For it is there that peace lies, folded like a pool.
There we shall seek.
It is from there she’ll flower,
For lovely, ruined Jerusalem,
Lovely sad Jerusalem
Lies furled under cities of light.
For we are only going down,
Only descending by this song
To where the cities gleam in the darkness,
Or curled like roots sit waiting
At the undiscovered pool.
What pressure thrusts us up as we descend?
Pressure of the city’s singing,
Pressure of the song she hath long withheld
For lovely, ruined, sad Jerusalem;
For none would hear her.
- Text by Robert Lax (1915-2000)
Sunrise
Emily Cheney, soprano (Bachelors of Music, 2024)
Ashley Vasquez, piano
Text
An angel, robed in spotless white,
Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.
Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.
Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.
- Poetry by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
Ashley Vasquez, piano
Translation
Let you not be afflicted with grief,
Be calm, as God ordains, so may my will be contented.
Why fret about tomorrow?
The One who stands for all,
Gives also to you, what is yours.
Be only, in all doings, without change and steadfast!
What God decrees will be and will be called best. Amen!”
- Text by Paul Flemming (1609-1640)
A New Day
Amy Schafer, poetry recitation
Text
May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren't ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward. [...]
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.
Lindsey Uhl, soloist
Briér Mueller, Hannah Boyack, Kate Gabbitas, Mark Forsyth,
Lindsey Uhl, Michael Duffin, Scott Schilling, soli
Gabe Scott, Jordan Conover, Brian Southwick, drums
Translation
We are greeting you, our dearest friends and family.
We have opened all the gates. Hello!
We have entered forcefully, saying “ah eh ee oh oo”!
- Traditional IsiZulu text
Marilyn Morgan
conductor
|
Soprano 1 Jillian Craig Soprano 2 Alto 1 Alto 2 |
Tenor 1 Tenor 2 Baritone Bass |
Dr. Reed Criddle
conductor
|
Soprano 1 Megan Benson Soprano 2 Katherine Cox alto 1 Marlie Krogh alto 2 Hannah Boyack + Assistant conductor |
Tenor 1 Jordan Conover + Tenor 2 Logan Bishop bass 1 Ryan Call bass 2 Braden Johnson * |
Utah Valley University acknowledges that we gather on land sacred to all Indigenous people who came before us in this vast crossroads region. The University is committed to working in partnership—as enacted through education and community activities—with Utah’s Native Nations comprising: the San Juan Southern Paiute, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Uintah & Ouray Reservation of the Northern Ute, Skull Valley Goshute, Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation, Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute-White Mesa Community, and urban Indian communities. We recognize these Native Nations and their continued connections with traditional homelands, mountains, rivers, and lakes as well as their sovereign relationships with state and federal governments. We honor their collective memory and continued physical and spiritual presence. We revere their resilience and example in preserving their connections to the Creator and to all their relations, now and in the future.
With this statement comes responsibility and accountability. We resolve to follow
up with actionable items to make the School of the Arts at UVU and The Noorda Center
for the Performing Arts an inclusive, equitable, and just space for all. There is
much work to be done, and we are committed to putting these words into practice.
Artwork by Shane Walking Eagle (Sisseton Dakota).
Our mission is to produce and present artistic excellence, which would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. We thank them and express our deep gratitude to all patrons, supporters, and friends of The Noorda.
The arts possess the unparalleled power to inspire, educate, liberate, and transform. They elevate moments, mark milestones, soften edges, and generate profound meaning. Experience the beauty and wonder of the arts with us this season at The Noorda and begin at once to live!
Courtney R. Davis, J.D., M.A.
Dean, School of the Arts
Department Chair
JEFFREY O'FLYNN
Administrative Assistant
CHRIS GINES
Chamber Choir/Deep Green
REED CRIDDLE
Emerald Singers
CHERILYN WORTHEN
Concert Choir
DEMAREE BROWN
Opera Coordinator
ISAAC HURTADO
Voice Coordinator
MELISSA HEATH
Private Voice Instructors
AUBREY ADAMS-MACMILLAN
CECILY BILLS
ADRIENNE BRAUN
DEMAREE BROWN
ANTHONY BUCK
REED CRIDDLE
MELISSA HEATH
CHRISTOPHER HOLMES
ISAAC HURTADO
CONSTANCE JENSEN
SERENA KANIG BENISH
EMILY MERRELL
JOSEPH MOORE
