The Shari Bierman Singer
Fellowship Recitals
KATIE KITCHEN, soprano
John Philipps, piano
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Friday, April 4 | 3:00 PM
Severance Music Center - Reinberger Chamber Hall
Program
La Rose y el Sauce
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From Sieben frühe Lieder
III. Die Nachtigall
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Die Nachtigall
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From Chants de Terre et de Ciel
I. Bail avec Mi
II. Antienne du silence
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Love, Loss and Exile
(women's poems from Afghanistan)
Love
The Stoning Ground
Grief
Exile
Tulip​​​
Carlos Guastavino
(1912 - 2000)
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Alban Berg
(1885 - 1935)
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Ernst Krenek
(1900 - 1991)
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Olivier Messiaen
(1908 - 1992)
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Juhi Bansal
(b. 1984)
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Kamryn McCrory, cello
We thank The Shari Bierman Singer Family and Robert Jenkins
for their generous and continued support of The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.
Texts & program notes
La Rose y el Sauce (1942)
La rosa se iba abriendo
Abrazada al sauce,
El árbol apasionada,
La amaba tanto!
Pero una niña, una niña coqueta
Pero una niña, una niña coqueta
Se la ha robado
Y el sauce desconsolado
La está llorando.
La está llorando.
The rose began to bloom
Embracing the willow tree,
The passionate tree, passionately
It loved the rose so much.
But a little girl, a coquettish girl
But a little girl, a coquettish girl
Has stolen the rose
And the desolate willow tree
Is crying for the rose.
Is crying for the rose.
Argentine composer Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000) distinguished himself through his unwavering dedication to melodic beauty and traditional musical forms. While many 20th-century composers explored experimental techniques, Guastavino crafted accessible, emotionally resonant works deeply rooted in his country's folk traditions. His remarkable gift for songwriting and his ability to capture the essence of Argentine musical culture made him one of his nation's most treasured composers, creating works that continue to move audiences with their sincerity and grace.
Among his most treasured compositions is "La Rosa y el Sauce" (1942), a masterpiece that demonstrates Guastavino's exceptional talent for musical storytelling. This enchanting art song weaves together Francisco Silva's poetry with a captivating melodic line to tell the tale of a willow tree's love for a rose and subsequent heartbreak when the flower is plucked away by a young girl. The composition showcases Guastavino's gift for creating intimate musical moments, with its delicate piano accompaniment supporting a vocal line that perfectly captures both the tenderness of love and the ache of loss.
"Die Nachtigall" (1931)
from Sieben frühe Lieder (Seven Early Songs)
Das macht, es hat die Nachtigall
Die ganze Nacht gesungen;
Da sind von ihrem süssen Schall,
Da sind in Hall und Widerhall
Die Rosen aufgesprungen.
Sie war doch sonst ein wildes Blut,
Nun geht sie tief in Sinnen;
Trägt in der Hand den Sommerhut
Und duldet still der Sonne Glut
Und weiß nicht, was beginnen.
Das macht, es hat die Nachtigall
Die ganze Nacht gesungen;
Da sind von ihrem süssen Schall,
Da sind in Hall und Widerhall
Die Rosen aufgesprungen.
It is because the nightingale
Has sung throughout the night,
That from the sweet sound
Of her echoing song
The roses have sprung up.
She was once a wild creature,
Now she wanders deep in thought;
In her hand a summer hat,
Bearing in silence the sun’s heat,
Not knowing what to do.
It is because the nightingale
Has sung throughout the night,
That from the sweet sound
Of her echoing song
The roses have sprung up.
Alban Berg (1885-1935) was an Austrian composer whose work bridged late Romantic traditions with modernist innovations. As part of the Second Viennese School, Berg developed a unique compositional voice that maintained expressive lyricism while embracing new musical techniques. His Seven Early Songs, composed during his early period, demonstrate his ability to blend rich romantic harmonies with
forward-looking compositional approaches.
"Die Nachtigall" (The Nightingale), part of Berg's Seven Early Songs, tells an enchanting tale of transformation through the nightingale's nocturnal song. The text, a poem by Theodor Storm, describes how the nightingale's singing throughout the night causes roses to bloom, while also depicting a young woman's emotional evolution from a "wild creature" to one lost in contemplation. The piece showcases Berg's masterful text setting, with the piano accompaniment creating a nocturnal atmosphere that supports the vocal line in painting this
scene of natural and personal metamorphosis.
Selections from
Chants de Terre et de Ciel
(Songs of Earth and Heaven) (1938)
1. Bail avec Mi
Ton oeil de terre,
Mon oeil de terre
Nos mains de terre,
Pour tisser l'atmosphère,
La montagne de l'atmosphère.
Etoile de silence,
à mon coeur de terre,
A mes lèvres de terre,
Petite boule de soleil,
complémentaire à ma terre,
Le bail,
doux compagnon de mon épaule amère
​Your eye of earth,
My eye of earth,
Our hands of earth,
To weave the atmosphere,
The mountain of the atmosphere.
Star of silence,
To my heart of earth,
To my lips of earth,
Little ball of sun,
Complementary to my earth,
The bond,
Sweet companion of my bitter shoulder.
2. Antienne du silence
Ange silencieux,
écris du silence dans mes mains
Alléluia.
Que j’aspire le silence du ciel,
Alléluia
Silent angel,
Write silence into my hands,
Hallelujah.
Let me breathe the silence of the sky,
Hallelujah.
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was a visionary French composer, organist, and ornithologist whose unique musical language revolutionized 20th-century composition. His deeply spiritual Catholic faith, fascination with birdsong, and innovative approach to rhythm and harmony created a distinctive musical style that continues to influence composers today. As a professor at the Paris Conservatory, he shaped a generation of composers while serving as organist at La Trinité Church in Paris for over 60 years. His synesthesia – the ability to see colors when hearing specific musical harmonies – profoundly influenced his compositional approach,
leading to works of extraordinary color and complexity.
"Bail avec Mi" and "Antienne du Silence" are from Messiaen's song cycle "Chants de Terre et de Ciel" (Songs of Earth and Heaven), composed in 1938. This deeply personal work was written after the birth of his son Pascal and dedicated to his first wife, Claire Delbos. The cycle reflects Messiaen's lifelong fascination with birdsong, which he considered to be nature's purest music and meticulously transcribed during his ornithological expeditions. While these particular songs focus more on the spiritual aspects of his work, they still demonstrate the composer's characteristic treatment of time and space that he often derived from studying bird calls. The cycle explores themes of earthly and divine love, incorporating Messiaen's characteristic musical elements: modal harmonies, rhythmic complexity, and religious symbolism. "Bail avec Mi" uses imagery of earth and atmosphere to represent the bond between humans and the divine, while "Antienne du Silence" embraces contemplative spirituality through its sparse texture and meditative repetition of "Alleluia." Both pieces showcase Messiaen's ability to create transcendent musical experiences through his
unique harmonic language and careful text setting.
Love, Loss and Exile
1. Love
Your Love is like water, like fire;
The waves engulf me, the flames consume me.
2. The Stoning Ground
Mother, come to the prison window
Talk to me before they take me to the stoning ground.
3. Grief
If my love dies, let me be his shroud.
Together we will wed the dust.
4. Exile
I hold a fading flower in my hand
I don't know who to give it to in this strange land.
5. Tulip
I’m like a tulip in the desert, I will die before I can open
And the waves of desert wind will scatter my petals.
Juhi Bansal (b. 1984) is an award-winning Indian-American composer whose work bridges cultures and musical traditions. Her compositions blend elements of both Indian and Western classical music, creating a unique sonic landscape that reflects her multicultural background. Currently based in Los Angeles, Bansal serves as faculty at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. Her works have been performed by major ensembles across the United States and internationally, and she has received numerous commissions and awards for her innovative compositional style.
"Love, Loss, and Exile" draws from the powerful voices of Afghan women, expressing themes of persecution, separation, and resilience. Like the birds that feature throughout this program, these poems speak to the universal desire for freedom and flight - but here from a perspective of constraint and captivity. The cycle's texts address imprisonment, exile, and the loss of fundamental freedoms, with each song carrying deep emotional weight: from the intensity of love in the opening piece, to the heartbreaking mother-daughter dialogue before a stoning, to the profound sense of displacement in exile. The final song "Tulip" serves as a poignant metaphor for the fragility of life and beauty in hostile conditions, its imagery of a flower unable to bloom echoing the grounded bird unable to take flight. Bansal's setting honors these women's experiences through her careful treatment of the text, creating a musical landscape that captures both their
suffering and their indomitable spirit.
bios
Katie Kitchen involves herself with a wide variety of music, from contemporary, jazz, musical theater, to baroque, classical, and modern. Katie is a young artist native to NW Ohio, where she spent her time performing in community and regional theater companies (Fort Findlay Playhouse, Marathon Performing Arts Center, Amil-Tellers Encore) as well as heavily involving herself as a vocalist/pianist/percussionist within her community, via honors choirs, community bands, and music competitions. She started her BM in voice performance at CSU in the spring of 2022, where she is a member of CSU’s choirs and jazz combos, as well as CSU’s Vocal Theater Workshop, where she has played roles such as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte.
Since moving to the Cleveland area, she has done professional choral work as a soprano (Cathedral Singers of St. John, Cantoring at St. Rocco, St. Stephens, St. Ignatius, St. Paul’s, subbing for First Lutheran Compline) and is awarded the Shari Bierman Fellowship Scholarship with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, with whom she had worked with John Adams on his oratorio El Niño as a member of the chorus and Eric Whitacre’s The Sacred Veil. Katie has participated in young artist programs such as the Baroque Opera Workshop at Queens College, in which she studied Baroque ornamentation and performance focusing on the works of Purcell, specifically his opera, The Fairy Queen. Katie currently teaches private voice coaching and is the music director for Stagecrafters Theatre company in Pepper Pike, OH.
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John Philipps is an undergraduate piano performance major at Cleveland State University where he studies with Dr. Angelin Chang and Jackie Warren. He teaches private lessons at the Avon School of Music and performs regularly in the area, whether it be as a collaborative pianist, in a jazz combo, or solo concert piano, performing with local symphonic groups with pieces such as Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1 and Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 23.
Kamryn McCrory is a classical cellist from Cleveland, Ohio. For the last fifteen years, Ms. McCrory has been involved in several music programs beginning with a Cleveland State University School of Music program called 'The String Project' in 2010. From 2013-2015, she was a member of a start-up program called 'El Sistema @ University Circle' which prompted her relationship with The Cleveland Orchestra and would carry throughout high school. From 2018-2019, Ms. McCrory was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) and performed across Europe in four countries in June 2019. Currently, Ms. McCrory is a fifth-year transfer student from Bowling Green State University and is now working with Mr. Charles Bernard at Cleveland State University. She is a member of the CSU Graduate String Quartet and is expected to graduate with her Bachelor of Music in Performance in May 2025.
Special THanks
I am profoundly grateful to the leadership of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus for their unwavering support and mentorship throughout my musical journey. Dr. Lisa Wong's commitment to excellence has deeply influenced my development as a musician, while Danny Singer's patient guidance and insightful feedback have helped me grow in confidence. With them, COC has been an environment for me in which my artistic growth can flourish.
The dedication of Jill Harbaugh and Tori Peacock, as Manager and Assistant Manager of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus respectively, has been instrumental in creating opportunities for growth and learning. Their organizational expertise, attention to detail, and constant encouragement have made it possible to put on a program like this.
My growth as a musician owes much to my remarkable voice instructors. I am deeply thankful to Amanda Powell, who during her time at CSU helped establish my technical foundation and inspired me to push beyond my perceived limitations. Her teaching continues to influence my approach to music and performance, and life in general. I am also grateful to the new head of the voice department at CSU and my new instructor, the wonderful Dr. Cynthia Skelly-Wohlschlager, whose expert guidance has been invaluable in preparing this recital.
I would finally like to thank my collaborative artists, John Philipps (piano) for his outstanding musicianship and dedication to this program, and Kamryn McCrory (cello) for her
beautiful artistry and willingness to collaborate.