Celebrating our 37th Season
The Cherry Creek Chorale
presents
The Road Home
October 21 & 22, 2016
Song of the Open Road........................................................Music by Norman Dello Joio
Text adapted from poem by Walt Whitman
Trumpet: Anthony Zator
Hello! Hello! Whoever you are, Come travel with me.
We will sail pathless and wild seas, We will go where waves dash and winds blow.
Come on! Come on! Wherever you are, Look around! You will find what never tires,
Come on! Come on, and join hands, Know what it is as you pass to be loved by strangers.
Take to the open road, healthy and free,
Take the long path leading wherever I choose, I travel with the wide world before me,
The earth expanding, the music sounding.
Come on! Come on, Whoever you are, Join hands and travel with me.
I ordain myself loosed from imaginary limits.
From this hour I shall live as my own master,
Searching and listening, Breaking the bonds that would hold me.
Sing a song of the open road, for here is space and here a great deed has room.
Sing a song of the highway I travel, for here is the test of a wisdom that is of the soul.
Take warning of those who would hold you. The mocking and bat-eyed men.
Take your love on the road with you.
Gather the minds of men out of their brains, Gather love out of men's hearts,
The universe is a path that is endless, the universe itself is a road.
Come forth, my call is the call of battle. Going with me you must go well armed.
Come forth, and travel with me.
I give you my hand, Oh! Hello! Hello! I give you my love.
I give you myself. Will you give me yourself? Will you travel with me?
The road is before us. I give you my hand.
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live? Whoever you are, Wherever you are.
Hello! Hello! Come on and travel with me.
Shenandoah / Deep River.......................... American Folk Song and Traditional Spiritual
arr. by Sonja Poorman and Berta Poorman
She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain.............................................. American Folk Song
arr. by Emma Lou Diemer
Cindy.................................................................................................. American Folksong
arr. by Mack Wilberg
Our guest artists, Reckless Abandon
Jim and Vickie Jones, Butch Hause, Chris Stongle, and Ernie Martinez
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?.................................................................. Pete Seeger
Blowin’ In the Wind..........................................................................................Bob Dylan
If I Had a Hammer.................................................................... Pete Seeger and Lee Hays
Intermission
The CherryTones
Autumn Leaves............................................................................ Music by Joseph Kosma
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
arr. by Deke Sharon
Bless the Broken Road......................................... Words and Music by Marcus Hummon
Bobby Boyd and Jeff Hanna
arr. by Mark Brymer
The Road Home............................................... Tune “Prospect” from Southern Harmony
soloist: Stephanie Hood
Poem by Michael Dennis Browne
Tell me where is the road I can call my own,
That I left, that I lost, So long ago?
All these years I have wandered, Oh when will I know
There's a way, there's a road that will lead me home?
adapted by Stephen Paulus
After wind, after rain, When the dark is done,
As I wake from a dream In the gold of day,
Through the air there's a calling From far away,
There's a voice I can hear that will lead me home.
Rise up, follow me, Come away is the call,
With love in your heart As the only song;
There is no such beauty as where you belong,
Rise up, follow me, I will lead you home.
The Road Not Taken from Frostiana.....................................Music by Randall Thompson
Poem by Robert Frost
In Memoriam: Doug Doig
We dedicate this performance to our beloved friend
and Chorale family member.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
A Psalm of Life......................................................................... Music by John Muehleisen
Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem.
Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal;
Trumpet: Anthony Zator
Dust thou art, to dust returnest, Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than today.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife!
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.
Michael Row the Boat Ashore.............................................................................. Spiritual
Sung with Reckless Abandon
arr. by Reckless Abandon
Choral arrangement by Andrew Halladay
M.T.A............................................................... Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes
Sung with Reckless Abandon
This Land Is Your Land............................................................................. Woody Guthrie
Sung with Reckless Abandon
arr. by Daniel Morel
Program Notes
We invite you to journey with us on “The Road Home.” You will hear echoes of that theme in all of
tonight’s selections, whether in reference to a literal road or to the journey we take through our lives.
There has to be a road, or a path, or a way, for us to follow. We also need a starting point. And once we’ve
set out, there will always be a tug to return.
Haven’t we all had the experience of being on a trip and suddenly longing for home? I’ve certainly felt that
way. No matter how much fun I’m having, no matter where I am, there comes a point when I think, “I
want to go home!” The feeling always passes as the next adventure unfolds, but then the day comes when
we return. What excitement as we pull into the driveway! Are the pets okay? Did the plants survive? It’s
been great to be on the road, but now it’s great to be back. Those familiar emotions crop up over and over
again in this concert. So there are invitations to “come travel with me” and to “get along home.” There’s
the agonizing choice of “the road less traveled by,” or the imperative to “act in the living Present.” There’s
the urge to say, “nevermore will I roam.” One of the most poignant lines in the whole concert, I think, is
from the title piece: “Tell me where is the road I can call my own, that I left, that I lost, so long ago?”
All of our music is American, and its range shows the rich variety of our great country. We’re singing
spirituals, and folk songs, and more folk songs, and art songs that set to music three great American poets
of the past: Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, as well as the modern poet
Michael Dennis Browne. We wrap up the evening with a splendid arrangement of This Land Is Your Land,
and you’ll be invited to join us in singing that. If you want to stand up and salute, by all means do so!
Two groups are joining us this evening: Reckless Abandon, a Denver-based acoustic rock band, and our
own CherryTones, a small ensemble from the Chorale that focuses mainly on a cappella jazz and pop
music. It’s a great privilege to make music with these collaborators. No matter what your musical tastes, no
matter what drew you to the concert tonight, we hope you’ll leave with a new knowledge and appreciation
of America’s musical heritage.
And if you’d like to know more about our selections, be sure to visit our home page
(CherryCreekChorale.org) and click on the “Behind the Music” tab, which will take you to a series of
literary and historical essays.
Thank you again for coming tonight!
Debi Simons
www.debisimons.com
Guest Artists
An Acoustic Rock Band (Featuring Multi-Instrumentalist, Ernie Martinez)
Reckless Abandon, based in Denver, Colorado, is one of those “ACTS” you just simply have
fun with. Jim and Vickie Jones, Butch Hause and Chris Stongle share a love for vocal-based,
acoustic music, creating melodic harmonies that provide a warm, energetic excitement.
Ever wanted to hear your record collection played live? That’s exactly what Reckless Abandon
does, covering four decades of timeless songs from Country to Classic Rock along with some
obscure gems that will become your new favorites.
Upon arriving in Denver from Chicago in 2007, Anthony Zator has
pursued an active career in trumpet performance and pedagogy. Anthony
performs in a wide variety of groups around the Denver area including
occupying the principal trumpet seat of the Arapahoe Philharmonic since
2013. He also performs regularly with Tunisia, a variety dance band that
worked at both the Democratic and Repulican Conventions this summer.
Other active groups include House of Soul, a gospel band that has toured
such countries as Russia and Germany along with both east and west
coast America, Conjunto Colores, a lively salsa band, and the Otone Brass
Band, a New Orleans second line band. In 2010, his jazz quartet AZQ
debuted a through-composed jazz ballet written by Anthony with the Allegro Dance Company of
Littleton at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
Along with performing, Anthony keeps active in the Denver area schools teaching trumpet,
group classes, theory, and music history. While keeping a full private studio, he teaches at Denver
School of the Arts, St. Anne’s Episcopal, Kent Denver, and Gateway High School in Aurora.
Greg Marsh's 21st Year
Tonight, Greg Marsh begins his 21st year with The Cherry Creek Chorale. All those years ago,
Greg was one of a small handful who auditioned for Assistant Conductor. He was the clear
favorite because of his energy, demeanor, vocal talent, and ability. We established an immediate
rapport and I always knew the choir was in good hands when I was gone. But, somewhere along
the line, as Greg and I worked together, I realized that Assistant Conductor—someone who fills
in when the conductor must be absent—wasn’t an adequate description of what Greg meant to
me and to the organization. To me, an Associate Conductor is one who is more involved with
repertoire selection, choir building, choir training and a sounding board for artistic and vocal
matters. Greg is all this and more!
Some are surprised to see me singing with the choir when Greg conducts. I wouldn’t miss it!
I ALWAYS learn something new from Greg (and I am honored that he pays me the same
compliment). His temperament is a relief from my rather “focused” approach in rehearsals.
(READ: INTENSE!) And in his easy-going and jovial manner, he elicits artistry and excellence
from us. Sure, it is a relief to know that when I must be gone, Greg will carry on and the work
will get done. But more importantly, it is a pleasure to work with a friend; a respected colleague;
an eager and able tenor soloist; a knowledgeable and engaging conductor; an artist and educator;
and a truly fine human being! Thank you, Greg Marsh, for being an integral and indispensible
part of The Cherry Creek Chorale for 20 years! The Chorale and I look forward to many more
years of memorable music making! Brian Patrick Leatherman
Scientific & Cultural Facilities District
Reauthorization – November 2016
Vote YES on 4B!
The Scientific & Cultural Facilities District (SCFD), now in its 28th year,
is funded by a portion of the sales tax paid in the seven Metro Denver counties
(one penny on each $10 purchase).
The Cherry Creek Chorale is one of over 300 diverse cultural organizations
that benefits from this funding.
This November 8th, please vote to reauthorize SCFD.