Montgomery County Public Schools
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Presents
2017
Middle School
Honors Chorus
Performance
March 2, 2017 • 7:30 p.m.
Watkins Mill High School
Auditorium
Kathryn Archer
DIRECTOR
William A. Stief
ACCO M PA N I S T
Board of Education
Mr. Michael A. Durso
President
Dr. Judith R. Docca
Vice President
Ms. Jeanette E. Dixon
VISION
Mrs. Shebra L. Evans
We inspire learning by
providing the greatest public
education to each and every
student.
Mrs. Patricia B. O’Neill
MISSION
Mr. Eric Guerci
Every student will have the
academic, creative problem
solving, and social emotional
skills to be successful in college
and career.
School Administration
Ms. Jill Ortman-Fouse
Mrs. Rebecca Smondrowski
Student Member
Jack R. Smith, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
CORE PURPOSE
Prepare all students to thrive in
their future.
CORE VALUES
Learning
Relationships
Respect
Excellence
Equity
Maria V. Navarro, Ed.D.
Chief Academic Officer
Kimberly A. Statham, Ph.D.
Deputy Superintendent of
School Support and Improvement
Andrew M. Zuckerman, Ed.D.
Chief Operating Officer
850 Hungerford Drive
Rockville, Maryland 20850
www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org
Program
Bonse Aba. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victor C. Johnson
Percussion: Julian Saint Denis
Durme Durme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . arr. Audrey Snyder
Tell My Father. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . arr. Andrea Ramsey
Vocal solo: Daniel Goldschmidt-Hopkinson;
Violin: Eileen Shih
Laus Deo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Leavitt
Percussion: Julian Saint Denis
Will There Really Be a Morning?. . . Craig Hella Johnson
How Can I Keep From Singing?. . . . . . . . . . . Greg Gilpin
Vocal solos: Judah Donnon, Elizabeth Ipe,
Zaira Matin, Sitare Sadeghi, Vanshika Shah;
Percussion: Julian Saint Denis
Why We Sing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greg Gilpin
Audience Manners
Thank you for joining us this evening. As the audience, you
are an important part of tonight’s concert. The audience’s
responsibility at formal concerts is to honor the efforts of the
performers by providing a listening atmosphere in which their
performance can be appreciated by all. Toward that end, we ask
for your cooperation with the following:
•While the performance is in progress, please remain seated
and quiet. If it becomes necessary to leave the auditorium,
please do so between musical selections.
•If very young children become restless and disrupt others’
ability to listen, please take them from the auditorium until
they are quiet.
•Please do not hum or clap along with the performers unless
specifically invited to do so.
•Show your appreciation for the performance by clapping
after each selection. Whistling and cheering are not
appropriate for a formal concert.
-
Program Notes
Victor C. Johnson first heard the popular celebratory song, Bonse Aba, when he
took a trip to Lusaka, Zambia. He traveled to Zambia to teach at a fine arts camp.
The students from the Tache Home and the Balm of Gilead Home sang this as a song
of welcome to Mr. Johnson, the teachers, and the students who traveled with him.
Correct pronunciation of the Bemba text along with authentic vocal production for
Zambian folk music requires the singers to use a different timbre than we are used
to hearing in traditional western choral music. Loosely translated, the text means
“All who sing with [the] spirit have a right to be called the children of God.” This
evening, we would like to welcome you with this lively, spirited, energetic piece.
Durme Durme, a Sephardic folk song, arranged by Audrey Snyder, is a gentle and
peaceful lullaby with beautiful harmonies and text. The Judeo-Spanish Romance
language, Ladino, is a language of the Sephardic Jews and is based on old Spanish and Hebrew languages. The website for the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum has a 1943 wire recording of a Jewish grandmother singing Durme Durme
that was made just weeks before the entire Jewish community was expelled to the
provinces.
Sleep, sleep mother’s little boy
Free from worry and pain
Listen (with) joy to your mother’s words
The words of Sh’ma Yisrael
Sleep, sleep mother’s little boy
With the beauty of the (words of) Sh’ma Yisrael
Andrea Ramsey has beautifully arranged this emotionally moving ballad, Tell
My Father, from The Civil War: An American Musical. The musical portrays gutwrenching wartime experiences of a nation at war, from various perspectives. In
this musical number, the gripping text speaks of bravery, honor, and leaving a
lasting impact by fighting for truth and what is right. The song is sung by a dying
Union soldier as a farewell to his father.
-
Laus Deo is a fantastic, exciting piece of choral literature. It provides a challenge
for singers with its varying dynamics, modulations, and changing meters. Latin
is a fabulous language for choirs to sing in as it contains the five main pure vowel
sounds. Blend and unification of vowels is an imperative skill for singers to develop
as they work toward a well-produced and polished sound. The text for Leavitt’s
piece comes from the “Gloria,” a hymn that has been used in the church since the
second century. It has been celebrated throughout history using a variety of styles
of music. Composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, and John
Rutter have all composed staple works using this text.
Laus Deo in excelsis
et in terra pax hominibus
bonae voluntatis
laudamus te
benedicimus te
adoramus te
glorificamus te
gloria in excelsis Deo
Praise be to God in the highest
and peace on earth
to men of good will
We praise you
We bless you
We adore you
We glorify you
Glory to God in the highest
Will There Really Be a Morning? is based on a poem by Emily Dickinson. Craig
Hella Johnson has beautifully, emotionally, and effectively set this text to music.
Using tone color, dynamics, phrasing, and facial expressions, the singers will
capture the sense of questioning, desperation, and despair, but also the sense of
longing and hope. Even though at times we are surrounded by struggles or a cloud
of darkness that we cannot see beyond, we must have hope that it will get better!
What a powerful message to be sung by and for the youth today.
The text of How Can I Keep from Singing? is adapted from a song whose origins
are not fully clear, but the message of the text is far from blurred. It is the song of
a person who has weathered the storms and struggles of life but has maintained
focus on the rock, the thing that gives them hope and pulls them through, all the
while letting the story and song of their life flow on.
-
In today’s educational systems, the importance of test scores and the stresses put on
schools in the areas of math and English are ever increasing. Many times, music and
the arts as a whole are being diminished or removed completely in favor of providing students more instruction in other areas. The incredible value of teaching the
whole child and allowing students to explore opportunities to create, express, and
achieve in an art form are priceless. With the heightened emphasis placed on college
readiness, it is easy to lose sight of the other things that contribute to a complete
and well-rounded education for a child. This evening, our honors choruses will join
with our teachers to remind us Why We Sing.
About the Chorus
The Montgomery County Honors Chorus program includes four countywide
ensembles providing special performance opportunities for talented singers.
Through participation in these choruses, students interact with talented peers who
demonstrate similar musical ability and interest.
Students in the middle school chorus (Grades 6, 7, and 8) were chosen based on
countywide auditions held in November. They are active members of their school
music program, and many go on to become members of the Montgomery County
Youth Chorus (MCYC), the high school honors chorus ensemble, and all-state
honors groups.
We are proud of the performance of our students and thank parents and teachers
for their continuing support.
Kathryn A. Archer
DIRECTOR
Kathryn A. Archer is in her 10th year of teaching in Montgomery County Public
Schools and is currently the choral director at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle
School, in Germantown, Maryland. A graduate of Watkins Mill High School,
Ms. Archer earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of
Maryland. She is an active member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), Maryland Music Educators Association (MMEA), and the American
Choral Directors Association (ACDA). Ms. Archer has written both general and
choral music curricula for MCPS and served as a guest conductor for the Anne
Arundel County Honors Chorus.
In her first four years at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, Ms. Archer
almost doubled the choral program from 100 students to 185. Her choirs have
earned numerous superior ratings at county, state, and interstate festivals Her
students consistently earn the honor of representing their school in the Montgomery County Middle School Honors Chorus. The King Middle School choirs have
been invited to sing for county administrator meetings and the superintendent’s
State of the Schools event at the Music Center at Strathmore, and they have served
as a demonstration group for a Performance Plus session at the MMEA State
Conference.
In addition to directing four choirs at King Middle School, Ms. Archer teaches a
general music class that explores nontraditional band instruments and music production/technology. She leads an after-school rock band that performs for school
and community events. Ms. Archer is very interested in technology and loves to
foster student engagement and creativity in nontraditional ways.
William A. Stief
A C C O M PA N I S T
William A. Stief is accompanying the Middle School Honors Chorus for the 17th
consecutive year. In 2007, he retired from MCPS after teaching music for 36
years, the last 16 at Sligo Middle School. During his career, several of his choruses
received superior ratings at various festivals. He holds his bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in music from Catholic University and has done extensive accompanying both there and at nearby Trinity College. Mr. Stief has been a soloist with the
Jewish Community Orchestra of Rockville and played for a lecture recital that
was aired on WGMS. Since his retirement, he has thoroughly enjoyed providing
accompaniment for more than 30 Montgomery County schools as well as student
instrumentalists and vocalists. He has also kept in touch with the school system
through occasional subbing at elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the county. Additionally, Mr. Stief serves as a substitute organist in several
churches throughout the year.
John David Maybury
MANAGER
John David Maybury is finishing his first year with Montgomery County Middle
School Honors Chorus. He has taught in Montgomery County Public Schools for
three years, all of them at A. Mario Loiederman Middle School, Silver Spring, Maryland. Prior to MCPS, Mr. Maybury taught choir and musical theatre for five years at
Mardela Middle High School, Mardela Springs, Maryland, and he was the director of bands at Pocomoke Middle School, Pocomoke, Maryland, for the two years
prior. Mr. Maybury earned his bachelor of music education degree from Salisbury
University and his master of arts with a concentration in music technology from
The University of Limerick, in Limerick, Ireland.
Mr. Maybury is very active in the a cappella community, serving as director,
clinician, arranger, composer, and vocal coach with organizations including The
Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA), Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS),
American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and Maryland Music Educators
Association (MMEA).Through these experiences, he has had the opportunity to
work with singers ranging from 7-year-old beginners to a 90-year-old gold medalist
in the Barbershop Harmony Society. Currently, Mr. Maybury is the frontline director for The Chorus of the Old Dominion, in Leesburg, Virginia, and The Catoctones, in Frederick, Maryland.
2017 Middle School Honors Chorus
Altos
Sophia Bass
Zaija Hoes
Vanshika Shah
Yvanna Bateky
Morgan Johnson
Ilan Stein
Tayra Benefica
Rhea Kohli
Gaby Strahan
Catherine Blumhagen
Meghna Krishnan
Emily Tam
Sarah Chang
Anita Li
Meghan Tekelenburg
Ashley Davis
Sofia Moreira
Ridley Thomas
Gabriela Delagarde
Ishika Naik
Haleena Thompson
Hannah Espinoza
Tanvi Naville
Ruby Topalian
Caitlyn Fanelli
Fenna Oliphant-Linden
Delilah Tuico
Brianna Fink
Mihika Panicker
Ella Tzeng
Kamailyah Floyd
Anna Petersen
Lana Marie Valdez
Millie Fredes
Saahil Rao
Madeline Vinal
Tali Goelman
Shriya Rejeesh
Carolyn Wang
Avery Harner
Heidi Reyes
Shiqi Wu
Semira Hill
Ashley Rinehart
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ridgeview
Tilden
Newport Mill
Kingsview
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ridgeview
Ridgeview
Forest Oak
John T. Baker
Briggs Chaney
Kingsview
Westland
Herbert Hoover
North Bethesda
Martin Luther King, Jr.
A. Mario Loiederman
North Bethesda
Cabin John
Takoma Park
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rocky Hill
Herbert Hoover
Thomas W. Pyle
Kingsview
Briggs Chaney
North Bethesda
Kingsview
Eastern
Rocky Hill
North Bethesda
North Bethesda
Rocky Hill
A. Mario Loiederman
Westland
Earle B. Wood
North Bethesda
Tilden
North Bethesda
Forest Oak
Herbert Hoover
Cabin John
Ridgeview
North Bethesda
Baritones
Mukundh Anandkrishnan
Kevin Dames
Andrew Gelman
Corbin Aquino
Malachi Davenport
Bobo Ashigowu
AJ Dondero
Daniel GoldschmidtHopkinson
Max Berlove
Judah Donnon
Eugene Chan
Jacob Dumay
Ethan Coffin
William Ericson
Shawn Scott Collins
Lucas Farina
Rocky Hill
Roberto Clemente
Forest Oak
A. Mario Loiederman
Ridgeview
North Bethesda
Kingsview
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Briggs Chaney
Ridgeview
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Ridgeview
John T. Baker
Eastern
Herbert Hoover
Jeremiah Graham
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Logan Guild
Forest Oak
Ray Halli
Eastern
Noah Haren
John T. Baker
Baritones continued
Joshua Howard
Teja Nivarthi
Isaac Teberen
Sami Huck
Andrew Opincar
Kyle Vallejos
Ian Joegriner
Nicholas Qiu
Siddharth Voonna
Jacob Kaplan-Davis
Edwin Romero
Isaiah Wilkins
Marlon Mauricio
Angel Soriano
Julian Wyche
Raj Mora
Michael Soto Mejia
Adhvay Narayanan
Preston Szczublewski
Kingsview
Herbert Hoover
Ridgeview
Robert Frost
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Rosa M. Parks
Rocky Hill
Rocky Hill
Robert Frost
Eastern
A. Mario Loiederman
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kingsview
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kingsview
Eastern
Hallie Wells
Sopranos
Chloe Baker
Raven Lee
Nandita Rai
Isabella Bernat
Beatrice Lehman
Natalie Reid
Fiona Bradford
Sabrina Li
Sitare Sadeghi
Amber Briscoe
Vivien Lim
Sarah Seam
Linnea Darius
Miranda Lin
Raenya Sharma
Sophia Didden
Christine Love
Zoe Tockman
Emma Dubé
Marina Maglente
Amelia Tzeng
Maya Ducker
Zaira Matin
Vivian Vendt
Emmanuelle Grandon
Brianna McRoy
Shrita Saanvi Verma
Maanika Gupta
Sara Medwin
Abigail Vincent
Sophia Hunter
Caroline Melton
Sofia Weisz
Elizabeth Ipe
Jack Melton
Grace Willis
Nina Jones
Emily Meynard
Isaac Young
Erin Lee
Emma Nguyen
A. Mario Loiederman
North Bethesda
Ridgeview
Kingsview
North Bethesda
Ridgeview
John T. Baker
Silver Spring International
North Bethesda
Herbert Hoover
A. Mario Loiederman
Cabin John
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Cabin John
Earle B. Wood
Col. E. Brooke Lee
Herbert Hoover
Kingsview
Kingsview
Rocky Hill
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Herbert Hoover
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ridgeview
Tilden
Tilden
Shady Grove
Ridgeview
Kingsview
Forest Oak
Herbert Hoover
Redland
John Poole
Thomas W. Pyle
North Bethesda
North Bethesda
Cabin John
North Bethesda
Thomas W. Pyle
Silver Spring International
Shady Grove
ROCKVILLE, MD
Published by the Department of Materials Management for the
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
0854.17ct • EDITORIAL, GRAPHICS & PUBLISHING SERVICES • 2.17 • 300