And now it is my distinct privilege to introduce to you the 2022 WSMA High School State Honors Mixed Choir and their distinguished conductor, Lee Nelson.
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choir singing in Hindi
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choir singing in Latin
gentle piano music
choir singing in Latin
audience applauding
Good evening. What a joy it is to share the hard work of these students since last June, and then an intense day and a half of rehearsing some very, very difficult repertoire of varied styles and different composers. The first piece was not "Domine, Ad Adjuvandum Me" as marked in your program. The first piece was "Tuttaranna" by Reena Esmail. And the rest of the program then does follow suit as written in the program. We'll continue our concert with Sergei Rachmaninov's beautiful "Bogoroditse Devo" from the All Night Vigil.
choir singing in Russian
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piano begins
piano music crescendos
Wake up Wake up Wake up My spirit Wake up My spirit I myself will waken the dawn I myself will waken the dawn I myself will waken the dawn Wake up my spirit Wake up my spirit I myself will waken the dawn I myself will waken the dawn I myself will waken the dawn Exalt Yourself above the heavens O God Exalt Yourself above the heavens O God And Your glory over all the earth Wake up Wake up my spirit Wake up I say wake up Wake up my spirit Wake up I myself will waken the dawn I myself will waken the dawn I myself will waken the dawn I will sing praise to You among the nations Awake lute and harp I will sing praise to You among the nations Awake lute and harp I will sing praise to You among the nations Awake lute and harp I will sing praise to You among the nations Awake lute and harp I will sing melody I will sing melody I will sing melody I will sing melody I will sing melody I will sing melody I will sing melody Wake up my spirit Wake up my spirit I myself will waken the dawn I myself will waken the dawn I myself will waken the dawn Exalt Yourself above the heavens O God Exalt Yourself above the heavens O God And Your glory over all the earth Wake up wake up wake up my spirit Wake up wake up wake up my spirit Wake up wake up Wake up wake up Wake up Wake up Wake up Wake up wake up wake up I say wake up
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Alleluia alleluia Alleluia alleluia Alleluia alleluia Alleluia alleluia Alleluia alleluia Alleluia alleluia Alleluia alleluia Alleluia alleluia All shall be Amen and Alleluia All shall be Amen We shall rest and we shall see We shall see and we shall know We shall know and we shall love Behold our end which is no end End which is no end Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia All shall be Amen Amen
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audience cheering
The next piece in the concert is a setting of the timeless poem, "I Carry Your Heart" by composer Connor Koppin. Connor was a student at Wartburg and was bitten by the composition bug while on tour, singing a composition by another college student that we had on our Wartburg Choir tour that year. And so Connor came home and started writing music and would bring in a piece almost every week to show me. And every time, "Oh, this is looking really good, Connor, let's try this." We got three really good songs all in one right now. Let's do, you know a different song for each one. And one day he walked in with his setting of, "I Carry Your Heart." And we played through it and went all the way through it. And he was waiting for me to say, "Oh we've got too many of this or that." And I looked at him, I said, "Connor this is your first real piece. Let's go make copies of this and sing it tonight in rehearsal." And this launched a career for Connor as a composer, as a music educator. And for these students, we've talked a lot about what this song means and what this poem means, and it's inspired in them feelings of who they carry in their heart as they sing whether it be a family member, a parent, a sibling or a music teacher who has inspired them to go above and beyond their perceived potential. And in fact, most of these students if not all of these students, can pinpoint an elementary music teacher, a middle school teacher, a high school teacher a piano teacher, a voice teacher who has changed their lives for the better because they introduced them to music. We dedicate this to all of those people who've inspired and instilled that spark for music and the hearts of all of these on the stage. Connor Koppin's "I Carry Your Heart." I carry your heart with me I carry it in my heart In my heart I am never without it Anywhere I go you go I carry your heart my dear I carry your heart with me My dear I carry it in my heart I am never without it I carry your heart I fear no fate For you are my fate You are my fate I want no world I want no world For beautiful you are my world My world I want no world I want no world I want no world I want no world For beautiful you are my world My dear I carry your heart with me I carry it in my heart In my heart I am never without it Anywhere I go you go Anywhere I go you go I carry your heart I carry your heart I carry your heart I carry your heart I carry your heart I carry your heart my dear I carry your heart with me I carry it in my heart My dear
audience applauding
soft piano music
You know that death came a-knockin' on my mother's door
Singin'
Come on, mother, ain't ya ready to go And my mother stooped down, buckled up her shoes And she moved on down by the Jordan stream And then she shout Hallelujah Done, done my duty Got on my travelin' shoes You know that death came a-knockin' on my sister's door Come on, sister, ain't ya ready to go And my sister stooped down, buckled up her shoes And she moved on down by the Jordan stream And then she shout Hallelujah Done, done my duty Got on my travelin' shoes Hey hey Hey hey You know that death came a-knockin' On my brother's door Come on, brother, ain't ya ready to go And my brother stooped down, buckled up his shoes And he moved on down by the Jordan stream And then he shout Hallelujah Done, done my duty Got on my travelin' shoes You know that death came a-knockin' On my neighbor's door
Singin
Come on, neighbor, ain't ya ready to go And my neighbor stooped down, buckled up his shoes And he moved on down by the Jordan stream And then he shout Hallelujah Done, done my duty Got on my travelin' shoes Hey hey Hey hey You know that death came a-knockin' On my preacher's door
Singin'
Come on, preacher, ain't ya ready to go And my preacher stooped down, buckled up his shoes And he moved on down by the Jordan stream And then he shout Hallelujah, hallelujah Done, done my duty Hallelujah Got on my travelin' shoes You know that death came a-knockin' on my front door "Come on, sister, ain't ya ready to go I'm gonna stoop right down, buckle up my shoes And I'll move on down by the Jordan stream And then I'll shout Hallelujah Done, done my duty Got on my travelin' shoes
audience cheering
Singin'
I'd like to echo the words of my colleague, Dr. Fuelberth and the amazing Treble Choir performance that was just watching backstage, we got to watch on the screen and I was just blown away by the musicality. We didn't get to hear each other except for last night we did a little exchange concert. And so to hear the full program was such a joy and so inspiring. And the words that came to my mind as I listened to the Treble Choir and as I got to work with these students is we all started as strangers and we ended as friends and as family. And the words, "Great music makes great friends and great friends make great music" came to mind. We started as strangers and music brought us together. And music has tied these students in a way that will never be forgotten. They'll never forget this experience. I know I won't. I'm so grateful to each and every one of them for their hard work, for their dedication. So many of them have shared stories about how music has impacted their lives and how these words have helped them through some really difficult times over the past few months and how they'll carry these words and these notes with them. And that's why music is so important, right? It's because it teaches us what it is to be human, what it is to live in the human condition and how to interact with our own feelings and our own thoughts, but then also to be in someone else's shoes. And to also look in from someone else's perspective. Music is so, so important and all of the music directors out there who prepared these students who work with these students on a day-to-day basis, thank you to echo Dr. Fuelberth. Let's give all of the music educators another round of applause.
audience applauding
Singin'
I will echo all of the thanks that came before with this team. This was not anything that I was able to accomplish on my own. There was a whole team of us, and so Kathy Bader, Bethany Meyer Ryan Moldenhauer, John Popkey, and of course Kira Morrissey. What an amazing team of people who have become dear friends. And I thank them for their leadership and their and their help and their advice and their ideas to bring this music to life. To Tim and Sarah and Carrie and the other Tim, thank you to the Wisconsin Honors Project for inviting me to be part of this. To all the parents who have given time and effort to to be here and to support your students in lessons and then choir and gone to all of their concerts, you have no idea how important it is for them to have someone out there in the audience to sing for. And so we thank you for being here and supporting music in your schools and continuing to lift up why we need to do this every single day. In the school we were at rehearsing last night, there was a sign, and I'll get it wrong, but it said along the lines, "Everything that you need to do to succeed in this world is being taught in the music classroom."
audience applauding
Singin'
And the more you think about it the more real and the more truth you find in it. Self-discipline, confidence, working with others agreeing to disagree, letting go of yourself for the greater good of your neighbors. How to fail, how to succeed, how to celebrate. And that's what this program is all about. Hope, celebration, as Dr. Fuelberth said, this is our future, these are our future engineers, political science majors, historians, social workers, exercise, science, architects. What else did I talk to you about today?
All these people have come up and I'm like
Are you gonna be a music teacher? No, I wanna go work for this major corporation. Oh my goodness, we are in good hands with these folks behind us. I'm so grateful to all of you. I can't wait to watch the world in which you build with love and compassion and hope because you are our future leaders in so many ways. And so thank you for this. We're gonna close our concert with piece called simply "Rejoice."
soft piano music
All these people have come up and I'm like
O clap your hands all ye people Shout onto God with a voice of triumph For the battle has just began And the victory is already won Raise up a song and sing out His praises Rejoice Rejoice
upbeat music
All these people have come up and I'm like
Rejoice, sing praises to the Lord our God Rejoice, there's power in the name of the Lord He will see you through it all just have faith He will answer your call Rejoice and sing out His praises Come on sing rejoice Again I say rejoice Rejoice, sing praises to the Lord our God Rejoice, there's power in the name of the Lord He will see you through it all just have faith He will answer your call Rejoice and sing out His praises Come on sing rejoice Again I say rejoice Come bless the Lord with all of your heart And forever sing His praise Enter into His gate with singing and rejoicing And into His court with praise O magnify the Lord with me And let's exalt His name together We are His people and the sheep of His pasture Be thankful unto Him and bless His name Rejoice, sing praises to the Lord our God Rejoice, there's power in the name of the Lord He will see you through it all just have faith He will answer your call So let's give Him praise Clap your hands today Let us rejoice and sing out His praises Rejoice, again I say rejoice Rejoice, again I say rejoice Rejoice, again I say rejoice Rejoice, again I say rejoice
choir cheering
All these people have come up and I'm like
For the battle is done And the victory is won For the battle is done And the victory is won O clap your hands all ye people Shout onto God with a voice of triumph O taste and see that the Lord is good Be thankful and bless His Holy name Rejoice, rejoice Rejoice, rejoice Rejoice, rejoice Rejoice, rejoice So give Him praise So give Him praise Clap your hands today Let's Let's rejoice and sing out His praises Rejoice
audience cheering
audience applauding
all cheering
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