Concert Program

Large Ensemble Concert Series

NIU Choral Concert

NIU Concert Choir
NIU University Chorus
NIU Chamber Choir

Eric Johnson, director, NIU Chamber Choir and Concert Choir
Mary Lynn Doherty, director, University Chorus

Tuesday, March 3, 2025
7 p.m.
Boutell Memorial Concert Hall

 

Program

Chamber Choir

Sechs Lieder, Op. 50 Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
  Ruhethal (no. 5)
  Translation
When in the final rays of evening
golden mountain clouds rise
like Alpen peaks on high,
I often ask sorrowfully:
Is my own final resting-place
among them?
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
  Chorus no. 2  Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis
  Translation
I had much affliction in my heart,
but your consolations restore my soul.
  Chorus no. 6 Was betrübst du dich, meine seele?
  Translation
Why are you distressed, my soul,
and are so restless in me?
Wait on God; for I shall yet thank him
that I shall see him as my help and my God.

University Chorus

Tshotsholoza (Go Forward) Traditional South African
arr. by Jeffrey Ames (b. 1969)
Brayden Dulen and Reign Bonnewell, Soloists
  Translation
“Go forward, go forward on those mountains;
the train is coming from South Africa.
You are running away on those mountains;
the train is coming from South Africa.”
Adoramus Te Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
J’Entends le Moulin (I Hear the Millwheel) Québecois Folk Song
arr. by Donald Patriquin (b. 1938)
From Trois chansons folklorique
  Translation
I hear the millwheel tique tique taque.
My father is having a house built.
It’s being built with three gables.
There are three carpenters building it.
The youngest is my darling.
What do you have in your apron?
lt’s a pie made of three pigeons.
Let’s sit down and eat it.
While sitting down they all lept up,
Causing the sea and fish to tremble,
and the stones on the bottom of the sea.
The Bird’s Lullaby Sarah Quartel (b. 1982)

 

 

Concert Choir

Mass in G Minor Ralp Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
    Translation
  Kyrie  
    Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy in us.
Lord have mercy on us
  Gloria  
   

Glory to God in the highest.
And on earth peace,
To all those of goodwill.

We praise Thee. We bless Thee.
We worship Thee. We glorify Thee.

We Give thanks to Thee, according to thy great glory.

Lord God, heavenly King, God, Father almighty.
Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son.
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.

Thou who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy upon us.
Thou who takest away the sins of the world,
Receive our prayer.
Thou who sittest at the right hand of God the Father,
Have mercy on us.

For thou alone are holy.
Thou alone are the Lord.
Thou alone are the most high, Jesus Christ.

With the Holy Spirit
In the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Come, Sing to the Praise (from opera Christoph Gluck (1714-1787)
Joseph Quaynor, soloist
Mamayog Akun Traditional courting song from Mindano, Philippines
ar. Fabian Obospo (b. 1947)
  Translation
My dear Mamayog, do walk behind me
Because if you walk in front of me,
People will only look as you even though I am as
Pretty as you.
Bahaari Baarish Shruthi Rajasekar (b. 1996)
Ong-Hye-Ya Folk song from Kyeong-Sang-Do province, Korea
arr. Hye-Young-Cho (b. 1969)
 

Translation
Ong-hye-ya (You’re doing a great job)
Over the embankment, a quail is laying an egg in the barley field.
Plant barley in October, it sprouts in December,
Blooms in February and March, process in April and May.
When the process is over, all the village will celebrate with their servants.
Front of the house Guhm-Suhn and back of the house Bok-Suhn meet each other talking, whispering.

Personnel

NIU Chamber Choir

Director: Eric A. Johnson, D.M.A.
Yuxi Qui, Accompanist
Soprano Alto Tenor Bass

Kayla Lockhart
Kayti Miller
Maia Orlovsky

Maggie Garner
Jessica Holtz
Isabella Froh
Annalee Kalbfleisch

Matthew Ellis
EmVi Legaspi
Joseph Quaynor
Segun Owele
Serge Dulong

Daniel Chukwunyem
Eli Clark
Lucas Smardo
Erik Vazques 

NIU Concert Choir 

Director: Eric A. Johnson, D.M.A.
Minjung Kim, Accompanist

Soprano Tenor Alto Bass

Kaylie Emmer
Maggie Garner
Lyric Johnson
Emily Kmetz
Maia Orlovsky
Chenoa Randolph
Kyla Reisenbichler
Willow Sabani
Thalila Sisou
Niya Teague
Olivia Yedinak


Rain Anzaldua
Amelia Arndt
Lexus Bovensiep
Isabella Froh
Sondos Hassan
Jessica Holtz
Kayti Miller
Katie Vidmar
Chloe Weeks

Serge Dulang
Matthew Ellis
Gabriel Galindo
Eduardo Garcia
Jacob Lawver
EmVi Legaspi
Joseph Quaynor
A.J. Villa

Bryn Callahan
Eli Clarke
Gunnar Magnuson
Angel Morales
Emerson Valyou
Nolan Valyou
Erik Vazquez

 

NIU University Chorus

Director: Mary Lynn Doherty, Ph.D.
Qingyun Zheng, Accompanist

Soprano Alto Tenor Bass
Emily Bauer
Jenessa Bowen
Vanessa Carol
Araceli Duran
Dani Godinez
Skyla Johnson
Hannah Jorgensen
Jocelyn Kuntz
G Mayotte
Chloe McKendry
Lux Moone
Dulce Nepomuceno
Emelia Plewa
Sheridan Settipani
Brooke Sleigher
Caileen Szostak
Anne Bishop
Talia Grzelak
Isabella Jaimes
Alisa James
Ash Lehning
Lily Owen
Gracie Raab
Jayda Thompson
Jaylin Turner
Chris Avila
Reign Bonnewell
Phoenix Brosman
Bryn Callahan
Brayden Dulin
Gabe Greenfield
Alex Hager
Dave Houghton
Madelyn Montiel
Michael Powyszynski
Blake Wiles
Jonathan Alanis
Crowler Bonomo
Declan Carter
Andrew Clark
Colton Dean
Nathan Domecki 
Brennyn Ford
Julian Hernandez
Brady Jobst
Wolfgang Jones
Sasha Marquez
Noah Reader
Lucas Smardo
Morgan Tipton
Frank Vyverberg
Everett Wright

 

Bios

Assistant Director of the School of Music
Associate Professor and Coordinator of Music Education

Mary Lynn Doherty is the assistant director of the School of Music and the coordinator of music education at Northern Illinois University, where she teaches choral and general music methods, supervises student teachers, works with undergraduate and graduate students as well as area music educators at all levels and conducts the University Chorus.

In 2020, Doherty was awarded the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. She has also been nominated for NIU’s Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award four times, representing the School of Music and the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Doherty has been invited to conduct ILMEA District choirs (elementary, middle and high school) eight times as well as serving as the conductor of the Rockford High School All-City Honor Choir, the Big Northern Conference Honor Choir, the Little Ten High School Choral Festival, the West Suburban Women’s Festival Choir, the North Central Junior Conference Honor Choir, the Women’s Honor Choir at the UW-Madison Summer Youth Music Camp and numerous district festival choirs.

Doherty was the director of NIU’s Community School of the Arts Children’s Choir from 2008-2016, earning grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to fund commissions and residences with internationally renowned composers and conductors. She is on the Illinois Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance Committee and serves as the NIU host of the Summer CMP Workshop. Prior to coming to NIU, she was the director of music education and associate conductor for the Choir Academy of the Chicago Children’s Choir.

Doherty’s research is on vocal health issues experienced by music teachers and she has presented her work both nationally and internationally as well as being published in The Choral Journal and the Journal of Voice. She is a member of the National Association for Music Education, the American Choral Directors Association, the National Voice Foundation and the American Organization of Kodaly Educators. She received her Master of Music degree and her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in Music Education degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College. Her mentors include Judy Hanson, Brett Goad, Gerald Olson and Weston Noble.

Professor and Coordinator of Choral Activities

Eric A. Johnson, D.M.A., is the director of choral activities at Northern Illinois University and the founding artistic director of Cor Cantiamo. As a 2019 National Endowment for the Arts Artworks grant recipient, he has been recognized for his artistic leadership, whose ensembles represent “choral artistry at its finest” (Lauridsen). He is a committed champion of contemporary choral music and dedicated to addressing social justice issues through interdisciplinary concert events. Johnson is the 2020 recipient of the Harold Decker Award, given by the Illinois American Choral Directors Association to celebrate his career of quality leadership and service to the art of choral music.

Ensembles under his direction have performed at multiple national and division conventions for the National Collegiate Choral Organization, American Choral Directors Association and the Music Educators National Conference. He has served as a guest conductor at Avery Fisher Hall and the David Geffen Hall; Lincoln Center, toured internationally and prepared choruses for collaborations with professional orchestras.

Internationally, Johnson has served as a guest conductor of the Clare College Chapel Choir (Cambridge, England) and the Asian Pacific Activities Conference Choral Festival (Guangzhou, China); taught at Makumira University (Arusha, Tanzania); the Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte (Natal, Brazil); and directed guest choral residencies at Canterbury and Worcester Cathedrals.

As the artistic director of Cor Cantiamo, Johnson has recorded commercial CDs released on the Divine Arts and Centaur Records labels. He has collaborated with many leading composers of our time including Dominick DiOrio, Stacey Gibbs, Libby Larsen, Morten Lauridsen, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Timothy C. Takach, Sir John Tavener and James Whitbourn.

Johnson has published music with Santa Barbara Music Publishing, served as a music editor for Earthsongs Publications and has published articles in the Choral Journal. He is active nationally as a clinician and guest conductor for high school and collegiate honor choirs and regularly conducts choral/orchestral masterworks works with both collegiate and professional ensembles.

Tickets

Tickets for School of Music concerts are available online only. There are prices for adults, seniors, faculty and staff and non-NIU students. NIU students are admitted free of charge to all performances with pre-reserved tickets. Most recitals are not ticketed.

Programs

Livestream

Most NIU concerts and recitals are available to watch on our livestream.

Upcoming Events

The NIU College of Visual and Performing arts puts on more than 200 live performances and exhibitions every year. See what’s coming up next in the School of Music, School of Art and Design, School of Theatre and Dance and the NIU Art Museum.