Concert Program
Large Ensemble Concert Series
NIU Choral Concert
NIU Concert Choir
NIU Chamber Choir
NIU University Chorus
Eric Johnson, director, NIU Concert Choir and Chamber Choir
Mary Lynn Doherty, director, University Chorus
Thursday, October 15, 2026
7 p.m.
Boutell Memorial Concert Hall
Program
NIU Chamber Choir |
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| Mass in G Minor (1921) |
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) |
| Mary Kepplinger, Kayti Miller, Matthew Ellis, Daniel Chukwunyem, Soloists | |
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Translation My soul doth magnify the Lord: and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. And his mercy is on them that fear him: throughout all generations. |
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| Prayer |
Hanna Havrylets (1958-2022) |
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Maia Orlovski, Soloist |
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Translation Holy Mother of God, hear us. |
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| Waiting on the World to Change |
arr. Deke Sharon (b. 1967) |
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Sondos Hassan, Serge Dulang, Soloists |
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| Citizens of the Neon Republic | Saunder Choi (b. 1988) |
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Brayden Dulin, Vibraphone |
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University Chorus |
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| Ubi Caritas, Op. 10, No. 1 |
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) |
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Translation Where there is charity and love, God is there. |
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| Way, Haul Away | arr. by Sid Robinovitch (b.1942) |
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Mvt. 1 from the Choral Sea Trilogy |
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| Al Shlosha D’varim |
Allan E. Naplan (b.1972) |
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Soloist: |
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Translation The world is sustained by three things: |
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| Salmo 150 |
Ernani Aguiar (b.1950) |
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Translation Praise the Lord in his sacred places, |
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NIU Concert Choir |
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| We Can Mend the Sky | Jake Runestad (b.1986) |
| Kayla Reisenbichler, Soprano | |
| Justorum Animae | William Byrd (1540-1623) |
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Translation The souls of the just are in the hand of God, |
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| Hard Times | arr. Craig Hella Johnson (b.1962) |
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Maggie Garner, Soloist |
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| Walk Together Children |
Moses Hogan (1957-2003) |
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Bayanihan |
Arianne Abela (b. 1986) |
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Translation Let’s all be together Come on, come on In hardship or in good times I heard that someone is moving Bayanihan, Bayanihan Eat already Thank you |
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Personnel
Qingyun Zheng, Accompanist
Isabella Froh
Maggie Garner
Sondos Hassan
Jessica Holtz
Annalee Kalbfleisch
Mary Kepplinger
Kayti Miller
Maia Orlovsky
Thalila Sisou
Daniel Chukwunywm
Joseph Docken
Serge Dulang
Mattew Ellis
Jake Foland
Angel Morales
Lucas Smardo
Erik Vazquez
Conductor: Mary Lynn Doherty
Qingyun Zheng, Accompanist
| Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass |
| Rudo Barnes Ashley Esser Vanna Francone Jasmine Gothard Skyla Johnson Hannah Jorgensen Jocelyn Kuntz Mei Lin McDermott Angelica McDuffie Ash McNamara Leah Ortega Gracie Puricelli Shay Schehl |
Sydney Babcock Clare Bauer Samantha Botello Takiya Dixon Noah Funk Laura Gonzalez Abigail Higginson Eva James Asher Ketchum Alessandria Lewis G. Mayotte Gavin Murray |
Jordan Baker Lotus Barnes Duane Bright Bryn Callahan Matt Gilleran Marley Kershaw Jeremy Passini |
Philip Dike Iain Goetz Gabe Greenfield Wolfgang Jones Angel Morales Will Pierce |
Minjung Kim, Accompanist
| Soprano | Tenor | Alto | Bass |
| Mikayla Ahren Alecia Bartolo Jennalee Cox Maggie Garner Julia Hart Lyric Johnson Emily Kmetz Maia Orlovsky Miranda Perez Bethany Polega Chenoa Randolph Kyla Reisenbichler Willow Sabani |
Serge Dulang Matthew Ellis Jake Foland Gabriel Galindo Eduardo Garcia Erik Vazquez A.J. Villa |
Spencer Alvarez Kyra Bradford Talia Grzelak Sondos Hassan Jessica Holtz Madison Kellett Alex Mascorro Kayti Miller Dulce Nepomuceno Lindsey Surdam Niya Teague Chloe Weeks |
Dwayne Brown Zack Corradi Joseph Docken Jacob Lawver Lucas Smardo Nolan Valyou |
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.