SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY CHORALE

Proudly Presents a World Premiere Concert

LOVE

Sunday, October 23, 2022

3:00pm at Zion Lutheran Church, Sunbury

About the work

SVC is pleased to present a moving new commission written by Conductor and Music Director, William Payn. This work features settings of poetry about love and human connection. We welcome back two audience favorite soloists for this event. A special reception will follow the performance to celebrate this momentous occasion. You’ll have the opportunity to meet the poets that inspired this composition.

About the composer

Through the ages, poets have written about love in its many forms. Their words are often inspiring and speak eloquently of the human condition and the inexplicable need for connection. Bill Payn has composed this new multi-movement choral work, called LOVE. The piece is written for SATB (divisi) chorus, soprano and baritone soloists (plus soloists within the chorus) and string orchestra (or quintet). As you know, Bill has served as music director and conductor of the Susquehanna Valley Chorale (SVC) for over twenty years. The Chorale graciously granted him a six-month sabbatical with the understanding he would create a multi-movement work to be premiered by the Chorale. When the pandemic forced musicians to re-imagine performances, the SVC provided a connection with singers, audience members and supporters with three major virtual performances throughout 2020 and 2021.
Because of COVID, the Board realized that this would be a perfect opportunity (when large community choruses couldn’t comfortably rehearse or perform) to give Bill total freedom to create a major work. Bill states in one of his journal entries: “Having extended time to compose has been pure heaven and a luxury I truly appreciate. I am keeping a journal each day about the creative process and my experiences as a composer. As of this writing I have completed four movements including a setting of E.E. Cummings I Carry Your Heart with Me. Currently, I am in the process of completing a fifth movement with a setting of The Meaning of the Visits by Harrisburg’s Poet Laureate Rick Kearns.”
Each of the ten movements of this new work have been dedicated to someone … living or dead … that is/was directly connected to the chorale and has had a signification impact on the organization. We thank them for their support, their service, and their love.

About the soloists

Lynn Eustis

soprano

Lynn Eustis, soprano, is currently Director of Graduate Studies in Music and Associate Professor of Voice at Boston University, where she joined the faculty in fall 2012. From 1999-2012 she served on the voice faculty at the University of North Texas, where she was also Director of Graduate Studies in Music. She holds the Doctor of Music degree in opera from Florida State University, a Master of Music degree in opera from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Bucknell University, Phi Beta Kappa.

She continues to sing actively, and she has been heard with organizations such as Chorus Pro Musica (Boston), Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Dallas Bach Society, and the Choral Society of Durham, NC, in works such as Gloria (Poulenc), Les Noces (Stravinsky), Dona nobis pacem (Vaughan Williams), Mozart’s C Minor Mass, Carmina burana (Orff) and Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (Barber). She has been heard internationally with the Americke Jaro Festival (Czech Republic), the Compania Lirica Nacional (Costa Rica), and the Guangzhou Symphony (China). Dr. Eustis has sung over thirty operatic roles, most notably the title roles in Lucia di Lammermoor and The Daughter of the Regiment, Zerbinetta, Olympia, Pamina, Susanna, Rosina, and Gilda. Recordings include Carmina burana (Klavier, 2003), featured soloist on Innisfree (GIA Publications, 2007) and Portraits: New Music for Soprano, Baritone and Piano (Capstone, 2007). With Westminster Williamson Voices she appeared as the title soloist in the U.S. premiere of James Whitbourn’s Annelies: The Anne Frank Oratorio, a work for which she continues to be in demand.

Dr. Eustis is the author of A Singer’s Epiphany: Faith, Music, and Mortality; The Singer’s Ego: Finding Balance Between Music and Life, Finding Middle Ground (two volumes of songs for teaching young voices); and The Teacher’s Ego: When Singers Become Voice Teachers, all published by GIA Publications in Chicago. She maintains a studio of both undergraduate and graduate students at Boston University. Her students have been heard with Chautauqua Opera, Academy of the West, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Dallas Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Central City Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Ohio Light Opera, Opera North, Concert Royal (NYC), Amor Artis (NYC), Brooklyn Lyric Opera, New Jersey Opera Theater, the Vancouver Early Music Festival, and the Boston Early Music Festival.

Dr. Eustis is a native of Long Island, New York. For more information, please see: www.lynneustis.com

Daniel Teadt

baritone

With a career spanning four continents, internationally acclaimed baryton-Martin Daniel Teadt is well known for his decades long experience on the recital, concert, and operatic stage.

Daniel performs major roles throughout the United States and Europe including engagements with New York City Opera, Arizona Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, San Francisco Opera, Anchorage Opera, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Ashlawn Opera Festival, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Central City Opera among many others.

Concert highlights include Grammy Award winning performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, guest appearances with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Akron Symphony, I Pomeriggi Musicale di Milano, Concerto Köln, Riverside Symphonia, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Resonance Works, Bell’Art Ensemble, Het Gelder Orkest, Orquestra Symphonique de Minais Gerais, Conspirare, Canticum Novum and the Orchestras of the San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera.

Recital appearances include the Ravinia Festival Steans Institute, New York Festival of Song, Music In A Great Space Recital Series, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, Pittsburgh Song Collaborative, Lyric Fest of Philadelphia, San Francisco Opera Schwabacher Debut Recital Series as well as venues across the US and Europe.

Daniel is a Professor of Voice at Carnegie Mellon University and lectures on English and American Song Literature.  Masterclasses and Voice Residencies include major universities and institutions across the United States, Brazil, China, and Qatar.

Daniel’s recordings include releases from EMI Classics, Navona and Naxos Records.

Follow Daniel on Instagram and Facebook: @danielteadtvoice

www.danielteadt.com

And a little something extra…

Join us for a fun meet-and-greet reception after the concert! The event will feature a raffle, giving all attendees the chance to win one of these fabulous prizes:
  1. Case of wine from Shade Mt. Winery – valued at $125
  2. Guest suite stay at the Rusty Rail, Mifflinburg on on March 26, 2023. Come hear A Dylan Oratorio, then relax and enjoy your evening in style – valued at $160
  3. Signed copy of LOVE – priceless!
  4. Also, autographed books from poet Virginia Smith
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by cash, check, or credit card. All proceeds go directly to SVC.