ARIZONA WOMEN'S COLLABORATIVE
WELCOME TO OUR 5TH ANNUAL NEW WORKS EVENT
"EARTH: Honoring Our Planet Through Art"
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SOL SINGERS
Aia lā ‘o Pele i Hawai‘I
Music by Jace Kaholokula Saplan
Tiffany Uluwehi O’Neill, Ipu Drum
Koudjay
Music by Sydney Guillaume
Sol Singers is a choir for individuals with higher voices— sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, and altos. This ensemble brings people together to create music that is inclusive, informative, and a catalyst for friendship and community. We all come from different backgrounds, making it the perfect group for all students at ASU who want to participate in a choir regardless of major or background. We strive to improve the musical development of every member in areas such as musicianship and vocal technique.
PROGRAM NOTES
Aia lā ‘o Pele i Hawai‘I:
In Hawai‘I, Pele is a diety synonymous with creation, associated with volcanic activity, embodied by the lava and phenomena associated with eruptions. This piece pays tribute to a text often chanted to honor her presence and to the recent volcanic eruption of Kīlauea that destroyed large parts of the eastern side of Hawai‘I island in 2018. While the eruption was met with destruction and devastation to the western eye, Hawaiian knowledge leaves room for wonder, awe, regrowth, and regeneration. The disaster brought a keen awareness of the power of Pele, the importance of ritual, and strength of community.
Koudjay :
“A time for everything, and everything in its time.” Sydney Guillaume’s Koudjay plays on the idea that there is a time to sow and reap, and then there is a time to celebrate. As the AWC celebrates the earth today, we remember that after all of our work, one of the things we must do with our time together here is to dance!
TRANSLATIONS:
Aia lā ‘o Pele i Hawai‘i
Aia lā ‘o Pele i Hawai‘i ‘eā
Ke ha‘a mai lā i Maukele ‘eā
‘Ūhī‘ūhā mai ana ‘eā
Ke nome a‘e lā iā Puna, ‘eā
‘Owaka i ka lani, nokenoke
Ē Pele ē Pele ē.
I hea kāua e la‘i ai ‘eā?
I ka ‘ale nui a‘e li‘a nei ‘eā
'Ā i luna , 'ā i lalo, ne'ene'e ‘eā
‘O Pele ka wahine mai Kahiki ‘eā
‘Owaka i ka lani, nokenoke
Ē Pele ē Pele ē.
Ha‘ina ‘ia mai ka puana ‘eā
Aia lā ‘o Pele i Hawai‘i ‘eā
Ke nome a‘e lā iā Puna, ‘eā
‘Owaka i ka lani, nokenoke
Ē Pele ē Pele ē.
—traditional Hawaiian chant
Pele is in Hawai‘i
Pele is in Hawai‘i
She is dancing at Maukele
She rumbles and mutters
As she consumes Puna.
Flashing in the heavens, on and on
O Pele, Pele.
Where will we find peace?
On the great billows we love
Blazing above, blazing below, hitching along
Pele is the woman from Kahiki
Flashing in the heavens, on and on
O Pele, Pele.
This is the end of my song
Pele is in Hawai‘i
As she consumes Puna.
Flashing in the heavens, on and on
O Pele, Pele.
Koudjay
Yon lè pou plante
Yon lè pou rekòlte.
Yon lè pou travay
Yon lè pou koudjay.
Jodi-a se repoze.
Jodi-a se banboche.
Majòjon, pran devan,
Mizisyen annavan!
Bat tanbou joue tronpèt,
Violon ak clarinet.
Mizisyen, kantado, an nou taye banda
An nou chante, danse merenge, kalinda,
Jodi-a se koudjay.
Nap fete tèt kale
San danje, san traka
Nap chante, nap danse
La vi-a mande sa.
Tout la sent jounen nap travay
Nap redi, nap fè bèl bagay.
Nou plante, nou plante,
Nou simen, aroze.
Kouniea, an nou repoze,
Nou dwe repoze, danse merenge
Kouniea, an nou banboche,
Danse kalinda, danse, zouke
Annatandan nou rekòlte.
“Un temps pour chaque chose,
et chaque chose en son temps”
Se yon pawol sakre ke nou dwe obsève
Mizisyen annavan, jodi-a se koudjay
Taye banda, danse, zouke,
Jodi-a se koudjay
—Gabriel T. Guillaume
Koudjay
A time to sow
and a time to reap.
A time for work
and a time for leisure.
Today we rest.
Today we celebrate.
Drum major, lead on,
Musicians, play on!
Beat the drums, blow the trumpet,
Play the violin and clarinet.
Musicians, singers, let’s show them what we got.
Let’s sing, dance meringue and kalinda,
Today is the big feast!
We will party like there’s no tomorrow
With no fear, nor danger
We’ll sing and dance
As life requires it.
All day long we’ve been at work
Laboring, making a difference.
We sowed and planted,
We scattered and watered.
Now it’s time to relax,
We must take a break and dance meringue.
Now it’s time to let go,
Time to kalinda and ‘zouk’
While we await the harvest.
“A time for everything,
and everything in its time.”
That is a sacred quote that we must observe!
Musicians, play on, it’s party time!
Dance and ‘zouk’ like there’s no tomorrow,
Today is “Koudjay”!
Conductor:
Colin Cossi is a choral and vocal artist based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is pursuing a Masters of Music in Choral Conducting at Arizona State University. He conducts the Sol Singers, assistant-conducts the Concert Choir, and assistant conducts the Phoenix Boys Choir. Additionally, he has taught Choral Conducting, co-taught Choral Methods, and was co-chorus-master to the ASU Opera Chorus. Before arriving to ASU, he taught elementary music from 2016-2018, and middle and high school choir from 2018-2022 in Washington State. He has a passion for serving artists of all ages and abilities. He brings dynamic energy, excellent musicianship, and vulnerability to a variety of musical projects. With community, inclusion, justice, and story-telling as a lens for music making, he approaches the vocal arts as a multifaceted practitioner and pedagogue. His skills in singing, educating, conducting, composing, and writing serve to bring people across all sorts of difference together through music.
Jace Saplan, Director of Choral Activities
Dr. Jace Kaholokula Saplan (they/he) serves as Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music Learning & Teaching and Choral Conducting at Arizona State University where they oversee the graduate program in choral conducting, conduct the ASU Concert Choir, and teach courses in choral literature and pedagogy that weave decolonial and critical theories with communal vocal practice.
In addition to their work in academia and classical music, Dr. Saplan is known as a national thought leader and consultant in enacting social change and equity-driven practice through the choral arts. Dr. Saplan is an Obama Asia-Pacific Leader through the Obama Foundation for the 2022-2023 year. They also serve as a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Access, and Belonging consultant for arts organizations throughout the country, such as Choral Arts Northwest, The Phoenix Chamber Choir, and The Guitar Federation of America.
As a Kanaka Maoli advocate, artist, and culture bearer, Dr. Saplan is also the artistic director of Nā Wai Chamber Choir, a vocal ensemble based in Hawaiʻi dedicated to the preservation, propagation, and innovation of Hawaiian choral music. Under Dr. Saplan’s direction, Nā Wai recorded a Global Music Award-winning album entitled Eō Liliʻuoklani under the Mālama Music label and performed for the 2021 Chorus America Summer Conference, the 2021 National American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Conference, and the 2020 ACDA Western Region Conference in Salt Lake.
Prior to their appointment at Arizona State University, Dr. Saplan was the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Hawai’i and conductor of the UH Chamber Singers. Under their direction the UH Chamber Singers sang as an auditioned choir at the 2022 ACDA Western Division Conference in Long Beach. The ensemble also performed at the Musica Pasifika Festival in Tahiti in 2020, and at the Pasifika Choral Symposium in Guam in 2019.
Dr. Saplan’s research focuses on the performance practice of Pasifika choral traditions and Queen Lili’uokalani’s choral compositions; decolonial approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the choral classroom; intersections of choral pedagogy, gender, and sexuality in communities of color; and trauma informed practice and boundary building with BBIA (Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian) music educators. Their scholarship on these topics has also led them to lead clinics at the state, regional, and national level for the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Educators, National Collegiate Choral Organization, and the LGBTQ Studies in Music Education Conference.
Sol Singers Roster
Samantha Adams Elizabeth Arnold Lauren Berry Morgan Blackgoat Paige Boulter Laura Cable Eva Fellner Yixian Feng Aria Gibbons Corrina Green Karen Hernandez Corinne Kisicki Arija Kruze Siena Liljegren Kaylyn Manlove-Simmons Melissa Morazan Oliver Padegimas Aleezeh Siddiqui Jean Sullivan Kendal Turpin Dania Urena Deviny Vega Sonya Viquesney
HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THE EARTH
“How Beautiful Is the Earth” invokes the thoughts, feelings, and call to action that one experiences when surrounded by gorgeous nature. The music brings to life several key elements of nature, including rain, growth, and stillness, which is reflected through musical motifs. The piece introduces moments of calm, regret, and action; it is meant to recall those key moments with nature that exist within all of our memories, as well as inspire every person to take action and protect our planet so that future generations can experience and be moved by nature as much as we are.
Phoebe Leong is a composer based in Tempe, AZ (USA). A student at Arizona State University (ASU). Phoebe (b. 2000) began composing at the age of 5 with East Valley Yamaha Music
School. She is experienced in composing both instrumental and electronic music. She has won awards for the Yamaha Junior Original Composition Concert (2010, 2011), the Golden Key International Composition Competition (2012, 2016), and had a piece commissioned and premiered at the PRISMs New Music Festival (Tempe, AZ, 2021). She will be graduating with her
Bachelor of Music in Music Composition in May 2023.
Amanda Stone is a senior at Arizona State University studying mechanical engineering with a minor in voice performance. During college, Amanda has participated in Barrett Choir, Sol Singers, New American Choir, and Gospel Choir, and volunteers as a soloist at several churches. She has been the Assistant Conductor of the Gilbert Youth Choir and International Virtual Children’s Choir, and Assistant Music Director for two new musicals. She also recently released her first original album Finding which is available on all streaming platforms. She will begin her PhD in mechanical engineering in the fall, and will continue to grow musically.
CYCLES
Marissa Barnathan (she/her) – Marissa is pursuing her MFA in Directing at ASU, currently in her 2nd year of the three year program. She is a multi-hyphenate artist who works as a director, choreographer, dancer, singer, actor, and activist. Recent productions at ASU include: The Rake's Progress (Choreographer & Assistant Director), The Wolves (Director), Safe at Home (Choreographer), La Comedia of Errors (Choreo. & Asst. Director), and Healing Wars (Asst. Director). Marissa uses the performing arts as a vehicle for positive social change, so she is thrilled to be a part of AWC, both on the leadership team and as an artist! #breakupwithplastic www.marissabarnathan.com
Praised for her versatility, South Georgia native Yophi Adia Bost is a passionate educator and performer of several genres. She has performed professionally in genres ranging from Musical Theatre to Opera to Jazz for over 20 years. She received her BM in Choral Music Education with a MT minor from UNC Greensboro, and her MM in Musical Theatre/Opera from Arizona State University. Currently, she is based in Phoenix, AZ teaching voice in the Popular Music Program at ASU, and on the Voice Faculty at Chandler Gilbert Community College. She strives to spread love, light and laughter on and offstage. Instagram: @yophiadiamusic
Meili Huang is an undergraduate student at Arizona State University. She is currently in her third year of college. Meili is a transfer student from Chandler-Gilbert Community College. She performed and danced in the Chandler-Gilbert Dance Company for 2 years. She is going to school to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance. Meili learned about her passion for dance in high school. She graduated from Desert Ridge High School in the year 2020. Meili’s favorite styles of dance are Contemporary and Hip-Hop. She enjoys learning about all the different styles of dance. Meili loves to spend time with her friends and loving family in her free time.
Deanna Rusnock is pursuing her Master’s Degree in Composition and Theory with Piano at Arizona State University. A composer and multi-instrumentalist, Deanna won ASU’s Composition Competition for the 2021-2022 school year, has previously been runner-up in the 2020 Women’s Orchestra of Arizona Composition Competition and writes for a wide variety of ensembles. Deanna most recently collaborated with Jennifer Koh and the ARCO Collaborative in their “Alone Together” concert series. From accordion, banjo, and bagpipes, to MIDI-based video game music, Deanna loves portraying stories and scenes through her music, and aims to create music that is vibrant in color.
Kylie Wright is an undergraduate student at Arizona State University. She is currently a third year in the Dance BFA program, and a student in Barrett. Growing up in Virginia, she had the pleasure of dancing with Richmond Ballet as a Trainee for two years, and Ballet Theatre of Maryland for one. She earned her associate in dance at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland, and moved to Arizona with her boyfriend shortly after, in the summer of 2021. She has a passion for performing, seeking to bring joy, inspiration, and awareness to audiences through her art.
THE MOON THE STARS, THE SKY; LEARNING TO SEE
“The Moon, The Sky, The Stars: Learning to See” is a spoken-word piece accompanied by electronics. It started with the poem “Trickster” by our own Ari Agha. Oliver! Padegimas wrote a piece in response like a game of telephone. With the suggestion of highlighting important words from both pieces by Stephanie Sadownik, the pieces were combined. Both lyricists are performing the text, and the electronics were composed by Oliver! Padegimas, with help from freesounds.org users, and two- and four-legged members of Oliver!’s family.
Ari Agha (they/them) is a genderqueer creator, performer, researcher, writer and animal lover. A fierce advocate of feminism, they devote their life to social justice. Singing and the voice are at the center of their work. Key of T, their interdisciplinary performance project uses their experience of transgender voice transition with testosterone to create space in beliefs about what it means to be a (mis)gendered human with a range of multiple, simultaneous, and contextualized identities. Ari has a Ph.D. in sociology and is pursuing an M.M. in voice performance/pedagogy.
Oliver! Fractal Padegimas is a nonbinary/genderfreak ASU student, double majoring in Music Composition and Computational Mathematical Sciences. This is zir first collaboration with the Arizona Women’s Collaborative, and ze is excited to see how the Group F piece turns out. As a mathematician, ze prefers to work with algebra over geometry, and as a composer, Oliver likes to write for inclusivity, accessibility, and inspire others to allow freedom of self in their lives. On the side, Oliver enjoys training zir service dog, Pippa, who is part of the inspiration of much of zir work.
WHEN THE EARTH STOPS SINGING
Alexandra Chea is a classically trained clarinetist born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. Currently, she is pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona under the direction of Dr. Robert Spring and Dr. Joshua Gardner where she also obtained her Master's of Music in Clarinet Performance. In 2020, Alexandra co-founded Venn Duo and has since performed at several international clarinet conferences premiering new works with her duo partner. She has performed as a soloist with the Bahamas National Symphony Orchestra and has been a member of the orchestra since 2014. Additionally, she has substituted with the Harrisburg Opera Association, the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, Tempe Winds, and Harrisburg Youth Orchestra.
Addison Hill (she/they) is a composer, artist, and musician from Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently a sophomore music composition student at ASU. As a lover and observer of all things art, Addison views her compositional process similar to that of a sculptor, painter, or stylist. Her works are a sonic, messy, and vulnerable collage of her own identity and viewpoint of the world. Addison’s works are a protest to everything and anything as she always strives to create radically, crafting each work through the lens of maximalism. Besides composing music, Addison teaches piano lessons, sings and leads an acapella group at ASU called the Devil Clefs, and provides love and support to her needy cat (which is definitely a full time job).
IT NEVER RAINS IN JUAREZ
Simonne Campos is a senior Transborder Studies major and Justice Studies minor. While her past couple of years have been dedicated to research and education on border communities and migration studies, the stage has always had her heart. Simonne is thrilled to be a part of the AWC concert performing meaningful work that brings awareness to not only climate change, but the environmental disparities found at the US-Mexico border. She hopes to continue researching and performing meaningful work that brings our communities closer together and uplifts underrepresented voices.
Paulina Magallanes is a second year Theatre (Acting) and Film major, with a Minor in Spanish Literature and Culture. Although she is a dedicated screenwriter, Paulina has spent the past five years conducting academic research on climate issues, specifically factory farming. Her driving force in Theater and Film has been to compose authentic stories about underrepresented communities. Through AWC, Paulina has found a group where she feels she truly belongs, and where her narratives can communicate powerful messages. Ecstatic about presenting her work for the first time, Paulina hopes to bring light to the environmental issues imposed on the border of both her national countries.
BUT I GO ON FOREVER
Corrina Green is a 3rd year Music Learning and Teaching Student. She is the president of the Sol Singers choir club as well as on the leadership team for ASU's ACDA chapter. This is her 2nd year working with AWC and her 1st in an individual capacity. She hopes to continue working with this great group in the future.
Tianrun Long is a composer from Hunan, China. She focuses on contemporary classical solo and chamber music and is interested in developing intermedia works and electroacoustic music. She always looks for collaborations that bring new expressions and the possibility of art and takes the whole process as a precious journey. Tianrun developed a composition project with her friend, Rongmei An, collaborating with music therapists and mental health patients. And premiered the first work, Silence Talks, with the Unheard-of ensemble in July 2022.
Tianrun earned her master's and bachelor's degree from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University and participated in various music festivals. And now, she started her doctoral program study at Arizona State University.
An expressive musician and sensitive collaborator, Mackenzie Lyn Marr made her orchestral debut at age sixteen with the Augusta Symphony Orchestra. Currently based in Phoenix, Mackenzie is a doctoral student at Arizona State University where she studies with Andrew Campbell. She has had additional studies at SongFest, Source Song Festival, the Castleman Quartet Program, Bay View Music Festival (Opera Fellow), The Atlantic Music Festival, and the Chamber Music Institute at Holy Cross.
Mackenzie holds a master's degree in collaborative piano from the University of Maryland where she studied with Rita Sloan, as well as a master’s in piano performance from the University of Georgia where she studied with Liza Stepanova and specialized in piano pedagogy.
STARS, CAVES, GRASS, US
R Kelvin McCartney Adesso (they/them) is a composer, pianist, and soprano currently pursuing a Master’s degree in composition at Arizona State University. As a performer and composer, Kelvin is interested in creating music in collaboration with musicians which explores the topics of queerness, disability, and neurodiversity. Kelvin is working on a song cycle on these topics which illustrates moments and images through extended vocal techniques and percussion. They have been commissioned to write for the ASU Philharmonia which will premiere in April 2023.
Abby Berg is a second year Music Therapy student at Arizona State University, as well as a member of the flute studio under the instruction of Dr. Elizabeth Buck. She’s had a fantastic time working with the AWC and her group on this concert. She’s looking forward to being able to present their work at this concert.
Kimberly Marsh is a senior pursuing her degree in Vocal Performance at Arizona State University. This is her first time working with the Arizona Women’s Collaborative and she is so thankful to be a part of such an amazing, creative process. Working with her fellow members in Team G and having the opportunity to pour herself into a unique composition will be an experience she’ll carry with her for years to come! Thank you for supporting the AWC and our many fabulous artists!
A STORM WE CALL PROGRESS
SCENES FROM A CHAMBER OPERA
Laurana Wheeler Roderer is a violinist and librettist committed to artistry, engagement, and activism, and she is continually envisioning and executing projects which use music to communicate relevant social issues, particularly those of environmental justice. Laurana completed her undergraduate degree in violin performance at Utah State University, where she studied with Robert Waters and the Fry Street Quartet. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts at Arizona State University with Dr. Katherine McLin.
CAST
ALMA: Zoë Cummard (She/Her)- Zoë is overjoyed to have the opportunity to be a part of the Arizona Women’s Collaborative. Zoë is a senior Music Learning and Teaching and Vocal Performance double major and has most recently finished performing in ASU’s production of The Rake’s Progress. She has found so much fulfillment and joy with the AWC, both as a leadership team member and as a performer.
NORA: Lindsey Clouse is in her junior year at Arizona State University as a Music Learning and Teaching Major. At ASU Lindsey is currently studying with Carlos Feliciano. She has been performing with two choirs this year, ASU’s Gospel Choir and the Tempe Institute Choir and she has really enjoyed being a part of both of them. Lindsey is excited to be a part of this AWC performance.
HUXLEY: Shaul Leket-Mor is a first year graduate student at ASU. He finished his undergraduate studies at the Peabody Institute in 2017. He was previously in the opera choruses of The Rake’s Progress, Il Tabarro, and Pride and Prejudice. He has been performing professionally in the valley with Arizona Opera in Carmen and Tosca, and Arizona Musicfest in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and the Creation.
Stephen Kuebelbeck holds his Masters in Collaborative Piano from Arizona State University where he played with the Chamber Choir, Music Theatre and Opera, and various ensembles and student recitals. He also holds bachelor’s degrees in applied physics and piano performance. He was the 2018 grand prize winner of the Saint Cloud Symphony Orchestra’s Young Performer’s Competition and performed Beethoven’s second piano concerto with the orchestra. He has performed in dozens of community musical theatre productions throughout central Minnesota and several in the Phoenix metro. Currently, Stephen is busy freelancing as a vocal coach at ASU and the primary keyboardist for the 22/23 season at The Phoenix Theatre Company, whose next production, The Prom, runs from June 7th-July 9th.
GRATITUDE
There are so many amazing people who have helped this cycle come together.
Thank you to the amazing AWC members who have all volunteered their time and talent for this project. They are wonderful dynamic people who create with deep intention and care. I hope this has proved to be a gratifying experience for them.
Thank you to Sol Singers for being a mainstay in our cycles!
Thank you to Laurana and Addison for showcasing their pieces at our concert.
Thank you to the Tempe First United Methodist Church for supporting the AWC; our work and our values.
Gratitude to Music Makers Workshop, Ahwatukee for donating the use of their PA system and to ASU's Music Theatre and Opera program for donating the use of their video camera. Thank you to Stephen Kuebelbeck who coached opera scenes.
Many many thanks to the incredible Leadership Team this year!
Marissa Barnathan, Yophi Bost, Zoe Cummard, Karen Kelly, Michelle Perez, and Stephanie Weiss. This truly would not have happened without your drive and dedication.
All the gratitude to all who have supported us and continue to support the AWC, new works, and marginalized voices.
THANK YOU!
-Stephanie Sadownik, Artistic Director