Recent Performances

The VCC proudly presents a concert featuring modern interpretations of a sacred American art form– one that is deeply rooted in a complex history and that sprung from a time of immense strife and pain. But one that also celebrates the inimitable resilience of the human spirit. You will hear arrangements from the last 40 years by composers such as Moses Hogan, Jack Halloran, Rollo Dillworth, Rosephanye Powell, and Alice Parker, among others. Full chorus followed by Tenor/Bass chorus, a 16-voiced mixed ensemble, and soloists take you on a journey that speaks to the enduring strength of a truly American invention– the Spritual that speaks today.

The concert is free and a reception will follow the performance!

Free parking is available at the Vanderbilt West Parking Garage on Children’s Way, directly across from Blair School of Music.

Join us for an evening of choral beauty and seasonal reflection as the Vanderbilt Community Chorus continues its 25th anniversary celebration with a concert that honors the turning of time and the richness of fall.

This autumnal program features Jake Runestad’s stirring Come to the Woods as its centerpiece—a vivid musical journey through nature’s grandeur and solitude. The concert also includes:

• Autumn by Ola Gjeilo
• Abide by Dan Forrest
• Harvest by Jacob Narverud
• Blow Winds of Fall by John Parker & Greg Gilpin
• The Peace of Wild Things by Sean Ivory
• Dante’s Prayer by Riley Crabtree — a heartfelt original work by one of our own chorus members

As the leaves turn and the air deepens, we invite you to gather with us in song—rooted in tradition, rising in harmony, and reflecting on the season’s quiet beauty.

Join the VCC as we celebrate a milestone: 25 years of choral excellence at Vanderbilt! There will be video interviews between pieces that bring together the rich history of the choir, and set the stage for how each piece on the program played an important part in the life of the VCC.

The first of its 25th Anniversary season concerts, the Community Chorus will perform portions of JS Bach’s monumental Mass in B Minor, accompanied by professional orchestra members from the Nashville community. Dubbed by many as perhaps the greatest work in Western music history, the Mass in B Minor takes the listener on a journey through various musical styles set to texts from the Catholic mass.

Join the VCC as we celebrate our many differences that make us all one tapestry, woven together through a kindred desire for peace and unity in troubled times. Selections feature living composers who promote inclusivity through their artistry. The sounds of our voices will rise alongside drums, tone chimes, and a string quartet of talented students from the Blair School.

The VCC celebrates the mystery of the heart of winter, with the many sensations it evokes– solitude, darkness, cold, but also light, togetherness, and beauty. Our repertoire showcases works by many living composers, ending with a stirring arrangement of “Auld Lang Syne” as we toast the New Year together in song.

The VCC performs some of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most beloved choral works with orchestra and organ, including the Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the Solemn Vespers K. 339, and the unfogettable “Ave Verum Corpus.”

For our post-COVID debut performance we celebrated the works of Stephen Sondheim, genius composer of many beloved musicals, with selections from “Sweeney Todd,” “Company,” “Into the Woods,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” and many others.

The Song That Goes Like This from Spamalot — John DuPrez & Eric Idle, Sam Cummins & MC Davidson, soloists

If Ever I Would Leave You — Alan Lerner & Fred Loewe from Camelot, Sam Cummins, solo

Night and Day — Cole Porter, Becky Young, solo

When I Fall in Love — Victor Young & Edward Heyman, Riley Crabtree, Erika Leicht, David Linn, Susan Wood, soloists

Stars and Moon — Jason Robert Brown from Songs for a New World, Zarabeth Davis, solo

Let Me Call You Sweetheart — Leo Friedman & Beth Slater Whitson, Riley Crabtree, Sam Cummins, David Linn, Brian Wilcox, soloists

Adelaide’s Lament –Frank Loesser from Guys and Dolls Elaine Braun, solo

I’ve Got a Crush on You — George and Ira Gershwin, Zarabeth Davis, Emily Rich, Susan Wood, soloists

It Had to be You — Isham Jones & Gus Kahn, Mike Coker, solo

At Last — Mack Gordon & Harry Warren, Natalie Boyd, solo

Liebeslieder Waltzer, Op. 52 Johannes Brahms

Horacio Guendulain & Nicholas Bergin, pianists Audrey Bounds & Dustin Derryberry, soloists Laura Powell & Hal Reid, Ballroom Dancers

Trois Chansons — Maurice Ravel (1835-1937)

Cantique de Jean Racine — Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

Requiem Op. 48 — Gabriel Fauré Ben Troxler, Baritone Susan Wood, Soprano

Sing All Ye Joyful [text: JRR Tolkein] — Ruth Watson Henderson (b. 1932)

My Cathedral [text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow] — Christina Whitten Thomas (b. 1979)

Be Like the Bird [text: Victor Hugo] — Abbie Betinis (b. 1980) Audrey Bounds, Natalie Boyd (solo), Zarabeth Davis, Alyson Graham, Emily Kimball

Three Selections based on sacred texts

Nada te Turbe [text: Saint Theresa of Avila] — Joan Szymko (b. 1957) Emily Azzarito, cello

My Master from a Garden Rose [text: Gordon Young] — Eleanor Daley (b. 1955)

Non Nobis, Domine [biblical text] — Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962)

The Promise of Light [text: Len Schiff] — Georgia Stitt (b. 1972)

Emily Kimball, Alyson Graham, Elizabeth Powell, soprano

Zarabeth Davis, Sarah Loch, Laura Powell, alto

Cody Bartone, Harrison Hall, tenor

Riley Crabtree, John Lyons, Eric Wyse, bass

My Gentle Harp (“Londonderry Air”) [text: Thomas Moore] — arr. Alice Parker (b. 1925) Colleen Murray, harp

The Settling Years: Three Pioneer Texts — Libby Larsen (b. 1950)

Texts by Robert V. Carr and Vesta Pierce Crawford

1. Comin’ to Town
2. Beneath These Alien Stars
3. A Hoopla

Messe de Minuit pour Noel (Midnight Mass for Christmas) — Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1634?-1704)

Magnificat — Ruth Watson Henderson (b. 1932), Elizabeth Powell, solo

Fantasia on Christmas Carols — Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), Jeffrey Williams, guest baritone, Christine Kim, cello

Warm-Up — Leonard Bernstein (1918 – 1990)

Three Selections from Candide — Leonard Bernstein arr. Robert Page

Life Is Happiness Indeed

The Best of All Possible Worlds

Make Our Garden Grow

Chichester Psalms — Leonard Bernstein

Patrick Dailey, Special Guest counter-tenor soloist

Nicholas Bergin, organ; Alan Fey, percussion; Kirsten Agresta Copely, harp

Vanessa Jackson, soprano; Zarabeth Davis, alto; Joshua McCluey, bass

O Magnum Mysterium Giovanni Gabrieli (1557 – 1612)

Jeffrey Keever, Allie Bridger, Peter Gair, trumpet; Samantha Hartsfield, Katie McMurray, French horn; Matt Tuggle, Hiram Rodriguez & Evan Lyons, trombone

O Magnum Mysterium Ivo Antognini (b. 1963)

O Magnum Mysterium Hyo-Won Woo (b. 1974) Morgan Matchok & Greg Gunther, soloists

Hodie, Christus Natus Est G.P. Palestrina (1524 – 1594)

Hodie, Christus Natus Est Kola Owolabi

Jeffrey Keever, & Allie Bridger, trumpet; Samantha Hartsfield, French horn; Matt Tuggle, trombone

Hodie, Christus Natus Est Jonathan Adams (b. 1962) Josh McCluey, solo

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind (William Shakespeare) John Rutter (b. 1945)

Wintertide (Charles Anthony Silvestri) Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978)

Like Snow From Mid-Winter Songs (Robert Graves) Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943)

Alleluia Ralph Manuel (b. 1951)

Have Ye Not Known? & Ye Shall Have a Song From The Peaceable Kingdom Randall Thompson (1899-1984)

O Nata Lux From Lux Aeterna Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943)

Pilgrim’s Hymn From The Three Hermits Stephen Paulus (1949-2014)

Requiem for the Living Dan Forrest (b. 1978)

Cameron Ware, boy solo, Becky Young, soprano solo, Tucker Biddlecombe, tenor solo

Teče Voda, Teče (“Waters Ripple and Flow”) Trad. Czecho-Slovak Folksong/Arr. Deems Taylor Bethany Trainor, solo

I Am the Rose of Sharon William Billings (1746-1800)

At the River arr.Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Hark I Hear the Harps Eternal arr. Alice Parker (b. 1925) Susan Wood, solo

Shenandoah arr. James Erb

How Can I Keep From Singing arr. Ronald Staheli Emily Kimball, solo

Sourwood Mountain arr. John Rutter Mike Coker & Riley Crabtree, solos

Ain’t Got Time to Die Hall Johnson Vanessa Jackson, solo

In His Care-O William Dawson

I’m Gonna Sing Moses Hogan

Two Short Anthems Amy Beach (1867-1944)

Sure on This Shining Night Samuel Barber (1910-1981)

Three Madrigals Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927)

1. O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?
2. Take, O take those lips away
3. Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more!

The Promise of Living Aaron Copland Caitlin Dowling, Betty Polk, piano

To Sappho Riley Crabtree (VCC member b. 1992)

The Word Was God Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962)

Astronaut Anthem Meredith Monk (b. 1942)

Alleluia Jake Runestad (b. 1986)

Beautiful Savior arr. F. Melius Christiansen (combined with all choirs)

How Lovely Are the Messengers Felix Mendelssohn

Ave Verum Corpus (1791) W.A. Mozart

Hallelujah from The Mount of Olives (1803) L. van Beethoven

In His Care-O (1961) William H, Dawson

Ain’t Got Time to Die (1956) arr. Hall Johnson Vanessa Jackson, solo

Let the River Run (1989) Carly Simon arr. Craig Hella Johnson (combined with all choirs)

Quatre Motets sur des Thèmes Grégoriens Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Ubi caritas et amor

Tota pulchra es

Tu es Petrus

Tantum ergo

Requiem Op. 9 Maurice Duruflé Nicholas Bergin, Organist

In Dulci Jubilo Arr. R.L Pearsall (1795-1856)

Spring-2017-Concert-8×11Christmas Night Arr. John Rutter (b. 1945)

Once As I Remember Arr. Charles Wood (1866-1926)

I Wonder As I Wander Arr. John Rutter Rose Christian, solo

Cherry Tree Carol Arr. David Willcocks (1919-2015)

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day Arr. David Willcocks Vanessa Jackson, solo

A Virgin Most Pure Arr. Charles Wood

I Sing of a Maiden Patrick Hadley (1899-1973)

O Little One Sweet Old German melody harmonized by J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Greensleeves arr. Samuel Milligan (b. 1932) Colleen Murray and Margot Revet, harp

There is a Flower John Rutter Susan Wood, solo

Rejoice and Sing From the Christmas Oratorio J.S. Bach

All My Heart this Night Rejoices Johann Georg Ebeling (1637-1676)

I Saw a Maiden Old Basque Noel arr. Edgar Pittman (1865-1943)

Nativity Carol John Rutter