The Masks of Spring
Wood Sprite Bert Weir oil on canvas 14" x 11" 2006
Sunday April 2nd 2:30pm
Mary Street Center
24 Mary Street, Parry Sound, ON
Program
Whispering River Orchestra and Chorus
*Three Songs of William Blake (Chia Yin Wu)
Celine Cascanette, Alto - David McFadden, Violin - Brenda Muller, Cello - Valery Wilshynsky, Double Bass - Dan McCoy, Organ
Können Tränen meiner Wangen from St. Matthew Passion (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Whispering River Chorus
Thula Baba (South African Lullaby)
Poem
**Point of Honor (Brenda Muller)
Whispering River Orchestra - Dan McCoy, Harpsichord
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Whispering River Orchestra - Alex Andrews, Viola
Salut d'Amour (Edward Elgar)
Whispering River Chorus
Eleanor Rigby (John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Arr. Roger Emerson)
Poem
**I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (William Wordsworth)
Whispering River Orchestra and Chorus - Amy Dodington, Soprano - Fabian Arciniegas, Tenor - Stan Hunter, Bass - Dan McCoy, Organ
Mass in G Major (Franz Schubert)
i. Kyrie
ii. Gloria
iii. Credo
iv. Sanctus
v. Benedictus
vi. Agnus Dei
*Commissioned for Whispering River Orchestra and Chorus
**Point of Honor by Brenda Muller
I want to be where the poetry is -
not lost in the jungle of 'please you, please me' -
but close in the creaking of forest trees
to taste the damp of the wood
I want to be where the poetry is -
on the path round the ferns where the sunlight curls
and dapples normal meaning
so I can taste the blood of the earth
with roots that seek for being
I want to be the shadow's branch,
empty and alone,
to search and honour mystery -
belong in a naked poem.
**I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
About our Performers
Celine Cascanette, Alto
Originally from Parry Sound, Celine recently completed a master’s degree in vocal pedagogy at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor Lorna MacDonald. Currently, Celine is living, teaching, and performing in Hamilton, Ontario. While Celine specializes in Western Classical, she loves to perform in a variety of genres and is as comfortable singing with her guitar as she is in a gown. Most recently Celine has performed with the Bach Elgar Choir, the Hamilton Children's Choir, and Chorus Hamilton. Celine is excited to join the Whispering River Orchestra once again for a great December concert!
Amy Dodington, Soprano
With a voice “like crystal clear, tumbling water,” Amy Dodington is a Toronto-based freelance soprano and private music teacher. Her moving oratorio performances and her eclectic recitals have earned her a loyal, enthusiastic following throughout Ontario and beyond. Amy has received numerous awards and sung on a Juno-winning recording with the Toronto Symphony. An exceptional ensemble singer, she is a member of the Elmer Iseler Singers (Canada’s flagship 20-voice professional choir) and occasionally of Soundstreams Choir 21. Recent soloist highlights include Fauré’s Requiem with the Elmer Iseler Singers, Brahms’ Requiem in Erindale, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the Amadeus Choir, and Mozart’s Requiem and Grand Mass in C Minor with the Cellar Singers in Orillia. Amy, who grew up in Muskoka, is always pleased to sing with Whispering River Orchestra.
Fabián Arciniegas, Tenor
Fabián Arciniegas is a versatile Colombian-Canadian singer-actor and an intuitive, knowledgeable voice coach. He divides his career between bringing to life a wide range of repertoire from Baroque to Contemporary, and helping artists to reach their singing goals. Deeply committed as a chamber singer, he discovered a passion for new composers and has successfully toured in Canada and internationally as part of the series Crossing Borders with soprano Maureen Batt and pianist Claire Harris, featuring living Latin American and North American composers.The 2021-2022 season saw Fabian’s premiere of composer Chia Yin Wu’s song cycle Blood and the Moon, Leo Herrera’s song cycle Canciones nocturnas. After having premiered the song cycle Orbit by Saman Shahi in 2015, Fabián was invited by the composer to perform and record the songs again for his debut album released in September 2020. He has also premiered works from latin composers Mario Gómez-Vignez and Leo Herrera. In past seasons he has performed as part of the chorus with the Canadian Opera Company in Verdi’s Aida (canceled due to COVID 19), Otello and Wagner’s Götterdämmerung and was Le Remendado for Julie Nesrallah's production Carmen on Tap! He has performed under the baton of conductors such as Johannes Debus, Kevin Mallon, Derek Bate, Sandra Horst, Miah Im, Andres Posada, Miguel Caballero, Alberto Guzmán and Dmitri Manolov. Mr. Arciniegas holds a Master's Degree in Opera Performance from the University of Toronto.
Stan Hunter, Bass
Stan has fed himself through a career of boatbuilding in Muskoka for forty years, always harbouring an interest in music somewhere in the back of his head. He has been an active chorister for the past twelve years, having grown up with church liturgical music and also singing in the York University Chorus a bit more than a generation ago. He sings with The Cellar Singers in Orillia, sings barbershop with The Muskoka Music Mix in Huntsville and is a member of the quartet The Accidentals. The Accidentals served throughout the Covid pandemic when everything was shut down viai virtual live and recorded formats serving various Parry Sound and Muskoka churches and enabling worship to resume until things returned to normal. From that experience has grown a supporting musical role for Stan in Faithworks Discipleship, a new ministry which has taken root in Gravenhurst. Having met Brenda a decade ago during a fundraising event, Stan encouraged her to devolop the Whispering River Chorus to accompany her orchestra and he has enjoyed singing with her in Parry Sound whenever the opportunity has presented itself. Stan is truly honoured to sing among professionals like Amy, Celine and Fábian.
Alex Andrews, Viola
Alex Andrews (B.Mus McGill) is a performing artist and full-time teacher at the Orillia Music Centre. In recent years she has been featured at the Roots North Music Festival and events such as the Leacock Medal for Humour while specializing on the viola, violin, and electric five-string viola. In 2021 Alex was nominated for the ODAC Awards, and in 2022 she was voted Orillia's Favourite Music Instructor in the Reader's Choice survey.
Our Orchestra and Choir
Artistic Director Brenda Margaret Muller
Choral Conductor Catherine Maguire
Violin I
David McFadden, concertmaster
Katja Mathys
Tatiana Bouts
Tristan Simm
Violin II
Nancy Regan
Kathleen Moquin
Paula Calzonetti
Veronica Constable
Viola
Alex Andrews
Brian Oxley
Sofiia Livinska
Emily Lam
Cello
Brenda Margaret Muller
Shannon Lai
Judith White
Louise Nicksy
William Wettlaufer
Contrabass
Valery Wilshynsky
Zach Louch
Soprano
Amy Dodington
Judith White
Janet Fellner
Barb Williams
Alto
Celine Cascanette
Anne Kingma
Holly Cascanette
Tenor
Fábian Arciniegas
Paul Gasztold
Zach Louch
Bass
Stan Hunter
Brad Hunkin
Frank De Jong
Harpsichord/Organ
Dan McCoy
A Special Thank You to
For providing accommodation for our musicians
and
Linda Gibson and our volunteers
for their continual support through our Beer Cans and Bottle Drive!
