ABOUT THE ARISTS

JEFFREY BENSON
Jeffrey Benson is currently Director of Choral Activities at San José State University. The Washington Post hails his choirs for singing “with an exquisite blend, subtlety of phrasing, confident musicianship and fully supported tone…that would be the envy of some professional ensembles.”

Dr. Benson recently made his international conducting debut with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the SJSU Choraliers in Limerick, Ireland, and he made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 2015 with the SJSU Choirs and the New York Festival Orchestra. He has served as cover conductor for the Grammy award-winning Washington Chorus, where he helped to prepare the ensemble for Maestros Julian Wachner, Leonard Slatkin and Marvin Hamlisch.

Choirs under his direction have performed on multiple state and regional conferences of ACDA, NAfME and Chorus America, and have toured throughout the United States and Europe, including invited performances at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The White House and Washington National Cathedral. Recently Dr. Benson’s choirs have been invited to perform with the Rolling Stones, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, the Los Angeles Festival Orchestra and the Skywalker Orchestra.

A former member of the Choir of Men and Boys at Washington National Cathedral, Dr. Benson is an active singer and a frequent guest conductor and clinician. He will conduct honor choirs and present sessions on both coasts this year, including conducting the Georgia All-State and Mozart’s Coronation Mass at Carnegie Hall. Benson has been invited to La Universidad Americana in Managua, Nicaragua to assist the university in forming the first a cappella choir at the institution.

Dr. Benson is a published composer and arranger with Colla Voce Music and Santa Barbara Music Publishing, under the Charlene Archibeque Choral Series. He is also the Artistic Director of Peninsula Cantare, a community chorus based in Palo Alto. Previously, Dr. Benson served as Director of Choral Activities and Fine Arts Department Chair at H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program in Arlington, Virginia.

Benson received his Masters degree and his Doctorate in Choral Conducting/Music Education from The Florida State University and his Bachelors degree in Music Education from New York University. 

GISELLE WYERS
Giselle Wyers (she/her/hers) is the Donald E. Petersen Endowed Professor of Choral Music at the University of Washington, where she conducts the award-winning University Chorale and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in choral conducting and music education. Wyers is the conductor of Concord Chamber Choir, and her professional project choir Solaris Vocal Ensemble specializes in the performance of contemporary American choral literature.

Wyers maintains an active schedule as guest conductor of high school honor choirs and has conducted All-States in the Pacific NW, Kansas, Wisconsin, Nevada, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Alaska. She has conducted semi-professional ensembles across the United States and in Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, and Sweden.

Wyers’ choral works are published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing Company as part of the "Giselle Wyers Choral Series," and with MusicSpoke and earthsongs. Her catalog of commissions for chorus, orchestra, wind ensemble, chamber music forces and solo song include 36 discrete works, including a 30-minute cycle entitled And All Shall Be Well that premiered at Carnegie Hall in 2022. Wyers is committed to mentoring scholar-writers in the field, and serves on the editorial board of ACDA’s Choral Journal and as a board member of ACDA's Standing Committee on International Activities.

KATERINA GIMON
Katerina Gimon is an award-winning Canadian composer whose uniquely dynamic, poignant, and eclectic compositional style has gained her a reputation as a distinctive voice in contemporary Canadian composition and beyond. Her music has been described as “sheer radiance” (Campbell River Mirror), “imbued…with human emotion” (San Diego Story), and capable of taking listeners on a “fascinating journey of textural discovery” (Ludwig Van). In her music, Katerina draws influence from a myriad of places — from the Ukrainian folk music of her heritage to indie rock, as well as from her roots as a songwriter. Her music is performed widely across Canada, the USA, and internationally.
www.katerinagimon.com
 

PROGRAM (in order)

SEEKING LIGHT

SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY CONCERT CHOIR & CHORALIERS
CORIE BROWN, Conductor
EMILY HSU, Collaborative Pianist

DIANA SAEZ & MIRIAM S. ORTIZ Temporal
MARIE-CLAIRE SAINDON When a Thought of War Comes
BOB DYLAN The Times They Are A-Changin’
arr. Adam Podd

NATIONAL CONCERT CHORUS
GISELLE WYERS, Guest Conductor
CAITLIN HAYES, Collaborative Pianist
SUSAN & BRIAN GAUKEL, Projection Designers

TRADITIONAL INDONESIAN FOLKSONG Hela Rotan arr. Ken Steven
DARIUS LIM Ashes to Dust
AURORA Apple Tree arr. Katerina Gimon
KATERINA GIMON From Scorched Earth (World Premiere)
JENNIFER LUCY COOK They Are Mother
LARRY NORMAN & RANDY STONEHILL I Love You/What a Wonderful World
GEORGE DAVID WEISS & BOB THIELE arr. Craig Hella Johnson

INTERMISSION

NATIONAL MASTERWORK CHORUS & ORCHESTRA
JEFFREY BENSON, Guest Conductor
EMILY HSU, Collaborative Pianist
SUSAN & BRIAN GAUKEL, Projection Designers

BRANDON WILLIAMS Seeking Light
ANDREA RAMSEY Orion
MORTEN LAURIDSEN Lux Aeterna
  I. Introitus
  II. In Te, Domine, Speravi
  III. O Nata Lux
  IV. Veni, Sancte Spiritus
  V. Agnus Dei - Lux Aeterna

Monday March 25th, 2024 at 8:00pm 
BENAROYA HALL, SEATTLE