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| Dr. Patrick Gorman directs the Madison Diocesan Choir at last year’s Lessons and Carols in the chapel of the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Pastoral Center in Madison. At right is Glenn Schuster, the choir’s accompanist and assistant director. (Catholic Herald photo/Joe Ptak) |
MADISON — When the Madison Diocesan Choir enters the chapel at the Bishop O’Connor Center on Sunday, Dec. 22, at 4 p.m., it might be the last time the choir presents its Festival of Lessons and Carols in this setting.
The traditional Advent prayer service celebrates the coming of Christ’s birth in Scripture and song. Bishop Robert C. Morlino will preside this year.
“It very well could be our last Lessons and Carols at the O’Connor Center,” said Dr. Patrick Gorman, the choir director. “If all goes as currently planned, I wouldn’t anticipate singing Lessons and Carols there next year.”
The Diocese of Madison is planning to lease the Bishop O’Connor Center to be developed into a multi-family housing community.
This could be the second time the Diocesan Choir has lost its “home.” In 2005, an arson fire destroyed St. Raphael Cathedral in downtown Madison.
Beautiful places for singing
Gorman said both the cathedral and the O’Connor Center chapel have been beautiful places in which to sing.
“I always felt ‘St. R’s’ was the best place for choral music in the diocese,” he said. “It just had this ability to transform the sound as it went over the choir loft’s edge. It was always a favorite place to sing.”
He admits the O’Connor Center chapel is different, “because it’s so, so live.” He explained, “Because of that, it gives the sound some kind of richness and depth. I think that’s very important for the kind of music we do. And I think that’s why people like singing there so much. It’s a little like singing in the shower.
“And it’s such a beautiful place for people to come visit, and sit and listen to a concert, too. So it’s always been a good match for us,” said Gorman.
If you go |
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| What: Lessons and Carols When: Sunday, Dec. 22, 4 p.m. Where: Bishop O’Connor Center 702 S. High Point Rd., Madison Cost: Free. Bring a nonperishable food item to benefit the Catholic Multicultural Center. Encore: Saturday, Jan. 4, 3:30 p.m. St. Francis Xavier Church, 2947 Thinnes St., Cross Plains |
Memorable performances
Gorman pointed to some especially memorable performances in the O’Connor Center chapel, including the 40th reunion concert in 2012 and the concert in December of 2000 when the Diocesan Choir joined with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, under the direction of John DeMain, to perform the Bach Magnificat.
“I would also mention the Fauré Requiem that we did in 2008. I thought that was one of the finest moments that we’ve had,” said Gorman.
“But we’ve had a lot of nice concerts there. I’m not quite sure whether they’re concerts or prayer. It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes, but that’s been one of the real blessings of that building.”
The director said every Lessons and Carols has been very special, as well as every concert. “We’ve sung there for ordinations and other big events. I remember blessing the chapel after the renovation (in 1998). Just an awful lot of good memories there.”
The Diocesan Choir also rehearses at the O’Connor Center and stores its music — well over 50,000 individual sheets of music — and other equipment at the center.
Gorman doesn’t know where the choir will land. “It would be nice to rehearse at a location where we have room for the choir and all of our stuff. We’ve gotten offers from places, so I know we’ll be OK.”
Lessons and Carols will not be the Diocesan Choir’s last performance at the O’Connor Center. Its spring concert will be held there on Friday, May 9, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.
Highlighting choir members’ talents
For this year’s Lesson and Carols, Gorman has decided to take the opportunity to highlight some of the individual talents in the choir, rather then bring in guest performers. “We have a lot of members who have talent themselves, either singing or playing instruments,” he said.
Lessons and Carols will open with “On Christmas Night,” a traditional English carol arranged by Howard Helvey for piano, four-hands. This will be played by two pianists at the same time on the same piano. The pianists will be Glenn Schuster, the choir’s accompanist, and Josephine Cowan, a member of the choir who is director of worship at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Cross Plains.
Other choir members being featured are Lou Ann Wagner on flute in “How Far Is It to Bethlehem” with choir and piano; Tom Eichman singing a solo for the piece, “The Three Kings”; and Mike Flottmeyer, who will play the tuba on “Now Sing We, Now Rejoice” with Schuster on piano.
Four-hands piano piece
Gorman selected the four-hands piano piece to open Lessons and Carols. “It’s a very difficult piece for the pianists,” he observed. “They’re playing in such close proximity to each other, and they’ve got to think with one mind.
“Josephine is such a rock solid pianist, and Glenn’s a fine organist. It’s been fun to watch them get together, because I think they’re both having fun doing it and figuring out a way to really make it excellent.”
The four-hands piano piece should kick off Lessons and Carols with “a little bit of flare,’ said Gorman.
Glenn Schuster: ‘versatile musician’
He noted that Schuster has been accompanist with the Diocesan Choir since 1995. He is also the assistant director. “I don’t want to take him for granted,” said Gorman, “because he is really the rock behind everything. We could have the best choir in the world, but if the accompanist isn’t up to it, it wouldn’t sound good at all. He’s one of these guys that I think makes us sound even better.
“I think we’re so fortunate to have him as an accompanist, as organist. He can direct the choir when I’m gone and do a great job at that. He’s just such a very versatile musician.’
Josephine Cowan: ‘talented musician’
Gorman also said Josephine Cowen, who will be joining Schuster on “On Christmas Night,” is a “talented musician.” She has been the director of worship at St. Francis Xavier for over 18 years. She is in charge of both liturgy and music at the parish, where she directs the Adult, Youth, and Contemporary Choirs and works with the cantors in the parish.
Cowen has sung with the Diocesan Choir for six years. “The members of the choir are hard workers, have such a wonderful blend of voices, and are a delight to work with,” she said. “Also, we have the opportunity to learn such a wide variety of sacred songs from different genres, which I really enjoy.”
She hasn’t played a four-hands piano piece in some time, so Cowen said this is a “great experience, made even more so because I get to play it with Glenn, who is a joy to work with.”
Cowen admitted that acclimating herself to her side of the piano and getting used to playing on either the upper or lower register of the piano are challenges. “You also have to make sure you don’t elbow one another or fall off the piano as you’re playing,” she said.
However, she added, “The piano accompaniment is to much richer with a piano four-hand piece, because you’re able to utilize the entire keyboard at one time. It has a much fuller sound! I am delighted to have the opportunity to accompany the choir, since playing the piano is such an important part of my life.”
Cowen has performed both vocally and with piano over the past 30 years.
Soloist Tom Eichman
Bass Tom Eichman, featured soloist in “The Three Kings,” is well-known to people who attend Diocesan Choir performances for his solo in the “Prayer of St. Francis,” the choir’s signature piece.
Gorman said that Eichman was his first choice for soloist with “The Three Kings,” because “he’s got just the right voice for that nice lyric piece. It’s big enough that he can sing over the choir, but it’s not overwhelming.”
The director said “The Three Kings” is a challenging piece. “It’s challenging for both the choir and soloist in that they’re singing two different songs, one superimposed over the over. The soloist has to really know his part and hold onto it, and the choir has to be able to sing softly enough that he can be heard, but also with energy and all the rhythmic focus.”
Directing the piece is also a challenge, Gorman admitted. “It’s like rubbing your tummy and patting your head.”
Eichman said “The Three Kings” is “a wonderful piece to listen to. One of the things I sort of regret is not being able to step back from the whole thing as much as the audience will be able to.”
The message of the song impresses Eichman. “I think it’s kind of a modern-day message that speaks to me, and it’s in the final stanza of the solo. The kings are traveling with their gifts, but we can’t bring these gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. We have to offer him our hearts, and that line gets repeated again at the very last turn of phrase, and ends on a beautiful chord.
“That is a little bit of a surprise, because it’s not the usual major chord resolution. It focuses on another note of the chord and it just kind of soars at that point. It’s very hard to hold onto, once you start feeling the power of that. So it affects me a lot. I’m glad to know this piece like I do now.”
Encore performance
The Diocesan Choir will be doing an encore performance of Lessons and Carols at St. Francis Xavier Parish, Cross Plains, on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, at 3:30 p.m. preceding the 5 p.m. Mass in the church.
While Lessons and Carols is free, the audience is encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for the pantry at the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison. As always, the choir is grateful for free-will offerings to support its music ministry.