For A Breath of Ecstasy 

Poetry by Sara Teasdale

1. Wealth Enough for Me

I have no riches but my thoughts,
Yet these are wealth enough for me;
My thoughts of you are golden coins
Stamped in the mint of memory;

And I must spend them all in song,
For thoughts, as well as gold, must be
Left on the hither side of death
To gain their immortality.

2. Peace

Peace flows into me
As the tide to the pool by the shore;
It is mine forevermore,
It ebbs not back like the sea.

I am the pool of blue
That worships the vivid sky;
My hopes were heaven-high,
They are all fulfilled in you.

I am the pool of gold
When sunset burns and dies, —
You are my deepening skies,
Give me your stars to hold.

3. Who Gave My Soul to Me

I gave my first love laughter,
I gave my second tears,
I gave my third love silence
Through all the years.

My first love gave me singing,
My second eyes to see,
But oh, it was my third love
Who gave my soul to me.

4. For You I Am Still

I sang my songs for the rest,
For you I am still;
The tree of my song is bare
On its shining hill.

For you came like a lordly wind,
And the leaves were whirled
Far as forgotten things
Past the rim of the world.

The tree of my song stands bare
Against the blue,
I gave my songs to the rest,
Myself to you.

5. Barter

Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children’s faces looking up
Holding wonder like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,
Music like a curve of gold,
Scent of pine trees in the rain,
Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
And for your spirit’s still delight,
Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.

6. Tonight

The moon is a curving flower of gold,
The sky is still and blue;
The moon was made for the sky to hold,
And I for you;

The moon is a flower without a stem,
The sky is luminous;
Eternity was made for them,
To-night for us.

7. Let Me Love

Until I lose my soul and lie
Blind to the beauty of the earth,
Deaf though shouting wind goes by,
Dumb in a storm of mirth;

Until my heart is quenched at length
And I have left the land of men,
Oh, let me love with all my strength
Careless if I am loved again.

INTERMISSION

Os Justi

Psalm 36: 30-31

Os justi meditabitur sapientiam: et lingua ejus loquetur judicium.

     The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just.

Lex Dei ejus in corde ipsius, et non supplantabuntur gressus ejus. Alleluia.

     The law of his God is in his heart: and his feet do not falter. Alleluia

Abendlied

Evening Song

Luke 24: 29

Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, und der Tag hat sich geneiget.

     Abide with us, for evening is coming, and the day will soon be over.

Cantique de Jean Racine

Song of Jean Racine

Verbe, égal au Très-Haut, notre unique espérance,
     O Word, equal of the Most High,

Jour éternel de la terre et des cieux;
     Our sole hope, eternal day of earth and the heavens,

De la paisible nuit nous rompons le silence,
     We break the silence of the peaceful night.

Divin Sauveur, jette sur nous les yeux !
     Divine Saviour, cast Thine eyes upon us!


Répands sur nous le feu de ta grâce puissante,
     Shed the light of Thy mighty grace upon us.

Que tout l’enfer fuie au son de ta voix ;
     Let all Hell flee at the sound of Thy voice.

Dissipe le sommeil d’une âme languissante,
     Dispel the slumber of a languishing soul

Qui la conduit à l’oubli de tes lois !
     That leads it to the forgetting of Thy laws!

O Christ, sois favorable à ce peuple fidèle
     O Christ, be favorable unto this faithful people

Pour te bénir maintenant rassemblé.
     Now gathered to bless Thee.

Reçois les chants qu’il offre à ta gloire immortelle,
     Receive the hymns it offers unto Thine immortal glory

Et de tes dons qu’il retourne comblé!
     And may it return laden with Thy gifts!

There Will Be Rest

Sara Teasdale

There will be rest, and sure stars shining
Over the roof-tops crowned with snow,
A reign of rest, serene forgetting,
The music of stillness holy and low.

 I will make this world of my devising
Out of a dream in my lonely mind.
I shall find the crystal of peace, – above me
Stars I shall find.

I am Loved 

(Poem titled Joy)
Sara Teasdale

I am wild, I will sing to the trees,
I will sing to the stars in the sky,
I love, I am loved, he is mine,
Now at last I can die!

 I am sandaled with wind and with flame,
I have heart-fire and singing to give,
I can tread on the grass or the stars,
Now at last I can live!

Bright Morning Stars

Traditional Appalachian Song

Bright morning stars are rising
Day is a’breaking in my soul.
 

Oh where are our dear fathers?
They are down in the valley a’praying
Day is a’breaking in my soul.
 
Oh where are our dear mothers?
They are gone to heaven a’shouting
Day is a’breaking in my soul.
 
Oh where are our dear children
They’re upon the earth a-dancing
Day is a’breaking in my soul.
 
Bright morning stars are rising
Day is a’breaking in my soul.

Bring Me All Your Dreams

(Poem titled The Dream Keeper)
Langston Hughes

Bring me all of your dreams,
You dreamer,
Bring me all your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.”

We Are the Music Makers

(Poem titled Ode)
Arthur O’Shaughnessy

We are the music makers,
    And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
    And sitting by desolate streams; —
World-losers and world-forsakers,
    On whom the pale moon gleams:

Nathan Leaf, Conductor

Nathan Leaf has been the Artistic Director of the Concert Singers of Cary since 2017. He is also the Director of Choral Activities at North Carolina State University, founded the chamber consort, Voices of a New Renaissance, and was for seven years choir director at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Durham. He has performed as a singer with some of the top vocal ensembles in the country, and has collaborated with many of North Carolina’s leading musical organizations, including the North Carolina Symphony, the North Carolina Master Chorale and Chamber Choir, the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Mallarmé Chamber Players, the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, and the NC HIP Music Festival. He has served as a clinician and guest conductor throughout the country, and choirs under his direction have toured extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad.

 

Allen Bailey, Pianist

Allen Bailey received a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro 1987. As a student of Dr. George Kiorpes, he was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship and won the University’s Concerto Competition in 1985. His professional career as a soloist and accompanist has spanned the state during which he has worked with churches, soloists, large ensembles, professional and amateur, scholarly and civic. Affiliated groups include the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Duke University, NC State University, UNC-Chapel Hill, Meredith College, Peace College, NC public schools, Durham Chorale, NC Master Chorale, Concert Singers of Cary, Wake Forest United Methodist Church, and The NC Symphony. Currently, Mr. Bailey is employed by Fidelity Investments as a Software Engineer, specializing in network security.

 

Bo Newsome, Oboe

A former resident artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts and an artist for the N.C. Arts Council Visiting Artist Program, oboist Bo Newsome plays an active role in the music scene of North Carolina. Frequently heard in both chamber music and orchestral performances, he is often praised for his lyrical playing. A CVNC reviewer wrote, “Newsome’s gorgeous cadenza playing was meticulous and rich — if only birds could sing that well.”

As a composer, Newsome has received the North Carolina Arts Council’s Composer Fellowship and written several scores for UNC Center for Public Television. His commissions include those from the National Symphony Orchestra, the N.C. Museum of Natural History, and Mallarmé Music. Also a strong advocate for the arts, he received the Durham Jaycees Award for Community Leadership in the Arts and is currently a board member of Mallarmé Music. A School of Music faculty member at East Carolina University for many years, he continues to teach at Duke University and at his home studio.

Concert Singers of Cary Chamber Choir

Soprano

Sharanya Ananth 
Megan Brachtl 
Elizabeth Brown  
Lindsey Gallegos 
Ashley Holt 
Rachael Lubbers  
Bianca Muñoz 
Trisha Scott

Alto

Christine Bonin 
Pauline Jillson 
Maggie Hemedinger 
Melissa Martin 
Grace Matthews 
Evelyn McCauley 
Valerie Wettlaufer 
Nicole Wood

Tenor

Aaron Carlyle 
Stephen Cole 
Nikhil Gheewala 
Jim Matzko 
Drew Schell 
Peter Sherk  
Jaylen Spencer 
Paul Stapleton 
Samuel Tucker 
Jeff White

Bass

Rock Angier 
Forrest Burris 
Devon Cessna 
Coltan Compton 
Thom Haynes 
Josh Johnstone
Clay Michalec
Jonathan Pelletier 
Alex Smith

Thank you to our generous donors!

Visionary
Town of Cary
United Arts Council

Silver Baton
Cary Art Daze Festivals: Spring Daze and Lazy Daze

Patron
Ann Bingham* & Joeseph Tanzini
Megan Bracht* & Jared Selig
Debbie Carroll* & Ken Ganong
Wes Everett
Dr. & Mrs. Bruce I. Howell
Charles McCullen
Paul Stapleton
Melissa Weissenberger*

Benefactor
Nancy Canterbury
Sue Chaploney
Rachael Dwight
Stacy Hanna*
Thom Haynes+
Josh Johnstone*+
Nathan Leaf*+
Laura Yurco

Producer
Rock Angier
Rex Dwyer
Joan Eastwick
Yen-Ping Kuo
Rachael Lubbers*+
Adam Luck
Ellen Schlomer+
Jeffrey White+
Jeff+ & Kitty Wright

Sponsor
Christine & Christopher Bonin
Hadyn Boyte
Kelly Cash
Debi DeAnn* & Ric Goldstein
Susan Ebbs
Ken Fortier
Nikhil Gheewala
Susan Hanna
Lenora Harris-Fields
Pamela Hartsfield
Jim & Pauline Jillson
Kay Kaufman & David Winkler
Emiko Kuroda
Girard Lew
Laura Moore
Kenneth Muller
Laurie Ray
Terri Ring+
John Rowe
Jan Schnurr
Susan Schnurr
Sue Schule
Deborah Stirdivant
Rachel Stuart
David Talbot
Jackie Tice
Jennilyn Tillotson
Brian Wong

Friend
Kelly Amato
Mana Aoi
Francesca Balestrieri*
Sara Battles
Shannon Beall
Catherine Bennett
Forrest Burns*
Rebecca Crumby – in memory of Joe Ferguson
Elizabeth Dworkin
Aurian Eghbalian
Catherine Engel
Shayna Feldstein
Phil Ferski
Heather Fitch
Mandi Goswami
Shirley Hand
John Harrington
Claudia & Simon Kaplan
Melissa Martin
Bianca Muñoz*
Madison Muralt
Cary Murphrey
Sarah Neely
Beverly Olson+
Al Pasquale
Elijah Powell
Mara Sanchez
Emily Sawyer
John Schell
Jaime Schnurr
Trisha Scott
Greg Tarsa
Dana Thomas
Daniel Tsui
Carolyn Wilcox
Taylor Williams
Katherine Womack

CSC Board Members *
CSC Staff / Volunteer Staff +

Staff

Artistic Director– Dr. Nathan Leaf
Executive Director– Marisa Highsmith
Accompanist– Allen Bailey
Membership Administrator– Thom Haynes
Web Master/Communications– Ellen Schloemer
Designer– Rachael Lubbers
Section Leaders– Beverly Olson, Soprano; Terri Ring, Alto; Jeff White, Tenor; Thom Haynes, Bass

Board Members

President– Stacy Hanna
Vice President– Ashley Holt
Treasurer– Debi DeAnn
Secretary– Debbie Carroll

Francesca Balestrieri
Ann Bingham
Megan Brachtl
Forrest Burris
Brian Fitch
Joshua Johnstone
Rachael Lubbers
Bianca Muñoz
Laura Pavolt
M.J. Weissenberger