Elaine Hagenberg's heartfelt original composition, "Refuge," was the title of our TCDA 2019 program, which was dedicated to music educators everywhere. The universality of our humanity isn't a theoretical concept but a lived, shared reality--embracing our self-doubt, fear, and regret on the one hand, and redemption, hope, and optimism, on the other. For musicians, music educators and students, and music lovers alike, music provides sanctuary from an otherwise hostile world and an inward orientation toward noble ideals and transcendent beauty. Thank you, Elaine, for such a profound contribution!
From our TCDA 2019 Program Notes:
"Perhaps this internal struggle finds its solace and purpose not from an externality that may promise fulfillment and satisfaction, not even from one’s hopes and dreams, like “sand [s]ifting through my closed-clenched hand” ("Refuge," Sara Teasdale, 1884-1933). As portrayed by Elaine Hagenberg’s frantic piano arpeggios, our internal turmoil is met with the voice of heartache and despair that longs for freedom from our own enslavement. The melancholy of the double bass captures this depth of despair, while its lyric alto becomes the singing voice that proffers refuge, as if pleading us to create our own in the same manner. Hagenberg captures this self-actualization in successive moments of such intimate self-awakenings when the choir patiently peels back the layers of doubt and insecurity to make way for self-discovery, proclaiming emphatically: "If I can sing, I still am free!"'
Refuge (2016), Elaine Hagenberg
Jon L. Culpepper, Founding Artistic Director, Conductor
Jordan Peek, Collaborative Piano
Daniel Nix, Double Bass
Texas Choral Directors Association
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Video & Audio credit: Soundwaves Recording
[Soprano]
Julie Bowdren
Julia Durbin
Cami Everitt
Heather Hawk
Victoria Kerr
Alie Lory
Briana Salas
Meredith Tompkins
[Alto]
Madelaine Martinez Fell
Shelbi McMullen
Shelby Stroud
Erin Roth Thomas
Mari Ésabel Valverde
[Tenor]
Max Ary
Dylan Corder
Anthony McMullen
Matthew Morales
Andrew Steffen
Trent Taber
[Bass]
Cody Conway
David Grogan
De'Evin J. Johnson
Tim Johnson
John Benjamin Lackey
Jake Tipoff
#Refuge #ElaineHagenberg #HagenbergRefuge #choir #choralmusic #satb #singing