mainstage series
Reflections

Saturday, February 7, 2026 • 7:30 p.m.
First Free Methodist Church (3200 3rd Ave W)

Harmonia Chorus
William White, conductor
Anjali Chudasama, conductor

Program

Reena Esmail (*1983)
“The Unexpected Early Hour” from A Winter Breviary

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943)
“Blessed art Thou, O Lord” from All-Night Vigil

traditional / arr. Darius Lim (*1986)
Dayung Sampan

Marques L.A. Garrett (*1984)
Invitation to Love

Harry T. Burleigh (1866–1949)
He Met Her in the Meadow

Carol Sams (*1945)
My Life Flows On

Huntley Beyer (*1947)
Reflections [world premiere]

Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Reincarnations, Op. 16

Sheila Bristow (*1969)
Winter Solstice

Katerina Gimon (*1993)
Boundless

Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
Hear My Prayer O Lord, Z. 15

George Frideric Handel (1685 –1759)
“Moses, and the children of Israel” and “I will sing unto the Lord” from Israel in Egypt

About the Concert

A world premiere by longtime Harmonia collaborator Huntley Beyer anchors this program of choral gems. Beyer’s new composition reflects on life, maturity and aging — three of the themes explored by the other works on this varied concert.

This performance will last approximately 75 minutes, with refreshments to follow.

Maestro’s Prelude

Dear Music Lovers,

Welcome to our annual concert featuring the Harmonia Chorus, in which we devote the entire evening to the vocal contingent of our organization. These all-choral programs are a real favorite of mine, since the repertoire offers such a wide stylistic range. Works for chorus tend to be shorter than those composed for orchestra (not to mention for chorus + orchestra), meaning that we can explore a far greater variety of music than is possible on our other concerts.

The choral repertoire is not only expansive, it’s expanding, and tonight we have the opportunity to expand it even further. The titular work on this evening’s program is Huntley Beyer’s newest work, Reflections, for chorus accompanied by a quartet of instruments. Huntley is a longtime Harmonia collaborator, and this piece has everything we’ve come to expect from his music: poignant melodies, gorgeous harmonies, an infusion of pop music and knowing humor.

The other major work is Samuel Barber’s Reincarnations, one of the staples of American choral writing. This — along with newer works by Darius Lim, Marques L.A. Garrett, and Katerina Gimon — will be conducted by our chorus’s assistant conductor, Anjali Chudasama, an extremely fine musician whom I have come to rely upon for her knowledge of choral literature and vocal technique.

The Harmonia “house repertoire” is represented by works of Kia Sams and Sheila Bristow, both featuring music of such stunning beauty that I’m quite sure it’s only a matter of time before they get taken up by the world at large.

I’ve already mentioned a great deal of music, but so much remains: a jovial opener by Reena Esmail, a movement of Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil (reprised from our November concert), and an exquisite Purcell anthem. The grand finale — as is often my wont — is a preview of our next big oratorio concert, a movement from George Frederick Handel’s Israel in Egypt. Its inclusion is a not-so-subtle hint to get your tickets now!

— William White

Featured Artist

Anjali Chudasama is a singer, educator and conductor focused on developing individual identities and connecting with the community through music. She is the Director of Choirs at Shoreline Community College, where she serves students in classroom-based, ensemble and private-studio contexts. She completed the MM in Choral Conducting program at the University of Washington in 2023, where she delved into the breadth and depth of collegiate music education by working with students in the Treble Choir and Chamber Singers, as well as in the Music History and Music Education departments. She calls the vibrant Seattle community home, and enjoys participating as a conductor and singer in community and professional ensembles such as Harmonia Chorus, Choir of the Sound and the Evergreen Ensemble, as well as serving as an interim director of the Chamber Singers at Seattle University. Ms. Chudasama is currently working on the launch of Wind-up Vocal Project, a professional sextet debuting in April at Meany Hall, bringing cutting-edge new and experimental music to Seattle and breathing new life into seldom-performed early-music genres. As an avid learner, she has enjoyed opportunities to provide pre-concert lectures at the Seattle Symphony, present at Northwest and Midwest ACDA conferences, and to serve as a clinician in the Seattle area for choral and vocal disciplines, often with a focus on treble voices.

Program Notes

Indian-American composer Reena Esmail’s 2021 A Winter Beviary, a “set of three carols on new texts by poet Rebecca Gayle Howell, traces a journey through the solstice, the longest night of the year. The texts follow the canonical hours of Evensong, Matins and Lauds, and the music maps onto Hindustani raags for those same hours.” The third carol, “The Unexpected Early Hour,” merges Lauds with Raag Ahir Bhairav. Esmail calls her work “a meeting of cultures, and of the many ways we honor the darkness, and celebrate the return of light.”

Sergei Rachmaninov composed his All-Night Vigil over a mere two weeks in early 1915, mixing new thematic material with actual plainchants, some of them newer Greek and Kiev chants, but others ancient znameni (from the Russian for “signs”) handed down via oral tradition for centuries and then encoded in special notation, or signs. The 15 movements of the All-Night Vigil consist of six vespers (for an evening prayer service) followed by nine matins (for morning prayer). In the Russian Orthodox Church, these would be sung beginning on the eve of a holy day, from 6:00 p.m. on a Saturday to 9:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. The ninth movement, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord,” is one of the matins derived from the znameni. Barrie Martyn calls it “one of the most elaborate items in the whole composition and illustrates the way in which Rachmaninov uses countless rhythmic and harmonic variations and choral shadings of a brief chant for a whole narrative.”

“Dayung Sampan was originally an Indonesian folk song that was later adapted by immigrants who came to Singapore in the 19th century,” writes Singaporean composer and conductor Darius Lim, who arranged the song for “the VOCO Singapore Ladies Choir,” seeking to evoke “the idea of the fearless immigrants traveling by sea to Singapore’s sunny shores in search of a new life, where despite the highly dangerous voyages, travelers were spurred on by the promise of a better life. The work begins with the original melody of Dayung Sampan, after which the adventure of sailing the seas begins.”

A Virginia native, Marques L.A. Garrett is currently Associate Professor of Choral Studies at the University of North Texas. An avid composer of choral and solo-vocal music, his compositions have been performed to acclaim by all-state, collegiate and professional choirs. He wrote Invitation to Love for the Florida State University Women’s Glee Club. “The text of Paul Laurence Dunbar invites Love no matter what the circumstances may be,” writes the com- poser. “After tuneful melodies and imitation, an aleatoric section at the end allows the choir to welcome Love.”

“Harry T. Burleigh was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and sang in a number of churches and synagogues throughout his formative years,” writes Marques Garrett. “Burleigh’s legacy usually rests with the fact that he sang Negro spirituals to Antonín Dvořák then, later, was among the first composers to set the spiritual as an art song. His non-idiomatic art songs, however, are still undiscovered by many.”

“I wrote My Life Flows On in 2001 for my church’s male soloists, Jerry Sams, Ralph Cobb, Skylar Carroll and Peter Henry,” says Carol Sams, “and quickly everyone seemed to want to sing it. I wanted to write something sweet and calming for the luscious sounds of men’s voices. It’s been performed with French horn and piano,” but is heard this evening with English horn. “I consider it one of my gems and am delighted Harmonia has decided to perform it!”

“Reflections is based on a poem by W.S. Merwin,” writes composer Huntley Beyer. “The text resonated with me because it’s from the perspective of an older man looking back on life, reflecting on life (‘my lifelong afternoon late in this season of no age’) and giving thanks. Often in the poem the two words ‘thank you’ reoccur, like a theme. I resonated with the poem not only because I love Merwin’s rather mystical use of language, but also because I, an older guy, am looking back on my life and can see many things to be grateful for. Merwin’s poem names many that I share: natural beauty, true love (my wife), words that come out of silence (I would add creating music that comes to me out of silence), friends, even mistakes (part of me), a spiritual sense guiding me home, the whole body and all the senses. To capture the reiteration of all the ‘thank you’ phrases in the poem, I used one theme for ‘thank you’ throughout the piece. So the piece is a ‘thank you’ rondo. The other material provides variety in character and pace. Everything ends on a serene note. It is a work of gratefulness, a gratefulness that extends to William White and Harmonia for premiering this work.”

Samuel Barber’s Reincarnations sets three 1918 poems by Irishman James Stephens (1880–1950) that reimagine the works of Gaelic poet Antoine Ó Raifteirí. “In ‘Mary Hynes,’ ” writes Meurig Bowen, “Barber perfectly captures the urgency and breathless excitement of passionate love,” while in ”Anthony O’Daly,” “warmth gives way to the stark anger and desperation of grief.” In “The coolin’,” which translates as “The fair-haired one,” Stephens “sought to represent that state which is almost entirely a condition of dream, wherein the passion of love has almost overreached itself and is sinking into a motionless languor.”

Sheila Bristow is a church musician, composer and collaborative keyboardist who serves as the choral accompanist and orchestral keyboardist for Harmonia. The poem on which she based Winter Solstice, “conjures visions of our primeval ancestors sitting around the fire in the dead of winter. As they sit in this community, they mark the turning of the season, from the longest night of the year to the rebirth of the light. To represent this scene, I have used modern equivalents of basic musical instruments combined with communal singing. Between each choral phrase, the clarinet repeats a folk-like melody over a harmonic pattern derived from a Lassus motet” performed on the March 2024 concert at which the Harmonia Chorus premiered this work.

Boundless, a 2012 composition for a cappella treble chorus by Vancouver-based Canadian composer Katerina Gimon, is a “fun and lively work,” imbued with the spirit “of empowerment, exploration and creativity. This music begins with sections of aleatory and textural exploration before resolving into a more structured and rhythmic celebratory conclusion.”

The eight-part choral anthem Hear my prayer, O Lord, composed around 1682 by Henry Purcell, sets the first verse of Psalm 102. The second part of George Frideric Handel’s 1739 oratorio Israel in Egypt opens with the brief “Moses and the children of Israel,” followed by the superbly Handelian double chorus “I will sing unto the Lord,” in which galloping horses can be heard in the choral rhythms.