IN/HUMAN: DEPARTURES Digital Program : simplebooklet.com

DEPARTURES221The first-of-two productions in our 2025 Season, IN/HUMAN: Departures utilizes a three-part structure to investigate our three central season questions: what is it that makes us human, how do we manage being human, and what do we hope for humanity? The program begins by exploring the divide between our public and private selves as well as the nature of choice and fate in an impermanent world. Who am I without my past? Part Two reflects upon the process of understanding oneself through the eyes of another and the consequences of collective choices, resulting in both promise and progress as well as disappointment and devastation. Who am I without other people? In Part Three, we untether from those forces that bind us to ourselves and one another, in search of a new world where we might better learn the true nature of what makes us human. Who am I without my home? The program features music written exclusively by living composers, including four pieces composed or arranged by Choral Lab singing members as well as our concert’s electroacoustic ensemble, The Fates. This concert provides an opportunity to pause and reflect, share space, and create community in the iconic former Downtown Independent Theater now known as The Kult LA, performed by an unparalleled ensemble of 30 exceptional singers and conducted by three of our members: Baraka May, Fletcher Sheridan, and Saunder Choi.Administrative Committee Ryan AlvarezJessica FreedmanAnn SheridanCreative Leadership Team Abram Poliakoff, Musical CoordinatorSara Sinclair Gomez, Head of Production Chad Detloff, Chair Executive LeadershipChad Detloff, Executive Director Board of DirectorsLauren Johnson, Chair David Werthe, Treasurer Kathryn Caterina Edie Lehmann Boddicker Gabriel Mann Daniel November L.A. CHORAL LABLEADERSHIP

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21PART ONEInterlude: “Enter the Cave”Original performance by The Fates“That Shadow, My Likeness” Music by Francesca Hauser, text by Walt Whitman and Christina Rossetti (2024)“Dropping Keys”Music by David Stal, poem by Hafiz (2023)“the gate (from Two Letters to Self)”Music by Shane Scott Cook, text by Leela Srinivasan (2023)PART TWOInterlude: “Leaving the Cave”Original performance by The Fates“Ang Tren (The Train)”Music by Saunder Choi, text by José Corazón de Jesús (2015)“This Is Not Love” Music by Tyrese Walters, text by Elsa Gidlow (2024)“The New Colossus”Music by Saunder Choi, text by Emma Lazarus (2018)PART THREEInterlude: “Entering Orbit”Original performance by The Fates“Earthrise”Music by Nicholas Ryan Kelly, words by Rhea Rose (2022)“Even When He Is Silent”Music by Kim André Arnesen, text by Anonymous (2012)“All Is Full Of Love” Music by Björk, arranged by Katharine Eames (2025)TONIGHT’S PROGRAMDepartures runs approximately 1.5 hours 2Creative and Technical CollaboratorsJoshua Ballinger, Videographer (documentingthelight.com)Jeff Eames, Sound EngineerTom Snyder, Lighting TechnicianChad Detloff, Program DesignRobert M Bravo, The Kult LAVolunteers and ContributorsKathryn Caterina Ashley EmersonM Paige FillionLauren JohnsonEdie & Michael Lehmann BoddickerHannah Rose LewisGabriel Mann Kevin MillerDaniel NovemberDavid WertheJericho Trinidad, Triple Beam Pizza (Echo Park) DEPARTURES CONTRIBUTORS

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20THE MUSIC3THAT SHADOW, MY LIKENESSMusic by Francesca HauserText by Walt Whitman and Christina Rossetti 2024That shadow, my likeness That goes to and fro, seeking a livelihood How often I find myself, standing and looking at where it flits How often I question and doubt whether that is really me Life is not sweet, one day it will be sweetWells LengAccompanist and PianistWells Leng (1994-) is a performer/composer/improviser based in Los Angeles. Having graduated from USC with a BM in Composition and a BA in Piano Performance and CalArts with an MFA in the Performer-Composer program, they have studied composition with Donald Crockett, Brian Head, Andrew Norman, Frank Ticheli, Andrew McIntosh, and Nicholas Deyoe; piano with Antoinette Perry and Vicki Ray; cello with Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick. As both a performer and composer, Wells has collaborated with many other artists all over the world and has performed and has had music performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, REDCAT Theater, Aratani Theatre, among others. Wells is also part of the new music trio, House on Fire Trio, and regularly commissions and premieres new works. As a prolific choir accompanist, Wells has accompanied both nationally recognized and local choirs, such as National Children’s Chorus, C3LA, LA Choral Lab, San Gabriel Valley Choral Company, and is currently the associate music director and collaborative keyboardist at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church.INTERLUDE: ENTER THE CAVEThe Fates with vox and sampler <<forward, fixed, depth, filtered chaos, reverberation>>Beginning in the hollow, the birth that is life crackles on the wall, ticks with time, vacillating between water and mirrored eupnea.

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DROPPING KEYSMusic by David StalPoem by Hafiz 2023The small man Build cages, build cages for everyone He Knows. While the sage, Who has to duck his head When the moon is low Keeps dropping keys all night longFor the BeautifulRowdyPrisoners. * * *When I discovered the poem “Dropping Keys,” I was immediately inspired to compose the piece you will hear in tonight’s program. The text is short and simple, yet it captures a profound range of human experience. It reflects a power dynamic that has appeared across countless cultures and eras, making it feel especially relevant today.In my musical setting, I sought at times to create an explosion of epiphanies—those rare and transformative moments when a mentor or friend reveals something that you never thought of before. At other times, the music becomes a quiet, deliberate meditation on life, reflecting on how it might be made richer, more fulfilling, and more equitable for all.--David Stal, Composer419The FatesElectroacoustic EnsembleThe Fates will perform three original works of electroacoustic instrumentation with amplified voice. In three allegorical interludes, The Fates invite the audience on an electronic journey destined for departure. Musical magician Christopher Harrison transforms vocal samples of the choir into both recognizable and distorted tonality. Familiar sounds mix, clash, and swirl around the naked and manipulated voices of Molly Pease and Sara Sinclair Gomez creating an almost indistinguishable transference between human and synthesizer.Christopher Given Harrison is a Los Angeles-based composer, producer, and performer. Sometimes he does surgical invisible edits of vocal takes for big fancy artists. Most of the time he writes music for cartoons and produces folk or electronic records for awesome up-and-coming artists. Hit him up on IG. @christophonemusicMolly Pease is a Los Angeles-based vocal artist and composer who is inspired by nature, passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration, and who speaks honestly about mental health in her music. She was recently awarded Opera America's Discovery Grant for her opera-in-progress HYSTERIA. As a GRAMMY-awarded and nominated performer, she is member/assistant director of experimental vocal sextet HEX, regularly sings with LAMC and LACL and has worked with Björk, Tune-Yards, Sigur Rós, Dirty Projectors, and Kronos Quartet. www.mollypeasemusic.comSara Sinclair Gomez is a Los Angeles-based artist dedicated to creating immersive musical environments that challenge vocal boundaries, mechanization, and evocative aesthetic atmospheres. While not embodying a synth witch and collaborating around town with fellow experimental musicians, Sara can be found singing soprano with LACL, teaching voice at AMDA College of the Performing Arts, hustling as a Session Singer, and tending to her garden, animals, and partner. DEPARTURES ARTISTIC COLLABORATIONS

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18the gate (from Two Letters to Self) Music by Shane Scott CookText by Leela Srinivasan 2023when you left homeyou didn’t know the gate would close behind youyou didn’t know the cathedral would shudder and collapse in on itself like a pinwheel you thought there would always be a way back you thought some requiems would be yours to inhabit to share in the reservoirs of grief to sip and meditate on every scent to swallow your splinters whole to go back and open the lock to settle at last in the meadows and breathe 5TenorSaunder ChoiJames HarperFrank HobbsJosh MunnellRohan RamananFletcher SheridanZachary Zaret BassRyan AlvarezKenton ChenSean GabelMatthew LewisCharles McDonaldBen McLainJoe SantoniDaniel WeidleinINTERLUDE: LEAVING THE CAVE The Fates with vox, sampler, Lyra-8 Organismic Drone Synthesizer, and synth keys<<side to side, tactile, pleasure, pain, visible chaos, rhythm>>Faced with the interminable hum of mechanization, the clashing of the metal machine competes with environmental harmony.

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17Tila ahas na nagmulaSa himpilang kanyang lunggaAng galamay at palikpik, pawang bakal, tanso Tingga, ang kaliskis lapitan mo’tMga bukas na bintana Ang rail na lalakara’yNakabalatay sa daanUmaaso ang bunganga at maingay na maingay,Sa Tutuban magmumula’t patutun-go sa Dagupan O, kung gabi’t masalubong Ang mata ay nagaapoy Ang silbato sa malayo’y dinig mo pang sumisipol At hila-hila ang kanyang kabit-kabit namang bagon Walang pogod ang makina May baras na nasa r’wedaSumisigaw, sumisibad, humuhuni ang pitada Tumetulenteng ang kanyang kainpanada sa tuwina “Kailan ka magbabalik?”“Hanggang sa hapon ng Martes.”At tinangay na ng tren ang naglak-bay na pag’big“Ang Tren (The Train) ” is a setting of Filipino literary giant José Corazón de Jesús' poem about Philippine commuter culture. The piece is playful, and uses a lot of onomatopoeic textures that imitate the chug and drive of a railroad train from the pre-World War 2 days, creating a bed of images for the text setting. The poem ends on a sentimental note, as de Jesús likens the train's journey to the traveling heart. This piece was commissioned by the Cultural Center of the Philippines for the 2015 Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival, specifically to be used as the obligatory piece in the chamber choir category. --Saunder Choi, ComposerLike a snake coming from Its barracks, it’s den,Its tentacles and fins, like metal, copper, lead, its scales,With a closer look, Appears to be open windows.The rail it treads uponLays itself on the road.Its mouth reeks of smoke, and is very noisy,Going all the way from Tutuban to Dagupan.When night comes, Its eyes shine bright like flames,You can hear the sound of its whistle from afar,As it restlessly chugs and pulls its interlocking wagons.The tireless machineHas dents on it’s wheels,Its horn shouts, rushes, whistles, relentlessly making noise In the distance.“When is it coming back?” “Not ‘til Tuesday afternoon.” As the train carried away a wandering love,It left behind a handkerchief by a window full of sobs. ANG TREN (The Train)Music by Saunder ChoiText by José Corazón de Jesús Translation by Michael de Lara Co20156SopranoNatalie Babbitt-TaylorRachel BearerDevon DavidsonJessica FreedmanEmily GogliaCarrah StamatakisMezzoKatharine EamesMarisa EspositoBaraka MayAnn SheridanAltoNatalie GonzalezLaura JackmanSara MannDivya MausValerie TambaoanDEPARTURES SINGERS

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167THIS IS NOT LOVEMusic by Tyrese WaltersText by Elsa Gidlow 2024This is not love: we cannot call it love.Love would make me aware of infinite things, Drive me down the spirit’s vast abyssAnd through the narrow fastnesses of pain.This is not love. Yet it holds lovelinessBeyond mere pleasure. Peace and passion both Grow from the kiss with which I paint drab hours.It is not love: love is for the GodsAnd our more godlike moments. Yet when stars Withhold their spendor, why should we not light Candles to warm with kindly mortal flames The all-enfolding, cold, immortal night?Katharine EamesKatharine is a studio singer, live performer, songwriter, arranger, and vocal coach from Los Angeles. Some of her past favorite projects include High School Musical: The Series, Frozen 2, Mulan, Birds Of Prey, Star Wars: Rogue One, Pitch Perfect 2 & 3, The Grinch, and 2018’s Peter Rabbit, where her vocals open the film as the singing sparrow.Most recently, you can hear Katharine’s voice on Apple TV’s Fraggle Rock TV series, and in the Nintendo game Fire Emblem Engage. She has recorded vocals for Disney, Mattel, Nintendo, Toshiba, Shopkins Toys, Hal Leonard Publishing, and many more. With roots in pop, jazz, R&B, and a cappella, Katharine is also a member of the award-winning vocals + electronics quintet ARORA, who released their debut album on Verve Records. ARORA has sung backup for Sara Bareilles and Chrissy Hyde, and have been featured on NPR, KCRW, and Sirius XM, as well as at the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, and the X Games. She is a proud alumna of Berklee College of Music and UCLA, and is currently on the vocal faculty at Los Angeles College of Music and Biola University.

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815THE NEW COLOSSUSMusic by Saunder ChoiText by Emma Lazarus 2018Give me your tired, your poorGive me your huddled massesYearning to breathe free The wretched refuse of your teeming shore Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me I lift my lamp beside the golden door * * *I chose to set Emma Lazarus' poem “The New Colossus” because it makes sacrosanct the principle that the United States of America has been and will always be a nation of immigrants, regardless of xenophobic political ideologies. The notion of condemning immigration is against the concept of liberty and the land of the free. In this setting, I chose to only set the last few lines, arguably the more famous part of the poem. The post-minimalistic approach of relentless pulse and repetition is interspersed with a warm, lush section of hope and welcome. This piece was written for the L.A. Choral Lab and premiered at the 2018 Western Division ACDA Conference.--Saunder Choi, ComposerDEPARTURES FEATURED COMPOSERSDavid StalOriginally from Houston, Texas, David Stal is a Los Angeles-based composer whose work spans prestige television, indie film, and high-profile collaborations. A graduate of USC’s Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television graduate program, Stal cut his teeth writing additional music for composers like Michael Kramer, John Frizzell, and Carlos Rafael Rivera—developing a reputation for versatility, speed, and a sharp instinct for storytelling through music.His breakout came as co-composer on the Emmy-winning HBO series Hacks, where he helped craft the show’s distinctive sound—equal parts biting, emotional, and effortlessly cool. Stal has also contributed additional music to buzzy, critically acclaimed series like The Queen’s Gambit, Griselda, Lessons in Chemistry, and Monsieur Spade, while also scoring indie projects like the festival-favorite Breakup Season. Represented by Keith C. Anderson at KCA Music, he brings a modern, cinematic voice to every project—whether it's shaping the emotional arc of a scene or building the sonic identity of an entire series.David has been singing with and composing/arranging for the Los Angeles Choral Lab since its inception. He is proud to provide his music to such an inspiring choir, and is grateful for the opportunity to share his music with LACL and its audience.INTERLUDE: ENTERING ORBITThe Fates with vox, sampler, bells, loop pedal, and theremin<<up and away, graph, text, invisible chaos, movement>>Putting out a signal to where, the Fates look to the stars–as above so below.

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914EARTHRISEMusic by Nicholas Ryan KellyWords by Rhea Rose 2022I left homeHere there are no temples to the earth No sacred space to embrace her delights I walk not in moonlight, but on the old man’s face From here I spy my distant home Turning on a dark dais Her blue eye blinded by her city lights I left homeHere no old stone pillars stand to honour herNo hymns are sung, sung to her green passages No ocean mornings on white sand beachesNo praises to her nature’s legacy While in this tranquil sea, standing in an astronaut’s debris Somewhere out there, she stands alone in space Somewhere out there stars shine upon her face Somewhere out there rituals fall silent Hot deserts getting hotter From this moon’s base I watch my blue mother rise alone I carry forward her water, lift her air to the cosmosBurn her bones to part the horizon I left homeEarth had kids who left her like children doLeft home to sing new hymns to the firm A terra corps in kind, in time, there’s no returnI left home tooBaraka MayBaraka May is a studio singer for some of the world’s finest composers and artists. A vocal chameleon, she has sung behind artists such as Billie Eilish, Pentatonix, Celine Dion, Harry Styles, Pharrell, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Jennifer Hudson, Josh Groban, and Muse, among others. She has been featured on stages all over the world, from the Hollywood Bowl to the Tokyo International Forum to Wembley Stadium and has toured with, music directed, and coached many of Hollywood's elite singers and actors. Since joining SAG-AFTRA in 2011, Baraka's voice can be heard in over 500 major motion pictures, tv episodes, video games, commercials, and albums, including La La Land, Frozen II, Encanto, Star Trek Beyond, The Lion King, Jurassic World, Finding Dory, Coco, The Voice, and more. A-List film composers including Danny Elfman, John Powell, Hans Zimmer, and Michael Giacchino have enlisted her talents singing everything from belted gospel to ethereal soprano to child-like character voices and celebrity impressions. A summa cum laude graduate of USC's Thornton School of Music, Baraka holds a Master’s Degree in Teaching Music and has directed thousands of singers as a choral director with LAUSD, BUSD, The Gifted and Talented Conservatory Program, ETMLA, Larchmont Charter School, Reality LA church, and more. She is regularly asked to serve as a vocal contractor, music director, and guest clinician of adults and children within the choral and a cappella communities throughout Los Angeles. She has worked as a contractor, director, arranger, and transcriber for many projects with Disney Television Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and Netflix among others. A founding member of The LA Choral Lab, Baraka is honored to be directing her fifth concert with the choir.

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1013EVEN WHEN HE IS SILENTMusic by Kim Andre ArnesenText by Anonymous 2012I believe in the sun, even when it’s not shiningI believe in love, even when I feel it not I believe in God, even when he is silent ALL IS FULL OF LOVEMusic by Björk Arranged by Katharine Eames 2025You’ll be given loveYou’ll be taken care ofYou’ll be given loveYou just have to trust it All is full of love You just ain’t receiving Your phone is of f the hookYour doors are all shut Maybe not from the sources you have poured yours Maybe not from the directions you are staring at Twist your head around, it’s all around you All is full of loveSaunder ChoiSaunder Choi is an award-winning Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and choral artist. A winner of the 2024 American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Raymond Brock Prize for Professional Composers, 2017 Indianapolis Symphonic Choir Carol Commission Competition, 2014 American Prize for Choral Composition, his works have been performed internationally by various groups including Conspirare, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Pacific Chorale, World Youth Choir, Asia Pacific Youth Choir, Brightwork New Music, People Inside Electronics, and many others. As an arranger and orchestrator, Saunder has written for Tony-Award winner Lea Salonga, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa, Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, etc. As a choral artist, he sings with Pacific Chorale, L.A. Choral Lab, HEX Vocal Ensemble, as well as in film scores such as the soundtrack of Disney’s The Lion King (2019), Mulan (2020), Turning Red (2022), Nope (2022), Avatar: The Way of the Water (2022), etc. Saunder believes in music as advocacy, using the media as a platform for diversity, equity, inclusion, justice. His compositions are focused on narratives and conversations surrounding immigration, racial justice, LGBTQ+ advocacy, climate justice, and representations of his identity as a Filipino-Chinese. He is currently Director of Music at Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica and a teaching artist with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

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1112ALL IS FULL OF LOVEArranger NotesIt was a joy to arrange “All Is Full of Love” for LA Choral Lab, and I hope that it invokes the bittersweet feeling of a last goodbye. The first section of the piece underscores a final conversation and fond farewell, followed by a floating moment of release in the piano, indicating that there’s no going back. The next section is a steady build as the departure journey begins, filled with melancholy and deep sorrow for what we are leaving behind. As the build continues, I hope the listener gets a sense of the immediate longing you feel when you have just left a person you love, knowing that you may not see them again for a very long time. As the piece intensifies, it reflects the heaviness and feelings of regret that inevitably come when you have to say goodbye, questioning whether leaving was the right decision or if you used your time wisely. There may even be feelings of wanting to go back, but it is too late - we are already drifting away. The zenith of the piece represents the final untethering - the moment of disconnect when the rope has been cut and we are on our way to a new chapter. The last section is a deep breath of acceptance, of both the sadness of saying goodbye, and the journey ahead.--Katharine Eames, ArrangerDEPARTURES CONDUCTORSFletcher SheridanEmmy™ Award-Winning Fletcher Sheridan has been at the center of LA’s vocal community for the past 20 years, earning the respect of singers and composers alike with over 1,000 projects for Film, TV, & media under his belt. His vast and varied experience in front of a mic, on the stage, and in the boardroom has made him an invaluable resource. He has served in many functions: Music director to world-class vocal groups, vocal producer for tours and live shows, community organizer for the best singers in the world (LA singers!), and as a tenor/conductor for one of the best choirs in Los Angeles, LA Choral Lab. As a vocal contractor, he has proven to be a nexus of talent, organization, and diplomacy. In 2022, he co-founded Concord Vocal Services, and has since contracted for major studios such as Disney, Netflix, 20th Television, Paramount, Universal and Warner Brothers Discovery to name a few. Fletcher thrives on being a resource, and raising up the community of singers that has given him so much.

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IN/HUMAN: DEPARTURES Digital Program

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