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Let Freedom Ring!

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We gather this evening in this remarkable and historic space not just to be entertained by beautiful singing; we are here to be changed.Who is Rise Up Chorus? We are artists. We are scientists. We are engineers, chemists, and historians. We are analytical. We are philosophical. We are creative. We are leaders and teachers, workers and laborers. We have thoughts. We have opinions. We have feelings. By being a member of our audience this evening, you have become part of our new community. Through this community, we bring the sum total of our life experience together. This new community of people – the people in this very room, forged only for this concert – have the ability to change the world. But, before we are able to change the world we must change our perception of the world by changing our perception of each other. We must see the good and the value of each of our community members. This is what this evening’s program hopes to accomplish.We are not just here to be entertained; we are here to be changed. We want you, the audience, to be challenged. We want you to reflect on your perception of the world through the lens of freedom, democracy, liberty, and justice as these four themes define this evening’s program.w w w . r i s e u p c h o r u s . o r gFrom the Director - Let Freedom Ring!

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This beautiful space of Christ Church doesn’t only provide a magnificent backdrop for our powerful presentation. In fact, this church was selected deliberately due to its historic significance, for in July of the year 1776 on the property of this venerable church was delivered the third public reading of the Declaration of Independence. Through the reading and institution of this historic document, our Democracy was born and quickly a beacon of hope and freedom for all of its citizens and for those who hoped to become citizens of this new world.Of course, not all were free. Not all had rights. The rights of many were trampled to give more rights to a few. The powerful craved power, and the rest were marginalized. The subordinate were crushed. Families were ripped apart and sold into servitude. People became property. Human lives became disposable. Even after we stood up to those who sustained this system and, through war, ended the enslavement of an entire race of people, their subjugation was never truly relinquished. Riots ensued, and the violence won. But, the Civil Rights Movement empowered the voices of many to emerge. These voices bellowed wrapped our country in a cloak of messages of freedom for all citizens. It was a message of peace and prosperity, of love and justice.As you listen to this presentation, how can you be changed? Reflect on your life and think of places where your kindness and your love are needed. Think of the people in your lives who need you the most. One person may not be able to change the whole world. But if you can change the life of one person, that person’s entire world has now been changed. Do you have the courage to change the world? Let Freedom Ring! Let love win.Matthew J. LaPineFounder and Artistic Directorw w w . r i s e u p c h o r u s . o r g

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To Christ Church in the City of New Brunswick for working with us to provide such a beautiful and historic setting for our concert to honor liberty and freedom. Special thanks go to John Sheridan, Penelope Lattimer, andArtie Phillsfor their help in development and planning for this event.Collectively, the guidance and assistance on the development of today's program from those at Christ Church have helped us to strengthen ourmessage.To Father Zelley and the staff of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Metuchen for allowing us access to sorely needed and much appreciated rehearsal space. Their belief in our mission and trust in us has laid the groundwork for a brilliant and hopefully lasting collaboration between their faith community and the community at large.To our Donors for your generous financial support towards this inaugural year for Rise Up Chorus. It is difficult to adequately express how much we appreciate your creative approaches and personal sacrifices towards funding all that we do. These contributions, and those that we hope will come following your example, are essential to the communities we serve.To my fellow Board Members for the support they volunteered for Rise Up Chorus from their time and talents for these many prior months of planning, refining and fund-raising for the organization. Special thanks to Angela Dohl for her creativity and hard work in preparing this program booklet. Without all these talented indivduals, we would have been unable to bring this organization forward for the benefit of its members, the community, and those we will serve over the coming years.Much effort by many people has been required to get us to this day, and there are so many to thank for bringing this event to fruition. On the occasion of this concert, only our second since our formation, we extend our heartfelt gratitude…w w w . r i s e u p c h o r u s . o r g

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To our Chorus Members for your time in practicing and presenting the music we will share today. Whether with Rise Up Chorus since the beginning or newly joining this session, your efforts are acknowledged and very much appreciated.  To our Founders and Music Professionals for their vision, and selfless contributions of artistic and technical talent. Matthew LaPine, Jessica LaPine, and Thomas DeLessio called this organization together from their vision of all that is possible through music. Our gratitude extends as well to Kathleen Spadafino and Wayne Mallett who have further expanded on the contributions of our Founders in offering their educational talents.Rise Up Chorus would simply not exist without the contributions, dedication and trust of all those mentioned. We are so very grateful that we are on this journey together with you!With sincere appreciation to all,Chris M. BishopPresident, Board of Trusteesw w w . r i s e u p c h o r u s . o r gRise Up Chorus is made possible by the generosity of the following donors:Karen Meyer MarkleyMaryann McGuireAlexis MonacoThe Morace Family FoundationWeng PinedaBob PublikAlan RogersBarbara & Robert SandermanKaren SigelTrish & Bryon SmithKathleen & Michael SpadafinoMargie & Thomas ThomasThrivent FinancialMelissa TiceRebecca WeisbergBeth WilsonAnne & John WrightåAnonymousIsabel BadilloNancy BelfordJane & Robert BerrySuzanne & Chris BishopLaura BogertCarol & Glenn BrinksB.J. CamireStephen CaputoO'Neil CassellsJack ClaypotchMike ConroyTina CorserTina Kush CrepezziKathy & Chris DaltonJoann DanielsDottie DargisChristine & Thomas DeLessioNancy DuddyGJ FlanneryDonald GibsonSusan HamiltonDeborah Herman &    Jeffrey SteinhornKristina HornSusan JankiewiczStanislav JaraczAndy Kennedy-SiebertSusan KingsleyDavid KirpanTed & Norma KleinJessica & Matthew LaPineLinda LaPineChris LeslieDiana LuntAmy MalzoneDiane Mansmann

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Elijah RockAin'-a That Good News!Steal Away to HeavenThe God Who Gave Us Life    (Movement 1 from The Testament ofFreedom)If I Knew You   WelcomePresentation of Christ Church Bravo Service Award Honoreesfrom The Declaration of Independencefrom "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain"from anApril 22, 2013Facebook postShine on MeA CONCERT CELEBRATING FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, LIBERTY, AND JUSTICE.L E T F R E E D O M R I N G !MatthewJ. LaPine, directorThomas DeLessio,accompanistGregory Newton, narratorMargie Thomas, celloRaymond Zipf, percussionw w w . r i s e u p c h o r u s . o r gRandall Thompson   arr. Jester Hairston arr. William L. Dawson      arr. Mark Hayes Mary Lynn LightfootLangston HughesDalai Lama arr. Rollo DilworthMargie Thomas, cello

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w w w . r i s e u p c h o r u s . o r gL E T F R E E D O M R I N G !Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Abraham LincolnDr. Martin Luther KingJr.Abraham Lincoln Nelson Mandala Rosamond Johnson, arr. Roland Carter  Rollo DilworthArr. Ken BergOdina E. Batnagarr. Roger EmersonMoses Hogan & John Jacobsonarr. Moses HoganRandall ThompsonPaul Caldwell & Sean IvoryOscar Petersonarr. Kirby ShawU2, arr. Bob ChilcottAbraham LincolnLike a Mighty StreamLift Every Voice and Sing Justice                  This Little Light of Mine  I Am But A Small Voice   I Shall Not Die Without A Hope   (Movement IV from The Testament ofFreedom)Hope for Resolution  from "Strength to Love"from The Gettysburg Addressfrom "I Have a Dream"from The Gettysburg Addressfrom "Long Walk to Freedom" (1994)Hymn to FreedomMLK      fromthe Emancipation ProclamationGregory Heimerl, soloFord Foster, solo

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program notesThe God Who Gave Us Life is the first of four movements in the song The Testament of Freedom, with words by Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. The text is from a 1774 tract in which Jefferson reminds the First Continental Congress that God has granted mankind both life and liberty, that no force can disjoin them, and thus the British Parliament had no right to govern the American Colonies. The same tenets were the bedrock of the Declaration of Independence, written two years later, largely by Jefferson. The Testament of Freedom was composed in honor of the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth, and first performed by the University of Virginia Glee Club in 1943. It was soon broadcast to Allied servicemen in Europe, and performed in 1945, as part of a concert in memory of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died two days earlier.The traditional spiritual Elijah Rock has its roots in African-American heritage but its original author is unknown. Jester Hairston, an American composer, choral conductor andactor, gave the song a new arrangement, which was published in 1955. An expert on Negro spirituals and choral music, Hairston was a goodwill ambassador of the U.S. Department of State who traveled the world teaching and performing folk music of the slaves. His on- screen acting career stretched from 1936 to 1991, including five years as a supporting cast member in the TV comedy “Amen.”William L. Dawson’s 1937 song, Ain’-a That Good News! celebrates the ultimate freedom for many observant Christians, in the Kingdom with the Savior. Dawson was a graduate of Tuskegee Institute who later became the director of its School of Music. Under his direction and with the support of the President and U.S. State Department, the Tuskegee Choir made an international goodwill concert tour in 1934.The traditional spiritual Shine on Me is arranged by Rollo Dilworth, an associate professor of choral music education at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance. More than 150 of Dilworth’s choral compositions and arrangements have been published, including many spiritual and gospel songs. His research interests are in the areas of African-American music and music education curriculum and instruction. He also arranged the song Justice in today’s performance."In Merry Mood" was a collection of lighthearted verse published in 1903. One of its poems, “To Know All Is to Forgive All,” provides the text for If I Knew You. Its timeless theme is simple: If we knew each other better, we’d see others’ inner grace. James Weldon Johnson’s poem Lift Every Voice and Sing was first publicly performed in 1900, by a group of 500 black children at the segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, in honor of President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Five years later, J.W. Johnson’s brother J. Rosamond Johnson wrote the music, and in 1919 the NAACP dubbed it the “Negro National Anthem.” The song includes many powerful metaphors of troubling times(“the blood of the slaughtered”) to “a song of hope facing the rising sun. The finalw w w . r i s e u p c h o r u s . o r g

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program notesstanza culminates with the petitions, “Keep us forever in the path, we pray,” and “May we forever stand, true to our God, true to our native land.”In his poem Justice, Paul Laurence Dunbar evokes Blind Justice, who weighs truth but sees not creed or race. Dunbar (1872-1906) gained fame for his dialect poems, but in more recent years, critics have prized his standard English poems as his greatest achievements in verse. The composer Rollo Dilworth, mentioned above, wrote the music. He also added the refrain, which directly addresses two of our themes in this concert: “Let justice roll; lift your voice and sing; let justice roll; let freedom ring.” We invite the audience to sing and clap along. “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” This gospel song has a simple message: My own light makes a difference in the world. The writer Carly Berlin noted the song’s significance in 2015 when she was visiting her hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, just days after the mass shootings at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church. “On Saturday night, my mother and my aunt and I went to Mother Emanuel,” she wrote. “… There were hundreds of people, black people and white people, all kinds of people, all singing together. I listened to gospel songs sung from the depths of souls. I sang along to This Little Light of Mine, glad for my contribution to this night, however small.” I Am But a Small Voice continues the theme of a small voice, a small dream engendering something much larger in concert with others. It calls on the “young citizens of the world” to sing with one voice in search of one dream: “Give us peace, prosperity, and love for all mankind.” The lyricist is Odina E. Batnag, then a 13-year-old girl from the Philippines, who won a 1980 children’s songwriting contest on the subject of peace. Roger Whittaker, an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician, selected Batnag’s lyrics from 20 finalists, then set them to music and recorded the song. Like a Mighty Stream repeats many of the themes heard in this concert: The power of song, the rolling of justice and the ringing of freedom. In his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke that we cannot be satisfied “until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.” These words, adapted from the Bible (Amos 5:24), are inscribed on a memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, to the men, women and children who were killed during the American civil rights movement.Oscar Peterson (1925-2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He wrote the music to Hymn to Freedom in 1962 for the Oscar Peterson Trio’s album Night Train. Peterson drew upon church recordings of Negro spirituals recalled from his childhoodin Montreal. With lyrics by Harriette Hamilton, the song has been embraced the worldover as the anthem of the civil rights movement, according to the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.w w w . r i s e u p c h o r u s . o r g

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w w w . r i s e u p c h o r u s . o r gProgram notes by Eric Schwarzprogram notesU2 included two tributes to Martin Luther King Jr. on the band’s 1984 album “The Unforgettable Fire.” Neither song mentions Dr. King, but the first song, Pride (in the Name of Love), refers to Dr. King’s assassination: “Free at last, they took your life. They could not take your pride.” Today’s song, MLK, is a lullaby, with a soaring solo by tenor Ford Foster. The text for the fourth and final movement of The Testament of Freedom is drawn from Thomas Jefferson’s 1821 letter to John Adams, the second President of the United States. “I shall not die without a hope that light and liberty are on steady advance. … .The flames kindled on the Fourth of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism …” Jefferson and Adams both died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.The Youth Chorus and Adult Chorus come together to close today’s concert with Hope for Resolution: A Song for Mandela and de Klerk. In its juxtaposition of a European chant melody and anti-apartheid songs from South Africa, this piece is a celebration of diversity. It was composed for the inauguration of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, who took the oath of office in the presence of both F.W. de Clerk, the nation’s last white president, and one of Mandela’s prison guards during his 18-year incarceration. Hope for Resolution incorporates the South African freedom song Thula Sizwe. Here is the translation of its lyrics, which are in the Zulu language: “Nation, do not cry. Jehovah will protect us. We will attain freedom. Jehovah will protect us.”Rise Up Chorus' next session beginsFriday, February 23, 2018All are welcome, no auditions necessary!For information and to sign up email or call: mlapine@riseupchorus.org  732-662-4469COME AND SING WITH US!Join us at our next performanceSunday, June 10, 20183:00 pm“Building a Musical Community: Music from Around the World”Metuchen High SchoolMetuchen, NJ

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Rise Up Chorus Board MembersChris M. Bishop -Board PresidentThomas DeLessio - Board AdministratorAngela Dohl - Events ManagerJessica LaPine - Director of Social ProgramsMatthewJ. LaPine - Founder & Artistic DirectorChristina Leslie - Communications Director Michelle Schutz - Director of Publicity & MarketingKathleen Spadafino - Director of Education& OutreachThomas Thomas - Board TreasurerIsabel BadilloNancy BelfordNancy BernheimerChris BishopSuzanne BishopMachiko CaputoStephen CaputoMary Jane ConnollyNancy ConroyAnita DaughertyFord FosterShari GarretsonSusan HamiltonGregory HeimerlJack HicksSusan KingsleyDavid KirpanTerry KohlLogan LaudenslagerChristina LeslieDiane MansmannMary McGuireMaryann McGuireDanielle MiyagishimaGina PearsonCarolyn PetoskyEmily PresutoLuisa SchoepfEric SchwarzMickey SeppiKaren SiegelKathy SpadafinoKathy StaegerTom ThomasDonna TiuAnton YudinJakub JaraczMartina JaraczovaJakob KrombholzLuke KrombholzAnna LeonLuisa SchoepfKanisha ShivMadison BelfordGregory HeimerlJack HicksYouth Chorus MembersAdult Chorus Members

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