PROGRAM NOTES
Order My Steps - Glenn Burleigh/arr. Jack Schrader
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As both an active musician and educator, making music with students is a priority. Daily improvisation and composition are absolutely essential to developing creatively as a performing artist. Glen Burleigh’s Order My Steps arranged by Jack Schrader is a simple hymn that can be sung well by any level of choir. The beauty in it is never performing it the same way twice. We have an overall plan, but no one on stage or in the audience knows exactly what will transpire this morning. We invite you to join us in any way you are comfortable. You can speak, call out, sing the melody, or improvise.
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Christ on the Mount of Olives, Op. 85: Hallelujah - Ludwig van Beethoven
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Ludwig van Beethoven was born December 16, 1774. Our plan is to throw him a 250th birthday party at school. In 1802, it was apparent that the musical genius had begun going deaf. Living in isolation in the countryside, he wrote his famous letter, the Heiligenstadt Testament. The letter is full of emotion and is viewed as part confession and part will. Some even thought it was a suicide note, but he followed it up with his only oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives. “Hallelujah” for choir and orchestra is absolutely a gem of traditional choral literature. Filling in for our orchestra this morning is junior Joshua Safont on piano. Pedagogically, the piece serves both as a simple introduction to polyphonic sacred music and a quick review of chromatic solfeggio for choir members. A string quintet with piano adds a whole other dimension, but was unfortunately unfeasible for today’s performance. ​​​​​​
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Human Nature - John Bettis/Steve Porcaro (opb. Michael Jackson) arr. Ben Bram
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Nou Se Limyè - Sydney Guillaume​​​
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Sydney Guillaume wrote this piece for my Falcon Singers of John A. Ferguson High School in Miami, FL in 2013. In preparation for the performance, my accompanist and right hand man, Doug McCall, really struggled with the piano part. Doug and I hypothesized that Sydney had attempted to write as many notes as possible into the part and could not possibly be able to play the part himself. I called Sydney and said, “..you either have to simplify this piano part or play it yourself for the premiere.” I was shocked by his quick reply, and a week later, I conducted its premiere at Carnegie Hall with Sydney himself on piano. Today, we feature junior Joshua Safont on the rigorous accompaniment part. For the ensemble, the challenge is to incorporate the choral tone from all three of the previous pieces into one piece. The choral parts are accessible for intermediate level choirs, and provide outstanding examples of both simple and compound rhythmic phrasing. The piece takes inspiration from the divine light we all carry within us. Its strong message encourages hope, love, truth, justice, compassion and dignity, all with a passionate plea that our light must shine everyday.
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Translation of Haitian Creole text:
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Children of light, do not stay in the dark;
Truth and Love are stronger than the law.
From the beginning of time the word was spoken:
Darkness and evil had invaded the earth;
Everything was functioning in reverse.
The Lord decided to put order in disorder.
“The Lord said, let there be light: and there was light”
Light in the universe, light in the depths of our hearts.
So many good things in the beautiful flame of this light:
Awareness, development,
Understanding and compassion,
Truth and dignity,
Wisdom and justice,
Liberty and hope,
Love and happiness…
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Click here for Spanish translation.
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World O World - Jacob Collier​
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Ahead of its publication earlier this year, this ensemble was honored to be the first high school choir in the world to perform Jacob Collier’s masterpiece in Carnegie Hall. Jacob himself FaceTimed the kids to encourage them for the landmark performance on March 11, 2024. In May, he invited the group to perform the piece on the Miami show of his Djesse Volume 4 World Tour. The performance is available on YouTube, and the music is now available through Boosey and Hawkes.
Until we meet again!
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Ensemble Bio
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“MAS Vocal Ensemble” is a combination of a mixed chorus nicknamed the Maverick Singers and BellArmonia, the premiere SSAA ensemble at Miami Arts Studio, a performing arts magnet school located in western Miami-Dade County, Florida. In addition to being one of two high school ensembles in Florida to earn a Superior with Distinction at Florida Vocal Association State Music Performance Assessment in 2024, the ensemble had the privilege of performing throughout the United States, and has recorded for several artists and award shows.
The vast majority of the ensemble is made up of Hispanic students who are all first or second generation immigrants from the Caribbean Islands, Central and South America. The school and the vocal program are predominantly Hispanic which parallels the community in which the school is situated. While students are exposed to a wide array of musical styles and time periods in their choral literature, the music of Miami is home for the vocal ensembles. Each time we travel to a new place we try to bring a piece of Miami with us by preparing repertoire in English, Spanish and/or Haitian Creole.
The conference performance will feature the mixed, Maverick Singers, part of the ensemble singing repertoire from Beethoven to Michael Jackson. On the finale, the SSAA half of the MAS Vocal Ensemble will join them for Jacob Collier’s choral masterpiece which begins as a traditional four part hymn and builds to a harmonic finale in triple choir. In May, the MAS Vocal Ensemble performed the piece with Jacob Collier at the Miami show of his DJESSE Volume 4 World Tour. ​​​
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Ryan Ellis is a jazz pianist and director of vocal music at Miami Arts Studio (MAS), a 6th-12th public arts magnet school in Miami, FL. Mr. Ellis received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Miami and his Masters in Music Education from Florida International University. After 4 years as the Director of Bands at Miami Southridge High School, he was voluntold to take over the storied Southridge choral program for Deborah Mar. Not a singer, and with absolutely no training, Mr. Ellis learned from Mrs. Mar, Barbara Kingman, and other colleagues about choral methods and literature. After Southridge, he spent ten years at John A. Ferguson High School directing jazz band and choir before founding the MAS Vocal magnet at Miami Arts Studio. Currently, he continues to lead the vocal magnet program, as well as an independent public school record label, MAS Records, Inc, which juxtaposes students and industry leading professionals in an effort to provide students with a relevant music education in a rapidly evolving industry.
Mr. Ellis’ ensembles have performed throughout the United States, with concerts in Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando, and New York, including five featured concerts at Carnegie Hall in 2009, 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2024.
Mr. Ellis is published as a contributing author on Jason Max Ferdinand’s “Teaching with Heart” and “Teaching Beyond the Music,” available from GIA Publications. As a professional jazz pianist, Mr. Ellis has worked extensively in the Caribbean, Florida and Hawaii.
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Miami Arts Studio 6-12
Administration
Dr. Miguel Balsera, Principal
Ms. Annie Diaz, Assistant Principal
Ms. Patricia Fleri, Assistant Principal
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