New Music with Old Friends:
an Afternoon with UNCG
Alumni
Nadja Brown Ramsay, ’82, soprano
P. Brent Register, ’82, English horn
Larry Thomas, ’82, tenor
Neil Underwood, ’82, flute/alto flute
with
Paula Amrod, piano
Sunday, April 13, 2014
1:30 pm
Recital Hall, Music Building
Program
The Silence Flowering its Birdsong (2012) P. Brent Register
The Architect (some Jazz for Phil) text by Philip Terman
Garden, Sabbath (Ostinato)
Fledgling
The Book That is Its Body (Rondo)
Abandoned Oriole Nest
Autumn Song
Larry Thomas, P. Brent Register, and Paula Amrod
Intermission
The Mirror (2011) P. Brent Register
Endless Joy (Tu Fu) trans. John Digby
The Mirror (Po Chu I)
Reply to Subperfect Zhang (Wang Wei)
How Long and Painful Your Departure (Li Po)
The Lonely Wife (Li Po)
At Summit Temple (Li Po)
Nadja Brown, Neil Underwood, and Paula Amrod
THE SILENCE FLOWERING ITS BIRDSONG
Philip Terman's text is taken from his following publications:
* Book of the Unbroken Days, MAMMOTH Books, July 2004.
** Copyright 2007 by Philip Terman, reprinted from his collection Rabbis of the Air
published by Autumn House Press. Used by permission of the author and the
publisher.
*** Copyright 2011 by Philip Terman, reprinted from his collection The Torah Garden
published by Autumn House Press. Used by permission of the author and the
publisher.
The Architect **
A string to mark the corn seeds, secured
to a post at either end of the garden,
one of which the robin loosens, snatches,
pulls free, drags toward the cottage
she’s constructing among the rose vines
tangling out of the arbor. It tugs hard,
but the other end won’t give, strung
tight and tied with a double knot. Robin
imagines texture, threaded and sewn
through hay and dog hair and grass like
a garland that will reinforce, long as it takes
for the eggs to hatch, this palace. Against
resistance seizing with every exertion.
This mansion. She has all morning.
Garden, Sabbath ***
We open ourselves up
to the only moment there is—
garden, Sabbath—the extra
stillness of late September,
after-light of harvest moon,
the earth hanging on like
the last blast of the shofar’s
bellowing breath, grief
released, hearts broken
open to the silence, hallowed,
wounded by the year. Doesn’t
everyone want to be a bird
again? A heart, before
it dies, balanced
with a feather, floating
its appointed flight?
Wasn’t it summer?
Weren’t the children laughing
in the water? Wasn’t the wind
some kind of refuge?
There’s a place where errors
can turn into mindfulness,
changing us into someone
we could not otherwise
become, paying the deserved
price, penance before forgiveness,
which is grace.
Fledgling *
The garden in silence, sun sliding
down the spine of the arborvitae,
taking on the color of the sky,
absorbing the air and the birdsong.
Even the stones are listening.
To be at the ready, all attention,
even if what startles is some deep
wisdom we don’t have a name for—
like the robin fledgling we’re observing,
beak edging over the rim of its nest,
awkwardly flailing its thin wings
the short distance to the apple tree, pausing,
gone, beyond the hayfield, the blurred horizon,
that obscure distance, otherwise known as our longing.
The Book That Is Its Body *
Steady yourself to the frog’s croak,
the swallow’s occasional splash along the surface,
the celebrated dance of the Queen Ann’s lace.
What’s revealed?
Not that this beauty will stay its place,
but rather you were granted exclusive permission
to participate in whatever it is
that makes up this moment.
The silence flowering its birdsong.
Forget the past—it is loss, that famous abandoned house
where you collected shadows—
it is mist that tears off like the dark
into pieces the newly constituted sky swallows.
What is the day wearing?
Light garments of blue and white.
It is dressing itself in clouds, it is adorning itself in water.
It is pausing like a waxwing on a porchrail.
Be still for as long as it decides to stay.
Creak of the hinge. Woodpecker tapping on the door
of the upper stories. Forget memory: it is grief.
It is the land of mourning, it is sheets over the mirrors.
It is like collecting rain from all day in a bamboo basket.
Quick: the swallowtail is opening pages of thin paper.
What do you read there?
White-tissued wings, the book
that is its body scripts a story across the summer air.
Follow it into the flowers. Leave behind your weight—
it anchors you like a gravestone into the ground.
Where are those years? Someone you loved said
they would disappear with a snap of her fingers.
And she snapped them. And they disappeared.
Abandoned Oriole Nest *
There it is now, catching the first of the dark.
Frost and relentless rains, wedged between two branches
after the hard fruit has been picked or fallen
and the great exodus of the leaves,
allowing the wind to work its way
through straw, doghair, mud, twigs, grass
and the silence.
No longer functional,
it serves a greater uselessness—
bowl of air, cup of snow.
All spring long its builder swooped
orange breast from woods to nest to woods.
Now a stranger is perched
on its edge—wren or nuthatch, too dusky
to be distinguished, brief stay, quick flight.
Constructed in light, surrounded by white blossoms,
it protected, while the weather favored, its singing soul.
Now what does a house do without its bird?
Autumn Song *
Now that the leaves have achieved
their riotous colors, and are scattering
back to their original condition of soil,
now that the nests are all visible—
I can study what it means
to be perfectly balanced, how
to shelter my bowl of emptiness,
how to wait for my bird to return.
Text improvisations for The Mirror by John Digby
ENDLESS JOY TU FU (712-770)
Endless green hills rolling away like a looping dragon climbing among the clouds,
and the path twisting and turning high up to Ox Head! With each step I discard
convention and wander free as a dancing wave. The Spring blossoms are heavy and
full, their scents intoxicating.
The monastery is silent, the pool serene without a ripple. The notes of a golden oriole
ring out, liquid music that never ceases for a moment.
THE MIRROR PO CHU I (772-846)
A flame had been extinguished
an exquisite beauty
strayed from me forever
Never again would I see
this perfect lotus blossom face
in this unpolished mirror
she abandoned in an ancient case
Years later brushing away the dust
a sudden shock stabbed the heart
In the reflection I witnessed
a disappointed poet who had
grown old bitter and wrinkled
I turned the bronze mirror over
remorsefully looking at two
dragons eternally intertwined
*Note: dragons in Chinese mythology have positive connotations so this is a
reflection on their past relationship
REPLY TO SUBPREFECT ZHANG WANG WEI (699-761)
Old age opens its doors to silence
and before me the world’s affairs dissolve
I return to the wilderness
under diminishing clouds
letting the breeze animate my untied sash
As the moon rises above the hills
I pluck a zither string
harmonizing with the evening
among trees turning their leaves
Why ask me if the world falls or rises?
I hear only the fishermen’s faint songs
drifting with the flowing river
HOW LONG AND PAINFUL YOUR DEPARTURE LI PO (701-762)
Ah sir how long since you departed
embarked on wanderings
I count more than five Springs
From where I sit
I watch the cherry blossoms open
sweet remembrances of our days together
You write letters to me in red characters
drifting like spoiled petals
across the sheet I hold trembling
I cannot staunch my tears nor can
I stop the deep rooted sighs
that leave me shuddering
My heart is scattered broken
knowing your heart has drifted
and sailed away on another journey
I am negligent of all affairs
careless of combing my cloud like
locks of hair that once so pleased you
As deepening sorrows mount
like snow banks swirling and twisting
a whirlwind brings havoc to my emotions
Last year I dispatched a letter
explaining my grief
and again I sent another
imploring you to answer me
O that the East wind would scatter
the threatening clouds from the West
bringing me even the slightest hope of
you holding me in your arms
I am waiting for my man
who will never return
watching the flowers
quietly and gradually
fall on green moss
another spring and all hope gone
THE LONELY WIFE LI PO
The mist is swirling and impenetrable
the river is wide
letters cannot be delivered
The moon hanging in the night sky
among clouds shines above me
exposing a forsaken woman
Night after night
I smoothed one side of my quilt
expecting to meet my Lord
in my longing dreams
As my grief deepened
my eyebrows creased
with frowning and resentment
I slept alone under the quilt
embroidered with the fabulous phoenix
that brings mythical desires
The red candles
in their silver holders
were melting tears like those
running down my flushed cheeks
When I still had a blossoming face
my lord abandoned me
and drifted off somewhere unknown
Unable to sleep now
I toss from side to side
sickened by the sound of the water clock
that deepens my desolation
When I rose at dawn
I was told snow was falling
Rolling up the reed-blind
I gazed at the glittering snow
The stone steps in the courtyard
were covered under a heavy drift
The swirling snow twisted
like smoke escaping from a furnace
and the withered grass was frozen
into a carved jade pendant
It must have been the immortals
who got wildly intoxicated
and crumpled the white clouds
into these shimmering pieces falling
AT SUMMIT TEMPLE LI PO
Big climb this!
Breathless dizzy
and panting I’ve
attained the summit
I quiet my heart
hold my breath
looking into infinity
Now I could reach up
cradle a star in my hand
but scarcely whisper a word
for fear of waking the deities
About the performers.....
Paula Amrod, Professor of Music, has been a faculty member at Clarion University
since 1981 teaching applied piano, class piano, keyboard literature and various lecture
courses. A frequent performer as a soloist and as a chamber musician on the Clarion
campus, Dr. Amrod also performs as a member of the Easterly Chamber Players.
Performances include a solo recital at the Steinway Society Concert Series in
Pittsburgh, and chamber performances at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the
Arts, the Bellefonte Historical and Cultural Association music series, and the National
Flute Conventions in Chicago, Illinois and Las Vegas, Nevada. A native of Memphis,
Tennessee, Dr. Amrod received the Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and the
Master of Music in Piano Performance degrees from the University of Memphis
where she studied with Daniel Fletcher. She earned the Doctor of Music in Piano
Literature and Pedagogy degree from Indiana University (Bloomington, IN) where
she studied with Hans Graf, Zadel Skolovsky, and Alfonso Montecino.
This is soprano Nadja Brown Ramsay's third collaboration with composer P. Brent
Register on The Mirror, having performed it with the composer and pianist Paula
Amrod last week in New York City and in December, 2013 in Clarion, PA. In
addition to performing recital repertoire, Ms. Brown Ramsay is experienced in
performing opera, oratorio, recital, and musical theater repertoire. Her operatic roles
with New York City companies include Gilda in Rigoletto with Amato Opera and
Valencienne in The Merry Widow with Regina Opera. Ms. Brown Ramsay sang the role
of Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and Lauretta in Pergolesi's The Music Master, both
with Ithaca Opera. She was heard as Second Lady in The Magic Flute with State
Repertory Opera of New Jersey and Wanda in The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein with
Light Opera Works of Evanston, IL. Some of the highlights Ms. Brown Ramsay
includes among her appearances as a concert soloist are: a performance with the
National Chorale in their Lincoln Center Festival of American Musical Theater, a
musical review of Richard Rodgers with Syracuse Symphony, Brahms' Ein Deutsches
Requiem with Waukegan Symphony, Handel's Messiah with Cayuga Chamber
Orchestra, and Bach's Christmas Oratorio with Music of the Baroque in their Lincoln
Center debut. She has had the honor of working with conductors Kurt Masur and
Zubin Mehta in performances with the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Brown Ramsay
has been a winner in the Metropolitan Opera Southeastern Regional Auditions and a
finalist in the Opera Company of Philadelphia/Luciano Pavarotti International Opera
Competition. She was an adjunct member of the voice faculty at Ithaca College for
seven years. Ms. Brown Ramsay holds a Master's of Music in Vocal Performance
from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from
UNC-G. She had the honor of studying voice and opera with the late Dr. Arvid
Knutsen during her years at UNC-G. She dedicates her performance today to her
mother, Dr. Hazel Nixon Brown (1940 - 2013), who served on the UNC-G School of
Nursing faculty for 37 years.
P. Brent Register is a Professor of Music at Clarion University where he teaches
applied woodwinds, contemporary music history, and techniques courses. In
addition, he served as the Associate Director of the Clarion University Honors
Program, being inducted as a Fellow of the National Collegiate Honors Council in
2013, and is actively involved with the Clarion University Theatre. His theatre
involvement has resulted in multiple awards for musical direction from the Kennedy
Center American College Theater Festival and a performance at the Kennedy Center
in Washington, D.C. He performs as solo oboe with the Easterly Chamber Players and
as solo English horn with the Nittany Valley Symphony Orchestra. He has performed
both nationally and internationally, including solo performances in New York City,
Boston, Oslo, and Milan. Additional performances include the National Flute
Association conventions in Chicago and Las Vegas, the International Double Reed
Society conventions in Bloomington, IN and Buenos Aires, Argentina, and ten
performances at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. Of late he has been performing
as a member of Camerata Amistad, which has led to performances in Peru, Costa
Rica, and the Dominican Republic. He received his Bachelor of Music Education and
Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
His Master of Music degree is from the Manhattan School of Music. He has studied
additionally at the Mannes College of Music, the University of Oslo, and the Norges
Musikkhøgskolen in Oslo. Brent has served as the music reviewer for The Journal of the
International Double Reed Society and The Double Reed. An advocate of popular music
culture, his articles can also be found in the Salem Press series Popular Musicians, The
Twenties in America, The Seventies in America, The Eighties in America, and Musicians and
Composers of the Twentieth Century. As a composer, Brent’s works have premiered in
Denver, Colorado as a feature of the 2007 National Collegiate Honors Council
Conference and in 2008 as a keynote performance for the “Creativity and Thought”
conference at the C.W. Post Campus of the Long Island University. His 2008
composition, Pausing at the Border, was composed as a dance piece for the John Ollom
Dance Theatre, and has remained a standard in their company repertoire. Evening
Peace, for winds, vocalists, and piano, was premiered in 2009 to inaugurate the
university’s capital campaign. His first orchestral composition, Symposium, premiered
in November 2010 with the Clarion University Symphony Orchestra, and is now part
of the soundtrack for the film Potential Inertia. The Mirror, for soprano, flute, and
piano, premiered in Phoenix, Arizona in October 2011. The Silence Flowering Its
Birdsong, for tenor, English horn, and piano premiered at Clarion University on
November 10, 2012. His works are published by ALRY Publications in Seattle, WA
and Jeanné Publications in Minnesota.
Hailed by the Washington Post, the Phoenix Sun and the Salt Lake City Daily News as
a “tenor with an exceptional voice,” Larry Thomas has performed an array of
critically acclaimed operatic roles, oratorio and orchestral works. Mr. Thomas’
operatic performances include the principal role in Verdi’s Otello with Austin Lyric
and Arizona Opera companies; Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio with the Dessau
Opera, Germany; Turridu in Mascagni’s Cavelleria Rusticana, with Austin Lyric Opera;
Radames in Verdi’s Aida with the Commonwealth Opera of Massachusetts; Roberto
in Puccini’s La Villi; Aziel in Debussy's L'Enfant Prodigue and the Lover in Menotti's
Amelia Goes to the Ball with the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia; the Crabman and
Mingo in Gershwin's Porgy & Bess, which he performed at the Spoleto Festival in
Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; Don Octavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the
Academy of the West Music Festival; Rodolfo in Puccini's La Boheme; Canio in
Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci; and Bardolfo in Verdi's Falstaff. Mr. Thomas’ orchestral and
oratorio credits include numerous performances of Verdi's Requiem and Beethoven's
Missa Solemnis, performed with the Paul Hill Chorale and the National Symphony at
the Kennedy Center in Washington, the Fairfax, Arlington and Eastern Music Festival
Symphonies. He has also appeared with the Mexico City Symphony in Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony at the Inter-American Music Festival in Mexico City, Mexico. Other
performances include the tenor solos in Janacek's Amarus, which he performed with
the Collegiate Choral Society in New York; Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem;
Rossini's Stabat Mater; Orff's Cantata Profana, and several performances of Handel's
Messiah. Most recently, he sang the role of Moses in Nathaniel Dett's The Ordering of
Moses with the OneVoice Chorus and Orchestra of Richmond. Mr. Thomas was one of
the five tenors featured in a concert in tribute to famed African-American tenor,
Roland Hayes; the highlight of the Utah Madeleine Festival. Subsequently, he was
invited back to the Utah Madeleine Festival to perform in concert. He is an alumnus
of the Young Artists Program at the Academy of the West Summer Music Festival in
Santa Barbara, California, a former finalist in the Richard Tauber Competition for
Tenors and is a past District Winner and Southeast Regional Finalist in the
Metropolitan Opera Auditions. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro School of Music where he received both undergraduate and graduate
degrees in Music.
Neil S. Underwood has been the Director of Bands at North Lincoln High School
since the school opened ten years ago. Prior to that he served at East Lincoln High
School for twenty years. During his tenure, his bands have twice performed in
Carnegie Hall, once at the Lincoln Center, twice at North Carolina Music Educator’s
Conference, for the 60th anniversary of the ending of WWII in Washington DC, and
three times at Bands of America Grand National Championships, and numerous
regional and national marching band events. Mr. Underwood’s bands having won
numerous honors and “superiors” in concert, marching and jazz band. Mr.
Underwood was recognized in 2000 as East Lincoln High School “Teacher of the
Year”. In 2001 he was named Lincoln County School’s “Teacher of the Year.” Then in
2008 the Veterans of Foreign War named him North Carolina’s “Citizenship Teacher
of the Year.” Most recently he was included in the SBO (School Band and Orchestra)
magazine’s December 2013 issue of “50 Directors Who Make A Difference.” Mr.
Underwood was selected as the North Carolina director. Neil Underwood has served
as President of the South Central District Band Director’s Association, and in 2002-
2004 as the President of the North Carolina Bandmaster’s Association. He is currently
the Chairman of the NCBA Marching Band Committee. Mr. Underwood is a member
of ASBDA, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, NCMEA, NCBA and SCDBA. He is active as
judge and clinician throughout the state, and has served as a conductor for the UNCG
Summer Music Camp for over 30 years. Additionally, Mr. Underwood works with
his wife Joanna as Choir Director/Organist at First United Methodist Church in
Lincolnton, NC. He and Joanna also work together at North Lincoln High School,
and have two children: Molly (23 – middle school band director in Gaston County)
and Andrew (20 – 2012 attending ASU in Music Industry and Percussion).
