Voices from Yale
Karolina Wojteczko, direction
Julian Revie, organ
Plainchant - Veni Emmanuel (“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”)
Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) - O viridissima virga
Notre-Dame School / Pérotin (fl. late 12th–early 13th c.) - Ave Maria, Salus hominum
Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611) - O magnum mysterium
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) - Cantate Domino
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643–1704) - Gloria from Messe de Minuit pour Noël, H.9
Claude Balbastre (1724–1799) - Noël: Où s’en vont ces gais bergers?
J. S. Bach (1685–1750) - Schafe können sicher weiden (Sheep May Safely Graze), from Cantata 208
G. F. Handel (1685–1759) - “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted” & “And the Glory of the Lord” — from Messiah
César Franck (1822–1890) - Tantum ergo
Maurice Duruflé (1902–1986) - Ubi caritas (from Quatre motets sur des thèmes grégoriens, Op. 10/1)
Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) - A Hymn to the Virgin
Traditional Polish Carols - Lulajże Jezuniu & Przybieżeli do Betlejem
Students and alumni of the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music present a Christmas-themed celebration of the human voice. The program weaves together ancient chant, Renaissance polyphony, Baroque brilliance, Romantic warmth, and modern carols — a festive tapestry spanning a millennium of sacred song. Highlights include music by Hildegard von Bingen, Pérotin, Monteverdi, Charpentier, Britten, Bach, Franck, Duruflé, and new arrangements of beloved Polish carols.
Ms. Wojteczko is the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards including the James Somer Opera Scholarship, Schoolmasters Special Scholarship, the Metropolitan Opera National Council La Camera Guida Award (New England Region), first place winner at the James Furman Competition, Opera Moderna Scholarship, International Opera Performing Experience Scholarship, and has been a finalist of the Heida Hermann International Competition and the Mirabell Competition in Salzburg, Austria.
As a soloist, Karolina has performed in North America and Europe in venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Thomaskirche, Leipzig. A Connecticut local, Karolina Wojteczko has been singing in New Haven area churches since shortly after immigrating to the US at age 12 from the small village of Bagny, Poland. She is a Music Director at the Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel at Yale University. She holds Bachelors in Music in Vocal Performance from Western Connecticut State University and Masters in Music from the Yale School of Music and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale. Karolina has studied vocal performance with Margaret Astrup, Beth Roberts, Bernarda Fink and James Taylor.
An award-winning mezzo-soprano, Karolina’s repertoire spans from early to contemporary music. As an immigrant, she has been devoting her time to touring and singing at benefit concerts for refugees. A dedicated educator and mom, she also enjoys performing with ensembles like Yale Schola Cantorum, Yale Consort, and Connecticut’s Polish folklore group, Polanie.
Australian-Canadian composer Julian Darius Revie is Composer in Residence at the Center for Music and Liturgy, Saint Thomas More Chapel at Yale University. Prior posts include serving as Organist at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ottawa and Director of the Choir of Robinson College at Cambridge University.
Mr. Revie is honoured to be the first prize winner of the 2016 Francesco Siciliani composition competition run by the Vatican, with an international jury panel chaired by Helmuth Rilling and Arvo Pärt. The jury convened on September 16, 2016 for a public performance of the finalists’ works by the St. Jacob’s Chamber Choir of Stockholm, conducted by Gary Graden.
Mr. Revie’s compositions for solo instruments, voice, chamber ensembles and orchestra have been performed in North America, Europe, and Australia, in venues including Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House. In June 2015, the world premiere of his Mass of the Divine Shepherd was given at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The hour-long work featured soloists mezzo-soprano Karolina Wojteczko and tenor Russell Thomas joined by 600 performers – choirs from Norway, Finland, England and North America, including the National Children's Chorus (USA), and over 200 handbell players, including Iceland’s Reykjanesbær Music School Bell Choir, all overseen by conductor Stephen Layton.
Also in 2015, The Love of God, a work adapted from the seventh movement of Mass of the Divine Shepherd, was selected as the communion antiphon for the Papal Mass in Philadelphia. It was performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra with a 300-voice massed choir and children’s chorus, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Born in Ottawa, Canada, Mr. Revie studied piano, organ and clarinet from an early age and was first prize winner of the Canadian Music Competition in organ performance. He holds degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Yale University and Caltech in the United States and a Master’s in Composition from Cambridge University in Great Britain. His master’s dissertation, “Unity and Uniqueness in the Fifth Mode Great Responsories: New Approaches to the Multifaceted Layers of Plainchant Melody,” is an analysis of groups of related plainchant melodies that draws upon techniques used in analysis of tonal music (specifically, Schenkerian analysis) as well as upon the mathematical and computational tools used in comparative genetic analysis. Mr. Revie has studied piano with Sandra Webster and organ with Pamela Hoswitschka in Ottawa, and later with Canadian composer Veronika Krausas (USC) and Bruce Reich (UCLA). At The Juilliard School, he has studied with Milton Babbitt, Samuel Adler, and most recently Philip Lasser. He is a recipient of a DAAD scholarship for study in Berlin.
Soprano Ellen Robertson recently graduated from Yale University with a Master of Musical Arts in Early Music Voice, where she was a member of the Voxtet ensemble at the Institute of Sacred Music. During her time at Yale, she performed as a soloist in major works such as Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Handel’s L’Allegro, il penseroso, ed il moderato, and Haydn’s Stabat Mater. An avid lover of choral music, she has sung with ensembles such as The Crossing, the Chicago Symphony Chorus, the Grant Park Festival Chorus, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Yale Choral Artists, and Yale Consort. She has also participated in young artist programs at Finger Lakes Opera and Sarasota Opera. While at Yale, she was awarded the Edwin Stanley Seder Scholarship from the Institute of Sacred Music, and the Simon Carrington Prize in Concert Voice from the Yale School of Music.
Lauren DeAnne Smith is a New Haven based soprano with several years of choral and sacred music performance under her belt. Lauren holds a Bachelor of Arts from Western Connecticut State University where she performed the role of 2nd Lady in Die Zauberflote and studied under the direction of Dr. Margaret Astrup. Lauren has been a featured soloist with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah and the Vivaldi Gloria conducted by Leif Bialand as well as the International Festival of Arts & Ideas for Phil Kline’s debut work for music and dance, Really, Real. Lauren is a regular member of the St. Thomas More Chapel at Yale choir and plans to begin graduate school next fall.
Bridget Nixon is a New Haven, CT native who received her early musical training in the Elm City Girls’ Choir and at ACES Educational Center for the Arts. She earned a BA with honors in Music Theory, History, and Composition from Brown University, where she was awarded the music department’s Buxtehude Premium for Musical Excellence, and the Muriel Hassenfeld Mann Premium in Music, which is awarded to a woman student who excels in music and music appreciation. Bridget is frequently sought after as an ensemble singer and soloist with organizations throughout CT and NYC. Recent and upcoming engagements include projects with Apollo’s Fire, the New York Philharmonic, and Yale Consort, a professional vocal ensemble of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
Isabel (Izzy) Barbato is pursuing a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at the
Yale Institute of Sacred Music (Class of 2026) and is a soprano in the Yale Voxtet ensemble. A native Floridian, Barbato recently graduated summa cum laude from Stetson University, where she studied a diverse repertoire of music, including classical opera, baroque concert repertoire, musical theater, and new music composed by her peers. She recently held lead roles in Janaček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and worked as an apprentice artist with Opera Orlando. She has won numerous awards for her academic and musical success, including the prestigious Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award. Barbato also holds a passion for leadership and education in the arts. She is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and she has been teaching voice since she was in high school and co-directed numerous junior musicals. She spends her summers as an activity director at the Oregon Bach Festival, where she finds new musical inspiration each year.
Corey Shotwell is a tenor specializing in the performance of music from the 14th through the 18th centuries with a particular passion for the music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Known for his frequent performances of Bach, his St. John Passion Evangelist has received high acclaim, being described as sung with “dramatic involvement and seeming ease” and whose “involvement in the text and its declamation was total” (ClevelandClassical.com). Recent season highlights include performances with the Oregon Bach Festival, San Diego Bach Collegium, Bach Akademie Charlotte, Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, Carmel Bach Festival, The Newberry Consort, and Alkemie Medieval Music Ensemble. Corey recently earned his M.M.A. in Early Music, Oratorio, and Chamber Ensemble from the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University. He also holds degrees from Western Michigan University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Originally from West Michigan, Corey now resides in New Haven, Connecticut.
Alex Whittington is a conductor, vocalist, and researcher born, raised, and based in New York City. They are a three-time graduate of Yale University (BA, MA, MM) and serve as the Director of Music at Christ Church New Haven. Previous positions include the Assistant Conductor of the Yale Glee Club and the Assistant Conductor of the Yale Camerata. Their research focuses on the restoration and dissemination of choral works by 19th-century Puerto Rican composer Felipe Gutiérrez Espinosa. This season, Alex sings with the Yale Consort, as well as project-based ensembles in the NYC area. Recent accolades include the Richard Paul DeLong Prize and the Hugh Giles Prize.
Matthew Cramer is a conductor and bass-baritone based in New Haven, Connecticut where he serves as music director and choirmaster at St. Thomas’s Episcopal Church, preparatory conductor for the Yale Schola Cantorum at the Yale Institute for Sacred Music, and interim director of choirs at Southern Connecticut State University. As a conductor, Matthew is passionate about choral music and its ability to affect social change. He recently founded Tantalus - a chamber choir focused on new music. Off the podium, Matthew is an active performer of early and contemporary music as both soloist and ensemble singer, having sung with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Claire Chase, the New Consort, Apollo’s Fire, Constellation Men’s Ensemble, and four-time Grammy winning choir The Crossing. Matthew received his DMA in choral conducting from Northwestern University and holds additional degrees in conducting and composition from the Yale School of Music and the Hartt School.
Fredy Bonilla, baritone, is a versatile performer recognized for his warmth and clarity in repertoire spanning early music to the present. A Houston native, he began his career as a choir director before earning his Master of Music at the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied with James Taylor and sang with the Yale Voxtet. Highlights include touring the UK as bass soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415. Based in New Haven, he appears regularly as soloist and ensemble artist across the U.S.