Women's Glee Club | Spring 2026

Jordan Saul, conductor
Diana Chubak, collaborative pianist

Soprano I
Morgan Cline
Clarissa Cousart
Alex Ensign ^
Liz Gilbert#
Alison Hamm #
Maddy Herzog *
Gemma Huber
Kay Huvler #
Sarah London
Marissa Maxwell
Ashley Moore
Neila Sarkis
Abby Skinner
Evy Todd
Donnie Whitman
Gabriella Witschey

Soprano II
Mina Brown
Niyathi Chakrapani
Paola Crespo Roman
Holly Hamilton *
Emma Hatcher
Claire Holdren
Nina Holt
Summer Hussain
Katherine Jones
Gracie Kay
Zoe Leasure
Evelyn Mignanou #
Sophie O’Leary
Bella Santiago
Esther Shen
Dionysia Thompson
Abigail Traverse
Winnie (Luyi) Xiao

Alto I
Lois Abonjuah
Jasmine Acuña
Reva Baste-Bania
Grace Bete *
Tracy Darius 
Jordan Evans
Desiree Gailes
Maddie Highfield
Maryssa Hoermle
Claire Ketcham
Aubrey Liming
Ria Modak
Carolyn Sagel
Vija Tessman
Hailey Trauntvein
Grace Wright
Audrey Yae
Crystal Zheng

Alto II
Veronica Ball
Jules Biller
Claire Booker
Macie Egbert #
Lillian Felkner #
Vivienne Garner
Ava Gilley #
Kayla Miller
Madison Nesler
Makenna Peterson *
Taylor Small
Abby Spatt
Michelle Sterling
Lizzy Vologzhanin
 

^ President
# Executive Board member
* Section leader

String Ensemble

Violin I — Sidd Figurov, Nathan Jeoung

Violin II — Martin Fihe, Mara Seppala

Viola — Nicolo Moulthrop, Brandon Waite, Erica Lopez

Cello — Aiden Dever, Jake Eyink, Kate Sahr

Bass — Carson Wolf, Luca Brusco 
 

University Chorus

Colin Knoth, conductor
Casey L. Cook, pianist

Sopranos
Megan Barnes
Clarissa Cousart
Hannah Huisman
Morgan Massey
Gabbie Morrison
Lily Smith
Autumn Sylvestri
Vija Tessman
Abigail Traverse
Megan Wells
Katherine Wenrick

Altos
Jayne Allison
Jessina Amaya
Gwyneth Baer
Olivia Boden
Ella Bradley
Norah Erickson
Natalie Hall
Addie Hannig
Isabella Hegland
Shelly Hovick
Morgan Johnson
Olivia Lamancusa
Alexis McClain
Ally Meyer
Jenna Moyer
Lauren Palacek
Peyton Perry
Ella Rudkin
Kate Ruff
Mackenzie Sambroak
Haley Svec
Maggie Wehrle

Tenors
Caleb Anderson
Nick Blum
Sam Chandler
Craig Foulkrod
Bela Harris
Brandon Hudepohl
Quinn Jensen
Ki Jones
Grey Lynsky
Troy Malone
Ernie Parke
Jaylin Powell
Darrian Rollison
Kai Scott
Garret Travers
Jack Turner

Basses
Tawhid Alam
Derek Boge
Nolan Call
Christian Clark
Lukas Hammer
Adam Johnson
Justin Kumar
Jake Liu
Andric McNabb
Clayton Messinger
Avery Mongold
Ignacio Ortega
Galileo Resca-Candini
Lucas Snouffer
Adam Wall-Conner
Joe Zishka

Kafal Sviri / Ave Maria

This concert brings choral history and tradition together with modern technology and contemporary compositions. Our opening two pieces both use historical texts which contain a rich history. Our first piece is Kaval Sviri, an arrangement of a Bulgarian folk song by Petar Liondev. In this song a girl tells her mother about hearing a kaval, a wooden flute. She says that if it is played by a musician from her village she will love him for a day, but if it is played by a musician from another village she will love him for the rest of her life. The kaval is considered to be one of the oldest folk instruments in Europe, with some prototypes dating back to 3000 BC. Similarly, this text is an important part of Bulgarian folk music and oral tradition. The Women’s Glee Club originally sang this song in April 2023, and it quickly became a favorite within the choir. This year, after hearing this song again, the seniors who had sung this before asked if we could sing it again, and because it fit with our current program we were able to add it. This piece uses a more nasal vocal placement as is common in Bulgarian folk music. When combined with the dissonant chords, this placement brightens up the sound and makes these chords shimmer in a way that is uncommon and exciting. This piece is able to shift perceptions of classical choral music, and helps to prepare the ear for the soundscape of the rest of our set for this concert. 

This dissonance carries into the second piece of our program, Ave Maria. The text of this song is from the gospel of Luke in the Bible. It is a prayer to Mary asking her to pray for sinners now and at the hour of their death. This setting of Ave Maria was arranged by British composer Cecilia McDowall as the second in the song cycle Three Latin Motets, containing three pieces which all address the Virgin Mary. This cycle was composed in 2004, putting it firmly in the modern era of choral composition. The dissonance found in this piece showcases the solemn nature of the piece. It ends unresolved leaving the listener questioning and without answer, similar to how we don’t know what comes after death. But while there is this solemnity, there is also strength and independence in the human voice, showcased by the a capella nature of this song, that shows hope and resilience. As we continue with the rest of this concert, we hope these songs will help set up some of the other modern compositions and lead you into enjoying our music with curiosity. 

— Note by Holly Hamilton, Soprano 2 Section Leader, Music Education major

Kafal Sviri

Traditional Bulgarian, arr. Petyr Liondev

Кавал свири
Кавал свири, мамо
горе доле, мамо, горе доле, мамо
Кавал свири мамо
горе доле, мамо, под селото

Я ще ида, мамо, да го видя
да го видя, мамо, да го чуя

Ако ми е нашенчето
щ е го любя ден до пладне
Ако ми е ябанджийче
ще го любя дор до живот

A kaval is playing, mother,
Up-down, mother, up-down, mother.
Kaval is playing, mother,
Up-down, mother, outside the village.

I'll go there, mother, to see it,
To see it, mother, to hear it.

If it is played by a fellow villager
I’ll love him from dawn until noon
If it is played by a stranger
I’ll love him for my entire life.

Ave Maria

Cecilia McDowall

Ave Maria, gratia plena, 
Dominus tecum. 
Benedicta tu in mulieribus 
et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus. 
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, 
ora pro nobis peccatoribus, 
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. 
Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, 
the Lord is with you. 
Blessed are you among women, 
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. 
Holy Mary, Mother of God, 
pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death.
Amen.

evolved air

Commissioned in 2020 by the Peabody Institute Camerata, evolved air reflects some of the contexts and necessities of ensemble performance during the early days of the pandemic in not only its text, but also its unique instrumentation. Many of us remember all too well the modifications we had to make to our musical lives, from social distancing to masking to telematic performances on Zoom. We relied more heavily on technology to carry our voices in both performance and our everyday lives, and experienced some of life’s most profound moments through technologically-mediated means.

Because of the need for social distancing, evolved air was originally only scored for 8 voices, with all of the singers masked (and there was a chance the premiere in early 2021 would occur outside). Because my music often acts as a magnifying glass for small, delicate, and often-overlooked sounds and textures, I decided to experiment with megaphones as a means of advocating for the sound world that would likely be lost due to the circumstances. This (at times challenging) process led to the development of very specific vocal techniques and notational strategies in order to take advantage of the amplification the megaphones could offer while strategically navigating what are traditionally seen as “less desirable” sonic artifacts (which, ironically, disproportionately impact higher voices). Additionally, the megaphones opened up new textural possibilities when treated as not just amplification devices, but also instruments themselves; they offer an incredible array of nuanced percussive sounds when those sonic artifacts are embraced. While they were initially a practical decision, they became an exploration of the ways that technology impacts our voices, changing both the ways we that vocalize to fit the constraints of a medium and how that medium affects how we are heard by others.

The majority of the text for evolved air is an erasure poem I wrote using the patent for the first electronic megaphone and one of the World Health Organization’s first press releases about the novel coronavirus outbreak. The final movement, whose text is drawn from the requiem Mass’ Lux Aeterna, is a remembrance of friends and loved ones who passed during the pandemic, many of whom we had to share parting moments with through phones and tablet screens. As the megaphones slowly fall away during the final chords of the piece and we are left with the unmediated voices of the complete choir for the first time, it offers a moment to reflect on the ways that technology has become embedded in some of the most important moments of our lives, and ground us in the importance of strengthening human connections in an increasingly technologically-mediated world.

I want to express my immense gratitude to Professor Jordan Saul and the Ohio State Women’s Glee Club for their adventurousness in scaling a piece for 8 voices up to 70, for embracing a novel way of performing choral music, and for wrangling 70 megaphones rehearsal after rehearsal.

— Note by Tina Tallon

evolved air

Tina Tallon

I.   prologue

iii. unclear weight

wait
this unclear weight
novel
awkward to carry
growing
extending ribs
a captive embodiment
breathing through super-imposed apertures
parallel
separately hollow

iv.  lux aeterna

lux aeterna
luceat eis

eternal light
let it shine upon them

A Red, Red (Noun)

So this is obviously not a normal choral piece. The funny thing is, I’m usually really picky about the texts I choose to set to music and with this piece, I'm giving that responsibility to you.

Special thanks to Dr. Treya Nash, whose research specialty is audience participation. Your insights and perspective helped shape this experience. Thanks to Dr. Tina Tallon for increasing my confidence to the extent that I learned to code and utilize various digital tools to create the interface. Thanks to Colin Headings for trouble-shooting the tech set-ups necessary for this wacky vision to come to life. I’m deeply thankful to be working with each of you. 

— Timothy Takach

Drawing its title from a medieval lapidary — a catalog of stones and their mystical properties — Book of Gems translates the unique character of each mineral into brilliant rhythmic and timbral landscapes for percussion and choir. The work showcases a wide spectrum of symphonic percussion, wherein each movement is cut and polished like a distinct gem, revealing new facets of light and shadow with every turn. Women’s Glee has been especially grateful to partner with the Pendulum Duo and composer Emmanuel Séjourné to bring this piece to our Weigel stage. — Jordan Saul

Book of Gems

Emmanuel Séjourné / voicings: Jordan Saul

i.   Beryllus
ii.  Sapphirus
iii. Sardonyx
iv. Jacinthus
v.  Jaspis

Sunrise Mass

Ola Gjeilo

I. The Spheres

Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.

II. Sunrise

Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te. Benedicimus te. Benedicimus te. Adoramus te. Glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens, Domine Fili unigenite, Iesu Christe. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris. Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Suscipe deprecationem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus, Iesu Christe. Cum Sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.

III. The City

Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem factorem caeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum Iesu Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum. Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum vero de Deo vero. Genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri: per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de caelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria virgine: Et homo factus est. 

Crucifixus etiam pro nobis: sub Pontio Pilato passus et sepultus est. Et resurrexit tertia die secundum scripturas, et ascendit in caelum: sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria iudicare vivos et mortuos: cuius regni non erit finis. 

Credo in unum Deum, et in Spiritum Sanctum Dominum, et vivificantem: qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur; qui locutus est per Prophetas. Et unum Sanctam catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum. Et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.

IV. Identity & The Ground

Sanctus, Dominus, Deus sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Osanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna in excelsis. 

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Dona nobis pacem.