University of Guelph Choir presents:

 

Changed for the Better:

Honouring Friendship and Those Who Sow Love

 

Saturday, November 22, 2025

Special Guests:

Dr. Aaron Manswell

Guelph Chamber Players

 

• Please check that your cell phones are silenced.

• Kindly refrain from ALL forms of recording. Out of respect for all the professional musicians you are about to hear, and the living composers who deserve our support, please only take it home in your heart (not on a recording device).

• *denotes Canadian composer

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Welten singen
by L. van Beethoven

[German]                                                                    [English Translation]

Welten singen                                                           Worlds sing

Dank und Ehre                                                            Thanks and praise

dem erhab’nen,                                                          to the heroic one,

Gottes Sohn                                                                God’s Son.

Preiset ihn, ihr Engelchore,                                        Praise Him, ye angel-choirs,

Laut im heil’gen Jubelton!                                         Laud Him in holy jubilation!

 

Awasis

By Andrew Balfour*

[Cree]                                                                          [English Translation]

Kakike                                                                         Always, forever and ever

Wanaskewin                                                               Being at peace with oneself

Awasis                                                                         Child

 

Poverty

By Aaron Manswell*

Soloists: Meghan Williams and Dariya Semerun

 

Come unto me, all ye that labour

Come unto me, I’ll give you rest

Come lay your head, You will be fed.

We aim to be strong and feel healthy

We aim to seem wealthy and fine.

What is the price? Spend all your life.

 

I see rain in the sky. Why do I feel empty inside?

Yes, please, Give me a shelter for my mind

Reading the signs, they tell me that I’m in poverty.

I drink success, yet I am thirsty

I eat the best, yet I am weak. Was this my dream?

I’m still asleep.

I see rain in the sky. Why do I feel empty inside?

Yes, please, Give me a shelter for my mind

Reading the signs, they tell me that I’m in poverty.

Excuse me, do you have a little time to spare?

I need somebody I can count on to be there.

There is no cost for paying attention

Your heart is worth more than gold.

 

We will now collect the cards bearing the names of those whom the audience members wish to honour. If you prefer, leave your card in the basket during Intermission, and your honouree will be placed at the candle-table during the performance of Sing You Home.

 

Take What You Need

By Reena Esmail

Solo Soprano and Precentor: Ardeth Jarvis

Solo Trio: Aiobhinn Macken-Luyt, Maxine Manning, Colleen Moore

Guest Choir: UG Choir Alumni and wannabes

 

Take a moment, take a breath

Take time, take care

Take heart, take hope

Take a step, take a chance

Take courage, take charge

Take a stand, take pride

Take joy, Take pause

Take a moment, take a breath

Take what you need.

Interlude 1: Remembering Francie Niekamp

Interlude 2: Honouring our dedicatees

Interlude 3: Remembering Chantale Pinard

 

Prayer of St. Francis

Text by St. Francis of Assisi

Music by Barrie Cabena*

Mercedes Pisano, Soprano; Ian Dickieson, Baritone

 

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, let me sow pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith … despair, hope … darkness, light!

Where there is sadness, joy.

 

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Oh, divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console.

To be understood, as to understand …

To be loved as to love!

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned.

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

 

Sing You Home

By Maureen Ennis* & Mark Murphy*

Arranged by Leslee Heys*

 

Vocal soloists: Jenny Oesch, Clara Blenkinsop, Rachael Young,

Violin solo: Jose Molina

 

Too soon to leave this earth

How could all your work be done?

Ash to ask and dust to dust,

Seemed to me you’d just begun.

 

When grief invades my soul,

There’s comfort in a prayer I find

Though these candles honour you

They burn for those you left behind.

I’ll sing for you because I need to

Right now this is all I know

I’ll sing so we will not forget you

So I will sing you home,

I will sing you home.

 

Know that you will live on the lips of those who knew

What it was you had to give,

What it was we learned from you.

This is my prayer for you

And maybe someday we will know if it helped your journey home

Or if it helped me let you go.

 

I’ll sing for you because I need to

Right now this is all I know

I’ll sing so we will not forget you

I will sing you home,

I will sing you home.

We’re born unto this earth

Generations one by one

Ash to ash and dust to dust

There is nothing left undone.

 

I’ll sing for you because I need to

Right now this is all I know

I’ll sing so we will not forget you

I will sing you home,

I will sing you home. {solo: I will sing you home.} I will sing you home.

 

I Am Leaving

By Miriam Sonstenes*

The singers singing this performed this touching ode on Remembrance Day at the annual University Service, hosted by President’s office.

 

I am leaving, I am leaving,

Don’t you cry, it won’t be long.

I’ll hold on to one sweet memory,

Singin’ songs until the dawn.

Take my hand it’s getting late now,

Sing a song to dry the tears.

Still in dreams I will remember

all that we lost through the years.

 

I am leaving, I am leaving,

don’t you cry, it won’t be long.

I’ll hold on to one sweet memory,

Singin’ songs until the dawn.

Can you still see the reflection

Of the stars arising high?

On the river at midnight,

Not a cloud was in the sky.

I am leaving, I am leaving,

Don’t you cry, it won’t be long.

I’ll hold on to one sweet memory,

Singin’ songs until the dawn.

 

Though it’s springtime, you’re still waiting,

Plant the seed and watch it grow.

Leave your fears: they only bind you,

You will reap just what you sow.

 

Amani: A Song for Peace

By Jim Papoulis & Jacques Sebisaho

Djembe : Ian Dickieson; Percussion : Betty Maher

 

[French]                                                                      [English]

Chante fort,                                                                 Sing strongly

Ce chant de liberté                                                     This song of freedom

Chante fort pour la liberté                                        Sing strongly for freedom.

Chante pour la paix                                                     Sing for peace

Pour tout le monde                                                    For the entire world

[Swahili]                                                                      [English]

Imbene wote n’sautimoja                                          Sing all in one voice

Amani                                                                         Peace

 

Sleep

By Eric Whitacre

Conducted by Kelly Janzen

 

The evening hangs beneath the moon,

A silver thread on darkened dune.

With closing eye and resting head,

I know that sleep is coming soon.

Upon my pillow, safe in bed,

A thousand pictures fill my head,

I cannot sleep my mind’s aflight;

and yet my limbs seem made of lead.

If there are noises in the night

A frightening shadow, flickering light,

Then I surrender unto sleep,

Where clouds of dream give second sight.

What dreams may come, both dark and deep,

Or flying wings and soaring leap

As I surrender unto sleep.

 

For Good

By Stephen Schwartz

Conducted by Lanny Fleming

Solos: Gabriela Santos, Gabriella Hooper-Lavoie

Brynne Degenhardt, Meghan Williams

Saige Cunniffe, Suebin Choi

 

I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason,

Bringing something we must learn;

And we are led to those who help us most to grow

if we let them, and we help them in return.

Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true;

But I know I’m who I am today because I knew you.

 

Like a comet pulled from orbit, as it passes a sun,

Like a stream that meets a boulder, halfway through the woods,

Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better, but,

Because I knew you (because I knew you),

I have been changed for good.

 

It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime,

So let me say before we part:

So much of me is made of what I learned from you,

You’ll be with me, like a handprint on my heart.

And now whatever way our stories end,

I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend.

 

Like a ship blown from its mooring by a wind off the sea,

Like a seed dropped by a sky-bird in a distant wood.

Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better, but,

Because I knew you (because I knew you),

I have been changed for good.

 

And just to clear the air,

I ask forgiveness for the things I’ve done you blamed me for.

But then again I guess we know there’s blame to share,

And none of it seems to matter anymore.

 

Like a comet pulled from orbit, as it passes a sun,

Like a stream that meets a boulder, halfway through the woods,

Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better,

I do believe I have been changed for the better.

 

And, because I knew you, (because I knew you),

I have been changed for good.

 

Stick With Love

By Aaron Manswell

Based on text by Martin Luther King Jr.

Solos: Angela Clare Nadecho & Keira McCarthy

The composer explains: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” Is a timeless quote from civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King. I joined my own words, expanding on this powerful quotation, in order to write this song. A typical reason why we hate is out of fear, and we fear what we don’t understand. “Stick with Love” is a reminder that if we search for all information to understand a subject before landing on a conclusion, there would be less hatred in the world.”

 

I have decided to stick with love

Hate is too great a burden to bear

I realize that hate is just made of something related mainly to fear

Don’t be afraid when you don’t understand

Search and you’ll find the truth

Then when you’ve found it, release all your fear

To make room for love!

 

WARMTH AND GRATITUDE TO OUR PHENOMENAL DONORS

• $10,000+

• Dr. Theresa Bernardo

• Dr. Chantale Pinard

• Dr. Marta McCarthy & Randy Smith

• Dr. Elisabeth Nicol

• Jennifer & Jamey Rosen & Family

• Sandy Goldman and the Family of Nathan Max Goldman

• John Lindley 

 

APPRECIATION & KUDOS for their assistance:

• Philip Maher, photographer & videographer

• Harcourt Memorial United Church, especially Sara-Jo Pipher and Alison MacNeil

• Rainbow Chorus

• Harcourt Commons, especially Dr. Gerald Neufeld and Patricia Eton-Neufeld

• Front of House: Hayden Mesnick, Lidia Neff, Matthew Angeles, Oliver Clemo

• Projection and Soundboard: Dr. Gerald Neufeld

• Randy Smith, technical and recording

• Student speakers: Mark De Lima, Keerthy Krishnakumar, Emma Vandendool

• Casey Worth, Stage Manager

• Sarah Smith-Warren, Choir Manager

• Ian Dickieson, Lanny Fleming, Kelly Janzen, Betty Maher, Brian Redpath

 

Guelph Chamber Players

Violin I                                                           Violin II                                             Viola

José Molina (Concertmaster)     Malgorzata Zak                  Catherine Molina

Paul Macnaughton                        Jef ten Kortenaar               Jeanne Biessen                       

Roza Uskanova                                                                                                                              

                                                            Violoncello                          Contrabass

                                                            Marlena Tureski                 Mac Vanduzer

                                                            Keren Canche

 

University of Guelph Symphonic Choir; Marta McCarthy, Conductor; Betty Maher, Accompanist

Soprano                                                            Alto                                                     Tenor

Jade Coutinho                                                 Celine Barrett                                   Ross Clark

Suebin Choi                                                     Clara Blenkinsop                              Mark deLima

Angela Nadecho                                             Olivia Carter                                     Russell Dunk

Alyson Cordeiro                                              Tara Chester                                     Simon Enns

Saige Cunniffe                                                 Dominique China                            Lanny Fleming*

Brynne Degenhardt                                       Angela Creasey                                Jeff Gross

Chloe Estrada                                                  Maya Dechter                                  Benny McKenzie-Sutter

Aynalem Gebreyesus                                     Allison Demers                                 Peter Roberts

Ardeth Jarvis                                                    Sheila Douglas                                 Adam Sadowski

Barbara Kyle                                                   Laura Eisenhuth               

Sarah Lovsin                                                    Joan Faehrmann                              Bass

Aoibhinn Macken-Luyt                                  Sue Gadbois                                      Joe Balfour

Maxine Manning                                            Krystyna Higgins                              David Beattie

Linda Newbery                                               Gabriella Hooper-Lavoie                Terry Byrne

Mercedes Pisano                                            Kelly Janzen*                                    Hamid Dannak

Gabriela Santos                                              Katrina Kampen                              Ian Dickieson*

Abby Simpson                                                Keerthy Krishnakumar                    Emma Harper

Amitida Sohrabi                                              Keira McCarthy                                Warren Harris

Kiana Sparks-Montemayor                           Colleen Moore                                Reinhard Kypke

Sophia Sventzoulis                                         Elisabeth Nicol                                Brian Redpath*

Natalia Useche                                               Jennifer Oesch                                  Darian Rezvan

Phoebe Wang                                                  Ella Pauls                                           Luis Roldan

Sarah Warren                                                  Hayley Romanyk                              Ahmad Samakie

Ella Watkins                                                     Jenn Rosen                                       Andrew Vowles

Meghan Williams                                           Angie Santamaria                             Joel Wilson

Leah Wright                                                    Dariya Semerun                               Casey Worth

                                                                          Lauren Silva                                     Bill Zinck 

                                                                          Lucine Silverthorne                                                         

                                                                          Jaime Tuling                                                   

                                                                          Emma Vandendool                         *Section Leaders

                                                                         Rachael Young

 

 

“Florid” Chorus #3  for Take What You Need

S -  Suebin Choi, Ayni Gebreyesus, Saige Cunniffe, Kiana Sparks-Montemayor
A – Rachael Young, Jaime Tuling, Angela Creasey, Clara Blenkinsop, Tara Chester
T – Lanny Fleming, Simon Enns, Ian Dickieson, Russell Dunk
B – Brian Redpath, Ahmad Samakie, Warren Harris, Luis Roldan, Emma Harper

 

Guest Choir for Take What You Need

Girija Baskaran UG

Stephen Best UGS

Dianne Chapitis UG

Ron Collins RC

Camilla Cook UG
June Dashner UG

Jean Hilborn RC

Léna Levison UG

Eila O’Neil UG

Lillan Rosendal UG

Tom Sproule UG

Matteo Tessaro UG

Marti Wilson UG

 

UG denotes UG student OR alumni of UG Choir;

UGS= spouse of UG choir member;

RC= Rainbow Chorus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIOS of the Artists

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Dr. Aaron Manswell is an award-winning Canadian composer whose soulful, genre-defying music paints vivid contemporary landscapes. His works – spanning classical, R&B, hip-hop,and gospel – have been premiered by leading ensembles across North America, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, and Choral Arts Initiative, whose album Tapesty of Becoming (featuring his piece “Stick with Love”) debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical chart. A 2022 Grand Philharmonic Choir composition contest winner and 2023 ACDA Brock Prize finalist, Manswell was featured in the Canadian Opera Company’s Showcase Series and was the 2024/2025 season Composer-in-Residence for the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. And in-demand producer and keyboardist for award-winning pop artists, he also composes for film and holds degrees from Oakwood University, the University of Memphis, and is a Docotr of Musical Arts in Composition candidate at the University of Toronto. He is Assistant Professor of Music, Industry & Technology at the University of Guelph.

 

Betty Maher, Accompanist, has been central to the Symphonic Choir Artistic Team since 1996.  She has collaborated with many vocal and instrumental students over the last 20 years through her work with the University of Guelph, the Kiwanis Festival (locally and provincially), Guelph's own Edward Johnson Competition, the Elora Young Artist Competition and various masterclasses in the area. Betty also maintains a successful teaching studio and is a member of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association. 

 

Marta McCarthy, Conductor, is an Associate Professor at the University of Guelph, where she has been directing the choirs and teaching musicianship, pedagogy, research, and piano accompanying since 1995. She led the University of Guelph Gryphon Singers to First Place in the National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs, and to Third Prize in the 2012 Mosbach International Chamber Choir Competition. Each of her university choirs has been finalists at competitions and/or featured guests at national and international festivals, including Podium (Toronto, Ottawa, St. John’s), University Voices (Toronto, Montreal), Festival 500 (St. John's, NL), the Elora Festival (Elora) and the Kathaumixw International Choral Festival (Powell River, BC). Their performances are known for innovative programming, vocal freedom, and artistic subtlety. A graduate of Westminster Choir College of Princeton (M.Mus), the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT, piano performance) and of the University of Toronto (B.Mus, B.Ed., Ph.D.), Marta was awarded the 1999 Elmer Iseler Conducting Fellowship. She also received an Ontario Volunteer Service Award, was named a member of the June Callwood Circle of Caring and was named a Woman of Distinction for Arts & Culture in Guelph. Dr. McCarthy was elected President of Choral Canada in 2012 and has conducted three provincial Honour Choirs (OYC, 2014; OYAC, 2015; NBYC, 2017).

 

Lanny Fleming, Associate Conductor, has also been key to the success of the University of Guelph choirs. Lanny has been a Section Lead with us since 2004 and was the principal conductor of the Symphonic Choir and Gryphon Singers F2013. He has also been performing and leading the tenors with the Guelph Chamber Choir since 2003. Lanny earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Western Ontario. He is a teacher with the Upper Grand Elementary Teachers' Federation, and with his wife Heather maintains a busy performing schedule while together they have raised two wonderful children, Laura and Bennett. 

 

Kelly Janzen, Associate Conductor, is an active conductor, clinician, adjudicator, educational trainer and musician. Her choirs have performed for the International Society for Music Education (Poland), throughout Scotland, England and Sweden, and the 90th anniversary at Vimy Ridge, France. She directed the Etobicoke Centennial Choir where she was presented with a Provincial citation.

Her leadership in developing the Media Arts programme at Centre Wellington DHS in Fergus, Ontario, led her to be nominated to the first Canadian class of the Apple Distinguished Educators in 2004. Since that time, she has published curriculum materials for the ADE website, and has travelled extensively across Canada, as an Apple Education trainer, helping teachers integrate technology effectively in their classrooms. Besides the University of Guelph Symphonic Choir, she performs with the Guelph New Horizons Big Band and Concert Band.

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The University of Guelph Symphonic Choir has a long and illustrious history of musical leadership in Guelph, service to the University and the broader community, international touring, and cultural collaboration. Since Marta McCarthy became their conductor in 1995, the UG Choirs are also known for commissioning new works by Canadian composers. We are proud to have commissioned Here the Bird Abides and Sings by James Harley, The Farmer Needs the Rain (Roy Forbes, arranged by Larry Nicol), and 4 works by Leonard Enns: Ten Thousand Rivers of Oil, Sparrow, This Thirsty Land, and Taiga, as well as many other pieces by other Canadian composers.  

 

The Guelph Chamber Players is a group of Guelph-associated musicians, many of whom (and tonight ALL of whom) are members of the Guelph Symphony Orchestra. Please consider attending any of their upcoming concerts, the soonest of which is Sunday, December 7th, 3 p.m. at River Run Centre in Guelph. This concert features the Guelph Symphony Youth Orchestra, through which many University of Guelph music students receive their orchestral training.

Violinist/Violist Catherine Molina enjoys an exciting, multi-faceted career, as a performer, pedagogue, and arts administrator. Currently the principal violist of the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, Catherine also serves as the GSO's General Manager.

Ms. Molina is the violist of the Artelli String Quartet, an Examiner with the Royal Conservatory of Music, College of Examiners, and a member of the Association of Canadian Women Composers. Catherine was pleased to be a String juror in the inaugural International Classicalia Competition. Catherine is a performance graduate of both the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music. She continued her studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and in Assisi, Italy, at the Academia Ottorino Respighi.

 

José Molina, Violin soloist and Concertmaster, grew up in a musical family. His father saw to it that the entire clan including cousins, received music lessons. (His brother Arturo conducts the Manila Symphony, and his sister is a professional cellist). José attended the University of Victoria on a full scholarship, was a winner of the University Concerto Competition and upon graduation was invited to join the Faculty String Quartet.

A seasoned orchestral musician, Mr. Molina has played with the Victoria, Thunder Bay, Kitchener, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick Symphony Orchestras. He has also served as an adjunct instructor of violin at Lakehead University. José  is the concertmaster of the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, the first violinist of the Artelli String Quartet and a member of SAA.

A self-described ‘violin-freak’ José regularly travels to Cremona, the violin capital of the world.