*
- Announcer: The following program
is a PBS Wisconsin original production.
- You know, everybody says, "Kids these days."
"Oh, kids these days... Oh, these kids these days,"
[mock grumbling]
Well, I give you kids these days.
John Oelrich: One and two.
["Kwela Kwela"] * Du du tu du du tu du du
- Ben Copeland: It's really an experience that you can only get here.
- Gracie Kromke: Musicians from all over the state come together
and bring their own talents.
Everyone is so encouraging, so supportive.
- Taja Wright: It's awesome!
- Gracieann Heim: So fun.
- Riley Brown: It's a lot of work but it's a lot of fun work.
* Du du tu du du tu du du
- Gracie Kromke: I've been challenged beyond
what I could have ever been challenged before.
- Gary Lewis: It's remarkable, the level of artistry
that they have achieved at such a young age.
- Braden Cooper: All of these singers are so passionate and are so good.
- Isabella Ybarra: It's an amazing experience.
I look forward to it every year.
- Gracieann Heim: Honestly, the best thing I've ever done in my life.
- John Oelrich: They are ready.
More than ready.
- Announcer: The 2019 WSMA High School State Honors Concerts
was funded, in part, by
A. Paul Jones Charitable Trust,
Focus Fund for Young Performers,
and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.
[Band performs "Entry March of Boyars" by Johan Halvorsen]
[traditional Slavic song]
[clarinet solo]
[rousing and confident tone with tempo of a march]
*
[percussion solo]
*
[cheers and applause]
- Zachary Durlam: If I'm only happy in music
when I'm at the mountain-top moments,
when it's an amazing choir and they sound fantastic--
if that's the only way I can be happy,
teaching probably isn't the right profession for me
because that's the end.
Oh, my gosh, it sounds so good.
But I feel like you're living on the front edge of the beat.
Let's go one more time from the beginning.
Teaching is all about the beginning and the middle.
The process of getting from the beginning
to that point of developing musicians, of developing skills,
of learning a piece from the beginning through the end.
And when I realized how much I loved that process,
I think that was when I knew I was in the right career.
[Mixed Choir performs "Indodana" (The Son) a cappella]
[singing traditional South African hymn in isiXhosa]
- * Ngob'umthatile [The Lord)
* Umtwana wakho (has taken his son)
* Uhlale nathi (who lived amongst us)
* Hololo ho (represents crying)
* Helele he (represents crying)
* Ngob'umthatile
* Umtwana wakho
* Uhlale nathi eh
* Hololo lo
* Helele le
* Indodana (The son)
* Ka nkulunkulu (of the Lord God)
* Bayi'bethelela (was crucified)
* Hololo
* Helele
* Indodana (* Zjem zja baba)
* Ah
* Ka nkulunkulu (* Oh)
* Bayi'bethelela
* Hololo
* Helele
* Oh, Baba
*
* Baba, Baba Jehovah ah
* Jehovah (* Ah, ho lo lo * Ho le le le * He)
* Oh, Baba
* Baba
* Baba Jehovah
* Jehovah!
* Ngob'umthatile le
* Umtwana wakho
* Uhlale nathi eh
* Hololo
* Helele
* Indodana (* Zjem zja baba)
* Ka nkulunkulu
* Bayi'bethelela
* Hololo
* Helele
[Mixed Choir sings "Unclouded Day" J.K. Alwood, arranged by Shawn Kirchner]
[rousing American folk tune] - * Oh, they tell me of a home far beyond the skies *
* They tell me of a home far away *
* And they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise *
* Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day *
* Oh, the land of cloudless day *
* Oh, the land of an unclouded sky *
* Oh, they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise *
* Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day *
* They tell me of a home
where my friends have gone *
* They tell me of a land far away *
* Where the tree of life in eternal bloom *
* Sheds its fragrance through the unclouded day *
* Oh, the land of cloudless day *
* Oh, the land of an unclouded sky *
* Oh, they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise *
* Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day *
* They tell me of a King in His beauty there *
* They tell me that mine eyes shall behold *
* They tell me of a King in His beauty there *
* Where He sits on the throne that is whiter than snow *
* In the city that is made of gold *
* Oh, the land of cloudless day *
* Oh, the land of an unclouded sky *
* Oh, they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise *
* Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day *
* Oh, the land of cloudless day *
* Oh, the land of
* Oh, the land of an unclouded sky *
* Oh, they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise *
* Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day *
[cheers and applause]
- Gary Lewis: One of the things that I think is so beautiful
about music and music-making
is the collaborative nature of it,
the teamwork that it brings and the empathy that it teaches.
Music is better equipped
to make us more empathic human beings
than just about any other activity.
This is harder than it looks, this last bit,
and it's gonna be the key to success.
It's really easy when you're faced
with significant technical challenges,
which this music certainly presents,
it's easy to focus on just executing your part.
But great music making comes only
when the musicians rise above that,
rise above the technical challenges
and become aware of how what they're doing,
works with the whole.
Yeah. Terrific, violins.
How about a shuffle for these guys?
That was rock solid.
[Orchestra performs "Jupiter" from The Planets by Gustav Holst]
[rousing string music]
[colorful, varied, exuberant]
*
[rousing ending]
[cheers and applause]
- Angela Broeker: There's a great discipline
that goes into any kind of ensemble music making.
There's a tremendous amount of listening that goes on.
Yeah, I saw the little panicked look on your face.
They learn to value, they learn to distinguish.
They learn to be open and not judgmental.
A true part of a community.
What's this piece gonna be like?
How do I want the audience to receive this piece?
And when you come to the cut-off at the end of the piece,
and everybody looks around like, "Wow, did we just do that?
Did we just achieve that level of music making?"
Then you think, "Yeah, we're ready to go out and share."
[Treble Choir performs "Bo Yavo Haboker" by Josef Hadar]
[singing in Hebrew] - * Bo yavo haboker (Morning comes so brightly)
* Zakh v'chakhlili (clear and fresh today)
* Mishehu yimtza li (Someone daily helps me)
* Or biktzei darki (Illuminate my way)
[drumbeat begins] * Ma n'vakeish baderekh, ma? (What shall we ask while walking)
* Nomar? (On the way?)
* Ma n'vakeish b'sheket (What should we ask for quietly?)
* Ma? (What?)
* Rak sheyorik hadeshe (Just that the grass will stay green)
* Rak shetizrach hashemesh (Just that the sun keeps shining)
* Uv'orah lituf rakh, li vlakh * (And with its light will strike us, you and me)
* Rak sheyorik hadeshe (Just that the grass will stay green)
* Rak shetizrach hashemesh (Just that the sun keeps shining)
* Uv'orah lituf rakh lakh (And with its light will strike us, you and me)
* Yeled t'khol einayim (Blue-eyed little child)
* Li yiftach haor (Bring me light today)
* B'einav hash'tayim (With your starry two eyes)
* Li yomar hakol (Help me find my way)
[melodic and flowing, with tempo changes]
* Ma n'vakeish baderekh (What shall we ask while walking)
* Ma nomar (On the way?)
* Ma n'vakeish b'sheket (What shall we ask while walking)
* Ma? (What?)
* Rak sheyorik hadeshe (Just that the grass will stay green)
* Rak shetizrach hashemesh (Just that the sun keeps shining)
* Uv'orah lituf rakh li vlakh * (And with its light will stroke us, you and me)
* Rak sheyorik hadeshe (Just that the grass will stay green)
* Rak shetizrach hashemesh (Just that the sun keeps shining)
* Uv'orah lituf rakh lakh (And with its light will stroke just you)
* Mishehu yimtza li (Someone let me know)
* Keshet l'vana (A rainbow white as snow)
* U'mitokh hakeshet (From inside that rainbow)
* Tzlil meitar nifla (A wondrous tone will grow)
[solemn piano melody]
[cheers and applause]
- Angela Broeker: There's a piece called Warrior
that we're doing that tells about
young women finding their voice as they age.
Yes, last one, go.
The piece was written in reaction
to an incident in Canada where violence had been done--
perpetrated toward a woman.
And you can see through the text of the song
and what we're bringing to the song
in terms of our gesture and movement,
you're seeing how
the singers are gaining their own personal voice,
and how they're using that personal voice
in order to make the society of women stronger and safer.
And I think the people in our ensemble
connected most deeply with that text,
and we're most excited about singing that piece.
[Treble Choir sings a cappella "Warrior" by Kim Baryluk]
- * I was a shy and lonely girl *
* With the heavens in my eyes
* And as I walked along the lane *
* I heard the echoes of her cries *
* I cannot fight
* I cannot a warrior be
* It's not my nature nor my teaching *
* It is the womanhood in me
* I was a lost and [stomp] angry youth *
* There were no tears in my eyes *
* I saw no justice in my world
* Only the echoes of her cries
* I cannot fight
* I cannot a warrior be
* It's not my nature nor my teaching *
* It is the womanhood in me
* I am an older woman now
* And I will heed my own cries
* And I will a fierce warrior be *
* Til not another woman dies
* I can [stomp] and will fight
* I can [stomp] and will a warrior be *
* It is my nature and my duty
* It is the womanhood in me
* I can [stomp] and will fight
* I can [stomp] and will a warrior be *
* It is my nature and my duty
* It is the sisterhood in me
[cheers and applause]
- John Oelrich: I think the arts, in general,
are a fundamental part about what makes us human.
And it makes us human because [laughs]
it allows us to express something.
I'm so thrilled to be back here with all of you
to make this music.
Sometimes it's difficult to put into words how you feel.
But you could play it or you could sing it.
Here we go.
And so, I think that, maybe more than anything,
the arts are important
because it helps us teach students how to feel
and to be vulnerable with each other.
Because you can't get up on a stage,
either as a soloist or in an ensemble,
and not give something of yourself.
You give a little piece every time you perform;
you give a little piece of yourself.
And that takes courage
and vulnerability and hard work.
[final note slowly fades out]
That's my band.
[Band performs "Magnolia Star" by Steve Danyew]
[upbeat blues piece]
[composed with unusual time signatures, rhythms]
[sparkling, energetic tone]
*
["Magnolia Star" continues]
*
[cheers and applause]
- Zachary Durlam: I don't want this kind of an experience
to just impact the hundred students in that room.
I want them to be a light that shines bright leaving here,
that then spreads out
to the other students that they encounter.
Ready? [singing]
And I think that's why the Honors project exists.
Not just to
recognize the elite students
and pluck them out and reward them.
But rather, to gather those students together,
build them up
to energize them and invigorate them,
and then to send them back
where they can really populate
and energize and invigorate their own programs at home.
[Mixed Choir singing "Balleilakka" in imitation of the Tamil language]
- * Sooriyano chandhirano yaarivano sattunnu sollu *
* Sera paandiya sooranum ivano sollu, sollu sattunnu sollu *
* Sooriyano chandhirano yaarivano sattunnu sollu *
* Sera paandiya sooranum ivano sollu, sollu sattunnu sollu *
* Paaradi, paaradi yaaradi ivano *
* Paaigira siruthayin kaaladi ivano *
* Kooradi kooradi yaaradi ivano *
* Kettathai pattena suttidum sivano *
* Chan, chan, chan, chan, chan, chan, chan *
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka sale thukka maduraikka *
* Madrasukka thiruchikka thiruthanikkaa *
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka ottu motha makkalukka *
* Anna Vandhaa Tamil Nadu America! *
* Kaaviri aarum kai kuthal arisiyum maranthu poguma? *
* Oh, thaavani pengalum thoothu vidum kangalum tholainthu poguma? *
* Namma kalathu medu (Ah, ah)
* Kamma karai karisai kaadu (Oo, oo)
* Semman alli thelikum roa du (Oh, oh, oh)
* Aey, aey, aey!
* Balleilakka, balleilakka sale thukka maduraikka *
* Madrasukka thiruchikka thiruthanikkaa *
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka ottu motha makkalukka *
* Anna Vandhaa Tamil Nadu America! *
* Kaaviri aarum kai kuthal arisiyum maranthu poguma? *
* Oh, thaavani pengalum thoothu vidum kangalum tholainthu poguma? *
* Namma kalathu medu (Ah, ah)
* Kamma karai karisai kaadu (Oo, oo)
* Semman alli thelikum roa du (Oh, oh, oh)
* Aey, aey
* Sadugudu, sadugudu, sadugudu, sadugudu *
* Sadugudu, sadugudu aadiya marathadi *
* Padu, padu paduvena porthiya pulevi *
* Thoda, thoda, thoda, thoda, udaikira pani thuli *
* Suda, suda, suda, suda kidaikira idli *
* Thada thada thadavena athirkira rayiladi *
* Kada, kada kadavena kadakkira kaaviri *
* Viru, viru, viruvena madikkira vetrilai *
* Muru, muru, murnuvena murukkiya meesaikal *
* Manathil irukkuthu mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei! *
* Mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei! *
* Sooriyano chandhirano yaarivano sattunnu sollu *
* Sera paandiya sooranum ivano sollu, sollu, sattunnu sollu * (Aey, lei, lei!)
* Sera paandiya sooranum ivano sollu, sollu * (Aey, lei, lei!)
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka ottu motha makkalukka *
* Anna Vandhaa Tamil Nadu America! *
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka ottu motha makkalukka *
* Anna Vandhaa Tamil Nadu America! *
[hand drumming djembes at a fast tempo]
* Sattunnu sollu
[drum solo]
* Sattunnu sollu
* Chan, chan, chan, chan, chan, chan, chan, chan *
* Ganika, ganika, ganika, ganika, ganika, ganika, ganika, ganika *
* Oh, aey, aey, aey, aey
* Kaaviri aarum kai kuthal arisiyum maranthu poguma? *
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka oh, thaavani pengalum *
* Thoothu vidum kangalum tholainthu poguma? * (Oo)
* Namma kalathu medu (Ah, ah!)
* Kamma karai karisai kaadu (Oo!)
* Semman alli thelikum roa du (Oh, aey, aey, aey!)
* Sadugudu, sadugudu, sadugudu, sadugudu *
* Sadugudu sadugudu sadugudu sadugudu *
* Sadugudu, sadugudu aadiya marathadi *
* Padu, padu Paduvena porthiya pulevi *
* Thoda, thoda, thoda, thoda, udaikira pani thuli *
* Suda, suda, suda, suda kidaikira idli *
* Thada thada thadavena athirkira rayiladi *
* Kada, kada kadavena kadakkira kaaviri *
* Viru, viru, viruvena madikkira vetrilai *
* Muru, muru, murnuvena murukkiya meesaikal *
* Manathil irukkuthu mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei! *
* Mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei *
* Mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei, mei! *
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka sale thukka maduraikka *
* Madrasukka thiruchikka thiruthannikkaa *
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka ottu motha makkalukka *
* Anna Vandhaa Tamil Nadu America! *
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka sale thukka maduraikka *
* Madrasukka thiruchikka thiruthannikkaa *
* Aey, balleilakka, balleilakka ottu motha makkalukka *
* Anna Vandhaa Tamil Nadu America! *
[cheers and applause]
- Gary Lewis: The most important part about involvement in the arts is
how it deepens us as human beings,
how it broadens us as human beings.
One, two, same spot.
Music expresses the inexpressible,
in a way that's even better than most other art forms.
And I feel like in our society today, especially,
it's important for us
to get beyond the science and the technology--
Fabulous!--
And to be more empathic, to be more communicative,
to be more collaborative, to be more understanding,
to make us more profound human beings.
And I really do think that involvement in the arts
and music, specifically, helps to do that.
[Orchestra performs "Pines of Rome IV" by Ottorino Respighi]
[starts quietly and builds throughout]
*
["Pines of Rome IV" continues]
*
["Pines of Rome IV" continues]
[cheers and applause]
- Angela Broeker: I think now, in today's society,
where students feel isolated,
where they feel alone,
where they feel other than;
that a musical experience--
more than any experience I know--
brings diversity in a room together,
and everybody works toward a common goal.
Let's do that, yeah.
Good idea, good, good, good!
It's not a competition.
It's a creative endeavor
that brings forth and materializes
our shared humanity.
[Treble Choir performs "Wau Bulan" in Malay]
[Malaysian folk song in Dikir Barat style]
[begins slow and solemn] [humming] - * Hmmmm
* Ewah buleh ewah buleh * (Wow, the three-cornered moon!)
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
* Ewah ewah ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
*
* Ewah buleh ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
* Ewah ewah ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
[percussion, tempo, tone pick up]
* E wah bule ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
* Ewah ewah ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
* Ala ewah ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
* Ala ewah ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh [clap] teraju tigo *
* Ewah bule ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
* Ewah ewah ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
* Ala ewah ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
* Ala ewah ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh [clap] teraju tigo *
[clapping rhythmically]
[drum solo]
* Ewah buleh ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
* Ewah ewah ewah buleh *
* Ewah buleh teraju tigo *
[rhythmic clapping accelerates]
[choir cheering] Ewah wau!
- Audience member: Yeah! [energetic cheers and applause]
- Heather Thorpe: The students are singing music from all over the world.
And every kind of music has a different way to perform it,
different way to sing it.
- If this is our big finale,
it needs to be our big finale.
- Heather: The singers are also doing a lot of dance
in a lot of their music.
Much of the dance
comes from the culture that we're singing about.
Sometimes it's very appropriate
to add a motion or movement to the music,
because that's part of the tradition.
[Treble Choir sings "Kwela Kwela" in Zulu] [snapping fingers, drumming]
- * Du du tu du du tu du du *
* Du du tu du du tu du du *
* Kwela kwela Kwela kwela * [joyous swing-like rhythm]
* Kwela kwela mama Kwela kwela mama * [high-pitched trilling]
* Kwela kwela Kwela kwela *
* Kwela kwela mama Kwela kwela mama *
* Mosa di o mo pila so
* O no o meile ka
* Mosa di o mo pila so
* O no o meile ka
* Kgalesela
* Mosadiomo pila so
* O no o meile ka
* Mosa di o mo pila so
* O no o meile ka
* Kgalesela
* Kwela kwela
* Kwela kwela mama
* Tu du du
* Tu du du du du du du
* Tu du du tu du du
* Tu du du du du du du
* Kwela kwela
* Kwela kwela mama
* Kwela kwela
* Kwela kwela mama
* Mosadiomo pila so
* O no o meile ka
* Mosa di o mo pila so
* O no o meile ka
* Kgalesela
* Mosadiomo pila so
* O no o meile ka
[singing sustained note, trilling]
[trilling]
[cheers and applause] - Audience: Yeah!
- The 2019 WSMA High School State Honors Concerts
was funded, in part, by
A. Paul Jones Charitable Trust,
Focus Fund for Young Performers,
and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.