The Promise of Light: A Seasonal Choral Cabaret

Tonight's Performance Made Possible By:

University Chamber Singers, Campus Singers, University Singers, and University Treble Choir
Avery Karrow-Lewis and Yu-Chien Huang, piano
Erika Hoogeveen & Rômulo Sprung, violin
Max Ryan, percussion
Brandon Berger, Abby Carter, Logan Combs, Paolo Debuque, and Matthew Mehaffey, conductors

Repertoire:

Serenity | Ola Gjeillo

The Promise of Light | Georgia Stitt, text by Len Schiff

White Winter Hymnal | Fleet Foxes

Celebrate | Tom Schmidt
    Yuri Rivers and Michael Phelan, soloists

So Far Away | Carole King
     Emma Nicholl, soloist

Reading | Ogden Nash (from "Bird-Watching")
     Brooke Cherny, reader

Sleigh Ride | Leroy Anderson

Caturog na nonoy | Peter Klatzow
     Eleanor Kennedy, soloist

Reading | Amy Gerstler (from "Winter: A Dirge")
     Lane Renner, reader

To Shorten Winter's Sadness | John Leavitt, Thomas Weelkes

Reading | Margaret Atwood (from "Moral Disorder")
     Maya Dalal, reader

Stopping By Woods | Eric Whitacre, text by Robert Frost
     Johann Albrecht, reader

Solstice | Taylor Scott Davis, text by Milton Brasher-Cunningham

Reading | Mary Oliver (excerpt from "First Snow")
     Abbi Anderson, reader

Radiance Untethered | John Wykoff, text by Charles Anthony Silvestri
     Kyra Mayer, solo

Reading | "What is it about the solstice?"
     Skyler Gustavson, reader

The Christians and the Pagans | Dar Williams
     Claudia Russell, soprano

Light, My Light | Scott AuCoin, text by Rabindranath Tagore

Tundra | Ola Gjeillo
     Molly Rose Setter & Lucy Ross, soprano soloists 

The Snow | Edward Elgar

Reading | Joseph Campbell (paraphrased from “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”)
     Madison Segerstrom, reader

I Believe | Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl, Al Stillman

Reading | Mary Oliver: "The Sun"
     Aliyah Lamb, reader

Light of the Clear Blue Morning | Dolly Parton
     Sophie Charwa, soloist

Let the Sunshine In | Galt MacDermot

Reading | Dana Gioia: "Prayer at Winter Solstice"
     Emmie Brenke, reader

Reprise:
The Promise of Light | Georgia Stitt

Matthew Mehaffey is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Minnesota. In addition to conducting the University Singers he teaches courses in choral literature and conducting. In 2015 he was the recipient of the Arthur "Red" Motley Exemplary Teaching Award. Outside of the university he has been the Artistic Director of the Oratorio Society of Minnesota since 2008. His immersive programs like: The Music of Downton Abbey, Victoria! Voices of Light, Lest We Forget, and The Greatest Generation have delighted audiences and led to OSM being hailed as "Twin Cities' foremost presenter of large-scale works for chorus and orchestra." (Pioneer Press) From 2016-2023 he was the Music Director of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, the "Choir of Choice" of the Pittsburgh Symphony. During his tenure the choir received a GRAMMY Nomination for its recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Pittsburgh Symphony. He has published extensively on the topic of choral rehearsal technique with GIA Publications. He and his friend Dave Fielding are currently working on The English Heritage Music Series with the University of Minnesota Libraries. He and his wife Libby have four children.

Brandon Berger (He/Him) is a Graduate Instructor and Teaching Assistant at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities where he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree as part of their graduate choral conducting cohort. At the University of Minnesota, he directs the University Treble Chorus and assists with the Chambers Singers and University Singers. Berger holds a Master of Music Degree in Choral Conducting, which he earned from the U of M in 2025, as well as Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Music Education, which he earned from St. Olaf College in 2015. Prior to beginning his graduate studies, Berger taught high school choir for 8 years in the Twin Cities area. He also serves as the conductor of the Sanctuary Choir at Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church's West Campus in Victoria, MN, a position he's held since 2021. Choirs under Berger’s direction have performed in regional performance tours throughout the midwest, as well as at State and Regional ACDA Conventions, the MMEA Midwinter Clinic, the Luther College Dorian Festival, the Wartburg Meistersinger Festival, the St. Olaf Choral Day Festival, the Concordia College Choir Festival, and as part of the Cantus High School Residency Program. He is an active member of the American Choral Directors Association, the Minnesota Music Educators Association, and the National Association for Music Education. In the fall of 2023 Berger was selected as the recipient of the prestigious Emerging Choral Director award by the Minnesota chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. Berger is a proud resident of Robbinsdale, where he lives with his wife (Emma), two daughters (Edith and Ophelia), and two dogs (Winnie and Fitz).

Paolo Debuque (he/him) is a Filipino- and Chinese-American conductor based in Minneapolis, recognized for innovative programming and community-centered art. He is Founding Artistic Director of A Thousand Tongues, uplifting Asian-American stories through music, and Artistic Director of Caritas Vocal Ensemble. Recent projects include residencies at Luther and Augsburg Colleges, guest conducting with the Minnesota Chorale and Resonance Ensemble, and singing with the Filipino-American choir Lalo. In 2024, he was selected as one of six fellows in ACDA's International Conductor Exchange Program with the Philippines. Formerly on the St. Olaf College choral faculty, he is also an active arranger of Philippine choral music. Paolo studied at Swarthmore College and the University of Michigan and is pursuing a DMA at the University of Minnesota. 

Abby Carter (she/her) is a Minnesota based choral conductor and soprano. Originally from Colorado, she is currently working on her masters of music in choral conducting at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where she works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. She holds a bachelor of music in church music with a concentration in choral conducting from St. Olaf College, where she graduated in May of 2025. In her time at St. Olaf, Abby sang in the St. Olaf Choir, worked for the music organizations office, tutored music theory and piano, stage managed recitals, and was a section leader for the St. John’s Choir at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Northfield. Alongside graduate school, Abby is currently the director of music at All Saints Lutheran Church in Eagan, Minnesota.

Logan Combs (he/him) is a first-year Master of Music student in Choral Conducting at the University of Minnesota. Logan serves as the co-director for Campus Singers, and assists with Gospel Choir and University Singers. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Church Music with a Choral Conducting specialty from St. Olaf College, and has since served as a church musician for local Presbyterian and Lutheran communities. Logan continues to work in sacred music, serving as the Marketing Manager of the National Lutheran Choir, the Music and Worship Consultant for the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, and the Tenor Section Leader at St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church. An avid singer, Logan has sung for the St. Olaf Choir, the National Lutheran Choir, the Summer Singers SOL Ensemble, and the Voces8 US Scholars. Logan is based in St. Paul, where he lives with his husband, Justin, and their two dogs, Boss and Eva.