My Love is Mine
Heather Mitchell, Artistic Director
Matthew Ferrell, Associate Conductor
Rodney Shores, Principal Pianist
February 20, 2026
PROGRAM
My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord
African-American Spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan (1957-2003)
Liebeslieder Walzer, Op. 52
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Kelsi Daboin, soprano
Michael Paz, tenor
Rodney Shores and Dale Williams, piano
The Word Was God
Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962)
Matthew Ferrell, conductor
Only in Sleep
Ēriks Ešenvalds (b. 1977)
Deb Ferrell, soprano
Matthew Ferrell, conductor
Wind and a Bobwhite (World Premiere)
Michael Robert Smith (b. 1989)
Jack Mayo, djembe
City Called Heaven
Josephine Poelinitz (b. 1944)
Kimora Cross, soprano
The Passing of the Year
Jonathan Dove (b. 1959)
Terri Vernon, alto
Peter Haynicz-Smith, tenor
Make Our Garden Grow from Candide
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Jason Burke, Candide and Maximillian
Sarah Boutrous, Cunegonde
Peter Haynicz-Smith, Governor
Bill Renfroe, Candide
Terri Vernon, Old Lady
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS
My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord
Traditional African-American Text
In the Lord, my soul’s been anchored in the Lord. Before I’d stay in hell one day, I’d sing and pray myself away, My soul’s been Anchored in the Lord.
Goin’ shout an’ pray and never stop, Until I reach that mountaintop, My soul’s been Anchored in the Lord.
Do you love Him? Will you serve Him? Are you anchored? Will you praise Him? God almighty, my soul’s been anchored in the Lord.
Liebeslieder Walzer, Op. 52
Texts by Georg Friedrich Daumer Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
No. 1 Tell me, my sweetest girl, who with your glances have kindled in my cool breast these wild, passionate feelings!
Will you not relent, will you, with an excess of virtue, live without love’s rapture, or do you wish me to come to you?
To live without love’s rapture, is a bitter fate I would not suffer. Come, then, with your dark eyes, come, when the stars beckon!
No. 2 The wildly lashed waves dash against the rocks; whoever has not learnt to sigh will learn it when he loves.
No. 3 O women, o women, how they delight the heart! I should have long since turned monk, were it not for women!
No. 4 Like a lovely sunset I, a humble girl, would glow, and find favour with one alone, radiating endless rapture.
No. 5 The green tendrils of the vine creep low along the ground. How gloomy, too, the lovely young girl looks! Why, green tendrils! Why do you not stretch up to the sky? Why, lovely girl! Why is your heart so heavy? How can the vine grow tall without support? How can the girl be joyful, when her lover’s far away?
No. 6 A pretty little bird flew off into a garden full of fruit. Were I a pretty little bird, I’d not hesitate, I’d do the same. But treacherous lime-twigs lay in wait; the poor bird could not fly away. Were I a pretty little bird, I’d hesitate, not do the same. The bird alighted on a fair hand, the lucky thing wanted nothing more. Were I pretty little bird, I’d not hesitate, I’d do the same.
No. 7 All seemed rosy at one time with my life, with my love! Through a wall, through ten walls, my lover’s gaze would reach me. But now, alas, I stand in front of his cool gaze, neither his eyes, nor his heart, takes note of me.
No. 8 When you gaze at me so tenderly and so full of love – all the gloom that assails me fades away. Oh, do not let this love’s sweet ardour vanish! No one will love you as truly as I.
No. 9 On the Danube’s shore there stands a house, from its windows a rosy girl looks out. The girl is excellently guarded, ten bolts are fixed to her door. Ten bolts of iron – a mere trifle! I’ll break them down, as though they were glass.
No. 10 Ah, how gently the stream meanders through the meadow! Ah, how sweet, when love finds itself requited!
No. 11 No, it is not possible to put up with these people; they interpret everything so spitefully.
No. 12 If I’m happy, they say I harbour lewd desires; if I’m quiet, they say I’m madly in love.
No. 13 A little bird flies through the skies, searching for a branch; thus does one heart seek another, where it might rest in bliss.
No. 14 See how clear the waves are, when the moon shines down! You, my dearest love, love me in return.
No. 15 The nightingale sings so sweetly, when the stars are sparkling – Love me, dear heart, kiss me in the dark!
No. 16 Love is a dark pit, an all too dangerous well; I tumbled in, alas, can neither hear nor see, can only recall my rapture, and only bemoan my grief.
No. 17 Do not wander, my love, out there in the fields! The ground would be too wet for your tender feet.
The paths and tracks are all flooded out there, so abundantly have my eyes been weeping.
No. 18 The foliage trembles, where a bird in flight has brushed against it. And so my soul trembles too, shuddering with love, desire and pain, whenever it thinks of you.
The Word Was God
Text by John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. All things were made that have been made. Nothing was made, He has not made. All things were made by Him.
Only in Sleep
Text by Sara Teasdale
Only in sleep I see their faces, Children I played with when I was a child, Louise comes back with her brown hair braided, Annie with ringlets warm and wild.
Only in sleep, time is forgotten: What may have come to them, who can know? Yet we played last night as long ago, And the dollhouse stood at the turn of the stair.
The years had not sharpened their smooth round faces, I met their eyes and found them mild. Do they, too, dream of me, I wonder, And for them am I a child?
Wind and a Bobwhite
Text by Thomas Merton
Wind and a bobwhite And the afternoon sun.
By ceasing to question the sun I have become light.
Bird and wind.
My leaves sing.
I am earth, earth.
All these lighted things Grow from my heart.
A tall, spare pine Stands like the initial of my first Name when I had one.
When I had a spirit, When I was on fire When this valley was Made out of fresh air You spoke my name In naming Your silence: O sweet, irrational worship!
I am earth, earth
My heart’s love Bursts with hay and flowers, I am a lake of blue air In which my own appointed place Field and valley Stand reflected.
I am earth, earth
Out of my grass heart Rises the bobwhite.
Out of my nameless weeds His foolish worship.
City Called Heaven
Traditional African-American Text
I am a pilgrim of sorrow. I’m left in this wide world alone. Ain’t got no hope for tomorrow, Trying to make it, make heaven my home.
Sometimes I’m tossed and I’m driven, Lord. Sometimes I just don’t know which way to turn.
I heard of a city called heaven, I’m trying to make it, make heaven my home.
The Passing of the Year
No. 1 - Invocation Text by William Blake O Earth, O Earth, return!
No. 2 - The narrow bud opens her beauties to the sun Text by William Blake The narrow bud opens her beauties to The sun, and love runs in her thrilling veins; Blossoms hang round the brows of morning, and Flourish down the bright cheek of modest eve, Till clust’ring Summer breaks forth into singing, And feather’d clouds strew flowers round her head.
The spirits of the air live on the smells Of fruit; and joy, with pinions light, roves round The gardens, or sits singing in the trees.
No. 3 - Answer July Text by Emily Dickinson Answer July – Where is the Bee – Where is the Blush – Where is the Hay?
Ah, said July – Where is the Seed – Where is the Bud – Where is the May – Answer Thee – Me –
Nay – said the May – Show me the Snow – Show me the Bells – Show me the Jay!
Quibbled the Jay – Where be the Maize – Where be the Haze – Where be the Bur? Here – said the Year –
No. 4 - Hot Sun, Cool Fire Text by George Peele Hot sun, cool fire, temper’d with sweet air, Black shade, fair nurse, shadow my white hair: Shine, sun; burn, fire; breathe, air, and ease me; Black shade, fair nurse, shroud me and please me: Shadow, my sweet nurse, keep me from burning, Make not my glad cause, cause of [my] mourning. Let not my beauty’s fire Enflame unstaid desire, Nor pierce any bright eye That wand’reth lightly.
No. 5 - Ah, Sun-flower! Text by William Blake Ah, Sun-flower! weary of time, Who countest the steps of the Sun, Seeking after that sweet golden clime Where the traveller’s journey is done:
Where the Youth pined away with desire, And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow Arise from their graves, and aspire Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.
No. 6 - Adieu! farewell earth’s bliss! Text by Thomas Nashe Adieu! farewell earth’s bliss! This world uncertain is: Fond are life’s lustful joys, Death proves them all but toys. None from his darts can fly: I am sick, I must die – Lord, have mercy on us!
Rich men, trust not in wealth, Gold cannot buy you health; Physic himself must fade; All things to end are made; The plague full swift goes by: I am sick, I must die – Lord, have mercy on us!
Beauty is but a flower Which wrinkles will devour:
Brightness falls from the air; Queens have died young and fair Dust hath closed Helen’s eye: I am sick, I must die – Lord, have mercy on us!
No. 7 - Ring out, wild bells! Text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson O Earth, O Earth, return!
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out the want, the care, the sin, The faithless coldness of the time; Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes, But ring the fuller minstrel in.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Make Our Garden Grow
Text by Richard Wilbur
Candide: You’ve been a fool and so have I, But come and be my wife, And let us try before we die To make some sense of life. We’re neither pure nor wise nor good; We’ll do the best we know; We’ll build our house, and chop our wood, And make our garden grow.
Cunegonde: I thought the world was sugarcake, For so our master said; But now I’ll teach my hands to bake Our loaf of daily bread.
Candide and Cunegonde: We’re neither pure nor wise nor good; We’ll do the best we know; We’ll build our house, and chop our wood, And make our garden grow.
All: Let dreamers dream what worlds they please; Those Edens can’t be found. The sweetest flow’rs, the fairest trees, Are grown in solid ground.
We’re neither pure nor wise nor good; We’ll do the best we know; We’ll build our house, and chop our wood, And make our garden grow.
PROGRAM NOTES
Wind and Bobwhite
My relationship with religion has never been simple. Some days I reject it entirely; other days I remember the beauty it can hold. That beauty is captured in a poem by Thomas Merton, the American Trappist monk and mystic. In his words, a walk on a sunny day becomes a mystical experience. Nature is not something apart from him—it is “him.” Merton strips away the walls we build, until he stands as one with everything, and in that unity, one with God. His vision of spirituality—a non-dual, all-embracing way of being—is the one I feel closest to.
The music reflects this vision. It begins with a djembe rhythm, steady and insistent, echoing the heartbeat of nature. This figure shifts and evolves as it meets the piano and the clapping chorus. The voices rise from simple gestures to a joyful climax, proclaiming: “I am Earth, Earth.” It is worship without restraint, a celebration so bold that like the last line of the poem, it risks seeming foolish.
— Michael Robert Smith
ROSTER
Soprano
Sarah Andrews, Wendy Berglund, Deborah Avanzato, Myrella Arellano Summer, Emily Baker, Sarah Boutros, Isabel Burdge, Annamaria Caputo, Tracie Callahan, Kimora Cross, Kelsi Daboin, Deborah Ferrell, Amanda Beth Hurm, Megan Isaacson, Maya Jones-Sullivan, Natalia Jurasz, Christine Kistler, Kayla E. Lloyd, Rachel Marchese, Heather Headrick, Hayley Margolis, Amy Olmstead, Deborah Renfroe, Laura Schollaert, Patricia Schwarz, Elizabeth Shanberg, Sydney Smith, Beth Weltz, Jeannine S Winsness, Lihong Yu
Alto
Heidi Adams, Lydia Frank Anderson, Carol J Bakwin, Ana Beranek, Sara Berge, Kayla Blackman, Kasey Brizendine, Maria Orsi Canineu, Peg Chappars, Deborah Collins, Lynne Donahoe, Kelli Everton, Gabrielle Feltner, Carrie Flanagan, Casey-Marie Halstrom, Ivonne Hernandez, Noliyanda James, Tammi Johnston, Melanie Joy, Debbie Katt, Julia LaPierre, Chantal Marie Lester, Suzanne McCormick, Kerry Mayo, Janet Moore, Gail Ott, Corinne Pearson, Marge Pfleiderer, Asha Phillips, Cierra Reynolds, Sarah Rivers, Amanda Sanderson, Judi Shila, Betsy Short-Nieves, Laura J. Smith-Weyl, Marissa Spaulding, Jovana M. Tabchi, Thandiwe Tenn, Grace Nell Tyner, Terri Vernon, Megan Webber, Jeannie Weiss, Susan Wellner, Desiree Willever
Tenor
Lauri Almand, Scott M Brown, Joseph Caputo, Drew Casey, Dylan Clark, Matthew Ferrell, Tate A. Garrett, Peter Haynicz-Smith, Thomas A. Jackman, Will Keller, Matthew Stephen Knisley, Jack Mayo, Dennis Mitchell, Marvin Moore, Michael Paz, William Renfroe, Brock Rydell, Timothy Schenfisch, John J. Strub
Bass
Tom Barker, Jonathan Bock, Jason Burke, Jonathan Busch, David Cook, Roger Copp, Eugene Cottle, Donald Embling, Lucas Fives, Chad Gordon, Brian A. Hathaway, Ron Haynes, John S. Hillmer, Scott Kier, Christian Kuntz, Brandon Lipton, Joel Mercer, David Ray, Matthew Rowlson, Jim Sawyers
BIOGRAPHIES
Heather Mitchell
Heather Mitchell was most recently appointed as the Artistic Director of The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay. She additionally serves as the Associate Artistic Director and Director of Operations for the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia and the Repertoire and Standards Chair for Colleges and Universities of the NJ American Choral Directors Association. Up until her relocation to Florida this past January, she was the Interim Director of Choral Activities at The College of New Jersey and Adjunct Faculty at Temple University. She is often sought out as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator for many major choral festivals, Honor Choir festivals and All-State Choirs including the Arizona Music Educators Association, All American Music Festival, OrlandoFest, Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, NJ Choral Consortium, and more throughout the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Massachusetts, and Arizona.
Mitchell has conducted in prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Vatican, and many others across Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Canada, Germany, France, and Italy. As a choral mezzo, she remains a member of the Philadelphia Symphonic Chorus, the official choir of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and has sung with many professional groups all over the country including the Manhattan Chorale, Manhattan Choral Ensemble, Coro, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus.
As a Bach scholar, Heather was the author of “A Reconsideration of the Performance of the Chorales in J.S. Bach’s Passio secundum Johannem, BWV 245.” This article redirects commonly used performance practices and was published in the renowned American Choral Directors Association "Choral Journal."
Mitchell holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral and orchestral conducting from the University of Arizona, a Master of Music degree in choral conducting from Saint Cloud State University in Minnesota, and has studied with and sung under notable conductors such as Alfred Mann, Christoph Wolff, Helmuth Rilling, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Nicholas McGegan, Nathalie Stutzmann, Fabio Luisi, Donald Palumbo, Bruce Chamberlain, Joe Miller, and Amanda Quist.
Dr. Matthew Ferrell
Dr. Matthew Ferrell is a seasoned choral conductor with over 22 years of experience teaching high school and college choirs. Renowned for his international performances with the St. Cloud State University Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, he has also contributed significantly to community choral organizations like The Master Chorale of South Florida and Great River Chorale. With a deep understanding of choral music and conducting techniques, Dr. Ferrell has been recognized for his excellence in the field. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting at the University of Miami under the mentorship of Jo-Michael Scheibe.
Rodney Shores
Rodney Shores is the Principal Accompanist for The Master Chorale, a music educator, performer, choral conductor, clinician, and lecturer who also specializes in the history of Christian worship and liturgy. With more than 28 years of teaching experience at the elementary, middle/high-school, and university levels, he currently serves as Lecturer in Music and Instructor of Voice at the University of Tampa (UT), where he also conducts the University Concert Chorus. Rodney also conducts Serata, an advanced high-school men’s chorus, as part of Tampa Bay’s Lumina Youth Choirs.
Rodney holds the Master of Music degree and the advanced graduate certificate in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of South Florida, where he also completed all coursework for a master’s degree in choral conducting. He holds a doctorate in historical and applied liturgics from the Webber Institute for Worship Studies.
Michael Robert Smith
Michael Robert Smith is an award-winning composer of contemporary concert music. His work, described as “mesmerizing, beautiful, and inventive,” has been commissioned and performed by leading ensembles across the United States, including The Crossing, the Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia, The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, the Butler Opera Center, Ensemble for These Times, and the SFCM New Music Ensemble, alongside soloists such as soprano Winnie Neih and violinist Sam Weiser. He holds a degree from Westminster Choir College, a graduate degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and is currently pursuing his DMA at the University of Texas at Austin.