Presents:
Peer Gynt
Joseph Pollard White,
Music Director and Conductor
Thalia Symphony Orchestra
Jeremy D. Matheis,
Artistic Director
Choir of the Sound
Bios Personnel
Program Notes Rosters
Show Order Synopsis
Translation
Dona Nobis Pacem, EG 159
Choir of the Sound
Ave Maris Stella, EG 150
Choir of the Sound
Peer Gynt (complete score with excerpts of the text by Henrik Ibsen)
Vorspeil (I bryllupsgarden)
Overture (At the Wedding)
Springar, Valdresspringar*, & Halling
Folk Dances (*not by Grieg)
Ingrids klage
Ingrid’s Lament
Peer Gynt og seterjentene
Peer Gynt and the Herd Girls
Peer Gynt og den grønnkledde
Peer Gynt and the Lady in Green
I Dovregubbens hall
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Dans av Dovregubbens datter
Dance of the Mountain King’s Daughter
Peer Gynt jages af troll
Peer Gynt Is Hunted by Trolls
Peer Gynt og Bøygen
Scene with the Bøyg
Åses død
Åse’s Death
Morgenstemning
Morning Mood
Tyven og Haeleren
The Thief and the Receiver
Arabisk dans
Arabian Dance
Anitras dans
Anitra’s Dance
Peer Gynts serenade
Peer Gynt’s Serenade
Peer Gynt og Anitra
Peer Gynt and Anitra
Solveigs sang
Solveig’s Song
Peer Gynt ved Memnonstøtten
Peer Gynt at the Statue of Memnon
Peer Gynts hjemfart/Stormfull aften på havet
Peer Gynt’s Homecoming/Stormy Evening on the Sea
Solveig synger i hytten
Solvieg sings in the hut
Nattscene
Night Scene
Pinsesalme “Velsignede morgen”
Whitsun Hymn—”O Blessed Morning”
Solveigs vuggevise
Solveig’s Lullaby
Peer Gynt (complete score with excerpts of the text by Henrik Ibsen)
Translations by Laura Loge
Italics = spoken
normal = sung
Act II Scene IV
Peer Gynt and the Herd Girls
Three Herd Girls: Trond in Val-mountain!
Bård and Kåre! Troll pack!
Come play with us?
Peer: Who are you calling for?
Girls: For trolls!
First girl: Trond! Be gentle!
Second girl: Bård! Be rough!
Third girl: The cabin is empty!
First girl: Rough is gentle.
Second girl: Gentle is rough.
All three: If we can’t play with boys,
we’ll play with trolls!
Peer: Where are the men then?
Girls: They can’t come!
First girl: Mine called me his sweetheart,
but now he’s married to an old hag.
Second girl: Mine met a traveling girl in
the mountains and ran off with her.
Third girl: Mine took our child
and has been punished.
All three: Trond in Val-mountain!
Bård and Kåre! Troll pack!
Come play with us?
Peer: I’m a three headed troll
and a man for three women!
All three: Are you that kind of a man?
Peer: Let’s find out!
First and Second: To the cabin!
Third girl: We have mead!
Peer: Let it flow!
All three:
Tonight our cabin will not be lonely!
He’s crazy!
Trond in Val-mountain!
Bård and Kåre! Troll pack!
We had someone to play with tonight!
__________
Act II Scene VI
In the Hall of the Mountain King
Trolls: Kill him! The Christian-man’s son
has fooled the Mountain King’s
prettiest daughter!
Trolls: Can I cut his finger?
Can I pull his hair?
Can I bite his rear end?
Shall I cook him into a soup?
Should we cook him on a spit or sear him on the grill?
Troll King: Cool it!
__________
Act II Scene VIB
Peer Gynt is Hunted by Trolls
King: Seize him!
Peer: Let me go, you little devils!
Trolls: Gnomes! Nisser!
Bite him in the backside!
Peer: Ow!
Trolls: Close all the holes!
King: They’re having so much fun!
Peer: Let me go!
King:
Show some respect to the king’s child!
Peer: A Rathole!
Trolls: Nisse brothers!
You must block that!
Peer: The old troll was fowl,
but the young ones were worse!
Trolls: Slash him!
Peer: Ah! If only I was as small as a mouse!
Trolls: Close the gate!
Peer: Ah! If only I was a louse!
Trolls: Close the gate! Slash him!
Now keep in sight of him!
Peer: Help me mother, I’m dying!
King: The bells are ringing!
Everyone back in the mountain!
__________
Act II Scene VII
Peer Gynt and the Bøyg
Peer: Answer me! Who are you?
Voice: Myself!
Peer: Out of my way!
Voice: Go around, Peer!
The path is big enough.
Peer: Who are you?
Voice: Myself. Can you say the same?
Peer: I can say what I want!
I’ll strike you down…
Who are you?
Voice: The mighty Bøyg.
Peer: No, really? (sarcasm)
It’s so much clearer now.
Out of my way!
Voice: Go around, Peer!
Peer: Through! – Aha! he fell!
What? Are there more?
Voice: The one and only Bøyg!
The Bøyg who is wounded yet unhurt.
The Bøyg who was dead, yet lives.
Peer: My sword doesn’t work,
but I can hit you!
Voice: Yes!
Put all your faith in your own strength.
Ha!
Peer: He’s everywhere!
Show yourself!
What are you?
Voice: The Bøyg.
Peer: Nowhere, but everywhere.
Come on, hit me!
Voice: The Bøyg wins without fighting.
Peer: Fight me!
Voice: The great Bøyg always wins with gentleness.
Peer: Fight! Hit me or something –anything
just to see a drop of my own blood!
Bird Cries: Is he coming, Bøyg?
Voice: Yes. Step by step.
Bird Cries: All sisters far away!
Fly forth to the meeting!
Peer: If you’re going to save me, girl,
then do it quick!
Bird Cries: He’s trembling!
Voice: We have him.
Bird Cries: Sisters! Move quickly!
Peer: One hour of this torture is too steep
a price to pay for my life!
Bird Cries: Bøyg, he’s fallen!
Take him! Take him!
Voice: He was too strong. He is still loved…
__________
Act IV Scene V
The Thief and the Receiver
Thief: Lances’ tongues, lickeing, playing.
Look, look!
Receiver: I follow all of my head
in the sand is rolling!
Go, go!
Thief: My father was a thief;
his son must steal.
Receiver: My father was a receiver;
his son mush receive.
Thief: Your fate shall you bear;
your self shall you be.
Receiver: Footsteps in the bushes!
Flee! But where?
Thief: The hole is deep
and the prophet great!
__________
Act IV Scene VI
Arabian Dance
Treble Chorus:
The prophet has come!
Play the flute and drum;
The prophet, lord,
the everything all-knowing,
To us, to us, has he come over
the sand sea riding!
The prophet, lord, the never erring,
To us he has come through
the sand sea sailing!
Play (stir) the flute and drum;
The prophet has come!
Anitra:
His steed is white as the milk
that streams through paradise.
Bow your knees and heads!
His eyes are shining stars.
No mortal can withstand
the gaze of those brilliant eyes.
Through the desert he came.
Gold and pearls sprang from his breast.
Where he rode became light.
Behind him was darkness,
storms, and drought.
A long-lost prophet has come!
He came through the desert,
dressed as a mortal,
The shrine stands empty;
– He has pronounced it himself!
__________
Act IV Scene VII
Peer Gynt’s Serenade
Peer: I closed up my Paradise
and took its key with me.
There was a northerly breeze at sea,
While beautiful women laid shipwrecked
mourning on the beach.
Toward the south cut the chill’s flight
of the the salt-stream water.
Where the palm sways proudly
and beautifully,
in the ring of the ocean’s bay,
I set my ship on fire.
On-board I set out on the ship
of the plains,
a ship with four legs.
It foamed under the whip’s force,
I am a fleeting bird, oh vulture,
I tweet on a branch!
Anitra, you are the Palm’s syrup,
I must taste it now…!
Jes, I, myself, am Angoran goat cheese
I am hardly half as sweet a food,
Anitra, alas, as you! Anitra, alas as you!
__________
Act IV Scene VIII
Peer Gynt & Anitra
Peer: You flirt! Yes, thank you!
Thank you. It’s been rough…
the last few days.
They’re gone. I may not have much left,
but I have myself.
__________
Act IV Scene X
Solveig’s Song
Solveig:
Both winter and spring may pass,
and with it next summer,
and the whole year,
but you will return sometime,
I know for certain,
and I will wait long enough,
as I promised before.
May God strengthen you,
where ever you go in this world,
May God make you happy,
if you stand before His throne.
I shall wait here until you return again;
and if you wait in heaven,
we’ll meet there, my friend!
__________
Act IV Scene XI
Peer Gynt at the Statue of Memnon
Peer: I think this the place.
I can rest and wait to hear
the statue sing at dawn.
Then I’ll climb the tallest building
and take in the view,
and imagine where my next
adventure will take me.
Maybe I’ll explore space next…
…what is that murmuring?
Memnon Statue:
From the demi-god’s ashes
arise newly hatched songbirds.
Zeus, the all-knowing, shaped them to fight.
Owl of Wisdom, where do my birds sleep?
You must die if you do not solve this riddle.
Peer: What is that I hear?
Did the statue sing?
I should write this down.
“Thought I heard statue sing but couldn’t
understand what it said.
I’m sure I was hallucinating.
Otherwise I’ve seen nothing of note.”
__________
Act V Scene V
Solveig Sings in the Hut
Solveig:
Now everything is ready for Pentecost.
And my dear boy is far away.
Will you come after all?
If your burden is heavy, take it easy; –
I will wait for you; just as I promised.
__________
Act V Scene VI
Night-scene
Peer: Ash, mist, dust in the air,
thick enough to build with.
Fancies, dreams, and stale wisdom serve
as a staircase for a pyramid.
No repentance — only terror!
Do I hear children crying? Almost singing…
And at my feet, balls of yarn?
Get out of my way!
Yarn balls: We are thoughts;
you should have thought us;
children’s feet you should have given us!
Peer:
I’ve only had one thought my whole life
– and it was crooked and selfish.
Yarn balls: Aloft we should have like
trembling voices, and here must we
roll like gray yarn-balls.
Peer: Yarn-balls! You’re making me trip!
Fading leaves: We are the ransom;
you should have presented us!
See, how dull misery has pillaged us.
The worm has eaten us in all slithers;
we got never spread us
like a wreath around fruit.
Peer: You aren’t completely worthless.
At least you act as manure!
Murmuring wind: We are the song;
you should have sung us!
A thousand times have you
oppressed and forced us.
In your heart’s core have we laid
and waited. We were never fetched.
Poison in your throat!
Peer: Poison yourself,
you ridiculous noisemaker.
Do you think I have time for your poems?
Dew Drops:
We are tears that never were fallen.
Ice shards, which hurt, could we melt.
Now sit the shards in the bosom of fate;
the sore is closed;
where power is extinguished.
Peer: Thanks. I cried once,
and got a whipping for it.
Broken straw:
We are works;
you should have practiced us!
Doubt, which chokes
has crippled and cleaved us.
On the final day we come in a flock
and announce the case,
then you will get enough!
Peer: Rubbish!
You can’t fault me for things I haven’t done.
Mother… the best a poor soul can do is
carry his own burdens,
bear the weight of his own sins,
they are heavy enough.
Peer Gynt Synopsis
by Laura Loge
A play by Henrik Ibsen in five acts, Peer Gynt follows the adventures of Peer as he spends his life avoiding responsibility in an attempt to be true only to himself, just to find in the end that he has been selfish, troll-like, and never really knew himself the the people loved him.
Act I: The play opens with Peer telling fantastical stories about hunting and riding reindeer. His mother, Åse, admonishes him for his wild imagination and lies, and for losing his chance to marry Ingrid. Peer runs off – to Ingrid’s wedding, none the less – where he meets Solveig, dances with her, they fall in love, but she refuses to leave with him. However, Ingrid has cold feet, which Peer catches wind of and he escapes with her into the mountains, where he then abandons her the next morning.
Act II: Peer wanders the mountains and comes across three Herd Girls who are looking for some fun with trolls, since their own men abandoned them. Peer engages in a wild evening, lubricated by mead, and then finds himself the next morning alone and hung over. While sleeping it off his imagination runs wild in his dreams. There he encounters a woman dressed in green, who is actually the Troll King’s daughter. Entering the mountain with her, the Troll King offers Peer his daughter’s hand in marriage if he agrees to become a troll himself, asking “What is the difference between a troll and a man?” (Answer: a troll lives egotistically, a crucial element to understanding Ibsen’s societal commentary.) Through negotiations with the Troll King, Peer realizes he’s in too deep and makes a run for it. He is chased by homicidal trolls until he reaches the sun-filled outside, where the church bells welcome him back to the human world. In another dream sequence, Peer converses with a “Bøyg,” a nondescript being that only refers to himself as “myself,” providing Peer with conviction that one should only worry about oneself and avoid any real conflict or responsibility in life.
Act III: Now banished from his village, he makes a home in a small cabin in the mountains, struggling to survive. Solveig, still in love with him, joins him there, insisting on her loyalty to him, which he
initially welcomes. Plagued by visions of the woman in green and a sense of unworthiness, he leaves again returning to his mother, Åse, who is dying. After her death he flees far away to Arabia.
Act IV: Many years later we find Peer in Arabia, in this production it is the city, acting as a businessman, but more like a conman, or at least not a legitimate businessman. He is robbed and left on the shore by his business partners, and in picking up the pieces finds a lavish outfit which then causes the locals to mistake him for some welcome profit. He plays along, attempting to seduce Anitra. She escapes and leaves him. He then proceeds to wander the desert, aging and going mad, to find a world in which he is finally an emperor – of himself. Meanwhile, back home in Norway, Solveig patiently waits for Peer’s return, maintaining their small cabin in the mountains and hopeful for his return.
Act V: An old man, Peer decides to return home. On the journey his ship wrecks in a massive storm, leaving him empty handed on the shore, luckily near home. Making his way back to his home town, he sells all his possessions from his earlier life and finds himself facing what he could have been had he stayed and accepted responsibility to those around him. In despair he hears Solveig singing in their cabin, where he bursts in weeping, begging to be punished for all the sins he committed over the years. Unwilling to accuse him of anything, Solveig instead cradles him and sings him a lullaby while the congregation piously sings nearby.
Peer Gynt Program Notes
by Laura Loge
“To create incidental music for Ibsen’s powerful drama, one of the masterpieces of world literature was a task that called for the very best of which Grieg was capable. A less gifted man might well have cometo naught in the face of such an apparently insurmountable challenge.” (Finn Benestad and Dag Schjelderup-Ebbe)
Henrik Ibsen and Edvard Grieg, acquaintances as early as 1866, admired each other for each others’ art. However, they never became close friends and Grieg composed just one set of songs, Op. 25, to Ibsen’s poetry in addition to incidental music to Peer Gynt. Their correspondence is cordial and full of reverence for the others’ artistic genius, but does not devolve into banter and admiration Grieg used with others, such as Franz Beyer or Bjørnsterne Bjørnson.
In January of 1874, Ibsen asked Grieg to compose music for his play, Peer Gynt, which he intended to develop into a musical drama. It took nearly two years for Grieg to complete the incidental music. He often found it tedious and extremely difficult, stating, “the job is proving to be much larger than I had thought, and in some places I am encountering difficulties that have me absolutely stymied.” There were parts he easily mastered – those which are most frequently performed today: “Solveig’s Song,” “Morning Mood,” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” However about the latter, he wrote that he “literally can’t stand to listen to [it] because it absolutely reeks of cow pies, ultra-Norwegianness and trollish self-sufficiency!”
His understanding of Ibsen’s social commentary comes across in the incidental music, and he wrote, “… the performance of Peer Gynt just now can do some good in Oslo, where materialism is trying to rise up and choke everything that we regard as high and holy. There is a need for a mirror, I think, wherein all the egotism can be seen, and Peer Gynt is such a mirror.” The premier in Oslo on February 24, 1876 was a grand success and the play was repeated thirty-six times for enthusiastic audiences and highly complimentary reviews, followed by performances in Copenhagen, Bergen, and throughout Scandinavia.
The Urtext of the complete incidental music to Peer Gynt was finally published in 1988 by Dag Schjelderup-Ebbe and Rune Andersen within Peters Edition’s twenty volume Edvard Grieg’s Complete Works. Fortunately, Grieg did publish the two suites, Opuses 46 and 55, comprised of some of the greatest hits from the play, as well as three songs, two for Solveig and one for Peer, and arrangements for piano. These publications brought Grieg’s music to the masses, into people’s homes and on orchestra stages throughout Europe and America. It is through these, in particular the suites, that Grieg became a household name and a super-star throughout the western world.
Still today, this music persists through its omnipresence in our culture, from movie sound tracks to advertisements, the melodies from Peer Gynt are recognized by nearly everyone. Now, we want to help re-associate that music with the composer once again and hope that we can recreate his experience in London about which he said, “Oh, believe me, there was excitement the day before yesterday! Every single movement of the suite received thunderous applause, but I just let them clap and went on. At the end the noise was like the howling of animals. Well, you understand me: those primitive sounds that occur only in moments of great enthusiasm. I had to make three curtain calls, and then I had to repeat the troll stuff. The performance was absolutely splendid.”
CHOIR OF THE SOUND,
THALIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
and
NORTHWEST EDVARD GRIEG SOCIETY
Peer Gynt
by Edvard Grieg
February 16, 2025
Choir of the Sound Roster
*Attendance Section Leader
# Musical Section Leader
Sopranos
Debra Bebee * – Folk Dancer
Anjali Chudasama
Lorraine Currie
Llyra de la Mere – Troll #2
Diane Figaro
Laura Green – Folk Dancer
Lori Hope – Townsfolk
Charlotte Hotchkiss #
Cheryl Kellenberger
Deirdre Miller
Debbie Newell
Melissa Peterson – Sheep
Johanna Steen – Cow
Myra Tishkoff – Cow
Raegina Weber
Kari Wilson
Altos
Kristi Adams – Townsfolk
Marita Berg
Angela Carden # – Goat
Megan Collier *
Jo Draper
Robin Ethridge – Troll #1
Anne Fordham
Linda Freeman – Cow
Rebecca Gottschalk – Townsfolk
Jamie Henning – Troll #4
Shaundra Herrud – Folk Dancer
Penny Hinke – Townsfolk
Nancy Hovis – Folk Dancer
Antonia Kelleher
Angela MacDougall – Sheep
Susan Runyon
Susan Scanlon – Cow
Alexa Shelley
Lisa Vallins
Tenors
Arthur Hotchkiss – Bouncer
Erin Keating – Troll #5
Charlie Lowther – Cow
Bob Maier
Roger Ost – Troll #3
Ron Runyon *
Bill Schuman # – Townsfolk
Dave Tallent
Chase Weber
Basses
Dave Abbott
Peter Brulla – Folk Dancer
Colin Fant – Diembodied Voice
Alan Gage
Michael Glauner
Eric Gottschalk – Cow
David Horiuchi – Folk Dancer
Ken Keatts #
Brad Moore – Folk Dancer
Steven Pendleton
Jeff Ricco – Folk Dancer
Mike Rosen
Daryl Smith
Anthony Troutt – Townsfolk
Joseph Wenzl *
__________
Thailia Symphony Orchestra Roster
**Concertmaster
*Principal
First Violin
Cecilia Archuleta **
Gustavo Berho *
Lauren Daugherty
David Nemerever
Charlene Utt
Myrnie VanKempen
Second Violin
Robin Enders *
Yoko Colpitts
Beth Ginsberg
Andrew Grissom
Timothy Heydon
David Huh
Anne Warner
Viola
Rose Hiemstra *
Amy Beetham
Geoffrey Jackson
Karen Sidwell
Maggie Wilson
Cello
Jonathan Salman *
Derek Cook
Paula Nava
Lynne Werner
Kendra Williams
Bass
Green Seo *
Christina Wright
Harp
Melissa Walsh
Flute and Piccolo
Carol Wollenberg *
Cate Gerhart
Stephanie Sargeant
Oboe/English Horn
Shelley Reiss *
Christie Cabrera
Clarinet
Chris Vaughn *
Ned Gerhart
Bassoon
Dan Kerlee *
Jennifer Ward
French Horn
Kristin Woodward *
Naomi Skill
Aiko Watanabe
Dick Griffith
Trumpet/Cornet
Rocky Meredith *
Aaron Coe
Trombone
Bruce Reed *
Dan Lewis
Tuba
Mike Woolf
Timpani/Percussion
Dan Oie *
Ginny Bear
Tyler Smith
Matthew Walton
Joseph Pollard White
Music Director and Conductor
Thalia Symphony Orchestra
Joseph Pollard White grew up in New York and did his undergraduate work at the Eastman School of Music. His studies included viola with Heidi Castleman, violin with Isador Saslav, composition with Wayne Barlow, choral conducting with Robert DeCormier and orchestral conducting with David Effron and Taavo Virkhaus. He earned his Master of Music in Viola Performance at the Indiana University School of Music where he studied with Georges Janzer. After advanced training in conducting at the Pierre Monteux-Domain Seminar in Hancock, Maine as a student of Charles Bruck, he completed the Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Washington where he was a student of Robert Feist.
An extremely versatile musician, Dr. White has performed across the United States and Europe, including the Spoleto Festival, Virginia Opera, Bronx Opera, Connecticut Philharmonic, Pittsburgh String Consort, Swiss Radio Orchestra of Lugano and the Martinu Symphony Orchestra in the Czech Republic. A long-time resident of Seattle, he has worked with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Seattle Chamber Players, Philharmonia Northwest and Northwest Mahler Festival and served as Music Director of the Rainier Symphony the Seattle Mandolin Orchestra and Seattle Civic Light Opera.
In addition to the concert stage and orchestra pit, he has worked extensively in the recording field, especially music for films, including School for Scoundrels, One Hour Photo, Bring it On, Air Bud, La Dona Barbara and the Academy Award nominated documentary Legacy. Dr. White is also active as a composer. His compositions include a String Quartet, Concertos for Tuba and Oboe d’amore, ‘Rhapsody’ for Orchestra, ‘Floating Bridge’ for winds, several pieces for string orchestra and music for the play ‘Actus Fidei’ by Steven Breese, written for the Jamestown 400th anniversary celebrations. Thalia Symphony’s 2023 Season includes the premiere of Dr White’s piece ‘Three Places in America’.
A highly-respected educator, he has taught at Northern Kentucky University, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington and Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. He is a noted clinician, adjudicator and guest conductor for high school and honor orchestra programs.
Currently, Dr. White is the Music Director of the Poulsbo Community Orchestra and the Ravenna Strings.
Jeremy D. Matheis
Artistic Director
Choir of the Sound
Conductor, vocal coach and vocalist, Jeremy D. Matheis has been the Artistic Director for Choir of the Sound since March, 2011. Using an energetic and unique approach to teaching vocal technique, Jeremy has quickly gained recognition for his work with choral ensembles. He is based in Seattle, Washington and his experience in music is broad, embracing conducting, barbershopping, teaching, singing and Church music. He received his B.A. in Music from Trinity Christian College while pursuing advanced studies in voice pedagogy and conducting. Jeremy then relocated to Seattle for graduate study at the University of Washington to work with Dr. Geoffrey Boers and Abraham Kaplan while acquiring vocal instruction with Gregory Carroll. He then joined the St. Mark’s Compline Choir in 2006 and was able to learn from and sing for its founding Director, Dr. Peter R. Hallock.A man with diverse musical interests and talents, Mr. Matheis was the previous Director of Music at Bothell United Methodist Church, where he directed the Chancel Choir, Chant Choir, Bell Choir, and Worship Ensemble, overseeing an eclectic music department with voice and instrumental ensembles for all ages. Previously he was Director of Music at Sand Point Community United Methodist Church. He was also recently Director of the Seattle SeaChordsmen, a Barbershop chorus in the Barbershop Harmony Society, helping them achieve the distinction of Most Improved Chorus at the 2010 Division II Competition. Before joining Choir of the Sound, Jeremy was the Artistic Director/Conductor for the Cascade Foothills Chorale in Enumclaw from 2007-2010. Mr. Matheis’ work as a teaching conductor has brought him increased distinction, focusing on building technique through increased knowledge and engagement. Singers appreciate the freshness he brings to familiar music and the way in which he connects with his choir using his natural, infectious energy.
In addition to an expanding conducting career, Jeremy continues to sing weekly and is the Associate Director of The Compline Choir at Saint Mark’s Cathedral. He is also a Festival Co-Chair for the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium’s biennial festival, Seattle Sings!
Jeremy lives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle with his husband Jeffrey Ricco, who also sings in many of his choirs.
Laura Loge Bunad
Soprano Soloist, Solveig, Nightclub Host, Stage Director, Translations, Norwegian Coach, Producer
Soprano Laura Loge has been hailed for her “luminous stage presence” and “characterful and versatile voice.” In addition to numerous opera roles and appearances as soloist with orchestra, Laura specializes in Nordic art song and chamber music, having performed across the United States and in Norway, including in Edvard Grieg’s villa. She has produced two albums of Nordic song, including Breaking the Language Barrier: Songs in Norwegian and Danish, Composed by Foreigners and Songs and Piano Music of Edvard Grieg, Op. 33 & 66. Her next album, Der Skreg en Fugl, featuring previously unrecorded songs by Norwegian women with pianist Angela Draghicescu is in the works to be released later this year. In 2025 she will be touring with pianist Steven Luksan, performing Musical Migration featuring songs by Norwegian-American immigrants for audiences across the US and Norway, in celebration of the bicentennial of the first wave of Norwegian immigration to the US. Laura is Artistic Director of Nordic Chamber Music, Founder and President of the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society, and Concert Series Coordinator at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle. She received her Bachelor of Music from Saint Olaf College, her Master of Music from the New England Conservatory and studied Nordic Art Song and chamber music at the University of Stavanger Conservatory of Music.
Micah Parker
Peer Gynt
Baritone, Micah Parker, debuts with NWEGS for the first time in the title role of Peer Gynt. He’s performed such operatic roles as, Captain Corcoran in HMS Pinafore, Fredrik in A Little Night Music, the title role of Gianni Schicchi, Germont in La traviata, the Count in Nozze di Figaro, and Valentin in Faust. He has also played principal roles in Rogers and Hammerstein’s Carousel and The King and I. He has done solo work with many symphonic organizations around the Northwest. He regularly recitals in academic and professional settings, particularly enjoying work with younger generations; his penchant for outreach has led him to work with Northwest Opera in Schools, Etc., local community colleges and high schools to showcase opera as an art form. His directing engagements include Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience and Massenet’s Cendrillon, performing solos in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Bernstein’s Gloria and Fauré’s Requiem, and Handel’s Messiah. He is a regular chorister with Seattle Opera, and will be next signing the role of the Jailer in SO’s Tosca and then Zurga in Puget Sound Concert Opera’s Pearl Fishers.
Erin Crall
Dancing Soloist, Ingrid, Lady in Green, Mountain King’s Daughter, Anitra
Erin Crall is a choreographer, dance educator, and rehearsal director. In 2021, she co-founded Aspire Kinetic Arts, a Dance and Theatre school in the Northgate area, where she is both Director and the senior ballet and modern teacher. Erin is also the Artistic Director of Aspire Repertory Theatre. As a performer, Erin started her career with Pacific Northwest Ballet as a Professional Division student before dancing professionally at the Hungarian National Opera House and for Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Opera, ARC Dance, and Whidbey Island Dance Theatre. She choreographed and performed for the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society in 2022 and has been a guest artist and choreographer at other Seattle area dance festivals and arts organizations. Erin started to explore choreography as a student at Pacific Northwest Ballet. She launched her choreographic career in 2011 choreographing on fellow Cincinnati Ballet members for concert:nova. Since then, Erin has enjoyed choreographing for professional dancers, youth companies, community organizations, and students. Her work has been performed in New York, Cincinnati, and Seattle. Erin’s full length “A Nutcracker Dream” co-choreographed with Aspire Rep’s Associate Artistic Director John Crall Scott just performed it’s fourth annual shows.
Mary Rose
First Herd Girl
Mary Rose is a coloratura soprano based in Seattle, Washington. She sang roles with Tacoma Opera, Kitsap Opera, Puget Sound Concert Opera, Seattle Opera’s School Outreach Tour, Chicago Summer Opera, and the Houston Gilbert and Sullivan Society. She was a soloist with Seattle Chamber Orchestra, the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society, and St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Katy, Texas. Mary received her Master of Music degree from Louisiana State University and Bachelor of Arts from Luther College. She is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music through Music Teachers National Association and teaches piano and voice in Edmonds, Washington.
Kimberly Giordano
Second Herd Girl
Lauded for being “smoothly eloquent “(KING-FM) and who “covers considerable emotional ground” (Opera News), soprano Kimberly Giordano delights audiences with her consummate blend of elegance and emotion. She has appeared with Thalia Symphony singing the soprano solo in the Verdi Requiem. Recent solo appearances include Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Harmonia Northwest, Britten’s War Requiem at the University of Washington, and Floria Tosca in Tosca with Tacoma Opera, in addition to engagements with Choral Arts Northwest, South Bend Chamber Singers, and SkyOpera. She created the role of Mrs. Fairfax in the 2016 world premiere of Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre, later appearing on a recording of the work for Naxos, and has performed with Seattle Opera, Northwest Sinfonietta and Seattle Youth Symphony among numerous other regional ensembles. Ms. Giordano made her Carnegie Hall debut in Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. A gifted performer of contemporary music, she sang Pasatieri’s poignant Letter to Warsaw with Music of Remembrance as well as the role of Kelly in the West Coast premiere of John Duffy’s Black Water, with a libretto by Joyce Carol Oates. Ms. Giordano is frequently seen at summer sporting events singing the National Anthem for the Mariners, the Sounders, and the Reign.
Teresa Lin
Third Herd Girl
Mezzo-soprano Teresa Lin has been a freelance singer in the Seattle area since 2008. Previous collaborations with Thalia Symphony and Choir of the Sound include Mahler’s 4th Symphony, Jenkins’ The Armed Man, Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem. Teresa has enjoyed singing the National Anthem and God Bless America at Seattle Mariners games for 16 straight seasons. She also sings in the Women’s Compline Choir at St. Mark’s Cathedral and the St. Michael & All Angels Choir in Issaquah. Engaging communities through group singing is Teresa’s passion. In 2019 she co-founded Sing! Choir Camp, a summer music camp for kids, and has been on the vocal faculty for Midsummer Musical Retreat, a summer music camp for grown-ups, since 2017. Teresa is a tireless advocate for K-12 choral education in her area, and began teaching choir at Helen Keller Elementary in 2023. She also teaches private voice lessons to adults at her home in Kirkland. www.teresalinstudio.com
Mira Dickey
Hardanger Fiddler
Mira Dickey is a Hardanger fiddle player based in Seattle. She studied classical violin from a very young age but later became interested in folk fiddling and ultimately was drawn to the Hardanger fiddle and the study of traditional Norwegian folk music. Her interest in this music carried her all the way to spend one year studying Hardanger fiddle music in Norway (2019-2020) at the University of South Eastern Norway in Rauland. Since then she has become a respected Hardanger fiddler in the US and
has performed regularly and taught multiple workshops through the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America, as well as Fall Fest in Salt Lake City, and some private workshops and lessons in Seattle and online. She often performs with several Scandinavian folk bands in Seattle as well as solo.
Leslie Foley
Folk Dancer
Leslie Foley has participated in Nordic traditional dancing (primarily Norwegian and Swedish) in the Seattle area for more than 35 years! Over the decades she has taught Nordic couple dancing in Seattle and Tacoma. She has attended multiple intensive workshops in Norwegian springar dances (especially Valdresspringar and Telespringar), and she is excited to perform the Valdresspringar for this performance of Peer Gynt.
Jerry Walsh
Folk Dancer
Jerry Walsh has been involved in Nordic folk dancing since 1981. Attending numerous workshops in North American and Scandinavia has allowed him to a accumulate a broad repertoire. He has been a teacher for Skandia Folkdance Society since 1990 and has also taught throughout the U.S. and in Canada. Norwegian springar dances, and especially Valdresspringar, are among his favorites. Jerry also presents the Norwegian dance, Halling, this evening.
CHOIR OF THE SOUND PERSONNEL:
Artistic Director:
Jeremy D. Matheis
Associate Director:
Anjali Chudasama
Collaborative Pianist:
Avery M. Groenmann
Office Personnel:
Tami Horiuchi – Office Admin
Janet Segur – Office Manager
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
President: Eric Gottschalk
Vice President: Shaundra Herrud
Treasurer: Jo Draper
Secretary: Angela MacDougall
Trustees:
Linda Freeman, Rebecca Gottschalk,
Jamie Henning, Charlotte Hotchkiss,
Ken Keatts, Ali-Schreck.,
Bill Schuman, Johanna Steen,
Raegina Weber, Chuck Weger
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THALIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL:
Co-President: Myrnie Van Kempen
Co-President: Ruben Van Kempen
Vice President: Dan Lewis
Treasurer: Cass O’Callaghan
Secretary: Lucy Garnett
Directors:
Kaeren Fouts, Cate Gerhart
Shelley Reiss, Charlene Utt
Christina Wright
Librarian:
Cate Gerhart
Honorary Board Member:
Frances Walton
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PRODUCTION:
Team: Rebecca Gottschalk- chair,
Shaundra Herrud, Jeff Ricco,
Janet Segur, Ali-Schreck.
Stage Manager:
Janet Segur
Stage Assistants:
Janet Segur, Ethan Bjelland,
Anjali Chudasama,
Steven Laksan
Costumes:
Kari Wilson, Lisa Vallins,
Rebecca Gottschalk
Costuming Assistants:
Kristi Adams, Deb Bebee,
Llyra de la Mere, Anne Fordham,
Linda Freeman, Jamie Henning,
Lori Hope, Charlotte Hotchkiss,
Erin Keating, Marie Lowther,
Deirdre Miller, Debbie Newell,
Jeff Ricco, Susan Scanlon,
Myra Tishkoff, Raegina Weber
Riser Crew:
Dave Abbott, Peter Brulla,
Anthony Troutt
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TECHNOLOGY/ONLINE SHOW:
Zoom Rehearsal Sound and Video:
Peter Brulla, Robin Ethridge,
Ali-Schreck., Janet Segur
Zoom Rehearsal Video Production:
Janet Segur
Sound Engineer:
Tom Stiles
Lighting Design:
Debbie Taber
Follow Spot Operator:
Rowan Shaver, Ali-Schreck.
Videographer:
Markdavin Obenza – Scribe Studios
Video Slides and Ending Credits:
Janet Segur
YouTube Channel Manager:
David Horiuchi
Crowdstack, Inc. –
COTS Message Board Host:
Lori Hope – manager
Website maintenance:
Lee Huffman www.choirofthesound.org
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MARKETING AND PUBLICATIONS:
Team: Linda Freeman- chair,
Peter Brulla, David Horiuchi,
Tami Horiuchi, Gareth Lim
Graphic Designer:
Katherine Howell-Kiser
Printed Program:
Martin Stillion
QR Program:
Lee Huffman
QR Program Editing:
Cass O’Callaghan, Janet Segur,
Martin Stillion, Myrnie Van Kempen,
Ruben Van Kempen
Social Media:
David Horiuchi
FRONT OF HOUSE:
Volunteer Coordinator:
Ken Keatts
Ticket Manager:
Tami Horiuchi
Ticket Booth:
Tami Horiuchi, Wendy Hawley,
Azure Clarke
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Rehearsal MP3s:
Mike Rosen
Photographer:
Jonathan Vogel
Music rehearsal space:
Bothell United Methodist Church
Dance rehearsal space, COTS storage:
Terrace View Presbyterian Church
Performance Facility:
Shorewood Theater, Marc McCartney – Theater Manager
Adam Kastel – Theater Staff
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Special thanks to all
our choir and orchestra members’,
families, volunteers, and wonderful
patrons for your continued support!
We could not have produced
this show without you!
This show is supported in part by
Arts Fund
ArtsWa – Washington Arts
Commission Grant
Office of Arts & Culture
The Arts Cultural Facilities
4Culture – Sustained Support
The Cultural Development
Authority of King County
and the
Individual and Corporate donors of
Choir of the Sound and
Individual/Corporate donors and
Local Advertisers of
Thalia Symphony Orchestra
Performance Copyright © 2025
Choir of the Sound,
Thalia Symphony Orchestra and
Northwest Edvard Grieg Society