2026 High School Choral Festival Program

Saturday, February 14, 2026 at 6:00 PM University at Albany’s Performing Arts Center

José Daniel Flores-Caraballo, Opalka Family Artistic Director

Elizabeth Eschen Cacciola, Guest Conductor

Noah Palmer, Assistant Director & Accompanist

ABOUT THE HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL FESTIVAL

WELCOME TO THE 26TH ANNUAL HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL FESTIVAL!

The High School Choral Festival is an opportunity for talented high school singers to learn, rehearse, and perform with Albany Pro Musica, the region’s premier choral ensemble, and a renowned guest conductor or composer. Previous guest clinicians have included Bradley Ellingboe, Darrell Bryan, and Michael Lister. Since 2024, the Festival has featured Liz Eschen Cacciola, the former Director of Harvard University’s Holden Voice Program and a celebrated soloist and educator, as guest conductor and clinician.

Albany Pro Musica is proud to again partner with the University at Albany to host the Festival on campus, and to offer several opportunities for students to experience the college first-hand. Due to space constraints and chorus balance considerations, we reimagined this year’s Festival as a treble choir event, featuring 55 Sopranos and Altos from 19 schools from across the Capital Region. Students spent the day in rigorous vocal technique sessions and rehearsals, and now present a dynamic performance alongside APM’s treble chamber singers. Liz has created an inspiring program that showcases the breadth, power, and beauty of treble voices – enjoy!

Over the past 25 years, the annual High School Choral Festival has engaged more than 3,200 students from across the region. To learn more about the Festival, Albany Pro Musica’s commitment to education, and our other educational programs, visit albanypromusica.org/education.

GUEST CONDUCTOR’S NOTE

Elizabeth Eschen Cacciola

Welcome to The Love of Thousands, our first APM High School Festival celebrating treble voices! This is a program rooted in lineage, belonging, and the inheritance of love passed from voice to voice, generation to generation. And, true to this inclusive and expansive spirit, you too are invited to join this rich tapestry of voices that honor feminine power, wisdom, and community in its many forms.

We begin with the words and spirit of Hildegard von Bingen, whose poetry and theology embody caritas—a love that animates all living things. Her medieval chant Caritas Abundat and Michael John Trotta’s contemporary choral setting of Hildegard’s text place us within a cosmic vision of love as breath, fire, and sustaining force.

The first solo interlude Flight takes this fire and speaks of the courage to break free, to “rise,” to “start to soar,” to “lift from the ground” —themes that will permeate tonight’s program. Our glorious soloists inspire the choir to rejoin in Lift Thine Eyes, Mendelssohn’s famous trio from Elijah, and we find that our help comes in the form of our own company of heaven: our friends, sisters, mothers, teachers, mentors, ancestors. We welcome the sopranos and altos of Cantantes Pro Musica, who share Silver Rain and O Boundless, Boundless Evening before joining the festival singers for the heart and namesake of our program, The Love of Thousands. Inspired by Linda Hogan’s poem, The Love’s addition of mature voices reminds us that we do not walk alone, but are lifted and sustained by the love and guidance of those who came before.

We continue the themes of support (“I can be your mountain”) and belonging (“And a place by the fire for everyone”) in Crowded Table, a choral arrangement of the Americana/folk song by The Highwomen. Developing on this idea of chosen family, we move into our next solo interlude, For Good from Wicked. A familiar and beloved duet from Stephen Schwartz, particularly after the recent box-office success and deeply resonant portrayals by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, we delight in hearing our soloists share the transformational power of female friendship.

Next, it’s your turn! Our festival singers will be guides in our first Audience Sing, Arianne Abela’s Rise. Music and lyrics can be found in your program. ALL VOICES are welcome and encouraged—each of our voices matter now more than ever, regardless of training or “skill.” Show your singer that you are part of The Love of Thousands!!

We now turn towards the end of the program, inspired with a collective fire, and hear Melissa Dunphy’s dramatic setting of Nikita Gill’s poem, Wild Embers. We are reminded that “we are the descendants” of voices once silenced, and even a single spark can ignite change. We end the evening on this hopeful note with Jocelyn Hagen’s Look Out Above. Calling on our shared inheritance of this kind of creative, joyous, participatory power, we celebrate that these singers in front of you are coming up, and, thank goodness for all of us, “can’t be stopped!”

ALBANY PRO MUSICA PRESENTS

HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL FESTIVAL

The Love of Thousands

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2026 AT 6:00 PM

University at Albany’s Performing Arts Center

CANTANTES PRO MUSICA, APM’s Chamber Ensemble

JOSÉ DANIEL FLORES-CARABALLO

Opalka Family Artistic Director

PRO MUSICA HIGH SCHOOL FESTIVAL CHORUS

ELIZABETH ESCHEN CACCIOLA

Guest Conductor

NOAH PALMER

Assistant Music Director & Accompanist

Support for our 2025-2026 season

comes from our marquee season underwriters

Christine and George R. Hearst III I Ellen Jabbur I Chet and Karen Opalka Wayne A. Senitta, Jr. and Daniel Washington

William Tuthill and Gregory Anderson I Michael and Linda Wolff

Additional season support provided by James and Joanne Darcy Crum I Anonymous, in memory of Robert A. Chase

Albert De Salvo, in memory of Susan Thompson I Michael and Margery Whiteman

Karl Moschner and Hannelore Wilfert

Massry Charitable Foundation

Support for the High School Choral Festival provided by Paul Wing Charitable Trust I The Review Foundation

This event is being professionally photographed for archival and promotional purposes

Jeanette Altarriba

Rachel Bratager

William Crankshaw

Marie Cox

Elizabeth Eschen Cacciola

Pat Ferlo

Richard Fogarty

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Pat O’Connor

Noah Palmer

Katie Peterson

Jared Shortmeier

Emily Sturman

Lincoln Walton

Lisa Wloch

Primeau-Fahey Studios

The Review Foundation

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall

University at Albany

Pro Musica High School Festival Chorus

Elizabeth Eschen Cacciola, Conductor

Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) Karitas habundat

Michael John Trotta (b. 1978)

Caritas Abundat (2018)

Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz, violin

Lincoln Walton, percussion

~ Solo Interlude ~

Craig Carnelia (b. 1949)

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

Flight (1992)

Mary Weinheimer, Olivia Gervasi, soloists

Lift Thine Eyes, from ELIJAH (1846) (1809-1847)

Cantantes Pro Musica

José Daniel Flores-Caraballo, Conductor

B.E. Boykin (b. 1989)

René Clausen (b. 1953)

Silver Rain (2023)

Erica Pickhardt, cello

O Boundless, Boundless Evening (2018)

Erica Pickhardt, cello

Pro Musica High School Festival Chorus

Elizabeth Eschen Cacciola, Conductor

Reena Esmail (b. 1983)

The Highwomen

Natalie Hemby (b. 1977)

Lori McKenna (b. 1968)

Brandi Carlile (b. 1981)

~ Solo Interlude ~

Stephen Schwartz (b. 1948)

~ Audience Sing ~

Arianne Abela (b. 1986)

Melissa Dunphy (b. 1980)

Dessa (b. 1981)

Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980)

The Love of Thousands (2019) with Cantantes Pro Musica

Crowded Table (2019)

arr. Andrea Ramsay

Shalom Ogbonna, Meg Ardey, soloists

Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz, violin

For Good, from WICKED (2003)

Sophia Rehberg, Abigail Weeden, Aubriana Fiorini, Kallista Latina, soloists

Rise (2017), from the JUSTICE CHOIR SONGBOOK 9 (Music on page 6)

Wild Embers (2017)

Look Out Above (2018)

Mission

ABOUT ALBANY PRO MUSICA

OUR MISSION, VISION, AND CORE VALUES

To perform a broad spectrum of quality choral music at the highest levels of artistic excellence that inspires and transforms our audiences and to provide exceptional educational experiences that advance the choral art among new generations of singers.

Vision

Albany Pro Musica will be a leader in the choral arts in New York’s Capital Region, the Northeast and beyond ― bridging cultures, ethnicities, and generations.

Core Values

• Perform with excellence

• Inspire new generations of singers

• Engage expanded and broadly diverse audiences

• Operate with integrity

• Respect each other and our community

Many Voices, One World

The Pro Musica International Choral Festival is a FREE week-long festival for high-school students and choruses from the U.S. and Canada. This biennial festival, launched in 2023, alternates between the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and the University at Albany in Albany, New York. It will next be held in July 2027 at Queen’s University.

The 2027 Festival will again feature Dr. Rollo Dilworth as conductor- and composerin-residence, as well as a renowned teaching faculty; performances by the Canadian Chamber Choir, Albany Pro Musica, and the Student Festival Chorus; and the world premiere of a new work by Rollo Dilworth, commissioned by the Festival.

Applications may be submitted by both individual student singers and school- and community-based choruses. Early-bird applications for the 2027 festival will open on April 1, 2026.

José Daniel Flores-Caraballo

Opalka Family Artistic Director

Dr. José Daniel Flores-Caraballo is a widely acclaimed conductor and musical director recognized for his artistry and integrity in stylistic performance of choral literature, his methodical and uncompromising approach to music learning, and his gifts as a patient and inspiring teacher. Dr. Flores-Caraballo brings that unique combination—along with an ambitious and energizing vision—to Albany Pro Musica (APM) as the Opalka Family Artistic Director, a role he has held since 2014.

As a trained organist as well as a celebrated orchestral and choral conductor, Dr. Flores-Caraballo places strong emphasis on technical precision as the fundamental seed from which musical artistry can grow. Dr. Flores-Caraballo joined Albany Pro Musica with the goal of building upon the group’s impressive and cherished legacy and elevating APM to be among the best choirs in the nation. Through Dr. Flores-Caraballo’s leadership, APM is pushing the boundaries of choral performance in the area, embracing challenging musical programming, innovative national and international partnerships, and a renewed commitment to civic and educational initiatives.

Dr. Flores-Caraballo also serves as Conductor-In-Residence at the University at Albany (SUNY) and the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, and Chorus Director for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus. He has prepared his choirs for prominent orchestral conductors, including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Bramwell Tovey, Stéphane Dèneve, Kensho Watanabe, Fabio Luisi, and Marin Alsop of The Philadelphia Orchestra, Andrews Sill of the New York City Ballet, David Alan Miller of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and Anthony Princiotti and Andrew Crust of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Flores-Caraballo came to the Capital Region from Vero Beach, Florida, where he was a musical force for more than a decade. There, he founded and directed three auditioned, community choral groups that transformed the musical landscape in the Treasure Coast: the Atlantic Symphonic Chorus, the Atlantic Schola Cantorum, and the Atlantic Children’s Chorale. A native of Puerto Rico, Dr. Flores-Caraballo served as Dean of Academic Affairs at the Conservatory of Music in San Juan and has led prize-winning school- and church-based choral programs in Puerto Rico and across the mainland United States. He holds a Doctorate in Sacred Music with an emphasis on Choral and Instrumental Conducting from the Graduate Theological Foundation, a Master’s in Choral Conducting and Organ from the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor’s in Music Education and Instrumental Conducting from the Conservatory of Music in San Juan.

Elizabeth Eschen Cacciola

Guest Conductor

Based out of Boston, Elizabeth Eschen Cacciola works at the intersection of choral music and vocal pedagogy, whether it be on stage, in the classroom/studio, or from the podium.

As a mezzo-soprano, she has credits in new music (Lorelei Ensemble & Juventas), opera (Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Tampa) and musical theatre (2016 Studio Cast Album of Hunchback of Notre Dame), but has truly found her home in professional ensembles specializing in Baroque music and choral masterworks. She regularly performs with Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Emmanuel Music, Upper Valley Baroque (NH) and Oregon Bach Festival, and has made featured solo appearances with many area ensembles, among them Emmanuel Music, Chorus of Westerly, Harvard Choruses, Boston Choral Ensemble, Cantata Singers, Back Bay Chorale, Newburyport Choral Society, Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra, and Handel Society of Dartmouth.

As an educator and conductor, Liz has built voices and voice programs across the East Coast, and recently finished a 9-year tenure as the Director of the Holden Voice Program at Harvard University. While at Harvard, she also held positions as the Guest Faculty Resident Conductor of the Radcliffe Choral Society, Teaching Fellow Vocal Coach, and Instructor of Skills for Singing. She is in demand as a voice specialist for choir, having presented at University of Minnesota, Northeastern University, Queens College, Rhode Island College, and Brown University, along with civic ensembles and professional organizations. She regularly works with the Boston Choral Ensemble, and in 2025 directed Musica Sacra in their March concert. Additionally, Liz treasures her long-standing relationship with Albany Pro Musica as Teaching Artist, Guest Conductor of the annual High School Choral Festival, and Faculty for the Pro Musica International Choral Festival.

As a voice teacher, Liz runs an independent studio and is deeply invested in the voice journey of each of her students. She is strongly motivated by equity and access issues in the field and serves as the President of NATS Boston, where she initiated the online “Table for More” IDEA Series in Summer 2020. She is pursuing a certificate in Vocology and holds degrees from Boston University (M.M. Conducting) and Providence College (B.A. Vocal Performance, English). In those precious hours not singing or teaching, Liz can be found either outside, playing board games, or watching Star Wars with her husband and bonus son.

10 STAFF AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ALBANY PRO MUSICA STAFF

OPALKA FAMILY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

José Daniel Flores-Caraballo

ARTISTIC STAFF

Noah Palmer, Assistant Music Director and Accompanist

Tonya Burandt Hansen, Abigail Cowan, Jacob James, Ross Brennan, Section Leaders

Steve Murray, Honorary Composer in Residence

Elizabeth Eschen Cacciola and Katherine Skovira, Teaching Artists

ADMINISTRATION

Emily Sturman, Executive Director

Jared Shortmeier, Director of Operations

Katie Peterson, Development Manager

Rebecca Monaghan, Audition Coordinator

Dharma Sanchez-Flores, Member Connections Liaison

Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz, Orchestra Contractor

Michele Susko, Roya Consulting, LLC, Development Counsel

Primeau-Fahey Studios, Marketing and Public Relations

Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Box Office Services

Capital CFO+, Business Management Services

ALBANY PRO MUSICA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Marion Terenzio, President

Jonathan E. Hansen, Vice President

Eric Arndt, Secretary

Tom McGuire, Treasurer

Jeanette Altarriba

M. Tracey Brooks

Al De Salvo

James M. Gaughan

William Gibbons

David Griggs-Janower, in memoriam

Robert T. Hennes

Christine Hoek

Ellen Jabbur

Gwen Krause

Steven E. Lobel

Darcy Crum Meadows

Douglas Petersen

Raona Roy

Wayne Senitta

Matthew Shaftel

Rex W. Smith

Margery Whiteman, in memoriam

Michael Whiteman

Michael Wolff

Edelgard Wulfert

ALBANY PRO MUSICA COUNCIL OF ADVISORS

George R. Hearst III and Chet Opalka, Co-Chairs

Alan Goldberg

E. Stewart Jones, Jr.

Kimberly Sanger Jones

Richard Miller

John Nigro

Karen Opalka

Marcia White

Saturday, May 30, 2026 I 5:00 – 10:00 PM Revolution Hall, Troy Presenting the 2026 Dr. Karen R. Hitchcock Award to Rex Smith

Retired editor of the Times Union and APM’s past board president

Information and tickets at albanypromusica.org/gala

ALBANY PRO MUSICA, new chorus-in-residence at the MMF June 5, 2026 Arthur Zankel Music Center Saratoga Springs, NY

A Sacred Place

MARCH 8, 2026

3:00PM

TROY SAVINGS BANK MUSIC HALL

This LUMINOUS Earth

MAY 3, 2026

3:00PM

TROY SAVINGS BANK MUSIC HALL