Monday, April 27, 2026 at 3:30 p.m.
Ramsey Concert Hall
UGA Performing Arts Center
University of Georgia Repertory Singers
Christopher Hickey, Graduate Conductor
Abigail Weller, Graduate Conductor
Greg Hankins, Pianist
PROGRAM & TEXTS
I. Faith & Gathering
Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –I keep it, staying at Home –
With a Bobolink for a Chorister –And an Orchard, for a Dome –
Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice –I, just wear my Wings –And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church, Our little Sexton – sings.
God preaches, a noted Clergyman –And the sermon is never long, So instead of getting to Heaven, at last –I’m going, all along.
Zion’s Walls
Aaron Copland (1900–1990) arr. Glenn Koponen
A Prayer of the Middle Ages
Howard Hanson (1896–1981)
By Emily Dickinson
II. Work & People
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
By Walt Whitman
little man in a hurry (No.5 from The City and the Sea)
Eric Whitacre (b.1970)
Serenity
Christopher Hickey (b.1993)
World Premiere
I’ve known rivers:
III. Struggle & Hope
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
Idumea
Ananias Davisson (1780–1857) arr. Richard Bjella
Violinists: Alexis Boylan and Briana Darden
By Langston Hughes
Hard Times Come Again No More
Stephen Foster (1826–1864) arr. Shawn Kirchner
Violinist: Alexis Boylan
IV. Return & Reflection
You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
Come Away to the Skies
arr. Alice Parker (1925–2023)
I Want Jesus to Walk With Me
arr. Moses Hogan (1957–2003)
By Mary Oliver
Soloists: Will Pollard, Zaria Doss, Rylee Aguirre, JR Banitt, Christopher Hickey, and Hope Unger
V. Journey & Home
Remember the sky that you were born under, know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is. Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the strongest point of time. Remember sundown and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled to give you form and breath. You are evidence of her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are: red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people are you.
Remember you are this universe and this universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you. Remember language comes from this. Remember the dance language is, that life is. Remember.
Cindy arr. Mack Wilberg (b.1955)
Pianists: Greg Hankins and Eva Panagou Quartet Soloists: Hope Unger, Abigail Weller, Matthew Elsey, and Richard Guyton
Now Our Meeting’s Over Jocelyn Hagen (b.1980)
By Joy Harjo
Soprano
Briana Darden
Zaria Doss
Katie Drybrough
Paige Hall
Kaitlyn Hartman
Maura Potvin
Brenna Pursley
Hannah Robiel
Abigail Weller
Hope Unger
Christopher Hickey, Graduate Conductor
Abigail Weller, Graduate Conductor
Alto
Rylee Aguirre
Ellie Brown
Sofia Castillo
Elle Dignam
Charlotte Gibson
Kaitlyn Horn
Jana Hornsey
Caleigh Jackson
Olivia Krisniski
Carrington Lauck
Tenor
Dan Bara
Matthew Elsey
Alex Gilliam
Christopher Hickey
Shane McAllister
Will Pollard
Daniel Shafer Bass
JR Banitt
Ronan Gawley
Richard Guyton
Peter Kandra
Evan Lambert
Connor McAllister
