Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down - Paul Caldwell & Sean Ivory - Harmonium Choral Society

Sing Me To Heaven - March 2025
Under the direction of Dr. Anne J. Matlack
Harmonium Choral Society
Location: Morristown United Methodist Church
Musician: David Davis, piano
Meredith Persson, ASL interpreter

Paul Caldwell & Sean Ivory began arranging music together spontaneously in the early 1990s when they were both working with a community-based youth choir in Grand Rapids, MI. Their musical partnership was further cultivated from 1993 to 1997 during summers spent together at
the American Boychoir School in Princeton, NJ. Sean is conductor of the Calvin College Alumni
Choir and the Calvin Oratorio Society. Since 1992, Mr. Ivory has been the vocal music instructor at Forest Hills Central High School. He is also a collaborative pianist with the Grand Rapids Youth Chorus. He has held positions at St. Cecilia Music Society and the North American Choral Company. Paul was for many years artistic director of the Youth Choral Theater of Chicago, and then became artistic director of the Seattle Men's Chorus / Seattle Women's Chorus. Of Ain’t No Grave Can Hold My Body Down, the composers explain: “Although we are unsure of its original origins, the traditional refrain which inspired this arrangement seems to have been popular with gospel singers in the American South in the first half of the 20th century. The verses were composed by the arrangers. The choir should sign the refrain in ASL for optimal performance.” (For more information see this blog post https://www.debisimons.com/the-long-a...)
Meredith Persson was first exposed to the beauty of American Sign Language in elementary school, and her love of the language continues to this day. She holds a BFA in theater from Ramapo College and attended the Deaf Studies program at Union County College. Meredith is excited to be combining her performing arts roots with her passion for ASL again after performing Mark Miller's I Believe with Kol Dodi last spring. She is honored to be working with Harmonium to bring this piece to life.
This concert marks our last with our collaborative pianist David Davis, who has been with us ever since we returned from the pandemic in 2021. He is retiring to be able to enjoy weekends in NYC with his family without rushing back for rehearsal! From his fantastic piano chops to his fun interludes and improvs in rehearsals and concerts, we will truly miss his musicianship, generosity and quiet reliability. We are excited to send him out on a barn-burner like Ain’t No Grave. Dave, we wish you all the best and hope to see you in the audience in the future!

Full program notes available on our website: http://www.harmonium.org/repertoire/
Video/audio production: http://www.showfocused.llc/

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