Projects: completed + current
Dismas 14
New composition project underway! Fourteen original sonnets.
Composition project underway!
Around Christmas time 2022, a Catholic priest and dear friend approached me with a collection of his writings: 14, 14-line sonnets, one for each of the 14 Stations of the Cross. Would I perhaps put a melody to the words?
The main character in these sonnets is not Christ, as you might expect, but Dismas. Dismas, the “good thief” who carried his own cross alongside Christ on the way to Calvary, who was crucified next to Christ, who – in his final moments – had a conversion of heart and said “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” to which Christ replied, “today you shall be with me in paradise.” It is from Dismas’s perspective of Christ that each of these sonnets are carefully crafted. The character and setting are intense, emotional, and poignantly vulnerable.
After a long delay, it’s time to begin!
**I will not reprint any of the texts here as the collection has since been published. However, I will be using this page to post/collect ideas and research for this project. Perhaps I’ll include a few sketches of melodies along the way. Please use the form below to submit comments. All comments will remain private.**
The Passion Project
Premiere Tour March 2022! Presented by the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir
Presented by the University of Notre Dame Folk Choir
Premiering March 5th-12th, 2022 in Buffalo, New York City, Hudson, Philadelphia, and South Bend.
The Creators
J.J. Wright - Musical Director, Composer & Pianist
Lorraine Mihaliak - Chorus Master
Tristan Cooley - Librettist & Stage Director
Franky Rousseau - Composer, Engraver & Guitarist
Ike Sturm - Composer & Bassist
Anna Staud - Assistant Stage Director
The Project
Published: February 13, 2022
Author: The Notre Dame Folk Choir
The Passion is a newly composed musical ritualization of Christ’s Passion. Emerging from a collaborative process between students in the Folk Choir and professional artists, the piece combines Scripture drawn from all four Gospels with original poetry, which is all set to newly composed music.
Since its founding forty years ago, the Notre Dame Folk Choir has been committed to creating new music for liturgical worship and finding common ground between sacred and secular music. The 50-person ensemble serves the Notre Dame community, including the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, as one of its principal liturgical choirs and has toured across four continents and released eight studio albums. Led by Grammy® Award winner Dr. J.J. Wright and joined by guitarist Franky Rousseau and bassist Ike Sturm, The Passion will be premiered during a tour of the East Coast in March and will culminate in a pilgrimage and recording in the Holy Land in May.
In addition to this live concert series, the Folk Choir will share more about their production journey through a live virtual series with ThinkND, Notre Dame’s open access digital learning community, entitled: “The Way of the Cross: A Passion Pilgrimage Through Song”. The first session will be Tuesday, March 1st, 2022 - register to join here.
This tour is made possible in part through a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Grand Rapids, Michigan, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Any inquiries about the tour may be directed to Director J.J. Wright at jwright9@nd.edu or Co-President Anna Staud at astaud@nd.edu.
For more info, visit folkchoir.nd.edu
Instagram: @ndfolkchoir
Facebook: @ndfolk
Jesus Christ Superstar in a Pandemic
Friday, April 9th 2021 at the University of Notre Dame Stadium
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lyrics by Tim Rice
Directed by Matt Hawkins; Music Directed by Dan Stowe; Featuring the Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra and the Notre Dame Folk Choir (Chorus Master: Lorraine Mihaliak)
Hear more from our director, Matt Hawkins, about putting together this production during a pandemic! Click Link
““Innovation and creativity are born out of necessity. Once we had decided on the new venue [Notre Dame Stadium], it was exciting to say, let’s make it feel more like an arena concert and have the actors in the stands with the choir so that the video board is behind them. Let’s make these theatre kids feel like rock stars.””
Opera Notre Dame
Premiere Fall 2021. Release Fall 2022!
“A lot of people have this idea that opera is people in 18th-century petticoats singing in a foreign language, about stories that feel very disconnected to contemporary American life. But with this project, we wanted to challenge that narrative.”
Opera Notre Dame is dedicated to the study of opera through production in the Notre Dame liberal arts environment. Opera Notre Dame is proud to present Please Look: A Cinematic Opera Experience. Combining the visuals of trailblazing music film team Four/Ten Media with outstanding performances by vocalists of the Department of Music and Sacred Music Notre Dame, in partnership with the Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra, this series of 5 short films features recontextualized excerpts from the work of the so-called American Minimalist School, including Nixon in China (John Adams), Atlas (Meredith Monk), The Holy Presence of Joan of Arc (Julius Eastman) and Akhnaten (Philip Glass).
Lorraine Mihaliak led a group of vocalists in the rehearsal, performance, and recording of select movements of David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion for Opera Notre Dame 2021. The ensemble had the opportunity to participate in a masterclass with the composer himself!
Release Date: Fall 2022
