Choral Arts Northwest: A More Hopeful Tomorrow – Music of Healing & Renewal
Pay-as-able (suggested donation: $30 at the door, $25 pre-order)
- Timothy Westerhaus, conductor
Lili Boulanger — Selected works
Undine Smith Moore — Selected works
Damien Geter — Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow
Adolphus Hailstork — I Will Lift up Mine Eyes
Andrew Balfour — Selected works
Zanaida Robles — Selected works
B.E. Boykin — Selected works
Choral Arts Northwest sings a vibrant vision of renewal in "A More Hopeful Tomorrow" with music that embraces spring's awakening, reforges caring communities, and invokes our human tenacity in diversity. This program centers on two modern cantatas that depict journeys from suffering to hope: Adolphus Hailstork’s I Will Lift up Mine Eyes, composed in 1989 in memory of the "Dean of Black Women Composers" Undine Smith Moore, and Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow, composed in summer 2020 by Portland-based Damien Geter, who draws upon African American Spirituals and music by J. S. Bach. Framed with music by Cree descendant Andrew Balfour, French Impressionist Lili Boulanger, and melodists Moore, Zanaida Robles, and CANW composer-in-residence Jessica French, our journey closes with B.E. Boykin’s heartfelt wish for peace, hope and love.
About Timothy Westerhaus, conductor
Tim Westerhaus is passionate about transforming humankind through choral music that fosters empathy, builds inclusive community, and deepens understanding through diverse programming and collaborations. He seeks to advocate for singing among all ages and to engage choral beauty with contemporary issues relevant to society, justice, and culture in local and global communities.
From 2010 to 2021, Tim made his home in Spokane, Washington, where he served as Director of Choirs and Vocal Studies at Gonzaga University, serving also as Music Department Chair from 2017-2021. He recently served as President of the Northwestern Region of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and as the University & College Curriculum Officer of the Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA). He currently serves as a member of the National Collegiate Choral Organization Board. He founded and conducted the professional-level chamber chorus, Spokane Kantorei, an ensemble of music educators committed to sparking the imagination with fresh interpretations of early music and premieres of new compositions. He now lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he serves as Director of Choral Studies at the Northern Arizona University School of Music, and he is Artistic-Director Designate for Master Chorale of Flagstaff.
Tim has conducted collegiate and professional ensembles in the United States, Europe, Colombia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Korea, where he was a Conducting Fellow of the International Conductor Exchange Program. He has led ensembles in performances at regional conferences of ACDA and the National Association for Music Education and at WMEA state conferences. As a tenor, he professionally sings in the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus and has sung there under Helmuth Rilling, Matthew Halls, John Butt, Jeffrey Kahane, and Craig Hella Johnson. He performs as pianist in solo recitals and collaborative concerts and leads Baroque performances from the harpsichord.
Interdisciplinary choral collaborations during the 2020-2021 pandemic included “Mindfulness with Music” in partnership with a Tibetan Buddhist compassion meditation leader; a concert titled “Can you see?”, featuring historical and modern African American composers and presented with poetry and spoken word collaborators; Considering Matthew Shepard, performed with Spokane Spectrum Singers; and performances with bluegrass band, brass quintet, and Argentinian folk ensemble. Virtual residencies and exchanges included the Chitungwiza Harmony Singers (Zimbabwe), Fulbright FLTA teacher Reymund Lara (Philippines), Dr. Zanaida Robles (Tonality, Los Angeles), and Emiliano Linares (Argentina).
Dr. Westerhaus received his master and doctoral degrees in choral conducting from Boston University, where he studied with Ann Howard Jones, and he received his bachelor’s degree in sacred music from the University of Saint Thomas, where he studied with Angela Broeker.
An outdoor enthusiast, Tim enjoys running, cross-country skiing, and backcountry camping, whether in the Washington Cascades or Arizona San Francisco Peaks.
https://www.azchoraleducators.org/post/congratulations-and-welcome-dr-timothy-westerhaus