Recorded on June 3rd, 2008 in the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, New York City
William G. “Kip” Kuepper of Coupe Studios, Producer; Leszek Wojick, Engineer



I. “Over My Head, I Hear Music”
An entrancing, three-note melody floats
on an updraft of conviction as the
American Spiritual composer speaks
from the roots of the nation’s identity:
“Over my head I hear music, there must
be a God somewhere.” Through music
and poetry, the simplest of statements
teases out profundity within experience
with an ease unthinkable in prose.
Composers have long understood
music’s power to convey and, indeed,
define human experience. They often
look to the chorus to do so, perhaps
because the very effectiveness of the
choir subsists in emotional vulnerability
and mutual trust. This program, I Want
To Be Ready, juxtaposes the work of 23
different composers and spans more
than four centuries. Each of the seven
sets reaches into one of life’s mysteries
and explores it from multiple perspectives.
As the opening