Additional Concert Information for Songs of Love & War, October 10, 2026

Featured Musicians’ Bios

Larry Wyatt, Conductor

In the fall of 1964 Dr. Larry Wyatt signed his first teaching contract and has been engaged in teaching since. That first position was as elementary band director and eventually high school chorus director. Working with the high school chorus was a life changing experience. Following his master’s degree in Choral Music Education, he accepted a position as choral director, voice teacher and assorted brass instruments at then CFJC in Ocala, Florida (1966-69.) The U.S. Army decided it needed him to defend the country against bad band music and made him a rehearsal band director at the Armed Forces School of Music (1969-71.) He then enrolled in the doctoral program at Florida State and shared a part time elementary teaching job with his wife Susan, who supervised his teaching.

After a year in an interim choral directing position at the University of Houston, he joined the faculty at Loyola University in New Orleans. While there he founded the New Orleans Symphony Chorus and an annual Collegiate Choral Festival. Active in the American Choral Directors’ Association, he served in a number of offices including President of the Southern Division. His Loyola Choir performed on two Division and one National Convention and toured internationally four times.

In 1987 he was appointed Director of Choral Studies at USC. Continuing work in the professional association his USC Concert Choir has been a headliner on two division conventions and he co-directed the Ecumenical Service at a national convention. The Palmetto Mastersingers were also selected to perform on one convention. He is one of the most published active choral director authors in professional journals and was interviewed and published in “In Quest of Answers, Interviews with American Choral Directors “ by Carole Glenn, published by Hinshaw Publishers. He edits a series for American Voices for Alliance Music Publishers. At USC he is in charge of the DMA and MM degree programs in choral conducting. Of approximately 45 graduates of the doctoral program 40 are in university teaching positions.

Dr. Wyatt recently retired from USC and moved to Blacksburg with his wife to be closer to their grandchildren.

Joetta Petersen, Pianist

Joetta Petersen has been the accompanist for the Blacksburg MasterChorale since 2000, both in rehearsal and performance.

She is a graduate of James Madison University where she studied with Dr. Marion Perkins.

Joetta is also a local piano teacher and Recital Chair for the Highland's Chapter VMTA with a private studio in Blacksburg and has been the organist at Blacksburg Baptist Church since 1996.

Dwight Bigler, Pianist

Dr. Dwight Bigler is the Director of Choral Activities at Virginia Tech and Music Director of the Blacksburg Master Chorale. He has also held positions as assistant conductor and pianist of the Dale Warland Singers and guest faculty at Colorado State University–Fort Collins. Under his direction, the Virginia Tech Chamber Singers have performed for the Virginia Music Educators Association conference, in collaboration with the Blacksburg Master Chorale in performances of major works with choir and orchestra, and in concert halls throughout Italy, Ireland, and Spain. He has conducted concerts and workshops throughout the United States and in China, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Ecuador, and Indonesia.

Bigler is also an active composer and pianist. He has many published choral works and has frequently performed as pianist with colleagues throughout the country. Bigler received his bachelor’s degree in piano performance and his master’s in choral conducting from Brigham Young University and his doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Danielle Talamantes, Soprano

“A velvety, dark-hued soprano that has a limpid seductiveness appropriate to this music!” noted of Mexican-American soprano, Danielle Talamantes. The 2024-25 season includes Haydn’s Creation with the New Dominion Chorale, a duo recital with husband, bass-baritone Kerry Wilkerson with Opera Roanoke, Close Encounters with Music, and the Sitka Music Festival, a featured recital with Lyric Fest of Philadelphia, and the Brahms Requiem at the National Presbyterian Church.

Recent season performances include a five-city Alaska recital tour (Sitka Music Festival and Juneau Jazz & Classics), with the Pensacola Symphony, an Opera Gala with the Meridian Symphony, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle with the Washington Master Chorale, a recital at The American Church in Paris, France Verdi’s Requiem and Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileras No 5 with Pensacola Symphony and the NC Master Chorale, Britten’s War Requiem with Opera Roanoke, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Choral Arts of Washington, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the National Philharmonic, a world premier with Washington National Opera’s production of Written in Stone, a turn as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème with Jacksonville Symphony and the Northern Lights Festival, and three world premiers: Mosaic for Earth by composer Dwight Bigler at her Alma Mater, Virginia Tech, the rhapsody written especially for Talamantes based on T.S. Eliot’s iconic poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock with the National Philharmonic, and the stunning oratorio Kohelet first with the Washington DC Master Chorale and then the Santa Clara Master Chorale; the latter two works by acclaimed composer Henry Dehlinger. Other recent performances include Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen and Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco with The Metropolitan Opera, Beatrice in Catán’s Il postino with VA Opera, Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Princeton Festival; Violetta in La traviata with Hawaii Opera Theater and Finger Lakes Opera, the title role of Susannah with Opera Roanoke; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Cedar Rapids Opera Theater; and a debut at Spoleto Festival USA as Sergente in Cavalli’s Veremonda.

Professional recordings include At That Hour: Art Songs by Henry Dehlinger on the Avie Record Label; Canciones españolas and Heaven and Earth: A Duke Ellington Songbook on the MSR Classics label.

Kerry Wilkerson, Bass-Baritone

Praised by The Washington Post for his “amber tone” and commanding presence, bass-baritone Kerry Wilkerson is celebrated for performances that combine technical mastery, dramatic insight, and profound emotional depth. His critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut in Vaughan Williams’ Sancta Civitas solidified his reputation as a compelling soloist on concert and oratorio stages across the United States.

A distinguished veteran of the United States Army Chorus, Wilkerson has performed for world leaders and international dignitaries, and has also sung with the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants and the renowned Robert Shaw Festival Singers. His operatic appearances span major productions including Die Zauberflöte, La Traviata, Otello, La Bohème, Sweeney Todd, Fiddler on the Roof, and Kismet, performed with companies and festivals throughout the country.

On the concert stage, Wilkerson has performed nearly three dozen choral masterworks with leading orchestras and ensembles, including the National Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, La Jolla Symphony, and The Washington Chorus. Career highlights include Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Choralis, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem at the Kennedy Center, Kodály’s Te Deum with the Oregon Music Festival, and Verdi’s Requiem with the North Carolina Master Chorale.

A consummate recitalist, he frequently shares the stage with his wife, soprano Danielle Talamantes, in critically acclaimed duo programs that traverse opera, art song, and contemporary repertoire. Across opera houses, concert halls, and intimate recital venues, his performances are distinguished by emotional immediacy, musical integrity, and the rare ability to move audiences, offering a profound reminder of the transcendent power of the human voice.

Brian Thorsett, Tenor

Hailed as “a strikingly gifted tenor, with a deeply moving, unblemished voice” (sfmusicjournal.com), Brian Thorsett is excelling in opera, oratorio and recital across the world. Since taking to the operatic stage, he has been seen and heard in over 100 diverse operatic roles, ranging from Monteverdi to Britten, back to Rameau and ahead again to works composed specifically for his talents.

As a concert singer Brian fosters a stylistically diversified repertoire of over 300 works, which has taken him to concert halls across the US and Europe. Recent and future engagements include Evangelist and soloist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Mass in B minor, and several cantatas, Handel’s Messiah, the Requiems of Mozart and Verdi, Haydn’s Creation, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Part’s Passio and the world premiere of Serj Tankian's Invocations.

An avid recitalist, Brian is closely associated with expanding the vocal-chamber genre and has been involved in premieres and commissions of Ian Venables, Hilary Tann, David Conte, Gordon Getty, Christopher Stark, Stracy Garrop and Shinji Eshima, among many others. His dedication to this project has resulted in over 200 new works in the past 10 years, nearly all of which have been published as well as performed by renowned artists across the globe. He also makes many concert appearances with SF Opera & Ballet Principal horn Kevin Rivard.

He is a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, Glimmerglass Opera’s Young American Artist program, American Bach Soloists' Academy, the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme at Aldeburgh, England and spent two summers at the Music Academy of the West. Brian is currently Associate Professor at the School of Performing Arts at Virginia Tech and previously served on faculty at Santa Clara University and University of California at Berkeley.

Jason Crafton, Trumpet

Jason Crafton is a professor of trumpet and music faculty chair at Virginia Tech. He has performed as soloist and chamber musician in China, Greece, and across the United States. He is a member of the Charlottesville Opera Orchestra and has performed with the Dallas Opera, the Des Moines Metropolitan Opera, and the Dallas Wind Symphony. He can be heard on numerous recordings on the Mark and GIA labels, including over a dozen releases by the North Texas Wind Symphony and four volumes of Teaching Music Through Performance in Band.

Crafton is a founding member of the electro acoustic chamber music group Fifth Bridge. Recent and future engagements include a collaboration with Henry Winter from the Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and composer John Hollenbeck, as well as premieres of new works by David Sampson and Christopher Stark. Also, in demand as a teacher and pedagogue, Crafton has presented clinics at the International Trumpet Guild Convention, the University of Kentucky Summer Trumpet Institute, the Trumpet Festival of the Southeast, and at over a dozen major universities. Additionally, his writings on instrumental and brass pedagogy have been published in the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild, the Journal of the National Association of Collegiate Wind and Percussion Instructors, and Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz.

Crafton holds degrees from Drake University and the University of Northern Colorado, in addition to a doctorate from the University of North Texas. His teachers include Robert Murray, Keith Johnson, and Andrew Classen. He has undertaken additional study with Vincent DiMartino, James Thompson, Vincent Cichowicz, Adam Gordon, and John Holt.

Song Texts For This Performance

Exultate Justi

Lodovico Viadana (1560-1627)

Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just. Praise befits the upright. Sing to him with the psaltery, the instrument of ten strings. Sing to him a new song. Sing to him with great noise. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just. Praise befits the upright.

Ave Verum Corpus

William Byrd (1543-1627)

Hail the true body, born of the virgin Mary. Truly suffering, was crucified on the cross for mankind. From whose pierced side, flowed blood. For us a foretaste of the final judgement. O sweet, O merciful, O Jesus, Son of Mary, have mercy on me.

O Praise the Lord of Heaven

William Billings (1746-1800)

Text from Psalm 148

O praise the Lord of Heaven, praise him in the heights, praise him in the depth. Praise him all ye angels, praise Jehovah. Praise him sun and moon and blazing comets. Praise the Lord. Let them praise the name of the Lord. For he spoke the word and all were made and they were created, admire adore. Ye dragons whose contagious breath people the dark abodes of death change your dire hissings into heavenly songs. And praise your maker with your forked tongues, O praise the Lord of heaven. Fire, hail and snow, wind and storms, beast and cattle, creeping insects, flying fowl, kings and princes, jew and gentile, bond and free, earth and heaven, land and water, young men and babes, join creation, preservation and redemption join in one. No exemption, nor dissention, and invention, and intention reigns through the whole to praise the Lord. Hallelujah!

Nature, the Gentlest Mother

Aaron Copland (1900-1990)

Text by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Nature, the gentlest mother
Impatient of no child,
The feeblest or the waywardest, –
Her admonition mild

In forest and the hill
By traveller is heard,
Restraining rampant squirrel
Or too impetuous bird.

How fair her conversation,
A summer afternoon –
Her household, her assembly;
And when the sun goes down

Her voice among the aisles
Incites the timid prayer
Of the minutest cricket,
The most unworthy flower.

When all the children sleep
She turns as long away
As will suffice to light her lamps;
Then, bending from the sky,

With infinite affection
And infiniter care,
Her golden finger on her lip,
Wills silence everywhere.

Why Do They Shut Me Out of Heaven `

Aaron Copland

Text by Emily Dickenson

But — I can say a little “minor”
Timid as a Bird!

Wouldn’t the Angels try me —
Just — once — more —
Just — see — if I troubled them —
But don’t — shut the door!
Don’t — shut the door!

Oh, if I — were the Gentleman
In the “White Rose” —
And they — were the little Hand — that knocked —
Could — I — forbid?
Could — I — forbid?
Could — I — forbid?

Why — do they shut Me out of Heaven?
Did I sing — too loud?

At the River

Aaron Copland

Shall we gather by the river
Where bright angel’s feet have trod
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?

Yes, we’ll gather by the river
The beautiful, the beautiful river
Gather with the saints by the river
That flows by the throne of God

Ere we reach the shining river
Lay we every burden down
Praise our spirits will deliver
And provide our robe and crown

Yes, we’ll gather at the river
The beautiful, the beautiful, river
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God

Soon we’ll reach the shining river
Soon our pilgrimage will cease
Soon our happy hearts will quiver
With the melody of peace

Yes, we’ll gather by the river
The beautiful, the beautiful river
Gather with the saints by the river
That flows by the throne of God

The Dodger

Aaron Copland

Yes the candidate’s a dodger
Yes a well-known dodger
Yes the candidate’s a dodger
Yes and I’m a dodger, too

He’ll meet you and treat you
And ask you for your vote
But look out boys
He’s a-dodgin’ for your note

Yes we’re all dodgin’
A-dodgin’, dodgin’, dodgin’
Yes we’re all dodgin’
Out away through the world

Yes the preacher he’s a dodger
Yes a well-known dodger
Yes the preacher he’s a dodger
Yes and I’m a dodger, too

Hе’ll preach you a gospel
And tell you of your crimеs
But look out boys
He’s a-dodgin’ for your dimes

Songs of Love and War

Paul Moravec (b. 1957)

Don’t Ask

(Vietnam War, 1966)

Don’t ask questions

when I come home

If I feel like talking about it

I will, but otherwise —

Don’t ask.

Dearest Rowland

(World War II, March 7, 1944)

Dearest Rowland —

No letter again today.

I hope I get one this afternoon.

The poor postman, he hates to come without a letter.

He never looks my way when he hasn’t got one.

And I can tell by the way he says, “Hello,”

whether he has one or not.

I love you so, darling.

I get all tongue-tied when I try to tell you.

When I go to church these noontimes,

I kneel and I start to pray

and I can’t describe the feeling that comes over me.

You and God and love are all mixed up,

and my heart and mind are thinking of you and God.

It’s such a strong feeling, it just surges out of me

and wraps itself around you

wherever you are, whatever you’re doing.

My mind usually sees you in a plane,

and I can feel myself putting my arms around you,

standing beside you while you’re seated,

and cradling your head against my breast

and protecting your body with mine —

My spirit, really, I guess.

And it’s so real to me.

I love you so, and miss you so.

Be strong and have faith.

…It will be such a thrilling day —

I hope it comes soon.

God bless you, darling.

I love you.

Your Marjorie

Here, Hard By That Lonely Grave

(World War I, June 26, 1918)

Dear Mrs. Spearing,

Many months ago, Walt and I promised each other

that should the “God of battles” call to one,

the other would console the sorrowing mother.

Now Walt has gone West to Home and to you forever,

but his figure, his voice, his wonderful personality

will always be living truths to me.

Whatever sorrow fills us, one thing I swear to you,

here hard by that lonely grave

I swear that Walt is well avenged,

that he has not died in vain,

for his spirit leads us on to ultimate victory.

Dear lady, the very thought that you are in grief

tears my heart.

Do not sorrow;

Death, after all, is not so terrible, and here —

Why, here, it is glorious.

Mother, in the name of the Twenty-third Company,

in the name of the Marines,

I salute you, and all my comrades salute you.

Devotedly, Sol Segal

Always, Always

(Civil War, July 14, 1861)

…Sarah, my love for you is deathless,

It seems to bind me with mighty cables

that nothing but Omnipotence can break;

And yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind

and draws me unresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.

…I have but few claims upon Divine Providence,

but something whispers to me —

Perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar,

that I should return to my loved ones unharmed.

If I do not, dear Sarah,

never forget how much I love you.

If the dead can come back to the earth

and flit unseen around those they love,

I will always be near you;

In the gladdest days and in the darkest nights…

Always, always…

And if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek,

it will be my breath,

as the cool air fans your throbbing temple,

it will be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead;

But think that I am gone and wait for thee,

for we shall meet again…

[—Sullivan Ballou]

Carried Away from On the Town

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)

Modern man, what is it?

Just a collection of complexes and neurotic impulses

That occasionally break through

You mean sometimes you blow your top, like me?

I do

I try hard to stay controlled

But I get carried away

Try to act aloof and cold

But I get carried away

Carried away, carried away

You get carried, I get carried

Yes, carried away

When I sit and listen to a symphony

Why can't I just say the music's grand?

Why must I leap up on the stage hysterically?

They're playing pizzicato

And everything goes blotto

I grab the maestro's stick and start in leading the band!

Carried away, carried away

You get carried, I get carried

Yes, carried away

And when I go to see a moving picture show

And I'm watching actors in a scene

I start to think what's happening is really so

The girl, I must protect her

The villain don't respect her

I leap to her defense and knock a whole right through the screen!

Carried away, carried away

He gets carried, I get carried

Yes, carried away

I try hard to keep detached

But I get carried away

Try to act less booby hatched

But I get carried away

Carried away, carried away

He gets carried, I get carried

Yes, carried away

When shopping, I'm a sucker for a bargain sale

If something is marked down upon a shelf

My sense of what is practical begins to fail

I buy one, then another

Another, then another

I buy the whole store out and I'm in business for myself!

Carried away, carried away

He gets carried, I get carried

Yes, carried away

And when I go to see my friends off on a train

Golly, how I hate to see them go

For then my love of traveling I can't restrain

The time has come for parting

The train's already starting

I hop a freight and in a flash I'm off to Buffalo!

Carried away, carried away

We get carried

Yes, carried away

Hallelujah!

Rosephanye Powell (b. 1962)

Hallelujah, praise the Lord, He will deliver me. Hallelujah, faithful God of love, His glory I will see. Rest in the Lord O my soul, trust in God, fear not He’s always near. Stand on the word of the Father. Pray in the spirit, believing God always hears, Hallelujah. Sing to the God of love, for he will provide for me. Rejoice! God will deliver me. God is my refuge, strong mighty tower. He is my deliverer. Hallelujah!

Abide with Me

William H. Monk

Arranged by Moses Hogan (1957-2003)

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, help of the helpless, O abide with me. I need thy presence every passing hour. Who but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power. Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me. O Thou who changest not, abide with me. In life, in death, O Lord abide with me. Amen.

In His Care-O

William L. Dawson (1899-1990)

One day as I was a-walking, down de lonesome road, well de spirit spoke unto me, an’ it filled my heart with joy. I thank my Lord, I’m in his ka-o, ka-o, ka-o. Now le’me tell you now, once I’m in his care, Hallelujah Lord, a-in-a my Saviour’s care. O Jesus got His arms all a-roun’ me, no evil thought can a-harm me, for I am in His ka-o, ka-o, ka-o. I would not live a sinner, Lord, I’ll tell the reason why, I’m ‘fraid my Lord might call me, an’ I wouldn’t be ready to die. Lord, I thank my Lord, I’m in His ka-o, ka-o, ka-o. Oh, well Daniel he was a good man, Lord he prayed three times a day, angels hoist their windows, just to hear what Daniel had to say. I thank my Lord I’m in his ka-o, ka-o, ka-o.