ABOUT THE PROGRAM

What is the most a breath has ever done for you? For some, it signals the beginning of anxiety; for others, its release. Breath can ground the body as it can create the sensation of floating.

Nefes, Turkish for “breath”, emerges from a period of anxiety and reflection on breath’s ability to sustain, heal, relieve, and destroy. The program draws from the legend of the Finnish folk hero Lemminkäinen, who breathes life into pieces of wool to distract wolves along his path, and from Rumi’s poetry, where the reed flute becomes the vessel through which life is breathed into the world.

At the heart of the evening is Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir, a profoundly intimate work composed in private and hidden for decades. This performance restores select solo-versus-tutti markings specified by Martin, revealing new layers of intimacy, drama, and expressive contrast. We hope you leave with a renewed awareness of breath—and a deeper sense of its power.

ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP & PERFORMERS

Ömer Aziz Kayhan, conductor and founder of the group.

Singers:

Sergey Tkachenko, DMA in Choral Conducting CCM, Russian/Ukranian Coach
Olivia Knutsen, DMA in Voice at CCM, Choral and Operatic Soprano
Hannah Elizabeth Duff, DMA in Conducting at CCM, Professional soprano
Rupert Peacock M.M in Choral Conducting at CCM, professional bass
Lauren McAllister, graduate of CCM and professional Mezzo-soprano;
Vidita Kanniks, professional soprano, VOCES8 Scholar and arts administrator
Caroline Keith, professional mezzo soprano
Mike Perry, music educator and professional tenor,
Ethan Neal, professional organist and Bass-Baritone, M.M at CCM
Gabriel Donnelly, PhD at CCM, professional bass
Erin Keesy, Cincy Opera, Professional Sopranos
Gabriel Harley, DMA at CCM, music educator, professional baritone
Eric Riedel, M.M in Voice at CCM, singer with VAE
Maxwell Trombley, DMA at CCM, professional tenor and VOCES8 Scholar
Gregory Miller, professional tenor and music educator

PROGRAM

Susanna Rosenberg: Pust (Swedish)
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: By the Lone Seashore
Pauline Oliveros: Tuning Meditation
F. Martin: Kyrie from Mass for Double Choir
Kevin Puts: To Touch the Sky: VII. Who Has Seen the Wind
F. Martini: Gloria from Mass
Ysaÿe - Malinconia
Edwin London/J.S. Bach: Come Sweet Death
F. Martin: Credo from Mass
Gabriel Jackson: Exile Meditations, Mvt IV
Arvo Pärt: Für Alina
F. Martin: Sanctus from Mass
Hildegard von Bingen: O Quam Mirabilis Est
Toru Takemitsu: Cherry Blossoms "Sakura"
R. Esmail: When the Violin
F. Martin: Agnus Dei from Mass
C. Theofanidis: II. Rumi from Messages to Myself

Ensemble O₂ Concert - March 28, 2026 at WFAC