METHUEN MEMORIAL MUSIC HALL “A Merry Music Hall Christmas”

RAY CORNILS, ORGAN GREG GETTEL and ROBINSON PYLE, TRUMPET

Saturday, December 4th at 7:00 P.M. Sunday, December 5th at 3:00 P.M.

Tickets available for purchase at:

mmmh.brownpapertickets.com

Ticketing questions and group sales, please email: tickets@mmmh.org

192 Broadway (Rt. 28), Methuen, MA www.mmmh.org

Methuen Memorial Music Hall A MERRY MUSIC HALL CHRISTMAS 2021

Saturday, Dec. 4, 7:00 PM • Sunday, Dec. 5, 3:00 PM

Ray Cornils, organ Robinson Pyle and Greg Gettel, trumpets

Grand Fantasia on "Joy to the World" …………………………… Marc F. Cheban (b.1953)

organ

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing ………………………….. arr. Anthony DiLorenzo (b.1967) organ and trumpets

O Magnum Mysterium ……………………………… Thomas Luis de Vittoria (1548-1611)

organ and trumpets In Dulci Jubilo (Traditional)………………………………………….. arr. Paul Fey (b.1998)

organ Den Yndigste Rose (The Fairest of Roses) ………………………... Frederik Magle (b.1977)

organ and trumpets Personet Hodie ………………………………………………….. arr. David Schelat (b.1955)

organ Gabriel’s Message …………………………………………………… Roger Harvey (b.1949)

organ and trumpets Ave Maria (based on a Prelude by J. S. Bach) ………………… Charles Gounod (1818-1893) organ and trumpets /arr. Scott and Cornils Toccata sur Il est né, le divin Enfant ………………………………… Denis Bédard (b. 1950)

organ

Sussex Carol …………………………………………………. arr. Christina Harmon (b.1944) organ and trumpets

Herrscher des Himmels, from “Christmas Oratorio” ……Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

organ and trumpets

INTERMISSION Farandole (March of the Three Kings) …………………………. Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

organ and trumpets A Christmas Fantasy ………………………………………………... Jonathan Scott (b.1979)

organ ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas ……………………………. Anthony DiLorenzo (b.1967)

organ, trumpets, and narrator Mary Had a Baby ……………………………………….,, arr. Noel Rawsthorne (1929-1919)

organ Sleigh Ride …………………………………………………… Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)

organ and trumpets Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! ………………………….... arr. Mark Hayes (b.1953)

organ O Holy Night ………………………………………………….... Adolphe Adam (1803-1856)

organ and trumpets The Lord Bless You and Keep You ……………………………………. John Rutter (b.1945)

organ and trumpets

Audience Sing Along Hark, the Herald Angels Sing Felix Mendelssohn We Three Kings arr. Jeremy Bankson Hallelujah Chorus George Frideric Handel Silent Night Franz Gruber

CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS

Anonymous

Ray Cornils was the Municipal Organist for the City of Portland from 1990 to 2017. For thirty years he served First Parish Church, UCC, Brunswick, Maine as Minister of Music where he led an extensive music program of five vocal and two handbell choirs.

Known for his highly diverse programming, Ray has concertized throughout the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, New Zealand, and Ecuador. He has been a featured recitalist for conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Organ Historical Society. In addition to his solo work, he performs regularly with the Portland Symphony Orchestra.

Ray has been a member of the music faculties of Bowdoin College, the University of Southern Maine, the Young Organists Collaborative, and the Portland Conservatory of Music, where he taught organ, harpsichord and related classes. He has held many leadership roles in the American Guild of Organists, including Convention Coordinator for the 2014 National Convention in Boston.

Mr. Cornils studied at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He has studied organ with Robert Reeves, Fenner Douglas, William Porter, Yuko Hayashi and has done post-graduate studies with Dame Gillian Weir. He divides his time between the Maine coast and Ecuador’s Andes mountains. In 2021 he served the First Congregational Church UCC in Wiscasset as Interim Organist and continues to concertize from time to time. Robinson Pyle, trumpet, performs extensively on both modern and historic instruments. He is currently principal trumpet with the Plymouth Philharmonic. Formerly, Mr. Pyle had been a principal with Boston Baroque, Apollo’s Fire, and The Lyra Concert. He has appeared with Grand Harmonie, the Purcell Society of Boston, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, Albany Symphony, Boston Cecilia, Handel and Haydn Society, Ensemble Caprice, Washington Bach Consort, and has performed as a guest artist with Les Bostonades, Aston Magna, and at the Blue Hill Bach Festival. As a jazz performer, Mr. Pyle has played in bands with such legends as saxophonist Joe Henderson, trombonist J. J. Johnson, and trumpeter Donald Byrd, and has appeared at the House of Blues. He has recorded for the Linn, Telarc, Eclectra, Interscope, OJE, and A2Z labels, and has been featured in radio broadcasts on WGBH, WCRB, WCLV, WKSU, National Public Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and European Community Radio.

Mr. Pyle currently teaches in the Historic Performance Department at Boston University and is a faculty member in the Wellesley Public Schools. He has been a guest lecturer in Historical Performance at Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts, and in Musical Acoustics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and Dartmouth College. He lives with his wife, Julie, and their two cats, Rose and Lily. In his spare time, Mr. Pyle enjoys kayaking and photographing nature, often at the same time. He holds a degree in Trumpet Performance from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Greg Gettel is a versatile trumpet player and teacher who has spent over 20 years in the local music scene. After attending Oberlin Conservatory and New England Conservatory, he toured in South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, and Scotland. Greg has coached trumpet in Japan multiple times as well. Locally, he has appeared with many ensembles throughout New England including Boston Ballet, Emmanuel Music, Portland Symphony, Opera Boston, Odyssey Opera, the American Repertory Theater, Harvard Baroque, and Grand Harmonie. Greg has been coached and taught by members of the Empire Brass, Tim Morrison, Louis Ranger, and Byron Pearson. Greg’s musical interests are broad and include chamber music, theater, and historical performance. Currently, he teaches for Lexington Community Education and The Waldorf School of Lexington. Raised by musicians in rural Vermont, Greg can often be found outdoors with his wife and two kids.