"Keeping the Light" features a powerful performance of Dan Forrest’s Requiem for the Living by the National Masterwork Chorus & Orchestra. Enhanced by stunning artistic projections, this performance promises to be a visually and musically immersive experience, deepening the audience’s connection to the music’s themes of love, loss, and rememberance.

The first half of the concert showcases the National Concert Chorus on a program of works by world-renowned composer Jake Runestad, including The Lighthouse Keeper, an extended work for SATB choir, piano, and strings.

JAKE RUNESTAD, GUEST CONDUCTOR/COMPOSER

Considered “one of the best of the younger American composers” (Chicago Tribune), EMMY®-winning and GRAMMY®-nominated composer and conductor Jake Runestad has received commissions and performances from leading ensembles and organizations such as Washington National Opera, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, the Pacific Symphony & Chorale, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Seraphic Fire, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and many more. “The Hope of Loving,” the first album dedicated to Jake’s choral music, recorded by professional American choir Conspirare, received a GRAMMY® nomination. In 2019, Jake became one of the youngest composers ever awarded the prestigious Raymond C. Brock commission by the American Choral Directors Association. “Earth Symphony,” Jake’s ground-breaking choral symphony written with librettist Todd Boss, earned a 2022 EMMY® Award for musical composition. Jake’s visceral music and charismatic personality have fostered a busy schedule of commissions, residencies, workshops, and conducting engagements, enabling him to share his passion for creativity, expressivity, and community with musicians around the world.

Dubbed a “choral rockstar” by American Public Media, Jake is one of the most frequently performed composers of concert music. His thoughtful and compelling works “that speak to some of the most pressing and moving issues of our time” (Star Tribune), have been heard in thousands of performances across the globe. Jake Runestad holds a Master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts.

PEARL SHANGKUAN, GUEST CONDUCTOR

Dr. Pearl Shangkuan is a highly sought-after conductor and clinician, known for her precision, artistry, and passion in leading choirs. She is a professor of Music at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she directs choirs and teaches choral conducting and literature. Dr. Shangkuan is also the chorus master (endowed Covenant Chair) of the Grammy-nominated Grand Rapids Symphony. Her choirs have performed at national, division, and state conferences of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and at professional music events across the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Canada.

In addition to conducting honor choirs and festivals, Dr. Shangkuan has led workshops and performances internationally, including in Austria, South Africa, and several countries in Asia. She has been a headliner at numerous ACDA state conferences and has served as guest faculty in prominent conducting programs, such as the University of Michigan Choral Conducting Symposium and the Chorus America national conference. Dr. Shangkuan has held leadership roles on the national boards of the ACDA and other music organizations, and she has received multiple accolades for her contributions to the field.

PROGRAM

SATURDAY APRIL 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
CARNEGIE HALL

National Symphonic Chorus 
Jake Runestad, Guest Conductor/Composer
RUNESTAD    Wild Forces 
RUNESTAD    Let My Love Be Heard
RUNESTAD    The Lighthouse Keeper

SPOTLIGHT PERFORMANCE BY: 
College of the Sequoias Chamber Singers
John Sorber, Conductor

National Masterwork Chorus & Orchestra 
FORREST REQUIEM FOR THE LIVING
Pearl Shangkuan, Guest Conductor