Jack Cleghorn
The Wonderful Music of St. Paul’s
Saturday, November 11, 2017
The Program
Sonata No. III, in A major, Op.65
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809- 1847)
I. Con moto maestoso
Lascia ch’io pianga
G.F. Handel (1659-1789)
Rebecca Harrison, Soprano
Let me weep over my cruel fate, and let me sigh for liberty. May sorrow shatter these chains, for my torments just out of pity.
Sonata No. I, in D minor, Op.42
Alexandre Guilmant (1837 - 1911)
I. Introduction (Largo e maestoso) et Allegro
Jesu, der du meine Seele, BWV 78
J.S. Bach
II. Duet: Wir eilen mit schwachen doch emsigen schritten
Grace Hartford, Soprano
Mary Ellen Hartford, Alto
We hasten with weak, yet eager steps, O Jesus, o Master, to You for help. You faithfully seek the ill and erring. Ah, hear, how we lift up our voices to beg for help! Let Your gracious countenance be joyful to us!
Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Bist Du Bei Mir
J.S. Bach
Rebecca Harrison, Soprano
II. If you are with me, then I will go gladly unto [my] death and to my rest. Ah, how pleasing were my end, if your dear hands then shut my faithful eyes!
Fugue in G major, “Gigue”, BWV 577
J.S. Bach
Serenade
Derek Bourgeois (1941-2017)
Music at St. Paul’s:
Past, Present, and Future
Saturday, November 12, 2017
Hailing from Fayetteville, Arkansas, Jack A. Cleghorn received a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the College of Charleston where he majored in organ performance. He was awarded his Master of Music in Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ, with concentrations in choral conducting and organ performance.
Mr. Cleghorn has continued his studies at the University of Oxford as a Conducting Fellow at the Conducting Institute at Oxford, England. He would later continue his orchestral studies with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra at the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University.
In 2009, Mr. Cleghorn made his Carnegie Hall debut under the baton of Sir Roger Norrington with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. In 2010, he returned to Carnegie Hall under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.
While in Princeton, Mr. Cleghorn served as an artistic staf member of the Princeton Girlchoir, accompanist for the American Boy Choir, Voices Chorale, and was the interim director of music at Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral; the oldest Episcopal Cathedral in the States.
From 2012-2017, Mr. Cleghorn served as the Director of Liturgical Music at Stella Maris Catholic Church, Sullivan’s Is., South Carolina. There, Mr. Cleghorn conducted and oversaw four choirs, change ringers, cantors, and a chamber music concert series. In 2013 he founded and established the Children’s Choir Beach Retreat (CCBR)-a three-day workshop with guest clinician participation, focused on the introduction of Sacred Choral Music to children ages 7-18. Now in its successful ffth year, CCBR continues to teach children the importance of their contribution as it pertains to music in worship.
In 2013, Mr. Cleghorn assumed the role of Music Director for the Charleston Symphony Youth Orchestra (CSYO). The CSYO has served as the premiere youth orchestra of the Lowcountry for nearly 45 years. The orchestra, now comprised of 72 musicians between the 8th and 12th grades, doubled during Mr. Cleghorn’s tenure. Focused on quality music education and repertoire, the CSYO performed such masterworks as Beethoven’s 5th and 7th symphonies, Dvorak’s 8th and 9th, as well as works by Bach, Copland, Elgar, Handel, Holst, Humperdinck, Mahler, Stravinsky, and more. Under the baton of Mr. Cleghorn, the CSYO appeared at the Piccolo Spoleto festival three years in a row.
Before departing Charleston in September 2017, Mr. Cleghorn served as a board member for the Piccolo Spoleto L’Organo series, the South Carolina American Choral Directors Association state chair of Repertoire and Resources for Music in Worship, and was the president of the National Federation of Music Clubs Charleston chapter. Mr. Cleghorn was also a frequent concert and collaborative artist/conductor around the Lowcountry working with ensembles such as: the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Spoleto Festival USA, Piccolo Spoleto, St. Clair’s Orchestra, the College of Charleston, and the St. Luke’s Concert Series. As well, Mr. Cleghorn is a frequent guest conductor, clinician, and accompanist for many choral and orchestral programs and festivals.
In September 2017, JAC assumed the helm of the music program at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church as Organist and Choirmaster; taking the reins from his frst organ teacher, friend and mentor, Charlie Rigsby.