The Wolf River Singers  

 The Shakers considered music to be a gift and made it a central focus of their religion. The Shakers’ ideals of faith, simplicity and love shines throughout their music - and this rich heritage of simple, beautiful music is truly a gift from the Shakers to the rest of the world.

It was this music that inspired composer Ben J. Legett’s “Visions of Heaven: A Shaker Tryptych.” His arrangement will be the first original work to be accepted in The Wolf River Singers’ Choral Commissioning project and was performed by the singers under Legett’s direction at a March 2007 concert.

Shaker furniture was designed with clean, economic lines and the skill and craftsmanship is evident in everything they made – the same is true for Shaker music and its beauty is in its simplicity. Legett captured this outward expression of simplicity and love in “Visions of Heaven: A Shaker Tryptych” and The Wolf River Singers are honored to be the first choral group to publicly perform it.

Legett has directed The Wolf River Singers since it was founded in the early 1990s and he brings more than 25 years professional experience in choral music. In addition to his work in musical theater, churches and schools, Ben is a voice teacher and a published composer and arranger. He holds degrees in music from Rhodes College and from the University of Memphis.

 The world premiere of “God of the Open Air,” by internationally renowned composer Wayland Rogers was the second installment of The Wolf River Singers Choral Commissioning Project. Rogers attended the March 8, 2008 concert to hear the piece performed for the first time.

Rogers’ compositions are performed throughout Americaand abroad in concert halls, schools, churches, and synagogues. Recent premieres have been given in Canada, Japan, China, Korea, Norway,Sweden, Finland, Germany,Ireland, Spain and France.

He is winner of several composition competitions including The Roger Wagner Center Choral Competition, the Meistersingers Choral Competition, the Chautauqua Chamber Singers Award, the Illinois ACDA Choral Composition Competition, and the Vincent B. Silliman Anthem Award.

Rogers, a singer, conductor and teacher as well as a composer, was born Dec. 26, 1941 in Kentuckyand trained at University of Kentucky, Wichita State University, Northwestern University, The Salzburg Mozarteum, and in London.

Professor Mulholland is a much-published and performed composer and arranger. His compositions have appeared as required repertoire on over forty state's high school choral lists. In addition, they are performed regularly by universities and choral associations throughout theUnited States, Canada, andEurope. Mr. Mulholland has done commissioned works for many choirs throughout the world, including the Los Angeles Children's Choir, and the International Children's Choir Festival, and also for the American Choral Directors Association. A native of Laurel,Mississippi, Mr. Mulholland completed his B.M. and M.M. degrees at Louisiana State University. He has also done doctoral work at Indiana University.

Dr. Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947) is a graduate ofBrownUniversity and the Hartt School of Music. She holds B.A., M.M. and D.M.A. Degrees in Music Composition. A former faculty member of the Oberlin College Conservatory, she resigned from academic employment in 1982 in order to pursue a career as a full-time composer. She now lives on a dairy farm in Braintree,Vermont.

Her commissioned piece, The Great Trees, is a musical settings of the poetry of Wendell Berry. The poetry and music focus on the beauty and spirituality of nature – trees, birds, still water – “one household, high and low.”