ACC Music Presents
Find Your Voice
featuring Guest Artist Maura Nava
with ACC College Choir & Chamber Singers
Saturday, October 18th, 7:00 pm
Highland Recital Hall
Building 2000
Embedded Files
Tu Voz
Shawn Kirchner w/poetry by Pablo Neruda (Chile)
Dr. Valeria Diaz, Piano
Singing unto the sun and sky with your song,
your voice threshes the grain of the day,
the pines speak with their green tongues,
all the birds of winter trill.
The sea fills its cellar with footsteps,
with bells, chains, and groans –
metal and tools jangle,
the wheels of the caravan creak.
But I hear only your voice –
it rises
with the flight and precision of an arrow,
it falls with the gravity of rain,
your voice scatters the highest swords,
and returns laden with violets –
my companion through the skies.
A la Mitad
Maura Nava arr. Steve White
There's a place underneath my feet
Not a sword, not a wall
A precipice, a void
Another border
In half,
All has been left in half
Even time has stopped
There's no beginning, no end
This line leads nowhere
The story has been divided
And my heart, in half
The ground is now a moving platform
I'm hanging, about to fall
Into a precipice, a void
A fracture, a bushel of thorns
In half,
All has been left in half
Even time has stopped
There's no beginning, no end
This line leads nowhere
The story has been divided
And my heart, in half
Muie Rendera
C.A. Pinto Fonseca (Brazil)
Hey, lacemaker woman,
if you teach me show to weave,
I'll teach you how to court.
Virgulino is Lampeão.
He is Lampa, Lampa, Lampa,
His nicklame is Lampeão.
ACC College Choir
Eso Rigo a Repente
Gaspar Fernández (Guatemala/Mexico)
This sudden hardship. I promise this small child [Jesus]
that even though he is born a bit white we are all his relatives.
We are not afraid of the white man. Come on cousin, put on your shoes, get dressed!
Play your little drum! Sing, cousin! Dance the sarabande; make noise!
Oh Jesus, how I want to laugh! Oh, how much laughter, Saint Thomas!
Come, Guineans, to the manger alone! Don t let the ugly Angolans come.
We want the child to see us polished and gallant, as we are brothers.
Play, townsfolk; we will joyfully dance a folia.
We bring gifts for the little One: a red-jeweled collar, a mantilla, and candy.
For the parish priests, we bring gloves, shirts, strawberries, and tobacco.
Play quickly but nicely on your guitar! Play, cousin!
Dance the sarabande; make noise! Oh Jesus, how I want to laugh!
Oh, how much laughter, Saint Thomas!
Sancta Maria
Hernando Franco (Guatemala/Mexico)
(Sung in Nahuatl)
Lady Queen of heaven above,
blessed Mother,
advocate of men below,
hear us and pray for us.
Cáliz
Maura Nava arr. Steven Sodders
I bear the moon in my blood
In my blood I bear the sun
I want to be drenched in soil
I return to the Earth
For too long
I contained the fire inside me
Let it burn,
And if it kills me, may you remember me.
Ah, Ah, Ah!
Come, disarm me
Take my breath away
A little more, more!
May our souls be fused in flames of freedom.
You are my chalice of life
Forbidden fruit
May heaven open its gates for us!
Ronda Catonga
Folksong arr. Pablo T. Roballo (Uruguay)
The children in all corners dance the Ronda Catonga.
With their hands they make the circle of the big ring.
Makumba, makumbebé,
The little Africans also make the ring with the night in their hands.
We have to throw an arrow and dance the candombe
So that the little devil “mandinga’’ will run away.
I sing the “tiringu tingo” when I see a beautiful girl passing by.
The stars make a ring when they play with the sun,
And in the candombe of the sky, the moon is the biggest drum.
Dance to the circle.
Madre Vida
Maura Nava arr. Steven Sodders
I had to die in order to live
No choice
This pain is yet to be healed
And there’s no choice
As the tree sheds its leaves
I shed my broken wings
I belong to the wind
Everything must first break
To be healed and mended
Mother Life, she tells me
“open your heart, my child”
Mother Death
she hugs me so I’ll be brave
and I say “yes”
Sacred water
caressing my face
Adorning my tears with its love
As the tree sheds its leaves
I shed my broken wings
I belong to the wind
Everything must first break
To be healed and mended
Mother Life, she tells me
“open your heart, my child”
Mother Death
she hugs me so I’ll be brave
and I say “yes, I accept”.
ACC College Choir & Chamber Singers
ACC College Choir Personnel
ACC College Choir Personnel
Zoe Banks
Steven Behnke
Dani Beltran Umbarger
Tammy Bradshaw
Cagney Branam
London Bridges
Trajanae Brown
Xander Cartwright
Seth Chavez
Erika Chirino
Savanna Clapp
Saturn Foreman
Kristen Garth
Kathleen Hilland
Eren Hillman
Jackie House-Caceres
Tucker Hymel Pratt
Steve Jacobs
Rebecca Johnson
Tanush Kori
Lilly Kraemer
Isabella Lai
Kelsi Moore
Jodei Pasasadaba
Daniela Peraza Rojas
Janelle Ponti
Tammy Porter
Lauren Renaud
Izaiah Rodriguez
Stephanie Rogers
Roslyn Roman
Jlynna Romero
Luis Servin
Ryan Sheely
Andrea Siles
Lauren Spittler
Kalina Vangelov
Richard Yu
ACC Chamber Singers Personnel
ACC Chamber Singers Personnel
Adele Boerner
Thomas Brooks
Elise Chien
Kristina Davis
Ian Firkser
Sophia Garza
Sheryl Gilchrist
Ajani Graham
Harlow Hurley
Kat Larkin
Nick Longway
Madelyn Loyd
Leyla Morris
Ana Palacios
David Savoy
Charles Schuette
Diana Vega
Jose Velasquez
Guest Musicians & Collaborators
Dr. Chad Ibison, Guitar
Dr. Jordan Walsh, Percussion
Dr. Jae Eun Baek, Rehearsal Accompanist for College Choir
Dr. Valeria Diaz, Rehearsal Accompanist for Chamber Singers
About: Maura Nava
About: Maura Nava
MAURA NAVA is a Mexican folk-pop singer and songwriter whose voice is often described as “angelic” and her life story as “soul-touching.”
Before landing a record deal with Universal Music Latin, Maura earned her Bachelor’s in Music at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, and worked as a middle school choir director in Southwest ISD.
Her love for choral music, combined with her ability to blend classical technique with pop singing, caught the attention of legendary maestro and producer Julio Reyes Copello. After discovering her online through the viral “Opera Cat” video, Julio recruited Maura to study in Miami at ArtHouse Academy, where she transformed from a vocalist into a true artist.
However, Maura’s unique voice is not her only weapon. Just three years ago, she was shaped by a near-death experience as a survivor of cardiac failure. In her own words: “Only after crawling through the trenches of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing did I feel ready to share my voice with the world.”
Less than a year into her career, Maura’s debut single “A La Mitad,” featured on the Amazon Prime show Zorro, earned two Latin Grammy nominations: Song of the Year and Best Pop Song of the Year. Since then, Maura has completed eight tours in Spain, opened for iconic Mexican singer Carlos Rivera’s tour, and sung as part of the Ibagué Music Festival in Colombia.
Her songs “Cáliz” and “Madre Vida” honor her Mexican roots while showcasing her spiritual sensitivity. Nava describes her mission as “bringing down a small piece of heaven to earth for everyone who listens.”
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