- Stageview · 2016-08-30 · D onald Portnoy is universally recognized as one of America’s dynamic and inspiring symphony orchestra conductors. He brings to music a unique awareness

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This program is published in association with OnStage Publications, 1612 Prosser Avenue, Dayton, Ohio 45409. This program may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. OnStage Publications is a division of Just Business, Inc. Contents ©2016. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

About the Maestro 4

History of the Brevard Philharmonic 6

Letter from the President 7

SEPTEMBER 11, 2016 9 RUSSIAN MASTERS

NOVEMBER 13, 2016 15 DVORÁK CELLO CONCERTO

FEBRUARY 26, 2017 25 BRAHMS AND RACHMANINOFF

MARCH 12, 2017 31 POPS BLOCKBUSTER

APRIL 30, 2017 41 NEW WORLD

Brevard Philharmonic Personnel 47

2016 Contributors 48

Sponsorships 50

Board of Directors 55

C Notes 56

mission statementThe mission of the Brevard Chamber Orchestra Association, Inc. is to foster the development in the community of an appreciation for the performing arts by promoting and producing classical music entertainment and instruction for the benefit of the public, in the public school system and elsewhere, and to organize, supervise, manage and carry on an orchestra.

To achieve this mission, we sponsor Brevard Philharmonic, the premier provider of orchestral music in Transylvania County from September through May, and a cultural enrichment program for elementary students.

Donald Portnoy is universally recognized as one of America’s dynamic and inspiring symphony orchestra conductors. He brings to music a unique awareness and appreciation for the audience and a refreshing sensitivity toward the musicians

with whom he works. As a guest conductor he has earned fame with the major orchestras of Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Buffalo, and with other major regional orchestras throughout the United States, Argentina, Brazil, China, England, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea, Italy, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland.

Maestro Portnoy has served as music director and conductor of the Pittsburgh Opera Theater and the Pittsburgh Civic Symphony. In March 2004 he received Columbia University’s 2004 Ditson Conductor’s Award for his commitment to the performance of works by American composers, and in June 2004 he was awarded the Greater Augusta Arts Council “Artist of the Year” award.

Dr. Portnoy holds the Ira McKissick Koger Endowed Chair for the Fine Arts at the University of South Carolina, where he is director of orchestral studies and conductor of the USC Symphony and Chamber Orchestra. He is the founder and director of the renowned Conductors Institute at USC, which has drawn participants from all parts of the United States and abroad for the past thirty years. The program has been so successful that an additional Institute has been held in New York for the past five years. In 2015 Maestro Portnoy was awarded the Elizabeth O’Neil Verner Award, considered the highest award in the arts in South Carolina. This coming season Maestro Portnoy will be holding master classes in conducting in South Korea and Bulgaria.

about the maestromaestro donald portnoy

letter from the maestro

Dear Friends,

The Brevard Philharmonic will once again stir your musical senses by producing great live performances that combine celebrated guest artists with compelling music created by the most dynamic composers. During the coming season we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary. This is a fantastic achievement. We would like to thank you, our devoted patrons, for your continued support.

Now, I extend to you a personal invitation to experience the Brevard Philharmonic. You will enjoy the beloved masterworks and world-class soloists that we take so much pleasure in bringing to you, our devoted audience.

Donald PortnoyArtistic Director/Conductor




The predecessor of what is now Brevard Philharmonic was founded in 1976 by Jackson Parkhurst. In

creating the Brevard Chamber Orchestra, Parkhurst gave outstanding local musicians the opportunity to make music together, at the same time further enhancing the reputation of Brevard as a place known for its music-making. Forty years later, Brevard Philharmonic has become a vital part of Transylvania County’s musical identity.

When Parkhurst left Brevard to join the North Carolina Symphony in 1980, Virginia Tillotson, chair of the music department at Brevard College, took over the leadership of the orchestra. During her twenty-one-year tenure as conductor, what began as a chamber ensemble playing in various community venues several times a year became a full orchestra presenting an annual series of concerts at Brevard College to a loyal community following.

Upon Ms. Tillotson’s retirement in 2001, Vance Reese, Tillotson’s associate conductor, was named Brevard Chamber Orchestra’s principal conductor. In 2003 management of the orchestra was taken over by Brevard College and BCO became its orchestra-in- residence. Due to a change in administration at the college and a new set of priorities, the orchestra was disbanded the following year. However, the Brevard Chamber Orchestra association refused to give up, believing

that Brevard’s music-loving public valued its community orchestra and that there was a brighter future ahead. This proved to be true in 2005 when the Board of Directors and Dr. Emerson Head joined resources to revive the orchestra, changing its name to Brevard Philharmonic.

Dr. Head put down his baton in 2007, and since then Maestro Donald Portnoy has been the artistic director and conductor of Brevard Philharmonic. In the last nine years the orchestra has flourished and grown, as noted by a Classical Voice of North Carolina reviewer, “having Maestro Donald Portnoy shape this orchestra has yielded great results…confident features of a very good orchestra of which the community should be justifiably proud.”

Once again, the upcoming Brevard Philharmonic season boasts a roster of world-renowned guest artists performing great works from classical giants, as well as great works from some of the finest composers and songwriters. Brevard Philharmonic has the distinction of performing their six- concert season in Scott Concert Hall of the Porter Center for the Performing Arts at Brevard College, which has earned a reputation as one of the finest performance halls in the South.

history of the brevard philharmonic


Brevard Philharmonic—Uniquely Yours!

What were you doing in 1976?

I was blooming like a wildflower at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, formulating an opinion about the newly elected President Jimmy Carter, watching Fonzie and his pals on Happy Days, and disco dancing to the Bee Gees. At that very same time, Jackson Parkhurst was creating what would become of one of Brevard’s finest treasures—the Brevard Philharmonic. What began as the Brevard Chamber Orchestra has evolved into a 55-piece orchestra consisting of both accomplished local and professional musicians, as well as internationally renowned guest artists. Under the inspired hands of Maestro Donald Portnoy, our Conductor and Artistic Director and himself world renowned, Brevard Philharmonic has brought the spirit of the arts through music to our community and we are most grateful. This season, we celebrate FORTY YEARS of providing music and education for Brevard, Transylvania County, and the surrounding areas.

Maestro Portnoy works with our talented musicians on two shared goals: to perform music at the highest level and to reach YOU—the audience—on an emotional and personal level. Maestro Portnoy, the musicians, and the Board of Directors go one step further as we take this measure of commitment, this degree of artistic joy, to our schools. Each elementary grade level has its own planned experience that culminates in a complete and full orchestra concert performed for the Transylvania County 5th graders in the Porter Center. Though music education is found in many elementary schools, the Music In the Schools program as designed and presented by our members and supporters of the Brevard Philharmonic is truly unique.

Great music in a unique setting does not just “happen.” Before Maestro Portnoy steps on stage, your musicians have practiced and rehearsed. Your Board of Directors has done its due diligence by securing the business of the arts and more. Your Brevard Philharmonic volunteers—both seen and unseen—assist with all manner of details, and always with a smile. I take this moment to thank these volunteers and professionals for ensuring that your experience with Brevard Philharmonic is both exciting and rewarding. Many of you in this audience have contributed to our financial needs. On behalf of the musicians, the Board of Directors, the students of this community, and the patron seated next to you, I thank you.

As you settle in to enjoy your time with us, look around…and know that for 40 years, patrons have been doing just as you are right now–anticipating another glorious and rewarding presentation by YOUR orchestra. How fortunate we are that this town hosts and supports the quality of art found in the Brevard Philharmonic. It is, indeed, uniquely yours!

Carole Futrelle, PresidentBrevard Philharmonic

letter from the president


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PYOTR IL’YICH TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36 Andante sostenuto—Moderato con anima (in movimento di Valse) Andantino in modo di canzone Scherzo (Pizzicato ostinato): Allegro Finale: Allegro con fuoco

I N T E R M I S S I O N

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18 Moderato Adagio sostenuto Allegro scherzando

Marina Lomazov, piano

Donald Portnoy, conductorMarina Lomazov, piano

RUSSIAN MASTERS

Please silence and refrain from using cellular phones during this performance. The use of cameras, audio or video recorders at any Brevard Philharmonic event without authorization from Philharmonic management is strictly prohibited.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2016, AT 3:00 PM

PORTER CENTER, BREVARD COLLEGE

TODAY ’S CONCERT IS SPONSORED BY THE A.S. FENDLER FAMILY FOUNDATION.

DONALD PORTNOY, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/ CONDUCTOR


about the artist

Praised by critics as “a diva of the piano” (Salt Lake City Tribune), “a mesmerizing risk-taker” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), and

“simply spectacular” (Chicago International Music Foundation), Ukrainian-American pianist Marina Lomazov has established herself as one of the most passionate and charismatic performers on the concert scene today. After receiving prizes in the Cleveland International Piano Competition, William Kapell International Piano Competition, Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Ms. Lomazov has given performances throughout North America, South America, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Japan, and in nearly all of the fifty states in the U.S.

Marina Lomazov has given major debuts in New York (Weill-Carnegie Hall), Boston (Symphony Hall), Chicago (Dame Myra Hess Concert Series), Los Angeles (Museum of Art), Shanghai (Oriental Art Center), and Kiev (Kiev International Music Festival). She has performed as soloist with the Boston Pops, Rochester Philharmonic, Eastman Philharmonia, Chernigov Philharmonic (Ukraine), KUG Orchester Graz (Austria), Bollington Festival Orchestra (England), Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Spokane Symphony, Brevard Festival Orchestra, South Carolina Philharmonic, Ohio and Missouri Chamber Orchestras, and numerous others. New York Times chief music critic Anthony Tommasini describes a recent New York performance as “dazz l ing” and Talk Magazine Shanghai describes her performances as “a dramatic blend of boldness and wit.”

In recent seasons Ms. Lomazov has performed extensively in China, including concerts in Shenyang, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Qingdao, and Yingkou. She is a frequent guest at music festivals in the U.S. and abroad, including Perugia Music Fest (Italy), Hamamatsu (Japan), Chautauqua, Brevard, Eastman, Burgos (Spain), Sulzbach-Rosenberg (Germany), and Varna (Bulgaria), among others. She has recorded for the Albany, Centaur, and Innova labels, and the American Record Guide praised her recent recording of

MARINA LOMAZOV

piano works by Rodion Shchedrin for its “breathtaking virtuosity.” She has been featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, the Bravo cable channel, and WNYC’s Young Artist Showcase, and her recordings have been broadcast more than 100 times by WNYC and WQXR in New York, WFMT in Chicago, and WBGH in Boston.

Before immigrating to the United States in 1990, Ms. Lomazov studied at the Kiev Conservatory where she became the youngest first-prize winner at the all-Kiev Piano Competition. She holds degrees from the Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music, the latter bestowing upon her the highly coveted Artist’s Certificate—an honor the institution had not given a pianist for nearly two decades. Her principal teachers include Natalya Antonova, Jerome Lowenthal, and Barry Snyder.

Also active as a chamber musician, Lomazov has performed widely as a member of the Lomazov/Rackers Piano Duo. The Duo garnered significant attention as second-prize winners at the Sixth Biennial Ellis Competition for Duo Pianists (2005), the only national duo piano competition in the United States at that time. As advocates

© Keith Trammel


about the artist

of modern repertoire for duo piano, they have given premieres of numerous works across the United States, including several works written specifically for them.

Ms. Lomazov is Ira McKissick Koger Professor of Piano at the University of South Carolina where she is founder and artistic director of the Southeastern Piano Festival. She has served as a jury member for the Cleveland International

Piano Competition (Young Artists), Hilton Head International Piano Competition, Eastman International Piano Competition, Minnesota International Piano e-Competition, and National Federation Biennial Young Artist Auditions, and is a national panelist for the National YoungArts Foundation, the only organization in the U.S. that nominates Presidential Scholars in the Arts. Marina Lomazov is a Steinway Artist.


Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36PYOTR IL’YICH TCHAIKOVSKYBorn in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Vyatka province, May 7, 1840; died in St. Petersburg, November 9, 1893

Tchaikovsky wrote most of his Fourth Symphony in 1877, a time of personal crisis. That spring Antonina Milyukova had begun sending him passionate letters, and, having met her in May, the composer decided to marry her in July. He hoped not only to quell gossip about his sexual orientation, but he also did not want to mirror Eugene Onegin’s heartless spurning of Tatyana in Pushkin’s play, which he was considering as a possible opera subject. Tchaikovsky instantly regretted the marriage, and by October was in a complete state of mental collapse, whereupon his brother Anatoly arranged for a permanent separation.

The Symphony had been completely sketched by June 8, but the scoring was interrupted by the Antonina upheaval and by work on Eugene Onegin. Tchaikovsky’s manuscript, left behind in Moscow when he had fled, was sent to him in Switzerland, where in mid-December he was able to resume work. He completed the finishing touches on January 7, 1878.

By happy fate Madame Nadezhda von Meck entered his life the very same year. She became his patroness and confidante, although they

never met. Tchaikovsky dedicated his Fourth Symphony “To my best Friend,” but she was the only person in the audience at the first performance in Moscow on February 22, 1878, who knew that friend’s identity.

“This work is patterned after Beethoven’s Fifth,” the composer had written to Mme. von Meck, “not as to musical content, but as to the basic idea. Don’t you see a program in the ‘Fifth’?” As in that great work “inexorable Fate” is the main idea behind Tchaikovsky’s Fourth. The first movement, one of Tchaikovsky’s most formally innovative, begins with a commanding horn call, a familiar mannerism with Tchaikovsky, which he told his patroness was “the kernel, the quintessence, the chief thought of the whole symphony. It is Fate, the fatal power which prevents one from attaining the goal of happiness. . . There is nothing to be done but to submit to it and lament in vain.” And indeed, Tchaikovsky never lets us forget this theme, recalling it at the end of the lengthy exposition, at the end of the development, and again in the last movement. The first movement is remarkable for its meter—9/8, highly unusual for a symphonic movement at that time—and for the remote key area of the second theme and the extreme harmonic turbulence of the development section.

The ternary-form slow movement, Tchaikovsky said, “expresses another phase of suffering”—a feeling of melancholy at the bitter yet sweet recollections of youth. Yet this gentle movement with its lovely solos for oboe and bassoon and singing string passages does offer respite from the weight of the first movement.

Tchaikovsky wrote of the justly famous Scherzo:

First the strings play by themselves entirely pizzicato; in the trio the woodwinds enter and also play by themselves; they are replaced by the brass section, again playing alone; at the end of the Scherzo all three groups answer one another in short phrases. I think this sound effect will be interesting.

“Interesting” was quite an understatement. The movement created a sensation at its first performance, and delights audiences to this day. He further divulged that, “The third

program notes


movement expresses no definite feelings, rather it is a succession of capricious arabesques, those intangible images that pass through the mind when one has drunk wine and feels the first touch of intoxication.”

Tchaikovsky based his Finale on the Russian folk “In the Fields There Stood a Birch,” although in the rhythmically altered form in which it appears in Balakirev’s Overture on Three Russian Themes. He sketched the movement only four days after he proposed to Antonina, which makes the choice of this song significant: the birch tree was the center of a gathering of unmarried women who wove wedding wreaths from its leafy twigs. After performing a round dance they would throw their wreaths into a stream; those whose wreaths floated would marry. To Mme. von Meck he described the movement: “If you truly find no joy within yourself, look for it in others. Go to the people. See—they know how to . . . give themselves up to pleasure! A peasant festival is depicted. No sooner do you forget yourself in this spectacle of others’ joy, than relentless Fate reminds you of its presence.” The shattering of the merriment by the Fate theme is impossible to miss.

—©Jane Vial Jaffe

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18SERGEI RACHMANINOFFBorn in Semyonovo, April 1, 1873; died in Beverly Hills, March 28, 1943

What more spectacular result of a psychiatrist’s cure can be imagined than Rachmaninoff ’s Second Piano Concerto! Fol lowing the disastrous failure of his First Symphony in 1897, Rachmaninoff sank into depression. He began to doubt his ability to compose and the worth of making music in any way. In the grip, not of mere malaise, but of a deep clinical depression, Rachmaninoff thought his First Piano Concerto not good enough to play with the London Philharmonic Orchestra who had engaged him, yet he was totally incapable of beginning work on a new piano concerto. An influential friend arranged for him to visit Tolstoy, but far from helping, that visit brought Rachmaninoff the realization that his “god” was “a very disagreeable man.” Finally the Satins,

Rachmaninoff ’s relations, convinced him to see Dr. Nicolai Dahl, who had been specializing for some years in a method that involved his patients learning a kind of self-hypnosis (which in the early 1930s became known as the Coué method).

Dahl had asked what kind of composition [my relations] desired and had received the answer, “a piano concerto,” for this is what I had promised the people in London, and had given it up in despair. Consequently, I heard the same hypnotic formula repeated day after day, while I lay half asleep in an armchair in Dahl’s study. “You will begin to write your concerto. . . . You will work with great facility. . . . The concerto will be of excellent quality. . . .” It was always the same, without interruption.

Although it may sound incredible, this cure really helped me. Already at the beginning of the summer I began to compose. The material grew in bulk, and new musical ideas began to stir in me—far more than I needed for my concerto. By the autumn I had finished two movements of the concerto: the Andante [his generic term for any slow movement, in this case the Adagio sostenuto] and the finale— and a sketch of a suite for two pianos.

Rachmaninoff saw Dr. Dahl daily from January to April 1900. Whether Dr. Dahl’s method

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worked, or whether the fact that Dahl was also an amateur musician illuminated their conversations, or whether Rachmaninoff ’s trip to Italy that summer provided resolve, the composer completed the second and third movements of the Concerto by autumn, and was persuaded to premiere them on December 2, 1900. Encouraged by their success, he added the first movement, performing the entire Concerto at a Moscow Philharmonic Society Concert on October 27, 1901. He dedicated the Concerto to Dr. Dahl, to whom he remained eternally grateful. Dr. Dahl was at least once acknowledged publicly for his contribution when in 1928 he was known to be playing viola in the orchestra of the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, and was “forced” by the audience to take a bow after the performance of the Concerto.

The Concerto is a captivatingly beautiful piece, fully deserving the remarkable popularity it has achieved. Each movement opens with a passage that starts out in a key removed from the main tonality, attaining it in each case with the movement’s principal theme. In the case of the first movement, it is the piano that begins with dark chords characteristic of Rachmaninoff, linked by several commentators to the age-old Russian love of the sound of enormous bells. In a favored technique of Romantic composers, the entry of the recapitulation is embellished, here by the piano’s brilliant counterfigure.

The slow movement’s introductory passage modulates from C minor, the key of the first movement’s close, to the distant new key of E major for the main theme. The more rapid middle section of the movement might be seen as a foreshadowing of the Third Piano Concerto, in which the slow movement contains a scherzo-like contrasting middle section. The exquisitely glowing close of the movement especially touched Rachmaninoff ’s teacher Taneyev, who upon hearing it in rehearsal uttered the word “genius”—a word he did not use lightly.

The finale’s introduction begins in the slow movement’s key (E major), moving eventually to the home key (C minor). The composer hints at first movement materials both in the orchestral introduction and in the piano’s entry—interesting in light of the order of composition of these movements. Several times in this movement the soloist erupts in cadential flourishes—evidence perhaps of the fact that Rachmaninoff ’s confidence had returned. Rachmaninoff ’s lyrical gift has caused his melodies to be appropriated by many songwriters. A case in point is the almost too familiar but still alluring second theme, first played by the oboe and viola. Like the first movement, the finale contains a concealed recapitulation. The movement ends in a blaze of pianistic glory and orchestral resolve.


program notes


WOLFGANG AMADÈUS MOZART Symphony No. 35 in D major, K. 385, “Haffner” Allegro con spirito [Andante] Menuetto Presto

AARON COPLAND El Salón México


ANTONÍN DVORÁK Cello Concerto in B minor, B. 191, op. 104 Allegro Adagio ma non troppo Finale: Allegro moderato

Amit Peled, cello

Donald Portnoy, conductorAmit Peled, cello

DVORÁK CELLO CONCERTO


NOVEMBER 13, 2016, AT 3:00 PM


IN LOVING MEMORY OF DORIS DAVIDOWSKI HULSE, TODAY ’S CONCERT IS SPONSORED BY HER CHILDREN, JANE AND STEVE,

AND FRIENDS, MONICA AND BRUCE WILLIAMS, DOROTHY SEMANS, KAREN ROSENBAUM, LORI SHOOK, AND DIANE AND GARY DANIEL.

TODAY ’S GUEST ARTIST IS SPONSORED BY JINKS RAMSEY AND KARLA ATKINSON IN MEMORY OF A VERY SPECIAL FRIEND MARY S. SAUERTEIG.



about the artist

From the United States to Europe to the Middle East and Asia, Israeli American cellist Amit Peled, voted by Musical America as

one of the most influential music professionals of 2015, is acclaimed as one of the most exciting instrumentalists on the concert stage today. At 6´ 5˝ tall, he started life as a basketball player and was called “larger than life,” when he enveloped his cello, and “Jacqueline du Pré in a farmer’s body.” Mr. Peled often surprises audiences with the ways he breaks down barriers between performers and the public, making classical music more accessible to wider audiences. Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun reflected on a recent performance: “Peled did a lot of joking in remarks to the audience. His amiable and inviting personality is exactly the type everyone says we’ll need more of if classical music is to survive.”

During the 2015–16 season, Mr. Peled continued to share with audiences around the world the sound of the historic cello of Pablo Casals. Mrs. Marta Casals Istomin, the widow of Maestro Casals, personally handed him the instrument, a Goffriler c. 1733. Some of the highlights with this historic cello included the culmination of a twenty-city U.S. recital tour with a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., a recording of the Schumann Cello Concerto with the Washington Chamber Orchestra, an extensive tour with his two chamber music groups, the Tempest Trio and the Goldstein-Peled-Fiterstein Trio, and return engagements with the Tucson and Phoenix Symphonies. As a continuing advocate for new music, Mr. Peled premiered a work written especially for him by composer, Lera Auerbach, entitled La suite dels ocells. He also collaborated with the Kennedy Center on a new music recital series created by composer Mason Bates, titled KC Jukebox.

Mr. Peled has performed as a soloist with many orchestras and in the world’s major concert halls such as New York’s Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls, Paris’s Salle Gaveau, London’s Wigmore Hall, Ber l in’s Konzerthaus, and Tel Aviv’s Mann Auditorium. Following his enthusiastically received Alice Tully Hall concerto debut playing the Hindemith Cello Concerto, the New York Times stated: “Glowing tone, a seductive timbre and an emotionally pointed approach to phrasing that made you want to hear him again.”

As a recording artist, Mr. Peled recently released his fourth Centaur Records CD, Collage, which was

AMIT PELED

closely followed by his recording of the Schumann Cello Concerto with the Washington Chamber Orchestra. These recordings follow three immensely successful installments, The Jewish Soul, Cellobration, and Reflections. As an active chamber musician, Mr. Peled is a founding member of the famed Tempest Trio with pianist Alon Goldstein and violinist Ilya Kaler. Their Dvorák CD on the Naxos label has been described as “The best ‘Dumky’ on disc ever!” Amit Peled has been featured on television and radio stations throughout the world, including NPR’s Performance Today, WGBH Boston, WQXR New York, WFMT Chicago, Deutschland Radio Berlin, Radio France, Swedish National Radio and Television, and Israeli National Radio and Television.

Mr. Peled is also a frequent guest artist, performing and giving master classes at prestigious summer music festivals such as the Marlboro Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute, Schleswig Holstein and Euro Arts Festivals in Germany, Gotland Festival in Sweden, Prussia Cove Festival in England, the Violoncello Forum in Spain, and the Mizra International Academy and Festival in Israel.

One of the most sought-after cello pedagogues, Mr. Peled is a professor at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University.


Symphony No. 35 in D Major, K. 385, “Haffner”WOLFGANG AMADÈUS MOZARTBorn in Salzburg, January 27, 1756; died in Vienna, December 5, 1791

Owing to the detailed correspondence with his father, we know more about the circumstances surrounding Mozart’s Haffner Symphony than any of his other symphonies. Writing from Salzburg in mid-July 1782, Leopold requested a symphony (serenade) from his son for the ennoblement festivities of Sigmund Haffner, Jr., a childhood friend of Mozart’s. (Six years earlier Mozart had composed the eight-movement Haffner Serenade for the wedding of Sigmund’s sister Elisabeth.) Mozart’s life in Vienna was particularly frantic at this time—conducting his new opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, making saleable arrangements from the opera before anyone else could, completing other commissions, and preparing to move in anticipation of his upcoming marriage.

With all these pressures in addition to Mozart’s tendency to procrastinate, the requested symphony—actually a five-movement serenade plus an introductory march—took Mozart longer to complete than usual. He sent it in several installments to his father, the last of which, sent on August 7, was the additional March (probably K. 385A [K.408, no. 2]). The ennoblement had taken place on July 29 and though the date of the festivities is unknown, it is entirely possible the Symphony did not arrive in time. Whether he heard the work or simply studied the score, Leopold’s approval is reflected in his son’s August 24 acknowledgment: “I am delighted that the Symphony is to your taste.”

In December and January Mozart wrote to his father several times requesting the return of the Symphony-Serenade so he could perform it on his concert on Sunday, March 23, 1783. Upon receipt of the work in February, he wrote back, “My new Haffner symphony has positively amazed me, for I had forgotten every single note of it. It must surely produce a good effect.”

In order to adapt the piece for the concert hall, Mozart had to do relatively little, suggesting that he anticipated its later use as a symphony. The ease of the adaptation also reflects the blurring of distinction between the genres of serenade

and symphony. He pared the work down to the typical four movements by leaving out the March and one of the two minuets that had framed the Andante. (The jettisoned minuet is presumed lost.) He also added pairs of flutes and clarinets to the first and last movements and deleted the repeats in the first movement.

The grand unison opening theme with its imposing octave leaps reflects the pomp of the occasion for which the work had originally been written. This theme dominates the first movement in overt recurrences and in imaginative yet recognizable derivatives. In the August 7 letter to his father, Mozart directed that this movement “must be played with great fire.”

In addition to retaining its initial scoring without flutes and clarinets, the graceful Andante shows its serenade origins in its charming ornamentation and the binary proportions of the sonata form. The Minuet provides a prime example of the typical contrasted pair of dances in Classic instrumental music: an active opening section followed by a pastoral trio. The contrast is emphasized in this case by the bold arpeggios of the minuet theme and the lilting stepwise motion of the trio’s theme.

Several commentators have pointed out the similarity of the main theme of the finale to Osmin’s buffo aria of malicious triumph “Ha! wie will ich triumphieren” from The Abduction from the Seraglio, which Mozart had just completed.

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Some even suggest that Mozart was sending a sort of personal message to people in his native Salzburg, which he had been happy to leave. According to the August 7 letter, Mozart wanted this movement of wit and comic touches to be played “as fast as possible.” Mozart’s March 23 concert opened with the first three movements of the Haffner Symphony and closed with the last movement. In between he performed other recent works of his, including several vocal pieces, two piano concertos, another short symphony, and a number of solo piano pieces! Mozart’s report that the concert was an outstanding success with the Emperor and the larger-than-usual audience, was echoed by the Magazin der Musik, Hamburg: “Our Monarch, who, against his habit, attended the whole of the concert, as well as the entire audience, accorded him [Mozart] such animated applause as has never been heard of here.”


El Salón MéxicoAARON COPLANDBorn in Brooklyn, New York, November 14, 1900; died in North Tarrytown, New York, December 2, 1990

El Salón México brought worldwide recognition and popularity to Aaron Copland. Inspired by his visit to Mexico in 1932, Aaron Copland composed a “souvenir” based on Mexican themes, remembering in particular a popular dance hall: El Salón México. The work was completed in Bemidji, Minnesota, and first appeared in 1935 in a two-piano version; the orchestral version, completed in 1936, was first performed in Mexico City on August 27, 1937, with the Orquesta Sinfónica conducted by Carlos Chávez. Chávez had been Copland’s “tour guide” when he first visited Mexico and had discussed with Copland the origins of Mexico’s musical culture. Copland later wrote about the composition of the piece:

“If you have ever been in Mexico you probably know why a composer should want to write a piece of music about it. Nevertheless, I must admit that it came as something of a surprise when I left Mexico in 1932, after a first visit, to find myself with exactly that idea firmly implanted in my mind. . . . Or perhaps it wasn’t just Mexico—perhaps my piece might never have been written if it hadn’t been for the existence of the Salón México.

“I remember reading about it for the very first time in Anita Brenner’s guide book . . . : ‘Harlem type nightclub for the peepul [sic], grand Cuban orchestra, Salón México. Three halls: one for people dressed in your way, one for people dressed in overalls but shod, and one for the barefoot.’ Miss Brenner forgot to mention the sign on the wall which said: ‘Please don’t throw lighted cigarette butts on the floor so the ladies don’t burn their feet.’ . . .

“Of course Mexico has other, and deeper, aspects than the Salón México. . . . But I must instinctively have felt that to write a piece about those more profound manifestations of a strange land, a composer would have to be something more than a mere tourist. That is why my thoughts turned to the Salón México. It wasn’t the music that I heard there, or the dances that attracted me, so much as the spirit of the place. . . .

“To have an idea for a piece of music is not the same as to have the piece itself. . . . Sooner or later you must begin to collect musical themes or tunes out of which a composition will eventually emerge. It was only natural that I should have thought of using popular Mexican melodies for my thematic material. . . .

“My purpose was not to quote them literally, but to heighten without in any way falsifying their natural simplicity. Most of my tunes were taken from an unpretentious little collection

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program notes[Cancionero Méxicano] . . . by Frances Toor. . . . Others I added later from the erudite book of Ruben M. Campos, El Folk-lore y la Música Méxicana. To both authors I owe thanks. Probably the most direct quotation of a complete melody is that of ‘El Mosco’ (No. 84 in the book by Campos) which is presented twice, immediately after the introductory measures (in which may be found fragments of El Palo Verde and of La Jesusita). The use of folk material in a symphonic composition always brings with it a formal problem. Composers have found that there is little that can be done with a folk tune except repeat it. Inevitably there is the danger of producing a mere string of unrelated ‘melodic gems.’ In the end I adopted a form which is a kind of modified potpourri, in which Mexican themes and their extension are sometimes inextricably mixed for the sake of conciseness and coherence.”

Copland’s “potpourri” falls into four sections—slow, fast, slow, fast—played without pause. Commentators have variously described the form as binary or ternary with a slow introduction, but his clever patchwork design better reflects his experience of the popular nightclub and its alternation of tunes and moods than a traditional form could. Most remarkable is Copland’s ability to make the Mexican materials his own by subtle, ingenious alterations of pitch and rhythm. Finally, his imaginative orchestral palette must be mentioned, for the varied percussion instruments, including Chinese temple blocks, wood blocks, guiro (notched gourd), xylophone, and piano greatly enhance the work’s exotic flavor.

—introductory and closing remarks by Jane Vial Jaffe

Cello Concerto in B minor, B. 191, op. 104ANTONÍN DVORÁKBorn in Nelahozeves, near Kralupy, September 8, 1841; died in Prague, May 1, 1904

In a letter to his friend Alois Göbl in 1894, Dvorák wrote that no one was more surprised than he that he had decided to compose a cello concerto. He loved the instrument in chamber and orchestral ensembles, but had his doubts about the instrument’s solo capabilities. He had been urged to write a concerto before by his friend Hanuš Wihan, cello professor at

the Prague Conservatory and member of the Bohemian String Quartet, but the impetus he needed came from hearing a performance of Victor Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in Brooklyn in the spring of 1894. Dvorák wrote his Concerto between November 8, 1894, and February 9, 1895—the last work he composed in the United States during his three years as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. When Brahms saw the score he exclaimed, “Why on earth didn’t I know it was possible to write a cello concerto like this? If I had only known, I would have written one long ago!” The work is regarded by many as the best cello concerto ever written.

While working on the Concerto in December 1894, Dvorák received a distressing letter from his terminally ill sister-in-law Josefina Kaunitzová, with whom he had been in love thirty years previously. In her honor he used the melody of his song “Leave me alone,” op. 82, no. 1, which he knew to be a favorite of hers, in the slow movement. A month after he returned to his beloved Czechoslovakia, she died, causing him to rewrite the ending of the Concerto to include another version of the song as a memorial to her.

Dvorák dedicated the work to Wihan and, accompanying him on the piano, tried it out in August 1895. The cellist made numerous suggestions, some of which Dvorák incorporated, but he made clear to his publisher:

I have had some differences of opinion with Friend Wihan over a number of places . . . and I must insist on my work being printed as I wrote it. . . . I shall only give you the work if you promise not to allow anybody to make changes—Friend Wihan not excepted—without my knowledge and consent—and also not the cadenza that Wihan has added to the last movement. There is no cadenza in the last movement either in the score or in the piano arrangement. I told Wihan when he showed it to me that it was impossible to stick such a bit on. The Finale closes gradually diminuendo, like a sigh, with reminiscences of the 1st and 2nd movements—the solo dies down to pp, then swells again, and the last bars are taken up by the orchestra and the whole concludes in a stormy mood. That is my idea and I cannot depart from it.


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Changing the ending would have meant altering his memorial to his sister-in-law, which he was not willing to do. Dvorák had already dedicated the work to Wihan and had promised him the premiere, when he learned to his horror that the Philharmonic Society of London had engaged Leo Stern to play the solo part upon finding Wihan unavailable for the date of March 19, 1896. The composer angrily wrote the following, in his style of English, to the Society: “I am sorry to announce [to] you that I cannot conduct the performance of the Celo conzerto. The reason is I have promised to my friend Wihan—he will play it. If you put the conzerto into the program I could not come at all, and will be glad to come another time.” He was somehow persuaded to go along with the Society’s plans and he conducted Leo Stern in the premiere. Wihan’s reaction can only be guessed. He did not perform the Concerto until January 25, 1899, conducted by Mengelberg at The Hague. He and Dvor ák must have made their peace, however, for he performed the work with the composer conducting the following December.

Dvorák was constantly homesick in America and the minor key and brooding quality of the Concerto have often been said to reflect his longing for home. In fact, however, his mature works often included melancholy elements, even those he wrote back home. The long orchestral exposition begins with the clarinets intoning the main theme of the movement. The meltingly beautiful second theme, begun by horn and continued by clarinet, never failed to move its own creator whenever he conducted it. The cello elaborates on this material as well as adding imaginative new ideas in its exposition. It is the second theme with which Dvorák begins his recapitulation, having masterfully short-circuited his first theme and its ensuing transition.

The slow movement again entrusts its opening theme to the clarinet. The cello plays the song for Josefina Kaunitzová in the middle section of the three-part form after a great orchestral climax. Dvorák adapted the song’s delicate duple-meter melody into triple meter for this movement. He significantly varies the return of the opening section and conspicuously places his sparsely accompanied cadenza for the solo instrument here in the slow movement rather than in the first or last movements where it might have been expected.

The Finale begins with a dramatic march theme, which becomes the main subject of a rondo when the solo cello enters. The first episode, which never returns, pairs the cello with clarinet. The second slower episode eventually turns into a tender duet for solo violin with the solo cello in the parallel major key. The sixty closing measures of the movement, which Dvorák so vehemently described to his publisher, contain the reference Josefina’s song and to the first movement before the triumphant return of the rondo theme.





JOHANNES BRAHMS Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68 Un poco sostenuto—Allegro Andante sostenuto Un poco allegretto e grazioso Adagio—Allegro non troppo, ma con brio


LEONARD BERNSTEIN Overture to West Side Story

SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, op. 43

Joyce Yang, piano

Donald Portnoy, conductorJoyce Yang, piano

BRAHMS AND RACHMANINOFF


FEBRUARY 26, 2017, AT 3:00 PM


TODAY ’S CONCERT IS SPONSORED BYRENEE BRESLER AND WAYNE STEIFLE.

RHAPSODY ON A THEME OF PAGANINI AND SYMPHONY NO.1 IN C MINOR, OP. 68, ARE SPONSORED BY

RONNIE AND PETE PETERMAN.



about the artist

Blessed with “poetic and sensitive pianism” (Washington Post) and a “wondrous sense of color” (San Francisco Classical Voice),

pianist Joyce Yang captivates audiences with her virtuosity, lyricism, and interpretive sensitivity. As a Van Cliburn International Piano Competition silver medalist and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, Ms. Yang showcases her colorful musical personality in solo recitals and collaborations with the world’s top orchestras and chamber musicians.

Ms. Yang came to international attention in 2005 when she won the silver medal at the 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The youngest contestant at nineteen years old, she took home two additional awards: the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for Best Performance of Chamber Music (with the Takács Quartet) and the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for Best Performance of a New Work.

Since her spectacular debut, she has performed as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra; the Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Sydney, and Toronto symphony orchestras; the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; and the BBC Philharmonic, among many others. She has worked with such distinguished conductors as Edo de Waart, Lorin Maazel, James Conlon, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, Bramwell Tovey, Peter Oundjian, and Jaap van Zweden. In recital, Ms. Yang has taken the stage at New York’s Lincoln Center and Metropolitan Museum, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Chicago’s Symphony Hall; and Zurich’s Tonhalle.

Ms. Yang kicked off the 2015–16 season with a tour of eight summer festivals (Aspen, Bridgehampton, Grand Tetons, La Jolla, Ravinia, Seattle, Southeastern Piano Festival, and Bravo! Vail). She reunited with the New York Philharmonic under Maestro Tovey for a five-date engagement of Falla’s Nights in the Gardens of Spain and made her New Jersey Symphony debut with Rachmaninoff ’s Concerto No. 3 in an evening celebrating the orchestra’s season finale and conductor Jacques Lacombe’s last concert as music director.

A sought-after interpreter of new music, Ms. Yang recently performed and recorded the world premiere of Michael Torke’s piano concerto, Three Manhattan Bridges, created expressly for her and commissioned by the Albany Symphony. Her recording of Schumann, Kurtág, Franck, and Previn works with frequent duo partner, violinist Augustin Hadelich, is scheduled for release in 2016 by Avie Records.

JOYCE YANG

Ms. Yang made her celebrated New York Philharmonic debut with Maestro Maazel at Avery Fisher Hall in 2006 and performed on the orchestra’s tour of Asia, making a triumphant return to her hometown of Seoul, South Korea. Subsequent appearances with the Philharmonic included the opening night of the Leonard Bernstein Festival in 2008, at the special request of Maazel in his final season as music director. The New York Times pronounced her performance in Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety a “knockout.”

After beginning piano lessons at the age of four, Ms. Yang won several national piano competitions in her native country and, by the age of ten, she had entered the School of Music at the Korea National University of Arts. She then studied with Yoheved Kaplinsky at the Juilliard School Pre-College Division, immediately winning the division’s concerto competition. At just twelve years old she performed Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra as a result of winning their Greenfield Student Competition. She graduated from Juilliard as the recipient of the Arthur Rubinstein Prize in 2010 and the 30th Annual William A. Petschek Piano Recital Award in 2011.

Ms. Yang appears in the documentary In the Heart of Music, about the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. A Steinway artist, she currently lives in New York City.


Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68JOHANNES BRAHMSBorn in Hamburg, May 7, 1833; died in Vienna, April 3, 1897

“I shall never write a symphony,” Brahms said to his conductor-friend Hermann Levi. “You have no idea how the likes of us feel when we hear the tramp of a giant like him behind us.” By “him” Brahms of course meant Beethoven. As a young man Brahms had destroyed many attempted symphonies because they were not yet up to his high standards. A hearing of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in 1854 apparently inspired Brahms to attempt a symphony in the same key, but the parts that survived eventually wound up in his D minor Piano Concerto and his German Requiem.

The following year, when Brahms was twenty-two, he sketched some ideas that later appeared in his C minor Symphony, and in 1862 he apparently demonstrated an early version of the first movement for Clara Schumann. Yet it was not until the summer of 1876 while Brahms was sojourning on the Isle of Rügen in the Baltic Sea that he completed the work. He was forty-three by this time and in his maturity as a composer. The sixty-seven works he had published up to this time did include orchestral compositions (serenades, variations, and concertos), just not a symphony. His waiting for the right time paid off: Brahms is one of the few composers whose first symphony is as good as his last.

As soon as the First Symphony was completed Brahms wrote to Otto Dessoff in Karlsruhe: “It was always my cherished and secret wish to hear the thing first in a small town that possessed a good friend, a good conductor, and a good orchestra.” Dessoff was naturally thrilled to conduct the first performance, which took place on November 4, 1876. The success, though not overwhelming, was enough for Brahms to schedule several more performances, which he conducted himself, in various cities.

It is tempting to speculate that much of the anguish and turmoil of the first movement had to do with Brahms’s conflicted feelings for Clara, which had been particularly intense during 1855 when some of it was sketched. Brahms’s impressive, surging introduction begins over insistent timpani beats, reinforced by bass and

contrabassoon, and presents several motives that take shape in the main body of the movement—a remarkable feat given that the introduction was apparently something of an afterthought. In this Brahms was right in step with Beethoven, who often came up with a stroke of genius in the late stages of a work. Brahms creates the illusion that his introduction is returning near the end of the coda by reducing the tempo and recalling the timpani beats and rising half steps in the winds. If the introduction was an afterthought, when did he conceive of this unifying closing device?

Two other first-movement features deserve brief mention. First, just before the exposition ends, Brahms treats us to one of his ingenious signature devices: he “repeats” a short stormy passage, but with a simple exchange of voices—the bass line for the treble—which gives the eight measures an entirely new cast. Second, at the start of the development he makes an unusual plunge into a remote key. This commentator has discovered a remarkable precedent for this move in exactly the same place in the first movement of the recently unearthed First Symphony—also in C minor— of his teacher Eduard Marxsen.

After the weight of the first movement, the Andante sostenuto enters like a breath of fresh air with a lovely opening melody in a distant new key. The movement, which is not without its tinges of melancholy, again takes much of its motivic material from its opening. Two matching

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program notessections frame a middle section signaled by the first violins alone. Partway through this centerpiece Brahms introduces a new idea with a poignant oboe solo. He concludes his ternary form by adding a coda from which horn and solo violin emerge in ethereal sweetness.

The third movement is a type of relaxed scherzo alternative that Brahms favored in many of his four-movement works. This graceful, tightly organized movement contains a trio in the traditional scherzo-trio-scherzo pattern, but the typical “agitated-lyrical-agitated” characteristics are turned inside out. Brahms indulges in his love of unusual phrase lengths right at the outset with the two opening five-bar phrases (four-bar phrases being the norm); when the same phrases return, he ingeniously extends them into seven-bar phrases, and at their last appearance to eleven (although the eleven bars are so long as to be thought of in two parts).

Brahms gave added weight to the end of his Symphony by prefacing the finale with a dramatic slow introduction. As in the first movement, its motivic material spawns the main themes. The famous “liberating” horn theme in C major dates from 1868 when Brahms sent a birthday postcard to Clara from Switzerland saying, “Today the Alpenhorn blew thus.” This negates the suggestion that Brahms intended it to sound like the tower chimes at Cambridge University, which had offered Brahms a doctoral degree just before the Symphony was completed. This melody is followed by an equally arresting solemn, hymnlike phrase for trombone choir and bassoons. The celebrated main theme of the exposition prompted helpful souls to point out to the composer its similarity to the finale of Beethoven’s Ninth. Brahms’s famous retort, “Any ass can see that!” only emphasizes that what matters is how such building materials are treated—these two movements develop along their own ingenious lines. Brahms’s symphonic edifice is crowned by a substantial coda in which the gathering momentum is interrupted by the majestic reappearance of the trombone hymn, which then touches off the jubilant drive to the close.


Overture to West Side StoryLEONARD BERNSTEINBorn in Lawrence, Massachusetts, August 25, 1918; died in New York, October 14, 1990arr. Maurice Peress

Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story shares the central theme of New York City with many of his previous stage works: Fancy Free, On the Town, On the Waterfront, and Wonderful Town. Yet it differed from its predecessors by presenting the composer with the intriguing challenge of writing a serious rather than comedic musical. It was Jerome Robbins who first suggested adapting the plot of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to a modern environment when he was choreographing Bernstein’s The Age of Anxiety in 1949–50.

Robbins and Bernstein originally thought the work might be called East Side Story, dealing with lovers from different religious creeds. But by the time the choreographer and composer emerged from other projects in the mid-1950s, race hatred and adolescent violence had become more prominent as current issues. So the title became West Side Story, with lovers Tony and Maria belonging to rival teenage gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. To go along with Bernstein’s music and Robbins’s choreography, Arthur Laurents was engaged to write the book and Stephen Sondheim the lyrics.


The enormous challenge of finding backers for such a groundbreaking serious musical was eventually overcome, as was hiring cast members who could dance and sing equally well. Differences among the creative team members threatened derailment several times, but the show opened on Broadway in 1957, ran for 732 performances, went on tour, had an even longer run in London, and returned to Broadway for another 253 performances. While audiences raved, certain of the earliest critics were slow to jump on board. After London’s wholehearted embracing of the musical, however, American reviews became entirely positive. In 1961 the wildly successful film version received eleven Academy Award nominations.

Bernstein’s music contains a masterful blend of various jazz elements, Latin rhythms, and romantic popular ballads. It also incorporates the kind of character identification that we associate with Wagner’s leitmotifs. Breaking with tradition, the musical originally had no overture so that the action of the plot would begin immediately. An overture for small ensemble does open the film version as the titles roll, arranged by Sid Ramin with Bernstein’s nominal approval.

Realizing its great potential for the concert stage, Maurice Peress arranged the Overture for the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra’s 1962–63 season, and conducted performances of it for their Youth Concerts and on a pops program. Peress had been assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic in the previous season and, while visiting New York in the summer after his move to Corpus Christi, he mentioned his arrangement to Bernstein. After protesting that there was no overture, Bernstein admitted that he had written one and discarded it. He liked Peress’s arrangement so much that he asked for it to be included in an upcoming Schirmer edition of West Side Story, but instead it was published separately in 1965.

The Overture includes several of the most popular numbers from the show taken out of plot order, beginning with the opening of the “Tonight Quintet,” jazzily introduced in the original by the Jets gang preparing to rumble with the Sharks and contrasted with Tony and Maria’s romantic anticipation of being together (“Tonight”). Shortened for the Overture, the

“Quintet” dissolves into “Somewhere,” the song of hope from the two gangs from the end of the tragedy, here entrusted to the English horn, opening up into full lush strings, and followed by a heartrending solo horn version with string counterpoint. Without pause the iconic “Mambo” erupts, full of syncopation and orchestra shouts, energetically depicting the competitive dance between the rival gangs.


Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, op. 43SERGEI RACHMANINOFFBorn in Oneg or Semyonovo, April 1, 1873; died in Beverly Hills, March 28, 1943

Happy to be spending the summer of 1934 at Senar, his newly completed villa on the shores of Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne, Rachmaninoff composed his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in seven weeks. Beyond simply writing variations on a theme by Paganini, he may have felt like an ancient rhapsodist (reciter of epic poetry) in telling a programmatic tale about the virtuoso violinist. In 1935 he suggested a detailed scenario for the work to choreographer Michel Fokine based on “the legend about Paganini, who, for perfection in his art and for a woman, sold his soul to an evil spirit.”

Though the scenario was formulated one year after the completion of the work, Rachmaninoff scholar Barrie Martyn has made a convincing case for the composer having had a Paganini story in mind all along. Such a story may have prompted him to weave the Dies irae (medieval sequence from the Mass for the Dead) into several of the variations. Rachmaninoff ’s unexplained obsession with the Dies irae manifested itself frequently in his compositions, though he always quoted only its opening phrase.

Rachmaninoff premiered the Paganini Rhapsody with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in Baltimore on November 7, 1934, and soon played it throughout the United States and Europe. It won instant popularity, owing in large measure to the glorious eighteenth variation, which has since been taken out of context frequently and used for radio, television, and movie themes. Critical reaction to the work was mixed, but since that time, far from fading

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into oblivion in the way of other “virtuoso-music” and “fluff,” the Paganini Rhapsody has secured an even stronger place in the repertory, along with several of Rachmaninoff ’s concertos and symphonies.

The Paganini theme, from his Caprice No. 24 in A minor for solo violin, has cried out for variation from the start. Paganini himself was the first to subject it to variation treatment in that Caprice; Schumann, Liszt, and Brahms all made their contributions. Nor was Rachmaninoff the last—Witold Lutosławski and Boris Blacher, and popular composers such as John Dankworth and Andrew Lloyd Webber have all been attracted to it.

Rachmaninoff ’s structural design for the Rhapsody falls naturally into three sections corresponding to the movements of a concerto: opening movement, Variations 1–10; cadenza-like transition, Variation 11; slow movement, Variations 12–18; and finale, Variations

19–24. One thinks of Beethoven in regard to Rachmaninoff ’s stern eight-bar introduction and detached-note first variation, which precedes the presentation of the theme, in the manner of Beethoven’s Eroica finale.

The Dies irae makes its first appearance in Variation 7, where Rachmaninoff envisioned “a dialogue with Paganini, when his theme appears alongside Dies irae.” After Variation 10, in which the Dies irae returns, a wonderful change of mood is ushered in by the “cadenza” of No. 11. The “slow movement” variations, in a variety of keys other than the home key of A minor, include: a minuet (12), a marchlike variation (13), a major-key variation with the first suggestion of the theme inverted (14), a scherzando variation full of pianistic dazzle (15), a delicately scored, shimmering variation (16), a dark variation in B-flat minor (17), and the radiant eighteenth variation. The lush melody of No. 18 is based on an inversion of the Paganini theme, yet Martyn has pointed out that it also bears a certain resemblance to the slow movement of Nikolai Medtner’s Sonata-Fairy-Tale, which Rachmaninoff sometimes played in concert.

The last group of variations returns to the home key of A minor, increasing in pianistic brilliance through the final variation. In Variations 19 and 24 one is struck by the references to aspects of Paganini’s legendary violin technique. Variations 22 and 24 bring back the Dies irae. The dazzling final variation ends with two tossed-off measures approached by a difficult leap, which apparently caused problems even for the composer. According to a charming story often told by Benno Moiseiwitsch, a glass of crème de menthe provided the solution for hitting the right notes for Rachmaninoff, who never drank as a rule. The Rhapsody’s witty ending after all that has gone before provides a rare glimpse of Rachmaninoff ’s sense of humor.


program notes


JOHN WILLIAMS Raiders March from Raiders of the Lost Ark

FREDERICK LOEWE/ALAN JAY LERNER Selections from My Fair Lady ARR. ROBERT RUSSELL BENNETT

JERRY BOCK/SHELDON HARNICK Selections from Fiddler on the Roof ARR. FELTON RAPLEY

JOHN WILLIAMS Escapades from Catch Me If You Can Closing In Reflections Joy Ride

Clifford Leaman, alto saxophone


Donald Portnoy, conductorClifford Leaman, alto saxophone

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MARCH 12, 2017, AT 3:00 PM



Continued onto the next page…


JOHN WILLIAMS Hymn to the Fallen from Saving Private Ryan

JAMES HORNER Selections from Titanic ARR. JOHN MOSS

CLAUDE-MICHEL SCHÖNBERG/ Selections from Les Misérables ALAIN BOUBLIL, JEAN-MARC NATEL,

HERBERT KRETZMER

ARR. BOB LOWDEN

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER Selections from ARR. CALVIN CUSTER The Phantom of the Opera

JOHN WILLIAMS Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Suite for Orchestra)

Donald Portnoy, conductorClifford Leaman, alto saxophone

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MARCH 12, 2017, AT 3:00 PM


TODAY ’S CONCERT IS SPONSORED BY SMITH SYSTEMS, INC.



continued


about the artist

Critics have hailed Clifford Leaman “an artist of the first order . . . intuitive, exciting, and enthralling” (Paul Wagner,

The Saxophone Journal ) and an “artist of technical brilliance and emotional commitment . . . The range of colors is impressive” (Jack Sullivan, American Record Guide). Professor of saxophone at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Leaman received the Bachelor of Science degree in music education from Lebanon Valley College and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in performance from the University of Michigan, where he was a student of Donald Sinta. He served on the faculties of Furman University, Eastern Michigan University, and the University of Michigan prior to his appointment at the University of South Carolina. He is currently president-elect of the North American Saxophone Alliance, and served on the Executive Committee of that organization through 2016. In great demand as a soloist and clinician, Clifford Leaman and has performed and taught throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, France, Slovenia, Sweden, Thailand, and China, where he was a featured guest artist eight times since 2004. He has performed as a concerto soloist with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra; at the XII World Saxophone Congress in Montreal, Canada (2000); the North American Saxophone Alliance’s 2006 Biennial Conference in Iowa City, Iowa; the 2008 International Navy Band Symposium in Washington, D.C.; and the XV World Saxophone Congress in 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. Additionally, he has given master classes at major schools of music and conservatories worldwide, including Northwestern University, Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan, Duquesne University, Bowling Green State University, University of Georgia, University of North Texas, Penn State University, Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, Conservatoire de Strasbourg, the Royal Academy of Music (Stockholm), Beijing Central Conservatory, Shanghai Conservatory, and the Sichuan Conservatory.

CLIFFORD LEAMAN

In 1990 Mr. Leaman collaborated with pianist Derek Parsons to form the Ambassador Duo, which has performed concerts throughout the world and has released three critically acclaimed compact discs on the Equilibrium label—Brilliance, Excursions, and Illuminations. Mr. Leaman has also performed extensively with percussionist Scott Herring, giving concerts and master classes at many universities and conservatories since 2005 when they formed the RoseWind Duo. Their 2008 debut compact disc recording, Release, features works for alto saxophone and marimba. Mr. Leaman is also featured on a variety of recordings of solo and chamber works for Redwood Records, CRS, and the University of Arizona Recordings.

An avid supporter of contemporary music, Clifford Leaman has commissioned and given the world premieres of numerous works, including concertos by Pulitzer Prize–winning composers Leslie Bassett and Michael Colgrass. His recording of the Bassett with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra is available through Equilibrium Records. Dr. Leaman is an artist-clinician for Rico Reeds, Inc., and the Conn-Selmer Company, Inc., and performs exclusively on Selmer saxophones and Rico reeds.


SelectionsJOHN WILLIAMSBorn in New York, February 8, 1932

The music of John Williams is more widely known than that of any other film composer. His scores for the Star Wars trilogy, the Indiana Jones series, Superman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Jaws, Jurassic Park, Home Alone, Gilligan’s Island, Lost in Space, and much more, have made his name recognized in households throughout the world. He has almost singlehandedly shaped the movie and television music of the past four decades, recognized in the industry by five Academy Awards (nominations for fifty, second only to Walt Disney), twenty-two Grammys, four Golden Globes, two Emmys, seven awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, several gold and platinum records, and many honorary degrees and other awards, among them Kennedy Center Honors in 2004 and the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award in June 2016.

Williams’s credits include over one hundred feature films, a mind-boggling achievement, of which this list, adding to those mentioned above, only scratches the surface—the Harry Potter series, Schindler’s List, Nixon, Sabrina, Saving Private Ryan, Angela’s Ashes, Catch Me If You Can, Memoirs of a Geisha, Lincoln, and The Book Thief. Most recently he has composed the score for Spielberg’s The BFG and is working on Star Wars: Episode VIII, directed by Rian Johnson, scheduled for 2017 release. And—good news for Williams/Spielberg fans—he has agreed to write the music for the 2018 science-fiction adventure Ready Player One and the next Indiana Jones installment scheduled for 2019.

Alongside his monumental contribution to film and television music, Williams has also penned substantial output for the concert hall—fifteen concertos, many fanfares, a piano sonata, several chamber works, and music for four different Olympics. Recent compositions include his Oboe Concerto (2011) for the Boston Pops and On Willows and Birches (Harp Concerto, 2009) for the Boston Symphony. He also served as the conductor of the celebrated Boston Pops for thirteen years (1980–93), successfully filling the incredibly hard-to-fill shoes of Arthur Fiedler, and has guest-conducted many of the world’s major orchestras.

This afternoon’s program opens with the unforgettable music Williams wrote for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), his fifth collaboration with Spielberg. The signature Raider’s March, which introduces the Indiana Jones character, has become synonymous with adventure, turning the academic archeology professor into hero and romancer as he rescues the Ark of the Covenant from the Nazis.

The first half closes with Escapades from Williams’s nineteenth collaboration with Spielberg, Catch Me if You Can (2002). The story revolves around Frank W. Abignole, a con man who already at the age of twenty-one had passed himself off as an airline pilot, a surgeon, and a lawyer, and had stolen millions by forging checks. Williams features the alto saxophone in three sections that form a kind of mini concerto. The first, Closing In, draws on cool jazz as the FBI pursues Abignole, and the second, with its poignant introspection, stems from the point in the movie when Abignole’s family life begins to crumble. The energetic final movement accompanies the extended scene where the quick-witted Abignole, after his unsuccessful attempt to pass off checks, seizes his opportunity to pose as a Pan Am pilot, enabling him to cash payroll checks and actually fly as an assistant pilot.

Our second half opens with the Hymn to the Fallen, the moving main theme from Saving Private Ryan (1998), Williams’s sixteenth collaboration with Spielberg. This noble tribute to the heroes of World War II has come to honor the fallen of all wars and is frequently played for Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day commemorations.

Closing this Pops Blockbuster we hear music from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Williams’s first collaboration with director J.J. Abrams and his seventh score for the franchise. In simplest terms, the Star Wars saga portrays a galaxy “far, far away” in which the Jedi represent the forces of good in the ongoing confrontation with the evil, tyrannical Galactic Empire. Naturally, many storylines become interwoven in a setting replete with space travel, alien species, robotic androids, iconic weapons (light sabers, the Death Star), and above all, “The Force”—the galactic energy that can be used for good or evil.

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program notesThe Force Awakens, set thirty years after The Return of the Jedi, follows Rey, Finn, and Poe as they search for Luke Skywalker and join in the fight against Kylo Ren and the First Order, which has succeeded the Galactic Empire. Williams’s Suite for Orchestra, which he himself arranged from the film score, includes the March of the Resistance in grand fugal style; Rey’s Theme, combining a starry atmosphere with her adventurous soaring music; the pulse-quickening Scherzo for X-Wings, which draws on the Star Wars main theme as the starfighters attack a new Death Star; and The Jedi Steps (two versions) and Finale (with either a concert ending or the original film ending), representing the contemplative awe of the final scene when Rey mounts the steps to the aging Skywalker, capped by an ingenious combination previous themes as the credits roll.


Selections from My Fair LadyALAN JAY LERNER AND FREDERICK LOEWEBorn in New York, New York, August 31, 1918; died there, June 14, 1986Born in Berlin, June 10, 1901; died in Palm Springs, California, February 14, 1988ARR. ROBERT RUSSELL BENNETT

Starring Rex Harrison as Professor Higgins and then little-known Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle, My Fair Lady opened on Broadway on March 15, 1956, following successful trials in New Haven and Philadelphia. The musical’s immediate success resulted in an unprecedented run of 2,717 performances. Several years earlier, lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe had abandoned an attempt to make a musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion—metaphorically based, in turn, on Ovid’s classical myth of Pygmalion bringing his statue of Galatea to life. Others had also tried and failed to adapt Shaw’s play, including Rodgers and Hammerstein. Lerner and Loewe’s success the second time around, Lerner said, owed to the realization that Shaw’s play actually needed little changing.

In 1964 the film version of My Fair Lady won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Rex Harrison), and Best Director (George Cukor). Audrey Hepburn, who had been cast as Eliza because Julie Andrews wasn’t yet a film star and whose singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, lost the Oscar to Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins!

My Fair Lady tells the story of phonetics professor Henry Higgins giving speech lessons, but also deportment and etiquette training, to Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle in order to pass her off as a well-born lady. What begins as a bet and a “lab” experiment begins to have more serious implications as he finally realizes he can’t do without her.

Today’s selections include I Could Have Danced All Night, Eliza’s ecstatic afterglow from the embassy ball where she passes her final test; On the Street Where You Live, in which the smitten Freddy longs simply to be near her; Wouldn’t it be Loverly from the show’s beginning, when Eliza as a poor flower girl wonders what it would be like to live an upperclass life; her later response to Freddy that if he’s really in love, Show Me; the festive Embassy Waltz from the scene at the ball in which Eliza dances with prince of Transylvania; the lively Get Me to the Church on Time, sung by Eliza’s father after he has come into some money and must now marry her “stepmother” in order to be respectable; I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face from the story’s end when Higgins realizes how much he misses Eliza, and tenderly, as best he can, acknowledges his emotions; and rollicking With a Little Bit of Luck—all one needs, sings her father, to avoid the rigors of hard work, temperance, and marriage.


Selections from Fiddler on the RoofJERRY BOCK/SHELDON HARNICKBorn in New Haven Connecticut, November 23, 1928; died in Mount Kisco, New York, November 3, 2010/Born in Chicago, Illinois, April 30, 1924ARR. FELTON RAPLEY

Fiddler on the Roof takes a look at Jewish life in pre-revolutionary Russia from the perspective of a Broadway musical—comedic but still bittersweet. Jerry Bock composed the music to lyrics by Sheldon Herrick, based on the book by Joseph Stein, who had drawn on tales by Sholem Aleichem. The original Broadway production, which opened on September 22, 1964, was the first to surpass 3,000 performances and for a decade held the record for longest-running musical. In 1971 Fiddler on the Roof was made into a movie, directed by Norman Jewison, and won three Academy Awards, among them one for John Williams as the music’s arranger and conductor. Tonight’s orchestral medley was arranged by Felton Rapley.


The story centers on Tevye, a poor dairyman in the village of Anatevka, Ukraine, who tries to uphold his Jewish traditions in the face of encroachment from forces he cannot control. He and his wife Golde are counting on the assistance of Yente, the village matchmaker, in arranging marriages for their five daughters, even as this institution is dying out. The oldest, Tzeitel, has an offer to marry the village butcher, but her father reluctantly agrees to let her marry her beloved Motel. Hodel loves the revolutionary student Perchik, and Tevye eventually finds himself delivering Hodel to the train station to join the exiled Perchik in Siberia. Chava elopes with the young Russian Fyedka, but Tevye cannot condone a marriage outside the Jewish faith and disowns her. Eventually, the Tsar expels all Jews from their villages, and they must leave for Poland.

This afternoon’s selections begin by introducing Tevye—the fiddler himself—with a violin solo that encompasses a bit of “If I Were a Rich Man” before launching the title tune Fiddler on the Roof, which the orchestra joins. Matchmaker is the catchy waltz-time song which Tevye’s daughters sing satirically about Yente’s finding them a suitable spouse. A fuller version of If I Were a Rich Man follows, in which Tevye dreams of what wealth would bring him and his family. The haunting Sunrise, Sunset allows many of the characters to reflect on how fast these children became adults. To Life comes from earlier in the story when Tzeitel’s older suitor Lazar and the men at the bar toast Yente’s arrangement for him to marry Tzeitel. Wedding Dance (or Bottle Dance) depicts the joyful scene at Tzeitel and Motel’s wedding in the first act, and the set closes with references to one of Fiddler’s most memorable songs, Tradition, from the musical’s prologue, which explains the traditional roles and characters in the village of Anatevka.


Selections from TitanicJAMES HORNERBorn in Los Angeles, August 14, 1953; died in Los Padres National Forest, California, June 22, 2015ARR. JOHN MOSS

The phenomenally successful 1997 film Titanic, written, directed, and co-produced by James Cameron, won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, tying the record of Ben Hur (1959). The movie broke all box office

records until surpassed by Cameron’s Avatar in 2009. James Horner’s Oscar-winning music, which he conducted, made this story especially memorable and made the soundtrack the fourth best-selling of all time. Horner composed music for over 100 films, but tragically died alone when his turboprop aircraft crashed in 2015.

Titanic tells the epic, romantic, fictionalized story of Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), who fall in love aboard ship, despite her engagement to Cal Hockney. When the ship goes down, Jack dies, but she is saved when he encourages her to cling to a board buoyant enough for only one person. Rose later dreams, in sleep or in death, of a life with Jack, reuniting with him at the grand staircase on the Titanic.

This afternoon’s medley, arranged by John Moss, begins with the scene-setting, optimistic Take Her to Sea, Mr. Murdoch as the ocean liner embarks on its maiden voyage. The haunting Never an Absolution follows, with a flute taking the plaintive Celtic melody played on the uilleann pipes on the soundtrack. The heroic-sounding Southampton (named for Rose’s home city), with its percussive punctuations, represents the spectacle of the Titanic in its proud phase. In Hard to Starboard (after Mr. Murdoch’s famous order) the music makes the great shift to agitation as the ship is about to strike the iceberg. The medley concludes with the the celebrated My Heart Will Go On, sung over the end credits by Céline Dion, but which Horner initially had to persuade Cameron to include in the film. The song went on to become a smash hit and win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.


Selections from Les MisérablesCLAUDE-MICHEL SCHÖNBERG/ALAIN BOUBLIL/JEAN-MARC NATEL/HERBERT KRETZMERBorn in in Vannes, France, July 6, 1944/Born in Tunis, Tunisia, March 5, 1941/Born in France, 1942/Born in Kroonstad, South Africa, October 5, 1925ARR. BOB LOWDEN

Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, Les Misérables, about ex-convict Jean Valjean striving for redemption, made the basis for one of the most successful musicals in history. Following an intense two-year collaboration between composer Claude-Michel

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program notesSchönberg and lyricist Alain Boublil, aided by poet Jean-Marc Natel, the original French version came before the public in 1980 as a concept album that sold 260,000 copies. The same year a version staged in Paris was seen by 500,000 people, but closed after three months when the theater booking expired.

Three years later director Peter Farrago persuaded Cameron Mackintosh (producer of Cats) to mount an English-language version of Les Misérables in London. After two years of development—Herbert Kretzmer adapted the libretto and lyrics—the show opened on October 8, 1985, to critical censure but wildly enthusiastic public reception. Since then the London production has run continuously, and the initial Broadway production ran for 6,680 performances between 1987 and 2003, winning eight Tony Awards. Numerous tours, concert versions, broadcasts, and revivals ensued, as well as two Broadway revivals, the second of which is still playing. The 2012 film adaptation—directed by Tom Hooper and starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway—won even more fans, as well as multiple Academy, Golden Globe, and British Academy Film and Television Awards (BAFTAs). Bob Lowden made the present orchestral arrangement.

The story of this sung-through musical (meaning it contains little spoken dialogue) revolves around Jean Valjean, paroled after nineteen years, who then steals from a bishop but tries to turn his life around when the bishop shows him kindness. Years later Valjean becomes a factory owner and mayor, but is always in danger of being recaptured by police inspector Javert. One of Valjean’s factory workers, Fantine, blames him for the circumstances that have forced her into prostitution. The clamorous At the End of the Day accompanies the scene of her firing by the lecherous factory foreman, and in the poignant I Dreamed a Dream Fantine reflects on happier times. As she lies dying in the hospital, Valjean promises to take care of her illegitimate daughter Colette, who has been staying with the unscrupulous innkeepers, the Thrénadiers, represented in the rollicking Master of the House.

Years later in Paris, Colette falls in love with Marius, a pro-revolution college student, who is loved by the Thrénadiers’ daughter Éponine. In

the touching On My Own Éponine walks the rainy Paris streets with the realization that Marius will never return her love. Valjean tries to keep Colette from Marius, but later find himself saving the critically injured Marius for her sake during the 1832 Paris Uprising. Eventually, as Valjean lies dying at a convent, Colette and Marius arrive, Marius now knowing Valjean was his rescuer and Colette learning the secrets of his dark past and the truth about her mother. The spirits of all who have died guide Valjean to the next world, assuring him that God frees all who are oppressed—with a reprise of the stirring Do You Hear the People Sing, first heard at the launch of the rebellion.


Selections from Phantom of the OperaANDREW LLOYD WEBBERBorn in London, March 22, 1948ARR. CALVIN CUSTER

After having written music for shows from a very early age, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s path to international stardom began in 1965 with his collaborations with lyricist Tim Rice. Their pop cantata Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, and musical Evita led the way to a string of mega-hit musicals with other collaborators, such as Don Black, with whom he wrote Sunset Boulevard and Aspects of Love, and the team of Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, his collaborators on Phantom of the Opera, the most financially successful musical of all time.

The story, based on the Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel Le fantôme de l’Opéra, concerns the beautiful soprano Christine Daaé who becomes the obsession of a disfigured musical genius who has made a home for himself in the cellars of the Paris Opera House. She hears a voice at the Opera House that she believes is the voice of the Angel of Music that her father had told her about in her childhood before he died, but it is the Phantom, who agrees to train her as a singer. On the night of her triumphant debut, she reconnects with her childhood sweetheart, Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, and the Phantom is consumed with jealousy.

Christine and Raoul become engaged, but the Phantom kidnaps her after she unmasks him onstage. When Raoul comes to rescue her, the Phantom threatens to kill him, but


Christine saves him by agreeing to remain with the Phantom forever. When she kisses him, the first time anyone has ever shown him compassion, he sets the young lovers free though it breaks his heart. He disappears forever, leaving only his mask behind.

Calvin Custer’s medley for orchestra contains six of the musical’s most memorable tunes: the dramatic title song, The Phantom of the Opera, that the Phantom and Christine sing as he guides her to his underground domain; the poignant Think of Me, first sung by Carlotta, the Opéra’s reigning diva, then by Christine as she auditions

for the part after Carlotta has been spooked; Angel of Music, in which Christine tells her friend Meg about her invisible teacher; All I Ask of You, Raoul and Christine’s love duet from the end of Act I; Masquerade from the beginning of Act II, when the ensemble celebrates at a masquerade ball and the Phantom reappears six months after vowing revenge; and The Music of the Night, in which the Phantom tenderly explains to Christine on her first visit to his secret lair that he has chosen her to sing his music.


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FELIX MENDELSSOHN Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64 Allegro molto appassionato— Andante— Allegro non troppo—Allegro molto vivace

Stephen Waarts, violin


ANTONÍN DVORÁK Symphony No. 9 in E minor, B. 178, op. 95, “From the New World” Adagio—Allegro molto Largo Scherzo: Molto vivace Allegro con fuoco

Donald Portnoy, conductorStephen Waarts, violin

NEW WORLD


APRIL 30, 2017, AT 3:00 PM


TODAY ’S CONCERT IS SPONSORED BYALETA TISDALE IN MEMORY OF HER PARENTS.



about the artist

Violinist Stephen Waarts has been praised for playing “with technical command and a totally natural sense of musical

drama” (Strings Magazine). He has already garnered worldwide recognit ion, having captured the Audience Prize at the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition; First Prize at the 2014 Menuhin Competition; and Second Prize and the Audience Prize in the 2013 Montreal International Competition. This season, Mr. Waarts showcases his wide-ranging concerto repertoire, performing Lalo with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Tchaikovsky with the Auburn Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn with the Aiken Symphony Orchestra and Brevard Philharmonic, and Prokofiev with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall. Abroad he plays Brahms with Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín in Colombia, Paganini with the South Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, and Mozart with the Bremer Philharmoniker in Germany. Mr. Waarts appears in recitals in the U.S. at Del Valle Fine Arts, the Cosmos Club, the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach; in Poland at Salon Christophori and the Krzyzowa Music Festival; and in Switzerland at Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.

Acclaimed from a young age, Stephen Waarts has already performed over thirty standard, as well as rarely performed, violin concertos, appearing as soloist with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, as well as with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, the Brevard Sinfonia, the Bucks County Symphony, and with numerous orchestras throughout California. As a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, he performed the Glazunov Concerto with the Brussels Philharmonic in London, Liège, Brussels, and Bruges, and recitals at Festival Musiq’3 and Juillet Musical d’Aulne. Mr. Waarts has appeared in recital at the Louvre in Paris and is a frequent participant at Music@Menlo, the French Classical Music Festival of Silicon Valley, the Summit Music Festival, and the Orford and Lake George Music Festivals. He has also performed recitals at Arts at Abingdon in Virginia, Morning Musicales in Philadelphia, the Jewish Community Alliance in Florida, the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh, FPC

STEPHEN WAARTS

Concerts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Morgan Library and Museum, and the Brownville Concert Series.

As winner of the 2013 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, he made recital debuts this season at the Kennedy Center and Merkin Concert Hall, to rave reviews. Mr. Waarts was also honored with five other special awards, including the Rhoda Walker Teagle Prize, the Sander Buchman Prize, the Paul A. Fish Prize, and the Ronald A. Asherson Prize.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Stephen Waarts started his music education with Suzuki violin lessons and piano studies, and studied with Li Lin at the San Francisco Conservatory. He studied with Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program, and with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute, where he held the Frank S. Bayley Annual Fellowship. He is currently a master’s degree student at the Kronberg Academy in Germany, working with Mihaela Martin. Mr. Waarts plays on a c. 1750 Pietro Guarneri II violin, on loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Pronunciation: Surname “Waarts” rhymes with “hearts”

© Matt Dine


Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64FELIX MENDELSSOHNBorn in Hamburg, February 3, 1809; died in Leipzig, November 4, 1847

Many of the great concertos were the result of close collaboration between composer and soloist—Brahms’s collaboration with Joseph Joachim on his Violin Concerto is one of the most famous examples. In the case of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, his collaborator was Ferdinand David. Mendelssohn was appointed director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra in 1835 and hired David as his concertmaster, a post he held long after Mendelssohn’s death.

In 1838 Mendelssohn wrote to David of his desire to write him a concerto—he already had ideas for one in E minor. The following year David must have prodded him about the concerto, for Mendelssohn wrote him in July:

Now that is very nice of you to press me for a violin concerto! I have the liveliest desire to write one for you, and if I have a few propitious days here I shall bring you something of the sort. But it is not an easy task. You want it to be brilliant, and how is such a one as I to manage that? The whole first solo is to consist of the high E!

Despite his “lively desire,” Mendelssohn did not complete the Concerto until 1844. A period of consultation and revision ensued, and finally on March 13, 1845, David presented the work at a Gewandhaus concert, conducted by the Danish composer Niels Gade, filling in for Mendelssohn, who was on leave. David wrote to Mendelssohn on March 27 about the performance:

The audience liked it immensely and unanimously declared it one of the most beautiful pieces of this kind. Actually it meets all requirements of a concerto to the highest degree and violinists cannot thank you enough for this gift.

His evaluation has held up to this day for a work that has become an indispensable superstar in the repertoire.

The Violin Concerto follows the basic three-movement plan of the typical Classical concerto—

fast, slow, fast—but Mendelssohn introduces several novel touches. The solo violin enters almost immediately in the first movement, rather than waiting for a traditional lengthy orchestral exposition. The location of the solo cadenza is also unusual: the composer places it just after the development instead of at the end of the recapitulation as was traditional. By giving the cadenza such structural and harmonic importance Mendelssohn makes it a more integral part of the movement.

The slow movement follows the first without pause—a single held bassoon note moves upward to effect the transition to this beautiful song without words. A more impassioned central section brings a return of this sweetest of melodies, under which a bit of the agitation now lingers.

Mendelssohn links the finale to the preceding Andante by a poignant transition, marked Allegretto non troppo. The wistful transition recalls the first movement’s minor key, but soon leads to the rollicking Allegro molto vivace in major. The finale’s sprightly momentum, so characteristic of Mendelssohn’s scherzos, suggests that we’ve now entered Puck’s elfin world from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A plethora of fast notes, sprinkled with a few double, triple, and even quadruple stops (playing more than one string at a time) give the soloist ample opportunity for virtuosic display.


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Symphony No. 9 in E minor, B. 178, op. 95, “From the New World”ANTONÍN DVORÁKBorn in Nelahozeves, near Kralupy, September 8, 1841; died in Prague, May 1, 1904

Dvorák endured three homesick years in New York beginning in 1892, having been persuaded by the iron-willed, progressive Jeannette M. Thurber to serve as director of the National Conservatory of Music that she had founded in 1885. She hoped he would write an American opera based on Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha, which he already knew from a Czech translation, but his thoughts turned instead toward a symphony. His fascination with the epic poem is documented in five notebooks in which he kept dated and undated ideas for compositions. The first entry (December 1892) contains the melody of the middle section of the slow movement of the New World Symphony, under the heading “Legend.” Other ideas for the first three movements came to him in January 1893 and the entire Symphony was completed by May 24. That same day he received the wonderful news by cable that his four children had arrived in Southampton on their way to spend the summer in America. The story that in his excitement he forgot to complete the trombone parts has been shown to be a myth.

The New York Philharmonic, conducted by Anton Seidl, premiered the work on December 15, 1893. Dvorák, who hated public display, was given an overwhelming ovation, which he described to his publisher Simrock:

The papers say that no composer ever celebrated such a triumph. Carnegie Hall was crowded with the best people of New York, and the audience applauded so that, like visiting royalty, I had to take my bows repeatedly from the box in which I sat. It made me think of Mascagni in Vienna.

Earlier that year Simrock had asked Brahms to proofread several of Dvorák’s works including the New World, which he wanted to publish as quickly as possible. Dvorák was so honored by Brahms’s agreement that he wrote Simrock, “I can scarcely believe there is another composer in the world who would do as much.”

Initially the Symphony’s nickname caused much discussion, though Dvorák insisted that all it meant was “Impression and Greetings from the New World.” Before the premiere Dvorák stated that future American music should be based on black spirituals and American Indian songs and dances. He had become acquainted with spirituals as sung to him by Henry T. Burleigh, one of the African-American students at the National Conservatory, and “knew” American Indian music only from a small number of transcriptions he had been given. “They are the folk songs of America, and your composers must turn to them. In the Negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music.”

Back in Europe he later denied that his Symphony was based on such music; the truth lies somewhere in between. In any case, the similarities to folk and spiritual elements in his Symphony were soon analyzed by many: the first movement’s second theme, introduced by flute, bears a similarity to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”; the English horn solo in the slow movement has the character of a spiritual; and the Scherzo, Dvorák himself said before the premiere, “was suggested by the wedding feast in Hiawatha where Indians dance, and is also an essay that I made in the direction of imparting the local color of Indian character to the music.”


The composer used specific elements of then-current American musical vocabulary—such as syncopations and lowered seventh degrees in the minor scale (later to appear in blues)—but synthesized them in his own style. Many supposed that the famous English horn solo in the Largo quoted an existing spiritual “Going Home,” but the order is the reverse—Dvorák wrote it first. Seidl said, “It is not a good name, New World Symphony! It is homesickness, home longing.” Dvorák’s Bohemian roots are certainly evident, for instance, the middle sections of the Largo sound more Czech than American and the Scherzo could just as easily depict Czech dances as American Indian.

Dvorák’s sketches show that he originally thought of the first movement’s main theme, the great arching horn fanfare, in F major. When he later settled on E minor, he wrote a sketch for the slow movement in C major, a third-related key that was quite normal for him. He had, however, first thought of the movement’s beautiful English horn solo in D-flat major (related by third to his original F major) and discovered

that by means of a now celebrated modulation he could retain his original colorful key. Thus he ended up with a wonderfully remote key relationship between the first two movements.

Another structural nicety, however, was part of Dvorák’s concept from the start: the first movement’s second theme (the “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”–like theme) first appears naturally in G major, the relative of the home key (E minor), yet the entire passage occurs in the distant key of A-flat major in the recapitulation—a novel harmonic idea. Dvorák was well into the sketch for the Scherzo before the master stroke occurred to him to make the symphony cyclic by recalling the horn theme of the first movement in each subsequent movement. He then had to make changes in the slow movement, and the Scherzo itself recalls both the main themes of the first movement in its coda. He further bound his Symphony together thematically by weaving subjects from all previous movements into the finale.


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VIOLINKristine Fink Candler,

concertmaster Ralph Congdon,

co-concertmasterRenee Bresler,

assistant concertmasterPaul Stroebel,

principal second violinSimone Little BeachJulieAnne BennettMarty BlairJoanne Cohen Karen EntziAmanda GentileFred GranrosMichelle Guthrie Cheryl HagymassyKendall HaleMary IrwinLynn KillianStephanie QuinnKendra RempelEssena SetaroChristopher Stevens Carolyn TackettMichele Tate Aleta TisdaleMadeline Welch

VIOLANancy Steffa, principalKirsten R. AllenLucie FinkDiane HouleSarah KehrbergMichael Lancaster Emily Shelton Poole

VIOLONCELLOPatricia K. Johnston,

principalCarol BeckCarol BjorlieNancy BourneAaron CoffinMarie Cole Megan Leigh JohnsonErin KlimstraLaura Koelle Norman MalenkeKelly PiephoJohn Steffa

DOUBLE BASSLeo Bjorlie, principalMichael DeTrolioBill FoutyKeith FreeburgJeremy GibbsDavid Lawter

FLUTERosalie Morrow, principalLinda Lancaster

PICCOLOLinda Threatte

OBOEEmily Scheider, principal MaryAllyeB Purtle

CLARINETFred Lemmons,

principal Brian Hermanson

BASSOONJennifer Anderson,

principal Rosalind BudaBob EvansKaren MolnarWill PeeblesFrank Watson

FRENCH HORNRex Gallatin, principal Anthony Ammons Christopher CaldwellJulie LedfordHobart Whitman

TRUMPETLarry Black, principalWilliam ShankPeter Voisin

TROMBONEZsolt Szabo, principalL. Rienette Davis

BASS TROMBONEMatthew Anderson

TUBAMichael Schallock

TYMPANIByron Hedgepeth, principal Brian Tinkel

PERCUSSIONLinda Carrillo, principal Justin MabryTom Reaves Brian Tinkel

KEYBOARDPatricia Black

HARPLelia LattimoreClaire Stam

brevard philharmonic personnel


directors circle$10,000 and aboveAudrey Love Charitable Foundation

producers$5000-$9999Dr. & Mrs. Barry H. BodieJacquelyn & Bruce RogowRenee Bresler & Wayne SteifleAleta & Ed Tisdale

underwriters $2500-$4999Polly & Paul AveretteKristine & John CandlerJane Davidowski & Ted WesemannA.S. Fendler Family FoundationKatinka & Rod RemusSmith Systems Inc.

patrons $1000-$2499Karla AtkinsonDr. Mary F. ArgusPaula & David Bonner John BundyCommunity Foundation of WNCDugan’s PubRuth FalckCarole & Ted FutrelleNancy & Fred GranrosHampton InnCarolyn MillsRonnie & Pete PetermanVirginia W. RamseyCarole & Arthur SchreiberPatty & John StarkElizabeth & Charles TaylorLynn P. Williams

benefactors $500-$999Carol BeckGinny & Warren BedellNancy BourneRussell ChappellConnestee Falls RealtyLinda & Allen DelzellMarguerite J. Dinehart

Geri & Bill HambleyJean & Bill HolmesWendy Kotowski & Cherie NateLooking Glass RealtyMargaret & Gus NapierHarriet PeacockLucy & Robert Rodes Gloria & Jim Sanders

In memory of Renee & Arnold Braun

Mary SauerteigMichael SchallockAleen SteinbergAnne J. StoutamireUUTC Men’s Group

In memory of Arnold BraunLucee & Richard Wallace

Charitable FundTom Williamson

sustainers $250-$499Sally & Gene BakerElizabeth Bates & Roy PenchanskyRoberta Carver &

Glenn CockerhamGay & Mark Case JC CecconiLucille & Peter ChaveasLeslie & Kenneth ChepenikFaye & Gil CoanLeslie & Arthur ColePat Dempsey Edie & Chuck DunnLyn & Bill EdmondsJeanette & George ErdmanKris FulmerDavid GoodmanAdelaide KershEleanor S. KirlinLynn & Larry KleinBarbara Kopp Martha LeGereJohn LuzenaDottie MarcinkoPeter McKinneyHarriette & Mike McLainMusicke Antiqua Mr. & Mrs. Jack ParkerElaine B. Long & James L. Phillips Elizabeth P. RahnGloria & Jim SandersNancy & Robert ScharsichLynne SeymourMary Beth ShumateCarol & James SmeatonCharles L. StohrUnitarian Universalists

of TransylvaniaHarriett & John VanderschaafNoni Waite-KuceraDon WauchopeRuth M. WaugamanJudy & Paul Welch

Hobart WhitmanMonica & Bruce Williams

supporters $100-$249Anonymous (8)Acoustic for a ChangeAdele & Andy AndersonJudy & Robert AndersenJameel AudehLinda & John AustinPeggy BayneMichele & Marvin BargSusan & Michael BeckerLaurie BigelowSusan & Richard BirJoanna BlissGail & Charles BluntPeggy BogardusMargaret W. BoggsJoshua BraunBarbara and Carl BurkhartPoo CabeCantey & Bill CarpenterRachel CarpenterCarol & John CarranoMichael CarrickNancy CarrollGay & Mark CaseDorothy ChapmanMary & Edward CoffeyChloe CogerKaren & Bob ColeAnn & Robert Commarota Sharon Cox

In honor of Margaret & Coy McManusElizabeth CreechHope CushmanPat DempseyMr. & Mrs. Michael DiRoccoJeanMarie DoelFred DurandCarol & Sid ElliottAnn FarashLorraine FinkDouglas FittonCarolyn & Ted FredleyLiz FullerNick FunstonCarol GardnerKathleen & Lawrence GarofaloPhyllis GilletteAnnette GlennAnita GoldschmidtPatricia GorgoneJanet & Richard GreySuzie GreeneKendall HaleSandy HarringtonSusann & Carl HayCarol & John HelblingKathleen G. HendrixGretchen HerbertDana Herrman

We invite you to partner with the Brevard Philharmonic and

help support its mission of creating and providing the finest possible orchestral music. The combination of gifts from all sources assists the Brevard Philharmonic to serve the cultural and educational needs of the entire regional community. Gifts as of 7/28/16

2016 contributors



Catherine & Kent HeuserIrma HolcombeBarbara HoldenIBMRobert JacobyMary Kay & Bill JenningsCarlene S. JeromeDr. Glover Little and

Mrs. Lynn KillianDr. & Mrs. Luke M. KitahataSusan KloppKen & Lin KolbBarbara KoppLinda LancasterElizabeth LambertonLaura LedfordMartha LeGereJulia & John LeighFlorentine LiegerotJune LitchfieldCeleste & Ed LockardMarilyn & Newton LockhartLinda & Rodney LocksRebecca & Lawrence LohrElaine LongKim LottDr. & Mrs. Ross D. LynchSue & Norman MacoyVirginia MacDonaldNanette & Jim ManharJean & David ManningDottie MarcinkoHal & Nancy MartinMary Alice & Jack McBrayerSande & Harry McCauleyJack & Peggy McGoldrickBetty McIlwainLesley & Ian McLachlanNancy MeanixHortense MenserEleanor & Alan MercerGretchen MesserBarbara & Dwight MeyerJoanie & D.L. MillerMarie & Ray MillerTheresa & Paul MorganMountain Woodwind and BrassJamie MurphyEllen O’Brien & Duane BowkerLaurie & Doug OmbresHelen A. PapeInez & Bob ParsellJudith & Don PatrickPam PazolesHarriet Peacock

In memory of Renee BraunLynne & Tom PennDolores PerkinsJessie PingNita PorterKaren & Donald PortnoyRob PriceBarbara Prietz

Carlene W. RaganLinda Randall & Lee McMinnElaine RaynoldsDr. & Mrs. Wade H. ReevesIsabel RichardsonDave RobertsLarry RobinowitzKaren RosenbaumPenny & James RoubionClaire RouseJanie & Robert SargentChristine SchmidtPeggy & Walt SchneiderBetty ScruggsDorothy SemansKaren Shaffer & Pamela BlevinsLou ShelleyKalpana & Madhu ShethParke H. SicklerVirginia SimpsonBrida SmithPatty & John StarkLila StewartDrs. Karol & Bill StrangDenise & Brian StretcherMr. & Mrs. Nat TanenbaumCarole & Frank TaylorLinda ThompsonGrace E. TiffanyPatricia A. TooleySusan D. ToscaniDiane & Al TrungaleSharyn & Ray TuersKelly TynchGeorgiana & James UngaroRuth UngerAnn Grant & Carolyn Van NessEllie VibertCecile B. VosoCarol & James WalkerAnn WallaceKenneth & Harriet WallsKenneth & Harriet Walls

In memory of Dana Herrman & Mary Sauerteig

Ruth Anne WeisenauerJudith C. WelchRichie WilkinsonRenee & Hamilton WilliamsPete Reilly & Rose E. Wimsatt

contributors up to $99AnonymousAnonymous (5)

In memory of JoAnne Chase In memory of Dana Herrman In memory of Mary S. Sauerteig

Nancy & Cornelius T. Neal AndreaeKarla Atkinson

In memory of JoAnne ChaseMart G. BaldwinMelton BattleDon Bliss

Renee Bresler & Wayne Steifle In memory of JoAnne Chase

Carol & Robert BryantHelen H. BurnsideJason BurschKathleen CarrFrederick H. CohnMarite & Robert CurrierGail & Jerry DocktorCarol & Jim DolanMary DoughertyKenneth FlanaganFood MattersGail GeigerElizabeth & Jeremy GibbsBarbara GolemanLarry GrayGeri & Bill Hambley

In memory of Mary S. SauerteigMark HeddlestenMr. & Mrs. B. L. HeddlestenVirginia & Roger HeinWilliam HollenackScott JenningsJudith Johnson Lynn & David JoyceKen & Lin Kolb

In memory of Arnold BraunEllen & Thomas Levis Bill LovejoyJim McDonaldVirginia MeynCarolyn MillerClive MorrisMarylou & Raymond MorrisonWillard & Carol Murray

In memory of Renee BraunDon & Sarah Lee MyracleDavid NeumannTom NormandSue & Jim NullBetty & Bryan PadrickSusan ParkerShirley L. PasseriNeva & Thomas Peacock

In memory of Renee BraunMargaret PerleyPatricia PikeRuth & Jack PowersBonnie Rasmussen Mary ReadJoy ResorSharon Reynolds

In honor of Mr. & Mrs. Robert F. Allran

Jane RobertsonMarjorie SeveranceJane & George SilverLinda & Raymond StadnickPatti Black & Charlie SteeleNancy & Steve Thomas Barbara TurnerCharles Van HagenLinda Voll

2016 contributors


sponsorships

Living with the Joy of Great Music in BrevardYOU have the power to insure that YOUR Brevard Philharmonic continues to uphold the standards set by you and those who came before you in search of affordable, quality, orchestral experiences. Ticket sales cover only 42% of what it costs to bring you extraordinary live symphonic music, host international guest artists of distinction, expose each elementary grade of Transylvania County’s public schools to the elements of a live orchestra – all here in Brevard!

There are many opportunities for YOU to support YOUR Brevard Philharmonic!

Concert and Music Sponsorships

Premiere Concert Sponsorship – $5000-Your choice of available concerts to sponsor-Two season tickets plus a pair of tickets to sponsored concert-10% discount on all single ticket purchases-Recognition in press releases, program book, and website-Recognition on concert poster in the lobby-Recognition at all donor functions-Pair of complimentary invitations to all fund-raising events-Invitation to a rehearsal and meeting with the Maestro

Music in the Schools Concert Sponsorship – $4000This sponsorship enables all Transylvania County fifth-graders the experience of a live orchestra concert under the direction of Maestro Portnoy in the Porter Center.-Recognition in the MIS press releases-Recognition in the program book

Concert Sponsorship – $3000-Your choice of available concerts to sponsor-Two tickets to sponsored concert-Recognition in press release, program book, and website-Recognition on concert poster in the lobby-Recognition at all donor functions

Guest Artist Sponsorship – $2000-Your choice of available guest artists to sponsor-Two tickets to sponsored concert-Recognition in press release-Recognition on the program page of chosen concert

Music Sponsorship – $550-Your choice of musical composition to sponsor-Recognition on the program page of chosen concert


ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUPPORTING YOUR ORCHESTRA

Like most performing arts organizations, revenue from ticket sales covers only a fraction of the total expenses for our concerts. If Brevard Philharmonic makes a difference in your life and you appreciate that we have a year-round

orchestra in our community, please consider supporting Brevard Philharmonic through one of the following means:

Gift (Bequest) in your will is a gift to be made from your residuary estate. Leaving a percentage or fixed dollar amount of your residuary estate to Brevard Philharmonic ensures that the tradition of Brevard Philharmonic continues in our community for future generations. Your assets remain with you during your lifetime and your planned giving arrangements are revocable at any time. Your notification of an intended bequest will be recognized in the Brevard Philharmonic program book as a Planned Gift.

Corporate Matching Contributions are often available to nonprofit organizations such as Brevard Philharmonic through matching gifts programs. Current or retired employees of corporations offering these programs are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity, thereby increasing the size of their gift. This is an easy way for you to potentially double your contribution to Brevard Philharmonic, and both you and your employer will be recognized in the program book as having made a matching gift.

For further information please contact the Brevard Philharmonic office at 884-4221 to speak with the president, Carole Futrelle, or the treasurer, Mike McLain.


Music in the Schools i s Brevard Philharmonic’s very special outreach program to the elementary school

students of Transylvania County. Through live performances and demonstrations, many of which take place right at the County Schools and Brevard Academy, this program introduces the students to the four families of instruments that make up the symphony orchestra.

“Meet the Orchestra” is the kindergarten program that features four musicians, each representing a different instrument family. The musicians play one or more instruments from their family for the students, showing them the parts of the instrument and how the sounds are made. Finally, the four musicians play a piece together to illustrate the ensemble sound. The children are also allowed to see and touch various display instruments.

The woodwinds are the subject of the first grade program, and the presentation is provided by Camerata Antiqua, a local well-known professional recorder ensemble. Thanksgiving and medieval times have both been themes in past presentations, with the musicians wearing costumes and playing songs that match the theme. They discuss the history of wind instruments from ancient to modern times and play on a wide variety of recorders.

Due to the enormous size of the percussion family, Scott Concert Hall is the setting for the second grade percussion program. All second graders in the county (including private and home schooled) are invited to the Porter Center for an exciting demonstration of many percussion instruments presented by the Brevard College Percussion Ensemble. In addition, Tim Shepard, Director of Music at First United Methodist Church, plays and explains about the Porter Center’s impressive pipe organ. The children are thrilled by both performances as well as the concert hall experience.

Third graders are treated to a presentation of the string family by the Opal String Quartet, a local well-respected professional string quartet whose members also play in area orchestras, including the Brevard Philharmonic. The students, now in their fourth year of Music in the Schools presentations, enjoy learning the history of the violin family (and bows) and hearing the sound of the different instruments in their various registers. The students even get a chance to compose their own pieces on the spot and hear their compositions played by the quartet!

The brass family is introduced to the fourth grade by Pyramid Brass, a local well-known professional brass quintet whose members also play in the Brevard Philharmonic. The program, covers the history of brass instruments and how the sounds

music in the schools


© Susan Chambers


are produced, including the physics of low and high notes. And it turns out that even a coiled garden hose can be a brass instrument when played by these musicians!

On March 2, 2016, the Brevard Philharmonic presented its third full orchestra concert experience at the Porter Center for all county fifth graders, including private and home schooled. Both Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Haydn’s Toy Symphony were performed. The toy instruments parts were played by Derrick Gardner and Brevard Academy fifth graders and they were wonderful! On March 8, 2017, Brevard Philharmonic presents its fourth full orchestra experience at the Porter Center for all County fifth graders. BP is proud of completing its mission to reach all county elementary school students with the addition of this fifth-grade program to Music in the Schools.

We are indebted to our very supportive teachers and staff, Sarah Moser, Laura Sullivan, Carolyn Smith, Derrick Gardner, and Juli Lefler; to the program founders, Renee Braun and Jinks Ramsey; and to all the MIS volunteers including MIS coordinators Mary Beth Shumate (Brevard Philharmonic board member) and Aleta Tisdale (Brevard Philharmonic board member). MIS Program sponsorship over the years includes C Notes, a North Carolina Arts Council Grassroots Grant through the Transylvania Community Arts Council, and other generous BP donors.

The Brevard Philharmonic extends sincere appreciation to Jacquelyn and Bruce Rogow for their generous sponsorship of each of the elements of the Music In the Schools program. Their conscientious support of music education for our youth has made this grade-specific program one which inspires emulation by other arts organizations. On behalf of the youth and the audiences of tomorrow, we heartily thank the Rogows.

The Virginia W. Ramsey Fund for Music in the Schools

The Virginia W. Ramsey Fund for Music in the Schools was created with gifts from Brevard Philharmonic Board members and other community friends to acknowledge Virginia (Jinks) Ramsey’s efforts to develop an educational outreach program for the elementary school students in the Transylvania County Schools.

The Virginia W. Ramsey Fund for Music in the Schools will help provide financial support for continuing the MIS program in its entirety. Ramsey commented that this Philharmonic program is the only outreach program in the county that provides a sequenced, in-school, educational program that introduces local elementary school children in each grade to live classical music.

“For many children in our schools, this is the first time they have ever heard this kind of music in a live performance. It is our hope that our MIS program, with a different focus at each grade level, will plant the seeds for participating in and/or enjoying orchestral music as they continue their education,” Ramsey said.

We invite you to donate to this fund in memory of someone you love who also values the education of our youth in Transylvania County as Jinks Ramsey has so generously done.

For more information about this fund, please contact Philharmonic President Carole Futrelle at 884-4221, or visit the orchestra’s web site at brevardphilharmonic.org.

music in the schools

© Susan Chambers

© Susan Chambers


SEPTEMBER 11, 2016—RUSSIAN MASTERS Symphony No. 4 in F minor, op. 36 Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18 Sergei Rachmaninoff Marina Lomazov, piano

NOVEMBER 13, 2016—DVORÁK CELLO CONCERTO Symphony No. 35, in D Major “Haffner” Wolfgang Amadèus Mozart El Salón México Aaron Copland Cello Concerto in B minor, op. 104 Antonín Dvorák Amit Peled, cello

DECEMBER 15, 2016—CHRISTMAS SPLENDOR

FEBRUARY 26, 2017—BRAHMS AND RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68 Johannes Brahms Overture to West Side Story Leonard Bernstein Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Sergei Rachmaninoff Joyce Yang, piano

MARCH 12, 2017—POPS BLOCKBUSTERSelections from:My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, Catch Me If You Can, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Star Wars: The Force Awakens Clifford Leaman, alto saxophone

APRIL 30, 2017—NEW WORLD Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64 Felix Mendelssohn Stephen Waarts, violin Symphony No. 9 in E minor, op. 95, “New World” Antonín Dvorák

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board of directors2016 / 2017

PRESIDENTCarole Futrelle

VICE-PRESIDENTKristine Candler

TREASURERMike McLain

MEMBERS AT LARGEBarry BodieRoberta CarverGlenn CockerhamLeslie ColeJane DavidowskiJeremy GibbsDavid Goodman

Judy PatrickMary Beth ShumateWill SmithKelly TynchAleta Tisdale, Educational Outreach DirectorDonald Portnoy, Artistic Director/Conductor Ex-Officio Member

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERSKarla AtkinsonPolly AveretteRenee BreslerJohn LuzenaLayton ParkerJinks RamseyEd TisdalePaul Wilander

board of directors

staff

ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATORDusty Campbell

ORCHESTRA MANAGERCarla Wright

LIBRARIANKendra Rempel

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR MUSIC IN THE SCHOOLSMary Beth ShumateAleta Tisdale

C NOTES GUILD CHAIRPERSONKatinka Remus

VISIT US ONLINE AT

www.BrevardPhilharmonic.org

Program RepertoireGuest Artist Bios & Videos

PhotosBlog Pages

Music in the Schools

C NotesOrder Tickets

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Donate


Organized in the spring of 2011, C Notes is a vital supporting affiliate of the Brevard Philharmonic with an original target of 100 members donating $100 annually to help fund the Brevard Philharmonic and its community outreach programs. Thanks to the

enthusiastic willingness of our community to support and serve, membership in C Notes has consistently exceeded its goals. The funds collected for this Philharmonic guild are spent on funding the costs of additional musicians for specific concerts, providing monies for more rehearsal time, supporting the cost of outstanding guest artists, and providing additional funding as needed for the Music in the Schools program. Since its inception, C Notes has generously furnished refreshments for orchestra members and provided housing for out-of-town musicians.

The members of the C Notes guild are the first people to step up and volunteer. You will see our C Notes members ushering, serving, hosting and providing backstage assistance as needed. The Brevard Philharmonic is a stronger arts organization because of this invaluable guild. Some C Notes members are also ticket holders, additional donors, and sponsors. The Brevard Philharmonic appreciates and is enriched by the generosity of the gifts of C Notes guild.

To be part of CNotes and for more information about how you can assist and sustain the needs of the Brevard Philharmonic, please call Katinka Remus at 828-883-4362 or visit www.brevardphilharmonic.org.

c notes

2016 C Notes Members

Adele AndersonJudy AndersonKarla AtkinsonLinda AustinPolly AveretteSally BakerSusan BeckerSusan BirGail BluntPeggy BogardusMargaret W. BoggsPaula BonnerJoshua BraunRenee Bresler Poo CabeKristine CandlerRachel CarpenterCarol CarranoLeslie ChepenikChloe CogerKaren ColeElizabeth CreechHope CushmanMaggie DiRoccoLorraine FinkCarolyn FredleyElizabeth FullerCarole FutrelleCarol C. GardnerAnita GoldschmidtPatricia GorgoneNancy Granros

Geri HambleySandy HarringtonKathleen G. HendrixDana HerrmanAdelaide KershEleanor KirlinKathy KitahataSusan KloppIrma HolcombeCarlene JeromeElizabeth LambertonLaura LedfordTine LiegerotCeleste LockardLinda LocksRetha LynchVirginia MacDonaldSuzanne MacoyJean ManningMary Alice McBrayerBetty McIlwainLesley McLachlanHortense MenserBarbara MeyerMarie MillerLaurie OmbresInez ParsellHarriet PeacockLynne PennRonnie PetermanNita PorterKaren PortnoyRoberta PriceVirginia W. Ramsey

Linda RandallElaine RaynoldsKatinka RemusJacquelyn RogowPenny RoubionClaire M. RouseGloria SandersJane SargentNancy ScharsichPeggy SchneiderMary Beth ShumateDorothy SemansKaren A. ShafferLou ShelleyPatricia StarkDelilah StewartAnne StoutamireMickey TanenbaumCarole TaylorElizabeth TaylorLinda Walker ThompsonGrace E. TiffanyAleta TisdalePatricia TooleySusan ToscaniGeorgiana UngaroRuth UngerHarriett VanderschaafEllie VibertCecile B. VosoAnn V. WallaceHarriet WallsRichie Wilkinson


Do you have a band or orchestra instrument tucked away in a closet or attic, playable but no longer being

played? The Brevard Philharmonic is seeking donated instruments for ‘Music In The Schools,’ our outreach program to Transylvania County Schools.

Music In The Schools is holding the ‘Donate Your Instrument’ (DYI) drive to provide instruments to middle and high school band and orchestra teachers in Transylvania County Schools. This will make it possible for students to play these instruments in school and check them out for practice at home. The availability of free instruments will enable more students to learn an instrument and participate in middle and high school music programs. It is also hoped that DYI will enable Brevard Middle School to expand a small string group to the first ever BMS orchestra.

Why is it so important to provide the opportunity for all children to play a musical instrument? Research shows that music education boosts students’ math, computer, and language skills. And playing in the school band or orchestra provides students with another way to express themselves.

Whether children are already musically aware, or discover a new passion through this program, the investment and effort is more than worth it. That’s why Music In The Schools is asking you support the ‘DYI’ drive this year.

If you don’t have an instrument to donate, cash donations are also welcome to support the purchase of instruments or restore used instruments to playing condition. Please make checks payable to Brevard Philharmonic, with ‘DYI’ on the memo line.

You may bring a band or orchestra instrument, or your cash or check, to the Brevard Philharmonic office. The office is located in the Looking Glass Realty building at 66 S. Broad St., Brevard, NC. The orchestra phone number is 828-884-4221; please call first to confirm the office is open.

If you prefer, bring your instruments and/or cash/check donations to the next BP Concert. You will receive a receipt for your donation as Brevard Philharmonic is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization.

donate your instrument drive

© Susan Chambers

We are grateful to the following DYI donors of both cash and instruments:AnonymousAAUW membersAccoustic For a ChangePolly AverettePeggy BayneSusan BeckerRenee BreslerBrevard PhilharmonicLaurie Bigelow

John BundyNancy CarrollJeanMarie DoelFred DurandCarol ElliottA. Stuart Fendler Family TrustDouglas FittonSuzy GreeneDana HerrmanBarb HoldenRobert JacobyJudith JohnsonWendy Kotowski, Cherie NateLaura LedfordMartha LeGereEllen and Thomas LevisNanette and Jim ManharDottie MarcinkoMarylou and Raymond

Morrison

Mountain Woodwind and Brass

Jamie MurphyMusicke Antiqua and UUTCShirley L. PasseriPam PazolesHarriet PeacockJessi PingBonnie RasmussenLucy RodesMary Beth ShumateAnne StoutamireTempo MusicAleta and Ed TisdaleUUTC Men’s ClubNoni Waite-KuceraKen and Harriet Walls

In memory of Mary Sauerteig and Dana Herrman© Susan Chambers




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Documents

- Stageview · 2016-08-30 · D onald Portnoy is universally recognized as one of America’s dynamic and inspiring symphony orchestra conductors. He brings to music a unique awareness