March/april 2014
Living
OUT LOUD
Jenny Bilfield, president and CEO of Washington Performing Arts Society, wants to expand connections with the audience and larger community
inside: Strathmore Julio Iglesias to woo Gala guests
The National Philharmonic Summer institutes immerse students in music
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra A Midsummer Night to remember
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prelude
On The Cover Jenny Bilfield, president and CEO of Washington Performing Arts Society. Photo by Aaron Bernstein, courtesy The Georgetowner
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program notes
Applause at Strathmore march/april 2014
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features
March 22 45 / BSO: Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto
8 Perfectly Composed
March 2 24 / Strathmore: Michael Bolton
March 27 48 / BSO SuperPops: Stayin’ Alive: One Night of the Bee Gees
10 A Night to Remember
March 4 25 / WPAS: Murray Perahia
March 28 50 / Strathmore: Lily Tomlin
12 The Passion of Julio Iglesias
March 6 29 / BSO: Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg Plays Shostakovich
March 29 51 / Strathmore: Bring it On: The Musical
14 20-20 Vision
March 1 22 / Strathmore: Sweet Honey in the Rock 40th Anniversary Celebration
March 7 33 / Strathmore: Celtic Nights: The Emigrants Bridge March 8, 9 35 / The National Philharmonic: Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 March 13 39 / Strathmore: Olympia Dukakis in a Concert Reading of Rose March 15 40 / BSO: Bach’s Brandenburgs March 19 43 / Strathmore: Estrella Morente March 21 44 / Strathmore: Pat Metheny Unity Group With Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez, Ben Williams and Giulio Carmassi
April 3 54 / Strathmore: Keb’ Mo’
Composers attend premieres of their pieces in Strathmore series
BSO stages a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The famed singer will headline the Spring Gala at Strathmore
Stan Engebretson celebrates two decades with the National Philharmonic Chorale
April 5 55 / BSO: André Watts Returns!
16 The Music Man
April 6 58 / Strathmore: Buika
17 ‘The Perfect Concerto’
April 9 59 / Strathmore: Cirque Ziva
18 Songs of Summer
BSO bass player pays tribute to others in song
André Watts embraces Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A
April 10 60 / BSO: Itzhak Perlman
Students dive into National Philharmonic’s summer institutes
April 12, 13 64 / The National Philharmonic: Bach’s Mass in B minor
WPAS CEO Jenny Bilfield wants the arts to remain vibrant
April 23 68 / WPAS: Hilary Hahn April 25 71 / BSO Off the Cuff: Mahler’s Titan April 26 73 / 2014 Spring Gala at Strathmore: Julio Iglesias
2 applause at Strathmore • March/April 2014
20 Takin’ It to the Streets
departments
4 Musings of Strathmore CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl 4 A Note from BSO Music Director Marin Alsop 6 Calendar: May and June performances
musician rosters
31 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 38 National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale
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M US ING S from Strathmore So much of life is preoccupied by the reinvention of ourselves. Consider those already melting New Year’s resolutions to join the gym and re-sculpt our bodies. Or what about your recent threats to finally attack those long neglected and musty wardrobes, garages, basements or boxes of files. How’s that going? Think of Strathmore as the “gym for your mind,” a place where your imagination can stretch, your assumptions can be safely challenged, and you can take great leaps of mind and heart, far beyond your normal range, and still be home by 10. Why, just look at Radhe Radhe by Vijay Iyer and Prashant Bhargava. The bold new multi-media film and live music performance (which we helped commission) showcases the Indian celebration Holi, an annual rite of spring, which dovetails with the 101st anniversary of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. If you prefer the more familiar, you’ll also find Frankie Valli, Wanda Sykes and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in our recently announced season. These “resolutions” just might change how you see the world and how others see you. And isn’t that the change we really want to see?
Eliot Pfanstiehl CEO | Strathmore
Applause at Strathmore Publisher CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl Music Center at Strathmore Founding Partners Strathmore Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Dear Friends, For so many of us, our fondest memories are tied to music. Whether it’s a mother’s lullaby or the song played for your first dance at your wedding, memories tied to music are powerful ones. It goes without saying that the musicians of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra have certainly collected their fair share of musical memories over the years. And over the last two seasons, we have had the pleasure of learning the stories of their musical journeys, thanks to the ongoing Musicians Campaign. Perhaps you’ve seen these great posters in the main lobby here at the Music Center, featuring nine BSO musicians in a way you’ve likely never seen them before. This is just one of the ways that our musicians are eager to engage you in more personal, meaningful ways. Through programs like Rusty Musicians, the BSO Academy and OrchKids, our musicians are giving back to our community on a daily basis, more so today than ever before. Enjoy the concert and our wonderful musicians!
Marin Alsop
Music Director | Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
partners
● Strathmore: 301-581-5100, www.strathmore.org ● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: 301-581-5215, www.bsomusic.org ● The National Philharmonic: 301-493-9283, www.nationalphilharmonic.org ● Washington Performing Arts Society: 202-785-9727, www.wpas.org ● CityDance Ensemble: 301-581-5204, www.citydance.net ● Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras: 301-581-5208, www.mcyo.org ● Levine Music: 301-897-5100, www.levinemusic.org ● interPLAY: 301-229-0829, www.interplayband.org 4 applause at Strathmore • March/April 2014
Resident Artistic Partners The National Philharmonic Washington Performing Arts Society Levine Music Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras CityDance Ensemble Affiliates interPLAY Published by
Editor and Publisher Steve Hull Associate Publisher Susan Hull Senior Editor Cindy Murphy-Tofig Design Director Maire McArdle Art Director Karen Sulmonetti Advertising Account Executives Paula Duggan, Penny Skarupa, LuAnne Spurrell 7768 Woodmont Ave., Suite 204 Bethesda, MD 20814 301-718-7787 Fax: 301-718-1875 Volume 10, Number 4 Applause is published five times a year by the Music Center at Strathmore and Kohanza Media Ventures, LLC, publisher of Bethesda Magazine. Copyright 2010 Kohanza Media Ventures. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited.
strathmore photo by jim morris
a note from the BSO
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calendar Murry Sidlin
Co-Presented with The Defiant Requiem Foundation. Performed in memory of Fran Eizenstat.
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12 Yefim Bronfman plays the regal “Emperor” Concerto, and Marin Alsop leads the BSO in its first performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 12. uTHURS., MAY 15, 8 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra All That Jazz: A Symphonic Celebration of Kander & Ebb Jack Everly, conductor
Jack Everly, the BSO and an incredible cast of singers present a salute to the Broadway duo with showstoppers from Cabaret, Chicago, New York, New York, Kiss of the Spider Woman and more. uSAT., MAY 24, 8 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra uFRI., MAY 16, 8 P.M. Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto Strathmore presents Hans Graf, conductor Neil Sedaka Ray Chen, violin (BSO debut) Neil Sedaka’s 50-year career ranges from being one of the first teen pop sensations of the ’50s, a relevant songwriter for himself and other artists in the ’60s, a superstar in the ’70s and a force in music to this day. Neil Sedaka
This moving multimedia concert tells the story of the courageous Jewish prisoners in the World War II Theresienstadt concentration camp (Terezín) who performed Verdi’s Requiem while experiencing the depths of human degradation. uFRI., MAY 2, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents 4 Girls 4: Maureen McGovern, Andrea McArdle, Donna McKechnie and Faith Prince Four dynamic, award-winning musical stars from Broadway, film, TV and recordings come together for one night on the same stage. uSAT., MAY 3, 8 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Yefim Bronfman Marin Alsop, conductor Yefim Bronfman, piano Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
Sarah Chang
uSAT., MAY 17, 8 P.M. SUN., MAY 18, 3 P.M. The National Philharmonic Sarah Chang Plays Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Sarah Chang, violin Piotr Gajewski, conductor Strauss: Metamorphosen Vivaldi: The Four Seasons Sarah Chang’s 2007 CD of The Four Seasons attracted international commendation. Strauss wrote Metamorphosen during the closing days of World War II as an elegy for the destruction of Munich. Sponsored by Ameriprise Financial
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Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2 “Ray Chen can do pretty much anything he wants on the violin,” raves The Washington Post. Afterward, Hans Graf leads Rachmaninoff’s rapturous Second Symphony. uTHURS., MAY 29, 8 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra A Midsummer Night’s Dream: In Concert Marin Alsop, conductor Edward Berkeley, director Ying Fang, soprano Julie Boulianne, mezzo-soprano Baltimore Choral Arts Society Women’s Chorus Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Marin Alsop conducts the magical music of Mendelssohn as a cast breathes life into Shakespeare’s timeless story of love and enchantment. uSAT., MAY 31, 8 P.M. The National Philharmonic Strauss Masterpieces Piotr Gajewski, conductor Thomas Pandolfi, piano National Philharmonic Chorale
Murry Sidlin photo by Jeff Roffman, Sarah Chang photo by Colin Bell
MAY uTHURS., MAY 1, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín Murry Sidlin, creator and conductor Arianna Zukerman, soprano Ann McMahon Quintero, mezzo-soprano Issachah Savage, tenor Nathan Stark, bass Orchestra of Terezín Remembrance The City Choir of Washington Robert Shafer, artistic director
[May/June]
Based at the renowned Washington, D.C., mansion of the same name, this new ensemble was assembled by violinist Tamaki Kawakubo. This exclusive Strathmore engagement will include Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence and Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. Thomas Pandolfi Strauss: Don Juan Burlesque Wandrers Sturmlied Death and Transfiguration Explore four of Strauss’ masterpieces on the 150th anniversary of his birth. JUNE uTUES., JUNE 3, 7:30 P.M. Strathmore presents Strathmore Children’s Chorus Spring Concert
u FRI., JUNE 6, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents Sergio Mendes Eliane Elias opens Grammy winner Sergio Mendes, one of the original ambassadors of the bossa nova movement to the United States, performs with jazz pianist, arranger, vocalist and songwriter Eliane Elias. A free pre-concert lecture, Intro to Bossa Nova, will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Education Center, Room 402. Sergio Mendes
The Strathmore Children’s Chorus, led by Christopher G. Guerra, stages a springtime show-stopper to close out its second season performing in the Music Center. uTHURS., JUNE 5, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents Evermay Chamber Ensemble Co-Presented with S&R Foundation
[beyond the stage]
Thomas Pandolfi photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
Strathmore
Kapow! Comics on exhibit From the page to film to the Web and now to the fine art gallery. Since Superman first began gripping the imaginations of readers in 1938, comic books have been canonized in popular culture and elevated to an intriguing, sometimes debated and scrutinized, art form. In A Shared Universe: The Art of Comics Books, Strathmore explores the exponential growth of a genre and its virtual tidal wave of influence through storyboards, concept drawings and graphic design, limited first edition prints, webcomics, games and graphic novels. Strathmore looks back at the history of comics and forward, through the work of young, enterprising artists, to observe the evolution of comic art. On view from April 12 to June 8 in the Mansion.
u SAT., JUNE 7, 8 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Beethoven’s Ninth Marin Alsop, conductor Nicole Cabell, soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano (BSO debut) Dimitri Pittas, tenor (BSO debut) James Morris, bass-baritone Baltimore Choral Arts Society Peabody Children’s Chorus John Adams: On the Transmigration of Souls Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 “Choral” Hear the epic, timeless message of humanity and brotherhood when Marin Alsop leads the BSO, Baltimore Choral Arts Society and guest soloists in Beethoven’s inspiring “Ode to Joy” from the Ninth Symphony. u FRI., JUNE 13, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents John Prine Legendary singer-songwriter John Prine reclaims traditional music, infusing it with social and political import and celebrating the simple joys of love and a life well-lived. A winner of the American Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and a member of the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, Prine has writJohn ten for Johnny Prine Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, John Denver, Carly Simon and many others. u SAT., JUNE 14, 8 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Casablanca: Music and Movie Emil de Cou, conductor This classic film, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, brings hope and heartache to the big screen while the orchestra performs Max Steiner’s famous soundtrack. applause at Strathmore • March/April 2014 7
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Perfectly
Composed
Strathmore commissions pieces, premieres them with composers in attendance
Parker Quartet
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weet love songs: Aaron Grad loves them. “There’s nothing more timeless in music than the expression of love,” says Grad, a composer, guitarist, musical consultant and D.C.-area native. “One of the most basic, instinctive forms of human communication is to serenade one’s beloved.” Which explains why he’s all fired up about OldFashioned Love Songs, his newest work. Commissioned in part by Strathmore, Old-Fashioned Love Songs features Grad and countertenor Gus Mercante, plus an instrument that Grad conceived, invented and will play during his concert in the Music Room of the Mansion at Strathmore. “It’s a hybrid form of an Italian Renaissance lute, the theorbo, which has been around since the late 1500s,” he explains. “I was visually stunned and sonically amazed by it.”
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Aaron Grad
Inspired, too: The electric theorbo has the depth of a cello, the flexibility of a guitar, the tuning system of a harp and a visually-arresting double neck. Like the love songs he composes, it is at once of-themoment and old-fashioned, and its inclusion at the center of this show offers concertgoers a rare chance to see a composer perform his creations on an instrument of his own invention.
Parker Quartet photo by Cameron Wittig
By Chris Slattery
Music in the Mansion Capsule Series For additional information or to purchase tickets, go to www.strathmore.org or call (301) 581-5100.
Strathmore likes that—even if it’s a sonic situation that sometimes defies description. This spring’s series of new music—a capsule concert series that’s part of Music in the Mansion—will be performed with the composer in attendance. The series promises to shake up the audiences’ perception and showcase the best in modern original composition. “When we say ‘new music,’ it can scare people. They don’t know what it is,” says Georgina Javor, Strathmore’s director of programming. “But these composers are no different than Beethoven or Stravinsky were during their time. They are simply creating wonderful music in real time.” And there’s plenty of music to love, with performances of works by Grad, Jeremy Gill, Justin Boyer and Gabriel Kahane scheduled for this spring. Also on tap is a concert with Louis Andriessen that’s part of the D.C.-wide Andriessen 75 festival. Javor says the series is an affirmation of Strathmore’s commitment to commissioning new music and exposing concertgoers to works by contemporary composers. Grad, she adds, was actually the inspiration for this concert series. “You can’t ask Bach exactly how he wanted those eighth notes played,” Javor points out. “But working with a living composer means a musician can go straight to the source. “It becomes collaboration, between the musician and the composer, and that brings a new energy to the performance.” Among those collaborations is the serendipitous pairing of composer-musician Jeremy Gill with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra violist Peter Minkler on March 30 and The Parker Quartet on March 31. It’s a two-day celebration of Gill that features the composer performing a world premiere piece during a concert with Minkler, plus a performance by the Parker Quartet that features Gill’s composition, Capriccio. “I’m honored, of course,” says Gill, who is a pianist, conductor and teacher as well as a composer. “It’s an exciting thing, to be able to present a lot of music all at once, an opportunity to present my music in a way I rarely do.” Gill explains that though he has a long-standing relationship with the Parker Quartet and with Minkler, these back-to-back concerts will mark his Strathmore debut and the first time Capriccio has been performed before a D.C. audience. “Capriccio is really interesting,” he says. “If you
Peter Minkler & Jeremy Gill Sunday, March 30 at 3 p.m. Tickets: $25 A two-day celebration of composer Jeremy Gill begins with Gill in concert with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra violist Jeremy Gill Peter Minkler. Parker Quartet Monday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $28 The evening includes the D.C.area premiere of Jeremy Gill’s work Capriccio. Andriessen 75 Cristina Zavalloni, voice Monica Germino, violin Andrea Rebaudengo, piano Tuesday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $25 Cristina Zavalloni swings from bel
canto to jazz in a performance of works by Dutch composer Louis Andriessen. Gabriel Kahane & Rob Moose Thursday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $30 Violinist and guitarist Rob Moose joins Kahane for an intimate evening of Kahane’s songs in arrangements that are spare, intricate and emotionally direct. Aaron Grad, electric theorbo Gus Mercante, countertenor Thursday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $28 Aaron Grad returns to Strathmore with an instrument he invented and his newest work—Old-Fashioned Love Songs, commissioned in part by Strathmore.
Music in the Mansion is sponsored by Asbury Methodist Village. Additional support provided by the Randy Hostetler Living Room Music Fund.
ask a musician what a capriccio is they’d say ‘a short piece, tossed off; light in character and mood.’ But the actual history of the term is different: in the past it was applied to quite ambitious works.” Indeed, he cites a 1627 Baroque work called Capriccio Stravagante by Carlo Farina that features movements wherein instruments imitate the sounds of cats and dogs, as well as a 1561 madrigal cycle (also called Capriccio) by Jacquet deBerchem that led to the creation of opera. “I really love that idea of playing with a capriccio,” says Gill. And Strathmore, in turn, really loves the idea of engaging composers, going out and finding new music and creating a place where audiences can come for something new and potentially wonderful. “The classical canon is important,” says Javor, “but it’s 2014. In addition to presenting established work, it’s our responsibility as a performing arts organization to have a stage for new composers.”
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Baltimore Symphony ORchestra
Night
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to Remember
Shakespeare’s rich text and Mendelssohn’s sprightly music enrich BSO’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream By Virginia Myers
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hen the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra takes the stage on May 29, an entire new section will take its place beside the woodwinds, brass and strings. A cast of seven actors and two opera singers will be on hand to present a semi-staged production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with music by Felix Mendelssohn. Adding theater to Mendelssohn’s score, and adding music to Shakespeare’s tale, gives each element a new dimension. Mendelssohn’s Overture, nocturne, scherzo, marches and other incidental music set the mood for dreamy sequences or comic passages and carry listeners through drama and celebration. The actors will perform segments of the play without props, scenery or costume changes, using their craft (along with accessories such as hats and scarves) to cover a total of 25 roles. Linda Powell, who plays both Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons and Titania, the fairy queen, is looking forward to the challenge. “You have to be very specific with your choices, so that you’re making the story clear in a shorter amount of time, with a little less apparatus around you,” she says. But she’s not worried: “Shakespeare’s text is so rich that I trust that to do a lot of the work.” For Powell, more well known for her work on tele-
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream: In Concert Thursday, May 29, 8 P.M. 10 applause at Strathmore • March/April 2014
vision shows such as Law & Order and Chicago Fire, the production will be a reunion; she and John Bolger, who plays Theseus, Duke of Athens and Oberon, the fairy king, played the same parts 20 years ago and under the same director, Edward Berkeley, at Willow Cabin Theatre Company in New York. Powell is excited to work with the old team again. She calls Berkeley smart but also mischievous, and anticipates that acting on a stage surrounded by the rich sound of a full orchestra will be thrilling—just as it was when she presented a similarly staged version of Berlioz’s Beatrice and Benedict with the New York Philharmonic in 2003. Bolger also has a broad film and television background, as well as more recent work on a touring production of South Pacific and NBC’s The Sound of Music. Calling the Midsummer Night’s Dream collaboration “a dream come true (no pun intended),” he places great faith in Berkeley’s direction. “I’m more than thrilled to be part of it,” he says. “Shakespeare is very much like a great composer, in that everything is on the page before you. All you need to do is to wear it like a new suit of clothes and make it fit. He does the rest. He really is the structure and the support.” The actors will add an unexpected element to the concert hall, but that’s nothing new for the BSO. “I am always interested in new ways to present concerts and bring the vibrancy and relevance of the music to life,” says BSO Music Director Marin Alsop. “Combining great disciplines is a perfect vehicle.” A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a comedic caper involving misunderstanding, crisscrossed lovers and magical woods thick with fairies, is a natural choice. “Especially with this comedy, the music punctuates and ac-
Linda Powell
Marcus Kyd
John Bolger
Kate Eastwood Norris
centuates the incredible drama, adding emotion and humor as the script unfolds,” says Alsop. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was one of Mendelssohn’s favorite plays, and he penned the Overture when he was just 17, completing the rest of the music 17 years later. Alsop expects audiences to especially enjoy the “sprightly woodwind and string moments” as well as the familiar “Wedding March.” Historically, “[Shakespeare] had a lot of music included in the plays,” says Berkeley, who now directs undergraduate opera studies at Juilliard and teaches at Circle in the Square Theater School. “Songs and heralding and flourishes and dances were all part of the style of writing.” Berkeley adapted Mendelssohn’s
music for the BSO production himself. For him, the historical authenticity of using music with Shakespeare is secondary to the immediate reward of merging music and theater. “It’s like a double pleasure,” he says. “You have both the language in the story and the characters, and you also have the pleasure that the music brings.” Alsop agrees: “By presenting both together, our audience’s experience will be enhanced exponentially.” Shakespeare often described music as a healing force, says Berkeley, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a perfect example. “The play itself is incredibly appealing,” he says. “It’s young lovers having troubles, solving their problems in both a serious and very, very funny way. And then Mendelssohn as a romantic is incredibly engaging. That mix is perfect… He really caught the tenderness and the healing power of the play and of the music all at once.”
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Strathmore presents 2014 Spring Gala at Strathmore: Julio Iglesias Saturday, April 26, 9 P.M.
The Passion of Julio Iglesias The singer blends his love of music and education during Strathmore’s gala to support arts education By Chris Slattery
T
he swoon begins as soon as Julio Iglesias speaks. That gentle laugh. That silken accent. That voice. It is the voice heard around the world, by millions of people, in 14 languages. The voice behind the megahits “All of You,” “My Love” and “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before.” And the voice that some extremely lucky concertgoers will hear at the 2014 Spring Gala at Strathmore on April 26—and they’d better get their tickets quick, because Iglesias has plans for that evening. Big plans. “In the U.S. I do concerts in very intimate venues and I like that,” he explains. “I can feel the passion between 2,000 people and myself. “It isn’t a question of money in my life anymore, or record sales, or even large venues. It’s a question of passion.” And Iglesias has passion. Being onstage is way more than just singing or performing. This is Julio Iglesias, and when he is in front of an audience, he is wooing just about everybody within earshot. He says he grew up “a normal child.” Born in
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Madrid, he was a doctor’s son driven to succeed; a professional soccer player for Real Madrid and a law student as well when a car crash left him paralyzed. “I became a singer—a bad singer, at first,” he laughs. “But you know, to me ‘learning’ is the most beautiful word. Today, for me to be alive and performing in concert—I never take it for granted.” Iglesias’ fondness for learning dovetails nicely with Strathmore’s strong dedication to education. “Julio Iglesias’ performance at the Strathmore Gala will raise money to support our arts education programs and outreach,” explains Shelley Brown, Strathmore’s artistic director and vice president of programming. “It’s a unique opportunity: we get to present one of the most successful recording artists of all time to our gala audience, and at the same time help students from diverse backgrounds participate in our camps and other programs.” It’s a win-win for Strathmore and for Iglesias, too. Part of his passion, he says, is “the kids without an option for education, for music. “To give them hope is very important to me.”
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THE National Philharmonic
20-20 vision Two decades in, Artistic Director Stan Engebretson still leads the National Philharmonic Chorale with grace, precision and the ever-present twinkle in his eye By Roger Catlin
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hen National Philharmonic Chorale Artistic Director Stan Engebretson wants to make a point, he often does it with sayings so memorable that singers frequently jot them down on scores, commit them to memory and consider making them into T-shirts. Things like: “Angels never schlep.” “No parking on whole notes” and “Breathe deeply to your toes.” “When it applies to something you’re working on, you don’t forget it,” says Theodore M. Guerrant, the longtime chorale accompanist. “It’s a way to make it stick in your memory.” And it helps make a great chorale director—one who is marking his 20th anniversary this season with the National Philharmonic. Engebretson was music director of Masterworks Chorus, which preceded the chorale, and was instrumental in successfully merging it with the National Chamber Orchestra to create the National Philharmonic. Since then, he’s been hailed for doubling the size of the chorale and helping to establish it as Strathmore’s resident chorale. How did he do it? National Philharmonic Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski says Engebretson is “able to attract the best singers and then train them in a way to turn their singing into wonderful blended ensembles. He really draws people in and has a
lot of loyalty and respect from the group and all the singers.” The chorale’s audience has grown so much that several annual events, including Handel’s Messiah and Verdi’s Requiem, routinely sell out. “We have a following now,” says longtime chorale member Melissa Lieberman. While previous directors have had other approaches, Lieberman says, “Stan is a ‘big picture’ guy, very emotion driven. He tries to make sure the chorus really understands what they’re singing and can convey that to the audience.” “He has high standards and he does what he does to bring out our best, to sing the best we’re capable of,” says tenor Ruth Faison. Growing up in North Dakota gave Engebretson grounding in Midwestern values, says Todd Eskelsen, a member of
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the National Philharmonic board of directors. “He’s a hard worker, and in all the years I’ve known him, he’s always had multiple jobs he’s working at.” In addition to his duties with the chorale, Engebretson is a professor of music and director of choral studies at George Mason University and director of music at D.C.’s historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church—all this despite a bout with cancer a few years back that kept him from practice only a few weeks. And he does it all with a smile on his face, says National Philharmonic Associate Conductor Victoria Gau. “He’s got a great sense of humor, always seems to be present. And he’s one of those people who, when he smiles, his eyes twinkle.”
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Baltimore Symphony ORchestra
The Music Man When he’s not performing with the orchestra, BSO bass player Jonathan Jensen composes tributes to fellow musicians, public figures and even the Ravens By Laura Farmer
hat do the Ravens, former BSO Music Director Yuri Temirkanov and former Baltimore mayor and Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer all have in common? They have all served as fodder for the musical compositions of BSO bass player Jonathan Jensen. “As a kid, I was well-known for making up songs,” says Jensen. “I put this love of composing aside for years as I studied bass.” In 1987, Jensen found a good reason to pick songwriting back up. “An Italian BSO violist, who happened to be quite a character, was retiring. I got the idea to write a musical ‘roast’ for him to the tune of ‘Funiculì, Funiculà.’ This jumpstarted my unofficial role as musical tribute writer for the BSO.” Since that debut musical roast, Jensen has written more than 20 song parodies to mark the retirements and birthdays of his BSO colleagues. “I’ll never forget the goodbye song I composed for Yuri Temirkanov. It was written to the tune of “I’ve Got Rhythm” and was sung in both English and Russian. People from the orchestra even got up to sing and dance.” Last year, an ode to the Ravens that Jensen penned earned YouTube fame as Baltimore’s other hometown team made its way to the Super Bowl. “That was so much fun,” says Jensen. “I am not really a football fan and had to take a crash course in the who’s-who of the Ravens players. Luckily, there are enough Ravens fans in the orchestra that it was easy to get up to speed on all things football.” Recently, Jensen has applied his talents to eulogizing political luminary William Donald Schaefer. “I had an idea that Schaefer’s mayoral years would make a great subject for a musical. He is a larger-than-life character who has had a huge impact on the city of Baltimore and beyond,” Jensen says. With the help of Baltimore playwright Rich Espey, Do It Now began to take shape. The musical includes the hard-
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hitting title song, inspired by Schaefer’s well-known mantra, and also features big production numbers that spotlight historic moments, such as the seal pool swim, as well as more intimate scenes, like a torch song sung by his longtime companion Hilda Mae Snoops. The musical has enjoyed two public read-throughs, but Jensen and his team are still exploring production possibilities. “So many Baltimoreans have fond memories of Schaefer. I think this musical could really be a hit. I didn’t know I had it in me to write this,” says Jensen. “I guess all the songs I’ve created to celebrate unique individuals over the years have prepared me to take on this project.”
Christian Colberg
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Baltimore Symphony ORchestra
‘The Perfect Concerto’ Pianist André Watts’ passion for Romantic works emanates from Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A By Pamela Toutant
Steve J. Sherman
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conic pianist and local favorite André Watts returns to the Music Center at Strathmore April 5 to play one of classical music’s greatest and most popular piano concertos, Edvard Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A. Audiences know Watts for his virtuosic playing and rhapsodic interpretations of works from the Romantic era. Q: You have a long association with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore/Washington area. Can you share some of that history? A: I first began playing with the BSO in the 1960s. Although the orchestra changes over time, there is some sense of continuity. I also … attended the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and studied with Leon Fleisher. I have also served as artist-in-residence at the University of Maryland. Q: You will be playing Grieg’s beloved Piano Concerto in A with the BSO in April. What makes this concerto one of the greats? A: Grieg’s piano concerto contains chamber music, symphonic music, and tunes—all earmarks of a great piano concerto. … In fact, Rachmaninoff thought it was the perfect concerto. Q: Do you have a favorite movement of the concerto? A: I must say the slow second movement is divine. I once visited the jetty in Norway where Grieg is buried. … The light shines beautifully on the water and because the water level is high, you have the feeling that you are in the water. When I saw this place I thought, “Oh, this is what the piano entrance in the slow movement is about!” Q: As a teacher at Indiana University, what do you enjoy about working with students? A: I really like talking about music, examining it. Conversing about music with my students is very rewarding because it forces me to verbally articulate my thoughts, which is different from my interior voice. … Then I go back to my studio and suddenly find myself more aware of making the same mistakes I have just told my students not to make!
Q: What advice would you give young pianists pursuing a classical music career today? A: You must protect your uniqueness, that is, your relationship with your music must come first. … In the process of going after your career, your priority must be on your gift. … In a sense, your musical gift is like a moral compass. Q: Any unique challenges down the road? A: I am in the fortunate position of playing only those works I like. And everything I play is challenging. For example, it has been 50 years since I first performed the Brahms second piano concerto and it is still very, very challenging.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents André Watts Returns! Saturday, April 5, 8 P.M. applause at Strathmore • March/April 2014 17
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THE National Philharmonic
Songs of Summer Chorus and orchestral students sharpen their skills at the National Philharmonic’s summer institutes By Roger Catlin
his summer, when many teens opt for beach trips before school starts, dozens of serious music students travel instead to the summer music institutes run by the National Philharmonic. The summer choral institutes, conducted in partnership with Montgomery College, provide high school, college and adult singers with instruction on vocal techniques, coaching and rehearsal time. Two different week-long string institutes, one for high school students and another for middle school students, include chamber coaching sessions, private sessions, two daily orchestral rehearsals and a daily movement class. “It’s really a very cool, very intense musical experience that culminates in an afternoon chamber concert and an evening orchestra concert,” says Victoria Gau, the National Philharmonic associate conductor who is director of education, conducts the middle school orchestra and administers all of the orchestra’s summer music programs. Students, chosen from teacher recommendations, come from all over the metropolitan area, she says, “from down as far as Prince William County and down toward Frederick, and a whole lot of D.C. kids.” “It’s a total immersion program,” says National Philharmonic Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski, who presides over the high school session. “The faculty to student ratio is very, very small, and there’s a tremendous amount of individual attention.”
“A lot of kids find it’s a tremendous help to them,” says Gajewski, who adds that it’s a great way for young musicians to sharpen up in advance of their school year. “Sometimes students go a little bit easy over the summer with their studies, and with our [strings] institutes falling in August, it’s just about the time to be getting ready for youth orchestra auditions, which typically take place the first week of September. “Attending the institute wakes them up and gets them playing—eight hours a day for a full week—so their level of playing takes a great leap upwards, and is able to build on that,” he says. When it comes time for the concerts, scheduled Aug. 8 for the high school students and Aug. 15 for middle school
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students, “the level of proficiency is just extraordinary,” Gajewski says. He adds that there is a ripple effect to what they’ve accomplished. “What they learn from us, they take back to their ensembles and youth orchestras and affect those positively with everything that they have gained,” he says. The choral institutes—July 14-18 for high school and college students and July 8, 10, 15 and 17 for adults—culminate in a combined performance on July 18 at Montgomery College’s Silver Spring campus. Registration forms for both the summer strings and choral institute programs are available at www.nationalphilharmonic.org.
Ruth Faison
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Washington Performing Arts Society
Takin’ it to the
Streets… Jenny Bilfield, new president and CEO of Washington Performing Arts Society, wants the arts to be as vibrant in communities as in concert halls By M.J. McAteer
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Felipe Buitrago, courtesy Stanford Live
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enny Bilfield is no Greta Garbo. Far from wanting to be left alone, the new head of the Washington Performing Arts Society is an ardent believer in forging and deepening connections—with audiences, with the community, and with other cultural organizations. “I live artistically in collaborations,” she says. That mindset makes her a custom fit for WPAS, which presents world-class performers, nurtures budding area artists and provides extensive arts education. The University of Pennsylvania music graduate, only the fourth CEO and president in WPAS’ history, won over the search committee by how perfectly her expertise and experience meshed with the organization’s three-pronged mission. At her previous post as artistic and executive director of Stanford Lively Arts at Stanford University, Bilfield expanded the organization’s portfolio to include production and developed programs that reached out to students and the public alike. Bilfield further impressed the committee with her energy. “Jenny wrote us almost a dissertation about what she would do. You could see the depth of knowledge and the passion,” says Reginald Van Lee, executive vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton and chairman of WPAS’ board of directors. “It was infectious.” As a presenter, Bilfield wasted no time in making her mark at WPAS. When she arrived last April— replacing Neale Perl, who had been CEO and president since 2002 and now holds the position of president emeritus—the 2013-2014 calendar was already outlined. But she immediately saw a connection that she wanted to showcase and wove the first two weeks of programming into an opening celebration called, “The City Is Our Stage.” Whether it was the Mariinsky Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, the VelocityDC Dance Festival at Sidney Harman Hall or a family arts fair at THEARC in Ward 8, the WPAS was on stages all over the city. Bilfield also used the festival to introduce her “Linger Longer” series, which she sees as a way to add depth to the artist-audience relationship. The first “Linger Longer” was a conversation between Jeremy Denk and New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier following the pianist’s performance of the Goldberg Variations; the second, dessert and dancing with company members after a performance by the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The new head of the WPAS is well aware, however, that her
appointment has been accompanied by some nervous speculation “that classical programming will explode” under her leadership. The concern stems partly from her role as a commissioner of works by such artists as John Adams and Steve Reich, but also from her tenure as president of the North American office of Boosey & Hawkes, publisher of Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev and others. To those who may harbor such worries, Bilfield points out that she is a classically trained pianist who began playing at age 3 and was aimed toward a performance career before realizing—not surprisingly— that she didn’t relish “the solitary confinement of the practice room.” “My vision for WPAS engages a refreshed, expanded performing arts palette, built upon the core of the last 48 years,” she says. “I equally love Laurie Anderson’s work, Esperanza Spalding, and the sort of allBach program that András Schiff presented at Strath-
“My vision for WPAS engages a refreshed, expanded performing arts palette, built upon the core of the last 48 years.” Jenny Bilfield more last season. And I’m finding that many of our audience members do as well.” As a producer, Bilfield hopes to frame programming that will bring more of a sense of place into WPAS’ interactions with the community, tapping into what she calls “the unique DNA of the city.” The organization is well positioned to expand upon its role as educator extraordinaire, too. Its “penetrating and profound role in the community is unparalleled in the country,” Bilfield says, pointing to outreach efforts that include concerts in the schools, master classes, a string competition, an adult and a children’s gospel choir, five summer music camps, an embassy adoption program and collaborative arts partnerships that focus on jazz, dance, voice and strings. One of her goals is to add even more connections to that extensive network. “I love discovering just how different and exciting the different neighborhoods are,” she says. “I’ve tried to begin to frame our programming to bring more texture of the city into communications and collaborations with the community.”
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Saturday, March 1, 2014, 8 p.m.
saturday, March 1, 2014, 8 p.m.
● Strathmore Presents
Sweet Honey in the Rock 40th Anniversary Celebration: Forty & Fierce Featuring Sweet Honey in the Rock Louise Robinson Carol Maillard Nitanju Bolade Casel Aisha Kahlil Shirley Childress (American Sign Language interpreter) Guest performers: Navasha Daya, vocals Parker McAllister, bass Samuel Turner, percussion Dianne McIntyre, director/choreographer Guy Smith, lighting design Robert Montenegro, visual designer Ves Weaver, production manager/technical director Art Steele, sound engineer Dwana Makeba, road manager Jeanna Disney, IMN, booking agency Ramon Hervey II, Hervey & Company, management A SHE-ROCKS 5, Inc. Production The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Sweet Honey in the Rock Sweet Honey in the Rock has maintained a rich and distinguished legacy as one of the most revered and treasured a cappella ensembles in
contemporary music. Over the past four decades the Grammy-nominated group has stayed true to its adventurous and diverse mixture of blues, African, jazz, gospel and R&B music, with more recent excursions into symphonic music and dance/theater collaborations. This year the ensemble is celebrating and presenting Sweet Honey in the Rock 40th Anniversary Celebration: Forty & Fierce, its most adventurous live performance. Forty & Fierce features its first collaborative partnership with director/choreographer Dianne McIntyre. The show is wrapped visually and
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contextually in a scrapbook motif that will take audiences on a musical and visual journey back through the group’s beginnings in 1973. The show will also feature a series of video projected images and archival montages that will be thematically tied into personal anecdotes and narrative story-telling by each member. The live presentation will feature Sweet Honey’s core members, Louise Robinson, Carol Maillard, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil and American Sign Language interpreter Shirley Childress, plus guest vocalist Navasha Daya, bassist Parker McAllister and a percussionist. Sweet Honey’s list of musical and activist achievements since its creation as a quartet in 1973 at the D.C. Black Repertory Theater Company in Washington, D.C. by Dr. Bernice Reagon is beyond stunning. The ladies have performed in Nairobi and Beijing at the U.N. World Conference on Women, toured Europe, Japan, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and have been the subject of two PBS documentaries (Gotta Make This Journey and Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice). They’ve recorded film soundtracks, received several Grammy nominations and shared Grammy Awards for their participation in the multi-artist record Folkways: A Vision Shared—A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly, as well as for their contribution to cELLAbration: A Tribute to Ella Jenkins. In 2012, Sweet Honey debuted its first orchestral collaboration, providing the lyrics for composer William Banfield’s Symphony 10: Affirmations for a New World, co-commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center. The ensemble also released the single and video, “Are We a Nation,” inspired by the controversial Arizona immigration law. The song captured a Gold Songwriter Award from the 27th Mid-Atlantic Song Contest and was featured on an all-star compilation, Bordersongs, that raised money for the No More Deaths organization. Sweet Honey’s latest two-CD set, A Tribute—Live! Jazz at Lincoln Center,
Saturday, March 1, 2014, 8 p.m.
released in February 2013, pays homage to some of the great female AfricanAmerican vocalists whose songs and activism helped shape the group.
Nitanju Bolade Casel
Nitanju Bolade Casel joined Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1985 and has served behind the scenes as treasurer for more than 25 years. As a dancer/ choreographer, Casel—the former assistant director of the Art of Black Dance & Music and Director of Young Afrique Dance Company in Massachusetts—has also taught at Boston University, Roxbury Community College and the Joy of Movement Center. Casel has volunteered with the National Association of Music Educators as a public service announcer. She also is co-founder of Artistes Des Echanges Africaines, in Dakar, Senegal, which worked with local artists and organizations to strengthen the cultural ties between African and African-American culture. Her film credits include Beloved, Freedom Song and The Box. In May 2012 she received an honorary doctorate degree from the Chicago Theological Seminary. Through her publishing company, Clear Ice Music, her compositions have been licensed in multiple disciplines, including the 2006 Australian Broadcasting Company’s educational series, Sing!, Pearson’s Educational series and Mystic Seaport’s Black Hands, Blue Seas: The African American Maritime Experience. Casel produced the Grammy-nominated Experience…101 and A Tribute—Live! Jazz at Lincoln Center, both by Sweet Honey in the Rock. Casel resides on the East Coast with her husband, Oso Tayari, and son Obadele.
Aisha Kahlil
Aisha Kahlil possesses a dynamic range in jazz, blues, contemporary and traditional African vocal styles and techniques, earning her the title of best soloist from the Contemporary a Cappella Society of America. Her song, “Fulani Chant,” was included on the soundtrack to Down in the Delta, directed by Maya Angelou, and in a film produced by
the Breast Cancer Fund, Climb Against the Odds. Her composition, “Wodaabe Nights,” was featured in the film Africans in America. She has appeared in Joseph Papp’s off-Broadway production of The Haggadah, co-composed and performed in the musical Two Thousand Seasons, and performed the music of Ma Rainey in the Jazz in the Palm Court series at the Smithsonian Institution. Kahlil’s film credits include Beloved, starring Oprah Winfrey, and original music for the film Freedom Song, starring Danny Glover. Her arrangement of “Strange Fruit” was featured in Freedom Never Dies, a PBS production of the life of Harry Moore. A master teacher in voice and dance, Kahlil has taught at the Institute for Contemporary Dance, The Joy of Motion, the Boston Center for the Arts, Leslie College and the D.C. Black Repertory Theatre. Kahlil also tours with her own band, MyKa. She is also a winner in the International Songwriting Competition performance category with her original song, “The Jewel Light.” Journey to My-Ka is her first solo release.
Carol Maillard
Carol Maillard was born and raised in Philadelphia. She attended Catholic University of America, and after writing music and performing with the drama department, pursued a major in theater. This passion for the stage brought her to the D.C. Black Repertory Company and the beginnings of Sweet Honey in the Rock. Maillard is an accomplished actress and has performed in film, television and on stage. She has performed on and off-Broadway with the Negro Ensemble Company and the New York Shakespeare Festival, and at the Actors Studio. She can be seen in the feature films Beloved and Thirty Years to Life. On television, Maillard has appeared in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide and Halleluiah! on PBS, and on Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order. Maillard was conceptual and creative producer for the documentary film Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice! on the PBS series American
Masters. She also produced the accompanying soundtrack for the film. She lives in Manhattan and is the mother of Jordan Maillard Ware, who attends Morehouse College.
Louise Robinson
Louise Robinson, a native New Yorker, studied concert bass for six years and attended the High School of Music and Art. A graduate of Howard University, her professional career began at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage. Robinson became a member of the D.C. Black Repertory Company Acting Ensemble, which led to the formation of Sweet Honey in the Rock. Robinson’s career has taken her up many paths, including performances, both on and off-Broadway, and in film, as well as studio recording. She has also produced, with Maillard and Smokey Ronald Stevens, A Sho Nuff Variety Revue, a series of performances showcasing some of New York’s finest talent, including Adolph Casear, Sandra Reeves Phillips and legendary tap dancers Gregory Hines, Avon Long and Joe Attles. Robinson was the founding director of the a cappella quintet Street Sounds. She returned to Sweet Honey in the Rock in 2004. Shirley Childress Shirley Childress has been the American Sign Language interpreter for Sweet Honey in the Rock since 1981. She is a skilled professional sign language interpreter, having learned ASL from her deaf parents. In their honor she founded the Herbert and Thomasina Childress Scholarship Fund to assist other children of deaf adults to explore sign interpreting as a career. Childress holds a bachelor’s degree in deaf education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has studied adult education at the University of the District of Columbia. Childress, a native of Washington, D.C., is an avid reader, loves photography, and has written several articles about her work as a sign language interpreter and her life experiences with her deaf parents.
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Sunday, March 2, 2014, 7 p.m.
SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2014, 7 p.m.
● Strathmore Presents
Michael Bolton The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Michael Bolton Michael Bolton is a multiple Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and social activist who has sold more than 53 million albums and singles worldwide. Bolton has recorded and performed with musical icons that have inspired and influenced his own career. He joined Luciano Pavarotti onstage in a rendition of “Vesti La Giubba” and pays homage to the Italian tenor when performing the aria “Nessun Dorma” at each of his concerts while on tour. He has sung with Placido Domingo, José Carreras and Renee Fleming, and played guitar with B.B. King. Bolton earned a Grammy nomination for “Georgia on My Mind” and was invited to sing the classic song to Ray Charles when Charles was honored at the International Jazz Hall of Fame
Awards in 1997. Bolton performed duets with both Seal and Lara Fabian to standing ovations for a March 2011 David Foster & Friends PBS special. Bolton has collaborated with noted songwriters and producers including Lady Gaga, Diane Warren, Desmond Child, David Foster, Walter Afanasieff, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, John “Mutt” Lange, Dann Huff, A.R. Rahman, Phil Ramone, Ne-Yo and Billy Mann. He is one of the few artists to have co-written with Bob Dylan, resulting in the megahit “Steel Bars.” Bolton has written songs that have been recorded and performed by a diverse list of more than 100 artists, ranging from country western legend Conway Twitty to hip-hop superstar Kanye West featuring Jay-Z and John Legend. Other greats who have performed Bolton’s songs include Marc Anthony, Wynonna Judd, Joe Cocker, Peabo Bryson, Kenny Rogers and Patti LaBelle. Bolton also wrote No. 1 hits for Laura Branigan (“How Am I Supposed to Live Without You”), KISS (“Forever”), Barbra Streisand (“We’re Not Making Love Anymore”), Cher (“I Found Someone”) and Kenny G (“By the Time This Night Is Over”). Bolton has always balanced a love for writing new songs with a passion for covering the classics. On his breakthrough album The Hunger, Bolton authored the No. 1 single “That’s What Love Is All About” and sang his chart-topping version of Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of
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the Bay.” That album was certified double platinum and shipped 4 million copies worldwide. To date, Bolton has seen eight studio albums rank in the top 10 and nine No. 1 singles. Bolton’s true signature success was seized with the album Soul Provider, selling more than 12.5 million copies worldwide, and showcasing several chart-toppers including the No. 1 hit single “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” which earned Bolton his first Grammy. Soon after, Bolton released the No. 1 album Time, Love & Tenderness, which has sold more than 16 million copies worldwide and features his Grammy Award-winning performance of “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Bolton followed this up with a collection of soulful classics on Timeless, delivering the hit singles “To Love Somebody” and “Reach Out (I’ll Be There).” From his next album, The One Thing, came Bolton’s single “Said I Loved You… But I Lied,” which earned him another Grammy nomination. Bolton’s songs and performances have been featured in numerous television and film soundtracks, including the Academy Award-nominated theme song “Go the Distance” from Walt Disney’s animated film Hercules. He also executive produced the documentary Terror at Home addressing domestic violence in America, and was Emmy-nominated for writing the title song “Tears of the Angels.” For his dedication to social activism, Bolton has been honored with several humanitarian awards—including the Martin Luther King Award granted by the Congress of Racial Equality, the Lewis Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations and the Frances Preston Lifetime Achievement Award. Bolton is especially proud of the initiatives carried out by his own foundation, the Michael Bolton Charities, now in its 20th year of advocating on behalf of women and children at risk.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014, 8 p.m.
tuesDAY, march 4, 2014, 8 P.M.
pianist throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and South East Asia. In the 2013-14 season, apart from touring Europe, Perahia appears in recital in Japan and for the first time in Australia. In February 2014 he played the Schumann Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston and in New York’s Carnegie Hall before embarking on a recital tour across America. Perahia’s recording of Brahms’ Händel Variations, which won the Gramophone Award in 2011, was described as “one of the most rewarding Brahms recitals currently available.” Some of his previous solo recordings feature a fiveCD boxed set of his Chopin recordings, Bach’s Partitas Nos. 1, 5 and 6 and Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas, Ops.14, 26 and 28. He has received two Grammy Awards for his recordings of Chopin’s complete Études and Bach’s English Suites Nos. 1, 3 and 6. Perahia also has received several Gramophone Awards, including the first Piano Award in 2012. Perahia recently embarked on a project to edit the complete Beethoven Sonatas for the Henle Urtext Edition.
● Washington Performing Arts Society Celebrity Series presents
Murray Perahia, piano
French Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 815 Allemande Courante Sarabande Menuett Gavotte Air Gigue
Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata” Allegro assai Andante con moto Allegro ma non troppo—Presto
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Program Notes
INTERMISSION
French Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major, BWV 815
Papillons Op. 2 Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Nocturne in B Major, Op. 62, No. 1 Frédéric Chopin Étude in A-Flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1 (1810-1849) Étude in E minor, Op. 25, No. 5 Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4 Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31
Born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany; died July 28, 1750, in Leipzig, Germany
This performance is made possible through the generous support of Betsy and Robert Feinberg. The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Murray Perahia, piano
In the more than 40 years he has been performing on the concert stage, American pianist Murray Perahia has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time. He is the principal guest conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, with whom he has toured as conductor and
In May 1720, Bach—then music director at the Cöthen court—accompanied his prince to Carlsbad, where Leopold was taking the waters, and returned to Cöthen in July to discover that his wife had died while he was gone. Bach, then 35 years old, waited nearly 18 months to marry again, and his choice was a good one. In December 1721 he married the 20-year-old Anna Magdalena Wilcken, daughter of a court trumpeter and herself an accomplished musician. She would bear Bach 13 children and survive him by a decade. In the first years of their marriage Bach composed for her a Clavierbüchlein
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Tuesday, March 4, 2014, 8 p.m.
(“little keyboard book”), just as he had written a similar volume several years earlier for his son Wilhelm Friedemann. Composed for her instruction or perhaps simply for her pleasure, this was a collection of short keyboard pieces that were certainly first performed within the Bach household. In Anna Magdalena’s Clavierbüchlein are early versions of five of the six works that would later be published as Bach’s French Suites (the sixth apparently dates from shortly after the family’s move to Leipzig in 1723). Let it be said right from the start: the name French Suite is misleading. There is nothing consciously—or even unconsciously—French about them, just as there is nothing recognizably English about Bach’s English Suites: in both cases, these nicknames were attached to the music after the composer’s death. The French Suites (inevitably, we have to use that name) are in the standard four-movement suite sequence—allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue—into which Bach introduces a variety of dance movements, always between the sarabande and gigue. All movements are in binary form. In contrast to the English Suites, which are large-scale works stretching out to nearly half an hour, the French Suites seem tiny. This is small-scaled, intimate music, and these suites—even with their six to eight movements—last only about a dozen minutes each. The Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major opens with a spirited Allemande, driven along a happy rush of steady sixteenths. The Courante sets triplets in the pianist’s right hand against dotted eighths in his left, while the Sarabande moves gracefully along a walking bass line in the pianist’s left hand (this line sometimes moves into the right hand). The Fourth Suite exists in several versions; at this recital, a Gavotte is followed by a subdued Menuet at this point and the Air sometimes heard here is eliminated. The suite concludes with a vigorous Gigue marked by quick trills.
Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata”
Ludwig van Beethoven Born Dec. 16, 1770, in Bonn, Germany; died March 26, 1827, in Vienna, Austria
Between May and November 1803, Beethoven sketched the “Eroica,” a symphony on a scale never before imagined. Nearly half an hour longer than his Second Symphony, Beethoven’s Third thrust the whole conception of the symphony—and sonata form—into a new world, in which music became a heroic struggle and sonata form the stage for this drama rather than an end in itself. It was a world of new dimensions, new sonorities, new possibilities of expression, and with the “Eroica” behind him, Beethoven began to plan two piano sonatas. These sonatas, later nicknamed the Waldstein and the Appassionata, would be governed by the same impulse that shaped the “Eroica.” While Beethoven completed the Waldstein Sonata quickly, the other sonata, delayed by his work on Fidelio, was not finished until early in 1806. The subtitle “Appassionata” appears to have originated with a publisher rather than with the composer, but few works so deserve their nickname as this sonata. Despite the volcanic explosions of sounds in this sonata, however, it remains piano music—the Appassionata may strain the resources of the instrument, but this music is clearly conceived in terms of a pianistic rather than an orchestral sonority. The ominous opening of the Allegro assai is marked pianissimo, but it is alive with energy and the potential for development. As this long first theme slowly unfolds, deep in the left hand is heard the four-note motto that will later open the Fifth Symphony, and out of this motto suddenly bursts a great eruption of sound. The movement’s extraordinary unity becomes clear with the arrival of the second theme, which is effectively an inversion of the opening theme. And there is even a third subject, which boils out of a furious torrent of sixteenthnotes. The movement develops in
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sonata form, though Beethoven does without an exposition repeat, choosing instead to press directly into the turbulent development. The rhythm of the opening rhythm is stamped out in the coda, and—after so much energy—the movement concludes as the first theme descends to near-inaudibility. The second movement, a theme and four variations marked Andante con moto, brings a measure of relief. The theme, a calm chordal melody in two eight-bar phrases, is heard immediately, and the tempo remains constant throughout, though the variations become increasingly complex, increasingly ornate. Beethoven insists that the gentle mood remain constant—in the score he keeps reminding the pianist to play dolce, and even the swirls of 32ndnotes near the end remain serene. The sonata-form finale, marked Allegro ma non troppo, bursts upon the conclusion of the second movement with a fanfare of dotted notes, and the main theme, an almost moto perpetuo shower of sixteenth-notes, launches the movement. The searing energy of the first movement returns here, but now Beethoven offers a repeat of the development rather than of the exposition. The fiery coda, marked Presto, introduces an entirely new theme. Beethoven offered no program for this sonata, nor will listeners do well to try to guess some external drama being played out in the Appassionata. Sir Donald Francis Tovey, trying to take some measure of this sonata’s extraordinary power and its unrelenting conclusion, has noted: “All his other pathetic finales show either an epilogue in some legendary or later world far away from the tragic scene … or a temper, fighting, humorous, or resigned, that does not carry with it a sense of tragic doom. [But in the Appassionata] there is not a moment’s doubt that the tragic passion is rushing deathwards.” That may be going too far, but it is true that—in sharp contrast to the shining, exultant conclusions of the “Eroica,” Fidelio and the Fifth Symphony—this sonata ends with an abrupt plunge into darkness.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014, 8 p.m.
Papillons, Op. 2
Robert Schumann Born June 8, 1810, in Zwickau, Germany; died July 29, 1856, in Endenich, Germany
Papillons is the work of an extremely young composer—Schumann was still in his teens when he sketched these dances—and this music has a complex lineage. In 1828, Schumann went off to Leipzig, where he was supposed to be studying law, but he never attended a single lecture at the university, choosing instead to devote himself to music. He took lessons in theory and counterpoint and auditioned for one of the finest piano teachers of the era, Friedrich Wieck. Wieck not only accepted the young pianist but in 1830 had him move into his own house; there Schumann met Wieck’s phenomenallytalented daughter Clara, at that time only 11 years old. During the years 1828-30 Schumann sketched a number of short dances for piano: a set of polonaises for piano four-hands and a group of six waltzes for solo piano. These dances sat for several years in manuscript, but in the fall of 1831 Schumann returned to them, revised them, added some new material, and published them under the title Papillons (“Butterflies”). By this time, however, these tiny pieces (the introduction and 12 movements last barely a quarter of an hour) had taken on a new unity in their creator’s mind: he felt that they depicted incidents in the last scene of the novel Flegeljahre by Jean Paul. Jean Paul was the pen name of the novelist Jean Paul Richter (17631825), one of Schumann’s literary heroes. The young composer visited Richter’s home in Bayreuth and wrote endless imitations of his style (and a half-century later, Jean Paul’s novel The Titan would inspire Mahler’s First Symphony). In 1831 Schumann fell under the spell of Flegeljahre (“Years of Indiscretion”), which had been written in 1804-05, and Schumann told friends that each movement of Papillons corresponded to a particular paragraph in the final chapter of that novel. The
ending of the novel is concerned with the dispensation of an inheritance to the brothers Walt and Vult, both of whom are in love with Wina. The final scene takes place at a masked ball, and it all comes to an end as the clock strikes six times at daybreak. None of the movements in the printed score has a title, however, and it is better to take the movements of Papillons purely as music than to search for extra-musical meaning in them. All are dances, and—as might be expected in music descended from polonaises and waltzes—almost all are in some form of triple meter. The 12th and final section is the most distinctive. In it, Schumann quotes two phrases from the old German wedding song Grossvaterlied (this melody would recur in Carnaval) and then continues with six strikes of a high A: are these the strokes of the clock that mark the appearance of the sun at the end of the masked ball? Schumann then concludes with an imaginative touch: a quiet chord from which he gradually extracts all notes until only a solitary A is left, and Papillons winks out on three quick strokes. Nocturne in B Major, Op. 62, No. 1
Frédéric Chopin
Born Feb. 22, 1810, in Zelazowa Wola, Poland; died Oct. 17, 1849, in Paris, France
Chopin composed the two nocturnes of his Op. 62 in 1845-46: they were the last nocturnes he published during his lifetime. While the Nocturne in B Major shows the delicacy one expects from this form, this particular example is quite restrained. Chopin marks the opening both dolce and legato, and the music proceeds with unusual gentleness. The middle section brings little contrast; Chopin marks it simply sostenuto, and it is just as restrained as the opening. Only the quietly-surging syncopations in the left hand ruffle the calm surface of this music. The most distinctive part of this nocturne comes at the return of the opening theme, for now Chopin buries it beneath a continuous (and very dif-
ficult) trill in the pianist’s right hand. Gradually this trill vanishes, and the Nocturne in B Major makes its way to the understated close. Étude in A-flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1 Étude in E minor, Op. 25, No. 5 Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4
Frédéric Chopin While still a teenager in Warsaw, Chopin heard a performance of Niccolo Paganini’s Caprices for Solo Violin and was astonished—as were so many other musicians of that era—by what the Italian composer had achieved in this music. Here were extraordinarily complex works for the violin that presented specific technical problems for the performer yet managed to be exciting and engaging music at the same time. Chopin resolved to write something similar for the piano, and over the next few years, a difficult time for the composer, he did just that. Chopin left Poland in 1830, never to return (it was then being swallowed up by Russia), and settled the following year in Paris. Even before leaving Warsaw, Chopin had begun work on a series of études for the piano, and he published this set of 12 in Paris in 1832 as his Opus 10. He continued to write études, and over the next few years he completed a further set of 12, which he published in 1839 as his Opus 25. This was a period when Chopin had turned away from the life of the public virtuoso and was devoting his time to giving recitals in private salons and to teaching, and the Études should be understood first as teaching pieces. Written for Chopin’s students, these brief studies present different kinds of pianistic problems, ranging from the most finger-breaking virtuoso hurdles to the ability to sustain a long melodic line. Along the way, however, they offer breathtaking music that delights general audiences while it challenges pianists. This recital offers three études drawn from these two sets. The Étude in A-flat Major, Op. 25, No. 1 was
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actually the last of that set to be composed, in September 1836. Its rippling arpeggios brought it the nickname “Aeloian Harp,” after Robert Schumann’s description of this music as “an aeloian harp having all the scales and an artist’s hand combining them with all kinds of fantastic embellishments …” Some of the études present unusual technical hurdles: the Étude in E minor, Op. 25, No. 5 is in Lombard rhythms (dotted rhythms with the short note coming first). Many of the études from Opus 10 are characterized by extraordinary power. The Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4 is in constant motion throughout and finally drives to a grand close. Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31
Frédéric Chopin Though the term had been used earlier, it was Haydn who conceived of the scherzo in its modern sense. In 1781,
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he called the third movement of some of his string quartets a “scherzo.” What had been the old minuet-andtrio movement now became a scherzo (and trio), and Haydn’s choice of that name indicated that he wanted more speed and liveliness. Beethoven took this evolution one step further: his scherzos, usually built on very short rhythmic units, explode with violent energy and with enough comic touches to remind us that scherzo is the Italian word for joke. In his four scherzos, Chopin does not copy the forms of Haydn or Beethoven, but adapts the general shape of the classical-period scherzo for his own purposes. He keeps the quick tempo, the 3/4 meter and (usually) the ABA form of the earlier scherzo, but makes no attempt at humor. The emphasis in this music is on brilliant, exciting music for the piano. The general form of the Chopin scherzo is an opening section based on contrasted themes, followed
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by a middle section (Chopin does not call this a trio) in a different key and character; the scherzo concludes with the return of the opening material, now slightly abridged. Chopin’s second scherzo dates from 1837. This is the most popular of the four, full of blazing spirits and wonderful writing for the piano—Schumann called this piece “Byronic.” The very beginning is especially effective, with its ominous, whispered opening motif and the powerful chordal answer. By contrast, the middle section is calm and lyric, broken at two points by effortless, cascading runs across the entire keyboard. In this center section appears the brief rhythmic figure, based on a triplet, that Chopin will use to drive the opening material to its dramatic climax. This scherzo is unusual in that Chopin does not return to the opening key but instead concludes in its relative major, D-flat major. Program notes by Eric Bromberger
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Thursday, March 6, 2014, 8 p.m.
Thursday, march 6, 2014, 8 P.M.
conductor from 2002 to 2008. Her success as the BSO’s music director has garnered national and international attention for her innovative programming and artistry. Additionally, her success was recognized when, in 2013, her tenure was extended to the 20202021 season. Alsop took up the post of chief conductor of the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in 2012, where she steers the orchestra in its artistic and creative programming, recording ventures and its education and outreach activities. In the summer of 2011, Alsop served her 20th season as music director of the acclaimed Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California. Musical America, which named Alsop the 2009 Conductor of the Year, recently said, “[Marin Alsop] connects to the public as few conductors today can.”
● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director
presents
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg Plays Shostakovich Marin Alsop, conductor Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14 Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) iolin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 99 Dmitri Shostakovich V Nocturne: Adagio (1906-1975) Scherzo: Allegro non troppo Passacaglia: Andante Burlesca: Allegro con brio Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin
INTERMISSION
Alsop photo by dean alexander, Salerno-sonnenberg photo by christian steiner
Symphonic Dances, Op.45 Non allegro Andante con moto (Tempo di valse) Lento assai—Allegro vivace
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Presenting Sponsor: Total Wine & More Support for today’s performance is provided by the Governing Members of the BSO The concert will end at approximately 9:50 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Marin Alsop, conductor Marin Alsop is an inspiring and powerful voice in the international music scene, a music director of vision and distinction who passionately believes that “music has the power to change lives.” She is recognized across the world for her innovative approach
to programming and for her deep commitment to education and to the development of audiences of all ages. Alsop made history with her appointment as the 12th music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. With her inaugural concerts in September 2007, she became the first woman to head a major American orchestra. She also holds the title of conductor emeritus at the Bournemouth Symphony in the United Kingdom, where she served as the principal
Highly regarded for her compelling performances, daring interpretations and dedication to her craft, Nadja SalernoSonnenberg is one of today’s leading violinists. She is renowned for her work on the concert stage and in the recording studio, as well as in her role as music director of the San Francisco-based New Century Chamber Orchestra, which she joined in January 2008. Salerno-Sonnenberg’s 2013-2014 season includes a five-city North American recital tour with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and orchestral engagements in the U.S. and abroad. The 2013-14 season also marks New Century’s 22nd season, which includes the world premiere of Michael Daugherty’s new violin concerto, Falling Water, written for her. Salerno-Sonnenberg is scheduled to release in May 2014 the 11th recording for her record label, NSS MUSIC. The all-commissions CD with New Century Chamber Orchestra features works by Clarice Assad, William Bolcom, Michael
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Daugherty and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. Recent performance highlights included a successful third U.S. tour with New Century, and solo appearances with the Philadelphia, National, Seattle, Vancouver, Oregon, Colorado, Milwaukee and Minnesota symphony orchestras. Salerno-Sonnenberg’s professional career began in 1981, when she won the Walter W. Naumburg International Violin Competition. She is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize. Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg last appeared with the BSO in January 2012, performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, with Marin Alsop conducting.
promptly responded with arrangements for soprano and orchestra and for orchestra alone, and it is these versions that are most often heard today. Its opening melodic phrase is an artfully disguised version of the ancient “Dies Irae” (“Day of Judgment”) plainchant theme for the Requiem Mass for the Dead; this grim musical idea was a recurring motive throughout much of Rachmaninoff’s music. But the effortless, unending flow of melody—unfolding in beautiful, arching phrases—triumphs over the sadness. Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns and strings. Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 99
Program Notes
Dmitri Shostakovich Born Sept. 25, 1906, in St. Petersburg, Russia; died Aug. 9, 1975 in Moscow
Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14
Sergei Rachmaninoff Born April 1, 1873, in Oneg near Novgorod, Russia; died March 28, 1943, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Though his chosen instrument, the piano, is categorized as a percussion instrument, Sergei Rachmaninoff became one of music’s most inspired melodists. His piano concertos burst with surging, soaring melodies, such as the glorious 18th variation of his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. And alongside his instrumental works, he poured his lyrical gift into about 80 songs, whose popularity is limited only by their being in Russian and thus off-limits to many prominent international singers. One that is not hampered by language is the exquisitely beautiful Vocalise that closes his set of 14 songs, Op. 34, for it is a wordless composition for soprano, sung mostly on the vowel sound “ah.” It was written in 1915 for the coloratura soprano Antonina Nezhdanova, a star of the Moscow Grand Opera. After Vocalise was premiered in Moscow by Nezhdanova and Rachmaninoff in January 1916, Nikolai von Struve suggested to the composer that he orchestrate the work. Rachmaninoff
During his long career under the Communists, Dmitri Shostakovich seesawed between being the pride of Russian music and a pariah one step away from the Siberian Gulag. His lowest moments came in 1936, when he was denounced for his seamy opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (he restored himself to favor with his famous Fifth Symphony), and again in 1948. In that year, Stalin, aging and crazier than ever, attacked musicians, writers, scientists and scholars—denouncing the most prominent figures to cow the masses. In 1948, Shostakovich had just completed his First Violin Concerto, but locked it away in a desk drawer; this probing and sometimes sarcastic work might seal his doom with the Soviet authorities. After Stalin’s death in 1953, times were more auspicious. The concerto came out again and was dedicated to the phenomenal Russian violinist David Oistrakh, who played the premiere on Oct. 29, 1955 with the Leningrad Philharmonic. A packed hall gave the composer and soloist ovation after ovation. Taking it on his first American concert tour two months later, Oistrakh with the New York Philharmonic introduced it to equally enthusiastic New York audiences.
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Composed in four movements of symphonic weight, this is a true “iron man” concerto, calling on everything in the violinist’s technical arsenal as well as vast physical and emotional stamina. Defying first-movement conventions, movement one is a quiet, meditative nocturne. It gradually rises from the lower depths of orchestra and violin, though dark instrumental colors will be emphasized throughout. This is profoundly melancholy, even anguished music: an aria for violin with the soloist as a lonely insomniac singing to a sleeping, indifferent world. Darkest woodwinds—clarinets with bass clarinet, bassoon with contrabassoon—paint deep shadows around her. The bleak ending, with tolling harp and celesta accompanying the soloist floating on a fragile high harmonic note, is unforgettable. The savage second movement scherzo is a Fellini-esque circus of the absurd. “Scherzo” means “joke,” and this is a harshly sarcastic joke indeed. This mood is so common in Shostakovich that it seems the composer’s mocking, self-protective response to the regime he lived under. And in fact, we hear his famous signature motive DSCH: the notes D, S (the German designation for E-flat), C and H (German usage for B-natural). About a minute into the movement, a malicioussounding ensemble of woodwinds mocks the violinist with this motive, and later the violinist bitterly echoes it. The beleaguered soloist flies through a crazed, driven dance of exacting virtuosity. As he would in other major works, Shostakovich turned to the Baroque passacaglia form for his powerful F-minor third movement, the concerto’s emotional center. The passacaglia is a repeating melodic-harmonic pattern, usually in the bass. Gradually this pattern travels through the orchestra; even the soloist eventually takes it up in fierce doublestopped octaves. Over it, the soloist and other instruments weave heartbreakingly expressive melodies. The movement concludes with one of the longest and most taxing (both physically and emotionally) cadenzas ever written for a violinist. The spirit of mockery returns in the Allegro con brio finale, titled “Burlesca.”
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But here the mood seems less bitter than earlier: more a wild folk dance over a driving rhythmic ostinato. Midway, the passacaglia theme makes a brief, mocking appearance in clarinet, horn and the hard-edged clatter of xylophone. Again, shrill woodwinds dominate this finale, while the soloist hurtles through a non-stop display of virtuosity, culminating in a final acceleration to Presto. Instrumentation: Three flutes, piccolo, three oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, celeste and strings. Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
Sergei Rachmaninoff By 1940, Sergei Rachmaninoff, then 67 and in failing health, believed his composing career was over. Since fleeing Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution in late 1917 for refuge in Western Europe and America, he had managed to create only five substantial works, including his popular keyboard masterpiece Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Many factors contributed to Rachmaninoff’s creative drought. Exile from Russia had turned his life upside down: he had forfeited a considerable fortune there, and in America was forced to turn to arduous annual tours as a concert pianist to support his family. One of the greatest pianists of our century, he soon rebuilt his fortune, but a life on Pullman cars shuttling from one concert hall to the next exacted a heavy price on his composing. But the desire for self-expression still smoldered. In the summer of 1940 as Rachmaninoff recuperated from minor surgery at a rented estate near Huntington, L.I., it blazed up again for the last time. On Aug. 21, he startled his friend Eugene Ormandy, conductor of his favorite Philadelphia Orchestra, with news of a new composition. Ormandy happily accepted the new work, and Rachmaninoff rushed to orchestrate it, completing it just in time for its premiere by the Philadelphians on Jan. 3, 1941.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director, Harvey M. and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Chair Jack Everly, Principal Pops Conductor Yuri Temirkanov, Music Director Emeritus Alexandra Arrieche, BSO-Peabody Conducting Fellow First Violins Jonathan Carney Concertmaster, Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Chair Madeline Adkins Associate Concertmaster, Wilhelmina Hahn Waidner Chair Igor Yuzefovich Assistant Concertmaster Rui Du James Boehm Kenneth Goldstein Wonju Kim Gregory Kuperstein Mari Matsumoto Gregory Mulligan Rebecca Nichols E. Craig Richmond Ellen Pendleton Troyer Andrew Wasyluszko Second Violins Qing Li Principal, E. Kirkbride and Ann H. Miller Chair Ivan Stefanovic Assistant Principal Angela Lee Assistant Principal Leonid Berkovich Leonid Briskin Julie Parcells Christina Scroggins Wayne C. Taylor James Umber Charles Underwood Melissa Zaraya Minsun Choi** Violas Lisa Steltenpohl Principal, Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Chair Noah Chaves Associate Principal Karin Brown Acting Assistant Principal
Rebekah Newman Richard Field Viola Principal Emeritus Peter Minkler Sharon Pineo Myer Delmar Stewart Jeffrey Stewart Mary Woehr Cellos Dariusz Skoraczewski Principal, Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Chair Chang Woo Lee Associate Principal Bo Li Acting Assistant Principal Seth Low Susan Evans Esther Mellon Kristin Ostling Paula Skolnick-Childress Pei Lu** Basses Robert Barney Principal, Willard and Lillian Hackerman Chair Hampton Childress Associate Principal Owen Cummings Arnold Gregorian Mark Huang Jonathan Jensen David Sheets Eric Stahl Flutes Emily Skala Principal, Dr. Clyde Alvin Clapp Chair Marcia Kämper Piccolo Laurie Sokoloff Oboes Katherine Needleman Principal, Robert H. and Ryda H. Levi Chair Michael Lisicky
English Horn Jane Marvine Kenneth S. Battye and Legg Mason Chair Clarinets Steven Barta Principal, Anne Adalman Goodwin Chair Christopher Wolfe Assistant Principal William Jenken E-flat Clarinet Christopher Wolfe Bassoons Fei Xie Principal Julie Green Gregorian Assistant Principal Benjamin Greanya** Contrabassoon David P. Coombs Horns Philip Munds Principal, USF&G Foundation Chair Gabrielle Finck Associate Principal Mary C. Bisson Bruce Moore** Trumpets Andrew Balio Principal, Harvey M. and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Chair Rene Hernandez Assistant Principal Nathaniel Hepler Trombones Joseph Rodriguez** Acting Principal, Alex Brown & Sons Chair James Olin Co-Principal John Vance
Tuba David T. Fedderly Principal Timpani James Wyman Principal Christopher Williams Assistant Principal Percussion Christopher Williams Principal, Lucille Schwilck Chair John Locke Brian Prechtl Harp Sarah Fuller** Piano Lura Johnson** Sidney M. and Miriam Friedberg Chair Director of Orchestra Personnel Nishi Badhwar Assistant Personnel Manager David George Librarians Mary Carroll Plaine Principal, Constance A. and Ramon F. Getzov Chair Raymond Kreuger Associate Stage Personnel Ennis Seibert Stage Manager Todd Price Assistant Stage Manager Charles Lamar Sound Mario Serruto Electrician *on leave ** Guest musician
Bass Trombone Randall S. Campora
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His swan song, Symphonic Dances, is a retrospective work that sums up Rachmaninoff’s musical and personal philosophy. Yet it is also an astonishingly youthful creation that shows the composer at the peak of his powers. With its incisive dance rhythms, it was intended for the ballet, to be choreographed by Rachmaninoff’s friend, the great Russian choreographer Michel Fokine, but Fokine’s sudden death in 1942 sadly killed that possibility. Here Rachmaninoff creates a wondrous kaleidoscope of instrumental colors, from the mellow crooning of an alto saxophone to the dry-bones clatter of a xylophone. First Movement: Softly, the violins establish the incessant chugging rhythm of the first dance. Woodwinds trace a three-note descending idea that soon grows into the nervously driven main theme. Then the tempo slows for a peaceful oasis. Here Rachmaninoff gives us the last of his heart-stoppingly beautiful tunes, introduced by the
mellow alto saxophone, a visitor from Big Band jazz. Violins soon sweep up this gorgeous melody, steeped in the flavor of Russian folk song. In the closing coda, the strings sing a lovely Russian chant-like melody: a theme from the composer’s First Symphony, a bitter failure in his youth but now recalled with tranquility through a radiant mist of bells, harp and piano. Movement two’s dance is a phantasmic waltz, like something heard in a dream. It is introduced by ominous brass chords that return to disturb its flow. With difficulty the orchestra tries to launch the waltz; finally, the English horn succeeds in establishing the swaying melody. Occasionally, the waltz blossoms lushly in the divided strings, but biting harmonies constantly undercut any sentimentality. The finale opens with the weary sighs of old age. Here Rachmaninoff’s old nemesis, the “Dies Irae” (“Day of Judgment”), a Gregorian funeral chant he used so often in his music, returns
as the composer contemplates death. The music seems to describe man’s final struggle for life and then its end, as woodwinds vanish upward over a harp glissando. Music of mourning issues from the depths of the orchestra. But the tempo soon accelerates to a dance of triumph. The “Dies Irae” chant sounds again in the brass, but is vanquished by a rhythmically vivacious Orthodox chant melody rising from low strings and woodwinds. This is the song “Blagosloven Yesi, Gospodi” from Rachmaninoff’s choral masterpiece AllNight Vigil, telling of Christ’s resurrection. Here the composer seems to be joyfully proclaiming his own faith in resurrected life. Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, piano and strings. Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2014
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think.umw.edu Fredericksburg, VA
Friday, March 7, 2014, 8 p.m.
FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014, 8 p.m.
● Strathmore Presents
Celtic Nights: The Emigrants Bridge Michael Durkan, Director/Producer Dancers
James Mc Donnell Louise O’ Sullivan Leanne Phelan Abigail Collins
Gavin Boyle Clodagh Roper Heather Metcalfe
Vocalists
Derek Moloney Ross William Wild Una Pedreschi
Rebekah Robertson Suzanne Savage Derek Ryan
Musicians
Brian Kelly Stevie O’Connor Opening Sequence Aisling’s Dance May We Never Have to Say Goodbye Jug of Punch
Ben Gunnery Whiskey in the Jar Danny Boy A cappella Dance Fare Thee Well Love
Colcannon
A Woman’s Heart
Wild Rover
Hope Is Born
Carrickfergus The Spanish Lady Wild Rover Musicians Jigs and Reels Sailing By (Love Song) Her Dream—Celtic Night Dancers My Heart Will Go On Isle Of Innisfree Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For My Grandfather’s Emigrant Eyes – Staten Island Puca Beast Short The Contender Dark Island Into Polkas –Into Reels Street Dance Celtic Nights Fly Where the Eagles Fly
Ellis Final Star of the County Down Raglan Appalachian Polkas Shenandoah Unplugged All God’s Creatures Irish Rover Katie Daly Dear Old Donegal When Irish Eyes Are Smiling Tour A Lour A Loura Galway Bay Never Have to Say Goodbye Ireland Spanish Lady Old Bog Road It’s a Long Way to Tipperary
INTERMISSION The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
About Celtic Nights: The Emigrants Bridge
Drawn from the history and folklore of Ireland and her Celtic cousins, Celtic Nights will bring the audience on a stunning musical journey of a people leaving and arriving. Celtic Nights tells the tale of emigration and how people’s lives would be spent in a world of traveling by rail, horses and ships. With long days traveling on foot, they would come and go, saving for fares and writing of their travels. It was a constant journey of meeting, conversing and comparing, searching for a place better than Ireland. Celtic Nights will bring the audience to the place many immigrants now call home: the United States of America. The influence of the old music on what became American sounds—whether bluegrass, Appalachian, country and western, the ballads from Shenandoah or the songs of the Civil War—will be a part of the Celtic Nights experience.
Derek Moloney, singer
Derek Moloney is Ireland’s leading tenor. In recent years, Moloney has built on this success, both as a recording artist with two No. 1 entries in the Irish Classical Charts and onstage with award-winning performances around the globe. He has performed at home with Opera Ireland and collaborated with such artists as the Chieftains and Sarah Brightman.
Derek Ryan, singer
Derek Ryan has performed numerous lead roles with Opera Ireland, the most recent being in Il Trovatore. He played the Beast in Beauty and the Beast and has had principal roles in Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma and Jesus Christ Superstar. applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 33
Friday, March 7, 2014, 8 p.m.
Rebekah Robertson, singer
Rebekah Robertson was born in Scotland and studied in London at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Robertson’s theater credits include roles in Thriller, Grease, Rent, Heroes and Villains (Wimbledon Theatre) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Ross William Wild, singer
Ross William Wild spent his teenage years touring in a rock band before training at the Glasgow Academy of Musical Theatre Arts. He graduated in the summer of 2010. Previous theater credits include roles in Grease (U.K. tour), We Will Rock You (U.K. tour), Highland Heartbeat (Scottish and American tours) and Gaelforce (European tour).
Suzanne Savage, singer
Suzanne Savage’s performance highlights include appearing at SXSW; supporting Van Morrison; performing with Jimmy Cobb of the Miles Davis Quartet;
being a soprano soloist for the Florence Symphony Orchestra, Badische Staatskappelle Karisruhe and Brisbane Symphony Orchestra; and touring internationally as principal vocalist for Riverdance.
Una Pedreschi, singer
Una Pedreschi’s talent for singing and theater was recognized while growing up in Wicklow town, known as the Garden of Ireland. She subsequently earned a scholarship to the Guildford School of Acting and Musical Theatre Conservatoire in 2004. For two years, she played top U.S. venues with leading Irish stars Celtic Woman, including New York’s celebrated Radio City Music Hall and Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Brian Kelly, musician
Brian Kelly began playing traditional Irish music at age 7 under the tutelage of Brendan Mulkere, of Clare County, Ireland. He took up mandolin (age 9) and the banjo (age 10), and won his first
of eight All Ireland Championships on banjo at age 11. Kelly has built his musical reputation through residencies in London.
Ben Gunnery, musician
Ben Gunnery is a multi-instrumentalist who studied at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music, graduating with a degree in classical violin performance. Gunnery has gone on tour internationally with various companies/bands/ orchestras such as Barrage, Riverdance, Gaelforce, Dance Masters, Celtic Legends, Irish Celtic, Incantation, Shane MacGowan and the Popes, Calgary Philharmonic and Lost Music of the Gaels.
Stevie O’Connor, musician
Stevie O’Connor started playing the Uilleann pipes at age 11. O’Connor has been taught by some of the country’s finest musicians. When O’Connor graduated from school, he was accepted by Ballyfermot College of Performing Arts and studied intensely under master flute player Paul McGrattan.
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The Champlain Building 6410 Rockledge Drive Suite 205 Bethesda, MD 20817 Tel: (301).968.1200 Fax: (301).530.4638 info@dermskin.com www.dermskin.com
Saturday, March 8, 2014, 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 9, 2014, 3 p.m.
SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 2014, 8 P.M. SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014, 3 P.M.
perform the complete works of Chopin. The inaugural recital, called “masterly” by The Washington Post, featured solo works of the romantic composer. Future recitals will include all the chamber works and songs as well as the complete solo works. The orchestral works will feature Ganz in collaboration with the National Philharmonic and Music Director Piotr Gajewski. Since the January 2011 Chopin recital, Ganz has performed the Grieg Piano Concerto, the Debussy Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra and the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 with the National Philharmonic. He has played in the Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia and the Alba Music Festival in Italy. Ganz is artist-in-residence at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and is also on the piano faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He lives in Annapolis.
● The National Philharmonic Piotr Gajewski, Music Director and Conductor
presents
Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 Brian Ganz, piano Michał Dworzyński, conductor Bajka (Fairytale) Overture Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872) Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Frédéric Chopin No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 (1810-1849) Allegro maestoso Romanze, Larghetto Rondo, Vivace INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 39, in E-Flat, K. 543 Adagio, Allegro Andante con moto Menuetto, Allegretto Allegro
Michał Dworzyński, conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Weekend Concerts Program Sponsor: Ameriprise Financial Sunday Presenting Sponsor: Ingleside at King Farm Supported in part by Tanya & Albert Lampert for the Guest Artist Fund All Kids, All Free, All the Time is sponsored by The Gazette
ganz photo by michael ventura, dworznski photo by bruno fidrych
The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Brian Ganz, piano
Brian Ganz is widely regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation. The Washington Post has written: “One comes away from a recital by pianist Brian Ganz not only exhilarated by the power of the performance, but also moved by his search for artistic truth.” For many years, Ganz has made it his mission to join vivid music making with warmth and intimacy onstage,
often guiding listeners on a journey of discovery inside the composer’s craft. A laureate of the Marguerite LongJacques Thibaud and the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International piano competitions, Ganz has appeared as soloist with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the National Philharmonic, the City of London Sinfonia, and the St. Louis, Baltimore and National symphony orchestras. He also has performed with conductors Leonard Slatkin, Piotr Gajewski, Marin Alsop and Mstislav Rostropovich. Tonight’s concert is the latest in Ganz’s multiyear project with the National Philharmonic in which he will
Michał Dworzyński is principal conductor and artistic director of the Cracow Philharmonic in Poland. He studied in Warsaw with Antoni Wit and in Berlin with Christian Ehwald, and was appointed assistant conductor of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice at age 21. He won the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in 2006, becoming assistant conductor of the London Symphony. He has since appeared regularly with major orchestras worldwide, including the Radiosinfonieorchester Berlin, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony and Israel Philharmonic. He also has conducted the Tokyo Symphony and Tokyo Philharmonic, the West Australian Symphony and Adelaide Symphony. Guest highlights of 2013-2014 include his debut with the NHK Symphony at Orchard Hall, Tokyo and a
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 35
Saturday, March 8, 2014, 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 9, 2014, 3 p.m.
return to the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Dworzyński maintains a regular presence in Warsaw with the Philharmonic Orchestra (with whom he toured Japan and Italy in 2012), and has guest-conducted all the major Polish orchestras and at the Warsaw National Opera. He made his first visits to Australia and New Zealand in June 2011, and returned in 2013 to conduct the West Australian Symphony and Adelaide Symphony. Dworzyński has made several CD recordings for the Polish Television and Radio, and has an ongoing relationship with Hyperion Records and the BBC Scottish Symphony. He has received numerous awards for his committed advocacy of composers from his native Poland, bringing them to an international audience at major events worldwide.
Program Notes Bajka (Fairytale) Overture
Stanisław Moniuszko Born May 5, 1819, in Belarus; died June 4, 1872, in Warsaw, Poland
Stanisław Moniuszko, generally considered the father of the Polish national opera, was a composer, conductor and teacher. Moniuszko, who came from a patriotic family of Polish landowners, as a child evidenced an interest in music and was introduced to the piano. He went on to study in Berlin in 1837 under Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen, from whom he learned composition and choral conducting. At this time, he began composing, writing several songs that were favorably received by music critics. When he returned to Vilnius, he held a post as organist and became friendly with the playwright/ satirist Aleksander Fredro, through whom he developed an interest in dramatic music. He began composing operas and other stage works in a style filled with patriotic themes about the Polish people, including rhythms of Polish dances and folklore. Over time, he also wrote
many songs; the source of Moniuszko’s melodies and rhythmic patterns often came from Polish musical folklore. The common trait shared by all these works is the presence of librettos that, while depicting Polish nobility and gentry and sometimes even the characters of common origins, above all, emphasized Polish customs and traditions. Moniuszko traveled many times to St. Petersburg, where his concerts were very well received. While there, he met and befriended many prominent musicians, including Mikhail Glinka, Mily Balakirev and Modest Mussorgsky. As a representative of Polish Romantic orchestral music, the dynamic Bajka Overture was first performed May 1, 1848 in Vilnius, and quickly became very popular. It was dedicated to the Russian composer and supporter of Moniuszko, Alexander Dargomyzhsky. Despite its title, the overture has no literary program; the work is best appreciated as a freely elaborated concert overture, brimming with lyrical themes. The melodic themes create the mood and character of the music, embracing a range of emotions from those full of humor to the more disturbing and mysterious, all filled with colorful orchestration and numerous contrasts. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1, in E minor, Op. 11
Frédéric Chopin Born ca. March 1810, in Zelazowa Wola, Poland; died Oct. 17, 1849, in Paris
Chopin, the master of composition for the piano, wrote only two concerti; both are early works. His works are distinctive and unusual for his time. In the 19th century, pianists vied with one another to display their virtuosic techniques, but Chopin stood apart from the predominant virtuosi, priding himself on playing that went to no extremes, relying instead on subtleties to make his statements. His concerti, like his performances, did not follow in the pattern set by the times. Neither of his piano concerti follow the structure Beethoven had established in which
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the soloist and orchestra are equal partners carrying on a dialogue with each other. Instead, Chopin reverts in his writing more to the earlier Classical tradition where the orchestra is secondary and the solo instrument is primary. This fact can perhaps be accounted for because of Chopin’s youth when he wrote this work; he was barely 19 years old. Not finding the orchestra a comfortable vehicle, after the two concerti, he abandoned writing for the orchestra completely in the years after he was 21. Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 was actually written after Piano Concerto No. 2. The writing of both coincided with a trip Chopin took in the summer of 1829, after completing his studies at the Warsaw Conservatory. He went to Vienna to see about the possibility of publishing some of his music. While there, he gave a concert that critics said “electrified the public.” His playing was delicate, they said, but his style original and his technique of “indescribable perfection.” When Chopin gave his first public concert in Warsaw that December, a reviewer wrote, “Cannot Poland appreciate his talent? Among his latest works is said to be a Concerto in F minor that is the equal of those by the finest composers in Europe.” Chopin had finished composing that concerto (Piano Concerto No. 2) not long before, and after a few private performances, he played it at the National Theater on March 17, 1830, with great success. In the summer of 1830, Chopin wrote another piano concerto, in E minor, now known as Piano Concerto No. 1 only because it was published before the Concerto in F minor. On May 25, the composer wrote to a friend, “The rondo for my concerto is not yet finished because the right, inspired mood has always been lacking. When I have just the Allegro and Adagio completely finished, I shall have no anxiety about the finale.” Chopin completed the Concerto No. 1 in E minor in August; in September rehearsals were begun with a string quartet for accompaniment. A
Saturday, March 8, 2014, 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 9, 2014, 3 p.m.
rehearsal with a nearly full orchestra but without trumpets and timpani was held in Warsaw on Sept. 22, 1830, before a select audience. The concerto’s reception was so favorable that Chopin decided to perform the piece in public. The premiere took place on Oct. 11, 1830, and was a great success. The concert was his farewell. Three weeks later Chopin set out on a long tour across Germany to Paris, from which he was never to return. The Piano Concerto No. 1 displays Chopin’s approach to the piano: for him piano arpeggios and runs become integral musical statements. They work not as ornament but as something much more than that due to the harmonic nature of Chopin’s writing for the piano. Chopin does not follow the established “rules” or traditions in other ways as well. In the first movement, he begins with the first theme in the home key of E minor and the second theme in its relative major, following Classical tradition, but from then on his choice of keys is eccentric. In both the second slow movement, a romanze, and in the finale, a krakowiak, a Polish dance, he uses the home key of E, never adopting the traditional key contrasts. The overall effect is that the concerto does not have the drama of the usual concerti, which make more harmonic modulations, but Chopin’s practice highlights the lyrical nature of the work. In the first movement, Allegro Maestoso, the orchestra announces the main theme in two parts, the first appearing in the violins and the second also in the strings before the piano exposition. When the piano takes the central position, it develops the material with much bravura and technical finesse. Chopin described the second movement, Romanze, Larghetto, in a letter, as being “romantic, calm and partly melancholy” in character. “It is intended to convey the impression which one receives when the eye rests on a beloved landscape that calls up in one’s soul beautiful memories—for instance, on a fine moonlit spring night. I have written for violins with mutes
as an accompaniment to it.” In the concluding Rondo, Vivace, after an orchestral introduction, the piano brings out both the main themes and displays more technical intricacies before a rousing coda ends the concerto. The concerto is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, trombone, timpani and strings. The score was published in July 1833, with a dedication to the pianist, Friedrich Kalkbrenner. Symphony No. 39, in E-Flat, K. 543
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Born Jan. 27, 1756, in Salzburg; died Dec. 5, 1791, in Vienna
At the time that this and his other two last symphonies were written, Mozart was more and more burdened by debt and financial concerns about his career. He was living in Vienna, and the year before he had given up teaching, which was a necessary supplement to his small income, in order to prepare Don Giovanni for its premiere in Prague. Don Giovanni was not the financial success he had hoped for in Prague; in Vienna it was a complete financial failure. Although upon Gluck’s death in 1787, Mozart expected Emperor Joseph II to appoint him to replace Gluck to the well-paid post of court-composer, his expectations were disappointed. Emperor Joseph did want Mozart’s services, but scaled down the job. Mozart was appointed chamber-composer at a meager salary and was expected only to write minuets, waltzes and countrydances. Mozart, piqued, observed that was “too much for what I do; too little for what I could do.” In desperate need, he was obliged to write a letter seeking to take large loans from his friend and fellow Mason, Puchberg. Mozart composed the great trilogy of his last symphonies in a remarkably short time between June 26 and Aug. 10, 1788. Until then, he had composed at least one symphony almost every year since he was 8, but after these three, no more followed in the three and a half years that remained of his
short life. Further, no record of any performances of these symphonies during his lifetime exists, and no mention of their first performances has been preserved. Even more mysterious is why the composer would be prompted to write three symphonies in such short order when there is no evidence of a commission for any of them. If he did not compose them for financial reasons, could an inner compulsion to express his musical thoughts have been the sole reason for their writing? Regardless of why Mozart composed the work, his Symphony No. 39 has received kudos from commentators for the last two centuries and has become one of Mozart’s best loved and most recognized symphonies. The composer Richard Wagner could not praise it too highly: The longing sigh of the great human voice, drawn to him by the loving power of his genius, breathes from his instruments. He leads the irresistible stream of richest harmony into the heart of his melody, as though with anxious care he sought to give it by way of compensation for its delivery by mere instruments, the depth of feeling and ardor which lies at the source of the human voice as the expression of the unfathomable depths of the heart. The E-flat Symphony is different from the other two symphonies contemporaneous with it. Regardless of the circumstances in which Mozart found himself during the period of its composition, most of the symphony breathes a spirit of joy and gaiety, especially in the latter half. Also, the scoring of this symphony departs from the usual. Mozart had been becoming increasingly interested in the clarinet, although the famous clarinet quintet and the clarinet concerto were yet to be written, and in place of oboes, Mozart uses two clarinets in this symphony. The clarinet appears throughout the work but has a special effect in the trio of the minuet where the first clarinet establishes the melodic theme
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 37
Saturday, March 8, 2014, 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 9, 2014, 3 p.m.
National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale First Violins Jody Gatwood, Concertmaster emeritus Brenda Anna Michael Barbour Eva Cappelletti-Chao Maureen ConlonDorosh Laura Tait Chang Claudia Chudacoff Lisa Cridge Doug Dubé Lysiane GravelLacombe Jennifer Kim Regino Madrid Kim Miller Jennifer Rickard Benjamin Scott Leslie Silverfine Chaerim Smith Olga Yanovich Second Violins Mayumi Pawel, Principal Katherine Budner Arminé Graham Justin Gopal June Huang Karin Kelleher Alexandra Mikhlin Laura Miller Joanna Owen Jean Provine Rachel Schenker Jennifer Shannon Ning Ma Shi Hilde Singer Cathy Stewart Rachael Stockton Violas Julius Wirth, Principal Judy Silverman, Associate Principal Phyllis Freeman Nicholas Hodges Leonora Karasina Stephanie Knutsen Mark Pfannschmidt Margaret Prechtl Jennifer Rende Sarah Scanlon Chris Shieh Tam Tran Cellos Lori Barnet, Principal April Chisholm Danielle Cho Ken Ding Andrew Hesse Philip von Maltzahn Todd Thiel Kerry Van Laanen Basses Robert Kurz, Principal Kelly Ali Shawn Alger Barbara Fitzgerald William Hones Ed Malaga Michael Rittling Mark Stephenson Flutes David Whiteside, Principal Nicolette Oppelt David LaVorgna Piccolo David LaVorgna
Oboes Mark Hill, Principal Kathy Ceasar-Spall Fatma Daglar English Horn Ron Erler Clarinets Cheryl Hill, Principal Carolyn Alvarez-Agria Suzanne Gekker Bass Clarinet Carolyn Alvarez-Agria Bassoons Erich Hecksher, Principal Benjamin Greanya Sandra Sisk Contrabassoon Nicholas Cohen French Horns Michael Hall, Principal Mark Wakefield Justin Drew Mark Hughes Ken Bell Trumpets Chris Gekker, Principal Robert Birch, Robert & Margaret Hazen Chair Carl Rowe John Abbraciamento Trombones David Sciannella, Principal Jim Armstrong Jeffrey Cortazzo Tuba William Clark Timpani & Percussion Tom Maloy, Principal Aubrey Adams Curt Duer Robert Jenkins Bill Richards Harp Rebecca Smith Elizabeth Blakeslee Keyboard William Neil Jeffery Watson Theodore Guerrant Sopranos Marietta R. Balaan Kelli Bankard Mary Bentley* Jocelyn Bond Cheryl Branham Rosalind Breslow Kristin Brown Rebecca Carlson** Cheryl L. Castner Talia Chicherio Anne P. Claysmith Nancy A. Coleman** Eileen S. DeMarco Lauren Drinkwater Lisa Edgley Amy Ellsworth Daniela Fiore Sarah B. Forman Caitlin A. Garry Denise R. Harding Etahjayne J. Harris Deborah Henderson Julie Hudson Robyn Kleiner Jessica Holden Kloda
Joanna Lam Maria Lostoski Kaelyn Lowmaster Sharon MajchrzakHong Anaelise Martinez Kathryn McKinley Sara W. Moses Katherine NelsonTracey* Mary Beth Nolan Gloria Nutzhorn Juliana S. O’Neill Britany Poindexter Lynette Posorske Maggie Rheinstein Carlotta Richard Lisa Romano Theresa Roys Aida L. Sánchez Katherine Schnorrenberg Shelly A. Schubert Robin Steitz Carolyn J. Sullivan Cathlin Tully Ellen van Valkenburgh Susanne Villemarette Amy Wenner Emily Wildrick Lynne Woods Sara Zoeller Altos Helen R. Altman Carol Bruno Erlinda C. Dancer Sandra L. Daughton Jenelle M. Dennis Corinne Erasmus Deirdre Feehan Robin Fillmore Shannon Finnegan Elissa Frankle Francesca Frey-Kim Maria A. Friedman Julia C. Friend Andrea Frisch Elizabeth Bishop Gemoets Jeanette Ghatan Sarah Gilchrist Lois J. Goodstein Jacque Grenning Stacey A. Henning Jean Hochron Debbi Iwig Sara Michael Josey* Marilyn Katz Casey Keeler Irene M. Kirkpatrick Martha J. Krieger** Sandy Lederman Melissa J. Lieberman* Julie S. MacCartee Nansy Mathews Caitlin McLaughlin Susan E. Murray Daryl Newhouse Martha Newman Elizabeth Owen Brianna Peterson Patricia Pillsbury Beryl M. Rothman Lisa Rovin Jan Schiavone Deborah F. Silberman Lori J. Sommerfield Carol A. Stern Pattie Sullivan Bonnie S. Temple Virginia Van Brunt Christine Vocke Sarah Jane Wagoner** Wendy J. Weinberg
38 applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014
Tenors Kenneth Bailes Philip Bregstone J.I. Canizares Colin Church Paul J. DeMarco Ian Elder Ruth W. Faison** Darren Gemoets Carlos A. Herrán Don Jansky Curt Jordan Paul Legrady Tyler A. Loertscher Jane Lyle David Malloy Michael McClellan Chantal McHale Eleanor McIntire Wayne Meyer* Tom Milke Rolf Moeckel Tom Nessinger Steve Nguyen Shawn Pederson Joe Richter Jason Saffell Robert T. Saffell Zachary Schwalbach Dennis Vander Tuig Basses Albert Bradford Ronald Cappelletti Pete Chang Stephen Cook Clark V. Cooper Bopper Deyton Charles G. Edmonds J. William Gadzuk Robert Gerard Micky Goldstein Mike Hilton Luke Hlavin Chun-Hsien Huang John Iobst Theodore William Johnson William W. Josey** Peter Kadeli Allan Kirkpatrick Ian Kyle Jack Legler Larry Maloney Ian Matthews Alan E. Mayers David J. McGoff Richard McMillan David G. Medland Kent Mikkelsen* John Milberg** Oliver Moles Mark Nelson Leif Neve Tom Pappas Anthony Radich Harry Ransom, Jr. Edward Rejuney* Frank Roys Charles Serpan Carey W. Smith Jason James Smoker Charles Sturrock Alun Thomas Donald A. Trayer Michael Turnblom Roberto Villeda Wayne R. Williams Theodore Guerrant, Accompanist, Theodore M. Guerrant Chair * section leader ** asst. section leader
and the second clarinet embellishes that line with arpeggios. This ebullient symphony has a slow introduction, Adagio, that is meditative and solemn in character but harmonically audacious, a favorite device with Haydn, but relatively uncommon in Mozart. It expands the proportions of the vigorous Allegro first movement, an intense, dramatic and romantic opening to a serious work. The violins introduce the first theme, which is restful and melodious. The second subject is a cantabile melody of beauty and grace, divided between the violins and clarinets. The development section is relatively short and does not manipulate the principal musical material very intensively. The slow movement, Andante con moto, is not very slow but is one of the longest movements in all of Mozart’s symphonies. It begins with a simple folksong-like subject; the second part has a passionate theme. At the close of the theme, there is a harmonically interesting section in which the bassoons play an important part. The end of the development of the themes recalls a style familiar from the 12 great piano concertos of 1784 to 1786. The Minuet, Allegretto, begins cheerfully and has fluent writing for the still new and “modern” instrument, the clarinet. The rustic sounding dance may be musically related to or even derived from the kind of dance music that Mozart was then composing. The symphony comes to an end with a brilliant and light-hearted finale, Allegro, an extended movement built, like some of Haydn’s, on a single theme, in this case made up of nine notes. In this movement the composer allows his humor and fancy to play freely, especially in the merry development in which a variety of gay, sunny thoughts are expressed. The themes of the movement are less important than the fanciful, elaborate structure for which they function as foundation. The movement ends dramatically and suddenly. The score calls for flute, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings. Copyright Susan Halpern, 2013
Thursday, March 13, 2014, 8 p.m.
thursday, march 13, 2014, 8 p.m.
osteoporosis. A hardcore New Yorker, she still resides there with her husband.
●
Martin Sherman,
Strathmore Presents
Olympia Dukakis in a concert reading of Rose Written by Martin Sherman Directed by Nancy Meckler Lighting Design by Ted Sullivan The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
PHOTO BY christian oth
Olympia Dukakis
Long a vital, respected actor of the classic and contemporary stage, Olympia Dukakis did not become a household name and sought-after film actress until age 56, when she turned in an Academy Award-winning performance as Cher’s sardonic mother in the romantic comedy Moonstruck (1987). Dukakis was born on June 20, 1931, in Lowell, Mass., the daughter of Greek immigrants. She majored, however, in physical therapy at Boston University, where she graduated with a bachelor of arts. She practiced as a physical therapist during the polio epidemic. She later returned to her alma mater and entered the graduate program in performing arts and earned a master of fine arts degree.
Dukakis made her Broadway debut as an understudy in The Aspern Papers at age 30, followed by very short runs in the plays Abraham Cochrane (1964) and Who’s Who in Hell (1974). In 1999, she premiered Rose at the National Theatre in London and then on Broadway in 2000. The play earned her an Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award. Most recently she was seen on the New York stage in the Roundabout Theatre’s production of The Milktrain Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore (2011), in San Francisco in A.C.T.’s production of Vigil (2011) and as Prospera in The Tempest (2012) at Shakespeare & Co. On TV, she received high praise for her work portraying a transgendered landlady in the acclaimed miniseries Tales of the City (1993) and its sequels More Tales of the City (1998) and Further Tales of the City (2001). She was additionally seen in episodes of Bored to Death (2011-2012), and TV movies Last of the Blond Bombshells (2000), Sinatra (1992) and Joan of Arc (1999). Dukakis published her best-selling autobiography Ask Me Again Tomorrow: A Life in Progress in 2003, an introspective chronicle full of her trademark candor and wry humor. She is also a figure on the lecture circuit covering topics as widespread as life in the theater to feminism, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and
playwright
Martin Sherman’s plays have been produced in more than 50 countries and include Bent, Messiah, A Madhouse In Goa, When She Danced, Some Sunny Day, and most recently Aristo. His stage adaptations include E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India; a new version of a Pirandello play, Absolutely (Perhaps!); Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard; and Tennessee Williams’ The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. He wrote the musical The Boy from Oz, which starred Hugh Jackman on Broadway. He has been nominated for two Tony awards, two British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards and two Laurence Olivier awards.
Nancy Meckler, director
Born in the United States, Nancy Meckler has been a freelance theater and film director for many years in the U.K. and is presently artistic director for Shared Experience Theatre. Meckler was the first woman to direct at the Royal National Theatre (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).
Ted Sullivan, stage manager/ lighting designer
Ted Sullivan has worked on and off Broadway and toured extensively domestically and internationally. He has designed lighting for shows at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Hartford Stage, and designed for dance companies such as Doug Varone and Dancers, American Ballet Theatre and the Limón Dance Company. Sullivan’s theater designs have been done at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, The Chaing Kai-Shek National Theatre in Taiwan, the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower and Terrace theatres in Washington, D.C. He also works in architecture and has received two Lumen awards as the lead designer for permanent promenade lighting at the Seattle Opera and for a site-specific celebration event in Glasgow.
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 39
Saturday, March 15, 2014, 8 p.m.
saturday, March 15, 2014, 8 P.M.
● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director
presents
Bach’s Brandenburgs Jonathan Carney, leader and violin Madeline Adkins, leader and violin Lisa Steltenpohl, leader and viola BSO soloists Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 Johann Sebastian in F Major, BWV 1046 Bach (1685-1750) [Allegro] Adagio Allegro Menuet; Trio 1; Menuet; Polonaise; Menuet; Trio 2; Menuet Jonathan Carney, leader and violin Katherine Needleman, oboe Michael Lisicky, oboe Jane Marvine, oboe Fei Xie, bassoon Philip Munds, horn Gabrielle Finck, horn Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major, BWV 1049 Allegro Andante Presto Madeline Adkins, leader and violin Emily Skala, flute Marcia Kämper, flute Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048 Allegro Adagio Allegro Jonathan Carney, leader and violin Igor Yuzefovich, violin Rui Du, violin Lisa Steltenpohl, viola Noah Chaves, viola Karin Brown, viola Dariusz Skoraczewski, cello Chang Woo Lee, cello Bo Li, cello
INTERMISSION Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major, BWV 1047 [No Tempo Indicated] Andante Allegro assai Madeline Adkins, leader and violin Emily Skala, flute Katherine Needleman, oboe Andrew Balio, trumpet Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat Major, BWV 1051 Allegro Adagio ma non troppo Allegro Lisa Steltenpohl, leader and viola Noah Chaves, viola Dariusz Skoraczewski, cello Chang Woo Lee, cello Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050 Allegro Affettuoso Allegro Jonathan Carney, leader and violin Emily Skala, flute Lura Johnson, harpsichord
Tonight’s concert is funded, in part, by the Sidney M. and Miriam Friedburg Endowed Fund. The concert will end at approximately 10:15 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore • Marriott Concert Stage
40 applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014
Saturday, March 15, 2014, 8 p.m.
Jonathan Carney, leader and
Carney Photo by grant leighton, adkins photo by cassidy dutton
violin
BSO Concertmaster Jonathan Carney is in his 12th season with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra after 12 seasons in the same position with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Carney hails from a musical family, with all six members having graduated from The Juilliard School. After completing his studies with Ivan Galamian and Christine Dethier, he was awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship to continue his studies at the Royal College of Music in London. After enjoying critically acclaimed international tours as both concertmaster and soloist with numerous ensembles, Carney was invited by Vladimir Ashkenazy to become concertmaster of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1991. He was also appointed concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 1994 and the Basque National Orchestra in 1996. Carney has performed with many of the world’s great conductors, including Maestri Haitink, Abbado, Solti, Tennstadt, Maazel, Gergiev and Sawallisch. He has made a number of recordings, including concertos by Mozart, Vivaldi and Nielsen, sonatas by Brahms, Beethoven and Franck, and a disc of virtuoso works of by Sarasate and Kreisler with his mother Gloria Carney as pianist. Carney is an avid music educator and currently serves on the board of the Baltimore School for the Arts, as well as being the school’s artist-in-residence. He is also the artistic director of the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra at Strathmore. Carney’s violin is a 1687 Stradivarius, the Mercur-Avery on which he uses “Vision” strings by Thomastik-Infeld. Carney’s string sponsor is Connolly & Co., exclusive U.S. importer of Thomastik-Infeld strings. Jonathan Carney last appeared as a leader and soloist with the BSO in De-
cember 2013, performing Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires at the Music Center at Strathmore.
Madeline Adkins, leader and violin
Madeline Adkins was appointed to the position of associate concertmaster of the BSO by Maestro Yuri Temirkanov in 2005, after performing five years as assistant concertmaster. She appears annually as a soloist with the BSO, and is also the concertmaster of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. Adkins has served as guest concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Indianapolis and Oregon symphonies and the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, where she was featured in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Adkins has been active in period instrument performance since age 11, and has been a member of the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, the Dallas Bach Society, and currently Pro Musica Rara. With the BSO, Adkins has appeared as conductor and soloist in several Baroque programs of her own design. The daughter of noted musicologists, Adkins is the youngest of eight children, six of whom are professional musicians. She received her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from the University of North Texas and her master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with James Buswell. When not on stage, she volunteers and fosters cats and kittens for Small Miracles Cat and Dog Rescue in Ellicott City. Adkins performs on a 1763 Guadagnini graciously loaned by Marin Alsop. Madeline Adkins last appeared as a leader and soloist with the BSO in February 2006, performing Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, with Marin Alsop conducting.
Program Notes The Brandenburg Concertos
Johann Sebastian Bach Born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany; died July 28, 1750, in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
Johann Sebastian Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos might still be languishing in obscurity, known only to Baroque specialists, if it were not for the invention of the long-playing record. They were hardly noticed in his own day, and there is no record that the man for whom they were assembled—the Margrave of Brandenburg, half-brother of the King of Prussia—even had his orchestra in Berlin play them. When Mendelssohn promoted a revival of Bach’s music in the early 19th century, he never got around to the Brandenburgs, and so they slumbered on until the mid-20th century. Two Baroque works were the special beneficiaries of a number of recordings in the 1950s and immediately vaulted onto the classical hit parade: Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and the Brandenburg Concertos. And interestingly, there are strong links between these two sets of concertos—aside from the fact that they are both enormously appealing and tuneful works—for the young Bach avidly studied Vivaldi’s latest concertos and adopted their forms and many of their techniques for his own orchestral music. Unlike The Four Seasons, however, the Brandenburgs were not originally written as a set. Some of them—the First Concerto seems the most likely—may have been created in the early 1710s when the young composer was serving at the court of Weimar. Most of them, though, were likely written for the court of Cöthen, where Bach served as kapellmeister from 1717 to 1722. These were extraordinarily happy and productive years, for his employer Prince Leopold was an accomplished musician who sang and played the violin, viola da gamba and bass viol; as Bach said, he “both loved and understood music.” Prince Leopold maintained an orchestra of 17 players of the highest caliber to whom he added guest artists
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Saturday, March 15, 2014, 8 p.m.
whenever the music demanded. In 1719, Bach was sent to the Margrave’s court in Berlin to purchase a fine new harpsichord for the Cöthen Orchestra. There he met the Margrave— who was also known for the excellence of his orchestral ensemble—and undoubtedly demonstrated his virtuosity for him on the new instrument. The Margrave expressed interest in seeing more of Bach’s music, but it took another two years—until 1721—for the always overworked musician to prepare a suitable sampler in the form of six concertos for varying solo groups of instruments, chosen and probably extensively polished up for the occasion from his extensive repertoire. Unlike most of Vivaldi’s concertos, these are works of the concerto grosso genre: concertos that feature a group of soloists rather than a single soloist, balanced against a small orchestra of strings and harpsichord. Following Vivaldi’s formula, the two fast outer movements open with the small orchestra playing a refrain
or ritornello, which then recurs in whole or in part throughout the movement to bind the music together. In between come episodes for the solo group using mostly different thematic material. The slow-tempo middle movement focuses on more intimate music for the soloists. What sets the Brandenburgs apart from other concerti grossi of the period is the wide variety of instrumental combinations Bach used to make up his solo groups. Each concerto has its own distinct sound world with music designed to celebrate the different kinds of virtuosity its particular instruments are capable of. In the First Concerto, Bach showcased the warm tones of French horns and the poignant lyricism of three oboes, alongside a violin. In the Second, a high Baroque trumpet sets a brilliant, festive tone along with solo flute, oboe and violin. The Third Concerto features just string instruments—three violins, three violas and three cellos—that constantly interchange their roles as soloists and ensemble players.
Asbury. Where making a to-do list is fun. Fill your list with fresh opportunities. Find out how moving to Asbury will make so many good things possible. Come see for yourself the life you could lead at Asbury. Call 301-637-8132 to learn about the Strathmore Society at Asbury, with special programming for Asbury residents and guests.
AsburyMethodistVillage.org 201 RUSSELL AVENUE, GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND 20877 42 applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014
For the Fourth Concerto, Bach chose a violin, to which he gave a particularly virtuosic part, and two charming flutes or recorders. In the Fifth Concerto, for the first time in musical history he made the harpsichord—usually relegated to the subordinate role of continuo accompanist—his chief soloist and devised for it a spectacular long cadenza surely intended to show off his own virtuoso powers (as well as that new harpsichord from Berlin). Finally, he turned again to the strings for his Sixth Concerto, but used only the violas, cellos and double basses while surprisingly omitting the violins. This combination was probably designed to show off Prince Leopold on the bass viol and Bach himself on the showy first viola part. And thus, when all six concertos are played together, as they will be at this concert, we have in effect a giant Baroque concerto for orchestra, with every instrument and every section having its moment in the spotlight. Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2014
Lunch outing @ noo n Sign u p to vo luntee for lit r eracy progra m Stra th more c oncert Frida y
Wednesday, March 19, 2014, 8 p.m.
wednesday, MARCH 19, 2014, 8 p.m.
● Strathmore Presents
Estrella Morente The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
bernardo doral
Estrella Morente Estrella Morente Carbonell was born in 1980 in Granada. She is the daughter of maestro Enrique Morente and dancer Aurora Carbonell. Her grandfather was the guitarist Montoyita. She grew up surrounded by flamenco performers and aficionados, and it is in this sphere that she has matured both personally and professionally. Morente has performed alongside such flamenco legends as Chano Lobato and Juan Habichuela, and her voice appears on the soundtrack of the acclaimed film Sobreviviré. Peter Gabriel was inspired by her version of “Los Pastores,” and she is heard singing “Los Cuatro Muleros” on Carlos Saura’s Buñuel y la mesa del Rey Salomón. Her first recording for Virgin was Mi Cante y un Poema (My Songs and a Poem). On Mi Cante y un Poema her father is her spiritual guide and producer, selecting and adapting the tracks it includes. The CD was later launched worldwide on Peter Gabriel’s Real
World label. Since the album’s successful release, she has sung at Spain’s principal events and venues. She gave the closing concert at the XII Bienal de Flamenco, as well as the Festival Internacional del Cante de la Minas (La Unión), Sonidos del Mundo (Tudela) and Mar de Músicas in Cartagena, Colombia. Morente’s album Calle del Aire (Chewaka/Virgin) was released in late 2001. The press highlighted it as an eclectic recording with a highly vanguard approach. Morente also recorded “El Manisero” with the Cuban pianist Pepesito Reyes. After appearing in the documentary film Morente Sueña la Alhambra, directed by José Sánchez Montes, director Pedro Almodóvar selected Morente to record the self-titled, featured track to the soundtrack of his film Volver. The song was performed on film by Penelope Cruz. Morente subsequently toured the Basque and Aragonese regions of Spain, beginning 2006 with a recital at Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana. In May 2006, the album Mujeres was released on EMI/Virgin. It comprises a collection of songs inspired by women who have always been close to Morente’s heart. Nominated for a Latin Grammy, she took the 2006 Music Prize for best flamenco album. The Spanish Federation of Radio and Television Broadcasters awarded her the Golden Microphone prize in recognition of her contribution to Spanish cultural life. applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 43
friday, march 21, 2014, 8 p.m.
● Strathmore Presents
Pat Metheny Unity Group with Chris Potter, Antonio Sanchez, Ben Williams and Giulio Carmassi This concert includes a free pre-concert lecture presented by Dr. Wayne Goins, author of Emotional Response to Music: Pat Metheny’s Secret Story (2001), in Education Center Room 402 at 6:30 p.m.
The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Pat Metheny Unity Group
The year 2013 was a banner one for Pat Metheny. After being awarded his 20th Grammy, for Unity Band, and the release of his critically acclaimed recording of Tap: John Zorn’s Book of Angels, Vol. 20, Metheny received word that the readers of DownBeat magazine had voted to induct him into its Hall of Fame. Not only is Metheny the youngest member, but he is also only the fourth jazz guitarist to be chosen for that honor, joining Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery. With the release of Kin (←→), Metheny has once again re-invented himself. “The core quartet of Chris,
Ben, Antonio and me played more than 100 concerts over the year that followed the release of our Unity Band record,” Metheny says. “Over the course of that period, the band became one of those rare combinations of players where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts; it gelled in every way, and that just seemed to beg for expansion and further research.” Metheny adds: “If the first Unity Band record was a thoughtful, black and white documentary of four musicians in a recording studio playing, this record is more like the Technicolor, IMAX version of what a band like this could be—but with that hardcore thing still sitting right in the middle of it all.” In addition to contributing his usual tenor and soprano saxophone skills, Chris Potter is featured on half a dozen woodwind instruments in the ensemble, while Ben Williams is featured as soloist not only as a traditional acoustic bassist, but also on electric bass and, in one case, trading solos with Potter. Drummer Antonio Sanchez is showcased throughout; there are constant textural surprises coming from the kit as well as a track that begins with Sanchez on cajón.
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Metheny himself, while often letting his band mates shine on the compositional vehicles he has designed for them, uses every moment as a soloist to maximum effect. From his powerful opening statement on the leadoff track to the variety of approaches he brings to the harmonic complexities that proliferate throughout, Metheny’s solos contain rare melodic moments that give his improvisations the same indelible qualities that his best compositions have. Multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi is the new wild card in Metheny’s hand this time around. Throughout the album, Carmassi holds the difficult and important role of piano accompanist to this fluent core of players. Metheny wanted to create a sense of richness that went beyond the more traditional quartet sound of the original Unity Band. To this end, in addition to Metheny’s own electronic, orchestrionic and synth orchestrations, Carmassi adds trumpet, French horn, flute, alto sax, recorder, vibraphone, whistling, trombone and some of the most beautiful and evocative vocals on any Metheny recording. Each of the first four tracks on the record clocks in at more than 10 minutes, with the opening “On Day One” nearly 15 minutes long. But these are pieces that are not simply extended improvisational “jams;” they are meticulously detailed and developed structures that remain somewhat impervious to any traditional analysis while also providing inspirational environments for improvisation. There is a constant shifting of forms, time signatures and pedal points along with ever-changing opportunities for the various personalities of each player to shine. The title track seems to best capture Metheny’s new way of looking at music. Using the elements that make electronic dance music the sound of the streets, Metheny cooks up a brew that incorporates the drama and scope of some of his more sweeping projects with a digital forward motion and makes it sound not only exciting, but natural as well.
PHOTO BY jimmy katz
Friday, March 21, 2014, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 22, 2014, 8 p.m.
saturday, March 22, 2014, 8 P.M.
Orchestra in Ottawa. During the 201314 season, he returns to the National, Toronto and Cincinnati symphonies and the National Arts Centre Orchestra and makes debut appearances with the Vancouver and Baltimore symphony orchestras. Internationally, Storgårds appears with NDR Hamburg, WDR Cologne, Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France, Netherlands Radio and the BBC Symphony, as well as with all of the major Scandinavian orchestras and the Sydney and Melbourne symphonies. Highlights of his 2013-14 season in Europe include a return visit to the BBC Proms and engagements with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Bergen and Warsaw philharmonics. John Storgårds is making his BSO debut.
● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director
presents
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto John Storgårds, conductor Baiba Skride, violin antasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Ralph Vaughan Williams F (1872-1958) Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 Allegro molto appassionato Andante Allegretto non troppo— Allegro molto vivace Baiba Skride
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Baiba Skride, violin
INTERMISSION Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39 Jean Sibelius Andante, ma non troppo— (1865-1957) Allegro energico Andante, ma non troppo lento Scherzo: Allegro Finale (quasi una fantasia): Andante—Allegro molto Support for the appearance of Baiba Skride is generously provided by the Peggy & Yale Gordon Trust The concert will end at approximately 9:50 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
PHOTOS BY MARCO BORGGREVE
John Storgårds, conductor
Chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and artistic director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, John Storgårds has a dual career as a conductor and violin virtuoso and is
widely recognized for his creative flair for programming and his commitment to contemporary music. Storgårds made his North American debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra during the 2005-06 season. Since then, he has appeared with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood and the National, Toronto, St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Houston symphony orchestras, as well as with the National Arts Centre
Baiba Skride has appeared with prestigious orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Gewanhausorchester Leipzig, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sydney Symphony. Conductors she regularly collaborates with include Thierry Fischer, Paavo and Neeme Järvi, Andris Nelsons, John Storgårds and Mario Venzago. Last summer, Skride gave her debut at the BBC Proms with the Oslo Philharmonic, playing Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Other highlights in the 2013-14 season include concerts with WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne, Vienna Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Helsinki Philharmonic and Luxembourg Philharmonic. In June 2013, Skride released a Schumann CD with the Danish National Symphony and John Storgårds (Orfeo). Previous recordings include the Stravinsky and Frank Martin violin concertos with the BBC National
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 45
Saturday, March 22, 2014, 8 p.m.
Orchestra of Wales and Thierry Fischer, a Brahms CD box with Stockholm Philharmonic and Sakari Oramo, a Tchaikovsky CD with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Nelsons and a duo disc with her sister. Skride plays the Stradivarius Ex Baron Feilitzsch violin (1734), which is generously on loan to her from Gidon Kremer. Baiba Skride last appeared with the BSO in March 2011, performing Berg’s Violin Concerto, with Mario Venzago conducting.
Program Notes Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Ralph Vaughan Williams Born Oct. 12, 1872, in Down Ampney, England; died Aug. 26, 1958, in London
Related to both Charles Darwin and Josiah Wedgewood, Ralph Vaughan Williams was the scion of a prominent English family that expected its sons to be lawyers and clergymen, not musicians. His own path to a composing career was unconventional, and he was almost 38 when he unveiled his first masterpiece, Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Vaughan Williams spent his 30s collecting folk songs from all parts of England. In 1904, he undertook another project that also influenced his creative development: the revision of the hymnal of the Anglican Church, making it, in his words, “a thesaurus of all the finest hymn tunes in the world.” During this two-year labor of love, he immersed himself in the music of such Elizabethan masters as William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons and Thomas Tallis. For the hymn text “When, rising from the bed of death,” he chose a stately melody composed by Tallis in 1567. It obviously made a deep impression, for in 1910 it became the theme of his Fantasia for Strings composed for the Three Choirs Festival held in Gloucester Cathedral. Vaughan Williams scored the work for three string ensembles: a large first orchestra, a small second orchestra of nine players and a string quartet.
With them, he created layers of contrasting sonorities that played off the cathedral’s vast echoing spaces. The quartet’s first violinist and violist are also featured in luminous solos and duets. At the work’s premiere on Sept. 6, 1910, listeners were too involved in the other piece on the program, Elgar’s recent oratorio The Dream of Gerontius, to pay much attention. But within a few years, the Fantasy was being played by orchestras throughout Europe. It begins with a preview of the theme plucked by low strings, followed by a short winding idea in violas and cellos that will also play a prominent role. Then we hear the Tallis theme played in its entirety by second violins, violas and cellos. This melody will not return in full until the solo violin sings it near the end. The body of the piece is composed of meditations on phrases of the theme, new melodies spun from it, and the richly harmonized winding idea—all refracted by the different prisms of Vaughan Williams’ three ensembles. Instrumentation: Large string orchestra, echo string orchestra and string quartet. Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Felix Mendelssohn Born Feb. 3, 1809, in Hamburg, Germany; died Nov. 4, 1847, in Leipzig, Germany
During the years he served as director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Felix Mendelssohn was blessed with an outstanding concertmaster in Ferdinand David, one of the 19th century’s finest and most versatile violinists. As early as 1835, the composer promised David a concerto to show off his remarkable abilities. But the concerto did not appear for nearly a decade, despite the violinist’s frequent reminders, preserved in some charmingly wheedling letters. This delay was uncharacteristic of Mendelssohn, usually a man who promptly fulfilled his obligations, musical or otherwise. But the early 1840s were particularly trying times for him. Already in demand all over Europe as both a composer and a performer, Mendelssohn in 1841 was summoned
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to Berlin (his family’s home) by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia to be his court musician and establish a grandiose new conservatory. For three years, the composer dutifully served the king’s constantly changing whims while longing to return to Leipzig. The enchanting incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream was about the only good thing to come out of this frustrating period. As soon as he could gracefully extricate himself from Berlin, Mendelssohn turned to the long-delayed concerto and completed it in September 1844. It was premiered by David with the Leipzig Gewandhaus on March 13, 1845. Generations of violinists and audiences can attest that the concerto—one of the most perfect ever written for this instrument—was worth the wait. As Brahms would later do with his Violin Concerto for Joseph Joachim, Mendelssohn constantly sought David’s advice and scrupulously tailored his concerto to the violinist’s skills and musical personality. Mendelssohn is usually regarded as a conservative composer, who despite his allegiance to Romanticism, followed the classical forms and feeling of Mozart and Haydn more closely than did his contemporaries. But Mendelssohn was also a true Romantic who felt free to break the rules of the classical concerto. First Movement: The breaking of old rules begins immediately as the violinist launches the buoyant principal theme in the second measure, dispensing with the customary orchestral exposition. The key of E minor adds a touch of poignancy to this expansive, openhearted melody. The most magical moment of this sonata-form movement comes at the end of the development section when in a hushed, mysterious passage the soloist begins searching for the home key. Just as the soloist seems to have found it, Mendelssohn pulls a surprise: launching the soloist’s cadenza, which is customarily placed after the recapitulation just before the movement ends. It concludes with chains of rapid arpeggios that continue as the orchestra reprises the principal theme, thus binding cadenza
Saturday, March 22, 2014, 8 p.m.
seamlessly to recapitulation. At movement’s end, we hear a lone bassoon holding onto the pitch B. That note then rises a half step for the new key of C major for the second movement Andante, which the soloist begins after a brief orchestral bridge passage. This movement is in three-part song form—most appropriate here because Mendelssohn has given the soloist one of his “songs without words.” The middle section interjects passionate agitation amid the lyricism. Another bridge provides harmonic and tempo transition to the E-major finale. Here we have one of Mendelssohn’s celebrated scherzos: a joyous, scampering romp for the soloist. Conjuring up the world of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the woodwinds are agile companions to the violin’s gambols. Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings. Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39
Jean Sibelius Born Dec. 8, 1865 in Hämeenlinna, Finland; died Sept. 20, 1957 in Järvenpää, Finland
As the 19th century was about to turn into the 20th, Finland was engaged in a struggle for survival. For much of the century, she had been an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian empire, but still enjoying relative freedom. But in the 1890s the government of Czar Nicholas II began to lean heavily on its northwestern neighbor. In February 1899, the czar issued the infamous “February Manifesto,” which stripped the Finnish parliament of many of its powers. The Finnish people chose to fight back not with guns but with passive resistance and music. And luckily they had the perfect man for this strategy: the formidable young composer Jean Sibelius just coming into the height of his powers. Like most artists, Sibelius was not a political man, but he was a fierce Finnish patriot. He was happy to write music that would serve as a rallying cry for his fellow citizens (Finlandia
being his most overt political statement), and he was just about to unveil his most ambitious new work: his First Symphony. Premiered under his baton in Helsinki on April 26, 1899 and then toured by the Helsinki Philharmonic to Scandinavia, Germany and the Paris World Exhibition in 1900, it declared to the world that Finland had a culture worth fighting for. About this time, Debussy had declared the symphony a dead form, and Richard Strauss was preoccupied with descriptive tone poems. But Sibelius firmly believed that the classical fourmovement symphony, with its drama growing out of the pure manipulation of musical elements without the underpinnings of a storyline, was alive and well. With each of his seven symphonies, he would explore a new world, becoming progressively more original in his voice and his methods of construction. In his First Symphony, Sibelius began firmly in the late Romantic tradition, but gave timeworn musical gestures a new orchestral sound and a virile Nordic intensity all his own. We hear this immediately in the first movement, which has a beginning like no other. Over a drumroll a clarinet sings a lonely song, bleak as Finland’s rocky coast. It is the work’s core theme. As the tempo accelerates to Allegro energico, the violins transform it into a theme of vehement defiance. Soon this theme is shouted out by the full orchestra, echoed by the roar of dark brass that will become a Sibelian trademark sound. The music then subsides into a scampering, folkish woodwind dance, led by two flutes over shimmering strings and harp. Over this the oboe sings a variant of the lonely clarinet song. Powerful dark Sibelian brass carries this music seamlessly into a stormy development section based largely on the scampering woodwind theme. Eventually, the violins, over a whirlwind of ascending and descending scales, cry out the second half of the defiant theme and, again seamlessly, waft the music into the recapitulation. There was one Russian Sibelius truly
admired: Tchaikovsky. In 1894 and 1897 he had heard the recently deceased composer’s Pathétique Symphony in Helsinki and been deeply moved by it. “There is much in that man that I recognize in myself,” he admitted to his wife. And there is much of Tchaikovsky’s spirit in both the Andante second movement here and the finale. It opens with a lovely rocking melody for the violins and cellos, romantic and wistful. This is followed by an episode in which two bassoons, abetted by other woodwinds, engage in a dark duet; Sibelius described them as instruments with a particularly Finnish sound. When the romantic melody returns, listen for the wild swirls of flute, clarinet and bassoon that accompany it. This is an episodic movement full of passionate, tempestuous excursions, though it ultimately returns to the repose of the romantic theme. Bruckner was another composer who impressed the young Sibelius, and the third movement scherzo has the pounding energy of Bruckner’s scherzo dances, energized by the exciting conflict of cross rhythms. This music is suddenly stopped in its tracks by sighing horns, introducing a haunting trio section in a much slower tempo. The finale initially returns us to the world of the first movement. Once again we hear the melancholy clarinet theme, but now it is sung passionately by the strings. As the Allegro section begins, Sibelius substitutes a choppy, fitful theme for a conventional melody—a kind of theme Tchaikovsky also favored. But Sibelius more than compensates with his gloriously romantic second theme, richly sung by violins and rhapsodically accompanied by the harp. After a turbulent development, it is this magnificent melody that carries the symphony to its grand conclusion, ending with a final Sibelian surprise: two delicately strummed pizzicato chords. Instrumentation: Two flutes, two piccolos, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings. Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2014
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Thursday, March 27, 2014, 8 p.m.
Thursday, march 27, 2014, 8 P.M.
● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director Jack Everly, Principal Pops Conductor
presents
Stayin’ Alive: One Night of the Bee Gees Matt Catingub, conductor Todd Sharman, Robin Gibb and backing vocals Tony Mattina, Barry Gibb, backing vocals and guitar Joseph Janisse, Maurice Gibb, backing vocals and keyboard Smokin’ Joe Peeres, guitar Chris Mullin, bass Cheryl Hardy, backing vocals Ed Mortenson, drums The program will be announced from the stage. The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Matt Catingub, conductor Multi-talented musician Matt Catingub is generating excitement throughout the entertainment industry for his abilities as a conductor, composer, arranger, instrumentalist and singer. Recently appointed artistic director and conductor of the Glendale Pops Orchestra, conductor of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra Pops and pops conductor of the New Hampshire Music Festival, he consistently garners praise for his innovative pops programming. Catingub is able to put together shows from Big Band to the Rat Pack, from Motown to ’80s hits, and from smooth and classic jazz. He also
arranges and orchestrates symphonic shows for major international artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Kenny Loggins, Michael Feinstein, John Pizzarelli, Toto and Michael McDonald. As a conductor, he has appeared with the symphony orchestras of Cincinnati, Columbus, Florida, Houston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville, Oregon, St. Louis and Utah, among others. Recent and upcoming engagements include returns to the Cincinnati Pops, Columbus Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Nashville Symphony and New Hampshire Music Festival, as well as debuts with the Phoenix, Long Beach, Hartford, Victoria and Omaha symphonies. Largely self-taught, Catingub began learning the piano at age 7 before switching to the alto saxophone at 16.
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One year later, he was asked to play at the Monterey Jazz Festival, becoming the youngest member of the Louie Bellson Big Band and establishing himself as a premier jazz musician.
Todd Sharman, Robin Gibb and backing vocals
Todd Sharman has been a mainstay in the Toronto music scene for many years. He has fronted many tribute acts from Tom Petty to the Tragically Hip, as well as numerous original bands. From this gained experience, Sharman continues to electrify the Stayin’ Alive audience.
Tony Mattina, Barry Gibb, backing vocals and guitar
Tony Mattina has played with numerous tribute bands and is a veteran of the Toronto music scene. “Barry has such a unique and identifiable voice,” Mattina states, “and I take great pride that night after night the audience embraces my translation of Barry’s character. Barry is truly one of the greatest vocalists of our time.”
Joseph Janisse, Maurice Gibb, backing vocals and keyboard
Joseph Janisse has been touring in various tribute bands throughout Canada and the United States for more than a decade. He has written a Top 20 hit and his music is used in television programs on both sides of the border.
Smokin’ Joe Peeres, guitar
Smokin’ Joe Peeres started playing guitar at age 14, and since then has performed in many bands and has toured extensively throughout North America
Thursday, March 27, 2014, 8 p.m.
and worldwide. Peeres performs with several different projects and continues to be in demand in the industry. When he is not performing, he enjoys time with his wife and two boys.
Chris Mullin, bass
From Edmonton, Alberta, Chris Mullin started playing at age 12 and has toured and recorded with numerous Canadian acts. After graduating with a jazz diploma from Grant McEwen College in Edmonton, he won “Bass Wars” for Alberta. Mullin also completed a bachelor of arts degree in music education at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. He also is the webmaster for the band. Mullin lives in Toronto with his wife and two daughters.
Cheryl Hardy, backing vocals
Cheryl Hardy is a studio and jingle performer in Toronto. She has fronted numerous bands and wrote and performed the prizewinning theme song for the Canada Summer games, “When We Are One.”
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Ed Mortenson, drums
Ed Mortenson is a freelance drummer in Toronto. He graduated from Red Deer College in classical percussion studies. He also graduated from the Grant McEwen College Jazz Music Program with honors. Mortenson has played all over the globe, from Afghanistan (playing for the troops) to spending three years touring South East Asia and the Middle East.
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friday, march 28, 2014, 8 p.m.
● Strathmore Presents
Lily Tomlin The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin, one of America’s foremost comediennes, continues to venture across an ever-widening range of media, starring in television, theater, motion pictures, animation and video. Throughout her extraordinary career, Tomlin has received numerous awards, including six Emmys; two Tonys; a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics’ Circle Award, a CableAce Award, a Grammy and two Peabody Awards. In 2003 she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Tomlin was born in Detroit and grew up in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of one of the city’s most affluent areas. Although she claims she wasn’t funny as a child, Tomlin admits she “knew who was and lifted all their material right off the TV screen.” Her favorites included Lucille Ball, Bea Lillie, Imogene Coca and Jean Carroll, one of the first female stand-up comics on The Ed Sullivan Show. After high school, Tomlin enrolled at
Wayne State University to study medicine, but her elective courses in theater arts compelled her to leave college to become a performer in local coffee houses. She moved to New York in 1965, where she soon built a strong following with her appearances at landmark clubs such as The Improvisation, Cafe Au Go Go and the Upstairs at the Downstairs, where she later opened for the legendary Mabel Mercer in the Downstairs Room. Tomlin made her television debut in 1966 on The Garry Moore Show and then made several memorable appearances on The Merv Griffin Show, which led to a move to California where she appeared as a regular on Music Scene. In December 1969, Tomlin joined the cast of the top-rated Laugh-In and immediately rose to national prominence with her characterizations of Ernestine, the irascible telephone operator, and Edith Ann, the devilish 6-year-old. When Laugh-In left the air, Tomlin went on to co-write, with Jane Wagner, and star in six comedy television specials: The Lily Tomlin Show (1973), Lily (1973), Lily (1975), Lily Tomlin (1975), Lily: Sold Out (1981) and Lily for President? (1982), for which she won three Emmys and a Writers Guild of America Award. Tomlin also starred in the HBO special about the AIDS epidemic, And the Band Played On (1993). She has guest starred on numerous television shows, such as Homicide, X-Files and Will and Grace, and played the boss on the popular CBS series, Murphy Brown. She is also heard as the voice of the science teacher
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Ms. Frizzle on the popular children’s animated series, The Magic School Bus, for which she was awarded an Emmy. In 2002, Tomlin joined the cast of the hit NBC series, The West Wing, playing President Bartlet’s assistant, Debbie Fiderer. In the past few years, Tomlin has made several guest appearances on Desperate Housewives, NCIS, Eastbound and Down, and guest starred in Damages. Tomlin made her Broadway debut in the 1977 play, Appearing Nitely, written and directed by Wagner. Appearing Nitely was later adapted as both an album and an HBO special. Tomlin next appeared on Broadway in 1985 in The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. The Broadway success was followed by a 14-city tour. Tomlin extended her extraordinary theatrical career with a cross-country, 29-city tour of The Search, a new production of The Search on Broadway, a six-month run of the production in San Francisco, and a sixweek run as part of the 2004 season at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. On film, Tomlin made her debut as Linnea, a gospel singer and mother of two deaf children in Robert Altman’s Nashville (1975). She next starred opposite Art Carney as a would-be actress living on the fringes of Hollywood in Robert Benton’s The Late Show (1977). She went on to star in Moment By Moment (1978), 9 to 5 (1980), The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), All of Me (1984) and Big Business (1988). In the 1990s, Tomlin starred in the film adaptation of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (1991). Other performances included roles in Shadows and Fog (1992), Short Cuts (1993), Flirting With Disaster (1996) and Tea With Mussolini (1999). Tomlin can most recently be seen in the Tina Fey and Paul Rudd film Admission (2012). Tomlin currently narrates the HBO documentary, An Apology to Elephants. In addition, she and Wagner are working on a television series about several members of a bizarre and troubled family making good; and, she has entered the social media arena with an educational game app for kids based on her beloved character, Edith Ann.
PHOTO BY jenny risher
Friday, March 28, 2014, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 29, 2014, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 2014, 3 P.M. AND 8 P.M.
● Strathmore Presents
Bring it On: The Musical
Inspired by the Motion Picture Bring It On Written by Jessica Bendinger Libretto by Jeff Whitty Music by Tom Kit & Lin-Manuel Miranda Lyrics by Amanda Green & Lin-Manuel Miranda Directed and Choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler Cast (in order of appearance) Nadia Vynnytsky, Campbell Bailey Purvis, Skylar Mia Weinberger, Kylar Maisie Salinger, Bridget Andy White, Steven Emily Mitchell, Eva Erin L. Fleming, Twig AJ Lockhart, Cameron Tyler Bertolone, Randall Jennifer Geller, Nautica Sharrod Williams, La Cienega Zuri Washington, Danielle Victoria Cyzewski and Sarah Natha, Burger Pagoda Girls
Overture “What I Was Born to Do” “Tryouts” “One Perfect Moment” “What I Was Born to Do” (Reprise) “One Perfect Moment” (Reprise) “Do Your Own Thing” “We Ain’t No Cheerleaders” “Friday Night Jackson” “Something Isn’t Right Here” “Bring It On” INTERMISSION Entr’ Acte “It’s All Happening” “Better” “It Ain’t No Thing” “What Was I Thinking?” “Enjoy the Trip” “Killer Instinct” “We’re Not Done” “Legendary” “Eva’s Rant” “Cross the Line” “I Got You” The Music Center at Strathmore • Marriott Concert Stage
Nadia Vynnytsky
Nadia Vynnytsky is ecstatic to join the Bring it On team. Vynnytsky’s national and international tour credits include Legally Blonde, Shrek and Catch Me If You Can. She has received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Montclair State University.
Zuri Washington
Zuri Washington’s recent credits include the world premiere of M33, Hairspray and the workshop of ‘S Wonderful with Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera.
Tyler Bertolone
Tyler Bertolone is excited to make his national tour debut. His theater credits include Into the Woods and Dog Sees God, and television credits include episodes of Banshee and Revolution. Bertolone is a recent graduate of Elon University.
Emily Mitchell
Emily Mitchell is over the moon to be part of this tour. Mitchell is a recent graduate of Oakland University.
Maisie Salinger
Maisie Salinger is so very grateful to be part of the tour. Salinger is originally from Boulder, Colo., and is a graduate of Pace University.
Jennifer Geller
Jennifer Geller is ecstatic to be making her national tour debut. She thanks the creative team for giving her this wonderful opportunity, and her family for their constant love and support. applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 51
Saturday, March 29, 2014, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sharrod Williams Sharrod Williams is from Newark, N.J., and a graduate of Montclair State University. His theater credits include the national tour of A Chorus Line, Cats, Hairspray and Cabaret. In addition, Williams has danced with Chase Brock Experience, Doug Elkins and Friends and Von Howard Project.
Andy White
Andy White is excited to be a part of the Bring It On family. White has appeared in tours of Shrek and Legally Blonde. He has received a bachelor of fine arts from Pace University.
AJ Lockhart
AJ Lockhart is pursuing a bachelor of fine arts in musical theater at the University of the Arts. Lockhart has appeared in regional productions of Chicago and Smokey Joe’s Café, and was the assistant choreographer and dance captain of Legally Blonde at University of the Arts.
Mia Weinberger
Mia Weinberger is ecstatic to be part of Bring it On. Weinberger has appeared Off-Broadway in Tilly the Trickster and Berenstain Bears Live! She also has appeared in regional productions of Legally Blonde and The Wizard of Oz. Weinberger is a graduate of Northwestern University.
Bailey Purvis
Bailey Purvis is from Baton Rouge, La. Purvis has appeared in Legally Blonde, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Anything Goes and a workshop of Soul Doctor. Her television credits include High School Musical: Get in the Picture.
for Avenue Q, which ran on Broadway for six years and then moved Off-Broadway, where its run continues. Whitty also was the librettist for a musical of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, which premiered at ACT in San Francisco. Plays include The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, The Hiding Place, The Plank Project, Balls, Suicide Weather and Sequel 2: A New Beginning.
Tom Kitt
Tom Kitt, the co-composer, co-arranger and orchestrator, received the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as two Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestrations for Next to Normal. Kitt is also the compositor for High Fidelity (Broadway), The Winter’s Tale and All’s Well That Ends Well (the Public NYSF), From Up Here (MTC) and The Retributionists (Playwrights Horizons).
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the co-composer and co-lyricist, won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Original Score for In the Heights, a 2009 Grammy Award for its original Broadway cast album and was named a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, in addition to numerous other awards. He contributed new songs to the revival of Stephen Schwartz’s Working and collaborated with Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim on Spanish translations for the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story.
Amanda Green
Erin L. Fleming trained, taught and performed professionally in Philadelphia for five years. Fleming received a bachelor of fine arts from the University of the Arts.
Co-lyricist Amanda Green wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music for Hands on a Hardbody, collaborating with Trey Anastasio and playwright Doug Wright. Green also wrote the lyrics for High Fidelity (Broadway 2006) and additional lyrics for Hallelujah Baby! (Arena Stage, directed by Arthur Laurents). Green has received the Jonathan Larson Award and Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Scholarship Award.
Jeff Whitty
Andy Blankenbuehler
Erin L. Fleming
Librettist Jeff Whitty won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Book for a Musical
Director/choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler’s Broadway credits include
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In the Heights, Annie, Bring It On, 9 to 5, The People in the Picture and The Apple Tree. Blankenbuehler has performed in seven Broadway musicals, including the original company of Fosse. He resides in New York City with his wife Elly and children, Luca and Sofia.
Additional Credits
Scenery fabrication by PRG Scenic Technologies, New Windsor, N.Y. Soft goods by I. Weiss & Sons, Fairview, N.J. Lighting equipment by Christie Lites, Orlando, Fla., Larry Thomas. Sound equipment by Sound Associates, Yonkers, N.Y. Video equipment by Pete’s Big TVs, Columbia, Md. Custom costumes executed by John Kristiansen New York, Inc. Custom costume crafts by Jeff Fender Studio. Additional costume construction by Troika Entertainment Costumes, Glen Burnie, Md. Trucking by Janco, LTD., Wayne, N.J., Rick Rosenthal. Rehearsed at Baruch College, N.Y., N.Y. Makeup provided by Bastar Makeup/Kay Klausner. Bring It On: The Musical thanks the Hofstra University cheerleaders. Rehearsed at Baruch College and Chelsea Studios.
Ensemble
Azaria Bermudez, Antwan Bethea, Victoria Cyzewski, Jillian Franco, Chailee Friant, Michael Naone-Carter, Sarah Nathan, David Ranck, Kyle Shafer, Mason Trueblood, Jayson Tucker and Natalie Willis Antwan Bethea, cheer captain Eean Cochran, dance captain Kaleigh Prange, assistant cheer captain/assistant dance captain Swings Gabriella Andréa, Eean Cochran, Alli Franco, Reed Iacarella, Brantley Jittu, Megan Peck, Brennan Peters, Kaleigh Prange Understudies Understudies never substitute for listed players unless a specific announcement is made at the time of the performance. Standby for Campbell, Eva, Skylar, Kylar: Anna Grace Barlow for Campbell: Mia Weinberger
Saturday, March 29, 2014, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
for Skylar: Sarah Nathan for Kylar: Kaleigh Prange for Steven: Mason Trueblood for Bridget: Sarah Nathan, Kaleigh Prange for Eva: Mia Weinberger for Twig: Antwan Betha, Eean Cochran, Mason Trueblood for Randall: Eean Cochran, Andy White for Nautica: Victoria Cyzewski, Kaleigh Prange for La Cienega: Eean Cochran, AJ Lockhart for Danielle: Jennifer Geller, Sarah Nathan for Cameron: Antwan Bethea, Eean Cochran Orchestra Julian Reeve, music director Peter Nilsen, assistant music director, keyboard
Andrew Dow, bass Katie Steinhauser, drums, percussion Brogan Woodburn, guitar For Big League Productions, Inc. Nan Bases, Esq., legal counsel Xavier Mazara, office manager/ producer’s assistant Schall & Ashenfarb, accounting Connie Caulo, house accountant For TROIKA Entertainment Randall A. Buck, chief executive officer Michael J. Orsino, chief operating officer Donald Kindl, chief financial officer Jaime Prine, associate producer Townsend Teague and Joe Christopher, general managers Brian Schrader, assistant general manager Ryan P. Murphy, Abram Best
Production coordinator Courtney Davis, marketing manager Amy Katz, marketing consultant Doria Montfort, booking associate George Lamberty, budgeting and forecasting manager Ryan Rudzinski, controller Lourdes Castillo, staff accountant Marite Espinoza, accounting clerk Scott Garrish, warehouse manager Allison Shade, office assistant For TROIKA Costumes Michelle Harrison, costume director Alison Smith, assistant to the costume director Helen Jones, work room manager Laura Browning, lead stitcher Risa Ono, craft manager Emily Schubert and Kaitlyn Howland, project assistants Kristin Czako, Sharon Landrum and Katharine Kraus, stitchers
Bring it On: The Musical Staff David Korins, scenic design Andrea Lauer, costume design Jason Lyons, lighting design Cody Spencer, sound design Jeff Suggs, video design Joy Dewing, CSA and Joy Dewing Casting, casting Alex Lacamoire and Tom Kitt, musical arrangements and orchestrations Julian Reeve, music director MB Productions, technical supervisor Randall A. Buck and Daniel Sher, executive producers Townsend Teague, general manager Brian Schrader, assistant general manager Courtney Davis, tour marketing and press Mark Johnson, company manager The Road Company, tour booking agency Joy Dewing Casting, Joy Dewing, CSA and Nikki Grillos, casting MB Productions, technical supervisor Mike Bauder Andrew Deichman Jeremy Lane Victoria Mayo Sonya Schumacher J. Michael Stafford Richard Nilsen, stage supervisor Saori Yokoo, assistant stage manager/assistant company manager Holly-Anne Ruggiero, associate director
Stephanie Klemons, associate choreographer Jessica Colombo, cheer and stunt coordinator Tristan Raines, associate costume designer Caitlin Conci, assistant costume designer Gerard Kelly, hair and wig Grant Wilcoxen, associate lighting designer/ programmer Teresa Hull, production electrician Trey Gilmore, video programmer Mike Tracey, associate sound designer David Horowitz, production sound Randy Cohen, synthesizer programmer Neshama Sonnenschein, production assistant Bryan Oard, head carpenter J. Tyler Delong, assistant carpenter Michael Vergoth, head of properties Rex Vanstee, head electrician Priscilla Mullins, assistant electrician Chris Powell, head of sound Paul Gonzales, assistant sound engineer Andrea Dockhorn, head of wardrobe Derrick Cosmo West, head of hair NEURO TOUR, Physical Therapy, Inc., physical therapy Lisa Basarab, physical therapist Thomas Myers, M.D., medical director Zwick & Banyai, PLLC, accounting The Capital Group, employee benefits Maury, Donnelly and Parr, Inc., insurance S. Jean Ward, Esq., legal True Marketing, creative services
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 53
Thursday, April 3, 2014, 8 p.m.
thursday, April 3, 2014, 8 p.m.
● Strathmore Presents
Keb’ Mo’ The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Keb’ Mo’
Three-time Grammy winner and visionary roots-music storyteller Keb’ Mo’ embarks on a new chapter in his career with the anticipated release of BLUESAmericana on Kind of Blue Music. His 12th full-length album marks the 20th anniversary of his debut Keb’
Mo’, but, more important, the disc is a signpost of artistic and personal growth. “I only make albums when I’m inspired to, and these 10 songs come from a very honest place,” Keb’ Mo’ relates. “BLUESAmericana is the beginning of the next phase of who I am.” At its core, the album is about love and understanding. The songs “Do It Right” and “For Better Or Worse” assay devotion and marriage. The thorny,
15th Annual
comic “The Worst is Yet To Come” is about hope, and “Somebody Hurt You” is, in Keb’ Mo’s words, “where the blues meets the church.” That number features Rip Patton, a longtime friend and Civil Rights era Freedom Rider, on bass vocals. Acoustic guitars do feature prominently in the arrangements, which boast plenty of textural flesh via electric and resonator slide guitars, mandolin, percussion, keyboards, reeds and horns, but still reveal the gorgeously chiseled architecture of their bare bones origins. Keb’ Mo’s favorite number is the ebullient “I’m Gonna Be Your Man.” Keb’ Mo’ stresses that his focus will always be on making music and being a communicator, a songwriter. “My job is to look for something that’s truthful,” he says. “Lies are the hardest things in the world to remember, but the truth digs right inside me and it reaches other people, too. If a song is truthful, the way the songs on BLUESAmericana are, I have a piece of that song inside of me so I can always deliver it from my heart.”
April 11-13, 2014 The Bethesda Urban Partnership invites you to celebrate the diversity of literature with novelists, journalists, poets, children’s events and writing contest winners. All events take place throughout downtown Bethesda and are FREE!
William Martin, Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus, Martha Grimes, Michael Sokolove, Alice McDermott and more!
For a complete schedule, call 301-215-6660 or visit www.bethesda.org. 54 applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014
Saturday, April 5, 2014, 8 p.m.
saturday, April 5, 2014, 8 P.M.
● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director
presents
André Watts Returns! Jakub Hrůša, conductor André Watts, piano
Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen Leoš Janáček, arr. Sir Charles Mackerras (1854-1928) Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 Edvard Grieg Allegro molto moderato (1843-1907) Adagio Allegro moderato molto e marcato André Watts
André Watts, piano
INTERMISSION Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70 Allegro maestoso Poco adagio Scherzo: Vivace Finale: Allegro
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Support for today's performance is provided by the Governing Members of the BSO
HRUSA PHOTO BY Zbynek Maderyc, WATTS PHOTO BY STEVE J. SHERMAN
The concert will end at approximately 10 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Jakub Hrůša, conductor
Born in the Czech Republic and described by Gramophone as “on the verge of greatness,” Jakub Hrůša is music director and chief conductor of the Prague Philharmonia and principal guest conductor of Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest conductor with many of Europe’s leading orchestras, including the Philharmonia Orchestra,
Symphony Orchestra, followed by visits to the Melbourne and Sydney symphony orchestras. Highlights of the 2013-14 season include a major series of concerts with the Philharmonia Orchestra devoted to the music of Dvořák, Suk and Janáček, which will be presented at the Royal Festival Hall in London and elsewhere in the U.K.; and debuts with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Finnish National Opera (Jenůfa). Hrůša studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where his teachers included Jiří Bělohlávek. He is currently president of the International Martinů Circle. Jakub Hrůša is making his BSO debut.
Czech Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Finnish Radio Symphony, SWR Symphony Stuttgart, WDR Symphony Cologne and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Hrůša made his North American debut in 2009, and has since appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, Washington National Symphony, the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Seattle and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. In the same year, he made his Australian debut with the West Australian
André Watts burst upon the music world at age 16 when Leonard Bernstein chose him to make his debut with the New York Philharmonic in its Young People’s Concerts, broadcast nationwide on CBS-TV. Only two weeks later, Bernstein asked him to substitute for the ailing Glenn Gould in performances of Liszt’s E-flat Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, thus launching his career. A perennial favorite with orchestras throughout the U.S., Watts is also a regular guest at the major summer music festivals including Ravinia, the Hollywood Bowl, Saratoga, Tanglewood, Eastern Music and the Mann Music Center. Recent and upcoming engagements include appearances with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics, and the St. Louis, Atlanta, Detroit, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis and National symphony orchestras. A much-honored artist who has played before royalty in Europe and heads of government in nations all over the world, Watts received a 2011 National Medal
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 55
Saturday, April 5, 2014, 8 p.m.
of Arts from President Barack Obama. In June 2006, he was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl of Fame to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his debut. André Watts last appeared with the BSO in May 2012, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Marin Alsop conducting.
Program Notes Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen
Leoš Janáček
Born July 3, 1854, in Hukvaldy, Moravia (now Czech Republic); died Aug. 12, 1928, in Moravská Ostrava (now Czech Republic)
Is there any less plausible subject for a full-scale, three-act opera than Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen? Its Disney-esque plot centers on the life, loves and premature death of a young female fox in the forests of Czechoslovakia, as well as the other animals, both wild and domestic, that interact with her. Yet since its premiere in the composer’s home city of Brno on Nov. 6, 1924, this strange yet enchanting concoction has gradually become one of the most admired operas of the 20th century. The origins of The Cunning Little Vixen are as unconventional as the story itself. In 1920, Brno’s daily newspaper began running a series of whimsical, somewhat anthropomorphic illustrations of animals by the artist Stanislav Lolek. They also hired a local writer, Rudolf Tesnohlídek, to create a storyline to accompany the drawings, and this series, running to 51 installments, became a huge popular success. Reportedly, Janáček became interested in it when he heard his housemaid laughing over it in the kitchen one morning; she suggested, half jokingly, that this might be a good subject for an opera. Early in 1922, the composer created his own libretto based on several key episodes of the cartoon series and then wrote the score over the next two years. But he added a depth and grandeur to his treatment scarcely imagined
by Lolek and Tesnohlídek. While retaining the naïve charm of his animals (the leading roles are performed by adult singers, the smallest creatures by young children), he also included human characters—a Gamekeeper, a Schoolmaster, a Poacher and a Parson—whose lives and psyches are entangled with the animals and especially with the Vixen herself. Initially, the humans are represented as the enemies of the animals; in the first act, the Gamekeeper (the opera’s central human character) captures the Vixen as a little cub and keeps her as a mistreated pet in his farmyard. Later when she attacks the rooster and the chickens in the yard, he beats her, and when she finally escapes back to the woods, he tries to shoot her. In the forest, the now grownup Vixen falls in love with the handsome Fox, and they have a litter of little cubs. But the Vixen remains a free and mischievous creature, and when she taunts the Poacher by stealing his chickens, he kills her. Janáček, however, did not see this as a tragic ending. Instead, he added a final scene in which the Gamekeeper returns to the forest and has a dream in which the Vixen, whom he has grown to love, seems to have returned to life. But it turns out that the new little fox is the Vixen’s daughter, her exact replica. The music rapturously celebrates the miracle of Nature’s continuing renewal. Now enlightened about the interlocking relationship between all living beings, the Gamekeeper throws away his gun for good. The orchestral suite we’ll hear was not created by the composer himself, but by the distinguished British conductor Sir Charles Mackerras. The suite’s music is drawn from the opera’s first act. Janáček’s creative approach was to build up his music from powerful short melodic motives that he continuously repeated and developed. Mackerras has preserved the composer’s unique sound world—spare and pungently colorful— which creates a hypnotic portrait of the natural world he loved so well. Instrumentation: Four flutes, two piccolos, two oboes, English horn, three
56 applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014
clarinets, piccolo clarinet, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, celeste and strings. Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Edvard Grieg Born June 15, 1843, in Bergen, Norway; died Sept. 4, 1907, in Bergen
When the adolescent Edvard Grieg showed exceptional musical promise, he was sent off at age 15 to Leipzig, Germany because Norway—not yet an independent country—had no conservatory to train him. Although he chafed at Leipzig’s rigid pedagogy and at German music in general, Grieg did eventually find a sympathetic teacher in Ernst Wenzel, who had been a friend of Robert Schumann. Wenzel passed on his love of Schumann’s music to the young Norwegian, and when in 1858 Grieg heard a performance of Schumann’s Piano Concerto played by Schumann’s wife, Clara, he was enthralled by the work. Ten years later, while composing his own Piano Concerto in the same key of A minor, he would draw on Schumann’s concerto for inspiration. Although Grieg’s Piano Concerto followed the traditional form of the Romantic, central-European concerto, it was the subtle use of Norwegian folk influences plus his own genius that kept the work from being a clone of Schumann’s. The concerto was the product of youth and happiness: composed during the idyllic summer of 1868, which the 25-year-old composer, his young bride, Nina, and their infant daughter spent in rural Denmark. It was a notable success at its first performance in Copenhagen in April 1869. This is a work that glories in its multitude of appealing themes—very personally Grieg’s own—and its highly successful blending of tender lyricism with virtuoso display. Its first movement dispenses with the customary orchestral exposition: just a dramatic timpani roll galvanizes the soloist into action. His vertiginous threeoctave plunge begins with a three-note melodic pattern—a descending half-step, following by a descending third—that is common in Norwegian folk music and became known as the “Grieg motive.”
Saturday, April 5, 2014, 8 p.m.
Woodwinds then introduce the folkish principal theme, animated by crisp dotted rhythms. It also has a smoothly lyrical second idea, which the piano makes more rhapsodic with swirls of arpeggios. In a slightly slower tempo, cellos sing a warm, romantically melancholic second theme. After a brief development, the opening music is reprised, coming to a sudden halt for a big cadenza for the soloist composed by Grieg. The slow movement travels far from the home key of A minor into the very distant D-flat major. Muted strings open with a weary theme, saturated in sorrow; notice the eloquent contributions here from the solo horn and cello. The piano’s wistful response is woven of exquisite fast figurations. In a new phase, the piano passionately declares the pain implied in this melody before the movement dies out in elegiac beauty. A short bridge passage intervenes to return the key of D-flat to A minor before the piano launches the finale’s stomping main theme in the style of the Norwegian halling folk dance. Providing an interlude of repose, the solo flute sings a hauntingly lovely melody in a slower tempo; the piano gives it sensitive treatment with downward slipsliding chords. Reprising his opening dance music, Grieg builds excitement to a brief solo cadenza of double-handed octaves. Then the soloist transforms the 2/4 halling into a sparkling 3/4 waltz. But Grieg has an even better idea for his finish. He brings back the haunting second theme, now in a splendid apotheosis in A major. As annotator Michael Steinberg pointed out, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff would later imitate this crowd-pleasing device, but Grieg did it first. Instrumentation: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings. Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70
Antonín Dvořák
Born Sept. 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, Bohemia (now Czech Republic); died May 1, 1904, in Prague
The Seventh Symphony was Dvořák's bid to make a big noise in the world. As a young composer, he had been hampered by living in Bohemia, then a rural backwater of the mighty Austrian empire, and for many years his fame was strictly local. In the mid 1870s, Brahms discovered him and generously used his power in the Viennese musical establishment to promote Dvořák’s career. By 1883, the Czech composer was finally poised for international acclaim when his choral-orchestral Stabat Mater scored a major success in London. The next year, Dvořák traveled there himself to conduct his music, and the adulation reached fever pitch. London’s Royal Philharmonic Society promptly requested a new symphony for its 1885 concerts. Thus was born his Symphony in D minor, premiered by the Royal Philharmonic under the composer’s baton on April 22, 1885. Today most commentators rank the Seventh as Dvořák’s greatest symphony, if not the greatest piece he ever wrote. The noted British musicologist Donald Francis Tovey linked it with Schubert’s “Great C Major” Symphony and Brahms’ four symphonies “as among the greatest and purest examples of this art form since Beethoven.” Dvořák would have been delighted to have this work mentioned alongside Brahms’ symphonies, for Brahms was his model and mentor. Early in 1884, he had heard the German’s recently completed Third Symphony and was bowled over. But though the Seventh was inspired by Brahms’ Third, it is no copy. A more tragic work, it displays the dark defiance of the Czech underdog. Dvořák was intensely proud of his nationality and determined that his music would stand apart from the dominant Austro-German school. While striving for a more universal tone, his Seventh still proudly flaunts its Czech origins, especially in its third movement. The sonata-form first movement opens with a darkly murmuring theme in the low strings, with ominous diminished-seventh harmonies contributed twice by woodwinds. Dvořák said this
theme came to him while watching hundreds of Hungarian patriots demonstrating against the Austrian imperial regime disembark at the Prague railroad station; like the Czechs, the Hungarians suffered under Austrian domination. Soon the full orchestra attacks this theme with defiant force. But flutes and clarinets followed by violins soon sing a marvelous flowing melody, temporarily easing the tension. In a short but powerful development section, Dvořák probes the mysteries of his opening conspiratorial theme. Many have called the slow second movement the finest the composer ever wrote. Its great beauty mingles sorrow with protest. Dvořák had recently lost his mother, to whom he was very close, and the steady slide into insanity of his Czech colleague Bedrich Smetana also grieved him. This movement is full of poignant melodies clothed in gorgeous orchestral hues. Notable among them are the opening theme for clarinet and bassoon, a soft rising-and-falling melody for the violins, and the haunting music for horns immediately following. Dvořák scholar Otakar Sourek describes the third movement scherzo as “a wild, unhappy dance in hard, syncopated ... rhythms and dark orchestral coloring, in which the expression of wrathful defiance flares up with no less fury than in the opening movement.” The inspiration is the traditional Czech furiant dance with its provocative cross-rhythms. Despite its lovely surface, the woodwind-dominated trio section also shares in the agitation, its serenity troubled by “the incessant rumbling of the basses” (Tovey). Defiance also drives the sonata-form finale, with its baleful opening theme jumping an octave, then collapsing back by a dissonant half step. The cellos soon offer a soaring melody, but it is the baleful theme that dominates the action. Miraculously, in the symphony’s final moments Dvořák transforms it from dark opposition to the voice of triumph in his blazing D major conclusion. Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings. Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2014
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 57
Sunday, April 6, 2014, 7 p.m.
SUNDAY, April 6, 2014, 7 p.m.
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● Strathmore Presents
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María Concepción Balboa Buika, “Buika,” was born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, the daughter of African parents. She now lives in Miami, Fla. Hailed as a star in contemporary world music/jazz/flamenco, Buika is blessed with a remarkable voice, raw and smoky, but with a tenderness that hits right at the heart, vibrantly deploying her rich, sensual and husky instrument, best described as “velvet gravel.” Buika has collaborated with artists including Pat Metheny, Anoushka Shankar, Chick Corea, Niño Josele, Maritza, Bebo and Chucho Valdés, Charles Aznavour, Luz Casal, Seal, Armando Manzanero and Nelly Furtado. Director Pedro Almódovar featured her in his 2011 movie La piel que habito (The Skin I Live In), in which she performed “Por el amor de amar” (“For love’s sake”) and “Se me hizo facil” (“I found it easy”). On La Noche Más Larga (The Longest Night), her seventh and most diverse
58 applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014
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album which came out in June 2013, she continues to break down walls that surround flamenco. The album was released worldwide and is currently charting in such diverse countries as the U.S., Spain, France, the UK, Holland, Turkey, Mexico and Argentina. Nearly half of the songs were written by Buika. She has received multiple awards, including Latin Grammys for Best Album and Best Production for Niña de Fuego (2008) and Best Traditional Tropical Album for El Ultimo Trago (2010). She was nominated again this year for Record of The Year, and La Noche Más Larga has also been nominated for a 2014 Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album. NPR has listed Buika among the best 50 vocalists of all time and calls her “the voice of freedom.” Buika makes songs her own. “We never think about anyone’s approval,” she says. “I just do what my heart is demanding. Sometimes in the music business people do what they think other people will like, but that’s a limitation. I just want to be true. I want what Charlie Parker’s got—I want eternity.” Says The New York Times: “She has a husky, layered and imperious voice, something like Nina Simone’s but more flexible and virtuosic.” The New York Post echoes, “A singer like Buika comes only once in a generation.” The Sunday Times declares that “Buika possesses the most haunting voice to be found on either side of the Atlantic.”
PHOTO BY JAVI ROJO
The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Wednesday, April 9, 2014, 8 p.m.
wednesday, april 9, 2014, 8 p.m.
year, along with the choreographer— his wife, Angela—Chang attends different acrobatic competitions to constantly select the most elite performers to join the Golden Dragon Acrobats. Cirque Zíva is the latest of the Golden Dragon Acrobats’ shows, created in 2011 in coordination with renowned lighting director Tony Tucci (American Ballet Theatre’s Configurations with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, 1996 Summer Olympics Cultural Olympiad). The production ran for 10 straight weeks (four weeks added by popular demand) at Asbury Park Boardwalk’s Paramount Theatre. With visual and technical innovations presented beautifully in centuries old Chinese acrobatics, the show has grown to represent the best artistic merit, high production value and solid commitment to cultural exchange.
● Strathmore Presents
Cirque Ziva Danny Chang, producer and director Angela Chang, choreographer and costume designer Jessie Liu, administrative director Randy Williamson, technical director Gregory Kouvolo, technical assistant Dancers
JTian Jun Zhang Xiao Meng Guo Jun Wei Zuo Qiang Qiang Liu Shao Zheng Wang Ping Gao Guan Wei Zu Hong Xing Chen
Yang Liu Xian Yang Guo Jun Hao Zuo Kai Zhang Qi Qi Hou Ting Ting Zhong Li Ying Yan Ya Ru Wang
Lien Chi Chang
The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
About Cirque Ziva
Lien Chi Chang officially established the Golden Dragon Acrobats in 1967 with his family, whose members included Danny Chang, his sister and other students. From 1967 to 1984, Lien Chi Chang led the company to numerous performances in different nations. Danny Chang, who often traveled with his father’s Golden Dragon Acrobats, was later chosen by the National Acrobats Troupe of the Republic of China to lead the various world tours produced by the most prestigious acrobat school in Taiwan.
After more than 17 years of apprenticeship under his dad and several years of world touring, Danny Chang was ready to step up as the president of the Golden Dragon Acrobats when Lien Chi Chang accepted the head coaching job at the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts. As a young entrepreneur, Danny Chang showed tremendous passion toward the acrobatic arts. His first goal was to re-organize the company from a small group to a world-renowned production company. He chose the United States as his starting point. With Bill Fegan’s assistance, the Golden Dragon Acrobats debuted in 1985. Today, the Golden Dragon Acrobats have been recognized as the preeminent Chinese acrobatic company in the United States. As the director and producer, Chang has built a solid reputation based on his talents as both an acrobatic performer and artistic director. Every
Lien Chi Chang, father of Danny Chang, was the founder of Golden Dragon Acrobats. In 1949, he and his family brought acrobatic performance from Wuqiao, China, to audiences in Taiwan. However, Chang was unable to return to China due to the Chinese civil war. Therefore, he decided to start an acrobatic business with his brother in Taiwan, Chang’s Acrobatic Troupe. In 1967, the name of the company officially changed to Golden Dragon Acrobats.
Danny Chang
Danny Chang started his acrobat career at age 7. He was trained by his father, joined Chang’s Acrobatic Troupe and performed throughout Taiwan. Danny Chang was selected to the National Acrobats Troupe of the Republic of China in 1967, performing in numerous countries every year. Danny Chang inherited the Golden Dragon Acrobats from his father in 1984. Chang decided to take the troupe beyond Asia. After a year of planning and preparation, Chang realized this dream by performing in the United States.
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 59
Thursday, April 10, 2014, 8 p.m.
thursday, april 10, 2014, 8 P.M.
● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director
presents
Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman, conductor and violin
Romance No. 1 in G Major, Op. 40 Ludwig van Beethoven Romance No. 2 in F Major, Op. 50 (1770-1827) Itzhak Perlman
Symphony No. 27 in G Major, K. 161b [199] Allegro Andantino grazioso Presto
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
INTERMISSION
Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 Hector Berlioz Reveries and Passions (1803-1869) A Ball In the Country March to the Scaffold Dream of the Witches’ Sabbath
The concert will end at approximately 9:45 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Itzhak Perlman, conductor and violin
Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. Beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, he is treasured by audiences throughout the world who respond not only to his remarkable artistry, but also to his irrepressible joy for making music.
Born in Israel in 1945, Perlman was propelled to national recognition with an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1958. He won the prestigious Leventritt Competition in 1964, which led to a burgeoning worldwide career. Since then, Perlman has appeared as violin soloist with every major orchestra and in recitals and festivals around the world. Perlman has further delighted audiences through his frequent appearances on the conductor’s podium. He has performed as conductor with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston
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Symphony, National Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the symphony orchestras of St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, Houston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Montreal and Toronto, as well as at the Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals. Internationally, Perlman has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic. The 2013-14 season takes Perlman to both new and familiar major centers around the world. In fall 2013, he joined the Cleveland Orchestra as soloist for its opening night gala, performed Tchaikovsky with the Toronto Symphony under the baton of Peter Oundjian and embarked on an eightcity recital tour of Asia with pianist and longtime collaborator Rohan De Silva. His conducting appearances include concerts with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and he tours extensively in recital and orchestral concerts in cities across North America. Perlman continues to celebrate the rich tradition of Jewish music with various performances in support of his Eternal Echoes project. He also makes multiple speaking appearances this season, including in Orlando at Rollins College, Greensboro at Guilford College and Palm Beach at the Society of the Four Arts. Perlman received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2003 in recognition of his distinguished achievements and contributions to the cultural and educational life of the United States. He has performed multiple times at the White House, most recently in 2012 for Israeli President and Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree Shimon Peres. Perlman was honored to take part in the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009, premiering a piece written for the occasion by John Williams alongside cellist Yo-Yo Ma, clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Gabriela Montero. Perlman has received four Emmy
Thursday, April 10, 2014, 8 p.m.
Awards and 15 Grammy Awards. He performed during the 78th Academy Awards in 2006 and at the Juilliard School Centennial gala, broadcast nationally on Live from Lincoln Center. One of Perlman’s proudest achievements is his collaboration with composer John Williams in the Academy Award-winning film Schindler’s List, in which he performed the violin solos. Itzhak Perlman last appeared with the BSO in January 2012, performing two of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 as leader and soloist.
Program Notes Romance No. 1 for Violin in G Major Romance No. 2 for Violin in F Major
Ludwig van Beethoven Born Dec. 16, 1770, in Bonn, Germany; died March 26, 1827, in Vienna, Austria
Although they were not published until 1803 and 1805 respectively, scholars believe that Beethoven’s two Violin Romances were probably written considerably earlier. Despite being labeled “No. 2,” the Romance in F Major was probably the first to be composed, perhaps in 1798 or even earlier. At this time, Beethoven was still in his 20s and busy establishing himself in Vienna as a keyboard virtuoso as well as composer. His radical new voice hadn’t emerged yet, and the model for his music was Mozart and certain French composers of the period. Nearly a decade before his magnificent Violin Concerto in D Major (1806), he attempted to write a violin concerto in C major, but did not get past its first movement. It is likely that one of these Romances might have been intended as a lyrical second movement for that aborted concerto. A work of tender lyricism, the Romance in G follows a rondo format, with a returning refrain separating contrasting musical episodes. Its earnest, hymn-like refrain is sung by the violin, self-sufficiently accompanying itself with double-stopped notes,
and then echoed by the orchestra. For maximal color contrast with the soloist, Beethoven first scores the orchestral part for woodwind choir over gently plucked strings. Only on its final return do soloist and orchestra unite on the rondo refrain, with the violin soaring into its high register for a rhapsodic, elegantly ornamented apotheosis of the melody. The F-major Romance is a slowtempo rondo; Beethoven later memorably used this more serious rondo style for the slow movement of his “Eroica” Symphony. The solo violin opens with the tenderly graceful refrain melody, which bears the expressive marking cantabile or “singing.” But this Romance also has its dramatic moments, and forceful proclamations introduce each of the episodes. Darkly dramatic, too, is the second episode, which explores various minor keys. As this piece closes, listen for the lovely effect of the violin’s final three-note descent being echoed by the woodwinds and then all the strings. Instrumentation: Flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns and strings. Symphony No. 27 in G Major, K. 199
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Born Jan. 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria; died Dec. 5, 1791, in Vienna, Austria
If you’ve ever been to Mozart’s birth city of Salzburg, you undoubtedly noticed that virtually every window in its picturesque Baroque center boasts images of the composer, especially on the festive red-and-gold wrapped candies that are made locally. Would that Mozart had been so beloved when he actually lived there for the first 25 years of his life! Although Salzburg nurtured its famous native son well when he was a child, it ultimately proved stifling to his talent when he grew up. Eventually, he found that only Vienna could give him the scope and opportunities he needed, and he left his hometown forever. However, when he was a teenager, it loked as though Italy might offer
him a more expansive career. Three extended trips to Italy with his father between 1770 and early 1773 brought Mozart much acclaim as a performer as well as commissions for operas. Of these, the opera seria Lucio Silla, premiered in Milan in December 1772, was a major success and may have led to requests for several symphonies for Milan, including the one we’ll hear at these concerts: No. 27 in G Major, written in April 1773 when Mozart was 17. This is a charming though brief work composed in the spirited galant style that was so popular at this time. In keeping with the Italian sinfonia form, it has only three movements: two fast movements surrounding a slower one. Opening with three forceful repeated chords, the first movement is a vivacious Allegro in traditional sonata form. Its graceful, winding second theme is particularly attractive and presages the mood of the slow movement to come. The development section further explores this romantic mood. In D major, the Andante grazioso slow movement is a lovely nocturnal serenade with the violins playing with mutes to increase the hushed atmosphere. The shimmering color of flutes contributes prominently to this world of shadows and romantic trysts. An angular four-note motive launches the Presto finale and, with its many entrances, even seems ready to generate a little fugue. Instead, however, it soon expands into a smoothly lyrical melody and continues to animate nearly every measure of this sparkling jig-like music. Instrumentation: Two flutes, two horns and strings. Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Hector Berlioz Born in La Côte-Saint-André, France, Dec. 11, 1803; died in Paris, March 8, 1869
“What a ferment of musical ideas there is in me! … Now that I have broken
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Thursday, April 10, 2014, 8 p.m.
the chains of routine I see an immense plain laid out before me which academic rules once forbade me to enter. Now that I have heard that awe-inspiring giant, Beethoven, I know where the art of music now stands, now I have to take it to that point and push it yet further. … There are new things to be done and plenty of them. I sense this with intense energy, and I will do them, you may be sure, if I live.” Hector Berlioz wrote these words to a friend in 1829, and a year later, he embodied them in his first symphony, the still astounding Symphonie fantastique. Also titled “Episode in an Artist’s Life,” it was created just three years after his idol Beethoven’s death, and, in its way, it was as revolutionary as the “Eroica” or the Ninth. It is the first true program symphony: a work in which the music is generated not primarily by abstract musical rules and forms, but by an extra-musical plot. Beethoven had made some tentative steps in this direction with his “Pastoral” Symphony, but Berlioz leapt far ahead of him, paving the way for Liszt’s descriptive works, Mahler’s symphonies and ultimately Richard Strauss’ graphic tone poems. The symphonic plot is based on Berlioz’s consuming, unfulfilled passion for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, whom he first saw when she appeared in productions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet in Paris in 1827. Although he understood no English, the volatile young artist was smitten equally by Shakespeare and by Miss Smithson. His ardor for her burned even though they did not meet until 1832 (they married in 1833; a disastrous union that proved one should never try to turn fantasy into reality). Here, somewhat abridged, is Berlioz’s storyline: [Movement one:] “An artist, afflicted with a passionate imagination sees for the first time a woman who embodies all the charms of the ideal being he has dreamed of, and he falls hopelessly in love with her. By some
strange trick of fancy, the beloved vision never appears ... except in association with a musical idea [the work’s idée fixe] whose character—passionate but also noble and reticent—he finds similar to the one he attributes to his beloved…” [Movement two:] “The artist finds himself in the most varied situations—in the midst of the tumult of a festivity, in the peaceful contemplation of the beauty of nature—but everywhere he is, in the city, in the country, the beloved vision appears before him and troubles his soul.” [Movement three:] “Finding himself in the country at evening, he hears in the distance two shepherds piping a ranz des vaches [a Swiss herding song] in dialogue. ... This pastoral duet, the quiet rustling of the trees gently disturbed by the wind ... come together to give his heart an unaccustomed calm … But what if she were deceiving him! … The distant sound of thunder— solitude—silence.” [Movement four:] In despair, “the artist poisons himself with opium. The dose of the narcotic, too weak to kill him, plunges him into a sleep accompanied by the most horrible visions. He dreams that he has killed the woman he loved, that he is condemned, led to the scaffold, and that he is witnessing his own execution … At the end of the march, the first four measures of the idée fixe reappear like a last thought of love interrupted by the fatal blow.” [Movement five:] “He sees himself at the Sabbath in the midst of a frightful assembly of ghosts, sorcerers, monsters of every kind, all come together for his funeral … The beloved melody appears again, but it has lost its character of nobility and reticence; now it is no more than the tune of an ignoble dance, trivial and grotesque: it is she come to the Sabbath … Funeral knell, burlesque parody of the ‘Dies Irae’ [the famous Catholic chant for the dead used in so many classical compositions], Sabbath round-dance…” Berlioz called the five movements inspired by this program: “Reveries
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and Passions,” “A Ball,” “In the Country,” “March to the Scaffold” and “Dream of the Witches Sabbath.” All of the symphony’s innovations—the radical orchestration, eerie harmonies, eccentric rhythms and the idée fixe representing the beloved (a theme recurring in all movements)—derive from Berlioz’s imaginative search for the right musical devices to express this Romantic fantasy. The full idée fixe is presented as a long, yearning melody in the violins and flutes at the beginning of the first movement’s Allegro section. Its most striking reappearances come in the “March to the Scaffold,” where, sung by a solo clarinet, it is abruptly silenced by the fall of the guillotine; and in the “Witches Sabbath” finale, where a shrieking E-flat clarinet presents a demonic version. But Berlioz’s most extraordinary innovation is his use of the orchestra, which, in Michael Steinberg’s words, “sounds and behaves like nothing heard before. His orchestra is as new as Paganini’s violin and Liszt’s piano.” Berlioz introduced instruments unknown in previous symphonies: the English horn (movement three), two harps (movement two), the grotesque E-flat clarinet (finale) and a fantastic array of percussion including an unprecedented four timpani (movements 4 and 5). And he used traditional instruments in ways seldom heard before: listen for the snarling stopped horns at the beginning of “March to the Scaffold” and the bone-rattling sound of violins being played with the wood of the bow in the “Witches Sabbath.” Even today, more than 180 years after its composition, the Symphonie fantastique retains its radical edge and its ability to set our spines tingling. Instrumentation: Two flutes, piccolo, two oboes plus off-stage oboe, English horn, two clarinets, piccolo clarinet, four bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, two tubas, timpani, percussion, two harps and strings. Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2014
Be in the Know. BETHESDA Bethesda Magazine’s daily news dispatch coMing in april
MAGAZINE.COM
Saturday, April 12, 2014, 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 13, 2014, 3 p.m.
SATURDAY, april 12, 2014, 8 P.M. sunday, april 13, 2014, 3 p.m.
● The National Philharmonic Piotr Gajewski, Music Director and Conductor
presents
Bach Mass in B minor Stan Engebretson, conductor Rosa Lamoreaux, soprano Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano Matthew Smith, tenor Christòpheren Nomura, baritone National Philharmonic Chorale
Mass in B minor
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
I. Kyrie and Gloria (Missa)
4. Et incarnatus est. Chorus
1. Kyrie eleison. Chorus
5. Crucifixus. Chorus
2. Christe eleison. Duet (Soprano I, II)
6. Et resurrexit. Chorus
3. Kyrie eleison. Chorus
7. Et in Spiritum Sanctum. Aria (Bass) in A major
4. Gloria in excelsis. Chorus
8. Confiteor. Chorus
5. Et in terra pax. Chorus
9. Et expecto. Chorus
6. Laudamus te. Aria (Soprano II) 7. Gratias agimus tibi. Chorus
III. Sanctus
8. Domine Deus. Duet (Soprano I, Tenor)
1. Sanctus. Chorus
9. Qui tollis peccata mundi. Chorus 10. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris. Aria (Alto)
IV. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei and Dona Nobis Pacem
11. Quoniam tu solus sanctus. Aria (Bass)
1. Osanna. Chorus
12. Cum Sancto Spiritu. Chorus
2. Benedictus. Aria for tenor 3. Osanna. Chorus
INTERMISSION
4. Agnus Dei. Aria for alto 5. Dona nobis pacem. Chorus
II. Credo (Symbolum Nicenum) 1. Credo in unum Deum. Chorus 2. Patrem omnipotentem. Chorus 3. Et in unum Dominum. Duet (Soprano I, Alto)
Dedicated to Dr. Stan Engebretson in honor of his 20 years of musical leadership with the National Philharmonic Chorale and its predecessor, the Masterworks Chorus Weekend Concerts Program Sponsor: Ameriprise Financial All Kids, All Free, All the Time is sponsored by The Gazette The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
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Saturday, April 12, 2014, 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 13, 2014, 3 p.m.
ENGEBRETSON PHOTO BY JERRY FERNANDEZ, lamoreaux photo by david rogers, WOR PHOTO BY MAGDALENA MOULSON
Stan Engebretson, conductor
In demand throughout the United States and Europe, Stan Engebretson has led choirs in Venice’s Cathedral of St. Mark and taught in Cologne, Trier, St. Moritz and Barcelona. He has studied with the great masters of choral music, including Robert Shaw, Gregg Smith, Richard Westenburg, Roger Wagner and Eric Ericson. After attending the University of North Dakota and earning his doctorate from Stanford University, Engebretson taught at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin and the University of Minnesota. He also was the artistic director of the Midland-Odessa Symphony Chorale and the associate conductor of the Minnesota Chorale. In Washington since 1990, Engebretson is professor of music and director of choral studies at George Mason University and is the director of music at the historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. From 1993 to 2003, he was artistic director of the predecessor to the National Philharmonic Chorale, the Masterworks Chorus, and the semiprofessional National Chamber Singers. Engebretson remains active in other areas, performing as a professional chorister and lecturer, and leading the Smithsonian Institution’s Study Journeys at the Spoleto Festival USA.
Rosa Lamoreaux, soprano
Acclaimed for “scrupulous musicianship...gorgeous sound and stylistic acuity,” soprano Rosa Lamoreaux is known for her incandescent presence, earning the accolades of critics and colleagues alike. She has earned a solid reputation in the realms of early and contemporary opera with roles including Venus in Cavalli’s Didone; Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Romilda in Handel’s Xerxes; Belinda and Dido in Purcell’s
Dido and Aeneas; Serpina in Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona; Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro; Despina in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte and Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni; Lieschen in Bach’s Coffee Cantata, and most recently, a career highlight as Mother in Lost Childhood, by Janice Hamer, with the National Philharmonic. Her extensive repertoire includes Shostakovitch’s Symphony No. 14, Debussy’s La Damoiselle Élue and Le Martyre de St. Sébastian; Copland’s In the Beginning; and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915; Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers; and the vocal works of J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Brahms and Schubert. A beloved Washington artist, she has received eight Wammie Awards for Best Classical Vocalist.
Washington Concert Opera, the Niagara Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. A finalist in the 2002 San Francisco Opera Center auditions and a semifinalist in the 2005 Montreal International Musical Competition, Smith’s operetta and operatic roles have included Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, Baron Zsupàn in Countess Maritza, The Prologue in The Turn of theScrew, Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, the Mayor in Albert Herring and Torquemada in L’Heure Espagnol. He was a resident artist with the Pine Mountain Music Festival in 2003, where he covered the role of Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore. Smith currently serves with the Air Force Singing Sergeants in Washington, D.C.
Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano
Christòpheren Nomura,
This season holds Magdalena Wór’s debut performance with Seattle Symphony as soloist for its performances of Messiah. She sings Maddalena in Opera Birmingham’s Rigoletto and Bach’s Mass in B minor and Handel’s Messiah with the National Philharmonic. This past season, Wór sang Alexander Nevsky and Messiah with the National Philharmonic and Suzuki in Opera Birmingham’s Madama Butterfly. In 2011-2012, Wór sang Carmen for Lyric Opera of Virginia; Messiah with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Alabama Symphony Orchestra; was soloist for Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with Cathedral Chorale Society of the Washington National Cathedral, and for Bach’s Magnificat with the National Philharmonic; and gave recitals at the Polish and Hungarian embassies in Washington, D.C.
Matthew Smith, tenor
baritone
Christòpheren Nomura has appeared with many of the prominent North American orchestras including the Boston, San Francisco, National, Vancouver, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Pacific, Utah and Memphis symphonies; the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Orchestra of St. Luke’s; Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; and Symphony Nova Scotia. Nomura has received numerous awards and distinctions, including a four-year Fulbright Grant to study with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey and Gérard Souzay. He holds a master’s degree and artist diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music.
Program Notes Mass in B minor, BWV 232
Matthew Loyal Smith is an accomplished tenor soloist, having performed with the Washington Bach Consort, the Cathedral Choral Society, the
Johann Sebastian Bach Born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany; died July 28, 1750, in Leipzig, Germany
Bach’s masterful and monumental Mass in B minor consists of music that
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 65
Saturday, April 12, 2014, 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 13, 2014, 3 p.m.
he composed over a period of about 25 years, rearranged and revised from time to time, and finally assembled during the last years of his life, accumulating everything he knew about musical technique in one work. It is an unassailable, towering masterpiece by which many have been tempted to measure all other music, yet surprisingly, its score was not published in his lifetime; its first complete performance was in 1859, more than 100 years after Bach’s death; its first publication was in 1845. The complex history of the Mass in B minor begins in April 1733, when Saxony’s new ruling prince, Augustus III, a Catholic, visited Leipzig. It was probably then that Bach applied for the title of composer to the court in Dresden, which he did because, at that time in Leipzig, he was experiencing constant frustration and felt that political intrigues were destined to displace him; thus, Bach probably intended to dedicate the work to the new sovereign and, in so doing, improve his own standing. To support his petition, he sent a score in which he wrote, “In deepest devotion, I lay before Your Majesty, this trifling evidence of the knowledge I have acquired in musique, with the most humble wish that you will be pleased to look upon it kindly, with your world famous clemency, and not according to the poverty of the composition.” The “trifling” work bore the title Missa, and it consisted of a “Kyrie” and “Gloria.” These were the two parts of a short mass that, at that time, might have been sung either in Catholic Dresden or in Protestant Leipzig in the Lutheran liturgy in Latin, as this part of the Mass was retained in Luther’s German liturgy in 1526. The two sections are lengthy, brilliant pieces that require a chorus large enough to be subdivided into five parts and an orchestra with a full complement of wind instruments. It is clearly music that would lend itself to performance at a grand festive occasion. Bach simply called it Missa a 5 Voci (Mass in Five Voices). Bach’s letter suggests that the prince
may have known some of his instrumental music, but not his church music. It does not mention that the Missa includes adaptations from two works probably written much earlier. (Bach’s reuse of his own material was not noteworthy, as “borrowing” from one’s own work was customary in his day.) This job application, with its famous contents, failed to achieve anything for Bach. The elector never answered Bach’s letter, and no actual post was granted to him. During the next year, he had official occasions to write pieces in honor of the ruling family; when he reapplied for the title in 1736, it was quickly granted, but as a title only, still without an actual post given to him. Bach reused some of the musical content from the “Gloria” a decade later, around 1743, in a new Christmas Cantata. The Mass is the commemoration and symbolic reenactment of the Last Supper and the most solemn service in the Catholic liturgy. Interestingly, in the 18th century, “Kyrie” and “Gloria” were regularly still used in Lutheran services. Historians are not clear exactly when Bach began to add music to his Missa, and no one knows exactly what precipitated Bach’s work on this project. Some think that he based it on his earlier music, which he adapted and refined, and some think that he composed it anew. It is remarkable, to say the least, that this work, which has such splendor, symmetry and logic, was brought together in great measure from the work of his earlier efforts. Many critics and historians over the years have felt that in choosing to reuse this music, Bach was selecting his finest work to place in the service of the praise of God. Neil Jenkins notes that the Sanctus, which was probably originally composed for performance in Leipzig in 1724 on Christmas Day, was performed again in a special service held in Leipzig to celebrate the Peace of Dresden, marking the end of the Second Silesian War, on Christmas 1745, in a new cantata Bach had created using the Sanctus combined with the “Glo-
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ria” and the “Kyrie.” Jenkins feels that joining these sections together may have made Bach aware that he could create a whole Mass and could adapt the missing movements, the “Credo,” “Osanna,” “Benedictus” and “Agnus Dei,” in great measure from works he had previously composed. Having begun with two huge parts, he had to scale the rest to fit them, and it became a project he worked on until 1749; it was probably his last project. The second part Bach entitled Symbolum Nicenum à 5 Voci, Lutheran terminology referring to the Nicene Creed. This term refers to the section we know as the “Credo.” After it comes the “Sanctus,” and then the “Osanna,” “Benedictus,” “Agnus Dei” and “Dona nobis pacem.” It appears that the “Benedictus” is the only part Bach did not base on previous work, and thus it was his last original composition. The original submission to Augustus of the “Kyrie” and the “Gloria” was gigantic, but Bach could envision that it was performable for some special occasion. The whole Mass, however, would have been too large to use at Catholic services, and it does not quite conform, in several details, to church requirements. Bach may have considered it to be one of his abstract or theoretical works; only parts of which were clearly intended for performance, like The Art of The Fugue and The Musical Offering. Like them, it is a summa of his art. The wide range of forms and techniques he used and the variety of expression he achieved in them is astounding. There are operatic arias and chamber music for solo voices with instruments; there are fugues and a passacaglia and counterpoint that was, for Bach, in an antique style. Some numbers were originally related in spirit and sentiment to the parts of the Mass text for which they were used, but some come from secular music associated with the Saxon court. Only the noble “Sanctus” is substantially unchanged by its new use. This portion of the Latin Mass was sanctioned for performance on Feast Days, and Bach had composed it in the early part of his tenure as can-
Saturday, April 12, 2014, 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 13, 2014, 3 p.m.
tor of St Thomas’ Church. The original manuscript shows that Bach divided the Mass into four major sections, similar to the sections in the Roman Catholic Mass Ordinary. The first section is the Missa, and it includes the “Kyrie” and “Gloria.” The second is the Symbolum Nicenum (or the “Credo”). The third consists of a single movement, the “Sanctus,” and the fourth is entitled “Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem.” A complex fugal section that has notable architectural grandeur follows the mighty five-part setting of the words “Kyrie eleison.” The “Christe eleison,” a gentle duet for sopranos, has a ritornello for strings. The second “Kyrie,” for four-part choir, has an intense, chromatic fugal subject. The “Symbolum Nicenum” is an example of Bach’s interest in symmetry: The “Crucifixus” is central and the center of a trinity of movements focused on Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection.
Between the summer of 1748 and the fall of 1749, Bach compiled and completely rearranged the parts for the “Symbolum Nicenum,” including the “Hosanna” from a 1732 piece, the “Agnus dei” from a 1725 cantata, the “Crucifixus” based on a reworking of Cantata No. 12, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, that he had originally composed in Weimar for Easter in 1714, and the Et incarnatus est, which many think to be a glorious high point of the entire Mass. French dance had become popular with the middle class and aristocracy, and the Mass in B minor includes several musical dance forms. The “Gloria” begins in a style based on both the Gigue, (typically in a compound triple time with dotted rhythm) and the Passepied, (with a delicate speed, syncopation, and lively character.) Et in terra pax follows the style of Bach’s early cantatas: Each vocal line sings a countersubject when another part enters.
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The music is full of symbolic and concrete references to the text. In the “Crucifixus,” for example, the ear hears a falling wail of a lament in the predominant theme; for the eye, the notes on the page of music form themselves into the shape of a cross; and the baseline consists of a falling phrase of melody that is repeated 13 times, a symbolic number for Bach. There are many other numerological relations and hidden architectural symmetries that contribute to the special nature of the work. At the very end, Dona nobis pacem is sung to the music that was first heard for the words Gratias agimus tibi, closing the Mass with the words of a prayer for peace, sung to music of thanks. We know that Bach never heard the Mass in B minor performed in its entirety, and he never gave the work a single collective name. It is even possible that he only intended that parts of the Mass be used when appropriate. Copyright Susan Halpern, 2008
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Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 8 p.m.
● Washington Performing Arts Society Celebrity Series presents
Hilary Hahn, violin Cory Smythe, piano Third Sigh* Antón García Abril (1933-)
Phantasy for Violin with Arnold Schoenberg Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47 (1874-1951) Grave; Lento; Grazioso; Scherzando
Sonata for Violin Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Fantasy in C Major Franz Schubert for Violin and Piano, D. 934 (1797-1828) Andante molto; Allegretto; Andantino; Allegro vivace; Presto Fantasia No. 6 in E minor for unaccompanied violin, TWV 40:19 Grave Presto Siciliano Allegro
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
shade* Richard Barrett (1959-) * Selected Shorts from “In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores” Project Program order and intermission to be announced from the stage. This performance is made possible through the generous support of Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather. The Music Center at Strathmore • Marriott Concert Stage
Hilary Hahn, violin The 2013-14 season marks the 30th anniversary of Hilary Hahn’s first violin lesson. In the two decades since her professional debut, Hahn
has followed her passion for adventurous programming, delving into core repertoire, contemporary music and less familiar classic compositions with equal commitment. This season, she revisits pieces by Mozart, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Brahms, Barrett, García Abril and Vieuxtemps, while expanding her repertoire with works by Bruch, Schoenberg, Nielsen, Schubert, Telemann and Rautavaara. In spring 2014, Hahn will
68 applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014
dedicate two months of the season to her ongoing recital collaboration with pianist Cory Smythe. Hahn took her first lessons in the Suzuki program shortly before her fourth birthday. When she was 5 years old, she met Odessa native Klara Berkovich, with whom she studied until being admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 10. There, Hahn was a pupil of Jascha Brodsky, who had trained with both the Franco-Belgian master Eugene Ysaÿe and the Russian pedagogue Efrem Zimbalist. She completed her university requirements at Curtis at 16, having already made her solo debuts with the Baltimore and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras, the Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras, and the New York Philharmonic. Hahn embarked on her recording career at age 16. She has released 14 albums on the Deutsche Grammophon and Sony labels, in addition to three DVDs, an Academy Award-nominated movie soundtrack, an award-winning recording for children and various compilations. The 2013-14 season sees the release of Hahn’s long-awaited album, In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores, with pianist Cory Smythe. This recording is the culmination of a multi-year project to renew the encore genre. Hahn commissioned 26 composers from around the world to write short-form works. For the 27th encore, she held an open contest that drew more than 400 entries. The international premiere tours, from 2011 to 2013, were met with wide critical and audience acclaim.
Cory Smythe, piano
Pianist Cory Smythe engages a broad repertoire of new, classical and improvised music. He has performed internationally, making appearances as soloist and chamber musician at the Darmstadt International Summer Festival for New Music, the Bang on a Can Marathon in New York City, the Green Mill jazz club in Chicago and the Mostly Mozart festival at Lincoln Center. In recent seasons, Smythe has enjoyed a recital partnership with violinist Hilary Hahn, with whom he has played in many concert halls throughout Europe, Japan and the U.S., while also collaborating on
Michael Patrick O’Leary
WEDNESDAY, april 23, 2014, 8 P.M.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 8 p.m.
the recording of In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores, an album of Hahn’s commissioned encores. In a review of the duo’s recent performance at the Kennedy Center, The Washington Post praised Smythe for “the ferocity and finesse of his technique.” A core member of the new music group the International Contemporary Ensemble, Smythe has given numerous premieres, collaborated in the development of new works and worked closely with composers Philippe Hurel, Dai Fujikura, Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, Mathias Pintscher and Alvin Lucier, among many others. This season will see the release of a recording by ICE featuring Smythe as the piano soloist in Iannis Xenakis’ Palimpsest. As an improviser, Smythe has collaborated with Greg Osby, Tyshawn Sorey, Steve Lehman, Amy X Neuburg, Vijay Iyer, Peter Evans and Anthony Braxton.
Program Notes Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47
Arnold Schoenberg Born Sept., 13, 1874, in Vienna; died July 13, 1951, in Los Angeles
The Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment—composed March 3-22, 1949, in Los Angeles—was Schoenberg’s last instrumental composition and virtually his final completed work. Schoenberg’s title is precise—and important. The violin is the dominant instrument here: Schoenberg composed the violin part first, and when it was complete he went back and wrote the piano accompaniment. A fantasy (or fantasia) has usually meant music without definite form, music shaped more by expressive impulse than by a specific system, and it may seem strange to think of Schoenberg—to the popular conception, the most system-bound composer who ever lived—writing a piece called a Phantasy. Yet the choice of title is accurate: while the Phantasy is composed under the 12-tone system,
Schoenberg compresses music of wideranging character and expressive content into its eight-minute span, and one commentator—a violinist himself—senses a “curious feeling of ‘old Vienna’ that pervades it, an aroma of nostalgia and of familiar ways.” Schoenberg offers his tone-row at the very beginning: the violin twice rises and falls, covering a range of three octaves and in the process outlining a 12-tone sequence built around recurring intervals of the seventh. This row, and certain rhythmic features built into it, will shape the Phantasy; the “piano accompaniment” is itself built on elements of this row and sometimes on chords built from it. A word of warning here: Schoenberg was adamant that he did not want listeners searching for tone-rows and tracking down the ingenuity of their permutations. Instead, he wanted his compositions heard as music—as works of art, alive and full of emotional content. And so, a brief outline of the Phantasy, intended only as general description: the opening section is marked Grave, and Schoenberg specifies that he wants the violin’s entrance with the tone-row played passionato, yet he quickly modifies this to dolce. The music presses ahead on swirling violin figurations marked furioso, settles into a brief Lento, and then dances ahead lightly on a Grazioso in 9/8. An agile Scherzando, in 6/8 and marked spiccato, leads to a gradual return of the opening material and a virtuoso close. So much for the general shape of the Phantasy. Listeners are better advised to listen for the virtuosity of the writing, the variety of sounds Schoenberg creates, the quickly-shifting moods of the music, and—crucially—the importance of melody in this music. The Phantasy shows the expressive freedom possible even with the strict discipline of serial composition. Fantasy in C Major for Violin and Piano, D.934
Franz Schubert Born Jan. 31, 1797, in Vienna; died Nov. 19, 1828, in Vienna
Schubert wrote the Fantasy for Violin and Piano in December 1827, only 11 months before his death at age 31. The music was first performed in public on Jan. 20, 1828, by violinist Joseph Slavik and pianist Karl von Bocklet, one of Schubert’s close friends. That premiere was a failure. The audience is reported to have begun to drift out during the performance, reviewers professed mystification, and the Fantasy was not published until 1850, 22 years after Schubert’s death. Hearing this lovely music today, it is hard to imagine how anyone could have had trouble with it, for the only thing unusual about the Fantasy is its structure. About 20 minutes long, it falls into four clear sections that are played without pause. Though it seems to have some of the shape of a violin sonata, the movements do not develop in the expected sonata form—that may have been what confused the first audience—and Schubert was quite correct to call this piece a “fantasy,” with that term’s implication of freedom from formal restraint. Melodic and appealing as the Fantasy may be to hear, it is nevertheless extremely difficult to perform, and it demands players of the greatest skill. The first section, marked Andante molto, opens with shimmering ripples of sound from the piano, and the lovely violin line enters almost unnoticed. Soon, though, it rises to soar high above the accompaniment before brief cadenza-like passages for violin and then piano lead abruptly to the Allegretto. Here the violin has the dance-like opening idea, but the piano immediately picks this up, and quickly the instruments are imitating and answering each other. The violin writing in this section, full of wide skips and string-crossings, is particularly difficult. The third section, marked Andantino, is a set of variations. The piano alone plays the melody, which comes from Schubert’s song Sei mir gegrüsst (“Greetings to Thee”), written in 1821. Some of Schubert’s best-known compositions—the “Death and the Maiden” Quartet and the “Trout” Quintet—also build a movement out of variations on one of the composer’s own songs, and in the Fantasy Schubert offers four variations on Sei mir gegrüsst. These variations grow
applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014 69
Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 8 p.m.
extremely complex, and once again the music makes great demands on its performers. At the conclusion of the variations, the shimmering music from the beginning returns briefly before the vigorous final section, marked Allegro vivace. Schubert brings the Fantasy to a close with a Presto coda, both instruments straining forward before the violin suddenly flashes upward to strike the concluding high C.
Fantasia No. 6 in E minor for unaccompanied violin, TWV 40:19
Georg Philipp Telemann Born March 14, 1681, in Magdeburg, Germany; died June 25, 1767, in Hamburg
Telemann has been called The Complete Musician, and for good reason. Not only did he teach himself to compose, he also taught himself to play the violin, double bass, flute, oboe, clavier, organ and numerous other instruments.
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Over his 86 years, he composed 6,000 works, including 1,700 cantatas, 600 overtures, 45 passions and hundreds of concertos and sonatas. One of Telemann’s friends observed that he could write an eight-part motet as easily as another man might write a letter. Telemann appears also to have been The Complete Human Being. Trained as a lawyer, he helped write Germany’s first copyright laws, composed many of the texts he set to music, etched the plates himself for much of his published music, was an ardent amateur botanist, fathered 10 children and (not surprisingly) wrote three autobiographies. Telemann wrote hundreds of chamber works for a melodic instrument and basso continuo, but he also wrote a large number of pieces for a melodic instrument without keyboard or bass accompaniment. Among these are sets of works he called Fantasias: there are 12 for solo flute, 12 for solo violin and 12 for bass viol. The Twelve Fantasias for Solo Violin were published in Hamburg in 1735, when Telemann was 54. Like Bach’s sonatas and partitas for unaccompanied violin, these Fantasias are able to suggest a harmonic foundation even when one is not literally present, and Telemann fuses this with some nicely idiomatic writing for violin, full of doublestopping, leaps across the four strings and other technical demands. Telemann’s Fantasia No. 6 in E minor alternates slow and fast movements in the manner of the baroque sonata. The opening Grave, in a poised 3/2 meter, is spare music, at moments almost bleak in its hard-edged melodic line. Here and throughout Telemann would expect performers to embellish the music as they see fit. The Presto whips past so quickly that one might not be aware of how difficult its string-crossings and chording are for the violinist. The Siciliano moves to G major and rocks gracefully along its dotted 6/8 meter, while the concluding Allegro is in ternary form. Its E-major central episode sweeps a ray of sunshine across this landscape before the movement concludes with a return to the home key in the da capo repeat. Program notes by Eric Bromberger
Friday, April 25, 2014, 8:15 p.m.
Friday, april 25, 2014, 8:15 P.M.
● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director
presents
Off the Cuff: Mahler’s Titan Marin Alsop, conductor Symphony No. 1 in D Major, “Titan” Gustav Mahler Langsam. Schleppend (1860-1911) Kräftig bewegt Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen Stürmisch bewegt
The concert will end at approximately 9:35 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Marin Alsop, conductor For Marin Alsop’s biography see page 29.
Program Notes Symphony No. 1 in D Major
Gustav Mahler Born July 7, 1860, in Kalischt, Bohemia; died May 18, 1911, in Vienna, Austria
When Gustav Mahler, age 29, premiered his First Symphony in Budapest on Nov. 20, 1889, the audience responded with tepid applause and scattered boos. At subsequent performances in Berlin and Vienna the reaction was even more negative. Only audiences in Prague and Amsterdam (where Willem Mengelberg and the Concertgebouw Orchestra were creating a Mahler clique) applauded warmly. Before we start feeling smug about our superiority to those benighted audiences 100 years ago, consider what kind of music they were used to hearing. Works contemporary with Mahler’s First include Brahms’ Fourth Symphony (1885), Saint-Saëns’ “Organ”
Symphony (1886), Dvořák’s sunny Eighth (1889) and Tchaikovsky’s super-Romantic Fifth (1888). Now forget about all the 20th-century music you’ve heard, time travel back to 1889, and consider how you might have reacted to Mahler’s musical mood swings, daring orchestral sounds, searing dissonances and shocking mixture of popular and classical idioms if these were the symphonies you were accustomed to. For in what was probably the most remarkable and daring first symphony ever written (only Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique can match its shock value), Mahler revealed himself as fully and radically himself. Strangely, Mahler had expected an easy success. Yet he was also fully aware of the originality of his artistic vision. Of his first two symphonies he wrote: “My whole life is contained in them: I have set down in them my experience and suffering … to anyone who knows how to listen, my whole life will become clear, for my creative works and my existence are so closely interwoven that, if my life flowed as peacefully as a stream
through a meadow, I believe I would no longer be able to compose anything.” When Mahler was composing this work, he would have dearly loved to have been able “to live on the profits,” for he was leading a rather precarious existence. There were no summers off or peaceful cottages deep in the woods for him then, and any composing he accomplished had to be done in odd hours, often late at night. He jumped rapidly from one opera house to another, as assistant and eventually conductor. But, despite his unquestioned talent, he found keeping a job difficult. Obstinate and uncompromising, he made a bad subordinate. Symphony No. 1 was composed during the winter of 188788 in moments stolen from his work as co-conductor of the Leipzig Stadttheater; by May, he had been forced to resign. By September he had signed a contract with the Royal Opera House in Budapest, but that too lasted little more than a year. The symphony the Budapest audience heard was different from the one we hear today. Already an innovator in matters of symphonic form, Mahler had originally created a five-movement work divided into two sections: the first comprising the opening movement, a slow movement titled “Blumine” that he eventually tossed out, and the Scherzo second movement; the last, the Funeral March and the fiery finale. He called it a “symphonic poem.” The subtitle “Titan,” after a novel by Jean Paul Richter, was later added, then dropped as Mahler grew uneasy with having non-musical programs attached to his symphonies. Unsatisfied, he returned many times to revise this work: reducing it to the conventional four movements and refining its orchestration. The version we hear now is his last word from 1906. Mahler admitted to a friend Max Marschalk that the work was inspired by a passionate love: “The symphony begins where the love affair ends; it is based on the affair which preceded the symphony in the emotional life of the composer.” Who was the lady? In 1884, Mahler wrote a song cycle for baritone or mezzo and orchestra: Songs of a Wayfarer. It was perhaps inspired by a thwarted affair with a soprano in Kassel, Johanna Richter, and two of its songs figure prominently in this symphony.
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Friday, April 25, 2014, 8:15 p.m.
But the lady might also have been Marion von Weber, the wife of a prominent Leipzig citizen; this scandal probably hastened Mahler’s departure from that city. Mahler marked the slow introduction to the first movement as “Wie ein Naturlaut”—“like a sound of nature.” He compared it to life awakening on a beautiful spring morning. A quiet pedal on A, stretched from highest violins to lowest basses, hovers expectantly. Gradually little motives come to life: a pattern of descending fourths in various woodwinds, a military fanfare on the clarinets (Mahler grew up in a army garrison town), woodwind bird calls. Then the tempo accelerates, the key solidifies onto D major, and we hear in the cellos the jaunty walking theme of the second song of the Wayfarer cycle. Notice how parts of the theme are tossed chambermusic style from instrument to instrument; this is a Mahler trademark you will hear throughout the work. Later, the walking song returns and gradually
builds to a big climax, the only loud moment in this subtle movement. En route to this climax, listen for a series of heavily accented, downward swoops in the violins; this anguished music will return much later in the symphony’s finale. Movement two is a robust peasant ländler dance based on the composer’s 1880 song, “Hans und Grethe,” and likely inspired by his rural Bohemian childhood. The funeral-march third movement in D minor is what really outraged Mahler’s first audiences, for it mixes tragedy and levity, “vulgar” music with “serious” symphonic themes in a schizophrenic manner unique to this composer. The stifled sound of a muted solo bass lugubriously introduces the German children’s song “Brüder Martin” (better known as “Frère Jacques”) as a funeral dirge, which spreads solemnly in canon through the orchestra. Then Mahler abruptly launches an incongruous episode of up-tempo popular music c. 1880. And then amid all this craziness, he offers up a lyrical section in G major
of great peace and loveliness, using the melody of the last of the Wayfarer songs, in which the unhappy lover finds solace under a linden tree. “The cry of a wounded heart” (Mahler’s description) assaults us in the screaming, violently dissonant opening of the finale. Hysteria reigns for many moments, only to yield unexpectedly to peace: one of Mahler’s most beautiful spun-out melodies shared between the cellos and violins. The frenzy returns, but trumpet fanfares hint of triumph to come. But first we return to the slow morning music with which the symphony began. In a final struggle, the heavy downward-swooping violin motive from that movement finds resolution in the trumpet victory theme. Instrumentation: Four flutes, two piccolos, four oboes, English horn, four clarinets, piccolo clarinet, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, seven horns, four trumpets, four trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp and strings. Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2014
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72 applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014
As Washington, DC’s only nonprofit film center, The Avalon brings the community the best in commercial, independent and foreign film. Our beautifully restored historic theater is located at 5612 Connecticut Ave., near Chevy Chase Circle. Visit www.theavalon.org for showtimes and tickets.
Saturday, April 26, 2014, 9 p.m.
Like Us
saturday, april 26, 2014, 9 p.m.
● Strathmore Presents
2014 Spring Gala at Strathmore Julio Iglesias The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage
Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias has sold more than 300 million copies of his 80 albums worldwide, including original versions in various languages, compilations and live albums, which make him the Latin artist who has sold the most albums in history. In his 45-year career, Iglesias has received 2,600 platinum and gold records. He has performed more than 5,000 concerts in 600 cities around the world, and more than 60 million people have seen him perform live. Iglesias has sung duets with Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, Dolly Parton, Art Garfunkel, Paul Anka, Charles Aznavour, Sting, The Beach Boys, Alejandro Fernández, Plácido Domingo and Lola Flores. He won a Grammy Award in 1988, and one year later was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He holds an American Music Award and an ASCAP Pied Piper Award, the highest award of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. In 1989 he was named UNICEF
Special Ambassador for the Performing Arts, a title he holds with much affection and respect, and which he continues to carry in great esteem. In 2011, he released the album 1, which included re-recordings of his greatest hits. The album went platinum in Brazil and diamond in Colombia. He reached the first position on iTunes Spain immediately after the release. His album 1 exceeded one million copies sold. On Dec. 16, 2011, Iglesias received two awards from Sony Music: Bestselling Latin Artist in History and Best-selling Artist in Spain. On May 2, 2012, he received a gold medal from the community of Madrid, the city where he was born. His 2013 world tour is taking him to Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, South Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Guatemala, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Israel, Jordan, Latvia, Romania, Indonesia and Japan. He returned to Mexico in May 2013, with a tour focused on promoting his album 1. Iglesias performed for more than 12,000 people in Tepic (state of Nayarit), at a free entry concert, organized by the local government, on Mother’s Day. On May 13, he packed the National Auditorium in Mexico City, offering a moving concert, in front of more than 10,000 people. In December 2013, he returned to Asia—where he had performed in April—and performed concerts in Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan.
facebook.com/ BethesdaMagazine Events, photos and updates worth sharing.
applause at Strathmore • MARCH/APRIL 2014 73
Ask the Medical Experts
Special Advertising Section
Duane Taylor, MD Le Visage - ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery, LLC 6410 Rockledge Drive, Suite 650, Bethesda, MD 20817 301-897-5858 | levisage@onebox.com www.levisageentfps.com
Tell me about you and your training, and what you enjoy most about your practice? I have been in practice in the Metro DC area for almost 25 years and currently serve as the Medical Director for Le Visage ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery. I am trained in two specialties: Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery and Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. My practice includes a blend of outpatient surgery and office-based procedures, as well as the management of medical conditions covered by my two specialties. I really love what I do and enjoy the opportunity to educate my patients on the best options available to manage their conditions. I use a variety of informational and multimedia tools in my practice to make sure patients are comfortable with understanding their conditions and treatment options, however these are all supplemental to one-on-one interactions with me.
What are some of the treatments that you offer in the office that are minimally invasive and have little downtime and their indications? On the aesthetic side of my practice the use of dermal fillers such as Restylane® and Radiesse® to reduce the folds and lines around the nose and mouth are effective, popular and safe options for patients. The use of injectibles for the forehead and frown lines (Botox®, Dysport® and Xeomin®) also allow for wonderful rejuvenation of the upper third of the face. Microdermabrasion is another procedure that I offer that contributes to healthier skin.
hilary schwab
“
I really love what I do and enjoy the opportunity to educate my patients on the best options available to manage their conditions.”
For those with sinus problems, the use of balloon dilation of the openings to the sinuses for selective patients has proven to be a great alternative to larger surgical procedures. This can be done in the office with local anesthesia and minimal discomfort. All of these procedures are performed by me.
78 applause at Strathmore • March/April 2014
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profiles | Real Estate Agents
Special Advertising Section
Gail Horne, Commercial Realtor ® Long & Foster Real Estate 4650 Easy West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814 (c) 240-620-7728 | (o) 301-907-7600 gail@gailhorne.com | www.gailhorne.com
What is the one thing that your clients should know about you? My clients should know that I love my work. It makes a difference. I focus on details, genuinely care about the results, and enjoy learning about their business needs and goals. A client selling commercial property or offering commercial space for lease needs a commercial agent. This is equally important for businesses leasing or buying space. I offer the ability and resources to provide outstanding services to local and national companies whether they’re large or small.
What makes you different than others in your profession?
Hilary Schwab
I’m a strong blend of tenacity, creativity and a pinch of humor. From the first meeting I’m fully engaged. There’s no one-size-fitsall approach to finding the right business location and negotiating through a transaction. Every client is unique and important, and I take that to heart.
Special Advertising Section
Ask the Medical Experts How do concierge internal medicine practices differ from traditional practices in managing common medical problems? Internal medicine physicians are trained to see a variety of disorders ranging from colds and flu to complicated diseases. Busy internists in traditional practices often don’t have the time to address patients’ problems in detail or their health as a whole. For example, heart disease is the number one killer of Americans, yet the focus is typically on treatment. The focus in our practice is comprehensive cardiovascular disease prevention and management with an emphasis on patients taking control over their own health.
Aimee Seidman, MD, FACP, CMD Marcia Goldmark, MD Tony Lewis JR
Rockville Concierge Doctors 15020 Shady Grove Road. Suite 300, Rockville, MD 20850 301-545-1811 | drseidman@rockvilleconciergedocs.com www.rockvilleconciergedocs.com
Because we see far fewer patients than in a traditional internal medicine practice, we have the time available to focus on prevention (i.e., osteoporosis, smoking cessation, heart disease, etc.) through both non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic approaches. Having more time per patient allows us to focus our efforts on wellness in addition to sick care. Thus, we are very proactive with each patient’s personalized care. applause at Strathmore • March/April 2014 77
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profiles | Real Estate Agents
Special Advertising Section
The Eric Stewart Group Long & Foster Realtors 795 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 301-424-0900 | eric@ericstewartgroup.com ericstewartgroup.com
What made you decide to get into your line of work? In 4th grade I started my career selling pizzas. I built a regular customer base who ordered from me every few weeks. It was in the summer of 1987 after I graduated from the University of Maryland that my entrepreneurial drive turned to real estate. I learned about the business through early morning basketball games with friends. Twenty-six years later I am supporting my family and enjoying it so much. I love helping people make their dreams come true. I love negotiating and getting top dollar and fast! As Eric Liddell, the famous runner in “Chariots of Fire” said, “I run because I feel God’s pleasure in it.” So, I sell real estate for the same reason.
What brings you the most satisfaction in your work? Exceeding my client’s expectations brings me the most satisfaction. My approach is both personable, professional and surpasses the market details of real estate. I help my clients clarify their vision and motivation for moving and work with them to achieve their goals. Because fiduciary duty is of utmost importance to me, I protect the best interest of my clients with the highest degree of ethical professionalism. Seeing my clients reach their goals is both rewarding and exciting.
What makes you different than others in your profession? This is my 26th year as an agent in the Metropolitan area. I have been through ups and downs in the market and know how to negotiate the waters of any situation adroitly. I have been hosting a weekly radio show on WMAL 105.9 FM for nine years, educating listeners on real estate.
I am currently co-founding a nonprofit organization to mobilize and coordinate volunteer support and provide a social network for widows and widowers. Serving as the President of Widow Care, I enjoy fusing my business experience with my passion to strengthen our community.
courtesy photo
What are your interests outside of work?
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profiles | Real Estate Agents
Special Advertising Section
Jane Fairweather, Realtor The Jane Fairweather Team 4709 Maple Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814 301-530-4663 | jane@janefairweather.com www.janefairweather.com
What made you decide to get into your line of work? In the 1980s, my husband and I purchased, renovated and rented property in and around the Washington metropolitan area as a hobby. When interest rates were 17-18 percent, we became proficient at creative financing. By the third year, we knew more about structuring deals than most agents we worked with. It made sense for us to get our real estate license and represent ourselves in our investment property purchases. Quite by chance, I discovered a real talent for real estate sales and decided to make this my career.
What’s a challenge that you’ve faced in your life and how did you overcome it? There have been numerous times where I have sold homes for sellers who have called me after many failed attempts to sell. It’s very gratifying to help clients achieve their sales goals and be able to move on with their lives. We have many happy clients who have sent letters of appreciation years later to express their continued happiness in their new lives and homes.
What are your interests outside of work? I’m a dedicated and committed member of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase community and volunteer my time to many worthy causes and organizations. I’m proud to have served on these boards: BCC Chamber of Commerce: Current Vice-President Imagination Stage: Current President Bethesda Green Art & Entertainment District Council BCC Rescue Squad / Strut Your Mutt (Founder)
courtesy photo
BCC Rotary Club I’m also current Chair of the Bethesda Metro Improvement Task Force (BCC Chamber) and Co-Chair of the Weizman Institute of Science for the Washington, D.C. Region.
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“
It’s very gratifying to help clients achieve their sales goals and be able to move on with their lives.” applause at Strathmore • March/April 2014 75
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profiles | Real Estate Agents
Special Advertising Section
What made you decide to get into your line of work? Initially, real estate afforded us flexibility in our schedules that allowed us to work but also carve out time to be there for our families. We enjoy being with and meeting new people. Every day brings us new and different challenges too!
Marie McCormack, Nancy Mannino & Steve Hicks Licensed in D.C., MD & VA
Bethesda All Points – WC & AN Miller, a Long & Foster Company 4701 Sangamore Road, Bethesda, MD 20816 Marie: 301-437-8678 | Marie@LNF.com Nancy: 301-461-1018 | Nancy.Mannino@LNF.com Steve: 202-669-1151 | Stephen.Hicks@ LNF.com
Finding just the right home for our clients and providing a smooth transition for our sellers is incredibly gratifying. We love providing our clients with exceptional service, our market knowledge and hands on approach. Most of our business comes from referrals, so receiving recommendations from our clients is a testament of their appreciation and satisfaction with our work.
mike olliver
What brings you the most satisfaction in your work?
Vicki Porter, Realtor W.C. & A.N. Miller Realtors, a Long & Foster Co. 4701 Sangamore Road, Bethesda, MD 20816 301-325-2965 | vicki.porter@longandfoster.com www.vickiporter.net
What makes you different than others in your profession?
My commitment to service, negotiating experience and understanding of the market are an added asset. I love helping people buy and sell in Bethesda where I grew up and also raised my children!
tony lewis jr
Homebuyers look at houses online and imagine themselves living inside. When I work with buyers, I walk them through the process and guide them through the obstacles. I connect them with lenders, home inspectors and contractors, as needed, that will go that extra mile for them. We work together to submit a winning offer. Working with sellers, my role becomes one of a general contractor as I help connect them to an organizer, painter, stager and others, as needed. As your ‘general contractor,’ my role is to help coordinate all of the different areas of home selling and extraordinary marketing so you get the maximum return on your investment.
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Music Center at
Strathmore
important information
please contact the Ticket Office for replacements.
patrons. Both main entrances have power- assisted doors.
CHILDREN
GIFT CERTIFICATES Gift certificates may be purchased at the Ticket Office.
GROUP SALES, FUNDRAISERS
For ticketed events, all patrons are required to have a ticket regardless of age. Patrons are urged to use their best judgment when bringing children to a concert that is intended for adults. There are some performances that are more appropriate for children than others. Some presenters do not allow children under the age of six years to non-family concerts. As always, if any person makes a disruption during a concert, it is appropriate that they step outside to accommodate the comfort and convenience of other concert attendees. Contact the Ticket Office at (301) 581-5100 for additional information.
For information, call (301) 581-5199 or email groups@strathmore.org.
PARKING FACILITIES
5301 Tuckerman Lane North Bethesda, MD 20852-3385 www.strathmore.org Email: tickets@strathmore.org Ticket Office Phone: (301) 581-5100 Ticket Office Fax: (301) 581-5101 Via Maryland Relay Services for MD residents at 711 or out of state at 1(800) 735-2258
TICKET OFFICE HOURS Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Wednesday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sixty minutes prior to each performance in the Music Center through intermission.
All tickets are prepaid and non-refundable.
Concert parking is located in the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro garage off Tuckerman Lane. At the end of each ticketed event in the Music Center at Strathmore, the exit gates to the garage will be open for 30 minutes to exit the garage. If you leave before, or up to 90 minutes after this 30-minute period, you must show your ticket stub to the stanchion video camera at the exit gate to exit at no cost. For all non-ticketed events, Monday-Friday, parking in the garage is $5 and may be paid using a Metro SmarTrip card or major credit card. Limited short-term parking also is available at specially marked meters along Tuckerman Lane. To access the Music Center from the GrosvenorStrathmore Metro garage, walk across the glass-enclosed sky bridge located on the fourth level.
WILL CALL
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Patrons must present the credit card used to purchase tickets or a valid ID to obtain will call tickets.
Strathmore is located immediately adjacent to the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro station on the Red Line and is served by several Metro and Ride-On bus routes. See www.strathmore. org, or the Guide to the Music Center at Strathmore for detailed directions.
TICKET POLICIES Unlike many venues, Strathmore allows tickets to be exchanged. Tickets may only be exchanged for shows presented by Strathmore or its resident partner organizations at the Music Center. Exchanges must be for the same presenter within the same season. Ticket exchanges are NOT available for independently produced shows. Please contact the Ticket Office at (301) 581-5100 for details on how to exchange tickets. If a performance is cancelled or postponed a full refund of the ticket price will be available through the Ticket Office for 30 days after the original scheduled performance date.
TICKET DONATION If you are unable to use your tickets, they may be returned for a tax-deductible donation prior to the performance. Donations can be made by mail, fax or in person by 5 p.m. the day of the performance.
MISPLACED TICKETS If you have misplaced your tickets to any performance at Strathmore,
DROP-OFF There is a patron drop-off circle off Tuckerman Lane that brings patrons to the Discovery Channel Grand Foyer via elevator. No parking is allowed in the circle, cars must be moved to the Metro garage after dropping off
COAT CHECK Located in the Promenade across from the Ticket Office. As weather requires, the coat check will be available as a complimentary service to our patrons. If you would like to keep your coat or other belongings with you, please place them under your seat. Coats may not be placed over seats or railings.
THE PRELUDE CAFÉ The Prelude Café in the Promenade of the Music Center at Strathmore, operated by Restaurant Associates, features a wide variety of snacks, sandwiches, entrees, beverages and desserts. It is open for lunch and dinner and seats up to 134 patrons.
CONCESSIONS The Interlude intermission bars offer beverages and snacks on all levels before the show and during intermission. There are permanent bars on the Orchestra, Promenade and Grand Tier levels.
LOST AND FOUND During a show, please see an usher. All other times, please call (301) 581-5100.
LOUNGES AND RESTROOMS Located on all seating levels, except in the Upper Tier.
PUBLIC TELEPHONES Courtesy telephones for local calls are located around the corner from the Ticket Office, in the Plaza Level Lobby, and at the Promenade Right Boxes.
ACCESSIBLE SEATING Accessible seating is available on all levels. Elevators, ramps, specially designed and designated seating, designated parking and many other features make the Music Center at Strathmore accessible to patrons with disabilities. For further information or for special seating requests in the Concert Hall, please call the Ticket Office at (301) 581-5100.
ASSISTIVE LISTENING
The Music Center at Strathmore is equipped with a Radio Frequency Assistive Listening System for patrons who are hard of hearing. Patrons can pick up assistive listening devices at no charge on a first-come, firstserved basis prior to the performance at the coatroom when open, or at the ticket taking location as you enter the Concert Hall with a driver’s license or other acceptable photo ID. For other accessibility requests, please call (301) 581-5100.
ELEVATOR SERVICE There is elevator service for all levels of the Music Center at Strathmore.
EMERGENCY CALLS If there is an urgent need to contact a patron attending a Music Center concert, please call (301) 581-5112 and give the patron’s name and exact seating location, and telephone number for a return call. The patron will be contacted by the ushering staff and the message relayed left with Head Usher.
LATECOMER POLICY Latecomers will be seated at the first appropriate break in the performance as not to disturb the performers or audience members. The decision as to when patrons will be seated is set by the presenting organization for that night.
FIRE NOTICE The exit sign nearest to your seat is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency, please WALK to that exit. Do not run. In the case of fire, use the stairs, not the elevators.
WARNINGS The use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of photographs, either with or without flash, is strictly prohibited by law. Violators are subject to removal from the Music Center without a refund, and must surrender the recording media. Smoking is prohibited in the building. Please set to silent, or turn off your cell phones, pagers, PDAs, and beeping watches prior to the beginning of the performance.
Applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014 79
Jonathan Timmes
Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE William G. “Bill” Robertson Chair Dale S. Rosenthal Vice Chair William R. Ford Treasurer Robert G. Brewer, Jr., Esq. Secretary and Parliamentarian
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Joseph F. Beach Cathy Bernard Dickie S. Carter David M.W. Denton Hope B. Eastman, Esq. Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg
Hon. Nancy Floreen Barbara Goldberg Goldman Sol Graham Nancy E. Hardwick Paul L. Hatchett Sachiko Kuno Delia K. Lang Karen Lefkowitz Carolyn P. Leonard Hon. Laurence Levitan J. Alberto Martinez, MD Kenneth O’Brien DeRionne P. Pollard Raymond T. Tetz Donna Rattley Washington Graciela Rivera-Oven Regina Brady Vasan
Donors Strathmore thanks the individuals and organizations who have made contributions between January 1 and December 31, 2013. Their support of at least $500 and continued commitment enables us to offer the affordable, accessible, quality programming that has become our hallmark.
$250,000+ Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County Maryland State Arts Council $100,000+ Hogan Lovells (in-kind) Post-Newsweek Media, Inc. (includes in-kind) $50,000+ Booz Allen Hamilton Lockheed Martin Corporation The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Symphony Park LLC $25,000+ Asbury Methodist Village Federal Realty Investment Trust GEICO Glenstone Foundation Yanqiu He and Kenneth O’Brien Carolyn and Jeffrey Leonard Paul M. Angell Family Foundation PEPCO TD Bank Carol Trawick $15,000+ Abramson Family Foundation Inc. Nancy and Raymond Hardwick Elizabeth and Joel Helke Lyle and Cecilia Jaeger (in-kind) Sachiko Kuno and Ryuji Ueno Lerch, Early & Brewer, Chartered (includes in-kind) MARPAT Foundation, Inc. Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation National Endowment for the Arts $10,000+ Bank of America Jonita and Richard S. Carter
Capital One Services Inc. Clark Construction Group, LLC Comcast Elizabeth W. Culp EagleBank Suzanne and Douglas Firstenberg Giant Food LLC Dorothy and Sol Graham Guardian Realty Management, Inc. Lerner Enterprises Janet L. Mahaney Montgomery County Department of Economic Development Patricia and Roscoe Moore Natelli Communities LP Janine and Phillip O’Brien PBS Della and William Robertson Dale S. Rosenthal Reginald Van Lee $5,000+ Cathy Bernard Gary Block Mary and Greg Bruch Frances and Leonard Burka Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts Carl M. Freeman Foundation Elizabeth and Peter Forster Ellen and Michael Gold Jane Elizabeth Cohen Foundation Julie and John Hamre The Kiplinger Foundation Allen Kronstadt Delia and Marvin Lang Tina and Arthur Lazerow Constance Lohse & Robert Brewer Minkoff Development Corporation Milton and Dorothy Sarnoff Raymond Foundation Carol Salzman and Michael Mann
80 Applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014
Members of Boston Brass performed at the Concert Hall with the Strathmore Children’s Chorus on Sunday, Dec. 1, then visited the jazz and concert band ensembles at Rockville High School the next morning. This outreach program was funded by KHS America in partnership with Give a Note Foundation.
John Sherman, in memory of Deane Sherman Meredith Weiser & Michael Rosenbaum WGL Holdings, Inc. Ellen and Bernard Young Nancy and Harold Zirkin
Soltesz Associates, Inc. Annie S. Totah Paulette and Larry Walker Ward & Klein, Chartered Susan Wellman Anne Witkowsky and John Barker
$2,500+ Agmus Ventures, Inc. Anonymous Louise Appell Atsite, Inc. Bank of Georgetown Alison Cole and Jan Peterson Community Foundation for the National Capital Region Margaret and James Conley Carin and Bruce Cooper CORT Business Services Carolyn Degroot Hope Eastman Starr and Fred Ezra Michelle Newberry Barbara Goldberg Goldman Carolyn Goldman and Sydney Polakoff Lana Halpern Diana and Paul Hatchett Monica Jeffries Hazangeles and John Hazangeles Cheryl and Richard Hoffman A. Eileen Horan Igersheim Family Foundation Alexine Jackson Dianne Kay Peter S. Kimmel, in memory of Martin S. Kimmel Eleanor Kleinman and Mark Zaid Teri Hanna Knowles & John M. Knowles Judie and Harry Linowes Jill and Jim Lipton Sharon and David Lockwood Effie and John Macklin NOVA Research Co., Peggy & Paul Young Carol and Jerry Perone Mindy and Charles Postal Randy Hostetler Living Room Fund Cheryl and William Reidy Lorraine and Barry Rogstad Karen Rosenthal & M. Alexander Stiffman Barbara and Ted Rothstein Janet and Michael Rowan Katherine Rumbaugh and Diana Downey Phyllis and J. Kenneth Schwartz Lynne Sendejo Kerri Sharabi Victor Shargai and Craig Pascal Christine Shreve & Thomas Bowersox Mary Kay Shartle-Galotto & Jack Galotto Ann and Jim Simpson Leon and Deborah Snead Tanya and Stephen Spano
$1,000+ Anonymous Marie Allen Mary Kay and Dave Almy Doris and David Aronson Mary Barton and Elizabeth Biegelson Margaret and Craig Bash Susan and Brian Bayly Jane Beard and Jeff Davis Sheila and Kenneth Berman Carol and Scott Brewer Vicki Britt and Robert Selzer Jeff Broadhurst Lucie and Guy Campbell Eleanor and Oscar Caroglanian Conference and Visitors Bureau of Montgomery County Susan and Jane Corrigan Mary Denison and John Clark III Dorothy Fitzgerald Gail Fleder Marlies and Karl Flicker Robert Fogarty Theresa and William Ford Senator Jennie Forehand and William E. Forehand, Jr. Sandra and Victor Frattali Noreen and Michael Friedman Suzanne and Mark Friis Juan Gaddis Leslie and Art Greenberg Greene-Milstein Family Foundation Jai Gupta Linda and John Hanson Maureen and Brent Hanson Boots Harris Sara and James A. Harris, Jr. Vicki Hawkins-Jones & Michael Jones Linda and I. Robert Horowitz Linda and Van Hubbard Deirdre and John Johnson Pamela & Senator Edward Kasemeyer Joan and Howard Katz Deloise and Lewis Kellert Renee Korda and Mark Olson Iris and Louis Korman Jonathan Kugel Carole and Robert Kurman Susan and Gary Labovich Barbara & The Honorable Laurence Levitan Linowes and Blocher LLP Douglas Liu Sandy and M. Gerald Loubier Sandra and Charles Lyons M&T Bank
gabrielle Tillenburg
Jonathan Timmes
LEFT: Classica WETA 90.9’s morning host David Ginder shared insight into composers and works during a pre-concert lecture for the Teatro alla scala Academy Orchestra on Dec. 4. Free pre-concert lectures are only possible with the support of Strathmore donors. RIGHT: San Fermin, a critically lauded band from Brooklyn, N.Y., played to a sold-out crowd on Dec. 13. The band performed in the Mansion as part of the Friday Night Eclectic series, one of the many varied programs Strathmore is able to present because of generous donor support.
Jacqueline and J. Thomas Manger Edith and Fred Marinucci J. Alberto Martinez Catherine and David Meloy Leanne and Tim Mertz Ann G. Miller Mocho, LLC Gerry Murphy Esther and Stuart Newman Susan and Christopher Nordeen Paley, Rothman, Goldstein, Rosenberg, Eig & Cooper Chtd Dale and Anthony Pappas Gloria Paul and Robert Atlas Cynthia and Eliot Pfanstiehl Charla and David Phillips Tammy and Vincent Prestipino Republic National Distributing Co. Jane and Paul (deceased) Rice Karen Rinta-Spinner & Joseph Spinner Rivkin Livingston Levitan & Silver LLC Charlotte and Hank Schlosberg Fran and Richard Silbert Merle and Steven Steiner Mary Sturtevant Marilyn and Mark Tenenbaum Myra Turoff and Ken Weiner Regina and Ken Vasan Judy Whalley and Henry Otto Jean and Jerry Whiddon Irene and Steven White Vicki and Steve Willmann Cindy and Rick Zitelman $500+ Anonymous Judy and Joseph Antonucci Benita and Eric Bailey Dena Baker and Terry Jacobs Laura Baptiste and Brian Kildee Mary Bell Debra Benator and Randall Wagner James Brady Eileen Cahill Trish and Timothy Carrico Kathy and C. Bennett Chamberlin Michael Curto Sr. Ken Defontes David Dise Sue Downes Shoshanah Drake Sue and Howard Feibus Linda Finkelman and Leo Millstein Winifred and Anthony Fitzpatrick Gregory Flowers Joanne and Vance Fort Carol Fromboluti Nancy and Peter Gallo Reva Gambrell Pamela Gates and Robert Schultz Loreen and Thomas Gehl Sandra and Steven Gichner Mr. and Mrs. Alan Gourley
Ellie and John Hagner Sue Hains and Brian Eaton Gerri Hall and David Nickels Wilma and Arthur Holmes Jr. Carol and Larry Horn Barbara and David Humpton JD and JDK Foundation Henrietta and Christopher Keller KHS America, Inc. Richard Klinkner Patricia and James Krzyminski Jennifer and Chuck Lawson Catherine & The Honorable Isiah Leggett Scott Leventhal Ronald Lewis Dorothy Linowes Claire and Scott Livingston Susan Shaskan Luse and Eric Luse Richard Marlo Glenn Marvin Janice McCall Nancy McGinness and Thomas Tarabrella Sabrina and Patrick McGowan Viji and Dan Melnick Dee and Robert Metz Marilyn and Douglas Mitchell Ann Morales and Rice Odell Denise and Thomas Murphy Katie Murphy Ellen and Jim Myerberg Joyce and George Newmyer Margie Pearson and Richard Lampl Mary Pedigo and Daniel Washburn Brian Potts Dianne and Gregory Proctor Yolanda Pruitt Barbara and Mark Rabin Grace Rivera-Oven and Mark Oven Kitty and Glenn Roberts Rodgers Consulting Jacqueline Rogers Henry Schalizki Imogene Schneider Estelle Schwalb Betty Scott and Jim McMullen Gail Scott-Parizer and Michael Parizer Jean and Louis Seiden Bob Sheldon Roberta and Lawrence Shulman Donald Simonds Judi and Richard Sugarman Chris Syllaba Susan Talarico & Michael Sundermeyer Aurelie Thiele Linda and Steuart Thomsen Marion and Dennis Torchia Linda and Irving Weinberg Karen and Roger Winston Jean and Robert Wirth Irene and Alan Wurtzel Susan and Jack Yanovski Gerson Zweifach
Con Brio Society Securing the future of Strathmore through a planned gift. Anonymous Louise Appell John Cahill Jonita and Richard S. Carter Irene Cooperman Trudie Cushing and Neil Beskin Julie and John Hamre Yanqiu He and Kenneth O’Brien A. Eileen Horan Vivian and Peter Hsueh Tina and Arthur Lazerow Chiu and Melody Lin
STRATHMORE STAFF Eliot Pfanstiehl Chief Executive Officer Monica Jeffries Hazangeles President Carol Maryman Executive Assistant to the President & CEO Mary Kay Almy Executive Board Assistant
DEVELOPMENT Bianca Beckham Director of Institutional Giving Bill Carey Director of Donor and Community Relations Lauren Campbell Development & Education Manager Erin M. Phillips Manager of Patron Engagement Julie Hamre Development Associate
PROGRAMMING Shelley Brown VP/Artistic Director Georgina Javor Director of Programming Harriet Lesser Visual Arts Curator Kaleigh Bryant Mansion Programming Coordinator
EDUCATION Betty Scott Education Coordinator
OPERATIONS Mark J. Grabowski Executive VP of Operations Miriam Teitel Director of Operations Allen V. McCallum, Jr. Director of Patron Services Jasper Cox Director of Finance Laura Webb Staff Accountant Marco Vasquez Operations Manager Phoebe Anderson Dana
Diana Locke and Robert Toense Janet L. Mahaney Carol and Alan Mowbray Cynthia and Eliot Pfanstiehl Barbara and David Ronis Henry Schalizki and Robert Davis (deceased) Phyllis and J. Kenneth Schwartz Annie Simonian Totah and Sami Totah (deceased) Maryellen Trautman and Darrell Lemke Carol Trawick Peter Vance Treibley Myra Turoff and Ken Weiner Julie Zignego Operations Assistant Allen C. Clark Manager of Information Services Christopher S. Inman Manager of Security Chadwick Sands Ticket Office Manager Wil Johnson Assistant Ticket Office Manager Aileen Roberts Rentals Manager Christian Simmelink Ticket Services Coordinator Christopher A. Dunn IT Technician Johnathon Fuentes Operations Specialist Brandon Gowen Operations Specialist Jon Foster Production Stage Manager William Kassman Lead Stage Technician Lyle Jaeger Lead Lighting Technician Caldwell Gray Lead Audio Technician
THE SHOPS AT STRATHMORE Charlene McClelland Director of Retail Merchandising Lorie Wickert Director of Retail Operations and Online Sales
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Alaina Sadick VP Marketing and Communications Jerry Hasard Marketing Director Jenn German Marketing Manager Julia Allal Group Sales and Outreach Manager Michael Fila Manager of Media Relations
STRATHMORE TEA ROOM Mary Mendoza Godbout Tea Room Manager
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Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
LIFE DIRECTORS
Peter G. Angelos, Esq. H. Thomas Howell, Esq. Yo-Yo Ma Harvey M. Meyerhoff Decatur H. Miller, Esq. Linda Hambleton Panitz
($2,500-$2,999) Anonymous (2) Dr. Nancy D. Bridges Lt Gen (Ret) Frank B. and Karen Campbell Geri & David Cohen Kari Peterson and Benito R. and Ben De Leon Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kelber Mrs. June Linowitz & Dr. Howard Eisner Burt & Karen Leete Ms. Diane M. Perin Martin and Henriette Poretsky The Washington Post Company Dr. Edward Whitman Paul A. & Peggy L. Young, NOVA Research Company
DIRECTORS EMERITI
SYMPHONY SOCIETY GOLD
Board of directors OFFICERS
Kenneth W. DeFontes, Jr.*, Chairman Kathleen A. Chagnon, Esq.*, Secretary Lainy LeBow-Sachs*, Vice Chair Paul Meecham*, President & CEO The Honorable Steven R. Schuh*, Treasurer
BOARD MEMBERS
A.G.W. Biddle, III Barbara M. Bozzuto * Constance R. Caplan Robert B. Coutts Alan S. Edelman* Michael G. Hansen* Denise Hargrove^, Governing Member Co-Chair Stephen M. Lans Sandra Levi Gerstung Ava Lias-Booker, Esq. Howard Majev, Esq. Liddy Manson Hilary B. Miller* Marge Penhallegon^, President, Baltimore Symphony Associates Michael P. Pinto E. Albert Reece, M.D. Scott Rifkin, M.D. Ann L. Rosenberg Bruce E. Rosenblum* Stephen D. Shawe, Esq. The Honorable James T. Smith, Jr. Solomon H. Snyder, M.D. * Andrew A. Stern* Maria Tildon
Gregory W. Tucker Amy Webb Jeffrey Zoller^, BSYO Chair
Barry D. Berman, Esq. Murray M. Kappelman, M.D. M. Sigmund Shapiro
CHAIRMAN LAUREATE Michael G. Bronfein Calman J. Zamoiski, Jr.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ENDOWMENT TRUST
Benjamin H. Griswold, IV, Chairman Terry Meyerhoff Rubenstein, Secretary Michael G. Bronfein Kenneth W. DeFontes, Jr. Mark R. Fetting Paul Meecham The Honorable Steven R. Schuh Calman J. Zamoiski, Jr. *Board Executive Committee ^ ex-officio
SUPPORTERS OF THE BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is deeply grateful to the individual, corporate, foundation and government donors whose annual giving plays a vital role in sustaining the Orchestra’s tradition of musical excellence. The following donors have given between November 1, 2012 and January 17, 2014.
LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County Lori Laitman & Bruce Rosenblum The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Maryland State Arts Council National Endowment for the Arts
CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE PARTNERS ($25,000 and above) The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation The Hearst Foundation, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Stephen M. Lans M&T Bank PNC VOCUS
MAESTRA’S CIRCLE
($10,000 and above) Mr. and Mrs. A. G. W. Biddle, III Ms. Susan Esserman and Mr. Andrew Marks Michael G. Hansen & Nancy E. Randa Joel and Liz Helke Susan Liss and Family In memory of James Gavin Manson
Amelie & Bernei Burgunder Kiplinger Foundation Marc E. Lackritz & Mary DeOreo Mr. & Mrs. Howard Lehrer Dr. Diana Locke & Mr. Robert E. Toense Howard and Linda Martin Mr. & Mrs. Humayun Mirza David Nickels & Gerri Hall Jan S. Peterson & Alison E. Cole Bill and Shirley Rooker Patricia Smith and Dr. Frances Lussier Don Spero & Nancy Chasen Mr. Alan Strasser & Ms. Patricia Hartge Sylvia and Peter Winik John & Susan Warshawsky Ms. Deborah Wise/Edith and Herbert Lehman Foundation, Inc.
Hilary B. Miller & Dr. Katherine N. Bent Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Polinger Total Wine & More
Governing Members Gold ($5,000-$9,999) Anonymous The Charles Delmar Foundation Susan Fisher Dr. David Leckrone & Marlene Berlin Dr. James and Jill Lipton Mr. and Mrs. William Rogers Mike & Janet Rowan Daniel and Sybil Silver
GOVERNING MEMBERS SILVER ($3,000-$4,999) Anonymous (2) Alan V. Asay and Mary K. Sturtevant Jane C. Corrigan Ms. Marietta Ethier Marcia Diehl and Julie Kurland J. Fainberg Sherry and Bruce Feldman Georgetown Paper Stock of Rockville Madeleine and Joseph Jacobs S. Kann Sons Company Foundation,
82 Applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014
($2,000-$2,999) Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth R. Feinberg John and Meg Hauge Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Hoefler Dr. Phyllis R. Kaplan Jennifer Kosh Stern and William H. Turner
SYMPHONY SOCIETY SILVER
($1,200-$1,999) Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Abell Ms. Franca B Barton & Mr. George G. Clarke David and Sherry Berz Hon. & Mrs. Anthony Borwick Gordon F. Brown Frances and Leonard Burka Catoctin Breeze Vineyard Cecil Chen & Betsy Haanes Dr. Mark Cinnamon & Ms. Doreen Kelly Mr. Harvey A. Cohen & Mr. Michael R. Tardif Mr. John C. Driscoll Chuck Fax and Michele Weil Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Fitzpatrick Mr. and Mrs. Arthur P. Floor Mr. and Mrs. Roberto B. Friedman Mary Martin Gant Dr. and Mrs. Sanford Glazer Drs. Joseph Gootenberg & Susan Leibenhaut David and Anne Grizzle Mr. & Mrs. Norman M. Gurevich Mr. & Mrs. John Hanson Sara and James A. Harris, Jr. Esther and Gene Herman David A. & Barbara L. Heywood Betty W. Jensen Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Keller Ms. Kristine Kingery Darrell Lemke and Maryellen Trautman Dr. and Mrs. Peter C. Luchsinger Ms. Janet L. Mahaney Mr. Winton Matthews Marie McCormack David and Kay McGoff The Meisel Group Dr. & Mrs. Stanley R. Milstein Ms. Zareen T. Mirza Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Miyamoto Richard and Melba Reichard Estelle D. Schwalb Roger and Barbara Schwarz Laura H. Selby Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey R. Singer Mr. and Mrs. Richard D. Spero Margot & Phil Sunshine Mr. & Mrs. Richard Tullos Donna and Leonard Wartofsky H. Alan Young & Sharon Bob Young, Ph.D. ($1,000-$1,199) Anonymous (3) Charles Alston and Susan Dentzer Mr. William J. Baer & Ms. Nancy H. Hendry Phebe W. Bauer
Leonard and Gabriela Bebchick Mrs. Elaine Belman Drs. Lawrence and Deborah Blank Dorothy R. Bloomfield Mr. Kurt Thomas Brintzenhofe Bruce and Deborah Broder Mr. and Mrs. John Carr Mr. Vincent Castellano Mr. and Mrs. Arthur C. Cox Joan de Pontet Delaplaine Foundation Dimick Foundation Dr. Edward Finn Mr. and Mrs. John Ford Mr. and Mrs. William Gibb Peter Gil George and Joni Gold Dr. and Mrs. Harvey R. Gold Joanne and Alan Goldberg Mr. & Mrs. Frank Goldstein Mark & Lynne Groban Ms. Lana Halpern Mr. Fred Hart and Ms. Elizabeth Knight Ellen & Herb Herscowitz Fran and Bill Holmes Virginia and Dale Kiesewetter Ms. Marie Lerch and Mr. Jeff Kolb Drs. David and Sharon Lockwood Michael & Judy Mael Mr. and Mrs. David Menotti Douglas and Barbara Norland Mr. and Mrs. Peter Philipps Herb and Rita Posner Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Rogell Mr. and Mrs. Barry Rogstad Marcia and John Rounsaville Mrs. Phyllis Seidelson Mr. Donald M. Simonds Dr. Allyson Slater Mr. and Mrs. Richard Swerdlow David Wellman & Marjorie Coombs Wellman Ms. Susan Wellman Richard and Susan Westin Dr. Ann M. Willis Marc and Amy Wish
BRITTEN LEVEL MEMBERS
($500-$999) Ellen Apatov and Linda Clark Donald Baker Mr. Gilbert Bloom Ms. Marcia D. Bond Ms. Cynthia L. Bowman-Gholston Judy and Peter Braham Mr. Philip Brannen Mr. Richard H. Broun & Ms. Karen E. Daly Ms. Sharon Phyllis Brown Bradley Christmas and Tara Flynn Barbara & John Clary Mr. Herbert Cohen Marion Fitch Connell Mr. & Mrs. Jim Cooper Ms. Brenda K. Edwards Mr. and Mrs. Robert Fauver Drs. Charles and Cynthia Field Mr. Kenneth J. Goldsmith Ms. Alisa Goldstein Frank & Susan Grefsheim Ms. Melanie Grishman & Mr. Herman Flay, MD Drs. Marlene and Bill Haffner Ms. Haesoon Hahn Keith and Linda Hartman Mr. Jeff D. Harvell & Mr. Ken Montgomery Mr. & Mrs. William L. Hickman Mr. & Mrs. Howard Iams Mr. and Mrs. Norman Kamerow Ms. Daryl Kaufman Dr. Birgit Kovacs Dr. Arlin J. Krueger Ms. Delia Lang Ms. Pat Larrabee and Ms. Lauren Markley Ms. Mary Lesar Harry and Carolyn Lincoln Ms. Laura Liswood Mr. Christopher Loveless R. Mahon Mr. Mark Mattucci Ms. Judith McLean Mr. and Mrs. Martin McLean Merle and Thelma Meyer Ms. Ellen Miles Mr. & Mrs. Walter Miller William and Patricia Morgan Mr. Koji Mukai Eugene and Dorothy Mulligan Amanda & Robert Ogren Mr. and Mrs. Philip Padgett Thomas Plotz and Catherine Klion
Soprano Tamara Wilson with BSO Board Member Mike Hansen and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny following the War Requiem concert.
Marie Pogozelski and Richard Belle Andrew and Melissa Polott Mr. and Ms. Donald Regnell Harold Rosen Ms. Ellen Rye Lois and David Sacks Mr. Allen Shaw and Ms. Tina Chisena Donna and Steven Shriver Ms. Terry Shuch and Mr. Neal Meiselman Ms. Sonja Soleng Gloria and David Solomon Mr. and Mrs. Duane Straub Mr. Peter Thomson Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Debra Udey Linda and Irving Weinberg Mr. David M. Wilson Robert and Jean Wirth Karen Flint and Daniel Zaharevitz Ms. MaryAnn Zamula
BRAHMS LEVEL MEMBERS
($250-$499) Anonymous (3) Ms. Kathryn Abell Ms. Judith Agard Rhoda and Herman Alderman Dr. Don D. Anderson Mr. Bill Apter Pearl and Maurice Axelrad Mr. and Mrs. James Bailey Mr. Paul Balabanis Mr. Robert Barash Mr. & Mrs. John W. Beckwith Melvin Bell Mr. and Mrs. Robert Benna Alan Bergstein and Carol Joffe Mr. Donald Berlin Mr. Neal Bien Drs. Ernst and Nancy Scher Billig Ms. Ruth Bird Nancy and Don Bliss Ms. Monica M. Bradford Dr. Chris H. and James D. Bridgeman Mr. and Mrs. Serefino Cambareri Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Carrera Ms. June Colilla Dr. and Mrs. Eleanor Condliffe Mr. Kevin Connell & Ms. Mary Theresa Burton Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Cooper Ms. Ellen Cull Mr. and Mrs. Charles Davenport Dr. & Mrs. James R. David Mr. David S. Davidson Mr. Jeffrey Davis Anne and Arthur Delibert William Dietrich Ms. Sandra Kay Dusing Drs. Stephen and Irene Eckstrand Mr. Ahmed El-Hoshy Lionel and Sandra Epstein Claudia and Eliot Feldman Mr. Michael Finkelstein Dr. & Mrs. David Firestone Robert and Carole Fontenrose Mr. & Mrs. Michael Scott Friedman Lucian & Lynn M. Furrow Roberta Geier Mr. Bernard A. Gelb Irwin Gerduk Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Giddings
BSO Oboist Michael Lisicky speaks with donors regarding his latest book about the former Woodward & Lothrop department store.
Mr. Harry Glass and Ms. Judy Canahuati Edward G. Griffin Dr. Marlene Haffner Brian and Mary Ann Harris Mr. Lloyd Haugh Mrs. Jean N. Hayes Marylyn Heindl Mr. John C. Hendricks Mr. Robert Henry Mrs. Patricia Hernandez Jeff Herring Joel and Linda Hertz Ms. Linda Lurie Hirsch Mr. Frank Hopkins Dr. and Mrs. Robert Horowitz Mr. Joel Horwich Mr. John Howes Mr. & Mrs. Paul Hyman Carol and Terry Ireland Ms. Susan Irwin Ms. Katharine Jones Mrs. Lauri Joseph Mr. Peter Kaplan Dr. & Mrs. Robert W. Karp Lawrence & Jean Katz Mr. & Mrs. James Kempf Ms. Jennifer Kimball Mr. and Ms. George Kinal Fred King Dr. Richard D. Guerin and Dr. Linda Kohn Mr. William and Ms. Ellen D. Kominers Ms. Nancy Kopp Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Lambert Michael Lazar & Sharon Fischman Ms. Sandra Lebowitz Ms. Flora Lee Mr. Myles R. Levin Alan and Judith Lewis Dr. Richard E. and Susan Papp Lippman Jacqueline London Lucinda Low and Daniel Magraw Andrea MacKay Thomas and Elizabeth Maestri Mr. James Magno Ms. Donna Malarkey Mr. David Marcos Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Matterson Ms. Susan McGee Anna Therese McGowan Mr. Steve Metalitz Mr. Gary Metz Mrs. Rita Meyers Dr. and Mrs. Arve Michelsen Ms. Barbara Miles Naomi Miller Ms. Carol Moorefield Mr. Jose Muniz Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Mary Nisbet Ms. Caren Novick Dr. & Mrs. John R. Nuckols Dr. Jon Oberg Ms. Marian O’Donnell Mr. Joseph O’Hare Mr. Jerome Ostrov Mr. and Mrs. James Palmer Mr. Kevin Parker John and Maureen Pelosi Dr. Maria A Pena-Guerrero Ms. Johanna Pleijsier Mr. Douglas Poland
BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP WITH THE BSO Make a donation today and become a Member of the BSO! There is a gift level that is right for everyone, and with that comes an insider’s perspective of your world-class orchestra. For a complete list of benefits, please call our Membership Office at 301.581.5215 or contact via e-mail at membership@BSOmusic.org. You may also visit our Web site at BSOmusic.org/benefits.
Tenor Nicholas Phan (center) with Don Spero and BSO Board Member Liddy Manson at the War Requiem Artist Reception.
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Portner Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Rabin Ms. Laura Ramirez-Ramos Mr. Samuel G. Reel Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Bernard Reich Mr. Thomas Reichmann Dr. Joan Rittenhouse & Mr. Jack Rittenhouse Mr. William Robertson Mr. & Mrs. Robert Sandler Mr. Timothy Scally Ms. Beatrice Schiff David and Louise Schmeltzer Hanita and Morry Schreiber Norman and Virginia Schultz Mr. J. Kenneth Schwartz Mr. Paul Seidman Ms. Debra Shapiro Dr. Janet Shaw Mr. & Mrs. Larry Shulman Mr.and Mrs. Donald A. Sillers
Mr. and Mrs. Micheal D. Slack Ms. Deborah Smith Richard Sniffin Bill Grossman Fund of the Isidore Grossman Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Charles Steinecke III Jesse and Deborah Stiller Dr. Andrew Tangborn Mr. Alan Thomas Mr. John Townsley Dr. and Ms. George Urban Ms. Maria Volpe Mr. Mallory Walker Mr. David Wallace Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Waugaman Ms. Roslyn Weinstein Eileen and Lee Woods Mrs. Sandra Wool Dr. & Mrs. Richard N. Wright
Baltimore symphony Orchestra STAFF Paul Meecham, President & CEO John Verdon, Vice President and CFO Leilani Uttenreither, Executive Assistant Eileen Andrews, Vice President of Marketing and Communications Carol Bogash, Vice President of Education and Community Engagement Jack Fishman, Vice President of External Affairs, BSO at Strathmore Dale Hedding, Vice President of Development Matthew Spivey, Vice President of Artistic Operations ARTISTIC OPERATIONS Nishi Badhwar, Director of Orchestra Personnel Toby Blumenthal, Manager of Facility Sales Tiffany Bryan, Manager of Front of House Patrick Chamberlain, Artistic Coordinator Anna Harris, Operations Manager Chris Monte, Assistant Personnel Manager Tabitha Pfleger, Director of Operations and Facilities Meg Sippey, Artistic Planning Manager and Assistant to the Music Director David George, Assistant Personnel Manager eDUCATION Nicholas Cohen, Director of Community Engagement Annemarie Guzy, Director of Education Patrick Locklin, Education Program Manager Nick Skinner, OrchKids Director of Operations Larry Townsend, Education Assistant Dan Trahey, OrchKids Artistic Director DEVELOPMENT Jessica Abel, Grants Program Manager Jordan Allen, Institutional Giving Coordinator Megan Beck, Donor Stewardship Coordinator Adrienne Bitting, Development Assistant Kate Caldwell, Director of Philanthropic Services Stephanie Johnson, Manager of Annual Giving, BSO at Strathmore Stephanie Moore, Annual Fund Coordinator Joanne M. Rosenthal, Director of Major Gifts, Planned Giving and Government Relations
Richard Spero, Community Liaison for BSO at Strathmore Janie Szybist, Research & Campaign Associate FACILITIES OPERATIONS Shirley Caudle, Housekeeper Bertha Jones, Senior Housekeeper Curtis Jones, Building Services Manager FINANCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Sarah Beckwith, Director of Accounting Sophia Jacobs, Senior Accountant Janice Johnson, Senior Accountant Evinz Leigh, Administration Associate Chris Vallette, Database and Web Administrator Donna Waring, Payroll Accountant Jeff Wright, Director of Information Technology MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Derek Chavis, Marketing Coordinator Nora Dennehy, Web Content Coordinator Justin Gillies, Graphic Designer Derek A. Johnson, Senior Marketing Manager Theresa Kopasek, Marketing and PR Associate Bryan Joseph Lee, Marketing and PR Manager, BSO at Strathmore Alyssa Porambo, PR and Publications Coordinator Laura Soldati, Director of Public Relations Adeline Sutter, Group Sales Manager Elisa Watson, Art Director Rika Dixon White, Director of Marketing & Sales TICKET SERVICES Amy Bruce, Director of Ticket Services Timothy Lidard, Manager of VIP Ticketing Juliana Marin, Senior Ticket Agent for Strathmore Peter Murphy, Ticket Services Manager Michael Schultz, Senior Ticket Agent, Special Events Thomas Treasure, Ticket Services Agent BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ASSOCIATES Larry Albrecht, Symphony Store Volunteer Manager Louise Reiner, Office Manager
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GIFTS OF $15,000+ Mrs. Hilda Goodwin Patricia Haywood Moore and Roscoe M. Moore, Jr. for the Guest Artist Fund Dieneke Johnson for the All Kids Free Fund Dr. Kenneth P. Moritsugu, Emily Moritsugu & Ms. Lisa R. Kory, includes match by Johnson & Johnson Paul & Robin Perito for the Guest Artist Vocal Fund
National Philharmonic Board of directors Board of Directors Rabbi Leonard Cahan *Todd Eskelsen *Carol Evans *Ruth Faison Dr. Bill Gadzuk Dr. Robert Gerard Ken Hurwitz *Dieneke Johnson *William Lascelle *Greg Lawson Joan Levenson Dr. Jeff Levi Dr. Wayne Meyer *Kent Mikkelsen Dr. Roscoe M. Moore, Jr. Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu Robin C. Perito JaLynn Prince
*Peter Ryan Sally Sternbach Dr. Charles Toner Elzbieta Vande Sande
Board Officers
*Albert Lampert, Chair *William Lascelle, Treasurer *Paul Dudek, Secretary *Todd R. Eskelsen, Chair Emeritus
Board of Advisors Joel Alper Albert Lampert Chuck Lyons Roger Titus Jerry D. Weast
*Executive Committee
As of Feb. 1, 2014
SUPPORTERS OF THE NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC The National Philharmonic takes this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge the following businesses, foundations and individuals which have made the Philharmonic’s ambitious plans possible through their generous contributions. Maestro Circle Concertmaster Circle Principal Circle Philharmonic Circle Benefactor Circle Sustainer Circle Patron Contributor Member
$10,000+ $7,500 to $9,999 $5,000 to $7,499 $3,500 to $4,999 $2,500 to $3,499 $1,000 to $2,499 $500 to $999 $250 to $499 $125 to $249
ORGANIZATIONS
Maestro Circle Paul M. Angell Family Foundation Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Philip L. Graham Fund Ingleside at King Farm Maryland State Arts Council Montgomery County, MD Montgomery County Public Schools Musician Performance Trust Fund National Endowment for the Arts Schiff Hardin, LLP The State of Maryland Concertmaster Circle Clark-Winchcole Foundation Embassy of Poland The Gazette PRINCIPAL CIRCLE Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation Johnson & Johnson Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation, Inc. Philharmonic Circle Exxon Mobil Foundation National Philharmonic/MCYO Educational Partnership
The Washington Post Company BENEFACTOR CIRCLE Rockville Christian Church, for donation of space SUSTAINER CIRCLE American Federation of Musicians, DC Local 161-170 Bank of America Dimick Foundation Executive Ball for the Arts Lucas-Spindletop Foundation Target Patron American String Teachers’ Association DC/MD Chapter Gailes Violin Shop, Inc. GE Foundation IBM Lashof Violins Potter Violin Company Washington Music Center CONTRIBUTOR Violin House of Weaver
INDIVIDUALS
GIFTS OF $50,000+ Ms. Anne Claysmith* for the Chorale Chair-Soprano II Fund Robert & Margaret Hazen for the Second Chair Trumpet Fund Mrs. Margaret Makris GIFTS OF $25,000+ Ann & Todd Eskelsen for the Chorale Music Fund Tanya & Albert Lampert for the Guest Artist Fund
84 Applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014
Maestro Circle The Jacob & Malka Goldfarb Charitable Foundation, Inc. Daniel Nir & Jill Braufman Family Foundation Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation, Inc. Concertmaster Circle Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dudek Principal Circle Anonymous Dr. Paul Jay Fink Dr. Ryszard Gajewski Dr. & Mrs. Val G. Hemming Drs. Charles and Edna Foa Kahn Mr. Arthur Langerman Mr. Robert Misbin Dr. Gregory & JaLynn Prince Dr. Saul Sternberg Philharmonic Circle Mrs. Ruth Berman Mr. Dale Collinson * Dr. & Mrs. John V. Evans J. William & Anita Gadzuk * Dr. Robert Gerard * & Ms. Carol Goldberg Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Hamer Mr. & Mrs. Ken Hurwitz Mr. William A. Lascelle & Ms. Blanche Johnson Mr. & Mrs. Kent Mikkelsen * Pfeffer Family Foundation Mr. & Mrs. Peter Ryan Drs. Charles and Cecile Toner Ms. Elzbieta Vande Sande, in memory of George Vande Sande, Esq. Benefactor Circle Mr. Edward Brinker & Ms. Jane Liu Dr. Lawrence Deyton * & Dr. Jeffrey Levi Mr. & Mrs. John L. Donaldson Mr. Greg Lawson & Mr. Sai Cheung, includes match by UBS Financial Services Michael & Janet Rowan SUSTAINER CIRCLE Anonymous (3) Mrs. Rachel Abraham Mr. & Mrs. Joel Alper Fred & Helen Altman * Ms. Sybil Amitay Mr. Stanley Asrael Ms. Nurit Bar-Josef Mr. Robert Beizer John & Marjorie Bleiweis Dr. Etsuko Hoshino-Browne Dr. Ronald Cappelletti * Dr. Mark Cinnamon & Ms. Doreen Kelly Ms. Nancy Coleman * Mr. Steven C. Decker & Ms. Deborah W. Davis Paul J. & Eileen S. DeMarco * Mr. & Mrs. Robert Dollison Ms. Justine D. Englert Mr. William E. Fogle & Ms. Marilyn Wun-Fogle Dr. Maria A. Friedman * Darren & Elizabeth Gemoets * Ms. Sarah Gilchrist * Mr. Barry Goldberg Dr. Joseph Gootenberg & Dr. Susan Leibenhaut Dr. Stacey Henning * Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Hunt Drs. William & Shelby Jakoby Sarah Liron & Sheldon Kahn Ms. Margaret Keane
Ms. Katherine Kopp Ms. Joanna Lam, in memory of Mr. Chin-Man Lam Mr. & Mrs. John R. Larue, includes match by IBM Mr. & Mrs. Harald Leuba Mrs. Joan M. Levenson Mr. Larry Maloney * Ms. Cecily Mango Mr. Winton Matthews Mrs. Eleanor D. McIntire * Susan & Jim Murray * Mr. & Mrs. Charles Naftalin Mr. Thomas Nessinger * Ms. Martha Newman * David Nickels & Gerri Hall Dr. & Mrs. Goetz Oertel Mr. & Mrs. William Pairo Dr. and Mrs. Edward Perl Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Pinson, includes match by GE Foundation Ms. Phyllis Rattey Ms. Aida Sanchez * Mrs. Jan Schiavone * Mr. & Mrs. Steven Seelig Seltzer Family Foundation Ms. Kathryn Senn, in honor of Dieneke Johnson Shara Family, in honor of the Langerman Family Ms. Carol A. Stern * Sternbach Family Fund Dr. & Mrs. Robert Temple * Ms. Ellen van Valkenburgh * Mr. & Mrs. Robert Vocke * Mr. & Mrs. Royce Watson Dr. Jack & Susan Yanovski Mr. & Mrs. Bernard J. Young Paul A. & Peggy L. Young Ms. Sandra Zisman PATRON Mr. & Mrs. Richard Azrael, in honor of Mary Azrael and Janice Hamer Mr. David E. Kleiner & Ms. Mary Bentley * Mr. Thomas M. Boyle Rabbi & Mrs. Leonard Cahan Susan Linn & Clifford Craine Mr. & Mrs. Norman Doctor Mr. John Eklund Dr. Stan Engebretson Dr. Joseph Fainberg David & Berdie Firestone Dr. & Mrs. Arnold Fridland Mr. & Mrs. Herbert Goldman Mr. & Mrs. William Hickman Mr. David Hofstad William W. * & Sara M. Josey * Mr. Michael Lame Ms. May Lesar Ms. Judy Lieberman Mr. Pardee Lowe, Jr. Ms. Jane Lyle * Mr. Jerald Maddox Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Mountain Mr. Larz Pearson & Mr. Rick Trevino Mr. & Mrs. Don Regnell Mrs. Bernice Sandler Ms. Kari Wallace & Dr. Michael Sapko Silvan S. Schweber & Snait B. Gissis Ms. Lori J. Sommerfield * and Mr. Dennis Dollinger Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Stempler Ms. Carla Wheeler Mr. and Mrs. John F. Wing Mr. Walter Zachariasiewicz CONTRIBUTOR Anonymous (2) Mr. & Mrs. Byron Alsop Mr. Robert B. Anderson Mrs. Marietta Balaan * Mike & Cecilia Ballentine Mr. Michael Belfer Mr. & Mrs. Richard Bender Ms. Michelle Beneke, in honor of Jeff Levi & Bopper Deyton Ms. Patricia Bulhack Mr. John H. Caldwell, in memory of
National Philharmonic donors Paul and Jean Dudek meet with guest artist violinist Nurit Bar-Josef.
Dale Collinson Mr. John Choi Mrs. Patsy Clark Ms. Irene Cooperman Ms. Linda Edwards Ms. Kimberly Elliott Mr. & Mrs. Dwight Ellis, in memory of Dale Collinson Mr. Eliot Feldman Ms. Shannon Finnegan Mr. & Mrs. Mayo Friedlis Mr. & Mrs. William Gibb Mr. & Mrs. Paul Goldstein Dr. William & Dr. Marlene Haffner Ms. Jacqueline Havener Dr. & Mrs. John Helmsen Mr. & Mrs. Robert Henry Mr. & Mrs. James Hochron * Ms. Katharine Cox Jones Mr. & Mrs. Allan Kirkpatrick * Dr. Mark & Dr. Cathy Knepper Mr. & Mrs. William Kominers Ms. Martha Jacoby Krieger * Cherie & Ron Krug Mr. Steven Lainoff, in memory of Dale Collinson Ms. Rachel Leiton Mr. & Mrs. Eliot Lieberman * Dr. Marcia D. Litwack Dr. & Mrs. David Lockwood Mr. Kevin MacKenzie Mr. David E. Malloy & Mr. John P. Crockett * Mrs. Julie Mannes & Dr. Andrew Mannes Mr. & Mrs. James Mason Mr. David McGoff * Dr. & Mrs. Oliver Moles, Jr. * Ms. Cecilia Muñoz & Mr. Amit Pandya Dr. Stamatios Mylonakis Mr. & Mrs. Harvey Nathan Dr. Ruth S. Newhouse Mrs. Jeanne Noel Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth A. Oldham, Jr. Evelyn & Peter Philipps Dr. & Mrs. Manuel Porres Mrs. Dorothy Prats Mr. Mark Price, in memory of Dale Collinson Drs. Dena & Jerome Puskin Mr. Jacques Rosenberg Ms. Beryl Rothman * Ms. Lisa Rovin * Mr. J. Michael Rowe & Ms. Nancy Chesser Mr. Ronald Sekura Dr. & Mrs. Kevin Shannon Mr. John I. Stewart & Ms. Sharon S. Stoliaroff Ms. Sarah Thomas Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Vogel Tom & Bobbie Wolf Dr. & Mrs. Richard Wright Mrs. Beatrice Zuckerman
MEMBER Anonymous Mr. Dan Abbott Ms. Ann Albertson Mr. Jose Apud Mr. Robert Barash Mrs. Barbara Botsford Ms. Cheryl A. Branham Mr. & Mrs. Herman Branson Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Breslow Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Brown Mrs. Dolores J. Bryan John & Rosemary Buckley Dr. John Caldwell Dr. F. Lawrence Clare Dr. & Mrs. Gordon M. Cragg Mr. Alan T. Crane Ms. Louise Crane Mr. Dean Culler Deborah Curtiss Ms. Margaret E. Cusack Mr. & Mrs. David Dancer * Mr. Carl DeVore Ms. Terri Dobbins Mr. Paul Dragoumis Mr. & Mrs. Tom Dunlap Mr. & Mrs. J. Steed Edwards F.W. England Mr. & Mrs. Elliott Fein Dr. John Ferguson Mr. Philip Fleming Mr. John Francis Mr. Harold Freeman Mr. Bernard Gelb Mr. & Mrs. Richard O. Gilbert Ms. Melanie Grishman Ms. Lisa Helms Dr. & Mrs. Terrell Hoffeld Mr. Myron Hoffmann Mr. & Mrs. Doug Jacobson Mr. & Mrs. Barbara Jarzynski Mrs. Harriett G. Jenkins Dr. Elke Jordan Mr. Gerald Kaiz Ms. Kari Keaton Ms. Elizabeth King Mr. Dale Krumviede Mr. & Mrs. Sheldon Landsman Ms. Sandra Lebowitz Ms. Michelle Lee Mr. & Mrs. Paul Legendre Mr. & Mrs. Herbert J. Lerner Ms. Elizabeth Levin Mr. & Mrs. Forbes Maner Dr. Lorenzo Marcolin Ms. Jean A. Martin Mrs. Nancy C. May Mr. Alan E. Mayers * Mr. & Mrs. Robert McGuire Mr. & Mrs. Curtis Menyuk Mr. & Mrs. Edward Mills
National Philharmonic Chorale Artistic Director Stan Engebretson and guest artist Margaret Mezzacappa are flanked by donors Robin and Paul Perito at a special reception.
Mr. & Mrs. Thaddeus Mirecki Ms. Stephanie Murphy Mrs. Gillian Nave Mr. Leif Neve *, includes match by Aquilent Mr. Stephen Nordlinger Dr. Sammy S. Noumbissi Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Oldham Dr. & Mrs. David Pawel Ms. Victoria J. Perkins Mr. & Mrs. Alan Peterkofsky Anton Pierce Mr. & Mrs. Paul Plotz Mr. Luke Popovich Mr. & Mrs. Clark Rheinstein * Ms. Sandi Saville Mr. Ronald Saunders
Chorale Sustainers Circle Fred and Helen Altman Ms. Sybil Amitay Dr. Ronald Cappelletti Ms. Anne Claysmith Mr. Dale Collinson Paul J. & Eileen S. DeMarco * Dr. Lawrence Deyton & Dr. Jeffrey Levi Dr. Maria A. Friedman J. William & Anita Gadzuk Darren & Elizabeth Gemoets * Dr. Robert Gerard & Ms. Carol Goldberg Ms. Sarah Gilchrist
Mr. John Schnorrenberg Mr. John Schultz Gabriela & Dennis Scott Dr. & Mrs. Paul Silverman Ms. Myra W. Sklarew Mr. Victor Steiger Ms. Priscilla Stevens Mr. & Mrs. Carl Tretter Ms. Maureen Turman Ms. Virginia W. Van Brunt * Mr. David B. Ward Mr. Stephen Welsh Ms. Joan Wikstrom Mr. Robert E. Williams Dr. & Mrs. Kevin Woods * * Chorale members
Mr. Larry Maloney Mrs. Eleanor D. McIntire Mr. & Mrs. Kent Mikkelsen Mr. & Mrs. James E. Murray Mr. Thomas Nessinger Ms. Martha Newman Ms. Aida Sanchez Mrs. Jan Schiavone Ms. Carol A. Stern Dr. & Mrs. Robert Temple Ms. Ellen van Valkenburgh Mr. & Mrs. Robert Vocke
Heritage Society The Heritage Society at the National Philharmonic gratefully recognizes those dedicated individuals who strive to perpetuate the National Philharmonic through the provision of a bequest in their wills or through other estate gifts. For more information about the National Philharmonic’s Heritage Society, please call Ken Oldham at 301-493-9283, ext. 112. Mr. David Abraham* Mrs. Rachel Abraham Mr. Joel Alper Ms. Ruth Berman Ms. Anne Claysmith Mr. Todd Eskelsen Mrs. Wendy Hoffman, in honor of Leslie Silverfine Ms. Dieneke Johnson
National Philharmonic Staff Piotr Gajewski, Music Director & Conductor Stan Engebretson, Artistic Director, National Philharmonic Chorale Victoria Gau, Associate Conductor & Director of Education Kenneth A. Oldham, Jr., President Filbert Hong, Director of Artistic Operations Deborah Birnbaum, Director of Marketing & PR
Mr. & Mrs. Albert Lampert Mrs. Margaret Makris Mr. Robert Misbin Mr. Kenneth A. Oldham, Jr. Mr. W. Larz Pearson Ms. Carol A. Stern Ms. Elzbieta Vande Sande Mr. Mark Williams *Deceased Leanne Ferfolia, Director of Development Katie Tukey, Manager of Development Operations Amy Salsbury, Graphic Designer Lauren Aycock, Graphic Designer William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts Staff Dr. Scarlett Zirkle, Music Director
Isaac Bell, Music Instructor Chris Sanchez, Suzuki Instructor
Applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014 85
Board of directors Reginald Van Lee, Chairman* (c) James J. Sandman, Vice Chair* (c) Christina Co Mather, Secretary* (c) Steven Kaplan, Esq. Treasurer* (c) Burton J. Fishman, Esq., General Counsel* + Jenny Bilfield, President and CEO Douglas H. Wheeler, President Emeritus Neale Perl, President Emeritus Patrick Hayes, Founder † Katherine M. Anderson Alison Arnold-Simmons Paxton Baker Arturo E. Brillembourg* Hans Bruland (c) Rima Calderon Charlotte Cameron Karen I. Campbell* Yolanda Caraway Lee Christopher Eric D. Collins Josephine S. Cooper Debbie Dingell Pamela Farr Robert Feinberg* Norma Lee Funger Bruce Gates* Felecia Love Greer, Esq. Jay M. Hammer* (c) Brian Hardie Grace Hobelman (c) Patricia Howell Jake Jones* David Kamenetzky* Jerome B. Libin, Esq. (c) David Marventano
Tony Otten Rachel Tinsley Pearson* Elaine Rose Irene Roth Charlotte Schlosberg Samuel A. Schreiber John Sedmak Peter Shields Roberta Sims Ruth Sorenson* (c) Dr. Paul G. Stern Wendy Thompson-Marquez Veronica Valencia-Sarukhan Mary Jo Veverka* Carol W. Wilner Carol Wolfe-Ralph
Honorary Directors Nancy G. Barnum Roselyn Payne Epps, M.D. Michelle Cross Fenty Sophie P. Fleming Eric R. Fox Peter Ladd Gilsey † Barbara W. Gordon France K. Graage James M. Harkless, Esq. ViCurtis G. Hinton † Sherman E. Katz Marvin C. Korengold, M.D. Peter L. Kreeger Robert G. Liberatore Dennis G. Lyons Gilbert D. Mead † Gerson Nordlinger † John F. Olson, Esq. (c) Susan Porter Frank H. Rich Ambassador Arturo Sarulshan Albert H. Small Shirley Small The Honorable James W. Symington Stefan F. Tucker, Esq. (c) Paul Martin Wolff
PAST CHAIRS
Todd Duncan †, Past Chairman Laureate William N. Cafritz Aldus H. Chapin † Kenneth M. Crosby † Jean Head Sisco † Kent T. Cushenberry † Harry M. Linowes Edward A. Fox Hugh H. Smith Alexine Clement Jackson Lydia Micheaux Marshall Stephen W. Porter, Esq. Elliott S. Hall Lena Ingegerd Scott (c) James F. Lafond Bruce E. Rosenblum Daniel L. Korengold Susan B. Hepner Jay M. Hammer
WOMEN’S COMMITTEE OFFICERS
Elaine Rose, President Albertina Lane, Recording Secretary Lorraine Adams, 1st Vice President Beverly Bascomb, Assistant Recording Secretary Ruth Hodges, 2nd Vice President Cheryl McQueen, Treasurer Zelda Segal, Corresponding Secretary Janet Kaufman, Assistant Treasurer Gladys Watkins, Immediate Past President
LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS Jerome B. Libin, Esq. James J. Sandman, Esq.
* Executive Committee + Ex Officio † Deceased (c) Committee Chair As of January 1, 2014
WPAS Annual Fund WPAS gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following individuals, corporations, foundations and government sources whose generosity supports our artistic and education programming throughout the National Capital area. Friends who contribute $500 or more annually are listed below with our thanks. (As of Feb. 1, 2014)
$100,000+ Altria Group, Inc. Ms. Christina Co Mather and Dr. Gary Mather DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Betsy and Robert Feinberg Mars, Incorporated Ms. Jacqueline Badger Mars Ms. Doris H. McClory ┼ The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Mr. Reginald Van Lee
$50,000-$99,999 Abramson Family Foundation Daimler Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts
FedEx Corporation Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Gates National Arts and Cultural Affairs Program/The Commission of Fine Arts Park Foundation, Inc. Dr. Paul G. Stern
$35,000-$49,999 Anonymous Ambassador and Mrs. Tom Anderson Mr. Jake Jones and Mr. Veronice Nyhan-Jones Mr. Bruce Rosenblum and Ms. Lori Laitman Ms. Wendy Thompson-Marquez
$25,000-$34,999 BB&T Private Financial Services
86 Applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014
BET Networks Billy Rose Foundation Mrs. Ryna Cohen Ernst and Young Fluor Corporation Mark and Terry McLeod Mr. Gary Nordlinger (in memory of Mr. Gerson Nordlinger III) National Endowment for the Arts PEPCO NoraLee and Jon Sedmak Ruth and Arne Sorenson
$15,000-$24,999 Anonymous Arcana Foundation AT&T Services Diane and Norman Bernstein
Mr. and Mrs. Arturo E. Brillembourg Embassy of South Africa, His Excellency Ebrahim Rasool Ms. Pamela Farr Mr. and Mrs. Jose Figueroa Mr. and Mrs. Morton Funger Mr. and Mrs. Jay M. Hammer Carl D.† and Grace P. Hobelman Mr. and Mrs. Steven Kaplan Kiplinger Foundation Inc. Judith A. Lee, Esq. (L) Ms. Marcia MacArthur Mr. and Mrs. John Marshall The Dan Cameron Family Foundation, Inc. The Meredith Foundation PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Mr. James J. Sandman and Ms. Elizabeth D. Mullin (L) Mr. and Mrs. Hubert M. Schlosberg (L) (W) Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Simpkins Verizon Washington, DC Versar Ms. Mary Jo Veverka Washington Gas Light Company Wells Fargo Bank
$10,000-$14,999 Mr. and Mrs. Eliezer H. Benbassat Booz Allen Hamilton Diamondrock Hospitality Company Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth R. Feinberg George Wasserman Family Foundation, Inc. Ms. Carolyn Guthrie Dr. Maria J. Hankerson, Systems Assessment & Research J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod Family Foundation June and Jerry Libin (L) Macy’s Foundation Microsoft Corporation Mr. and Mrs. Herbert S. Miller Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Milstein John F. Olson, Esq. (L) Ms. Janice J. Kim and Mr. Anthony L. Otten Ms. Aileen Richards and Mr. Russell Jones Mr. and Mrs. Stefan F. Tucker (L) Mrs. Judith Weintraub Wiley Rein LLP Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Young
$7,500-$9,999 Anonymous Apollo Group Mr. Eric Collins and Mr. Michael Prokopow Mr. Wes Combs and Mr. Greg Albright Ms. Susan B. Hepner Hilton Worldwide David and Anna-Lena Kamenetzky Ms. Danielle Kazmier and Mr. Ronald M. Bradley Mr. and Mrs. Paul Liistro The Hon. Mary V. Mochary and Dr. Philip E. Wine Ourisman Automotive of VA Prince Charitable Trusts Dr. Irene Roth Sutherland Asbill & Brennan
$5,000-$7,499 Dr. and Mrs. Clement C. Alpert Mr. Henry Armour and Ms. Natalie Clark Ludmila and Conrad Cafritz Capitol Tax Partners Mrs. Dolly Chapin Ms. Josephine S. Cooper Mr. Joaquin Fajardo Bob and Jennifer Feinstein James A. Feldman and Natalie Wexler Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Graham Mr. and Mrs. Brian J. Hardie Host Hotels & Resorts Ms. Debra Lee Ms. Sandy Lerner Mr. Mark London and Ms. Dania Fitzgerald Mr. and Mrs. David O. Maxwell Dr. Robert Misbin Mr. and Mrs. Glenn A. Mitchell Ms. Rachel Tinsley Pearson The Honorable and Mrs. Stephen Porter Renah Blair Rietzke Family and Community Foundation Mr. and Ms. Steve Silverman Mr. and Mrs. John V. Thomas Venable Foundation Mr. Marvin F. Weissberg and Ms. Judith Morris † The Washington Post Company
$2,500-$4,999 Anonymous (2) Mr. Alvin Adell Mr. and Mrs. Barry Barbash Mr. and Mrs. Boris Brevnov Mr. Peter Buscemi and Ms. Judith Miller Mr. and Mrs. William N. Cafritz The Charles Delmar Foundation Ms. Nadine Cohodas Mr. and Mrs. J. Bradley Davis Dr. Morgan Delaney and Mr. Osborne P. Mackie Mr. and Mrs. Guy O. Dove III DyalCompass Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Eagle (L) Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Epstein Linda R. Fannin, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Burton J. Fishman Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Gibbens Dr. and Mrs. Michael S. Gold Mr. James R. Golden Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Graage Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Hardwick James McConnell Harkless, Esq. Ms. Dena Henry and Mr. John Ahrem Alexine and Aaron † Jackson (W) Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Jacobs Drs. Frederick Jacobsen and Lillian Comas-Diaz Mr. and Mrs. Merritt Jones Mr. and Mrs. David T. Kenney Arleen and Edward Kessler (W) Mrs. Stephen K. Kwass Mr. and Mrs. Steve Lans Mr. and Mrs. Harry M. Linowes James M. Loots, Esq. and Barbara Dougherty, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Christoph E. Mahle (W) The Honorable and Mrs. Rafat Mahmood Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Manaker Marshall B. Coyne Foundation Mr. Scott Martin
Mr. Larry L. Mitchell Mr. and Mrs. Robert Monk Dr. William Mullins and Dr. Patricia Petrick Ms. Catherine Nelson Mr. Paul Nelson and Mrs. Labrenda Garrett-Nelson New England Foundation for the Arts Jerry and Carol Perone Ms. Nicky Perry and Mr. Andrew Stifler Mr. Trevor Potter and Mr. Dana Westring Adam Clayton Powell III and Irene M. Solet Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ramsay Dr. and Mrs. Douglas Rathbun Mrs. Lynn Rhomberg Mr. and Mrs. Peter Rich Mr. Ken Rietz and Ms. Ursula Landsrath Mr. and Mrs. David Roux Ms. Christine C. Ryan and Mr. Tom Graham Mr. Claude Schoch Lena Ingegerd Scott and Lennart Lundh Peter and Jennifer Seka Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Small Mr. Eric Steiner Ms. Mary Sturtevant and Mr. Alan Asay Mr. and Mrs. George R. Thompson Jr. Mr. and Mrs. R. Moses Thompson Mr. and Mrs. Brian Tommer Drs. Anthony and Gladys Watkins (W) Dr. Sidney Werkman and Ms. Nancy Folger Dr. and Mrs. William B. Wolf
$1,500-$2,499 Anonymous (4) Ms. Lisa Abeel Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Abel Smith Lisa and James Baugh Robert and Arlene Bein Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Bennett Jane C. Bergner, Esq. (L) Ms. Bunny Bialek (W) Ms. Carol A. Bogash Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Burka Dr. C. Wayne Callaway and Ms. Jackie Chalkley Ms. Karen I. Campbell Mr. and Mrs. Jordan Casteel Dr. and Mrs. Abe Cherrick Dr. and Mrs. Purnell W. Choppin Drs. Judith and Thomas Chused Dr. Mark Cinnamon and Ms. Doreen Kelly Mr. Paul D. Cronin Dr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Danks DCI Group Ms. Lynda Ellis Mrs. John G. Esswein Mrs. Sophie P. Fleming Friday Morning Music Club, Inc. Mr. Tom Gallagher Mrs. Paula Seigle Goldman (W) Mrs. Barbara Goldmuntz Mr. J. Michael Hall & Dr. Natalie Hall Dr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Harris (W) Mr. and Mrs. James Harris, Jr. Ms. Leslie Hazel Ms. Gertraud Hechl Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis Mrs. Enid T. Johnson (W) Dr. and Mrs. Elliott Kagan Mr. E. Scott Kasprowicz
Stephen and Mary Kitchen (L) Ms. Betsy Scott Kleeblatt Mr. and Mrs. Steven Lamb Mr. and Mrs. Gene Lange (L) Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Larkin Dr. and Mrs. Lee V. Leak (W) Ms. Jacqueline Rosenberg London and Mr. Paul London Rear Adm. and Mrs. Daniel P. March Mr. and Mrs. Michael Marshall Mrs. Gail Matheson Ms. Katherine G. McLeod Ms. Cheryl C. McQueen (W) Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Muscarella Lt. Gen. and Mrs. Michael A. Nelson Ms. Michelle Newberry The Nora Roberts Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Jack H. Olender Ms. Jean Perin Mr. James Rich Ms. Mary B. Schwab Virginia Sloss (W) Mrs. Nadia Stanfield Mr. Richard Strother Ms. Loki van Roijen Ms. Viviane Warren A. Duncan Whitaker, Esq. (L) $1,000-$1,499 Anonymous Ruth and Henry Aaron Mrs. Rachel Abraham Mr. John B. Adams Mr. and Mrs. James B. Adler Ms. Carolyn S. Alper Mr. and Mrs. Michael Barnello Hon. and Mrs. John W. Barnum Mr. Mark Bisnow and Ms. Margot Machol Mr. A Scott Bolden Mr. and Mrs. Hans Bruland Ms. Liz Buchbinder S. Kann Sons Company Fdn. Inc. Amelie and Bernei Burgunder, Directors Edison W. Dick, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Dickstein Ms. Nancy Ruyle Dodge Daniel J. DuBray and Kayleen M. Jones Dr. Irene Farkas-Conn Ms. Janet Farrell Mr. Gregory I. Flowers Mr. Donald and Mrs. Irene Gavin Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman The Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg Mr. and Mrs. William L. Goldman (W) Mrs. Barbara W. Gordon (W) Ms. Gail Harmon Ms. Tatjana Hendry Mr. Charles E. Hoyt and Ms. Deborah Weinberger (L) Mr. David Kahn and Ms. Sherry A. Bindeman Mrs. Carol Kaplan Mr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Katz (L) Dr. Marvin C. Korengold Simeon M. Kriesberg and Martha L. Kahn Sandra and James Lafond Dr. Jeanne-Marie A. Miller Mr. and Mrs. Adrian L. Morchower (W) Mr. Richard Moxley Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Mulcahy Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Nettles
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence C. Nussdorf Mr. and Mrs. John Oberdorfer Mrs. Elsie O’Grady (W) Tom and Thea Papoian with Mr. Smoochy Mrs. Linda Parisi and Mr. J.J. Finkelstein Dr. Gerald Perman Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Polinger Mr. and Mrs. Hunter Rawlings Reznick Group Mr. and Mrs. Martin Ritter Mr. and Mrs. Michael Rowan Ms. Yvonne Mentzer Sabine Steven and Gretchen Seiler Ms. Karen Sowell Steinway Piano Gallery Washington, D.C. Ann and Stuart Stock Sid Stolz and David Hatfield Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Strong Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Tomares Mr. and Mrs. Jim Trawick Mr. and Mrs. J. Christopher Turner G. Duane Vieth, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Weiss Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Weiswasser Drs. Irene and John White Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Winter Mr. John C. Wohlstetter Christopher Wolf, Esq. (L)
$500-$999 Anonymous (2) Ms. and Mrs. Edward Adams (W) Mr. Donald R. Allen Mr. and Mrs. Gary Altman Esq Mr. and Mrs. Ricardo Andrade Ms. Amy Ballard Miss Lucile E. Beaver Ms. Patricia N. Bonds (W) Ms. Francesca Britton (W) Mrs. Elsie Bryant (W) Mrs. Gloria Butland (W) Ms. Johnnetta B. Cole Mr. Andrew Colquitt Mr. John W. Cook Dr. and Mrs. Chester W. De Long Mr. and Mrs. James B. Deerin (W) Mr. John Driscoll Ms. Sayre E. Dykes Mrs. Yoko Eguchi Mr. and Mrs. Harold Finger Fitness For Older Adults, LLC Mr. Michael Frankhuizen Mr. Juan Gaddis Dr. and Mrs. Robert Gagosian (W) Dr. Melvin Gaskins Jack E. Hairston Jr. Ms. June Hajjar Dr. and Mrs. Harry Handelsman (W) Mrs. Robert A. Harper Mr. and Mrs. Carl F. Hicks, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Laszlo Hogye J.S. Wagner Company Ralph N. Johanson, Jr., Esq. (L) Ms. Anna F. Jones (W) Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jones Mr. and Mrs. Sunny Kapoor Ms. Janet Kaufman (W) Dr. Allan Kolker Mr. and Mrs. John Koskinen Ms. Albertina D. Lane (W) Mr. William Lascelle and Blanche Johnson The Honorable and Mrs. Jan Lodal Mr. and Mrs. David Maginnes (W) Mr. Winton E. Matthews, Jr.
John C. McCoy, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Paul McDonnell Ms. Hope McGowan Mr. and Mrs. James McIntyre Mr. & Mrs. Rufus W. McKinney (W) Ms. Angela Messer Ms. Jacqui Michel Ms. Rachel Mondl Mrs. Ann Morales Mr. and Mrs. David Neal Mr. Frank Pietrantonio and Mrs. Diane Mooney Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Posner Dr. and Mrs. Linwood Rayford Mr. Spencer K. Raymond Ms. Nicola Renison Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rosenfeld Mr. Lincoln Ross & Changamire (W) Mr. Burton Rothleder Anne & Henry Reich Family Foundation Lee G. Rubenstein, Co-President Dr. and Mrs. Jerome Sandler Mr. and Mrs. Michael Schultz In memory of Mr. H. Marc Moyens Mrs. Zelda Segal (W) Dr. Deborah Sewell (W) Mrs. Madelyn Shapiro (W) Dr. Deborah J. Sherrill Daniel and Sybil Silver Dr. and Mrs. Michael H. Silver Mr. Jeffrey Z. Slavin Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Smith Mrs. Therrell C. Smith (W) Mr. and Mrs. L. Bradley Stanford Mr. and Mrs. David Sulser
Mr. Akio Tagawa Maria Voultsides and Thomas Chisnell, II Dr. June Whaun and Dr. Pauline Ting Mr. William H. Wheeler Mr. and Mrs. John Wilner Mr. and Mrs. James D. Wilson (W) Ms. Christina Witsberger Dr. Saul Yanovich Mr. James Yap Paul Yarowsky and Kathryn Grumbach
IN-KIND DONORS Booz Allen Hamilton Mr. and Mrs. Charles Both Embassy of Japan Embassy of Spain JamalFelder Music Productions LLC The Hay-Adams Hotel Mr. Daniel L. Korengold and Ms. Martha Dippell Dr. and Mrs. Marc E. Leland The Honorable and Mrs. Jan Lodal Mars, Incorporated Mr. Neale Perl St. Gregory Luxury Hotels & Suites Mr. Anthony Williams Kathe and Edwin D. Williamson Elizabeth and Bill Wolf Key: (W) Women’s Committee (L) Lawyers’ Committee † Deceased
Washington Performing Arts Society Staff Jenny Bilfield President & CEO Douglas H. Wheeler President Emeritus Allen Lassinger Chief Administrative Officer Murray Horwitz Director of Special Projects Leah Manning Administrative Assistant Development Mitchell Bassion Director of Development Meiyu Tsung Assistant Director of Development/Director of Major Gifts Daren Thomas Director of Leadership and Institutional Gifts Michael Syphax Director of Foundation and Government Relations Helen Aberger Membership Coordinator and Tessitura Application Specialist Catherine Trobich Development Associate Adam Schaff Development Intern Education Michelle Hoffmann Director of Education Katheryn R. Brewington Assistant Director of Education/ Director of Gospel Programs Megan Merchant Education Program Coordinator Koto Maesaka Education Associate Ana Figueroa Education Intern Hannah Wang Education Intern
Finance and Administration Erica Hogan, Accounting Manager Rebecca Tailsman Accounting Associate Robert Ferguson Database Administrator Marketing and Communications Jonathan Kerr Director of Marketing and Communications Hannah Grove-DeJarnett Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Scott Thureen Creative Media and Analytics Manager Wynsor Taylor Audience Engagement Manager Celia Anderson Graphic Designer Brenda Kean Tabor, Publicist Michelle Eider Marketing & Communications Associate Programming Samantha Pollack Director of Programming Torrey Butler, Production Manager Rachael Patton Programming and Production Coordinator Stanley J. Thurston Artistic Director, WPAS Gospel Choirs Ticket Services Office Folashade Oyegbola Ticket Services Manager Stephanie Aboukasm Ticketing and Marketing Coordinator Edward Kerrick Group Sales Coordinator
Applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014 87
Trumpeter/composer Wynton Marsalis, WPAS Board Chairman Reginald Van Lee and donors Keiko and Steve Kaplan
WPAS Legacy Society Legacy Society members appreciate the vital role the performing arts play in the community, as well as in their own lives. By remembering WPAS in their will or estate plans, members enhance our endowment fund and help make it possible for the next generations to enjoy the same quality and diversity of presentations both on stages and in our schools. Mrs. Shirley and Mr. Albert H. Small, Honorary Chairs Mr. Stefan F. Tucker, Chair Anonymous (6) Mr. David G.† and Mrs. Rachel Abraham Dr. and Mrs. Clement C. Alpert Mr. and Mrs. George A. Avery Mr. James H. Berkson † Ms. Lorna Bridenstine † Ms. Christina Co Mather Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Cook Mr. and Mrs. F. Robert Cook Ms. Josephine Cooper Mr. and Mrs. James Deerin Mrs. Luna E. Diamond † Mr. Edison W. Dick and Mrs. Sally N. Dick Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Dickstein Ms. Carol M. Dreher
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Eagle Ms. Eve Epstein † Mr. and Mrs. Burton Fishman Mrs. Charlotte G. Frank † Mr. Ezra Glaser † Dr. and Mrs. Michael L. Gold Ms. Paula Goldman Mrs. Barbara Gordon Mr. James Harkless Ms. Susan B. Hepner Mr. Carl Hobelman † and Mrs. Grace Hobelman Mr. Craig M. Hosmer and Ms. Daryl Reinke Charles E. Hoyt Josephine Huang, Ph.D. Dr. † and Mrs. Aaron Jackson Mrs. Enid Tucker Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jones Mr. Sherman E. Katz
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Kimble Mr. Daniel L. Korengold Dr. Marvin C. Korengold Mr. and Mrs. James Lafond Ms. Evelyn Lear † and Mr. Thomas Stewart† Mrs. Marion Lewis † Mr. Herbert Lindow † Mr. and Mrs. Harry Linowes Mr. and Mrs. David Maginnes Ms. Doris McClory † Mrs. Carol Melamed Robert I. Misbin Mr. Glenn A. Mitchell Ms. Viola Musher Mr. Jeffrey T. Neal The Alessandro Niccoli Scholarship Award The Pola Nirenska Memorial Award Mr. Gerson Nordlinger † Mrs. Linda Parisi and Mr. J.J. Finkelstein Mr. and Mrs. Neale Perl Dr. W. Stephen and Mrs. Diane Piper Mrs. Mildred Poretsky † The Hon. and Mrs. Stephen Porter Mrs. Betryce Prosterman † Miriam Rose †
At TD Bank we strive to provide legendary customer experiences every day. We’re proud to support Strathmore’s legacy of outstanding performances.
TD Bank, N.A. | Equal Housing Lender
88 Applause at Strathmore • march/april 2014
Mr. James J. Sandman and Ms. Elizabeth D. Mullin Mrs. Ann Schein Mr. and Mrs. Hubert (Hank) Schlosberg Ms. Lena Ingegerd Scott Mrs. Zelda Segal Mr. Sidney Seidenman Ms. Jean Head Sisco † Mr. and Mrs. Sanford L. Slavin Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Small Mr. Robert Smith and Mrs. Natalie Moffett Smith Mrs. Isaac Stern Mr. Leonard Topper Mr. Hector Torres Mr. and Mrs. Stefan Tucker Mr. Ulric † and Mrs. Frederica Weil Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Wheeler Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Winter WPAS Women’s Committee Ms. Margaret S. Wu In memory of Y. H. and T. F. Wu For more information, please contact Douglas H. Wheeler at (202) 533-1874, or e-mail dwheeler@wpas.org.
FREE
STEVE JONES
PARKIN G
— H i g h l i g h t s f ro m o u r s e a s o n — Fri, Mar 14 • 7:30 PM
Wed, Apr 9 • 7:30 PM
Photographer Vincent J. Musi explores the connection between animals and humans
Best-selling author and dog lover Kelly E. Carter and WAMU’s The Animal House co-host Dr. Gary Weitzman
Mon, Mar 17 • 7 PM
Thu, Apr 10 • 7:30 PM
Traditional and contemporary Celtic music with Independent Music Award-winning group Runa
Celebrate the exhibition opening with cocktails and an evening with archaeologist Fredrik Hiebert
Wed, Mar 19 • 7:30 PM
Wed, Apr 16 • 7:30 PM
Author and NG Traveler editor Carl Hoffman retraces Michael Rockefeller’s journey for clues of his mysterious disappearance
Award-winning nature photographer Peter Essick pays tribute to a photographic legend
WHERE THE WILD THINGS LIVE
ST. PATRICK’S DAY CONCERT
VANISHED: THE SEARCH FOR MICHAEL ROCKEFELLER
Mar 20 -26 • 7:30 PM
ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL
For a detailed list of films go to nglive.org/eff Sa t, Apr 5 • 7 PM
FAMELAB: EXPLORING EARTH AND BEYOND
Think American Idol...for scientists! Hosted by cave diver Kenny Broad
JET SET PETS
PERUVIAN GOLD
REVISITING ANSEL ADAMS WILDERNESS
Thu, May 8 • 7 PM
FARMHOUSE ALE: THE TASTE OF SAISON
Beer tasting with author and brewmaster Garrett Oliver
Wed, May 14 • 7:30 PM
CULTURE HEROES: SAVING THE PAST
Follow the race to protect our global heritage
Most events under $30
Explore the rest of the season at nglive.org/dc @NatGeoLive
Metros: Farragut N & W | 17th & M Streets | nglive.org/dc | 202.857.7700
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