Applause at Strathmore

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

applause at STRATHMORE • September/October 2011

The BSO’s

Jack Everly SuperPops conductor’s musicianship helps audience members hear, feel and see the music

inside: Strathmore The Ives Project kicks off look at American composers

National Philharmonic 2011-2012 season celebrates women pioneers

Washington Performing Arts Society Violinist Gil Shaham tackles Bach’s extraordinary demands

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prelude

on the cover Jack Everly photo by Michael Tammaro

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Applause at Strathmore / SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2011

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program notes

features

Sept. 15 28 / Strathmore: Keb’ Mo’

The Music of Elton John and More

14 All About Ives

Oct. 19 51 / Strathmore: Creole Choir of Cuba

16 Gershwin, the Beatles and Elton John?

Sept. 17 29 / BSO: Mahler’s “Resurrection”

Oct. 20 53 / BSO: Debussy’s Sept. 24 34 / BSO: Tchaikovsky’s La Mer “Pathétique” Oct. 21 Sept. 30 57 / Strathmore: Blind 38 / Strathmore: Boys of Alabama Madeleine Peyroux Oct. 22 Oct. 1, 2 59 / Strathmore: Open 40 / National Door—India.Arie and Philharmonic: Idan Raichel Corigliano’s Red Violin Concerto, Beethoven’s Oct. 26 60 / Strathmore: Symphony No. 9 Michael Pollan, In Oct. 4 Defense of Food: The 46 / Strathmore: Omnivore’s Solution An Evening with Oct. 28 Pat Metheny 61 / Strathmore: Oct. 6 Ballet Hispanico 48 / Strathmore: Oct. 29 Linda Eder 65 / BSO: Oct. 9 Rachmaninoff’s Third 49 / Strathmore: Symphony Indigo Girls Oct. 30 Oct. 13 69 / WPAS: 50 / BSO SuperPops: Gil Shaham 2 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Strathmore’s season-long celebration of American composers begins with Charles Ives The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s 2011-2012 SuperPops season promises an eclectic mix

18 Body, Mind, Espiritu Ballet Hispanico brings its pathos and passion to Strathmore

20 Jack Be Nimble BSO Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly brings audience members the music they love

22 Women, Fanfare and Martyrdom The National Philharmonic’s 2011-2012 season focuses on the pioneering spirit of women

24 Gil Shaham The violinist fearlessly takes on a selection of Bach sonatas and partitas

26 From Russia, with love Conductor Vasily Petrenko reunites with the BSO for an evening of Liszt, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninoff

departments

6 Musings of Strathmore CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl 6 A Note from BSO Music Director Marin Alsop 8 Calendar: November and December performances 80 Encore: National Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Victoria Gau

musician rosters

32 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 43 National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale

“Innovation. You cannot improve unless you constantly look for new ways to do things and new things to conquer, and try to innovate off of those results.”

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Strathmore

partners ● Strathmore

Under the leadership of CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl and President Monica Jeffries Hazangeles, Strathmore welcomes thousands of artists and guests to the Music Center, Mansion and 11-acre campus. As well as presenting performing artists and fine art, Strathmore commissions and creates new works of art and music, including original productions Free to Sing and Take Joy. Education plays a key role in Strathmore’s programming, with classes and workshops in music and visual arts for all ages throughout the year. From presenting world-class performances by major artists, to supporting local artists, Strathmore nurtures arts, artists and community through creative and diverse programming of the highest quality. Visit www.strathmore.org, 301-581-5200.

● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

● National Philharmonic

Led by Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski, the National Philharmonic is known for performances that are “powerful” and “thrilling.” The organization showcases world-renowned guest artists in symphonic masterpieces conducted by Maestro Gajewski, and monumental choral masterworks under Chorale Artistic Director Stan Engebretson, who “uncovers depth...structural coherence and visionary scope” (The Washington Post). The Philharmonic’s long-standing tradition of reasonably priced tickets and free admission to all young people age 7-17 assures its place as an accessible and enriching part of life in Montgomery County and the greater Washington area. The National Philharmonic also offers exceptional education programs for people of all ages. For more information, visit www.nationalphilharmonic.org.

● Washington Performing Arts Society

For more than four decades, the Washington Performing Arts Society has created profound opportunities for connecting the community to artists through both education and performance.

Through live events in venues across the D.C. metropolitan area, the careers of emerging artists are guided, and established artists who have close relationships with local audiences are invited to return. WPAS is one of the leading presenters in the nation. Set in the nation’s capital and reflecting a population that hails from around the globe, the company presents the highest caliber artists in classical music, jazz, gospel, contemporary dance and world music. For more information, visit www.WPAS.org.

● CityDance Ensemble

CityDance Ensemble, Inc. is home to CityDance Ensemble, a professional contemporary dance company that performs locally and around the world; CityDance Center at Strathmore, a dance school for youth and adults with a pre-professional training program for teens; CityDance Early Arts, an outreach program that provides free dance classes and performances to children in underserved neighborhoods; and CityDance FilmWORKS, a creator of original dance-on-camera productions. Learn more at www.citydance.net.

● Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras

Great music, artistry, plus the passion and exuberance of youth come together in one exceptional program—MCYO, the resident youth orchestra at the Music Center. Established in 1946, MCYO is the region’s premier orchestral training program, seating over 400 students in grades 4-12 in one of five quality orchestras. Concerts, chamber music, master classes and more. Discover MCYO. Hear the difference. Visit www.mcyo.org.

● Levine School of Music

Levine School of Music, the Washington D.C. region’s preeminent community music school, provides a welcoming environment where children and adults find lifelong inspiration and joy through learning, performing and experiencing music. Our distinguished faculty serve more than 3,500 students of all stages and abilities at four campuses in Northwest and Southeast D.C., Strathmore Music Center and in Arlington, Va. Learn more at www.levineschool.org.

● interPLAY

interPLAY company provides adults with cognitive differences with year-round rehearsals and concert experiences performing with traditional musicians. This activity results in a new personal language for those who have no musical education, and enlightened perspectives in the community about who can play serious music. interPLAY is always open for new players, musicians and mentors. Please contact Artistic Director Paula Moore at 301-229-0829.

4 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Applause at Strathmore Publisher CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl Music Center at Strathmore Founding Partners Strathmore Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Resident Artistic Partners National Philharmonic Washington Performing Arts Society Levine School of Music Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras CityDance Ensemble 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 Director Sherri Greeves Advertising Account Executives Valerie Portney, Penny Skarupa, LuAnne Spurrell 7768 Woodmont Ave. Suite 204 Bethesda, MD 20814 301-718-7787 Fax: 301-718-1875 Volume 8, Number 1.

Applause is published six 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

The Grammy Award-winning Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is internationally recognized as having achieved a preeminent place among the world’s most important orchestras. Under the inspired leadership of Music Director Marin Alsop, some of the world’s most renowned musicians have performed with the BSO. Continuing the orchestra’s 95-year history of high-quality education programs for music-lovers of all ages, the BSO presents mid-week education concerts, free lecture series and master classes. Since 2006, the BSO has offered Montgomery County grade schools BSO on the Go, an outreach initiative that brings small groups of BSO musicians into local schools for interactive music education workshops. For more information, visit BSOmusic.org.

musings from Strathmore Welcome to the eighth season of the Music Center at Strathmore! The dreams we had a decade ago for our beautiful performance and education center have only been surpassed by the daily reality of Strathmore.

That reality enables great musicians to hear and be heard in an acoustical environment rare in other halls throughout the world. It invites thousands of children every week to discover the joy of expressing their creative instincts. It shatters the expectations of every visitor who anticipates a suburban amphitheatre, yet discovers world-class artists and our highly sophisticated and diverse audience. It is a home to seven major arts organizations. And now it is neighbor to the first arts park community in the nation, Symphony Park at Strathmore.

Just look around. More than 2,500 of you are Strathmore Stars members, enjoying your new discounts and benefits every time you visit. Almost 75 percent of you bought your tickets online this year and read about us regularly on Facebook (facebook.com/strathmorearts), Twitter (twitter.com/strathmore) or on our website, www.strathmore.org.

Your 2011-2012 season is more diverse, engaging, stimulating and challenging than ever and has a special focus on American composers including an in-depth look at Charles Ives and Duke Ellington. With premiere performances gracing our stage from India, Uganda, Russia, Brazil, Israel and throughout the Americas, you’ll find we speak your language no matter where you’re from. And, we’re opening five new art exhibitions in the Mansion, growing our second- and fifth-grader Strathmore Student Concerts beyond 20,000 kids, expanding our array of art classes and workshops and offering a “destination dining service” deserving of the Strathmore name.

Of course, the same courteous staff, ushers, volunteers and ticket office representatives are still here. Your parking is still free, and you have yet to pay any handling charge for Strathmore tickets. (Some things should never change!)

Ten years ago you never imagined the iPhone, yet now you can’t live without it—just like Strathmore. We are the app for your arts needs. Spread the word.

CEO | Strathmore

from the BSO

Dear Friends, Thank you for joining the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for our 2011-2012 season. Our main theme this year is celebrating revolutionary women, including the 600th anniversary of the birth of leader and martyr Joan of Arc. There will be a special multimedia performance of Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light accompanied by the work’s original inspiration, the extraordinary 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer (March 3).

Our season also will feature guest artists such as pianists Lise de la Salle (Feb. 16) and André Watts (May 12), violinists Itzhak Perlman (Jan. 14) and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (June 9) and conductors Vasily Petrenko (Oct. 29) and Louis Langrée (Oct. 20).

This season is particularly exciting because we have been able to create some very unique partnerships between the symphony and our audiences, both local and national. I’m looking forward to touring with the BSO later this year. The March 2012 tour will mark my first with the symphony and the first domestic tour since 2000 (excluding previous Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center engagements). The orchestra will travel to the West Coast to perform at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, Calif., and the Silva Concert Hall of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, Ore. The BSO will also give a three-day education and performance residency at the Zellerbach Hall presented by Cal Performances of the University of California, Berkeley.

I am thrilled to begin my fifth season as music director of the BSO. With your continued support, I am confident that 2011-2012 will be even more amazing than our first six years in the beautiful Music Center at Strathmore. Here’s to another stellar season!

Marin Alsop

Music Director | Baltimore Symphony Orchestra 6 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

ELiot Pfanstiehl photo by michael ventura; Marin alsop photo by grant leighton

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SAT., NOV. 5, 8 P.M. SUN., NOV. 6, 3 P.M. National Philharmonic All Beethoven Piotr Paleczny, piano Piotr Gajewski, conductor Beethoven: Prometheus Overture Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major (“Emperor”) Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major (“Pastoral”) This concert opens with the stirring Prometheus Overture, composed for the ballet of the same name, which premiered in 1801 at Vienna’s Piotr Paleczny Imperial Hoftheater. Polish pianist Piotr Paleczny performs Beethoven’s grand Piano Concerto No. 5, nicknamed “Emperor”

by Beethoven’s friend and publisher John Cramer because of its powerful and heroic themes. In the renowned Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”), Beethoven expressed his love of nature and country life by re-creating the sounds of birds, a running stream and even the thunder of a passing storm.

A free pre-concert lecture will be offered in the Concert Hall at 6:45 p.m. on Nov. 5 and at 1:45 p.m. on Nov. 6.

Sponsored by Ameriprise Financial MON., NOV. 7, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents Béla Fleck and the Original Flecktones Exploring worlds of music from bluegrass to bebop, this virtuosic Bela Fleck and the player has Original Flecktones won passionate fans around the globe (and 11 Grammys along the way). Enter a “limitless musical universe” (NPR.org) when Béla Fleck returns with the Original Flecktones: Roy “Futureman” Wooten, Victor Wooten and Howard Levy.

THE IVES PROJECT Produced in conjunction with Post-Classical Ensemble Angel Gil-Ordóñez, music director Joseph Horowitz, artistic director An exploration of New Englander and iconic American composer Charles Ives.

The life, work and influences of Ives will unfold through his music, readings, lecture/performances and recordings.

Sponsored by the Strathmore Artistic Initiatives Fund and the Charles Ives Society, the National Endowment of the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

audience members through this American original’s life and work through this theatrical concert.

THURS., NOV. 3, 4 P.M. Ives Master Class with Jeremy Denk The Mansion at Strathmore FREE Observe as talented music students are guided in the intricacies of performing Ives’ music.

SAT., NOV. 5, 3:30–6:30 P.M. Interpreting Ives The Music Center at Strathmore Immerse yourself in the multifaceted music and explore the life and letters of this great American composer in an afternoon of lectures and performances.

THURS., NOV. 3, 5:30–6:30 P.M. Ives Plays Ives The Mansion at Strathmore FREE Jeremy Denk and Joseph Horowitz present and discuss rare recordings of Ives playing and singing his own music.

THURS., NOV. 3, 8 P.M. Charles Ives: A Life in Music The Music Center at Strathmore Pianist Jeremy Denk, baritone William Sharp, actors Caroline Goelzer and Floyd King and Post-Classical Ensemble with conductor Angel Gil-Ordóñez will guide TUES., NOV. 8, 8 P.M. Washington Performing Arts Society Garrick Ohlsson, piano Handel: Keyboard Suite Vol. 2, No. 1 in B-flat Major Brahms: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24 Chopin: Barcarolle, Op. 60 Chopin: Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 50, No. 3 Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in B Minor “Ohlsson offered interpretations that blended the gossamer and the athletic” (The New York Times).

The WPAS Piano Masters Series is made

8 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

FRI., NOV. 4, 8 P.M. Beethoven and Ives The Music Center at Strathmore Ives’ landmark Concord sonata is dedicated to iconic New England literary figures. Performed by pianist Jeremy Denk, the concert will incorporate their readings, spoken by William Sharp, and will conclude with Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” sonata in homage to Ives’ admiration of this legendary predecessor.

JACK Quartet

SAT., NOV. 5, 7:30 P.M. Ives and Other Innovators The Mansion at Strathmore Hear the JACK Quartet, an ensemble dedicated to sharing new music, perform the music of Ives juxtaposed with works by such contemporary composers as Philip Glass, Julia Wolfe and Caleb Burhans. Join a post-concert discussion with the artists. possible through the generous support of Betsy and Robert Feinberg.

THURS., NOV. 10, 8 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra BSO SuperPops Rockapella “Some say the best musical instrument of all is the human voice—if you’ve seen Rockapella you know that’s the truth” (USA Today). Join us at the Music Center at Strathmore for this concert featuring one of the most accomplished contemporary a cappella groups in the country as it showcases the virtuosity of the human voice. Please note: The BSO does not perform on this program.

piotr paleczny photo by Zb Furman, The Flecktones Photo by jeremy Cowart, JACK Quartet photo by Justin Bernhaut

calendar

[November/ December]

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calendar FRI., NOV. 11, 8:15 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Off The Cuff: Copland’s America: Appalachian Spring Marin Alsop, conductor William Sharp, baritone Copland: Old American Songs Copland: Appalachian Spring What earned Aaron Copland the title “dean of American composers?” Even 50 years later his catchy, memorable tunes, woven so masterfully into his symphonic music, continue to be synonymous with the American heartbeat. What makes music sound American? Join Maestra Alsop as she uncovers the Shaker melodies, Copland’s colorful instrumental effects, and the stories behind the Pulitzer Prizewinning music that endures today as an American masterpiece.

SAT., NOV. 12, 8 P.M. National Philharmonic Women Pioneers Madeleine Albright, host Piotr Gajewski, conductor; Chee-Yun, violin; Audrey Elizabeth Luna, soprano; Magdalena Wor, mezzo-soprano; Robert Baker, tenor; Jordan Shanahan, baritone

Chee-yun

Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man Tower: Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman Saint-Saëns: Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28 Beach: Grand Mass in E-flat Major The Honorable Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State, hosts this evening dedicated to women in music and the law. All concert proceeds will go toward the Maryland Women’s Bar Association Foundation Inc.’s scholarships and the Finding Justice Project, which documents the history of women lawyers in Maryland.

A free pre-concert lecture will be offered in the Concert Hall at 6:45 p.m.

Sponsored by LexisNexis and Finding Justice SUN., NOV. 13, 7 P.M. Strathmore presents Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway Boom! and Broadway These Tony-nominated singing sisters have wowed audiences on Broadway, in cabarets, in concert for television, in film and on recordings. This specially designed concert combines the best moments of their popular revue Boom! (songs of the ’60s and ’70s) and their favorite Broadway melodies.

Sponsored by Shugoll Research

[beyond the stage] Strathmore

chee-yn photo by youngho kang, photograph by Bruce Barnbaum

A Snapshot of Photography’s Evolution The photography exhibition Building Bridges, Not Fences explores the journey from traditional to digital media, as well as the aesthetic bridge that photojournalism builds between cultures. The first floor galleries feature traditional photography master Bruce Barnbaum, and moves to the work of Dean Kessmann and Bruce McKaig to discover how technology has redefined the medium. In the Gudelsky Gallery Suite, photojournalists and photographers go beyond the traditional, connecting global cultures.

Building Bridges, Not Fences will be on view from Saturday, Sept. 24 through Saturday, Nov. 5 in the galleries at the historic Mansion at Strathmore. Admission to the exhibition is free.

10 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

[November/ December] SAT., NOV. 19, 8 P.M. SUN., NOV. 20, 2 P.M. Strathmore presents Masters of Illusion Live!

masters of illusion

The hit television show Masters of Illusion: Impossible Magic breaks out of the box and onto the stage at Strathmore.

Witness dazzling displays of magic featuring exotic animals, beautiful dancers, escapologists, comedy, quick-change artists and sleight of hand—all live, no camera tricks.

FRI., NOV. 25, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents Classic Albums Live: The Beatles’ Abbey Road Classic Albums Live gathers gifted musicians for live performances of classic rock albums—note for note, cut for cut.

In its Strathmore debut, this “thrilling” show (Toronto Star) rockets you back to 1969, when The Beatles made their last recording together, Abbey Road.

Time-travel to a landmark moment in rock history!

WED., NOV. 30, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents Allen Toussaint Aaron Neville Quintet Allen Toussaint “is the jewel in New Orleans’ crown, a virtuoso piano stylist with an unparalleled knowledge of the city’s musical development” (The Independent, London). Tonight reunites Toussaint with musical partner Aaron Neville, whose new gospel album I Know I’ve Been Changed features their most recent allen toussaint collaboration.

2011-12 Season Puccini

TOSCA

Sep. 10–24, 2011

Donizetti

Photo by Scott Suchman for WNO

LUCIA

DI LAMMERMOOR Nov. 10–19, 2011

Mozart

COSÌ

FAN TUTTE

Feb. 25–Mar. 15, 2012

Verdi

NABUCCO

Apr. 28–May 21, 2012

Massenet

WERTHER

May 12–27, 2012

Patricia Racette stars as Tosca

Visit kennedy-center.org/wno or call (202) 467-4600 for tickets and information.

Group Sales (202) 416-8400

Subscriptions (202) 416-8500

Major underwriters of WNO at the Kennedy Center include: Mrs. Eugene B. Casey, Eugene B. Casey Endowment, David and Alice Rubenstein, Jacqueline Badger Mars, Susan E. Lehrman, Mr. and Mrs. John F. Mars, Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello, Jane and Calvin Cafritz, The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Clarice Smith and the Robert H. Smith Family Foundation, and Marta and Plácido Domingo.

calendar THURS., DEC. 1, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents Skaggs Family Christmas featuring the White Family

musicians from around the world in a high-energy show featuring songs from Koz’s classic holiday albums December Makes Me Feel This Way, A Smooth Jazz Christmas by Dave Koz & Friends and Memories of a Winter’s Night.

WED., DEC. 7, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents Jim Brickman: A Christmas Celebration

skaggs family

Fourteen-time Grammy winner Ricky Skaggs marshals members of his own gifted family as well as his in-laws, the White Family, to re-imagine holiday favorites with the mountain sound of bluegrass.

FRI., DEC. 2, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents 5 Browns Holiday Show The piano-playing siblings of the 5 Browns perform holiday music from Tchaikovsky, Liszt and Mozart to Richard Rodgers and Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi.

SAT., DEC. 3, 8 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Handel’s Messiah Edward Polochick, conductor and harpsichord Concert Artists of Baltimore Symphonic Chorale Handel: Messiah The BSO continues its tradition of ushering in the Christmas season with an all-star performance of Handel’s glorious oratorio featuring the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

MON., DEC. 5, 8 P.M. Strathmore and Blues Alley present Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour 2011 with special guests Rick Braun, Jonathan Butler and Candy Dulfer In a cherished holiday tradition, multiple Grammy nominee Dave Koz welcomes a magical combination of

Escape the hectic demands of the holiday season with a warm and welcoming performance

by Grammynominated, platinum-selling Jim brickman artist Jim Brickman and his special guests. With dazzling solo piano and vibrant vocals, plus plenty of warmth and humor, Brickman weaves together new and old traditional holiday favorites, plus all his hits.

THURS., DEC. 8, 8 P.M. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Holiday Cirque de la Symphonie Take your holiday experience to new heights as Cirque de la Symcirque de la phonie symphonie performs on and above the stage. Bring the entire family to hear holiday favorites while experiencing an awe-inspiring performance.

Stunning aerial feats, strong-men, mindboggling contortionists and juggling acts will take your breath away as the BSO gets you into the spirit.

FRI., DEC. 9, 2011, 8 P.M. Strathmore presents Ramsey Lewis Trio: Sun Goddess Tour

12 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

[November/ December] Composer, Ramsey pianist and Lewis jazz legend Ramsey Lewis revisits the electric funk glory of his classic ’70s album The Sun Goddess. Band members guitarist Henry Johnson, keyboardist Michael Logan, drummer Charles Heath and bassist Joshua Ramos will back Ramsey as Earth, Wind & Fire did on the album.

SAT,. DEC. 10, 8 P.M. SUN., DEC. 11, 3 P.M. National Philharmonic Handel’s Messiah Jennifer Casey Cabot, soprano Kendall Gladen, mezzo-soprano Matthew Smith, tenor Kevin Deas, bass Stan Engebretson, conductor Handel: Messiah Usher in the holidays with Handel’s 1741 masterpiece. The National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale, joined by world-class soloists and led by Artistic Director Stan Engebretson, capture the joy, spirit and grandeur of the season.

A free pre-concert lecture will be offered in the Concert Hall at 6:45 p.m. on Dec. 10 and at 1:45 p.m. on Dec. 11.

Sponsored by Ameriprise Financial THURS., DEC. 22, 8 P.M. National Philharmonic Holiday Celebration with the Washington Symphonic Brass Washington Symphonic Brass Piotr Gajewski, conductor In celebration of the Winter Solstice, Maestro Piotr Gajewski leads the Washington Symphonic Brass and Percussion Ensemble in a concert for the entire family. Featured are pieces from Medieval and Renaissance music, many of which have become holiday standards.

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Strathmore

all about

Ives Strathmore opens its celebration of American composers with a tribute to the unsung icon of authentic American music

By Chris Slattery

Charles Ives, an insurance salesman who wrote music in his spare time, is widely considered one of America’s greatest composers.

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photo by W. Eugene Smith, MSS 14, The Charles Ives Papers in the Irving S. Gilmore Music Libary of Yale Univesity

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hen Strathmore celebrates American composers it digs deep.

That’s why Celebrating American Composers, Strathmore’s season-long look at the lives that shaped this country’s musical sensibilities, is anchored by two great 20th century composers—Duke Ellington and Charles Ives.

Ellington, a D.C. native who went on to shape the Harlem Renaissance, gets his close-up in February. The latter, well, who was Charles Ives?

He was the greatest composer that nobody heard: an insurance salesman from New England who wrote, in his spare time, what music experts consider the definitive soundtrack to the American experience. Now, a little more than a century after he composed Symphony

See page 8 for a complete listing of Ives Project events

No. 2 and The Unanswered Question, the life and work of Charles Ives are being celebrated at Strathmore.

“I’m interested in how Ives has been lost a bit from the American lexicon,” said Shelley Brown, Strathmore’s artistic director/vice president of programming.

“He’s so original—a true American voice that reaches back and touches the past in a completely authentic way, but creates a new expression that is unique to his time and place.”

For Brown, bringing the past forward has become second nature. Since creating the wildly popular Washington Area Music Timeline Series at Strathmore a few years back, she’s taken her knack for fleshing out the historical, social and literary context of American music to new heights, most recently with Strathmore’s world premiere production of Free to Sing: The Story of the First African American Opera Company during the 20072008 season. And she’s got a clear vision for the way she hopes audiences will connect with Ives—through his own words and those of his contemporaries, through scholarship on his life and times, and through concerts that will showcase Ives’ compositions in exciting new ways.

“It’s an occasion to consider the repertoire of Ives in a holistic way,” said Brown. “As a non-musician this is how I understand music: I have to begin with the birth and death dates of the composer to understand the history, to read about his life and his times and his work.

“With this background in place, I’m able to meet Ives on an emotional level through live performance in a way that I couldn’t otherwise.”

Brown sees The Ives Project as a pure learning experience that she expects will appeal greatly to the kind of inquiring audiences Strathmore tends to attract.

And that’s what Joseph Horowitz is all about.

Horowitz, a musicologist, author, crit-

ic, teacher, concert producer and cultur- work brought to life on stage over a al historian, is helping to bring The Ives weekend, with commentary and conProject to Strathmore. He credits Brown text offered by scholars and experts.”

Broadway actor and vocalist Brian with having enough open-mindedness and professional courage to take on Stokes Mitchell, pianist Robert Glaspthe challenge of an Ives-centric week- er and the Grammy Award-winning Afend that includes Charles Ives: A Life In ro-Latin Jazz Orchestra led by Arturo Music, featuring pianist Jeremy Denk, O’Farrill all will help celebrate Ellingbaritone William Sharp, actor Floyd ton’s 50-year career.

Celebrating American Composers will King, and the Post-Classical Ensemble take advantage of Strathmore’s enconducted by Angel Gil-Ordóñez.

“It’s a theatrical event with lighting tire campus, with performances in both design, two actors and special effects: the Music Center and Mansion at It’s visceral,” said Horowitz, artistic director of the PostClassical Ensemble. “I’ve been producing thematic and interdisciplinary programming since the ’80s. When I started it was a Joseph Horowitz, Post-Classical Ensemble maverick exercise—prophetic, but controversial. There’s been a sea change in the last Strathmore.

So while fans of American compos20 years, though, and we’ve been ahead ers will get the classical music equivaof the curve.”

Horowitz finds Ives to be a particu- lent of pyrotechnics over on the Music Center stage, they also will get the oplarly satisfying subject.

“Ives is widely considered our great- portunity for a more intimate experiest concert composer,” said Horowitz. ence in the Mansion with performances “But for the most part the music public by legendary composer William Bolcom and his wife, mezzo-soprano Joan Mordoesn’t know his music.”

Everyone, however, knows Duke ris; a world premiere by D.C. composEllington. With Discover Ellington, er and Catholic University professor Strathmore will explore the full breadth Stephen Gorbos performed by violist of the work of one of America’s most be- Wendy Richman; and new works by the Great Noise Ensemble. loved composers.

“You get to meet the artists, talk “Music lovers of all kinds will find new gems among the known treasures to them about their creative process, while seeing the heartfelt musical mas- have a glass of wine,” said Georgina tery of this genre-bending composer,” Javor, Strathmore’s director of prosaid Brown. “Discover Ellington is an gramming. “It’s a full circle, and it’s all unprecedented opportunity to see his coming together.” 

“Ives is widely considered our greatest concert composer. But for the most part the music public doesn’t know his music.”

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Balt imore Symphony ORchestra

This season’s offerings will include a ’60s era musical retrospective called The Beat Goes On!

Gershwin, the Beatles and Elton John tunes?

Of course!

2011-2012 BSO SuperPops season will be ambitious and eclectic—and the audience expects nothing less

By Kathleen Wheaton 16 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Tony DeSare photo by Bill Westmoreland

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The 2011-2012 BSO SuperPops season promises another exciting year of memorable music and spectacle, helmed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s beloved Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly.

A musician’s musician whose knowledge and skill cross all genres of contemporary and popular sound, Everly says that the consummate skill and professionalism of the orchestra is one of the pleasures of working with the BSO. Everly, in turn, “brings out the best in musicians,” says Matt Spivey, the BSO’s vice president of artistic operations.

The result is a series of highly creative programs of iconic American composition and song that thrill audiences and have given rise to a growing base of subscribers. “Jack Everly is the SuperPops,” says longtime subscriber Nancy Smith, who usually attends with five friends.

“We’ll say, ‘I wonder what Jack has in store for us tonight?’ We speak of him as Jack,” she adds, “because he has that kind of personality—warm and completely charming. He’s brought such vitality, enthusiasm and pleasure to the whole experience.”

On Oct.13, singer and pianist Michael Cavanaugh will stir audiences to sing their hearts out to “Tiny Dancer,” “Candle in the Wind, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and other hits during The Music of Elton John and More. The Cleveland-born Cavanaugh began playing piano by ear at the age of 7, idolizing popular singer-songwriter Billy Joel.

His miracle breakout moment happened in Las Vegas in 2001 when Joel, sitting in the audience, joined the then-27year-old Cavanaugh in a rendition of “Piano Man” onstage. One cover song later, Joel decided that Cavanaugh was the performer for the nascent Broadway tribute to his musical career, Movin’ Out. Following that popular and critical suc-

cess, Cavanaugh began touring in 2005, reinterpreting pop/rock classics. “I love playing songs that everybody knows and can sing along to,” he says. In 2009, he wowed Baltimore audiences with a Billy Joel concert that included “I Love You Just the Way You Are,” “My Life” and “Uptown Girl.”

Rockapella has come a long way since a group of Brown University graduates began singing doo-wop on New York City street corners in 1986. The five guys with microphones, noted as much for their humor and personality as their virtuosity with the human voice have recently released their 20th album, Bang.

A Rockapella concert opens a window onto the whole history of vocal performance, from the Mills Brothers to hiphop. “People have a hard time believing it’s just us making all that music,” says high tenor Scott Leonard. This sophisticated vocal group promises an exhilarating November evening of dazzling song, dance and wit.

In 2012 Everly and the BSO return to Strathmore with an evening devoted to the Gershwin brothers. Canadian pianist and composer Stewart Goodyear, noted for his imagination and graceful, elegant style, will perform Rhapsody in Blue, while Broadway singer and actress Judy McLane will highlight some of the Gershwins’ most memorable songs, including “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.” Romance gets into high gear with the BSO’s Valentine performance by singer and pianist Tony DeSare. This Sinatra acolyte performs smoldering interpretations of singers from Prince to Johnny Mercer with a combination of wit and an impressive musicality. DeSare’s charming original composition, “How I Feel for You,” was the soundtrack in the award-winning 2004 film, My Date With Drew. DeSare will also perform romantic classics such as “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Night and Day,” “Let’s Just Stay In” and “Marry Me.” The final shows of the season in-

clude two Everly favorites. Do You Hear the People Sing? is a celebration of songs from Miss Saigon and Les Misérables. The award-winning songwriting duo Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg “have created magical music,” Everly says.

“With a large chorus as well as Broadway soloists, it’s a huge crowd-pleaser.”

Tony Ditto, he says, for DeSare “The Beat Goes On!,”

Judy McLane

a retrospective of ’60s-era music. The show begins with lovelorn favorites Michael Cavanaugh from the Supremes such as “Baby Love,” and “Stop in the Name of Love,” and moves on to The Wonderful World of Television Medley with “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” What’s New, Pussycat?” and “Close to You.” Hits from the decade of tie-dye include songs from Simon & Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, the Beach Boys and over a dozen Beatles hits from “Can’t Buy Me Love,” to “Yesterday.” Then everybody’s on their feet for Sonny & Cher’s “I’ve Got You, Babe,” says Everly. “It’s quite the party for people who loved this time period,” he says, “And a perfect final note on which to end the season.” 

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Strathmore

Body, Mind, Espiritu: Ballet Hispanico brings passion, pathos to the D.C. premiere of Espiritu Vivo

By Chris Slattery

Strathmore presents Ballet Hispanico

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t is a dance that gathers steps from around the world, a joyous work of art inspired by a day of endless mourning. It is a celebration, a revelation and, most of all, a collaboration. Espiritu Vivo, as performed by Ballet Hispanico in its Strathmore debut, is where African folk meets Latin funk in a fabulous pas de deux.

“I love to say that dance creates the artistic space for the viewer to participate,” says Eduardo Vilaro, artistic director of New York’s Ballet Hispanico. “It’s not about ‘getting it,’ it’s about participating—about joining the conversation.”

The conversation that resulted in the creation of Espiritu Vivo was first heard in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001. Iconic vocalist Susana Baca released an inspirational post 9/11 album called Espiritu Vivo, which Vilaro shared with Ronald K. Brown, the

founder of Evidence Dance Company.

“I had met Eduardo a couple of years ago,” says Brown. “He mentioned this amazing Afro-Peruvian singer and this work she had done that was all about how we deal with grief. It was perfect.”

Perfect in that Brown, an African American from Brooklyn, and Vilaro, from Cuba, were ideally suited to create a piece set to Baca’s music that would build on its themes of mourning and renewal.

“The music is essential,” says Brown.

“It’s amazing; it’s rich. It feels like it has a history to it, but it feels new at the same time.”

And it lends itself to a narrative that traces the triangular journeys of music and culture between Africa, the Caribbean and the United States.

“We’re bringing in the roots of a lot of things in order to reconstruct the places where the Spanish and the

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African diaspora connect,” explains Vilaro. “The performance celebrates traditions and the diversity found within those traditions, who we are today and how we are moving forward.”

Vilaro promises an evening of passion, as the dancers perform Brown’s work as well as pieces by Ballet Hispanico choreographers, including Club Havana and Mad’moiselle.

The entire performance is an eclectic combination of body and spirit. As for Espiritu Vivo, Brown says each piece is deeply affected by what the performers bring to the creative process.

Brown likens the composition of Espiritu Vivo to cooking a stew.

“We built the piece in April,” he says. “Over time all the seasonings in it will become rich.”

And the message, in the end, is the triumph of the spirit—the Espiritu Vivo.

“The spirit is alive and perseveres through anything,” says Brown. “We have to acknowledge that.” 

Club Havana photo by Cheryl Mann

Friday, Oct. 28, 8 P.M.

Jim Morris

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Let the stunning facilities, relaxing green landscape and outdoor sculpture garden at Montgomery County’s thriving arts campus inspire your group when you use Strathmore as the site for your next

STRATHMORE

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Balt imore Symphony ORchestra

Jack Be Nimble From Rodgers & Hammerstein to the Rat Pack, BSO Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly presents music that resonates with audiences

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usicianship, showmanship, warmth and wit are just some of the qualities that Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly has brought to every Baltimore Symphony Orchestra SuperPops performance since the beginning of his tenure in 2003. And he keeps bringing it—the announcement that his contract was extended through 2017 had the Strathmore audience springing to its feet last spring.

Conductor of the American Ballet Theatre for 14 years, Everly’s grace and energy before the orchestra suggest the influence of dance on his work. “He’s not a conductor who just stands at the podium,” said Matt Spivey, BSO’s vice president of artistic operations. “You can actually see the incredible amount of insight and creativity he brings to the music.” At the same time, Spivey said, Everly’s extraordinary ability to connect with the audience “makes you feel as though you’re sitting in Jack’s living

room. It’s very comfortable and familiar.”

Familiarity and nostalgia are part of the appeal of SuperPops, Everly readily acknowledges. “For audiences, the music that resonated in their youth is the music they love all their lives,” he said. Under Everly’s inspired direction, however, old favorites are not so much replayed as re-imagined. In Rodgers & Hammerstein at the Movies, one of the 2010-2011 season’s most memorable concerts, beloved themes from classic movies including Oklahoma!, The King & I, South Pacific, The Sound of Music and Carousel were accompanied by remastered high-definition footage and original audio tracks. It was a fresh, vibrant experience that enthralled audience members. “It’s quite different from sitting at home and listening to the CD,” Everly said.

Everly’s love for the iconic American songbook doesn’t preclude humor and a touch of irreverence. In Viva Las Vegas—a tribute to glitz, showgirls and Rat Pack crooners—Everly took the stage in a jacket with the word “Vegas”

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in lights across the back. His 2007 SciFi Spectacular featured performers from the original Star Trek series, including George Takei.

An appreciation for music as spectacle is perhaps the key to Everly’s ability to move nimbly across genres throughout his career. His first experience of the symphony was attending a performance of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite as a child in his home state of Indiana. At the University of Indiana Everly studied both classical music and set design. In addition to his American Ballet Theatre tenure, Everly partnered with Marvin Hamlisch in several Broadway shows and conducted Carol Channing in Hello, Dolly! in two productions of the long-running classic. In addition to being principal pops conductor of the Baltimore and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra and National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Everly also conducts two annual D.C.-area favorites: the National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth. 

Michael Tammaro

By Kathleen Wheaton

Strathmore’s Annual Fall Benefit

October 27, 2011 6:30PM We’re celebrating the power of the small but sassy. You and your friends will incite surprising real-time music and art creations. Savor zestful dishes while sipping signature cocktails and browsing alluring auction items. Led by the incomparable Daryl Davis Band, blues, hot jazz, electronica and R&B performers will add spice and heat all night.

Proceeds will benefit Strathmore’s programs for young and future artists, from the second and fifth-graders who come to Strathmore’s Student Concerts to the rising stars who are Strathmore Artists in Residence.

Featuring:

The Daryl Davis Band Jay Hayden, R&B Mary Alouette, Gypsy Jazz Yoko K., Electronica Wilmer Wilson IV, mixed media/installation Stephanie Potter Corwin, photography $100 PER PERSON Learn More/Buy Tickets www.strathmore.org/tart | (301) 581-5145 For information on sponsorship opportunities, call (301) 581-5145.

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National Philharmonic

The pioneering spirit of women and Debussy’s 150th anniversary highlight the National Philharmonic’s 2011-2012 season

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Women, Fanfare and Martyrdom JoAnn Falletta 22 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

he contributions of trailblazing women sparked both the imagination and commitment of National Philharmonic Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski. “We will be celebrating women pioneers in music throughout the upcoming season—composers, conductors and soloists—as well as women who have made significant contributions in other disciplines,” he says.

Kicking off the celebration on Oct. 1 and 2 is guest conductor JoAnn Falletta, one of the first women to lead a U.S. orchestra. Falletta’s debut with the National Philharmonic at the Music Center at Strathmore will include Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 9, and American compos-

Mark Dellas

By Pamela Toutant

Colin Bell

er John Corigliano’s captivating Red Violin Concerto. Music director of both the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the multi-talented Falletta also boasts a book of poetry, Love Letters to Music.

The celebration continues with the highly anticipated Women Pioneers program on Nov. 12, hosted by Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. Secretary of State. All proceeds from the concert will benefit the Maryland Women’s Bar Association Foundation Inc.’s scholarships and the Finding Justice Project, which documents the history of women lawyers in Maryland. Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man kicks off the program and will be followed with Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Joan Tower’s response, Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman, which Tower wrote as homage to women who are adventurous and who take risks. The uplifting Grand Mass in E-Flat Major, written in 1890 by the teenage Amy Beach, the first American woman composer of large-scale works, will complete an inspiring evening.

World-class violinist Sarah Chang debuts with the National Philharmonic April 28 and 29, 2012 performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor.

“I learned the concerto at age 6, and performed it with the New York Philharmonic at the ridiculously young age of 8,” Chang recalls with a laugh. “I love this concerto because it is bright, happy and bubbly—a breath of fresh air.”

National Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Victoria Gau, already recognized for her pre-concert lectures, will make her conducting debut with the Philharmonic on March 24. In an all-Mozart program that includes Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and the Requiem in D minor, Gau will take the audience on what she characterizes as “an emotional journey through Mozart’s music— from the joyful to the profound.”

The winter holidays get under way

with a perennial favorite on Dec. 10 and 11. “As always, Handel’s Messiah will be an evening of rhapsodic enjoyment for both the audience and performers,” says Stan Engebretson, artistic director of the National Philharmonic Chorale. A new holiday offering on Dec. 22 will feature Gajewski conducting the Washington Symphonic Brass as it performs Medieval and Renaissance seasonal favorites.

In addition to Gau’s all-Mozart program, the National Philharmonic will offer several other single-composer programs, includSarah Chang ing all Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Chopin, Bach and Debussy. Highlights include Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suites on Jan. 7 featuring celFinishing the season on a high note, list Zuill Bailey. the National Philharmonic will celAlso generating excitement is the ebrate French composer Claude Deall-Tchaikovsky program on Feb. 4 and bussy’s 150th anniversary with two 5 featuring Daniil Trifonov, the Gold all-Debussy concerts. By taking music Medal winner of the XIV Internation- into the natural world, Debussy’s music al Tchaikovsky Piano Competition. has, as Ganz describes it, “… a sensuContinuing his quest to perform all al appeal. You can feel yourself bathing of Chopin’s works over the next de- in the light.” The first Debussy concade, pianist Brian Ganz returns to cert, on May 5, 2012, will feature both Strathmore for his second all-Chopin Ganz and two-time Grammy Award performance on Feb. 11. “The theme winner clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. is Chopin’s dances and fantasies, begin- The program will offer several works ning with the stately and ending with showcasing Debussy’s mysterious and the thrilling,” enthuses Ganz. ravishingly beautiful sound pictures, Some of Bach’s most popular works, including Prelude to the Afternoon of a the Brandenburg Concertos No. 2 and 4 Faun and La Mer. and his Magnificat in D Major, will light The second Debussy concert, the up Strathmore the evening of Feb. 25. season finale, will take place on May “This will be a special performance for us 19, when Engebretson conducts the because the program will showcase sev- National Philharmonic Orchestra and eral of the National Philharmonic’s prin- Chorale in the Washington-area precipal players,” says Gajewski. Principal miere of Debussy’s Martyrdom of St. Setrumpeter Chris Gekker, whose talents bastian. Narrated by Strathmore CEO range from classical to jazz to appearanc- Eliot Pfanstiehl, Martyrdom involves es with the British rock star Sting, will the full orchestra and is rarely perbe one of the featured soloists. “I have formed in America. “There is a powerplayed the Brandenburg No. 2 more ful and poetic surge and power to this than 80 times and I still find great beauty piece,’’ says Engebretson. “The Alleluia in it,” says Gekker. at the end transports the soul.”  applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 23

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Washington Performing Arts Soci ety

The fearlessness of

Gil Shaham Violinist’s tackling of Bach’s sonatas promises to be “an exciting journey in music”

By M.J. McAteer

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t has to be a test of courage: To take to the stage alone for two hours without even a music stand, and then to play pieces that are considered to be the supreme test of a violinist.

That, however, is exactly what Gil Shaham has chosen to do by electing to play a selection of Bach sonatas and partitas at the Music Center at Strathmore on Oct. 30.

The compositions that Shaham will perform are works of stunning virtuosity—intricately structured, lush with feeling, and dazzlingly, almost relentlessly, inventive. Neale Perl, president of the Washington Performing Arts Society, which is sponsoring Shaham’s 7 p.m. concert at Strathmore, describes them as “one of the cornerstones of music.”

Tim Smith, classical music critic for The Baltimore Sun, says that they “are everything that was Bach.”

Yet for all their brilliance, the sonatas and partitas are not often performed in concert because they are so exceedingly hard to play.

For starters, they require a violinist with a marathoner’s endurance, a chess master’s concentration, and the memory of an elephant. On top of these attributes, the performer also must possess impeccable technique and a profound expressiveness.

The fugue movements of the sonatas, for instance, have multiple melodic lines and devilishly difficult chords.

Played by a top violinist such as Shaham, their exacting counterpoint can give the uncanny impression that more than one instrument is in play, but in lesser hands, as a critic for Stereo Review once put it, they can “sound as the though the performer is barely going to make it through.”

The “chaconne” or fifth movement of the Partita No. 2 in D minor, which Shaham has played in previous concerts, is perhaps an even higher hurdle for a violinist. In a letter to Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms wrote that the chaconne contained “a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind.”

Like the fugues, though, the chaconne makes “extraordinary demands” on a violinist, says George B. Stauffer. The Bach scholar and dean of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts explains the problem: a kaleidoscopic 63 variations packed into less than 15 minutes.

“There is always another level” to the Bach partitas and sonatas, Stauffer says. “In a sense, they are terrifying.”

But Shaham is not frightened. On the contrary, he ap-

parently savors the challenge and is widely expected one day to record the pieces.

Shaham, now 40, got an early start on his musicality.

The Israeli-American made his solo debut at age ten with the Jerusalem Symphony and, seven years later, became an international sensation when he left high school in New York and flew to England to take the stage with the London Symphony Orchestra when scheduled soloist Itzhak Perlman was unable to perform.

The Grammy Award-winning Shaham attended The Juilliard School and was signed to a recording contract by Deutsche Grammophon when he was still a teenager. He has since gone on to a busy performing and recording career and now gives about 100 concerts annually, sometimes appearing on stage with his pianist sister, Orli.

Shaham is no stranger to the Washington area. Perl first presented him 11 years ago as a young violinist though the WPAS’ Kreeger String Series, which showcases emerging talents. “He has since fulfilled his destiny,” says Perl, who likens Shaham to a great orator. “He has the power to communicate, to make you believe.”

The Music Center at Strathmore makes a great partner in that ability to communicate. String players, who are parWashington Performing ticularly sensitive to Arts Society presents acoustics, are especially appreciative Gil Shaham of its stellar sound, Sunday, Oct. 30, 7 P.M. Perl says. For them, playing there “is like looking at yourself in a lovely mirror where you look rested.”

Shaham’s sound also will be enhanced by his instrument, which is one of the world’s great violins—a 1699 Stradivarius that allegedly once belonged to Benjamin Franklin’s mistress. “It has the sound of the ages,” Perl says.

Although performances of the Bach solo repertoire for violin are quite rare, good performances are ever rarer.

Smith, the Baltimore Sun critic, says that violinists sometimes take too intellectual an approach to the iconic works, and that can make for a dull evening. Others err on the overly romantic side, and the pieces become overblown.

Shaham, in contrast, has both “the intellect and poetic impulse” to do the music justice, he says.

And Smith’s prediction for the violinist’s solo concert at Strathmore? Expect “as exciting a journey in music that you can take.”  applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 25

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Balt imore Symphony ORchestra

From Russia, with love Celebrated conductor Vasily Petrenko returns with program featuring Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov and Liszt

By Pamela Toutant of the most memorable of the season.” What are you looking forward to in your upcoming October performance with the BSO? I had a great experience with the BSO in 2009. There was a strong feeling of warmth with the orchestra and I found the audience to be particularly attentive to the music.

This time, we will be performing two pieces from the Russian repertoire, a very colorful piece by Rimsky-Korsakov [Capriccio Espagnol], which will give each member of the orchestra a chance to shine, and Rachmaninoff’s dramatic Symphony No. 3.

We will also play the Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Barry Douglas, who is not only a technical master but is a very charismatic performer.

Q: When did you realize you wanted to be a conductor?

I first became interested in conducting when I was 12; my first proper public debut took place when I was 16. Winning the Sixth Cadaques International Conducting Competition in Spain in 2002 when I was 26, with the opportunity to conduct 40 concerts in Europe, is what really launched my international career.

Q: What central principle guides you as a conductor?

I have a great deal of respect for orchestra musicians and view them as equal partners. As someone once said to me, with enough practice, the orchestra can play without the conductor, but the conductor can never play without the orchestra.

Q: Your debut with the BSO in 2009 was described by The Baltimore Sun as “one

Q: Clearly you have a deep familiarity and love for Russian composers. What other composers are you drawn to?

For the past few years I have been

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The BSO presents Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony Saturday, Oct. 29, 8 P.M. committed to balancing my repertoire.

I’ve added works by Mahler, Sibelius, Wagner and Beethoven. And of course, with my position as music director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, I am adding many works by British composers.

Q:What do you love most about conducting?

I like performing music for people to improve their lives. I want audience members to wake up the next morning and feel that something good or important has happened, that they feel better and enriched. On a spiritual level, making the lives of the next generation better is the driving force in my life. 

Mark McNulty

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y age 6, Vasily Petrenko’s exceptional musical gifts were already on display both at the piano and in the chorus at the St. Petersburg Capella Boys Music School in Russia. By early adolescence he had staked claim to the conductor’s baton as well.

All signs now point to the 35-yearold Petrenko becoming the next great Russian conductor. Described as the new superstar maestro of the St. Petersburg classical music scene, Petrenko has a reputation for communicating the essence of musical works beyond cues, tempos and dynamics.

Equally at home in symphonic and operatic repertoire, Petrenko has accrued scores of international accolades and awards. The acclaimed conductor will join the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Music Center at Strathmore.

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Thursday, September 15, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2011, 8 p.m.

● Strathmore Presents

Keb’ Mo’ The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Keb’ Mo’

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Keb’ Mo’s music is a living link to the seminal Delta blues that traveled up the Mississippi River and across the expanse of America, informing all of its musical roots before evolving into a universally-celebrated art form.

Born Kevin Moore in Los Angeles to parents originally from the Deep South, he adopted his better-known stage name when he was a young player who became inspired by the force of this essential African Ameri-

can legacy. In the storied tradition of bluesmen before him, including Muddy Waters (formerly McKinley Morganfield) and Taj Mahal (who began as Henry St. Clair Fredericks), Moore became known as Keb’ Mo’.

His music is also a purely postmodern expression of the artistic and cultural journey that has transformed the blues, and his own point of view, over time. His distinctive sound embraces multiple eras and genres, including pop, rock, folk and jazz.

Mo’s sound owes as much to contemporary music’s singer-songwriter movement, encompassing his longtime friends and collaborators Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, as to the spirit of blues godfather Robert Johnson that dwells in his work.

For Mo’, the common bond between these influences is the underlying storytelling ethic—the power of song to convey human experience and emotional weight.

Mo’ is a three-time Grammy winner for Contemporary Blues Album and was Grammy-nominated for Country Song of the Year for “I Hope,” which he co-wrote with the Dixie Chicks. His songs have been covered by B.B. King, Wynonna Judd, Joe Cocker, Buddy Guy, Robert Palmer and Tom Jones.

On camera, he has appeared and performed music for television shows, including The West Wing and Memphis Beat, and in motion pictures, includ-

28 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

ing John Sayles’ Honeydripper and Martin Scorsese’s PBS special Feel Like Going Home and concert documentary Lightning in a Bottle.

The Reflection is the first new studio album by Mo’ since Suitcase in 2006.

The record’s 12 songs are the product of an important period of personal and professional growth for the artist, budding from Kevin Moore to Keb’ Mo’. In that time, he started a new family, moved from L.A. to Nashville, built a state–of–the–art home studio and founded his own label, Yolabelle International, distributed by Ryko and the Warner Music Group.

The Reflection is not, in essence, a blues album. In sound and spirit, it’s closer to the work of African American “folk soul” singer-songwriters like Bill Withers, Bobby Womack and Terry Callier. The Reflection brings together all of this singular artist’s diverse influences, from pre-disco R&B, American folk and gospel, to rock and the blues, in a sound that is truly and uniquely his own.

Through all the changes of the past several years, Mo’ has found time to play a couple of hundred shows on several continents, all while writing some of the best songs of his career for The Reflection. The album features notable guests, including country music superstar Vince Gill, nouveau soul chanteuse India.Arie, saxophonist Dave Koz and veteran session guitarist David T. Walker.

Saturday, September 17, 2011, 8 p.m.

Saturday, SEPTEMBER 17, 2011, 8 p.m.

the music director of the Orquestra Sinfônica do estado de São Paulo (OSESP), or the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra, effective for the 2012-13 season. She also was named on the Guardian’s Top 100 Women list in March 2011. This spring, Alsop was named an Artist in Residence at the Southbank Centre in London.

Alsop appears frequently as a guest conductor with the most distinguished orchestras around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition to her performance activities, she is also an active recording artist with award-winning cycles of Brahms, Barber and Dvořák.

Alsop attended Yale University and received her master’s degree from The Juilliard School. In 1989, her conducting career was launched when she won the Koussevitzky Conducting Prize at Tanglewood, where she studied with Leonard Bernstein.

● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director

presents

Mahler’s “Resurrection” Marin Alsop, conductor Layla Claire, soprano Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano Baltimore Choral Arts Society Tom Hall, music director Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Allegro maestoso Andante moderato In ruhig fliessender Bewegung Urlicht. Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht

Layla Claire, soprano

Im Tempo des Scherzo Layla Claire Susan Platts Baltimore Choral Arts Society The Music Center at Strathmore The concert will end at approximately 9:30 P.M. Presenting Sponsor: M&T Bank

Marin Alsop, conductor

Hailed as one of the world’s leading conductors for her artistic vision and commitment to accessibility in classical music, Marin 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 conductor from 2002 to 2008, and is music director of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California.

In 2005 Alsop became the first conductor to be named a MacArthur Fellow. In 2007, she was honored with a European Women of Achievement Award, in 2008 she was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2009 Musical America named her “Conductor of the Year.” In November 2010, she was inducted into the Classical Music Hall of Fame.

In February 2011, Alsop was named

Soprano Layla Claire’s “penetrating purity,” (The New York Times) combined with “emotive force and a poised sensitivity,” (Palm Beach Daily News) has quickly made her a sought-after artist on the opera and concert stage.

In July 2010 Claire made her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut on the opening night of the Tanglewood Music Festival under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. She was highly regarded for her August 2010 performances of Dvořák’s Requiem at the Grant Park Music Festival. Last fall Claire made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Tebaldo in Verdi’s Don Carlo conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Claire’s interpretations of Mozart’s heroines have garnered accolades throughout North America and Europe. She has performed the roles

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 29

alsop photo by dean alexander, claire photo by kristen hoebermann

Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, “Resurrection”

Saturday, September 17, 2011, 8 p.m.

of Fiordiligi (2007) and Donna Anna (2009) with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. She has been hailed as “the quintessential Susanna” for her 2009 performances of Le Nozze di Figaro at Palm Beach Opera.

The 2009–10 season marked the beginning of Claire’s participation in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. In December, she performed at L’Opéra de Montréal’s 30th Anniversary Gala and San Francisco Symphony’s New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball. She gave a recital presented by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, followed by her New York City recital debut in March. In the same season, she performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.

Claire recently became the first recipient of the Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award. In 2008, she received the Mozart Prize at the Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition and was a Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition Laureate.

She returns this season as a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. .

Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano

British-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts brings a uniquely rich and wideranging voice to the concert and recital repertoire for alto and mezzo-soprano.

In May 2004 as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, world-renowned soprano Jessye Norman chose Platts from 26 candidates worldwide to be her protégée. Since then Platts has had the honor of mentoring with Norman.

With the generous support of Rolex, Platts recently commissioned a new work for mezzo-soprano and orchestra

from renowned Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich. Under the Watchful Sky comprises three songs of ancient Chinese texts from Shi Jing (The Book of Songs) that explore the universal passions and tribulations of human kind.

During past seasons, Platts has performed at Teatro alla Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. She also has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra, l’Orchestre de Paris, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, American Symphony Orchestra and at the Oregon Bach Festival.

She has recorded Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde for Fontec Records with Gary Bertini conducting the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, a CD of dramatic sacred art songs with pianist Dalton Baldwin, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Smithsonian Chamber Players and Santa Fe Pro Musica for Dorian Records and Brahms Zwei Gesänge with Steven Dann and Lambert Orkis on the ATMA label.

Platts recently recorded her first solo disc of Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, also on the ATMA label.

Susan Platts most recently appeared with the BSO March 5-8, 2009, with conductor Jun Maerkl, performing Mozart’s Requiem.

Tom Hall and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society

The Baltimore Choral Arts Society, now in its 45th season, is one of Maryland’s premier cultural institutions. The Symphonic Chorus, Full Chorus, Orchestra and Chamber Chorus

30 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

perform throughout the mid-Atlantic region, as well as in Washington, D.C., New York and in Europe.

In the summer of 2007 Tom Hall led the Chorus on a three-city tour of France that included sold-out performances in Paris and Aix-en-Provence.

For the past 15 years, the ABC network affiliate in Maryland has featured Choral Arts in an hour-long special, Christmas with Choral Arts. On local radio, Hall hosts Choral Arts Classics, a monthly program on WYPR that features the Choral Arts Chorus and Orchestra.

Choral Arts has appeared with the National Symphony and has made regular appearances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Acclaimed artists collaborating with Choral Arts have included Chanticleer, Dave Brubeck, and Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Hall has added more than 100 new works to Choral Arts’ repertoire, and he has premiered works by contemporary composers including Peter Schickele, Libby Larsen, Robert Sirota, James Lee III and Rosephanye Dunn Powell.

Program Notes Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection”

Gustav Mahler Born in Kalischt, Bohemia, July 7, 1860; died in Vienna, May 18, 1911

“Never again will I attain such depths and heights. ... One can create only once or twice in a lifetime works on such a grand subject.” Thus commented Gustav Mahler to a friend about his Symphony No. 2 some six years after its premiere. By that time, 1900, he had already produced two mighty sequels in his Symphony nos. 3 and 4, but he still believed deeply in the uniqueness of this monumental work. At its premiere in Berlin on Dec. 13, 1894, it had been his first great popular success. He would choose it for his farewell concert in Vienna in 1907, before leaving for America, and for his first concerts with the New York Symphony in 1908. “The whole thing sounds as though it came to us from some other world,” he said

Saturday, September 17, 2011, 8 p.m.

after first hearing an orchestra perform it. “And I think there is no one who can resist it. One is battered to the ground and then raised on angels’ wings to the highest heights.”

Nicknamed, though not by Mahler, “Resurrection” because its finale incorporates words from the “Resurrection Ode” by the 18th-century German poet Friedrich Klopstock, this work was the first in which Mahler tried to answer through symphonic means the big questions that tormented him throughout his all-too-brief life. Conductor Bruno Walter, a close friend of the composer, remembered Mahler’s musing over them in his presence: “From where do we come? To where does our road take us? ... What is the object of toil and sorrow?

How am I to understand the cruelty and malice in the creations of a kind God? Will the meaning of life be finally revealed by death?” In each of his symphonies from the No. 2 on, Mahler wrestled with these cosmic questions, arriving at different answers. In No. 2, he embraced the Christian promise of resurrection.

(Though born a Jew, Mahler converted to Catholicism in adulthood.)

No. 2 began its slow gestation in 1888 when Mahler was completing his Symphony No. 1. At that time, he composed a large work called Todtenfeier (“Funeral Rites”), originally intended to be an independent symphonic poem.

When his Symphony No. 1 was poorly received, he set aside orchestral composing for several years, instead concentrating on his burgeoning career as one of Europe’s most gifted operatic conductors. But by 1893 when he had become principal conductor of the Hamburg Opera, his creative juices were flowing again. For that summer he found an idyllic retreat: the village of Steinbacham-Attersee in Austria’s glorious Salzkammergut district of mountain-girt lakes. In such beautiful surroundings, Mahler experienced one of his most productive summers: composing the second and third movements of the symphony, for which the revised Todtenfeier would be the first movement. He also turned one of his previously composed songs, Urlicht (“Primal Light”), based on poetry

from the German folk anthology Des Knaben Wunderhorn (“The Youth’s Magic Horn”), into the sweetly childlike fourth movement.

At summer’s end as he returned to his duties in Hamburg, Mahler knew he wanted to cap his symphony with a choral finale in the manner of Beethoven’s No. 9. But what text would be worthy? The composer ransacked books of poetry and philosophy that winter. On March 29, 1894 he attended the funeral in Vienna of the renowned conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow, who had championed Mahler’s conducting career, while remaining unmoved by his compositions. (“If that is still music then I do not understand a single thing about music,” he sputtered when Mahler played Todtenfeier for him on the piano.) During the service the composer had an epiphany. As he recalled, “All of a sudden the choir... intoned Klopstock’s Auferstehn [‘Resurrection Ode’]. It was as if I had been struck by lightning; everything suddenly rose before me clearly! Such is the flash for which the creator waits.”

When Mahler returned to Steinbach in the summer, he had already sketched some of the enormous finale—at 35 minutes it is longer than most complete symphonies—that closes with Klopstock’s radiant words sung by chorus with soprano and alto soloists. And waiting for him on a peninsula jutting out into the Attersee was the first of his Spartan one-room composing cottages, built to his specifications during the spring. On three sides, its windows framed lovely vistas of water and mountains. But they always remained closed, so that no sound from the outside world would disturb his inner music. “I’m surrounded by nothing but flowers and birds which I see but don’t hear,” he exulted in a letter to a friend. No. 2’s finale was swiftly finished. Mahler chose only to use the first two stanzas of Klopstock’s Ode, adding several stanzas of his own, beginning with “O glaube”— “O believe, my heart!”—which make Klopstock’s universal statement of faith into something much more personal and passionate.

Listening to the Music The 1890s was the age of the giant orchestra, epitomized by Richard Strauss’ brilliant tone poems. Nevertheless the “Resurrection” Symphony calls for even more instruments than was Mahler’s generous norm: 10 horns and 10 trumpets (some positioned offstage), an enormous percussion arsenal staffed by two timpanists and five other players, two harps, an organ for the final moments, plus a very large mixed chorus and two soloists. For this is the most dramatic—one could even say cinematic—of Mahler’s symphonies, showing the composer’s experience in the world of opera at every turn. It begins with the death of the protagonist—Mahler identified him as the hero of Symphony No. 1, but he is also everyman who faces the certainty of extinction—and closes with what Mahler scholar Henry-Louis de La Grange calls “a huge apocalyptic fresco of doomsday.” Yet amid the sonic onslaughts—including several of the most pulverizing passages in the symphonic literature—there are far more moments of great subtlety, using just a handful of players. As a conductor of genius, Mahler knew the capacities of instruments inside out; the orchestra, rather than the piano or violin, was his virtuoso instrument.

After the fact Mahler devised several programs to explain the extra-musical ideas and events inspiring the music. But he was concerned that they might be taken too literally. Echoing Beethoven about his “Pastoral” Symphony, he wrote: “The original aim of this work was never to describe an event in detail; rather it concerns a feeling. Its spiritual message is clearly expressed in the words of the final chorus. ... I have imagined in certain passages something like the dramatic performance of a real event. ... Yet I ask no one to follow me along this track, and I leave the interpretation of details to the imagination of each individual listener.”

Nevertheless, Mahler’s programs are often illuminating, and excerpts will be quoted along with the movement descriptions.

In C minor of movement one is the first of the great funeral marches that reappear throughout Mahler’s symphonies.

Faster in tempo, however, than a conventional dirge, this one is full of youthful

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 31

Saturday, September 17, 2011, 8 p.m.

energy and audacity: Mahler’s fierce protest against death’s apparent finality. Under a ferocious string tremolo, a growling principal theme—full of gruff scales, angular dotted rhythms and lumbering triplets—is proclaimed by unison cellos and basses; it will haunt this entire movement, often as a rumbling accompaniment. Oboes and English horn reverse this downward trend into an ascending fanfare idea that sets the march’s tone of heroic resistance.

Countering the grimness, the violins offer a message of hope, a lovely melody that yearns upward to the light: This is the movement’s other important theme.

Also listen for an optimistic brass chorale: It is the first hint of the finale’s Resurrection theme.

This march music builds to a big climax, then subsides into a massive two-part development section. A new pastoral theme led by oboes appears here: a remembrance of life’s sweetness. The reality of death returns with crushing force as the second phase of the development opens with an explosion of sound from the battery of drums and the gong. Ultimately, this section ends in catastrophe: an ear-splitting scream of dissonant chords ending in two shattering thunderclaps. After the recapitulation of the opening music, the closing coda is quiet and fragmented.

But Mahler adds a last theatrical gesture of destruction: a huge, chromatically descending scale by the full orchestra.

So utterly different is the second movement, Andante, that Mahler asked for a considerable pause to be taken after the first movement. In his program, he explains: “The second and third movements are conceived as an interlude.

The second is a memory—a shaft of sunlight from out of the life of this hero.

It has surely happened to you, that you have followed a loved one to the grave, and... there suddenly arose the image of a long-dead hour of happiness... you could almost forget what has just happened.”

This happy memory takes the form of a graceful Austrian ländler dance, lightly scored and without a shadow.

The third movement is a more disturbing interlude: the first of Mahler’s

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director, Harvey M. and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Chair Jack Everly, Principal Pops Conductor Yuri Temirkanov, Music Director Emeritus Lee Mills, BSO-Peabody Bruno Walter Assistant Conductor First Violins Jonathan Carney Concertmaster, Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Chair Madeline Adkins Associate Concertmaster, Wilhelmina Hahn Waidner Chair Igor Yuzefovich Assistant Concertmaster Yasuoki Tanaka James Boehm Kenneth Goldstein Wonju Kim Gregory Kuperstein Mari Matsumoto John Merrill Gregory Mulligan Rebecca Nichols Ellen Orner E. Craig Richmond Ellen Pendleton Troyer Andrew Wasyluszko Second Violins Qing Li Principal, E. Kirkbride and Ann H. Miller Chair Ivan Stefanovic Assistant Principal Leonid Berkovich Leonid Briskin Julie Parcells Christina Scroggins Wayne C. Taylor James Umber Charles Underwood Melissa Zaraya Rui Du** Violas Richard Field Principal, Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone Chair Noah Chaves Associate Principal Peter Minkler Assistant Principal

Karin Brown Sharon Pineo Myer Delmar Stewart Jeffrey Stewart Mary Woehr Cellos Dariusz Skoraczewski Principal Chang Woo Lee Associate Principal Bo Li Susan Evans Seth Low Esther Mellon Kristin Ostling* Paula SkolnickChildress 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

diabolical scherzos. It begins innocently enough with the music of a comical Wunderhorn song, “St. Anthony Preaching to the Fishes,” that Mahler composed simultaneously in 1893. But in Mahler, humor and tragedy were close companions.

The aggressive trio section, led by brass,

32 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Clarinets Steven Barta Principal, Anne Adalman Goodwin Chair Christopher Wolfe Assistant Principal William Jenken Edward Palanker Bass Clarinet Edward Palanker E-flat Clarinet Christopher Wolfe Bassoons Julie Green Gregorian Acting Principal Fei Xie Contrabassoon David P. Coombs Horns Philip Munds Principal, USF&G Foundation Chair Gabrielle Finck Associate Principal Beth Graham* Assistant Principal Mary C. Bisson Bruce Moore Trumpets Andrew Balio Principal, Harvey M. and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Chair Rene Hernandez Assistant Principal Ryan Darla** Trombones Christopher Dudley Principal, Alex. Brown & Sons Chair James Olin Co-Principal John Vance

Bass Trombone Randall S. Campora Tuba David T. Fedderly Principal Timpani Dennis Kain Principal Christopher Williams Assistant Principal Percussion Christopher Williams Principal, Lucille Schwilck Chair John Locke Brian Prechtl Piano Sidney M. and Miriam Friedberg Chair Jonathan Jensen Mary Woehr Director of Orchestra Personnel Marilyn Rife Assistant Personnel Manager Christopher Monte Librarians Mary Carroll Plaine Principal, Constance A. and Ramon F. Getzov Chair Raymond Kreuger Associate Stage Personnel Ennis Seibert Stage Manager Frank Serruto Stagehand Todd Price Electrician Larry Smith Sound *on leave ** Guest musican

undermines the humor, and when the whirling scherzo returns, it has become fiercer, more dissonant and altogether unhinged. The trio’s second appearance pushes matters over the edge, culminating in a shattering “cry of despair,” in Mahler’s words. “To someone who has

Saturday, September 17, 2011, 8 p.m.

lost himself and his happiness, the world seems crazy and confused, as if deformed by a concave mirror. The scherzo ends with the fearful scream of a soul that has experienced this torture.”

Over the shuddering gong that closes this nightmare, emerges, without pause, Mahler’s purest, most untroubled vision: the song Urlicht, sung by the alto soloist.

Mahler asks the singer to use “the tone and vocal expression of a child who thinks he is in heaven.” The music and the message of trusting faith are as sincere and uncomplicated as the scherzo was cynical and despairing.

But such serenity is premature, and the finale opens with a reprise of the “cry of despair” from the third movement.

This music returns us to the drama of the first movement and its implicit questions: What is the meaning of life, of death? It unfolds in a series of vivid musical-dramatic tableaux. We hear distant horn calls from another world.

The brass chorale theme from the first movement returns, now clearly based on

the old Gregorian “Dies irae” chant that obsessed so many composers. But here it is most apt, for the Day of Judgment is truly upon us. A solo trombone, then trumpet, sound the Resurrection theme.

Flutes and English horn introduce an anguished, fearful theme that will also reappear. In one of the most stunning moments in any Mahler score, a great crescendo of drums depicts the earth cracking open to yield its dead.

A huge and surprisingly jaunty march now begins. Mahler: “The dead arise and march forth in endless procession.

The great and the small of the earth, the kings and the beggars, the just and the godless, all press forward. The cry for mercy and forgiveness sounds fearful in our ears.” In a strange passage, Mahler juxtaposes the anguished theme against a distant band playing incongruously upbeat music. A distant series of brass fanfares, which Mahler called the “Grosser Appel” or the “Last Trump,” sounds across the empty planet. In another spine-tingling moment we hear

the “Bird of Death” (flute and piccolo) crying out: the last sound of Earth.

The next sound issues from another world. It is the softest, most haunting of all choral entrances as the choir intones the Resurrection theme and Klopstock’s words: “Rise again, yea, thou shalt rise again.” Now with Mahler’s own words, the alto soloist, then the soprano, transform the anguished theme into joy: “Oh believe, my heart... Thou were not born in vain.” With bells and organ pealing, all the assembled forces proclaim Mahler’s triumphant if provisional answer to life’s riddle: “With wings, which I have won me, I shall soar upwards, I shall die, to live!”

Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2011

The BSO most recently performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 on June 8-11, 2006, with Music Director Yuri Temirkanov and guest artists Janice Chandler-Eteme, Nancy Maltsby, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Morgan State University Choir and Choral Arts Society of Washington.

A community must have music! Without it, there is no song, no dance, no harmony.

Maryland | Washington, DC | Virginia www.eaglebankcorp.com | 301.986.1800 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 33

Saturday, September 24, 2011, 8 p.m.

Saturday, SEPTEMBER 24, 2011, 8 p.m.

● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director

presents

Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Marin Alsop, conductor Alisa Weilerstein, cello Chuphshah! Harriet’s Drive to Canaan* *Commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, Music Director

Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 Allegro

James Lee III (1975- )

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

Adagio ma non troppo Finale: Allegro moderato Alisa Weilerstein INTERMISSION Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique”

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Adagio - Allegro non troppo Allegro con grazia Allegro molto vivace Finale: Adagio lamentoso The Music Center at Strathmore The concert will end at approximately 10:10 PM.

For Marin Alsop’s bio, please see page 29.

Alisa Weilerstein, cello

American cellist Alisa Weilerstein has attracted widespread attention for playing that combines a natural virtuosic command and technical precision with impassioned musicianship. The intensity of her

playing has regularly been lauded, as has the spontaneity and sensitivity of her interpretations. Following her Zankel Hall recital debut in 2008, Justin Davidson of New York Magazine said: “Whatever she plays sounds custom-composed for her, as if she has a natural affinity with everything.”

A major highlight of Weilerstein’s 2009-10 season was performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Daniel Barenboim in Oxford, England, for the

34 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

orchestra’s 2010 European concert.

This concert was televised live worldwide, broadcast on the BBC and will be released on DVD. This performance, which followed her Berliner Philharmoniker debut with Barenboim days earlier, was described

by Tom Service of The Guardian as “…the most technically complete and emotionally devastating performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto that I have ever heard live …” Weilerstein also performed this concerto in August at her Edinburgh International Festival debut with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä.

In November 2009 Weilerstein was one of four artists selected to participate in a White House classical music event that included student workshops hosted

by First Lady Michelle Obama and playing for guests including President Obama and the first family. In December 2009 she was the soloist on a tour of Venezuela with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, led by Gustavo Dudamel. In May 2010, she made her L.A. Philharmonic debut with Dudamel performing the Dvořák Cello Concerto.

In August 2010, she made her BBC Proms debut with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä performing Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, and she performed this work on a 14city tour with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic led by Yuri Temirkanov and Nikolai Alexeev. This tour included concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall.

Other highlights of Weilerstein’s 2010-11 season included: performing recitals with pianist Inon Barnatan at London’s Wigmore Hall, and in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center; performing with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester, led by Matthias Pintscher in Berlin; playing Matthias Pintscher’s Reflections on Narcissus with the Tonhalle Orchestra and Pintscher in Zurich; three recitals with

Saturday, September 24, 2011, 8 p.m.

singer/songwriter Gabriel Kahane of a new song cycle for cello and piano, composed by Kahane and based on a poem by Galway Kinnell; performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with pianist Jeremy Denk, violinist Chee Yun and conductor Marek Janowski with the San Francisco Symphony; and making her debuts with the National Orchestra of Spain, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra performing Osvaldo Golijov’s Azul.

Weilerstein has been continually engaged as a soloist by orchestras across the United States, including the Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, L.A. Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, the Seattle Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, among others.

In Europe, she has performed with the Barcelona Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, Bournemouth Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, Hallé Orchestra, Leipziger Bachkollegium, NDR Hamburg, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Lyon, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

In addition to her appearances as a soloist, Weilerstein performs regularly as a chamber musician. She has been part of a core group of musicians at the Spoleto Festival USA for the past seven years and she also performs with her parents, Donald and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, as the Weilerstein Trio, which is the trio-in-residence at the New England Conservatory in Boston.

In December 2010, Weilerstein gave her first public performance under the baton of her younger brother and the winner of the 2009 Malko Competition for Young Conductors, Joshua Weilerstein, with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra in Sweden.

In 2008, Weilerstein was awarded

Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal prize for exceptional achievement, and she was named the winner of the 2006 Leonard Bernstein Award.

She received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2000 and was selected for two prestigious young artists programs in 2000-01—the ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization) Rising Stars recital series and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln. Weilerstein also recorded a CD for EMI Classics’ Debut series in 2000.

Weilerstein’s love for the cello began when she was just 2 and a half, after her grandmother assembled a makeshift set of instruments out of cereal boxes to entertain her when she was ill with the chicken pox. Weilerstein, who was born in 1982, was instantly drawn to the Rice Krispies box cello, but soon grew frustrated that it didn’t make a sound. After convincing her parents to buy her a real cello when she was 4, she showed a natural affinity for the instrument and performed her first public concert six months later. Her Cleveland Orchestra debut was in October 1995 at age 13, playing the Tchaikovsky “Rococo” Variations. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony in March 1997.

Weilerstein is a graduate of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Weiss and was appointed artist-in-residence in August 2009.

In May 2004, she graduated from Columbia University in New York with a degree in Russian history.

In November 2008 Weilerstein, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 9, was made a celebrity advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She meets with members of the local chapters of JDRF when she tours with the aim of demonstrating to young people that living with and managing diabetes does not stop you from doing anything you want to do.

Alisa Weilerstein most recently appeared with the BSO June 7-10, 2007, with Music Director Marin Alsop,

performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

Program Notes Chuphshah! Harriet’s Drive to Canaan

James Lee III Born in Benton Harbor, Mich., Nov. 26, 1975; now living in Baltimore

Tonight’s program brings the world premiere of a work with an arresting title: Chuphshah! Harriet’s Drive to Canaan.

“Harriet,” of course, is Harriet Tubman, the great abolitionist born in Maryland who personally led hundreds of slaves to freedom before the Civil War and powerfully advocated for African American rights before and after emancipation.

She is the first of the strong women whom we will be meeting in music this season.

Lee recalls that, in offering the BSO commission, Marin Alsop specifically asked him for a piece about Tubman.

The 35-year-old Lee juggles juggles a busy schedule of creative work alongside serving as associate professor of composition and theory at Morgan State University. Raised in Benton Harbor, Mich., he began composing at age 16, and after studies in piano at Andrews University, he went on to earn three degrees in music at the University of Michigan. Two highly eclectic composers directed his graduate studies there: William Bolcom for his M.A. and Michael Daugherty for his Ph.D. Lee also studied at the Boston Symphony’s Tanglewood Institute and in 2003 received the Charles Ives prize for music composition from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Lee’s doctoral dissertation was a large-scale work for orchestra Beyond Rivers of Vision, which was chosen by Leonard Slatkin for performances with the National Symphony in 2006. This piece was highly praised by both Tim Smith, music critic for The Baltimore Sun, and Tim Page, former critic for The Washington Post. Smith extolled its “brilliant sound” and a “sonic richness [that] never lets up.”

The composer has provided this detailed introduction to Chuphshah:

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Saturday, September 24, 2011, 8 p.m.

“Chuphshah! Harriet’s Drive to Canaan is a 12-minute work based on various aspects of the life of Harriet Tubman.

‘Chuphshah’ is the biblical Hebrew word for freedom; specifically, it is freedom from slavery. Canaan refers to the northern free states of America or even as far north as Canada, which would have been the ‘promised land’ for the slaves.

“As Chuphshah begins, it appears that one is witnessing a scene of action already in progress. The brass and strings open with an ascending pattern accented by percussion instruments. This is immediately followed by the sound of a marimba representing an escape to freedom by night. As the work continues, there are various scenes in Harriet Tubman’s life that I have tried to musically capture. Identifying Harriet with the English horn, I have tried to capture some of the emotions she may have felt after she first escaped from slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The sadness and longing she felt for her family prompted her to return several times to dangerous slave territory in Maryland and the Deep South in pursuit of family members and other slaves.

“Throughout the work, there are various quotes of Negro spiritual melodies.

Harriet Tubman used to announce her presence among slaves by singing ‘Go Down Moses.’ Another common tune they would have sung was ‘Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd.’ Other songs that are partially quoted are ‘I Wish I Was in Dixie’s Land’ and the ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’; these tunes appear as opposing melodies that are harmonized in various ways as they reappear.

“As the Civil War continues to be bitterly fought, these melodies continue to struggle against each other as the music portrays a battle in the war and more specifically Harriet Tubman’s experience in Troy, N.Y., where she helps a man named Charles Nalle escape to freedom. Much of the orchestra is involved in the battle, which ends with the death of the ‘Dixie’ tune and bitingly dissonant chords in the orchestra.

“As the work nears its end, violins and oboe sing the last part of the ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’: ‘His truth is

marching on.’ This is followed by a quasi brass fanfare with the entire orchestra, which suggests the full military funeral ceremony that was given for Harriet Tubman at her death.”

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B Minor, Op. 104

Antonín Dvořák Born in Nelahozeves, Bohemia (now Czech Republic), Sept. 8, 1841; died in Prague, May 1, 1904

Dvořák’s two most popular orchestral works—the “New World” Symphony and the Cello Concerto—were both “made in America” during the three years the composer spent as director of the National Conservatory in New York City. But while the symphony partly draws its inspiration “from the New World,” the concerto is definitely “from the Old World.” In fact, many commentators hear in this work an expression of Dvořák’s homesickness for his beloved Bohemia. In a letter to his mentor and friend Johannes Brahms, written from New York in December 1894 as he was composing this work, Dvořák alluded to his yearning for Bohemia: “I left five children in Prague, and my only boy Otakar and my wife are here, and so we are often homesick. If I can write something, that is the only recovery for me.”

The composer had been lured to America by Jeannette Thurber, a passionate arts patron and wife of a multimillionaire grocery magnate. A visionary who had already launched an opera company producing opera in English, she now created a conservatory in New York City that was intended to launch an American school of composition and train talented musicians of all backgrounds, with special attention to African Americans. She offered Dvořák the princely sum of $15, 000 per annum (around a quarter of a million in today’s dollars) to head the National Conservatory and teach its advanced composition students. For three seasons from 1892 to 1895, the composer spent most of his time in New York and threw himself wholeheartedly into the task.

But by late 1894 Dvořák was longing

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to return home. The Czech cellist Hanuš Wihan had been begging Dvořák for a concerto, and when the composer heard Victor Herbert—a prominent cellist before he became the toast of Broadway— play his new Cello Concerto No. 2 with the New York Philharmonic, inspiration struck. In November 1894 he began his Cello Concerto, and by Feb. 9, 1895 the score was largely completed. One of his masterpieces, it remains today perhaps the greatest of all cello concertos.

The first movement opens mysteriously and with barely suppressed excitement, as clarinets (one of the signature instruments of this work) and other woodwinds murmur the principal theme; this quickly builds to a fortissimo declaration by the violins. The second major theme, a marvelous, flowing melody with a touch of sentimentality, is introduced a few moments later by the solo horn.

After the orchestra’s exposition, the soloist enters with a very grand statement of the principal theme underscored by bold triple-stopped chords.

The development section of this sonata-form movement is striking, in that, instead of being a dramatic working out of thematic fragments, it centers on a lengthy slower-tempo version of the principal theme by the cellist and solo flute in haunting duet. Here, Dvořák explores the darker, more introspective side of his hitherto extroverted theme.

The orchestra wakens us from this reverie with a forceful recapitulation of the second theme. The movement comes to a glorious close, ringing with brass fanfares, that begs for applause.

The slow movement stresses the cello’s ability to sing with the pathos and feeling of the human voice. Its heart is a poignant central section for the soloist and woodwind companions, introduced by four stormy orchestral measures.

Here we are listening to a paraphrase of Dvořák’s song “Leave Me Alone” of 1887. The composer had just learned of the serious illness of his wife’s elder sister, Josefina Kaunitzová, and this quote from a favorite song of hers pays tribute to an old love. In the 1860s Josefina, a beautiful young actress, had come with her sister Anna for piano lessons with Dvořák.

Saturday, September 24, 2011, 8 p.m.

The composer fell hopelessly in love with her, but as there was no reciprocation, he—like Mozart with his Constanze— married the younger sister.

Shortly after Dvořák returned to Bohemia in the spring of 1895, Josefina died. The composer returned to his nearly completed concerto and appended a remarkable grieving epilogue to its finale. This rondo-form movement begins merrily, though, with a vivacious rondo refrain, jingling with triangle. But there are more bittersweet moments here than one usually finds in concerto finales, including an impassioned duet for the cello with solo violin. As the movement seems to be drawing to a close, it flows instead into the epilogue in which we hear a wistful reminiscence of the first movement’s theme and of Josefina’s song from the second. Then, Dvořák pulls himself together and delivers a fast, electric finish.

The BSO most recently performed Dvořák’s Cello Concerto Feb. 26-28, 2009, with Peter Oundjian, conductor, and cellist Daniel Mueller-Schott.

Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, “Pathétique”

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Born in Votkinsk, Russia, May 7, 1840; died in St. Petersburg, Russia, Nov. 6, 1893

Tchaikovsky’s last and greatest symphony, the “Pathétique,” with its dark and death-haunted first and last movements, and its extraordinary highs and lows, epitomizes its creator. And Tchaikovsky seemed to know this as he completed it in August 1893. “I definitely think it is by far the best and in particular… the most sincere of all my pieces. I love it as I have never loved any other of my musical children,” he wrote to his nephew and the piece’s dedicatee, Vladimir “Bob” Davydov.

With its dying finale—unprecedented for a symphony at this time, though it would be much copied afterward— the symphony mostly bewildered the St. Petersburg audience at its premiere under the composer’s baton on Oct. 28, 1893. But eight days later, Tchaikovsky suddenly died of cholera

(though rumors of suicide persist to this day), and this eerie coincidence with a work that seemed to foretell his own death vaulted the “Pathétique” into a fame it has never lost.

However, as the composer began this work in February 1893, he was probably thinking of death—always a morbid obsession with him—only as a fearful abstraction. The last year of his life was a good one. He was enjoying his international fame—earning an honorary Ph.D. from Cambridge University. And his Symphony No. 6 came to him in an uncharacteristic flood of inspiration (Tchaikovsky usually struggled with his symphonies).

The first movement was sketched in just four days.

Tchaikovsky admitted there was a non-musical program inspiring this work, but he would never reveal its identity. “Let them try and guess it!… The theme of it is full of subjective feeling, so much so that as I was mentally composing it… I frequently shed tears.” As the work was about to be published, Tchaikovsky told his brother Modest it needed a subtitle.

Modest suggested “Tragic,” but his brother shook his head. Then Modest came up with the French word “Pathétique.” It is a misleading title to English-speakers because the English “pathetic” suggests inadequate or feeble, which this work most certainly is not. However, the corresponding French and Russian words relate more closely to its Greek origin “pathos,” carrying the more appropriate meaning of “suffering.”

First movement: Out of the sepulchral tones of low strings emerges a lone bassoon, like the voice of death, which tries languidly to launch the first theme, but cannot. As the tempo finally increases to Allegro, the divided violas deliver the full theme in the home key of B minor; it is aggressive yet nervous and rich in developmental possibilities. More memorable is the second theme, introduced by muted violins and cellos; it is one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous melodies, full of Romantic yearning. Suddenly

the dramatic development bursts on us fortissimo. The frenzy subsides briefly for a brass chorale, intoning the Russian Orthodox funeral chant “With the Saints,” and closes with a passionately tragic passage for the brass. This emotional roller coaster of a movement concludes with a simple but powerful brass coda over descending pizzicato strings.

Tchaikovsky adored the ballet; it was his ideal escape from dark thoughts. And that’s exactly how the second movement’s waltz intermezzo acts here: It is an oasis of peace and beauty in the midst of suffering. But it is a strange limping waltz in 5/4 time, instead of the usual 3/4. And its middle trio section features a rather intense violin theme that unsettles the waltz’s gaiety.

Third movement: If death can’t be beaten back with a waltz, Tchaikovsky next tries a boisterous march. However, first we hear nervously flickering scherzo music, with the oboe and brass peeping through with the march theme. This edgy scherzo continues to undercut the confident sound of the march.

Exposing the falsity of the march’s triumph, the opening of the finale provides one of the most jarring emotional contrasts in all symphonic music. In a slow tempo, the strings cry out a theme of utter despair. They are joined by the deathly partner from the first movement, the bassoon. A second theme for the violins seems initially gentler and more consoling, but it too rises to a shout of anguish. The first theme returns, its bitter cry now underscored by the harsh, ugly sound of stopped horns—a musical representation of what Tchaikovsky called “the snub-nose reptile” of death. The last moments of the symphony graphically portray the process of dying, as a heartbeat pedal gradually weakens and the orchestra drops to cellos and basses, then fades into silence.

Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2011 The BSO most recently performed Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 Nov. 21-23, 2008, with Marin Alsop, conductor.

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Friday, September 30, 2011, 8 p.m.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2011, 8 p.m.

● Strathmore Presents

Madeleine Peyroux Nellie McKay to open Madeleine Peyroux, vocals and guitar Gary Versace, keyboards Barak Mori, bass Darren Beckett, drums Shane Theriot, guitar Leslie Charbon, tour manager The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Madeleine Peyroux

Renowned for her interpretive song skills, vocalist Madeleine Peyroux followed her creative muse on 2009’s Bare Bones by challenging herself to write a full album of her own compositions. With her latest release, Standing on the Rooftop, she delves deeper into her reinvention, not only writing the bulk of the songs, but pushing past any preconceived notions about her music and daring herself to expand her sonic template.

“I wanted to explore some new sounds,” said Peyroux, best known for her stunning, gold-certified 2004 album, Careless Love. “That would be the most exciting thing that I could think of as a musician. I’ve been recording my voice

and my guitar together long enough to know this was not the limit.”

Peyroux, who was named Best International Jazz Artist at the BBC Jazz Awards, has lost none of her compelling ability to reinvent a lyric and give it soul-shaking meaning through her intricately nuanced vocal shadings. But she’s broadened her musical palette with Standing on the Rooftop, embracing an organic, American roots sound.

Standing on the Rooftop, her fifth solo album, encompasses a wide spectrum from the lulling, gentle “Lay Your Sleeping Head, My Love” (adapted from the W.H. Auden poem of the same name), and the stunning, spare “Super Hero” to the clever, whimsical “Don’t Pick a Fight with a Poet.”

Peyroux, who took much of 2010 off from touring in order to compose, found it easier to flex her writing muscles this go-round. “I felt like Bare Bones was a first crack,” she said. “I was very intent on what it was supposed to mean, and I wasn’t always sure that I got the mean-

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ing across. I think on these songs I made a conscious effort to pay attention to simplicity in the songwriting.”

Peyroux wrote solo, as well as with a number of collaborators, including former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman. The two met when he approached Peyroux at a jazz festival in Nice, France. “He was at the festival to see B.B. King,” she recalls. “He said ‘I’m a fan of yours. I have all the records.’ And I was actually quite stunned.”

That meeting turned into their writing together in London for a week. “I went to see him every day. We worked on a big handful of songs. There were moments that were like, ‘I’m sitting here with a former Rolling Stone!’ when he was telling me stories, but he’s incredibly downto-earth and humble and so very kind.

He had a lot of tea; I had a lot of coffee.”

Their caffeine-fueled writing sessions yielded the deliciously funky “The Kind You Can’t Afford.”

Her originals stand shoulder to shoulder with a handful of cannily selected covers.

In addition to “Love in Vain,” the album includes a wistful take on Bob Dylan’s “I Threw It All Away” and a banjo-laden twist on The Beatles’ “Martha My Dear.”

Earlier this year, Peyroux entered a New York studio with producer Craig Street, best known for his work with k.d. lang, Norah Jones and Cassandra Wilson.

The pair stripped away how she had been conceived of in the past and pushed the limits of her sound. To realize her vision, Peyroux and Street brought in musicians renowned in their own right as artists, including guitarist Marc Ribot and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello. The core unit also included drummer Charley Drayton, keyboardist John Kirby and guitarist Christopher Bruce.

Now, Peyroux is eager to take the songs from the studio to the street, fully aware from her past experience that this new music passes her stringent litmus test.

“Because I was a cover artist first and foremost for a long time, the main job was finding a repertoire that really does need to answer some of these personal characteristics: Can you inhabit this character in this song? Can you be part of it? And can you be on stage and live this song no matter when or where?” she said.

Friday, September 30, 2011, 8 p.m.

Nellie McKay

LIVE PLAY SHOP DINE BE

high, low.

Look and

You won’t find better.

Her music is as tuneful and clever as the best of the Great American Songbook— part cabaret, part sparkly pop. But beneath the charming melodic surface is a sharp wit and an acute social conscience.

“McKay is funny and touching, ceaselessly clever and scarily talented,” writes the New Yorker.

McKay’s most recent album, Home Sweet Mobile Home, features the musical wanderlust, lyrical playfulness and unique point of view that have characterized her music since her breakthrough debut Get Away From Me. She won a Theatre World Award for her portrayal of Polly Peachum in the Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, appeared in the film PS I Love You and wrote original music for the Rob Reiner film Rumor Has It. She has written for the New York Times Book Review, and her music has been heard on Weeds, Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS and Nurse Jackie. She also has appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, The View, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and CBS Saturday Morning.

Last July, The Chase Brock Experience produced a ballet of McKay’s third album, Obligatory Villagers. She currently appears opposite violin prodigy Philippe Quint in the independent film Downtown Express and has recently contributed to the soundtrack for the Martin Scorsese HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

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Saturday, October 1, 2011, 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 2, 2011, 3 p.m.

● National Philharmonic Piotr Gajewski, Music Director and Conductor Stan Engebretson, National Philharmonic Chorale Artistic Director presents

Corigliano’s Red Violin Concerto Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 JoAnn Falletta, conductor Michael Ludwig, violin Esther Heideman, soprano Patricia Miller, mezzo-soprano John Aler, tenor Kevin Deas, bass National Philharmonic Chorale The Red Violin Concerto John Corigliano Chaconne (1938- ) Scherzo: Pianissimo Andante Flautando Finale: Accelerando INTERMISSION Symphony No. 9 Ludwig van Beethoven Allegro ma non troppo, (1770-1827) un poco maestoso Scherzo: Molto vivace - Presto Molto vivace Adagio molto e cantabile Andante Moderato - Tempo Primo Andante Moderato - Adagio Lo Stesso Tempo Allegro assai Weekend Concerts Program Sponsor: Ameriprise Financial Sunday Concert Presenting Sponsor: Ingleside at King Farm Event Sponsor: Bopper Deyton and Jeff Levi, in honor of their 25th anniversary.

All Kids, All Free, All The Time is sponsored by The Gazette and TD Charitable Foundation.

The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

40 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

JoAnn Falletta, conductor Acclaimed by The New York Times as “one of the finest conductors of her generation,” JoAnn Falletta serves as the music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

Falletta has been invited to guest conduct many of the world’s finest symphony orchestras. She will be making an unprecedented number of international conducting appearances this season, including performances in Northern Ireland, Israel, Poland and Germany. She has guest conducted more than 100 orchestras in North America.

Falletta serves on the National Council on the Arts and is the recipient of many of the most prestigious conducting awards. Hailing her as a “leading force for the music of our time,” ASCAP has honored her with 10 awards. This season, she conducted her 100th world premiere.

Michael Ludwig, violinist

Hailed by The Strad magazine for his “effortless, envy-provoking technique… sweet tone, brilliant expression and grand style,” Michael Ludwig enjoys a multi-faceted career as a soloist, recording artist and chamber musician. A highly sought-after soloist, he has performed on four continents, including appearances with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops, Buffalo Philharmonic and the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ludwig’s critically acclaimed discography includes Corigliano’s violin concerto The Red Violin with the Buffalo Philharmonic; Dohnanyi’s Violin Concerti with the Royal Scottish Symphony; and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Virginia Symphony.

As a chamber musician, Ludwig

falletta photo by mark dellas, ludwig photo by mark dellas

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2011, 8 P.M. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2011, 3 P.M.

Saturday, October 1, 2011, 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 2, 2011, 3 p.m.

has shared the stage with Christoph Eschenbach, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Yefim Bronfman, Sarah Chang, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Leon Fleisher.

As a producer, he received a Mid-Atlantic Emmy nomination for Outstanding Live Programming.

Ludwig performs on a rare violin

by Lorenzo Storioni and a Dominique Peccatte bow.

Esther Heideman, soprano

Esther Heideman won the Licia Albanese Competition in 2000.

The next year, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut singing Pamina in Mozart’s Magic Flute. The New York Times wrote that “hearing this lively redheaded coloratura sing, it’s impossible not to think: Beverly Sills.”

She has appeared with major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, including the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; Berkshire Choral Festival; Minnesota Orchestra; the Chicago, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Cincinnati and Seattle symphonies; and the New York, Buffalo and Rotterdam philharmonics. Heideman has been featured in several world premieres, including the role of Jenny Lind in Libby Larsen’s opera Barnum’s Bird (Plymouth Music Series, Philip Brunelle conducting) and the Revelation of St. John by Daniel Schnyder (Milwaukee Symphony, Andreas Delfs conducting). Beyond her singing career, Heideman also enjoys teaching lessons and master classes and sharing her knowledge with young performers.

Patricia Miller, mezzo-soprano

Patricia Miller has appeared in leading operatic roles with the New York City Opera, Basel Opera, San Francisco Opera and Houston

Grand Opera, as well as with the opera companies of Lyon, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Berlin, Bogotá, Calgary, Paris, Miami, Los Angeles, Orange County, Dallas and Detroit. Miller has appeared as guest artist with the symphonies of Boston, Rochester, Seattle, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Haifa, the Vienna Philharmonic, Manhattan Philharmonic, and the American Symphony at Carnegie Hall. She is artist-in-residence, associate professor and director of vocal studies in the Department of Music at George Mason University.

San Diego, Utah, Houston, Baltimore and Montreal Symphonies, and at the Ravinia and Saratoga Festivals. His recent recordings include Die Meistersinger with the Chicago Symphony under the late Sir Georg Solti and Varèse’s Ecuatorial with the ASKO Ensemble under Riccardo Chailly, both on Decca/London. Other releases include Bach’s B minor Mass and Handel’s Acis and Galatea on Vox Classics and Dave Brubeck’s To Hope! with the Cathedral Choral Society on the Telarc label.

John Aler, tenor

Program Notes

John Aler has performed with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston, Chicago and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras. In Europe, he has sung with the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Orchestre National de France, the London Sinfonietta and BBC Symphony among others, as well as the major opera houses. Aler has made more than 50 recordings, three of them Grammy winners: Handel’s Semele with the English Chamber Orchestra in 1994, Bartok’s Cantata Profana with the Chicago Symphony in 1994 and Berlioz’s Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony in 1985.

Kevin Deas, bass

American bass Kevin Deas is especially celebrated for his riveting portrayal of the title role in Porgy and Bess with the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco, Atlanta,

Red Violin Concerto

John Corigliano Born in New York, Feb. 16, 1938

John Corigliano is a fertile composer who has also been an active participant in American musical life. He studied composition at Columbia University with Otto Luening and privately with Paul Creston and Vittorio Giannini. He began to make his reputation as a composer when he was only 20 years old. One of his most widely played works is his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra of 1977, which was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. He has received several Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize for his Symphony No. 2 in 2001, a Grawemeyer for his Symphony No. 1 in1991, and an Academy Award for his score to François Girard’s 1997 film The Red Violin.

Corigliano takes traditional forms such as the symphony or concerto and creates unique works, finding a distinctive language of his own with inspiration in both American composers as well those of the post-war European avant garde. “You must understand the importance of the past,” says Corigliano, “but if you don’t realize the importance of the present and the future, you don’t nourish that—and our art form does not—then it’s like a tree that grows no new shoots. Without new shoots the tree dies.”

Corigliano has written his own notes for The Red Violin Concerto.

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 41

Saturday, October 1, 2011, 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 2, 2011, 3 p.m.

“My third film score (The Red Violin) gave me an opportunity to visit my own past, for my father, John Corigliano (I was a ‘jr.’) was a great solo violinist and the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for more than a quarter of a century. My childhood years were punctuated by snatches of the great concertos being practiced by my father, as well as scales and technical exercises he used to keep in shape. Every year, he played a concerto with the Philharmonic (and in other venues), and I vividly remember the solo preparation, violin and piano rehearsals, orchestral rehearsals, and the final tension-filled concerts (where I would sit backstage in the Carnegie Hall green room, listening to my father over a small speaker while breathlessly playing the work in my head and listening to make sure everything came out all right).

“It is no wonder that the concerto form, and the violin concerto in particular, has a deep place in my heart. I have written a half dozen concerti, but this is my first one for my first love, the violin. It is an ‘in the great tradition’ kind of concerto, because I wrote it in an attempt to write the piece my father would love to play. Because he inspired it, it is dedicated to his memory.

“The event that galvanized my energies into composing this concerto was, of course, the scoring of the film The Red Violin, directed by François Girard and featuring the sublime young virtuoso Joshua Bell as the voice of the violin. Josh’s playing resembles that of my father; he is an artist in the grand tradition. No cold, clinical dissection of a work would flow from his bow.

“The story of The Red Violin is perfect for a lover of the repertoire and the instrument. It spans three centuries in the life of a magnificent but haunted violin in its travels through time and space.

“A story this episodic needed to be tied together with a single musical idea.

For this purpose I used the Baroque device of a chaconne: a repeated pattern of [seven rising] chords upon which the music is built. Against the chaconne chords I juxtaposed Anna’s theme, a lyrical yet intense melody representing the [17th-century Italian violin] builder’s doomed wife, [whose soul seemingly

enters the Red Violin]. Then, from those elements, I wove a series of virtuosic études for the solo violin that followed the instrument from country to country, century to century. I composed these elements before the actual filming, because the actors needed to mime to a recording of these works so that their hand motions would synchronize with the music. Then during the summer of 1997 while the film was being shot all over the world, I remained at home and composed the seven-minute Red Violin Chaconne. But, as a moderate-length, single-movement work, it fell into a category of works that must be paired with others to complete a soloist’s guest appearance with an orchestra. Great works like Ravel’s Tzigane or Chausson’s Poème have this same problem.

“More importantly for me, the Chaconne had given me the opportunity to strip away any inhibitions and write a passionate and romantic essay that I probably would not have written had it not been accompanying a film.

It bypassed my ‘censor button,’ I liked what I heard, and it came very naturally.

“The second movement is a fleet Pianissimo Scherzo in which the dynamics are soft, but the action is wild and colorful. I wanted to break the romantic mood of the first movement with sonoric and timbral effects that create a sparkling, effervescent energy. A central trio is distantly related to ‘Anna’s theme,’ here heard in knuckle-breaking double harmonics by the soloist—high, ethereal and dance-like.

“The third movement, Andante Flautando, starts with an intense recitativo that is more closely related to the film’s main theme, but soon gives way to a gentle rocking melody played by the soloist in an unusual manner that results in his sound changing to that of a time (hence ‘flautando’). He and the alto flute pair up as a complementary duo in this theme.

“The final movement, Accelerando Finale, … is a rollicking race in which the opposed forces of soloist and orchestra vie with each other. They each accelerate at different times and speeds, providing a virtuoso climate befitting a

42 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

last movement. Some other unusual techniques are used here: the violin (and orchestral strings) are asked to press so hard on their strings that there is not a pitch at all, just a crunch. This percussive and unusual sound provides energy, especially during the races. A major theme from the film that was not used in the Chaconne was that given to Morritz, the contemporary violin expert who discovers the mystery of the Red Violin. [Winding and twisting], it is a sadly romantic theme and becomes the lyrical counterpoint to the high spirit; of this finale, near the end of the work, the original chaconne from the first movement comes back to complete the concerto’s journey.”

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125

Ludwig van Beethoven Born in Bonn, Germany, Dec. 16, 1770; in Bonn; died in Vienna, Austria, March 26, 1827

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, a paean to the brotherhood of man and a work of great optimism, is one of the cornerstones of the history of European music. In it, Beethoven celebrates the potential of mankind. Historically, this symphony, Beethoven’s last, allowed him to look back at the demise of Napoleon and ahead with prophetic vision and sanguinity to a time of peace when, metaphorically, all men would be brothers.

The ninth symphony required a long period of gestation. Beethoven’s first eight symphonies had been produced in the 12 years that began the century, but between them and the ninth, another 12 needed to elapse. The earliest mention of what would evolve into this symphony occurred in 1793 when Beethoven announced he wanted to set Ode to Joy, by the contemporary German playwright and poet Friedrich Schiller, to music. Yet it took almost 30 years before Beethoven outlined the last movement of the symphony, using this text for a choral setting with vocal soloists and orchestra.

Beethoven’s sketchbooks evidence thoughts and actual work on this symphony as early as 1812, when the composer was still completing the previous two symphonies, and in 1815, he wrote the fugue subject for the theme that was to be the scherzo of the ninth symphony. Music

Saturday, October 1, 2011, 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 2, 2011, 3 p.m.

National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale First Violins Justine Lamb-Budge, Acting Concertmaster Jody Gatwood, Concertmaster emeritus Brenda Anna Michael Barbour Eva Cappelletti-Chao Maureen ConlonDorosh Claudia Chudacoff Lisa Cridge Doug Dubé Lysiane Gravel-Lacombe Jennifer Kim Regino Madrid Kim Miller Laura Miller Jennifer Rickard Adrian Semo Leslie Silverfine Chaerim Smith Olga Yanovich Second Violins Mayumi Pawel, Principal Katherine Budner Justin Gopal June Huang Nancy Jin Karin Kelleher Alexandra Mikhlin Joanna Owen Jean Provine Rachel Schenker Jennifer Shannon Ning Ma Shi Hilde Singer Cathy Stewart Rachael Stockton Kregg Stovner Violas Julius Wirth, Principal Judy Silverman, Associate Principal Phyllis Freeman Leonora Karasina Stephanie Knutsen Mark Pfannschmidt Margaret Prechtl Jennifer Rende Sarah Scanlon Chris Shieh Adrienne Sommerville Tam Tran Cellos Lori Barnet, Principal April Chisholm Danielle Cho Andrew Hesse Hung-Lin Lin Ryan Murphy Charlie Powers Todd Thiel Kerry Van Laanen Siri Warkentien Basses Robert Kurz, Principal Kelly Ali Jeremy Barth Barbara Fitzgerald David George William Hones Ed Malaga 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 Thomas Schneider Sandra Sisk Contrabassoon Nicholas Cohen French Horns Michael Hall, Principal Mark Wakefield Justin Drew Mark Hughes Ken Bell Trumpets Chris Gekker, Principal Robert Birch Carl Rowe Robert Hazen Trombones David Sciannella, Principal Jim Armstrong Jeffrey Cortazzo Tuba William Clark Timpani & Percussion Tom Maloy, Principal Aubrey Adams Curt Duer Robert Jenkins Gerald Novak Bill Richards Harp Rebecca Smith Elizabeth Blakeslee Keyboard William Neil Jeffery Watson Theodore Guerrant Sopranos Nancy Dryden Baker Marietta R. Balaan Mary Bentley* Rosalind Breslow Rebecca Carlson Carol Chesley Anne P. Claysmith Nancy A. Coleman** Tracy Davidson Eileen S. DeMarco Alejandra Durán-Böhme Lisa Edgley Meg Flanagan Lily Foks

Sarah B. Forman Caitlin A. Garry Kate Gordon Laura Governale Debbie Henderson Stephanie Henning Julie Hudson Jessica Holden Kloda Roslyn Lamborn Kaelyn Lowmaster Sharon Majchrzak Marianna J. Martindale Kathryn McKinley Katherine NelsonTracey* Gloria Nutzhorn Juliana S. O’Neill Kimberly Panzer Emily Perlman** Lynette Posorske Maggie Rheinstein Carlotta Richard Lisa Romano Theresa Roys Aida L. Sánchez Jessica Schmidt Katherine Schnorrenberg Kara Schoo Shelly A. Schubert Carolyn J. Sullivan Melissa Valentine Ellen van Valkenburgh Susanne Villemarette Louise M. Wager Lynne Woods Altos Helen R. Altman Sybil Amitay Lynne Stein Benzion Carol Bruno Erlinda C. Dancer Sandra L. Daughton Mary Fellman Shannon Finnegan Francesca Frey-Kim Maria A. Friedman Julia C. Friend Sarah Gilchrist Lois J. Goodstein Jacque Grenning Stacey A. Henning Jean Hochron Sara M. Josey* Marilyn Katz Casey Keeler Irene M. Kirkpatrick Martha J. Krieger** Melissa J. Lieberman* Nansy Mathews Susan E. Murray Daryl Newhouse Martha Newman Nancy Orvis Mary Ellen Pecharka Patricia Pillsbury Beth Riggs Beryl M. Rothman Lisa Rovin Mary Jane Ruhl Jan Schiavone Deborah F. Silberman Lori J. Sommerfield Connie Soves Carol A. Stern Pattie Sullivan Bonnie S. Temple Renée Tietjen

Caitlin S. Torgerson Virginia Van Brunt Christine Vocke Sarah Jane Wagoner Allison Young Tenors Philip Bregstone Gregory Daniel Paul J. DeMarco Ruth W. Faison* Greg Gross Michael Hirata Dominick Izzo Don Jansky Curt Jordan Tyler A. Loertscher Richard Lorr Jane Lyle David Malloy Michael McClellan Chantal McHale Duncan McHale Eleanor McIntire Wayne Meyer* Brian Minnick Tom Nessinger Steve Nguyen Anita O’Leary Joe Richter Drew Riggs Jason Saffell Robert T. Saffell José Luis Sánchez Dennis Vander Tuig Taylor Witt Basses Albert Bradford Zachary D. Bray Ronald Cappelletti Bruce Carhart Dale S. Collinson Stephen Cook Clark V. Cooper Bopper Deyton Charles G. Edmonds J. William Gadzuk Robert Gerard Mike Hilton Chun-Hsien Huang William W. Josey** Allan Kirkpatrick Jack Legler Larry Maloney Ian Matthews Alan E. Mayers Dugald McConnell David J. McGoff Richard McMillan Kent Mikkelsen* John Milberg** Oliver Moles Alan Munter Leif Neve Anthony Radich Harry Ransom, Jr. Edward Rejuney* Frank Roys Charles Sturrock Alun Thomas Donald A. Trayer Al Wigmore Theodore Guerrant, Accompanist * section leader ** asst. section leader

historians think his Missa Solemnis, Op. 123 gave him motivation to write what he imagined would be a “religious symphony,” as the idea of using a chorus began to form.

Beethoven began the composition of his last and longest symphony in earnest around 1817, although he actually did most of the writing of it in the year and a half of late 1822 and 1823, finishing it in 1824. In April 1822, his pupil Ferdinand Ries inquired of the London Philharmonic Society how much it would offer him for his new symphony. The society offered 50 pounds for the work, with several conditions: that Beethoven deliver it in March 1823, and that the society have the exclusive performance rights for a year and a half. Beethoven agreed and accepted payment but did not comply with the agreement.

At the time, the success of Rossini’s music in Vienna rankled Beethoven and he resolved that his new symphony must be first performed elsewhere. However, when a large group of professional and amateur musicians petitioned him to allow his own city of Vienna to hear his new work first, he was touched and relented. His friends soon issued an announcement that a concert, with Herr Beethoven personally taking part in its direction, would take place on May 7, 1824, nearly a year before it was heard in London. The works to be performed were Beethoven’s Grand Overture (The Consecration of the House, Op. 124) and three hymns with solo and choral voices (the “Kyrie,” “Credo” and “Agnus Dei” from the Missa Solemnis) as well as a new symphony with solo and choral voices in the finale, based on Schiller’s Ode to Joy (Symphony No. 9, Op. 125).

The symphony was a tremendous success. When the timpani beat out the rhythmic theme pattern at the beginning of the second movement, the applause almost overpowered the music that followed. At the triumphal conclusion of the symphony, audience members stood up and cheered, enthusiastically waving their hats and handkerchiefs in the air, but Beethoven was unaware of the reaction because he was still seated facing the performers, with his back to the theater.

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 43

Saturday, October 1, 2011, 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 2, 2011, 3 p.m.

His complete deafness had prevented him from hearing either his music or the ovation that followed it. With tears in her eyes, the contralto soloist took his arm and turned him toward the audience.

Beethoven’s innovation at the beginning of the first movement, the enigmatic open fifths which grow imperceptibly out of stillness, have been likened to the “darkness and void before creation.” After the initial growth from nothingness, an agitated, dramatic, often mysterious or questioning mood takes over in this serious first movement, Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso. Fragments of themes slowly metamorphose into the main theme, followed by a concentrated development and coda. The second movement, Molto vivace, Presto, Molto vivace, is a scherzo in sonata form, the only scherzo in all Beethoven’s symphonies that precedes, rather than follows, the slow movement. It has a fugal exposition, but no ordinary one. Each of the themes and counter themes share almost the

same rhythm. The main section of this unusually dark scherzo, Molto vivace, is based principally on an arresting rhythmic pattern that is driven home with most striking effect when it is heard as a solo on the timpani and then is treated as a five-voice fugue. The contrasting trio section, Presto, is more frolicsome and lighter in temperament. It recurs twice, between repetitions of the section, then, in abbreviated form, brings the movement to a close. The third movement is a model of serenity. It presents two themes, a slow Adagio molto e cantabile, a very melodic subject alternating with a moving and romantic theme, Andante moderato, and then variations on each theme. Overall, this movement has a quiet lyricism that contrasts with all the other movements in the symphony. Many Beethoven analysts have tried to establish the theory that each of the first three movements derives from one main theme or motif.

The French composer Vincent d’Indy pointed out: “All the typical themes of the symphony present the arpeggio of

the chords of D or B flat, the two tonal bases of the work; one might, therefore, consider this arpeggio as the real cyclic theme of the work.”

In the fourth movement the symphony’s message finally emerges, as Beethoven’s biographer, Maynard Solomon, put it, “from powerful opposing forces—from the tragic, frenzied and probing modalities of its earlier movements—and by grafting the cantata form into the sonata cycle.” It reaches its climax and “succeeds, primarily, because of the rich ambiguity of a message that manages to transcend the particularities of its origin and to arrive at a set of universal paradigms.” This memorable movement makes the dramatic transition from instrumental to choral work.

Composer and music theorist Jonathan Kramer noted that the unusual form of the last movement is “an experiment in combining different traditional forms into a single movement: sonata, variations, cantata, concerto, fugue and opera. It is a complete four-movement symphony in miniature, onto which is

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 Text and Translation An die Freude (Ode to Joy) Recitative: Baritone O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!

Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere.

O friends—not these sounds!

Let us rather bring up more pleasant, more joyful ones.

Baritone, Solo Quartet and Choir Freude, schöner Götterfunken,

Joy, fair spark of the gods,

Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele

Yes, even if he calls but one soul

Tochter aus Elysium,

Daughter of Elysium,

Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!

His own in all the world.

Wir betreten feuer-trunken

Drunk with fiery rapture, Goddess,

Und wer’s nie gekonnt, der stehle

But he who has failed in this

Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!

We approach thy shrine

Weinend sich aus diesem Bund!

Must steal away alone and in tears.

Deine Zauber binden wieder,

Thy magic reunites those

Freude trinken alle Wesen

All the world’s creatures

Was die Mode streng geteilt;

Whom stern custom has parted;

An den Brüsten der Natur;

Draw joy from nature’s breast;

Alle Menschen werden Brüder,

All men will become brothers

Alle Guten, alle Bösen

Both the good and the evil

Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Under thy gentle wing.

Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.

Follow her rose-strewn path.

Wem der große Wurf gelungen,

May he who has had the fortune

Küsse gab sie uns und Reben,

She gave us kisses and wine

Eines Freundes Freund zu sein,

To gain a true friend

Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;

And a friend loyal unto death;

Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,

And he who has won a noble wife

Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,

She gave lust for life to the lowliest,

Mische seinen Jubel ein!

Join in our jubilation!

Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.

And the Cherub stands before God.

44 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Saturday, October 1, 2011, 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 2, 2011, 3 p.m.

grafted the outlines of sonata form. The sonata’s exposition is a set of variations, its development is a fugue, and its coda is an operatic finale.”

The final movement’s long introduction serves as a link between the first three movements and the concluding one. After an initial dissonant fanfare, the principal themes of the first three movements each reappear fleetingly before the main theme, on which the finale is based, appears as a recitative in the cellos and basses. Beethoven has created a mammoth set of variations on what is actually a simple theme. First it is articulated without words. After the orchestra creates a fierce and unsettling clamor, the low strings intone this noble main theme of the movement, and this theme repeats several times, each time with more instruments added, until the entire orchestra joins in with its majesty. The opening returns yet again, and this time the baritone recitative follows. His words are not Schiller’s, but Beethoven’s own as he sets the stage with a rebuke: “O, friends, not

these sounds! Let us sing something more pleasant, more full of gladness!” What come next as the chorus enters are the words of Schiller’s Ode, which Beethoven adopts to express his ideas of human brotherhood and the joy it releases.

When the second theme would naturally appear, the theme transforms into a Turkish march, which has a distinctive “Turkish” sound produced by the triangle, cymbals and bass drum. Then the chorus and orchestra add another variation to the Ode to Joy theme before a break, after which comes the fugue, whose themes then combine before the ending section commences. With great emotional depth and tremendous intensity, the symphony concludes with a double fugue for the chorus and a jubilant and triumphant operatic finale of joy and praise.

When Beethoven planned the symphony, he had thought of ending it with a purely instrumental movement for which he even made some sketches, but he used them later in the

finale of his Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132. After much working and reworking, Beethoven decided not to set the Schiller poem to music, but to rearrange the text to suit his musical and dramatic intentions. Schiller’s To Joy, or Ode to Joy as it is often called in English, is a poem of five 12-line stanzas, each stanza having a 12-line and an eight-line section, written when Schiller was only 25. In the opening chorus, in accordance with his own poetic vision, Beethoven runs together the 12-line sections of the first three stanzas. The text of the tenor solo, which follows, is the six-line section from the fourth stanza.

The symphony is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, kettledrum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle and strings. At the first performance, the orchestra included 24 violins, 10 violas and 12 cellos and basses, and the wind instruments were doubled.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 8 p.m.

● Strathmore Presents and Blues Alley Present

An Evening With Pat Metheny With Larry Grenadier Pat Metheny, guitar Larry Grenadier, bass The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Pat Metheny

Pat Metheny was born in Kansas City, Mo., on Aug. 12, 1954, into a musical family.

Starting on trumpet at 8 years old, Metheny switched to guitar at 12.

By 15, he was working regularly with the best jazz musicians in Kansas City, receiving valuable on-thebandstand experience at an unusually young age.

Metheny first burst onto the international jazz scene in 1974. Over the course of his three-year stint with vibraphone great Gary Burton, the young Missouri native already displayed his soon-to-become trademarked playing style, which blended the loose and flexible articulation customarily reserved for horn players with an advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibility—a way of playing and improvising that was modern in conception, but grounded deeply in the jazz tradition of melody, swing and blues. With the release of his first album, Bright Size Life, he reinvent-

ed the traditional “jazz guitar” sound for a new generation of players. Throughout his career, Metheny has continued to redefine the genre by utilizing new technology and constantly working to evolve the improvisational and sonic potential of his instrument.

Metheny’s versatility is almost nearly without peer on any instrument. Over the years, he has performed with artists as diverse as Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Milton Nascimento and David Bowie.

He has been part of a writing team with keyboardist Lyle Mays for more than 20 years, an association that has been compared to the Lennon/McCartney and Ellington/Strayhorn partnerships by critics and listeners alike. Metheny’s body of work includes compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras and ballet pieces, with settings ranging from modern jazz to rock to classical.

In addition to being an accomplished musician, Metheny has also participated in the academic arena as a music educator. At 18, he was the youngest teacher ever at the University of Miami. At 19, he became the youngest teacher ever at the Berklee College of Music, where he also received an honorary doctorate.

He has also taught music workshops all over the world, from the Dutch Royal

46 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Conservatory to the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz, to clinics in Asia and South America. He has also been a true musical pioneer in the realm of electronic music and was one of the first jazz musicians to treat the synthesizer as a serious musical instrument. Years before the invention of MIDI technology, Metheny was using the Synclavier as a composing tool. He has also been instrumental in the development of several new kinds of guitars, such as the soprano acoustic guitar, the 42-string Pikasso guitar, Ibanez’s PM100 jazz guitar and a variety of other custom instruments.

It is one thing to attain popularity as a musician, but it is another to receive the kind of acclaim Metheny has garnered from critics and peers. Over the years, Metheny has won countless Best Jazz Guitarist polls and awards, including three gold records for Still Life (Talking), Letter from Home and Secret Story. He has also won 18 Grammy Awards, spread out over a variety of categories, including Best Rock Instrumental, Best Contemporary Jazz Recording, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo and Best Instrumental Composition.

The Pat Metheny Group won an unprecedented seven consecutive Grammys for seven consecutive albums. Metheny has spent most of his life on tour, averaging 120-240 shows a year since 1974.

At the time of this writing, he continues to be one of the brightest stars of the jazz community, dedicating time to both his own projects and those of emerging artists and established veterans alike, helping them to reach their audience, as well as realizing their own artistic visions.

Larry Grenadier

Larry Grenadier was born into a musical family on Feb. 6, 1966 in San Francisco.

Grenadier began on trumpet when he was 10 years old. His father taught him to read music and gave him his first lessons.

Grenadier was bought an electric bass so that he and his two brothers could play together as a band. The trio played rock hits of the day, learning the parts off of records and performing at local dances and parties.

Grenadier’s older brother Phil began listening to jazz around this time and slowly

metheny photo by jimmy katz

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2011, 8 p.m.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 8 p.m.

his listening habits filtered down to the younger brothers. Grenadier soon got hooked and began listening intently to jazz bassists such as Ray Brown, Charles Mingus, Paul Chambers and Oscar Pettiford. Hearing these great upright bassists inspired Grenadier to borrow the instrument and try to emulate what he was hearing. He began formal study of the acoustic bass when he was 12, working with local jazz bass players Paul Breslin and Frank Tusa, and classical bassists Michael Burr and Stephen Tramontozzi.

By the time he was 16 he had a busy career playing in the San Francisco area with both local and traveling musicians.

Some of these musicians included Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Larry Vuckovich, Eddie Henderson, Bruce Forman, Eddie Marshall, Vince Lateano, Steve Smith, George Cables and Donald Bailey. Some of the visiting musicians Grenadier played with at this time were Toots Thielemans, Johnny Griffin, Charles McPherson, Anita O’Day and Frank Morgan.

Grenadier went on to study at Stanford University, graduating in 1989. At Stanford he got to know Stan Getz, who he performed with quite a bit during his time at Stanford, playing locally and touring with Getz’s band.

After graduation Grenadier moved to Boston to play with Gary Burton’s band, which included Donny McCaslin, Wolfgang Muthspiel and Marty Richards.

In 1991, he moved to New York and made associations with a wide variety of musicians, such as Joshua Redman, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jorge Rossy, Mark Turner, Chris Cheek, Kevin Hays, Bill Stewart, Renee Rosnes, Ralph Moore, Billy Drummond, Danilo Perez, David Sanchez, Tom Harrell and Billy Hart.

He continued his association with Joe Henderson, touring with his band.

Grenadier also spent a few months playing in Betty Carter’s band.

It was in the early ’90s that Grenadier first met and played with pianist Brad Mehldau. Mehldau’s trio along with Jorge Rossy went on to become one of

the major groups of the time. This band allowed Grenadier the perfect environment in which to grow as a musician.

They toured constantly throughout the 1990s and recorded many influential records. Also during this time Grenadier also played in John Scofield’s band and with Pat Metheny, with whom he spent a few years touring. Other musicians Grenadier performed with included Charles Lloyd, Billy Higgins, Michael Brecker and Paul Motian.

Grenadier continues many of these musical collaborations. He focuses much of his touring time playing with Brad Mehldau’s trio, which now includes drummer Jeff Ballard. He is also a part of the collaborative trio FLY, which includes drummer Ballard and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. They have recorded two critically acclaimed albums.

Grenadier also tours and records with his wife, singer- songwriter Rebecca Martin. Grenadier, Martin and their son Charlie live in the Hudson Valley north of New York City.

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applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 47

Friday, October 6, 2011 8 P.M.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011, 8 P.M.

● Strathmore Presents

Linda Eder Billy Jay Stein, musical director David Finck, bass Jerry Marotta, drums Peter Calo, guitar and keyboard Allison Cornell, viola, keyboard and vocals The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Linda Eder

Broadway and pop composer Frank Wildhorn. The new release marked the musical return of this legendary team after six years. Eder’s transcendent voice is the perfect complement to Wildhorn’s lush, imaginative music.

Her career soared after appearing on Star Search in 1987, where she won for 12 weeks.

This TV sucTHE PLACE FOR INTERNATIONAL CINEMA cess led to a leading role on Join us every Wednesday as we collaborate with the Greek, Czech, French & Israeli embassies Broadway as to exclusively screen outstanding cinema Lucy Harris in from these countries.

Jekyll & Hyde, where she was Every 1st Wed! nominated for a Drama Desk Every 2nd Wed! Award.

Eder launched her Every 3rd Wed! recording career in 1991 Every 4th Wed! with her selftitled debut album and soon established a vital niche as America’s DC’s only independent, nonprofit film center. most popular 5612 Connecticut Avenue in Northwest Washington Online Ticketing: www.theavalon.org and acclaimed &XOWXUDO :HGQHVGD\ VFUHHQLQJV DUH UHJXODUO\ SULFHG DQG EHJLQ DW S P new interpret-

Linda Eder’s diverse repertoire spans Broadway, standards, pop, country and jazz. Most recently, Eder crowned her two-decade recording career with a new album, Now, which reunites Eder with

WORLDWIDE WEDNESDAYS AT THE AVALON

48 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

er of pop standards and theatrical songs with such releases as And So Much More, It’s No Secret Anymore, Christmas Stays the Same, Gold, Storybook, Broadway My Way and By Myself: The Songs of Judy Garland.

Those albums highlighted Eder’s abundant vocal gifts, as well as her skill for delivering dramatic, emotionally resonant interpretations of familiar songs, while making them her own. She followed up with The Other Side of Me, a country pop blend of contemporary music that included one of her own original songs.

Last fall, Eder released Soundtrack.

Produced by Peter Collins, Soundtrack finds Eder adding new dimensions to a mix of themes from the silver screen. The 12 tracks span the last 50 years in cinema, from Henry Mancini’s “Charade,” the title tune of the 1963 movie starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, to “Falling Slowly,” the Best Original Song Academy Award winner from Once, the 2007 Irish musical film.

In June 2010, Eder and Clay Aiken covered Roy Orbison’s “Crying” as a duet on Aiken’s new album Tried & True. And recently, Eder was featured on two PBS specials, Aiken’s Tried & True and Hallelujah Broadway.

The concert stage remains the mainstay of Eder’s career. She has performed for sold-out crowds and venues across the country and throughout Europe.

Eder has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Davies Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Wolftrap and the Ravinia Festival. Her collaborations include Oscar-winning composer pianist Marvin Hamlisch, Tony-winner Michael Feinstein and Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.

sunday, OCTOBER 9, 2011, 7 P.M.

● Strathmore Presents

Indigo Girls Amy Ray, guitar and vocals Emily Saliers, guitar and vocals The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Indigo Girls

On their 14th studio album, Grammywinning folk-rock duo Indigo Girls deliver a beautifully crafted batch of songs that revel in spirited simplicity.

Alternating richly textured storytelling with moody ruminations on modernworld worries, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers’ Beauty Queen Sister, scheduled for release on Oct. 4, reveals a fierce longing for a more idyllic existence while still celebrating the extraordinary in everyday living.

Beauty Queen Sister is the fourth Indigo Girls album released on IG Recordings, the independent label that Ray and Saliers launched after putting out nine albums on Epic Records and one (2006’s widely acclaimed Despite Our Differences) on Hollywood Records.

While the loss of major-label spending power might cripple less accomplished artists, both Ray and Saliers find that their tightened budget actually feeds their creative process.

“Nowadays we need to record much

more quickly, so there’s not time to belabor every little decision like we did in our earlier years,” says Ray. “We just put our heads down and throw all our emotion into it and it’s magical—the heart rules our performance more than the head.”

That “heart over head” approach is no doubt suited to the material on Beauty Queen Sister, a 13-song selection that touches on topics as disparate as the 2011 Egyptian revolution (in Ray’s plaintive “War Rugs,” featuring guest vocals by singer-songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche), the ins and outs of the music industry (“Making Promises,” a defiant, guitar-driven banger also authored by Ray), and the recent mass deaths of Arkansas red-winged blackbirds (“Able to Sing,” in which Saliers cleverly swipes a lyric from the English nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence”). Tackling weighty material as tenderly as each intimate love song, Beauty Queen Sister crests at the epic “Yoke.” With its centerpiece of hauntingly urgent strings supplied by violinist Luke Bulla and a gorgeously mournful vocal performance by Ray, this spellbinding slow-burner makes for a masterful closing track.

As for the love songs, Beauty Queen Sister never shies away from lavish expressions of sweet infatuation. On “We Get to Feel it All,” Saliers deftly captures what she calls “our tendency to dramatize the bigness of love.” Featuring honey-tinged backup vocals by the Shadowboxers, an Atlanta-based all-

male trio, the breezy midtempo treasure is packed with lovelorn poetry. Another Saliers homage to the sublimity of love, “Birthday Song,” begins with soulfully hummed harmonies and expands into a humble meditation elegantly accented by Carol Issacs’ delicate piano. And on the album’s opening track, Ray offers an “aching, lonely, dark-gravel-road kind of song.”

Subdued yet sultry, “Share the Moon” complements heartsick lyrics with gently rumbling drums from Brady Blade.

Rounding out the record are “Gone,” a sweeping, cinematic song that Saliers says was influenced by Elton John’s production; “Mariner Moonlighting,” wistfully inspired by Ray’s visit to a centuries-old seaside music hall in New England; and “Damo,” which owes its sprightly Celtic sound to Eamonn de Barra’s whistles and flute and to the full-throated backing of Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey.

The record’s stellar guest musicians are essential to shaping the sound throughout Beauty Queen Sister, according to Ray and Saliers.

“Many of our players are top-notch Nashville talent—you just don’t get any better than that,” Saliers says. Noting the dynamic drumming style of Brady Blade and the smooth bass grooves of Frank Swart and Viktor Krauss, Saliers adds that the high-energy ensemble of featured artists played a key role in carrying out the “organic approach we wanted to take on this album.”

Equally invaluable was producer Peter Collins, with whom the Indigo Girls worked on 1992’s Rites of Passage and 1994’s Swamp Ophelia.

“When we were younger we held so fast to our own ideas, but working with Peter this time around we were much more relaxed about having it be a true collaborative effort,” says Saliers, noting that Collins excels at “hearing where there needs to be space within the song.”

Saliers and Ray began performing together in high school, and their public profile took off with the 1989 release of their self-titled breakthrough. Despite a vastly different music industry today, the Indigo Girls stand tall, having earned the respect and devotion of a multigenerational audience.

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 49

Matt Odom

Sunday, October 9, 2011, 7 p.m.

Thursday, October 13, 2011, 8 p.m.

THURSday, OCTOBER 13, 2011, 8 p.m.

● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director Jack Everly, Principal Pops Conductor

presents

BSO SuperPops The Music of Elton John and More Michael Cavanaugh, vocalist David Amando, conductor Program to be announced from the stage Presenting Sponsor: Total Wine & More The Music Center at Strathmore

Michael Cavanaugh, vocalist

A charismatic performer, musician and actor, he is famous for his piano/lead vocals in the Broadway musical Movin’ Out. Cavanaugh was handpicked

by Billy Joel to star in title role and evokes a style rivaling that of the Piano Man’s. CaYou can make a gift to improve human health vanaugh appeared that costs nothing during your lifetime in the show for three years and It’s true. By including the more than 1,200 performances Foundation for the National and received acInstitutes of Health in your colade after acestate plan, you’ll help colade, culminatguarantee our financial strength ing in 2003 with tomorrow, without affecting both Grammy your cash flow or your family’s and Tony Award financial stability today. nominations.

Cavanaugh For more information on how began playing you can make us part of your piano at age 7, family, contact the Foundation at when his parents 301-402-5311 or visit us at bought their first www.fnih.org piano. Encouraged by family and friends, and inspired by his hero Billy Joel,

Michael Cavanaugh is the new voice of the American rock and roll songbook.

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Cavanaugh formed his first band at age 10 and began playing local functions, fine-tuning the craft that would become his chosen career. His first full-time gig as a musician was an extended engagement in Orlando at a piano bar called Blazing Pianos. In January 1999 Cavanaugh received an offer that would unknowingly change his life: an opportunity to play Las Vegas at the famed New York, New York Hotel and Casino. It was there that Joel spotted Cavanaugh and joined him onstage one fateful night of February 2001. It took only two songs before Joel was convinced that he had found his new Piano Man. Cavanaugh closed up shop at New York, New York and moved to New York City to work alongside Joel and Twyla Tharp to shape the Broadway musical Movin’ Out. With the close of Movin’ Out at the end of 2005, Cavanaugh began touring in his own right, creating a show that reinterprets the modern pop/rock songbook.

Cavanaugh soon became one of the hottest artist’s in the corporate/events market. He continues to perform worldwide for company and charity events as well as sporting events including PGA tour events, the U.S. Open and the Indy 500.

It wasn’t long before symphony orchestras discovered Cavanaugh’s talents and audience appeal. He accepted his first orchestral booking and Michael Cavanaugh: The Songs of Billy Joel and More debuted in April 2008 with the Indianapolis Symphony. In October 2008, he signed with Warner/ADA to distribute his first CD, titled In Color. In June 2010 Cavanaugh debuted his second symphony show in the “Generations of Rock” series entitled Michael Cavanaugh: The Songs of Elton John and More and continues to tour both symphony productions.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 8 p.m.

Creole Choir of Cuba

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2011, 8 P.M.

● Strathmore Presents

The Creole Choir of Cuba Emilia Diaz Chavez, singer Fidel Romero Miranda, singer Marcelo Andres Luis, singer Teresita Romero Miranda, singer Dalio Arce Vital, singer Irian Rondon Montejo, singer Yordanka Sanchez Fajardo, singer Marina de los Angeles Collazo Fernandes, singer Rogelio Rodriguez Torriente, singer Yara Castellanos Diaz, singer Emilia Diaz Chavez, Musical Director Adam Spiegel, producer Jon Lee, producer John Simpson, producer Mangaje Edem Chante

Mawoule

Peze Kafé Kadja Boswa

Chen Nan Ren

Wongolo

Marasa Elu

Tande

Neg Anwo

Fey

Lanmou Rive Ou Pa Nan Chaj

Lumane Casimir

Traditional Haitian Eddy Francois adapted by Marcelo Andres Luis Traditional Haitian adapted by Marcelo Andres Luis Traditional Haitian Traditional Haitian adapted by Marcelo Andres Luis Bobech adapted by Marcelo Andres Luis Boukman Eksperyans adapted by Marcelo Andres Luis Traditional Haitian adapted by Teresita Romero Miranda Eddy Francois adapted by Marcelo Andres Luis Eddy Francois adapted by Teresita Romero Miranda Traditional Haitian adapted Marcelo Andres Luis Marcelo Andres Luis Traditional Haitian Adapted by Marcelo Andres Luis Traditional Haitian

The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Formed in 1994 by choir director Emilia Diaz Chavez, the 10-member Creole Choir of Cuba hails from Camaguey, Cuba. Each member is a direct descendant of Haitian immigrants. Haitians who had escaped slavery at the end of the 18th century or more recently came as laborers to work in Cuba’s sugar plantations. Each wave of immigrants had its own distinct characteristics, and immigrants brought with them strong musical and dance traditions, religion, customs, rituals and cultural habits on their journey from Haiti to Cuba.

The Creole Choir of Cuba preserves the musical treasures of Haiti, the Commonwealth of Dominica and Cuba.

With information gathered from generations of Haitian immigrants, the Creole Choir of Cuba promotes and performs music of Haitian origin, especially “La Cancionistica,” music that has been enriched by elements of other Creole-speaking Caribbean countries.

The Creole Choir’s repertoire consists of a wide range of choral arrangements with percussion accompaniment.

After performing at World of Music, Art and Dance and the Edinburgh Festival in 2009, the Creole Choir of Cuba was signed to Peter Gabriel’s Real World record label and has been touring internationally since. The group has been incredibly well received—a fact that pays homage to the vibrant and captivating rhythms, heartfelt harmonies and fresh, inspiring energy choir members give in every performance.

Program Notes Mangaje Mangaje recounts the disorientation felt by a symbolic figure of an African slave on arrival in Haiti.

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 51

Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 8 p.m.

Edem Chante Edem Chante, which means “help us sing,” is a freedom song created during the dark days of the Duvalier regime.

and is a defiant cry for freedom, protesting against the continued exploitation and suffering of the poor, from colonial slavery to modern neo-liberal times.

Mawoule Mawoule tells the story of a poor man who takes cattle through the mountains at night. The song speaks of the loneliness he feels during the long journey across rivers, avoiding cattle thieves, and of the inner wisdom that keeps him going.

Wongolo Haitians singing to their long departed friend, Wongolo, where they tell him of the troubles they have been experiencing.

Peze Kafé Peze Kafé offers a snapshot of difficulties encountered in everyday life. It tells the story of a boy shouting for his mother after he is robbed when taking the family’s coffee crop to be weighed.

Kadja Boswa Kadja Boswa is a prayer to the protector looking after travelers on their journeys.

Chen Nan Ren Chen Nan Ren means “chains around us”

Marasa Elu This song tells the story of young children who have been orphaned, having lost their parents in a natural disaster befalling the island.

Tande This freedom song denounces the misery and suffering of the Haitian people during the Duvalier government.

Fey Fey means “leaf” in Creole. The song tells the story of a mother who mourns the absence of her son, who has been deported as a political protester.

Lanmou Rive Lanmou Rive tells of an unspoken love between two young people.

Ou Pa Nan Chaj Ou Pa Nan Chaj is a humorous song that pokes fun at a man who has no luck with the women he tries to charm.

Lumane Casimir Lumane Casimir tells the true story of a young peasant woman with a beautiful voice who becomes famous. However, she falls out of grace and at the end of her life she dies impoverished and alone back in her native village.

Neg Anwo Neg Anwo is a call to the richer members of the Creole population in Haiti to help their poorer counterparts.

Strathmore Congratulates

Booz Allen Hamilton voted one of the 10 Best Companies Supporting the Arts in America! panies 0: Best Com The BCA 1 the Arts in Supporting d s recognize America ha s Hamilton a Booz Allen l a exception one of ten nationwide companies h lvement wit whose invo of the standard the arts set g the for enrichin excellence and education, workplace, nity. the commu

52 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

At Strathmore, Booz Allen Hamilton exemplifies its core commitment to the arts through corporate philanthropy, employee volunteerism, and community service at the highest levels, proving that good business and good corporate citizenship work well together.

Strathmore is grateful for their continued support and involvement.

THURSday, OCTOBER 20, 2011, 8 p.m.

● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director

presents

Debussy’s La Mer Louis Langrée, conductor James Ehnes, violin Symphony No. 31, “Paris” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Allegro assai (1756-1791) Andantino Allegro Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216 Allegro

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Adagio Rondo: Allegro James Ehnes INTERMISSION “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

La Mer From Dawn to Noon on the Sea

Claude Debussy

Play of the Waves Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea The Music Center at Strathmore The concert will end at approximately 9:45 P.M. Presenting Sponsor: M&T Bank

Louis Langrée, conductor

French musician Louis Langrée has been music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York since December 2002. This season, Langrée will make his debut conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg. He also has two important debuts in Vienna: at the State Opera, conducting La Bohème; and at the Konzerthaus, conducting performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the

Vienna Symphony Orchestra. During the 2010-11 season, Langrée made his debut with Budapest Festival, St. Louis and Cincinnati symphony orchestras, as well as conducting the Camerata Salzburg in Munich, Paris and Salzburg and the London Philharmonic at the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, he conducted Pelléas et Mélisande in Paris and London with the Orchestre de Paris and returned to the Aix-en-Provence Festival for La Traviata with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Langrée has worked with many other orchestras in North America, Europe and further afield, including Pittsburgh, Detroit, Dallas, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He also regularly conducts period instrument orchestras such as the Freiburg Baroque, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Le Concert d’Astrée. Festival appearances have included Wiener Festwochen, BBC Proms, Spoleto and the Budapest Spring Festival, for which he conducted the opening concert in 2009. He has held positions as music director of the Orchestre de Picardie (1993-98) and Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège (2001-06).

Langrée was music director of Opéra National de Lyon (1998-2000) and Glyndebourne Touring Opera (19982003) and has worked regularly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He has also conducted at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dresden Staatsoper, Grand Théâtre in Geneva, Opéra-Bastille and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam.

Last season, Langrée made his debut at La Scala conducting Don Giovanni.

Langrée’s discography includes recordings for Virgin Classics, Universal and Naïve. Many of these have won awards including Victoire de la Musique, Diapason d’Or and Gramophone.

In 2006, he was appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 53

Langree photo by ben ealorega

Thursday, October 20, 2011, 8 p.m.

Thursday, October 20, 2011, 8 p.m.

Louis Langrée most recently appeared with the BSO Oct. 22-25, 2009.

Haydn’s Symphony No. 44, “Trauersinfonie,” Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 with soloist Simone Dinnerstein, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4.

Ehnes photo by ben ealorega

James Ehnes, violin

Hailed as “the Jascha Heifetz of our day” (Globe and Mail), violinist James Ehnes is widely considered one of the most dynamic and exciting performers in classical music.

The 2010-2011 season featured a challenging balance of concerto concerts, chamber music and recitals in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Europe, the United Kingdom, South America, and across Canada and the United States. The season brought Ehnes’ much-anticipated return “down under,” for which he also reprised his role as conductor in programs with the Melbourne and Adelaide symphony orchestras, and the Auckland Philharmonia. In the U.K. Ehnes was heard with the BBC Philharmonic in Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Viola Concerto (being recorded for future release on Chandos), as well as with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and the London, Bournemouth and City of Birmingham symphonies. He returned to Kuala Lumpur with the Malaysian Philharmonic, to Vienna with the Wiener Symphoniker, to Sweden with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and to Denmark for the Tivoli Festival.

His upcoming 2011-2012 season features performances in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway.

Ehnes’ extensive discography of more than 25 recordings has been honored with numerous international awards and prizes, including a Grammy, a Gramophone and six JUNO Awards.

His latest addition is a disc of Bartók’s

two Violin Concertos and the Viola Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic and Gianandrea Noseda (Chandos) and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the Sydney Symphony and Vladimir Ashkenazy (Onyx). His JUNO Award-winning Homage (Onyx) continues to garner exceptional reviews.

In January 2006, he celebrated the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth with the release of a recording of Mozart’s complete oeuvre for solo violin and orchestra. The five Violin Concertos and three single movement works– Adagio K 261, Rondo K 269 and Rondo K 373 – feature an ensemble of extraordinary musicians that ehnes gathered from around the world. Ehnes has recorded repertoire ranging from Bach Violin Sonatas to John Adams’ Road Movies. His CBC recordings with l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal of Max Bruch’s Concertos nos. 1 and 3 (with Charles Dutoit) and Concerto no. 2 with the Scottish Fantasy (with Mario Bernardi) won back-to-back JUNO awards in 2001 and 2002 for Best Classical Recording.

Ehnes was born in 1976 in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. He began violin studies at age 4, and at age 9 he became a protégé of the noted Canadian violinist Francis Chaplin. He studied with Sally Thomas at the Meadowmount School of Music and from 1993 to 1997 and at The Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music upon his graduation.

Ehnes first gained national recognition in 1987 as winner of the Grand Prize in Strings at the Canadian Music Competition. The following year he won the First Prize in Strings at the Canadian Music Festival, the youngest musician ever to do so. At age 13, he made his orchestral solo debut with l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. He has won numerous awards and prizes, including the first ever Ivan Galamian Memorial Award, the Canada Council for the Arts’ prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, and a 2005 Avery Fisher Career Grant. In July 2007 Ehnes became the youngest person ever elected as a fellow

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to the Royal Society of Canada. In July 2010 he was named a member of the Order of Canada.

Ehnes plays the “Marsick” Stradivarius of 1715 and gratefully acknowledges its extended loan from the Fulton Collection.

James Ehnes most recently appeared with the BSO Oct. 1-4, 2009, with Music Director Marin Alsop, performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.

Program Notes Symphony No. 31 in D Major, K. 297, “Paris”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Born in Salzburg, Austria, Jan. 27, 1756; died in Vienna, Dec. 5, 1791

On March 23, 1778 the 22-year-old Mozart, chaperoned by his mother, arrived in Paris to try to win the kind of lucrative appointment his genius deserved. But just as his similar efforts in the German city of Mannheim had failed, this stay in the French capital ultimately came to naught. Worse yet, his mother fell ill with a fever, and on July 3, she died, hundreds of miles from the family home in Salzburg.

In September young Mozart finally slunk home again to the boring routine of the Archbishop of Salzburg’s court.

The timing of Mozart’s arrival in Paris had been disastrously bad. The city was at that moment embroiled in an operatic controversy between the followers of Christoph von Gluck and those of Niccolò Piccinni and hardly had time to notice the young genius in its midst.

Moreover, Mozart once again showed little ability to play the courtly games of modesty and flattery. As his supporter Baron Friedrich Melchior von Grimm wrote to Mozart’s father, Leopold, the young man would have achieved more “with half the talent and double the shrewdness.”

Mozart did, however, impress Joseph Legros, the leader of the city’s celebrated orchestral series known as the Concert Spirituel. Paris was perhaps the symphonic center of Europe at that time and boasted a number of fine orchestras, larger and better staffed than the ones Mozart was

Thursday, October 20, 2011, 8 p.m.

used to in Austria. Legros commissioned the young Salzburger to write a new symphony for the Concert Spirituel, and Mozart responded with his Symphony No. 31, which ever after bore the name “Paris.” A work deliberately calculated to appeal to French tastes and to exploit the power, drama and timbral possibilities of a big orchestra, it seems to have been quite a hit at its premiere on June 18, 1778.

In three movements, rather than the usual four, this is a symphony full of loud full-orchestra passages, grand gestures and brilliant scales, set off against gracious, softer passages for violins and woodwinds. In the first movement, we hear this contrast immediately: four big D major chords followed by a Mannheim skyrocket scale (a trick Mozart had picked up from his previous stay in that city) and then a soft, rather feminine response from the violins.

Opening with a kitten’s-paw phrase for the violins, the second thematic group seduces us with a family of charming melodies, the last one being the one the Paris audience loved the most. It tiptoes upward on staccato little feet, then falls backward by languishing half steps. After a brief, quiet development, the recapitulation brings back the opening chords and skyrocket scale, making them grander and more stormily dramatic than ever.

Mozart actually wrote two different Andante movements for this symphony’s second movement, but we’ll hear the one more commonly used today, which is in G major and a simplified rondo form. With the trumpets and drums temporarily silenced, this music continues the style of the first movement’s softer passages. Its opening refrain theme is all languishing sighs and feminine grace. This refrain alternates with an episode that contrasts lovely, airy music emphasizing violins and flutes with a darkly assertive idea for all the strings in unison.

Back in D major, the finale opens with a surprising passage: the first violins sighing off the beat over the scampering of the second violins. The movement’s second theme, rising slowly before

whirling away, is introduced in canon between the first and second violins.

But Mozart gives it up quickly for a wild full-orchestra excursion into the minor mode. In the development section, though, he expands this theme into a wondrous fugato, with the theme ignited over and over throughout the orchestra. The symphony closes with the full orchestra blazing away in a manner guaranteed to thrill the Parisians.

The BSO most recently performed Mozart’s Symphony No. 31 on April 18, 2006, with Andrew Constantine, conductor, in Frederick, and on July 28, 1994, with Music Director David Zinman on a Summerfest program.

Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Throughout his career, Mozart would apparently fall in love with a particular musical genre and then explore its possibilities in a series of masterpieces created within a short period of time. An early explosion of such focused creativity produced his five violin concertos, composed between April and December 1775 when the composer was only 19.

The external inspiration was his position as concertmaster of the Archbishop of Salzburg’s court orchestra. Although he always considered the piano to be his primary instrument, Mozart was also a virtuoso violinist who, at this period in his life, amazed listeners with the beauty and purity of his tone.

So these five concertos were written for himself to play, as well as the accomplished Antonio Brunetti who succeeded him as concertmaster in 1776.

Although the first two are hampered by their courtly conventionality, with Concerto No. 3 (September 1775) Mozart soared to a level of inspiration and craft that proclaimed the child prodigy had become a mature artist. Here orchestra and soloist are beautifully melded, and the composer’s imagination and inventiveness never flag from one marvelous movement to the next.

But the jewel of this concerto is the heart-piercingly beautiful Adagio middle movement, which taps a vein of yearning

and sadness we encounter often in his later works. By nature Mozart was high-spirited and extroverted, but he was also subject to deep bouts of melancholy, which he seldom discussed but transmuted into some of his greatest and most moving music. In this exquisitely scored slow movement (muted strings, pizzicato bass, two flutes replacing the two oboes of the outer movements for gentler color), Mozart creates a nocturnal mood that mingles beauty with pain.

Above the ghostly ensemble, the violin soloist sings a heartbreaking aria, which is intensified in the middle section by sighing figures in the strings.

The sonata-form opening movement features a bold principal theme taken from Mozart’s opera Il re pastore (completed earlier that year) and a development section of exceptional length and imagination for so young a composer. Opera also inspires a passage of recitative-like dialogue between the soloist and the ensemble leading into the recapitulation; one can almost hear the words the violinist must be saying.

The rondo finale is less carefree than many Mozart rondos, tinged with a shadow of the slow movement’s sadness.

It contains a pair of extraordinary central episodes: the first a lover’s serenade in G minor over a plucked mandolin-like accompaniment, the second a faster Allegretto with a sturdy, rustic tune based on a folksong of either Hungarian or Alsatian origins.

The BSO most recently performed Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 on April 8, 2008, with Carolyn Kuan, conductor, and Qing Li, violin, and July 20 and 21, 2006, with Edwin Outwater, conductor, and Soovin Kim, violin.

Prelude to Afternoon of a Faun

Claude Debussy Born in St. Germain-en-laye, France, Aug. 22, 1862; died in Paris, March 25, 1918

In late 19th-century Europe, fusion of the various arts became a hot topic in creative circles. Wagner had suggested one approach with his music dramas, but there, music was clearly the dominant partner. In Paris, a more collaborative movement emerged in which writers, painters and musicians met regularly to

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 55

Thursday, October 20, 2011, 8 p.m.

share ideas. Debussy, who much preferred the company of poets and painters to fellow musicians, began attending the Tuesday evening gatherings at the apartment of Stéphane Mallarmé, leader of the Symbolist poets. Aspiring to a kind of verbal music, Mallarmé and his fellow Symbolists emphasized highly colored suggestions of mood and atmosphere in their verse rather than concrete descriptions or action.

Written in 1865, but not published until 1876, Mallarmé’s pastoral poem L’Après-midi d’un faune (“The Afternoon of a Faun”) epitomized the Symbolist aesthetic. Its subject is the amorous adventures of a faun—the cloven-hoofed demigod of Greek mythology also known as a satyr—on a sultry summer afternoon. However, the poem leaves purposefully vague whether the faun’s pursuit and capture of two nymphs is real or only a languid dream.

Both the sensual imagery and the vagueness meshed with Debussy’s own ideals, and his musical paraphrase of the poem, composed between 1892 and 1894, became his first orchestral masterpiece. He described it as “a series of scenes against which the desires and dreams of the faun are seen to stir in the afternoon heat.” Premiered on Dec. 22, 1894 in Paris, it drew demands for an encore from an audience who immediately embraced its radical new sound world.

To appreciate how novel Debussy’s soundscape was, compare this work with two almost contemporary pieces, Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s “Pathétique” Symphony.

In both, strings dominate the orchestra, brass peal out and the timpani crashes in fortissimo climaxes. But in his Afternoon of a Faun, Debussy banished both brass and timpani and de-emphasized the strings. Instead, the plangent tones of woodwinds dominate his moderate-sized orchestra, led by the solo flute as the faun’s instrument. His most luxurious addition is two harps, providing a shimmering accompaniment to the wind solos, and his most exotic, the delicate, belllike antique cymbals that ring softly at the end. The sounds of these instruments are deployed with the utmost subtlety,

and no big climaxes are permitted.

To his new sound palette, Debussy added other radical features: free harmonic movement not dictated by the classical rules of tonality and the most supple use of rhythm, in which time flows rather than beats. All the work’s thematic material is derived from the flute’s opening melody: a lazy chromatic slither that captures both the heat of the afternoon and the faun’s desire. Mallarmé himself was delighted by this fusion of music and poetry: “The music brings forth the emotion of the poem and gives it a background of warmer color.”

The BSO most recently performed Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun on Feb. 7 and 8, 2008, with Music Director Marin Alsop, and also on Feb. 9 and 10, 2008, at Carnegie Hall and the Tilles Center at C.W. Post on Long Island, N.Y. La Mer (“The Sea”)

Claude Debussy On Sept. 12, 1903 Claude Debussy wrote from his in-laws’ home in landlocked Burgundy to his friend André Messager to tell him that he had begun a new piece, La Mer. “You may not know that I was destined for a sailor’s life and that it was only quite by chance that fate led me in another direction,” Debussy wrote. “But I have always retained a passionate love for her [the sea].

You will say that the Ocean does not exactly wash the Burgundian hillsides… but I have an endless store of memories and, to my mind, they are worth more than the reality, whose beauty often deadens thought.”

By the time La Mer was finished in March 1905, Debussy’s whole life had been turned upside down. In July 1904, he left his wife Lily for the alluring and wealthy Emma Bardac, herself another man’s wife; the two eloped to the Channel island of Jersey. Although Bardac and Debussy eventually contracted a happy remarriage, Debussy’s marital mess made him briefly the scandal of Paris. Lily attempted suicide; both she and Bardac brought court actions against the composer, and many of his

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friends shunned him. Thus, La Mer— perhaps Debussy’s most passionate and personal work—can be heard as not only a musical portrait of the sea, but also an expression of a turbulent period in the composer’s life.

When the work was premiered in Paris on Oct. 15, 1905, many of the critics and even Debussy’s friends did not like it. After the delicate colors and veiled emotions of his recent opera Pelléas et Mélisande, they found La Mer’s bold drama and loud, blazing climaxes to be unworthy of the composer. But Debussy had aimed for something new in this work. If he had already shown the sea as gentle and mysterious in Sirènes, the last movement of his Nocturnes, now he was going to describe its raw elemental power, corresponding to the deepest turmoil in the human soul.

Neither symphony nor tone poem (Debussy hated Richard Strauss’ graphic musical descriptions), La Mer was subtitled “Three Symphonic Sketches.” The first, “From Dawn to Noon on the Sea,” begins with a slow, misty introduction out of which important motives rise as the day breaks. Gradually the roll of the sea emerges: a fair-weather sea of sparkling waves and steady breezes. A brass chorale appears at the end, portraying the midday sun blazing overhead.

“Play of the Waves” is lighter in mood and orchestration: the work’s scherzo section in which the waves frolic “in a capricious sport of wind and spray” (Oscar Thompson).

The finale, “Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea,” begins ominously with the rumble of timpani and gong and a stormy cello/bass motive. A passionate melody, introduced by woodwinds and eventually treated in grand Romantic fashion by the strings, seems as much inspired

by Debussy’s tumultuous love affair as by the storm-tossed waters. Motives from the first movement as well as the brass chorale return for a frenzied conclusion: Debussy finally tearing away his habitual self-protective veil.

Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2011 The BSO most recently performed Debussy’s La Mer on Feb. 15 and 16, 2007, with conductor Jur Maerkl.

Friday, Friday, October October 21, 21, 2011, 2011, 88 p.m. p.m.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2011, 8 P.M.

● Strathmore Presents

Blind Boys of Alabama Jim Lauderdale to open Jimmy Carter, vocals Bishop Billy Bowers, vocals Ben Moore, vocals Eric “Ricky” McKinnie, vocals Joey Williams, lead guitar Peter Levin, keyboards Tracy Pierce, bass The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Blind Boys of Alabama

The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. They have received a Grammy lifetime achievement award, as well as one from the National Endowment for the Arts. Inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and honored with five Grammy Awards, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 70 years and shows no signs of diminishing.

The Blind Boys of Alabama have earned praise for their remarkable interpretations of everything from tradi-

tional gospel favorites to contemporary spiritual material by acclaimed songwriters such as Curtis Mayfield, Ben Harper, Eric Clapton, Prince and Tom Waits. Their performances have been experienced by millions on The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman, the Grammy Awards, 60 Minutes and on their own PBS holiday special.

The Blind Boys of Alabama formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939. The group toiled for almost 40 years almost exclusively on the black gospel circuit, playing in churches, auditoriums and stadiums across the country. Their recorded output, reaching back to 1948 with their hit “I Can See Everybody’s Mother But Mine,” is widely recognized as being influential for many gospel, R&B and rock ‘n’ roll artists.

In the 1960s, they joined the civil rights movement, performing at benefits

for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They toiled in the vineyards all through the 1970s as the world of popular music began to pass them by. But in 1983, their career reached a turning point with their crucial role in the smash hit and Obie Award-winning play The Gospel at Colonus, which brought the Blind Boys’ timeless sound to an enthusiastic new audience. In the 1990s they received two Grammy nominations and performed at the White House.

The Blind Boys have appeared on recordings with Bonnie Raitt, Randy Travis, k.d. lang, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Charlie Musselwhite, Susan Tedeschi, Solomon Burke, Marty Stuart, Asleep at the Wheel, Tom Petty and Peter Gabriel.

Their new record Take the High Road marks the first time the group has experimented with country music influences. This landmark recording draws from modern and traditional country to enrich the group’s gospel-rooted sound with fresh and illuminating insight.

For years the Blind Boys had imagined such a project, but it wasn’t until they were voted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2010 that their plans began to coalesce. The catalyst was having met rising country music star Jamey Johnson, who sang “Down by the Riverside” with them at the induction ceremony. Johnson, whose gifts as a songwriter and performer match his fierce commitment to country music’s history and tradition, is a longtime admirer of the Blind Boys. The experience of sharing the stage with him prompted the Blind Boys to seek his services to help bring their dream of doing a country gospel album to life.

Johnson was pivotal in lining up many of Nashville’s top country singers and musicians for the album. Vince Gill, Willie Nelson, the Oak Ridge Boys, Hank Williams Jr. and Lee Ann Womack contributed their unique voices to Take the High Road.

The result isn’t just an album that explores the juncture of two great forms of American music, it’s an achievement that stands out even in the Blind Boys’ storied catalog as a demonstration of

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 57

Friday, October 21, 2011, 8 p.m.

Museum Shop Around 22nd Annual

Treat yourself to one of our most popular pre-holiday events: the Museum Shop Around. Forget the ordinary and come to Strathmore, where the very best museum gift shops in the region come together under one roof with a plethora of clever, unique and distinctive gift ideas to surprise and delight everyone on your holiday list. Choose from the whimsical and the wonderful, with handcrafted pieces, arts-related merchandise, and so much more.

Browse the best of these great museum shops!

American University Museum– Katzen Arts Center Audubon Sanctuary Shop Herb Cottage at Washington National Cathedral Hillwood Museum & Gardens Just Imagine! The Shop at Imagination Stage The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Montgomery County Historical Society National Archives Shop

National Geographic Store National Museum of Women in the Arts The Popcorn Gallery at Glen Echo Park President Lincoln’s Cottage Shakespeare Theatre Company Shop The Shop at Strathmore Supreme Court Gift Shop The Textile Museum U.S. Capitol Historical Society

Thursday, November 10, 10am–8pm Friday, November 11, 10am–8pm Saturday, November 12, 10am–6pm Sunday, November 13, 10am–5pm

MANSION AT STRATHMORE ADMISSION $9 (Stars Price $8) Present this ad and get $1 off regular admission!

Admission proceeds benefit Strathmore’s artistic and educational programming.

No Strollers, please. Parking in the Mansion lot on a space available basis.

58 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

how divinely inspired music can transcend categorization.

Jim Lauderdale

Jim Lauderdale is a multitalented performer and songwriter, with successes in both country and bluegrass music.

His roots stem from the Carolinas; however his career has taken him all over the U.S. and abroad, making him an international recording artist with an ever-growing fan base. Lauderdale won Artist of the Year and Song of the Year at the first awards show held by the Americana Music Association in 2002.

Subsequently, he has hosted this same show for the past seven years.

He is among Nashville’s most desirable songwriters, with songs recorded by artists such as Patty Loveless, George Jones, The Dixie Chicks, Solomon Burke, Mark Chesnutt, Dave Edmunds, John Mayall, Kathy Mattea, Lee Ann Womack, Gary Allan, Blake Shelton, Vince Gill and George Strait. He also contributed several songs to the successful soundtrack of the George Strait film, Pure Country. Not content to just write hits for the stars, he’s toured with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rhonda Vincent and Elvis Costello.

Lauderdale’s musical influences include the legendary Dr. Ralph Stanley and George Jones. These influences, and his unique sense of melody and lyric, help forge a sound that is truly his own.

He is a two-time Grammy winner for the albums Lost in the Lonesome Pines and The Bluegrass Diaries. His first CD with Stanley, I Feel Like Singing Today, received a Grammy nomination, as did his first solo bluegrass CD, titled Bluegrass.

As a performer his credits include producing, writing and collaborating on albums such as, Wait ‘Til Spring with Donna the Buffalo, and Headed for the Hills, his first total project with Robert Hunter. The remainder of Lauderdale’s 18 albums include Planet of Love, Pretty Close to the Truth, Every Second Counts, Persimmons, Whisper, Onward Through It All, The Other Sessions, The Hummingbirds, Bluegrass, Country Super Hits Volume 1, Honey Songs, Could We Get Any Closer? and Patchwork River.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2011, 8 P.M.

● Strathmore Presents

Open Door: India.Arie and Idan Raichel The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

India.Arie

India.Arie is known and cherished by fans and fellow musicians as a poet, a songwriter, a producer, a musician, a singer, an advocate, a friend and a philanthropist. With over eight million albums sold worldwide, her most recent studio album, Testimony Vol. 2: Love & Politics, hit No. 1 on the Billboard magazine R&B Chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.

Praised by The New York Times as “one of the most determinedly virtuous songwriters in R&B or pop, [who] strives to make faith, goodness and positive thinking seductive,” and by Oprah Winfrey for her steadfast refusal to succumb to female stereotypes, India.

Arie has worked steadily throughout her career to champion causes close to her heart. She has traveled to Africa numerous times to address the AIDS crisis, and her songs have been used in various campaigns, including Lifetime’s Stop Breast Cancer for Life campaign and UNICEF events.

Since the release of her first album Acoustic Soul in 2001, she has received 21 Grammy nominations, won four Grammy Awards and four NAACP Image Awards, as well as various recognitions from BET, Billboard, MTV, VH1,

Vogue and Essence. In September 2010, she was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

She recently started her own companies, Soulbird World Wide and www.soulbirdmusic.com, and began a new journey toward molding her lifelong passion of music and words into a career she really loves. The award-winning artist has become a new woman and continues to follow her heart, immersing herself in projects, including recent recordings with Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana and Marc Cohn on their respective new albums, and writing and recording with Israeli superstar Idan Raichel for the new album, Open Door.

Idan Raichel

Musician Idan Raichel burst onto the Israeli music scene in 2002 with his band the Idan Raichel Project (The Project), changing the face of Israeli popular music and offering a message of love and tolerance that resonated strongly in a region of the world where the headlines are too often dominated by conflict.

Raichel is a 29-year-old keyboardist, producer and composer from Kfar Saba.

Born in 1977 to a family of Eastern European heritage, Raichel started playing the accordion when he was 9 years

old. He then started playing keyboards as a teenager and studied jazz in high school, which honed his skills at improvising and working with other musicians.

In Israel, military service is mandatory for all young men and women, so at 18 Raichel was conscripted into the Israeli army. Ironically, it was here that Raichel developed musical skills that would prove essential later in life.

Rather than heading to the front lines, Raichel joined the army rock band and toured military bases, performing covers of Israeli and European pop hits.

As the musical director of the group, he became adept at arranging music and producing live shows.

After he was discharged Raichel starting working as a counselor at a boarding school for immigrants and troubled youth.

Raichel had also become a successful backup musician and recording session player for some of Israel’s most popular singers. After a few years of helping others gain success, Raichel decided to pursue a project that reflected his own musical ideals, and he began working on a demo recording.

Raichel’s right-hand man and closest collaborator on The Project is drummer and producer Gilad Shmueli. A respected producer for many popular Israeli artists, Shmueli has played an essential role in the development of The Project.

The groundswell of interest propelled the self-titled album to sell over 150,000 copies and firmly establish Raichel as a new type of Israeli pop star.

His follow-up album in 2005 featured a number of hit songs, including the Ethiopian flavored “Mi’Ma’amakim” (Out of the Depths), and proved that Raichel was a unique talent that offered a new vision for how Israelis, their neighbors in this volatile region and people all over the world can cherish their own cultural traditions, celebrate their differences and, through collaboration, create new and inspiring expressions.

In 2006, he released The Idan Raichel Project, a compendium of the most notable songs from The Project’s two Israeli albums. The compendium’s release was in conjunction with a special Putumayo World Music collection featuring Raichel, entitled One World, Many Cultures.

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 59

raichel photo by nitzan treyst

Saturday, October 22, 2011, 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011 8 P.M.

● Strathmore Presents

Michael Pollan In Defense of Food: The Omnivore’s Solution The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Michael Pollan

History of Four Meals, which was named one of the 10 best books of 2006 by The New York Times and The Washington Post. It also won the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award and the James Beard Award for best food writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Pollan’s previous book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, was a New York Times bestseller, received the Borders Original Voices Award for the best nonfiction work of 2001 and was recognized as a best THEN CHECK OUT THE LOCAL NIGHTLIFE. book of the year by the American Booksellers Association and Amazon.com.

Court Hotel PBS premiered a two-hour speVOTED BY USA TODAY JANUARY, 2011 cial documen“TOP FIVE WASHINGTON, D.C. HOTEL VALUES” tary based on The Botany of Desire Situated in the heart of Bethesda, featuring elegant European Hospitality, in fall 2009. His first class amenities, easy access to downtown DC and Bethesda Metro, fitness center, near Restaurant Row, most recent book complimentary Deluxe Continental Breakfast, 24 hour concierge services, is Food Rules: An beautiful 4,000 sq. ft. Outdoor Courtyard, complimentary Limousine service.

Eater’s Manual, which was an 7740 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda MD • 301-656-2100 or 800-874-0050 www.bethesdacourtwashdc.com • find us on FACEBOOK immediate No. 1 New York Times

For the past 20 years, Michael Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect: food, agriculture, gardens, drugs and architecture.

He is the author of the bestsellers, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto and The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural

CHECK IN WITH US. Bethesda

60 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

bestseller upon publication; an expanded, illustrated edition of Food Rules will be published in November 2011.

He is also the author of A Place of My Own and Second Nature. A contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine since 1987, his writing has received numerous awards, including the James Beard Award for best magazine series in 2003; the John Burroughs prize for best natural history essay; the QPB New Vision Award for his first book, Second Nature; the 2000 Reuters-I.U.C.N. Global Award for Environmental Journalism for his reporting on genetically modified crops; and the 2003 Humane Society of the United States’ Genesis Award for his writing on animal agriculture. In 2009, he was named one of the top 10 “New Thought Leaders” by Newsweek magazine.

His essays have appeared in many anthologies, including Best American Essays, Best American Science Writing and the Norton Book of Nature Writing.

In addition to being published regularly in The New York Times Magazine, his articles have appeared in Harper’s, where he served for many years as executive editor, Mother Jones, Gourmet, Vogue, Travel + Leisure, Gardens Illustrated and The Nation. Pollan was chosen by Time magazine for the 2010 Time 100 in the “thinkers” category.

In 2003, Pollan was appointed the John S. and James L. Knight professor of journalism at the University of California-Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, and the director of the Knight Program in science and environmental journalism. In addition to teaching, he lectures widely on food, agriculture and gardening.

Pollan was born in 1955 and grew up on Long Island. He was educated at Bennington College, Oxford University and Columbia University, from which he received a master’s degree in English.

pollan photo by fran collin

Wednesday, October 26, 2011, 8 p.m.

Friday, October 28, 2011, 8 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2011 8 P.M.

● Strathmore Presents

Ballet Hispanico Mad’moiselle (2010) The Company

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, choreography

Eduardo Vilaro, artistic director

Bart Rijnink, music

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa,

costume conception

Diana Ruettiger,

costume development and construction

Mary Louise Geiger, lighting

INTERMISSION Espiritu Vivo (2011) The Company

Ronald K. Brown, choreography Susana Baca, music Diana Ruettiger, costume design Dalila Kee, lighting

INTERMISSION Club Havana (2000)

Pedro Ruiz, choreography

Israel López, Rubén Gonzales, A.K. Salim, Perez Prado and Francisco Repilado, music

Emilio Sosa, costume design

Donald Holder, lighting design

Son Dancers: Rodney Hamilton, Vanessa Valecillos, Nicholas Villeneuve, Min Tzu Li, Lauren Alzamora, Jamal Callender, Donald Borror, Kimberly Van Woesik, Christian Elán Ortiz and Andrea Salamanca Mambo Dancers: Lauren Alzamora and Jamal Callender, Christian Elán Ortiz and Kimberly Van Woesik, Andrea Salamanca and Donald Borror Cha Cha Cha Dancers: Rodney Hamilton, Min-Tzu Li and Nicholas Villeneuve Bolero: The Company Rhumba, Conga: The Company The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Following a 10-year record of achievement as founder and artistic director of Luna Negra Dance Theater in Chicago, Eduardo Vilaro joined Ballet Hispanico as artistic director in August 2009.

Building on Tina Ramirez’s founding vision for Ballet Hispanico, he brings with him a commitment to outstanding choreography, education and fostering a deeper understanding of the rich diversity within Latino cultures. Vilaro is an accomplished choreographer, having created more than 20 ballets for Luna Negra and others. He has worked in collaboration with major dance and design artists, and musicians such as Paquito D’Rivera and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As a former principal dancer with Ballet Hispanico, he has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, and Central and South America.

Vilaro came to New York City at 6 years old from his native Cuba and began dance training as a teenager on scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. He also studied at the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. He received a B.A. in dance from Adelphi University and an M.A. in interdisciplinary art from Columbia College Chicago, where he served as artist in residence at The Dance Center. He was selected Chicagoan of the Year in 2007 and Alumnus of the Year by Columbia College in 2008.

Lauren Alzamora, dancer

Lauren Alzamora graduated from University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2001. She has danced for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech and Battery Dance Company in New applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 61

Friday, October 28, 2011, 8 p.m.

York. Alzamora has also collaborated with New York-based dance photographer Howard Schatz on several projects, including underwater dance photography. This is her second season with Ballet Hispanico.

Donald Borror, dancer

Donald Borror began his ballet training at Ballet Met before attending Walnut Hill School. He has since trained with the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, the Joffrey Ballet School and Arts Umbrella Dance Company, and was awarded a DAAD grant to study at the Palucca Schule in Dresden, Germany. He graduated from The Juilliard School with the Martha Hill prize in 2010. He has worked with Ohad Naharin, Aszure Barton, Helen Blackburn, Sidra Bell and Jacqulyn Buglisi. This is his second season with Ballet Hispanico.

Jamal Callender, dancer

Jamal Callender began dancing at Ballet Tech in New York City. He attended the Professional Performing Arts School/The Ailey School under the late Denise Jefferson, while dancing at The Restoration Dance Theatre and the Harlem School of the Arts. Callender also attended Perry-Mansfield and Springboard Danse Montreal. He graduated from The Juilliard School under Lawrence Rhodes and has worked with the Atlanta Ballet, Peridance Ensemble, Buglisi Dance Theater, Formal Structure Inc. and Hubbard Street 2. This is his first season with Ballet Hispanico.

Mario Ismael Espinoza, dancer Mario Ismael Espinoza graduated from the University of California in Irvine, where he performed with Donald McKayle’s Étude Ensemble.

Since then, Espinoza has performed with Odyssey Dance Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as the San Francisco-based ensembles Company C Contemporary Ballet, Man Dance Company of San Francisco, Peninsula Ballet, Liss Fain Dance and ODC Dance. This is his second season with Ballet Hispanico.

Rodney Hamilton, dancer

Rodney Hamilton is a native of St. Louis, Mo., and started dance training at 10 years old with Carr Lane, COCA, Alexandra School of Ballet and Katherine Dunham. In 1996, at 14 years old, Hamilton joined the adult dance chorus at The Muny of St. Louis. This is his 10th season with Ballet Hispanico.

Min-Tzu Li, dancer

A native of Taiwan, Min-Tzu Li enjoyed her education at The Boston Conservatory and gained many diverse experiences working with its faculty and students. Li has been fortunate to perform works by such masters as José Limón, Thomas Ortiz, Martha Graham and Murray Louis, in addition to creating her own works. This is her fifth season with Ballet Hispanico.

Christian Élan Ortiz, dancer

Trained at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and Springboard Danse Montréal, Christian Élan Ortiz is an alumnus of Interlochen Arts Academy and Jacob’s Pillow. A 2010 graduate of the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. program, he toured the U.S. with Mexico City’s Tania Pérez-Salas Compañía de Danza Contemporánea. Last seen performing in the Broadway revival of West Side Story, Ortiz was also a member of the Trey McIntyre Project. This is his second season with Ballet Hispanico.

Andrea Salamanca, dancer

A graduate of The School of Incolballet in Cali, Colombia, Andrea Salamanca joined the professional company of Incolballet in 2005, under the direction of Gloria Castro Martínez. She has performed works by choreographers such as Jorge Amarante Tangos, Yanis Pikieris Mirages, Rayneth Meredith, Gonzalo Galguera, Patrick D. Bana and Edward Lock. In 2008, she participated in Incolballet’s tour in Spain and in Cali’s II International Ballet Festival. This is her first season with Ballet Hispanico.

Vanessa Valecillos, dancer

Vanessa Valecillos joined Ballet Nacional de Caracas under director Vicente

62 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Nebrada in 1989. After earning a B.A. from the North Carolina School of the Arts, she performed with Southern Ballet Theater, Chicago Lyric Opera and with Luna Negra Dance Theater, where she was a founding member. This is her third season with Ballet Hispanico.

Kimberly Van Woesik, dancer

Kimberly Van Woesik has trained at Chamberlain School of Performing Arts, American Ballet Theater, Miami City Ballet, the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and San Francisco Conservatory of Dance.

She has performed works by Ben Stevenson, Twyla Tharp, Arthur Mitchell, Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, Alison Chase, Jessica Lang, Adam Hougland, Gerald Arpino and George Balanchine. This is her first season with Ballet Hispanico.

Nicholas Villeneuve, dancer

An alumnus of The Juilliard and The Alvin Ailey schools, Nicholas Villeneuve’s credits include The Lion King, Cortez Contemporary Ballet and The Company Dance Theatre, Jamaica. He has performed works by José Limón and Hans van Manen, is on faculty at PerryMansfield Performing Arts School and guest teaches at The Juilliard School and Ballet Hispanico. This is his seventh season with Ballet Hispanico.

Joshua Winzeler, dancer

Joshua Winzeler began his ballet training with the Thomas Armour Youth Ballet and the Miami Conservatory. He furthered his training with the School of American Ballet, Miami City Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet. Winzeler graduated from New World School of the Arts in 2011. Winzeler has performed works from Martha Graham, Darshan Bhuller, Robert Battle and Michael Uthoff. This is his first season with Ballet Hispanico.

Jessica Alejandra Wyatt, dancer

Training at the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre under the direction of Cuban teacher Haydee Gutierrez, Jessica Alejandra Wyatt also studied with her mother,

Friday, October 28, 2011, 8 p.m.

Elena Carter. She was an apprentice with the Joffrey Ballet and a company member of Luna Negra Dance Theater. This is her third season with Ballet Hispanico.

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, choreographer

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa completed her dance training at the Royal Ballet Academy in Antwerp, Belgium. She appeared with various German companies before joining Djazzex, a contemporary jazz dance company, in 1993. In 1997, she joined the Scapino Ballet Rotterdam as a soloist for seven years. Since leaving her performing career in 2003, Ochoa has choreographed works for the Scapino Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Djazzex, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Gran Canaria Ballet, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Ankara Modern Dance Theatre, Ballet X, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Ballet National de Marseille and the Pennsylvania Ballet.

Pedro Ruiz, choreographer

Pedro Ruiz choreographed three celebrated ballets while a principal dancer with Ballet Hispanico for 21 years. Choreography credits include the Joffrey Ballet, Luna Negra Dance Theater, New Jersey Ballet, the Ailey Professional School and the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. program. He is on the dance faculty of Marymount College, The Ailey School and Scarsdale Ballet. Awards include the Bessie Award, the Choo-San Goh Award, the Cuban Artist’s Fund and The Joyce Foundation Award. He was profiled nationally in 2007 on the PBS special In The Life.

Diana Ruettiger, costume design

Diana Ruettiger has served as wardrobe supervisor for Luna Negra Dance Theater and costume designer for Dance for Life Chicago, Columbia College and The Chicago Academy for the Arts. She has worked as stitcher and crew for the Joffrey Ballet and numerous Broadway touring shows. She owned and operated a costume shop for 25 years, before moving to New York to begin her tenure as wardrobe supervisor with Ballet Hispanico.

Emilio Sosa, costume design

On Broadway and in London, Emilio

Sosa has designed costumes for the production Topdog/Underdog. OffBroadway, he has worked on productions including Crowns, Caligula, Birdie Blue, Living Out, The Story and Radiant Baby. Regionally, he has designed for Señor Discretion and Himself at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage and for Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. Sosa is image consultant for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, featuring Wynton Marsalis.

Mary Louise Geiger, lighting design

Mary Louise Geiger’s lighting design for dance performances include Rock Steady (Larry Keigwin) and Fandango (Alexei Ratmansky) at the Vail International Dance Festival; Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company: Rhapsody Fantasie, Leaving Songs, Tears of St. Lawrence (Martha Wainwright in concert with Morphoses – NYC Summerstage; The Wanderers (Royal Danish Ballet); and Elsinore (Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow). She also has done lighting design for Jacoby & Pronk and Dancers (Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival).

Donald Holder, lighting design

Donald Holder served as Ballet Hispanico’s lighting supervisor from 1986 to 1989, designing Inez de Castro and Stages. His work on Broadway includes Tony Award-winning South Pacific and The Lion King, as well as the Tonynominated Movin’ Out, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, A Streetcar Named Desire and Gem of the Ocean. Additional work for Broadway includes Juan Darien, La Cage aux Folles, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Green Bird and Hughie. Donald’s Off Broadway work includes Almost an Evening, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Romeo and Juliet and Saturday Night.

Dalila Kee, lighting design

Dalila Kee earned her B.A. in theater from City College of New York. After graduating in 1996, she began working in theater production. Over the years, she has alternated between being a stage manager, technical director or lighting designer for numerous venues and companies. Most recent lighting designs

include Truth Don Die, Order My Steps and One Shot for Evidence, A Dance Company; and The Groove to Nobody’s Business, choreographed by Camille A. Brown for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Joshua Preston, technical director, lighting design

Resident technical director for Ballet Hispanico, Joshua Preston formerly held this same position with Luna Negra Dance Theater. In addition, he served as lighting designer for Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, as well as numerous other companies in Chicago. Preston has worked with the Lexington Shakespeare Festival for the past seven years. He also is a regular at the International Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Michelle Manzanales, rehearsal director

Michelle Manzanales began working with Eduardo Vilaro in 2003 as a dancer for his company Luna Negra Dance Theater, where she later became rehearsal director in 2006 and served as interim artistic director from 2009 to 2010. In 2007, Manzanales choreographed Sugar in the Raw (Azucar Cruda) for LNDT, which was applauded as “a staggering, beautiful, accomplished new work” (Chicago Sun-Times). The Chicago Tribune called her piece honoring Frida Kahlo, Paloma Querida, a “visual masterpiece.”

Jeremiah Jeffrey Bischoff, stage manager

Jeremiah Jeffrey Bischoff is pleased and excited to be in his first season as stage manager with Ballet Hispanico. Bischoff’s other stage management credits include productions with Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, The Company of Ballet Chicago, The AMEBA Dance Project, Chamber Opera Chicago and the Northeastern Illinois University Opera Department.

Tina Ramirez, founder

Combining her incomparable artistic vision with years of performance and teaching experience, Tina Ramirez created the nation’s pre-eminent Latino dance institution, Ballet Hispanico. In recognition of her lifetime of work as a professional

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 63

Friday, October 28, 2011, 8 p.m.

dancer, educator and producer, Ramirez was awarded a National Medal of Arts in 2005. Her performing career included international touring with the Federico Rey Dance Company, the inaugural Festival of Two Worlds in Italy with John Butler, the Broadway productions of Kismet and Lute Song and the television adaptation of Man of La Mancha. In addition to the National Medal of Arts, Ramirez has received countless awards and honors in recognition of her work, including the Dance Magazine Award, the Hispanic Heritage Award for Education and the New York City Mayor’s Award of Honor for Arts & Culture.

Program Notes Mad’moiselle was commissioned, in part, by the Surdna Foundation. The music for Mad’moiselle is by arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., sole agent for Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Co. LLC, publisher and copyright owner.

Espiritu Vivo is funded by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, public support from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency and, in part, by National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts. NDP is supported by lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Community Connections Fund of the MetLife Foundation and the Boeing Company Charitable Trust.

The original production of Club Havana was made possible, in part, by gifts from Jody and John Arnhold, Dhuanne and Douglas Tansill and Caroline Newhouse; by grants from American Express Co. and AT&T; and with commissioning funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

“El Timbale Travieso” written by Israel “Cachao” Lopez, published by Foreign Imported Productions & Publishing, Inc. (BMI), copyright 1995.

“Chan Chan” by Francisco Repilado,

64 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

courtesy of Woodfield Music and courtesy of Nonesuch Records, by special arrangement with Warner Special Products.

“Congo Mulence” by A.K. Salim, used by permission of EMI Longitude Music.

“Melodia del Rio” by Rubén Gonzáles, courtesy of Nonesuch Records, by arrangement with Warner Special Products.

Ballet Hispanico salutes Jody and John Arnhold, co-chairmen of ¡Adelante! The Campaign for Ballet Hispanico, for their leadership through the Arnhold Challenge.

MetLife Foundation is the Official Tour Sponsor of Ballet Hispanico.

American Airlines is the Official Airline of Ballet Hispanico.

Funded in part by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts. NDP is supported by lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Community Connections Fund of the MetLife Foundation, and the Boeing Company Charitable Trust.

Saturday, October 29, 2011, 8 p.m.

● Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Marin Alsop, Music Director

presents

Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony Vasily Petrenko, conductor Barry Douglas, piano Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Alborada (1844-1908) Variazioni Alborada Scena e canto gitano Fandango asturiano Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major Franz Liszt Allegro maestoso (1811-1886) Quasi adagio - Allegretto vivace Allegro animato Allegro marziale animato Barry Douglas INTERMISSION Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 44 Sergei Rachmaninoff Lento - Piu vivo (1873-1943) Adagio ma non troppo - Allegro vivace Allegro The Music Center at Strathmore The concert will end at approximately 9:45 P.M. Presenting Sponsor: DLA Piper

Vasily Petrenko, conductor Vasily Petrenko was born in 1976 and started his music education at the St. Petersburg Capella Boys Music School, the oldest music school in Russia. He then studied at the St Petersburg

Conservatoire and has also participated in master classes with such major figures as Ilya Musin, Mariss Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Between 1994 and 1997, Petrenko was resident conductor at the St. Petersburg State Opera and Ballet Theatre in the Mussorgsky Memorial Theatre. Following considerable success in a number of international conducting competitions—including the Fourth Prokofiev Conducting Competition in St.

Petersburg (2003), first prize in the Shostakovich Choral Conducting Competition in St.Petersburg (1997) and first prize in the Sixth Cadaques International Conducting Competition in Spain—he served as chief conductor of the State Academy Orchestra of St. Petersburg from 2004 to 2007. During recent seasons Petrenko has conducted many key orchestras in Russia, including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Moscow Philharmonic.

He began his position as principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in September 2006 and six months into his first season this contract was extended to 2012. In 2009, the contract was again extended to 2015, and he also assumed the title of chief conductor. Also in 2009, following Petrenko’s tremendous debut with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, he was appointed the National Youth Orchestra’s principal conductor to work with the orchestra each season.

In recent seasons, Petrenko has made numerous critically acclaimed debuts with major orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, Russian National Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic and Budapest Festival orchestras. Highlights of the 2010-11 season and beyond include his debuts with the London Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Finnish Radio Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, NHK Symphony Tokyo, Sydney Symphony and Accademia di Santa Cecilia.

He has made a series of highly successful North American debuts, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Baltimore, Cincinnati and St. Louis symphony orchestras. In 2011 he will return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony, and debut with the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto and Montreal symphony orchestras.

Equally at home in an opera house, and with more than 30 operas in his repertoire, Petrenko made a debut at

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 65

mark mcnulty

Saturday, October 29, 2011, 8 p.m.

Saturday, October 29, 2011, 8 p.m.

Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2010 with Verdi’s Macbeth), and has conducted three productions in recent seasons at the Netherlands Reisopera—Puccini’s Le Villi and Messa da Gloria, I due Foscari and Boris Godounov and Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame at Hamburg State Opera.

Future plans include his debuts at the Opera de Paris (Eugene Onegin), and Zurich Opera (Carmen).

Recordings with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra include a rare double bill of Fleishman’s Rothschild’s Violin and Shostakovich’s The Gamblers, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances and Isle of the Dead, and a critically acclaimed series of recordings for Naxos including Tchaikovsky’s Zürich Symphony (winner of the 2009 Gramophone Award for Best Orchestral Recording), the Liszt Piano Concertos, and the first discs of an ongoing Shostakovich cycle (Symphonies 5, 8, 9 and 11).

In October 2007 Petrenko was named Young Artist of the Year at the annual Gramophone Awards, and in 2010 he won the Male Artist of the Year at the Classical Brit Awards. Vasily Petrenko most recently appeared with the BSO Jan. 29-31, 2009. The program included Liadov’s Kikimora, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Stephen Hough, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 8.

mark harrison

Barry Douglas, piano

Hailed as “a supremely talented and genuine artist,” Barry Douglas is one of the most versatile and brilliant pianists of today.

Douglas has established a major international career since winning the Gold Medal at the 1986 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, Moscow. He has since appeared as soloist with many of the world’s foremost orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic and Leipzig Gewandhaus in Germany, the Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland Los Angeles, NHK and Tokyo symphonies, the Israel Philharmonic and all the major London

orchestras. He has collaborated with many eminent conductors, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Colin Davis, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Yuri Temirkanov, Michael Tilson Thomas and Mariss Jansons.

In 1999 he formed Camerata Ireland an all-Irish chamber orchestra with players from both Northern and Southern Ireland, to celebrate “the wealth of Irish musical talent.” He serves as artistic director for Camerata Ireland, the International Piano Festival held at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Clandeboye International Festival and the Camerata Ireland at Castletown Series Festival in Ireland.

As a soloist, highlights of the 201011 season included his return to the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Duisburg Philharmonic, RSB Berlin and Ulster Orchestra, among others.

In the summer, he returned to the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and performed the worldwide premiere of a new concerto written for him in celebration of his 50th birthday

by Kevin Volans. Douglas regularly tours France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia in recital with recent performances in Manchester, Dublin, St. Petersburg and Moscow.

This season, he will include Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro.

Best known for his performances of the large-scale Romantic works including Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, Douglas is also a champion of 20th and 21st century composers such as Max Reger, Benjamin Britten, John Corigliano and Krzysztof Penderecki.

In 2009, he performed with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra in honor of Penderecki’s 75th birthday.

Douglas’ reputation as a pianist/ conductor has grown since forming Camerata Ireland and this season he will make his debut with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, and RTE National Symphony Orchestra in its main subscription series and will return again in the spring. In recent seasons, he has made successful debuts with the

66 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Indianapolis Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, and Chamber Orchestra of the Romanian National Radio Orchestra at the Enescu Festival, Bangkok Symphony, I Pommerigi di Milano and Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.

Douglas has recorded extensively throughout his career and has recorded all the Beethoven concertos with Camerata Ireland. His growing discography includes works of Beethoven, Brahms, Britten, Corigliano, Debussy, Liszt, Penderecki, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Reger and Tchaikovsky. In 2008, Sony/ BMG released his recording of Rachmaninoff 1 and 3 with the Russian National Orchestra and Svetlanov. His BMG recording of the Reger Concerto and Strauss Burleske with Marek Janowski and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France was awarded the Diapson d’Or. Current recording projects are the Penderecki Piano Concerto with Warsaw Philharmonic and Maestro Antoni Wit for the Naxos label and Nina Rota’s Concerto Soirée Per Pianoforte e Orchestra with the Filarmonica 900 del Teatro Regio and Maestro Gianandrea Noseda for the Chandos label.

A native of Ireland, Douglas studied at the Belfast School of Music. He began conducting at an early age. At age 16 he began piano lessons with Felicitas LeWinter, who inspired him to become a pianist. He was awarded a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with John Barstow, and later studied privately with Maria Curcio and Yvegeny Malinin.

Barry Douglas most recently appeared with the BSO on June 12-15, 2008, with conductor, Thomas Dausgaard, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

Program Notes Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Born in Tikhvin, Russia, March 18, 1844; died in Lyubensk near, St. Petersburg, June 21, 1908

Saturday, October 29, 2011, 8 p.m.

In his autobiography, Nikolai RimskyKorsakov recalled with pleasure the first rehearsal in St. Petersburg for the premiere of his Capriccio espagnol. “The first movement ... had hardly been finished when the whole orchestra began to applaud. Similar applause followed all the other parts wherever the pauses permitted. I asked the orchestra for the privilege of dedicating the composition to them.

General delight was the answer.”

Now orchestral musicians rarely greet a new work with applause—more often they’re silently cursing its difficulties.

But here they recognized a work that, despite its considerable challenges, was a joy to play and, moreover, made them, singly and collectively, sound like kings.

Today it is still considered one of the symphony orchestra’s great showpieces.

Rimsky stressed, however, that his concept here went far beyond attractive scoring. “The opinion formed by both critics and the public that the Capriccio is a magnificently orchestrated piece is wrong. The Capriccio is a brilliant composition for the orchestra. The change of timbres, the felicitous choice of melodic designs and figuration patterns exactly suiting each kind of instrument, brief virtuoso cadenzas for solo instruments, the rhythm of the percussion instruments, etc. constitute here the very essence of the composition and not its clothing or orchestration. The Spanish themes of dance character furnished me with rich material for ... multi-form orchestral effects.”

Capriccio espagnol is in five brief, interlinked movements. Since it was originally conceived as a violin/orchestral fantasy on Spanish themes for Rimsky’s colleague at the Russian Imperial Chapel P. S. Krasnokutsky, the violin plays the leading role among the many soloists. But the clarinet is first into the spotlight in the opening Alborada: an exuberant adaptation of the traditional Spanish morning serenade, which returns at midpoint and, faster still, to conclude the piece. Between the Alborada’s appearances comes a slow, songful interlude reveling in the orchestra’s richest colors and led by four horns.

The fourth-place Scena e canto gitano or “Gypsy Song” is introduced by a brass fanfare; under its impassioned melody, the whole orchestra vibrates like a giant guitar. This flows directly into the final Fandango asturiano: a blazing gypsy dance with castanets and drums.

The BSO most recently performed Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol on June 18, 2011, with Music Director for the BSO Summer Academy, and Jan. 3-5, 1997, with Bobby McFerrin, conductor.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major

Franz Liszt Born in Raiding, Hungary, Oct. 22, 1811; died in Bayreuth, Germany, July 31, 1886

Though born to poor parents on one of the rural Esterházy (the princely family that employed Haydn) estates on the Austro-Hungarian border, Franz Liszt became the most cosmopolitan of all 19th-century musicians. The greatest pianist of his—and perhaps any—time, he was also an accomplished conductor and a daring composer who pushed the technique of piano playing and the elements of musical construction beyond anything imagined before. It seemed that he knew and frequently aided virtually every important European composer active during his long lifespan, and Wagner was one of his closest colleagues and beneficiaries. In fact, when Wagner was banished from the German states after his participation in the 1849 revolution in Dresden, Liszt not only helped him settle in Switzerland, but also meticulously undertook the premiere performance of Wagner’s Lohengrin at the Weimar court theater in 1850. Eventually, Wagner even became his son-in-law, marrying Cosima Liszt von Bülow.

Surprisingly, Liszt did not create his concerto works until after he had retired from his dazzling career as a touring virtuoso. Settling in Weimar from 1848 to 1860, he devoted much of his time there to prolific composition. The First Piano Concerto dates from between 1848 and 1853 and was premiered in Weimar by Liszt in Febru-

ary 1855, with his famous colleague Hector Berlioz on the podium.

The First Piano Concerto demonstrates Liszt’s ceaseless exploration of new sound colors both for the piano and the orchestra, with an emphasis on the heroic abilities of the pianist as technician and dramatist. In layout, it is four compact movements—dramatic opening, singing slow movement, pert scherzo and energetic finale—stitched together without pause. Highlights to listen for include: the stormy opening theme in the strings with wind “haha’s,” which forms the basis for the first movement and recurs as a motto theme later; the piano’s rhapsodic flights of fancy in response; the lovely lyrical theme for solo clarinet and piano; the beautiful slow movement with two bewitching themes, the first presented at length by the piano, the second by the flute and clarinet; a brief scherzo of sparkling fireflies, assisted by a busy triangle (early critics objected mightily to such prominence for an instrument not yet a full-fledged orchestral member); the return of the opening motto theme.

And the finale thriftily transforms the slow movement’s delicate themes into a forceful conclusion.

The BSO most recently performed Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 on July 21 and 22, 2005, with conductor Hugh Wolff and pianist Yuja Wang.

Symphony No. 3 in A Minor

Sergei Rachmaninoff Born in Semyonovo, Russia, April 1, 1873; died in Beverly Hills, Calif., March 28, 1943

When Sergei Rachmaninoff fled the Russian Revolution in December 1917, his life was turned upside down. He would mourn his lost native land for the rest of his life, and in his successive homes in Switzerland and America, he tried to re-create a little Russia with icons, samovars and Russian-speaking servants. Having left all his wealth behind, he took up a grueling schedule of touring as a virtuoso pianist to support his wife and two daughters, in the process becoming one of this century’s

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 67

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keyboard legends. But his composing, so prolific until 1917, languished.

Rachmaninoff was acutely aware of his creative problems and of their probable causes. “Perhaps the incessant practice and eternal rush inseparable from life as a concert artist takes too much toll of my strength; perhaps I feel that the kind of music I care to write is not acceptable today,” he wrote. “And perhaps my true reason ... is none of these.

For when I left Russia, I left behind ... my desire to compose: losing my country I lost myself also. To the exile whose musical roots, traditions and background have been annihilated, there remains no desire for self-expression.”

But creativity gradually reasserted itself, and in 1933–34 he wrote his first great post-Russian success: the incandescent Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

Buoyed by its enthusiastic reception, he turned to something more ambitious: a Third Symphony to follow his immensely popular Second written nearly 30 years earlier. Composed at his Swiss

lakeside villa during breaks in his concert schedule, the Third demonstrated that his musical voice had altered and matured over his long hiatus.

But not all the listeners at its premiere by his beloved Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski on Nov. 6, 1936 were pleased with these changes. For one thing, with the exception of the first movement’s yearning cello theme, the Third Symphony lacks the soaring Rachmaninoff melodies that had made his music so popular. However, the composer counters this with tighter symphonic construction, more daring harmonies, and dazzling orchestration (created to show off the Philadelphians’ virtuosity) that rival Ravel and Debussy in its mastery of subtle instrumental timbres.

Mingling tones of nostalgia and anguish, of paralyzing fear and grim determination to get on with life, it fulfills Rachmaninoff’’s dictum: “Music should ... be the expression of a composer’s complex personality.”

Like the Second Symphony, the first movement opens with a motto theme that permeates the entire work. Barely auA COMPOSER. dible in the veiled A TRUE FRIEND. tones of muted solo cello, clarinets and horns, it suggests Russian Orthodox chant in its restrained stepwise motion.

After the orchestra explodes into Empowering leaders to serve life, the plaintive with faith, tones of oboes and intellect, and bassoons sing the confidence.

OPEN HOUSES principal theme: UPPER SCHOOL – Oct. 16, 12:00 pm a lovely expan9th–12th Grade sion of the motto, ALL-SCHOOL – Nov. 11, 9:00 am Pre-K–12th Grade over a gently rocking violin accomStone Ridge is a Catholic, independent college preparatory school for paniment. Intensigirls, serving students from Pre-K–12, located in Bethesda, MD. Our fying the mood of infant/toddler program, pre-school, Pre-K, and Kindergarten are all co-ed. yearning for a lost WWW.STONERIDGESCHOOL.ORG paradise, the cellos

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68 applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

enter with the bittersweet second theme, the symphony’s most memorable tune.

All this material is repeated before agitated violas, baleful bassoons, and wailing oboes introduce Rachmaninoff’s greatest development section—rich in atmosphere, adventurous harmonies and fantastic scoring. It reaches a nightmarish climax, punctuated by the return of the motto theme, harshly intoned by brass.

The opening music recapitulates, but cannot recover the purity and sweetness of its earlier existence. The movement subsides with a final ominous appearance of the motto in trumpet and trombone, then eerily plucked by strings.

Embedded within the C sharp-minor slow movement is a sardonic little scherzo. In a haunting opening, the solo horn mournfully sings the motto motif over strummed harp chords and is answered by a weeping violin solo.

Again the violins’ poignant main theme, wistfully colored with trills, grows out of the motto idea. The tempo accelerates to the scherzo, featuring a cheeky, crisply articulated march tune whose tone grows increasingly macabre and unhinged. Buzzing strings return to the slow-tempo music, which dies away with the motto idea.

The finale jolts us with its sudden shift to noisy bustle and from the minor mode to A major. Its mood of frantic, slightly meaningless activity, culminating in a ferocious little fugue, suggests Rachmaninoff’s own whirlwind schedule as globetrotting virtuoso. After the opening music recapitulates, stopped horns and muted trumpets snarl out a rhythmically spiced-up version of the macabre tune that haunted Rachmaninoff’s music: the Dies irae (Day of Judgment) chant from the medieval Catholic funeral rite. It proves to have something in common with the motto theme, and in a striking passage, the instruments murmur together over this coincidence. At the end, Rachmaninoff intriguingly sends a harmonic cloud over his sunny happy ending.

Notes by Janet E. Bedell copyright 2011 The BSO most recently performed Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 on May 12 and 13, 2005, with conductor Junichi Hirokami.

Saturday, October 30, 2011, 7 p.m.

Saturday, OCTOBER 30, 2011, 7 p.m.

● Washington Performing Arts Society Celebrity Series presents

Gil Shaham, violin Inon Barnatan, piano Sonatina in A minor for Violin and Piano, D. 385, Op. 137, No. 2

Franz Schubert (1756 – 1791)

Allegro moderato Andante Menuetto: Allegro Allegro Partita No. 2 in D minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004 Allemande Courante Sarabande Gigue Chaconne

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)

INTERMISSION Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano Allegretto ben Moderato

César Franck (1822 – 1890)

Allegro Recitativo – Fantasia Allegretto poco mosso Please refer to the program insert for notes on this performance.

The Music Center at Strathmore Marriott Concert Stage

Gil Shaham, violin Last season, violinist Gil Shaham played the Walton Concerto with the New York Philharmonic, the Zurich Tonhalle

Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony; Prokofiev’s Second Concerto with the National Symphony and the Orchestre de Paris; Bartók’s Second Concerto with St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Orchestra and the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin; and the Barber and Hartmann Concertos with the Toronto and Chicago symphonies.

He also appearanced with the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; gave all-Bach solo recitals in St. Petersburg, Genoa, and Baltimore; and performed with his sister, pianist Orli Shaham, at New York’s 92nd Street Y. Shaham’s more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs have earned him multiple Grammy Awards, a Grand Prix du Disque, a Diapason d’Or and a Gramophone Editor’s Choice Award.

His most recent recordings for his own label, Canary Classics, are a live disc featuring works by Haydn and Mendelssohn with the Sejong ensemble and an album of Sarasate’s violin works. This season he will release a disc featuring Stravinsky’s Concerto with the BBC Symphony, Barber’s Concerto with the New York Philharmonic and Berg’s Concerto with the Dresden Staatskapelle, all with David Robertson conducting.

Shaham was born in ChampaignUrbana, Ill., in 1971. He moved with his parents to Israel where he began studies with Samuel Bernstein of the Rubin Academy of Music at age 7, receiving annual scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.

In 1981, while studying with Haim Taub in Jerusalem, Shaham made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. He also began studies with Dorothy DeLay and Jens Ellerman at Aspen.

In 1982, after taking first prize in Israel’s Claremont Competition, he became a scholarship student at The Juilliard School, where he worked with DeLay and Hyo Kang, he also studied at Columbia University.

Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher career grant in 1990, and in 2008 he received the Avery Fisher Award.

He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius violin and lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their two children. Shaham records exclusively for Canary Classics.

applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 69

Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Nancy E. Hardwick Chair William G. “Bill” Robertson * Vice Chair Jerome W. Breslow, Esq. Secretary and Parliamentarian Dale S. Rosenthal * Treasurer Solomon Graham At-Large Dickie S. Carter At-Large

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Joseph F. Beach, ex officio Robert G. Brewer, Jr., Esq. * Hope B. Eastman, Esq. Starr G. Ezra Hon. Nancy Floreen, ex officio

Thomas H. Graham Paul L. Hatchett Dianne Kay Delia K. “Dede” Lang Carolyn P. Leonard * Hon. Laurence Levitan James F. Mannarino * J. Alberto Martinez, MD Caroline Huang McLaughlin Thomas A. Natelli Kenneth O’Brien DeRionne P. Pollard Donna Rattley Washington Gabriel Romero, AIA Wendy J. Susswein, ex officio Carol A. Trawick * Regina Brady “Ginny” Vasan James S. Whang *Committee Chairs CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl, Maryland Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown with fiancée Karmen Bailey Walker and Cynthia Pfanstiehl at the Spring Gala featuring Johnny Mathis

Donors Strathmore thanks the individuals and organizations who have made contributions between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. Their support of at least $500 enables us to continue to offer the affordable, accessible, quality programming that has become our hallmark.

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70 Applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

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Board member Carol Trawick and Mrs. Katherine Leggett attend a reception with artist Nancy Wilson (center).

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OPERATIONS Miriam Teitel Director of Operations Allen V. McCallum, Jr. Director of Patron Services Jasper Cox Director of Finance Mac Campbell Operations Manager Sarah Jenny Operations Assitant Allen C. Clark Manager of Information Services

Charlene McClelland Director of Retail Merchandising Lorie Wickert Director of Retail Operations and Online Sales

Jennifer A. Buzzell VP, Marketing and Communications Jerry Hasard Director of Marketing Troy Marsh Marketing Manager Julia Allal Group Sales and Outreach Manager Michael Fila Manager of Media Relations

STRATHMORE TEA ROOM Mary Mendoza Godbout Tea Room Manager

Applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 71

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

BSO members and volunteers Barb and Jan Levy.

Board of directors OFFICERS

Michael G. Bronfein*, Chairman Kathleen A. Chagnon, Esq.*, Secretary Lainy LeBow-Sachs*, Vice Chair Paul Meecham*, President & CEO Richard E. Rudman*, Vice Chair Andrew A. Stern*, Vice Chair & Treasurer

BOARD MEMBERS A.G.W. Biddle, III Robert L. Bogomolny Barbara M. Bozzuto Andrew A. Buerger Richard T. Burns Constance R. Caplan Robert B. Coutts Kenneth W. DeFontes, Jr.* Susan Dorsey, Ph.D.^ Governing Members Chair George A. Drastal* Alan S. Edelman* Ambassador Susan G. Esserman* John P. Hollerbach Beth J. Kaplan Murray M. Kappelman, M.D. Sandra Levi Gerstung Richard Levine, Esq. Jon H. Levinson Ava Lias-Booker, Esq. Susan M. Liss, Esq.* Howard Majev, Esq. Liddy Manson David Oros Marge Penhallegon, President, Baltimore Symphony Associates Michael P. Pinto Margery Pozefsky Scott Rifkin, M.D. Ann L. Rosenberg

Bruce E. Rosenblum* The Honorable Steven R. Schuh Stephen D. Shawe, Esq. Solomon H. Snyder, M.D. William R. Wagner

LIFE DIRECTORS Peter G. Angelos, Esq. Willard Hackerman H. Thomas Howell, Esq. Yo-Yo Ma Harvey M. Meyerhoff Decatur H. Miller, Esq. Patricia B. Modell Linda Hambleton Panitz Dorothy McIlvain Scott

DIRECTORS EMERITI Barry D. Berman, Esq. L. Patrick Deering Richard Hug M. Sigmund Shapiro

CHAIRMAN LAUREATE Calman J. Zamoiski, Jr.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ENDOWMENT TRUST

Benjamin H. Griswold, IV, Chairman Terry Meyerhoff Rubenstein, Secretary Michael G. Bronfein Mark R. Fetting Paul Meecham W. Gar Richlin Andrew A. Stern 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 February 1, 2010-August 10, 2011.

LEADERSHIP CIRCLE

Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Maryland State Arts Council National Endowment for the Arts

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE PARTNERS ($25,000 and above) DLA Piper M&T Bank Vocus PNC

CORPORATE PARTNERS

($10,000-$24,999) Hughes Network Systems, LLC Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union RBC Wealth Management

Total Wine & More ($2,500-$9,999) Downtown Piano Works Georgetown Paper Stock of Rockville, Inc. S. Kann Sons Company Foundation, Inc.

MAESTRA’S CIRCLE

($10,000 and above) Mr. and Mrs. A. G. W. Biddle, III The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation George and Katherine Drastal Ms. Susan Esserman and Mr. Andrew Marks The Hearst Foundation, Inc. John P. Hollerbach Susan Liss and Family Lori Laitman and Bruce Rosenblum Liddy Manson “In memory of James

72 Applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

Gavin Manson” Mr. and Mrs. Richard Rudman Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation

Governing Members Gold

($5,000-$9,999) The Charles Delmar Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Stephen M. Lams Dr. David Leckrone and Marlene Berlin Hilary B. Miller and Dr. Katherine N. Bent Mr. and Mrs. William Rogers Mike and Janet Rowan The John Ben Snow Memorial Trust Ms. Deborah Wise / Edith and Herbert Lehman Foundation, Inc.

GOVERNING MEMBERS SILVER

($2,500-$4,999) Anonymous (2) Mr. and Mrs. David S. Cohen Jane C. Corrigan Dr. and Mrs. George Curlin Kari Peterson and Benito R. and Ben De Leon Sherry and Bruce Feldman Mr. and Mrs. Denis C. Gagnon Drs. Ronald and Barbara Gots Michael G. Hansen and Nancy E. Randa Betty Huse MD Charitable Trust Foundation Madeleine and Joseph Jacobs Dr. Robert Lee Justice & Marie FujimuraJustice Marc E. Lackritz and Mary B. DeOreo Mr. Kevin Lee Mr. and Ms. Burt and Karen Leete Mr. and Mrs. Howard Lehrer Mrs. June Linowitz and Dr. Howard Eisner Dr. James and Jill Lipton Dr. Diana Locke and Mr. Robert E. Toense Mrs. Marie McCormack Paul Meecham and Laura Leach Mr. and Mrs. Humayun Mirza David Nickels and Gerri Hall Jan S. Peterson and Alison E. Cole Mr. and Mrs. John Rounsaville Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Silver Patricia Smith and Dr. Frances Lussier Diane L. Sondheimer and Peter E. Novick Mr. Alan Strasser and Ms. Patricia Hartge John and Susan Warshawsky Dr. Edward Whitman Paul A. and Peggy L. Young, NOVA Research Company

SYMPHONY SOCIETY

($1,000-$2,499) Anonymous (3) Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Abell Mrs. Rachel Abraham Dr. and Mrs. Marshall Ackerman Mr. William Baer and Ms. Nancy Hendry Ms. Elaine Belman David and Sherry Berz Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Block/Venable Foundation, Inc. Ms. Dorothy Bloomfield Nina and Tony Borwick Dr. Nancy Bridges Gordon F. Brown Catoctin Breeze Vineyard Bradley Christmas and Tara Flynn

BSO violinist John Merrill with Governing Members Diana Locke and Robert Toense.

Dr. Mark Cinnamon and Ms. Doreen Kelly Jane E. Cohen John Day and Peter Brehm Joan de Pontet Jackson and Jean H. Diehl Marcia Diehl & Julie Kurland Sharon and Jerry Farber Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fax Mr. Kenneth R. Feinberg Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Fitzpatrick Mr. and Mrs. Roberto B. Friedman William and Carol Fuentevilla Mr. and Mrs. William Gibb Peter Gil Dr. and Mrs. Sanford Glazer Mr. Harvey Gold Mr. Jonathan Goldblith Dr. & Mrs. Joseph Gootenberg Barry E. and Barbara Gordon Mark and Lynne Groban Mr. and Mrs. Norman M. Gurevich Ms. Lana Halpern Ms. Gloria Shaw Hamilton Mr. and Mrs. John Hanson Sara and James A. Harris, Jr. Mr. Fred Hart and Ms. Elizabeth Knight Mr. and Mrs. Robert Helm Ellen and Herb Herscowitz David A. and Barbara L. Heywood Mr. William Holmes Betty W. Jensen Mr. R. Tenney Johnson The Paul L. Joyner Family Dr. Henry Kahwaty Virginia and Dale Kiesewetter Dr. and Mrs. Peter C. Luchsinger Michael and Judy Mael Howard and Linda Martin Mr. Winton Matthews Bebe McMeekin Dr. and Mrs. Stanley R. Milstein Edwin H. Moot Dr. and Mrs. Donald Mullikin Douglas and Barbara Norland Ms. Patricia Normile Jerry and Marie Perlet Ms. Margaret K. Quigg Ted and Stephanie Ranft Ms. Nancy Rice Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Rogell Dr. Steven R. Rosenthal Peggy and David Salazar Estelle D. Schwalb Anne Weiss & Joseph Schwartz Bernard and Rita Segerman Ms. Phyllis Seidelson Richard and Fran Silbert Mr. Donald M. Simonds Marshall and Deborah Sluyter Mr. & Mrs. Edgar Smith Mr. Don Spero and Ms. Nancy Chasen Mr. and Mrs. Richard D. Spero Jennifer Kosh Stern Ms. Mary K. Sturtevant Mr. Phil Sunshine Mr. and Mrs. Richard Swerdlow Mr. Richard Tullos Ms. Elyse Vinitsky David Wellman and Marjorie Coombs

BSO donors enjoy a post-concert Cast Party.

Wellman Ms. Susan Wellman Ms. Joan Wilkins Ms. Ann Willis Sylvia and Peter Winik Robert and Jean Wirth Mr. and Mrs. David K. Wise Marc and Amy Wish Mr. Lee Woods Ms. Norma Yess H. Alan Young and Sharon Bob Young, Ph.D. Robert & Antonette Zeiss

BRITTEN LEVEL MEMBERS

($500-$999) Anonymous Donald Baker Mr. Paul Balabanis Leonard and Gabriela Bebchick Melvin Bell Ms. Carole Berk Mr. Gilbert Bloom Mr. Richard H. Broun and Ms. Karen E. Daly Barbara and John Clary Mr. Steven Coe Mr. Herbert Cohen Mr. and Mrs. Jim Cooper Mr. and Mrs. Arthur C. Cox Wojciech and Alicja Fizyta Gail Winslow Ginsburgh Mr. William R. Granik and Ms. Marian Gay Dr. Richard D. Guerin and Dr. Linda Kohn Mr. E. Marshall Hansen Dr. Liana Harvath Mr. Jeff D. Harvell & Mr. Ken Montgomery Mr. Robert Hecht Mr. Eugene Herman Mr. Aaron Hoag Carol and Terry Ireland Ms. Susan Irwin Ms. Cheryl Jukes Mr. Charles Kelber Mr. Harry LeVine Harry and Carolyn Lincoln Drs. David and Sharon Lockwood Mr. Jon M. Louthian Ms. Jeanine McGrath Mr. William Morgan Eugene and Dorothy Mulligan Mr. and Mrs. Peter Philipps Herb and Rita Posner Mr. Thomas Reichmann Mr. James Risser Mr. Harold Rosen Ms. Andi Sacks Mr. Allen Shaw Ms. Deborah Sherrill Gregory C. Simon and Margo L. Reid Ms. Leann Rock and Mr. Brian Anderson Ms. Ellen Rye

BSO donors Michael Rowan, Howard and Linda Martin and Janet Rowan enjoy the Comcast Lounge.

Dr. & Mrs. Jerome Sandler Mr. and Mrs. Charles Steinecke III Ms. Susan Stevens Timothy Stranges and Rosanna Coffey Mr. Peter Thomson John A. and Julia W. Tossell Dr. and Mrs. Jack Weil

BRAHMS LEVEL MEMBERS

($250-$499) Anonymous Ms. Kathryn Abell Ms. Marie Anderson Thomas and Mary Aylward Mr. Richard Baker Mr. and Mrs. John W. Beckwith Mr. Neal Bien Mr. Lawrence Blank Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Burka Ms. Lynn Butler Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Calure Mr. and Mrs. Serefino Cambareri Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cleland Ms. Marion Connell Ms. Louise Crane Ms. Suzanne Delsack and Mr. Alan White Mr. Ahmed El-Hoshy Lionel and Sandra Epstein Ms. Claudia Feldman Mr. Michael Finkelstein Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Flaherty Mr. and Mrs. Michael Scott Friedman Lucian and Lynn M. Furrow Dr. Joel and Rhoda Ganz Irwin Gerduk Ms. Alisa Goldstein Frank and Susan Grefsheim Ms. Melanie Grishman & Mr. Herman Flay, M.D. Mrs. Jean N. Hayes Ms. Marilyn Henderson and Mr. Paul Henderson Mr. and Mrs. William L. Hickman Mr. & Mrs. John K. Hurley Mr. and Mrs. Paul Hyman Mr. and Mrs. Howard Iams David Ihrie & Catherine Houston Ms. Katharine Jones Mr. Peter Kaplan Dr. and Mrs. Robert W. Karp Dr. Evelyn Karson & Mr. Donald Kaplan Lawrence and Jean Katz Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Keller Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Kern Dr. and Mrs. Robert Koehl Mr. William & Ms. Ellen D. Kominers Ms. Nancy Kopp Mr. Darrel H. Lemke and Ms. Maryellen Trautman Philip A. Levine and Frederica S. Douglas Dr. Richard E. and Susan Papp Lippman

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.

Symphony Society Members Jeni Stern and Gerald Rogell pose with BSO bassist, Jonathan Jensen.

Mr. Gene Lodge Mr. James Magno Mr. David Marlowe Mr. and Mrs. Ian McDonald Mr. David McGoff Ms. Geri Mendelson Ms. Ellen Miles Dr. & Mrs. Mortimer and Barbara Mishkin Mr. and Mrs. William Mooney Mr. William Neches Ms. Caren Novick Dr. and Mrs. John R. Nuckols Amanda and Robert Ogren Mrs. Judy Oliver Mrs. Patricia Olson Mr. Kevin Parker Thomas Plotz and Catherine Klion Mr. Andrew Polott Ms. Marjorie Pray

Dr. & Mrs. Bernard Reich Mr. and Mrs. Barry Rogstad Mr. Pat Sandall Mr. and Mrs. William Schaefer Ms. Jennifer Leed Schwartz and Mr. David Schwartz Neil and Bonnie Sherman Mr. and Mrs. Larry Shulman Richard Sniffin Mr. and Mrs. Duane Straub Mr. John Townsley Ms. Maria Volpe Mr. & Mrs. Robert Wein Ms. Amy Weinberg Mr. David M. Wilson Ms. Carole Wolfe Dr. and Mrs. Richard N. Wright Mrs. MaryAnn Zamula Mr. Warren Zwicky

Baltimore symphony Orchestra STAFF Paul Meecham President and CEO Beth M. Buck Vice President and CFO Carol Bogash, Vice President of Education Deborah Broder Vice President of BSO at Strathmore Dale Hedding Vice President of Development Eileen Andrews Vice President of Marketing and Communications Matthew Spivey Vice President of Artistic Operations

ARTISTIC OPERATIONS

Erik FInley Assistant to the Music Director Alicia Lin Director of Operations and Facilities Chris Monte Assistant Personnel Manager Marilyn Rife Director of Orchestra Personnel and Human Resources Meg Sippey Artistic Coordinator Anna Harris Operations Coordinator

DEVELOPMENT

Jennifer Barton Development Program Assistant Margaret Blake Development Office Manager Allison Burr-Livingstone Director of Institutional Giving Rebecca Potter Corporate Relations Coordinator Joanne M. Rosenthal Director of Major Gifts, Planned Giving and Government Relations Elspeth Shaw Annual Fund Manager Richard Spero Community Liaison, BSO at Strathmore Emily Wise Donor Relations Manager, BSO at Strathmore Becky McMillen, Donor Stewardship Coordinator

EDUCATION

Sara Nichols BSO Academy Coordinator Lisa A. Sheppley Associate Director of Education Larry Townsend Education Assistant

FINANCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Chris Vallette Database and Web Administrator Sophia Jacobs Senior Accountant Janice Johnson Senior Accountant Evinz Leigh Administration Associate Sandra Michocki Controller and Senior Director of Business Analytics Sybil Johnson Accountant

MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Rika Dixon Director of Marketing and Sales Laura Farmer Public Relations Manager Claire Berlin Public Relations & Publications Coordinator Derek A. Johnson Manager of Single Ticket Sales Theresa Kopasek Marketing and PR Associate Samantha Manganaro Direct Marketing Coordinator Elisa Watson Graphic Designer

TICKET SERVICES

Amy Bruce Manager of Special Events and VIP Ticketing Adrian Hilliard Senior Ticket Services Agent, Strathmore Kathy Marciano Director of Ticket Services

Applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 73

The Potter Violin Company The Stempler Family Foundation Violin House of Weaver Washington Music Center Contributor Bank of America The Italian Cultural Society Inc. Stewart’s Stellar Strings

National Philharmonic Board of directors Board of Directors

Board Officers

Ruth Berman Rabbi Leonard Cahan *Nancy Coleman Richard DiPippo Paul Dudek Ann M. Eskelsen Ruth Faison Dr. Bill Gadzuk Joan Levenson Kent Mikkelsen Dr. Wayne Meyer Dr. Roscoe M. Moore, Jr. Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu *Robin C. Perito JaLynn Prince *Mark C. Williams

*Todd R. Eskelsen, Chair *Albert Lampert, First Vice Chair *Dieneke Johnson, Second Vice Chair *Peter Ryan, Treasurer *Carol Evans, Secretary * Joel Alper, Chair Emeritus

Board of Advisors William D. English Joseph A. Hunt Albert Lampert Chuck Lyons Roger Titus Jerry D. Weast As of July 2011 *Executive Committee

As of July, 2011

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 Ameriprise Financial Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County Clark-Winchcole Foundation Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation The Gazette Ingleside at King Farm Maryland State Arts Council Montgomery County, MD Montgomery County Public Schools NOVA Research Company Schiff Hardin, LLP The State of Maryland Concertmaster Circle Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation, Inc. Principal Circle Harris Family Foundation Johnson & Johnson

Philharmonic Circle Dimick Foundation The Washington Post Company Benefactor Circle Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation Corina Higginson Trust National Philharmonic/ MCYO Educational Partnership Rockville Christian Church, for donation of rehearsal space TD Charitable Foundation Sustainer Circle American Federation of Musicians, DC Local 161-170 Bettina Baruch Foundation Cardinal Bank Executive Ball for the Arts KPMG Foundation Lucas-Spindletop Foundation The Rebecca Pollard Guggenheim Logan Foundation Patron American String Teachers’ Association DC/MD Chapter Bob’s House of Bass Boeing Eastman Strings Gailes Violin Shop, Inc. GE Foundation IBM Lashof Violins

74 Applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

INDIVIDUALS Maestro Circle Robert & Margaret Hazen Dr. & Mrs. Val G. Hemming Mrs. Margaret Makris Dr. Kenneth P. Moritsugu, Emily Moritsugu & Ms. Lisa R. Kory includes match by Johnson & Johnson Paul A. & Peggy L. Young, NOVA Research Company Concertmaster Circle Mr. & Mrs. Joel Alper Ms. Anne Claysmith Dr. Ryszard Gajewski Mr. & Mrs. Albert Lampert Principal Circle Mr. & Mrs. Todd R. Eskelsen Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. Hunt Ms. Dieneke Johnson includes match by Washington Post Mr. & Mrs. Richard McMillan, Jr. * Paul & Robin Perito Dr. Gregory A. & JaLynn R. Prince Mr. & Mrs. Peter Ryan Philharmonic Circle Mr. & Mrs. William F. Baker, Jr. * Dr. & Mrs. John V. Evans J. William & Anita Gadzuk * Dr. Robert Gerard & Ms. Carol Goldberg * Mr. & Mrs. Leslie Levine Dr. Roscoe M. Moore & Mrs. Patricia Haywood Moore Mr. & Mrs. Mark Williams includes match by Ameriprise Financial Benefactor Circle Mrs. Ruth Berman Mr. Edward Brinker & Ms. Jane Liu Ms. Nancy Coleman * Mr. Dale Collinson * Mr. Steven C. Decker & Ms. Deborah W. Davis Mr. & Mrs. John L. Donaldson Dr. Joseph Gootenberg & Dr. Susan Leibenhaut Mr. William A. Lascelle & Ms. Blanche Johnson Mr. Larry Maloney * Mr. & Mrs. Kent Mikkelsen * Michael & Janet Rowan Ms. Aida Sanchez * Mr. & Mrs. David Shapiro Sustainer Circle Anonymous (3) Mrs. Rachel Abraham Mrs. Helen Altman * Mr. & Mrs. Gilbert Bloom Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Cahan Dr. Ronald Cappelletti * Dr. Mark Cinnamon & Ms. Doreen Kelly Dr. Lawrence Deyton & Dr. Jeffrey Levi Mr. Paul Dudek Ms. Linda Edwards Dr. Stan Engebretson * Mr. William E. Fogle & Ms. Marilyn Wun-Fogle Dr. Maria A. Friedman * Mr. & Mrs. Piotr Gajewski

Ms. Rebecca Gatwood Ms. Sarah Gilchrist * Mr. Barry Goldberg Mr. Michael Hansen Dr. Stacey Henning * Ms. Annie Hou Ms. Kathryn Johnson, in honor of Dieneke Johnson Mr. Robert Justice & Mrs. Marie Fujimura-Justice Mrs. Joan M. Levenson Mr. & Mrs. Charles A. Lyons Mr. Winton Matthews Ms. Eleanor D. McIntire * Dr. Wayne Meyer * Susan & Jim Murray * Mr. & Mrs. Charles Naftalin Mr. Thomas Nessinger * Ms. Martha Newman * Dr. & Mrs. Goetz Oertel Mr. & Mrs. Charles Perret Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Pinson, includes match by GE Foundation Mrs. Jan Schiavone * Sternbach Family Fund Mr. John I. Stewart & Ms. Sharon S. Stoliaroff Dr. & Mrs. Robert Temple * Drs. Charles and Cecile Toner Mr. & Mrs. Scott Ullery Ms. Ellen van Valkenburgh * Mr. & Mrs. Robert Vocke * Mr. & Mrs. William W. Walls, Jr. Mr. & Mrs. Royce Watson Mr. & Mrs. Bernard J. Young Patron Ms. Lori Barnet Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bechert Mary Bentley & David Kleiner * Elizabeth Bishop & Darren Gemoets * Mr. & Mrs. James R. Carlin Mr. & Mrs. Paul DeMarco, in honor of Katherine Schnorrenberg * Ms. Ruth Faison * Mr. & Mrs. Elliott Fein includes match by IBM David & Berdie Firestone Mr. Steven Gerber Mr. David Hofstad Ms. Jane Lyle * Ms. Alison Matuskey Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Mountain Mr. Lon Musslewhite Dr. & Mrs. Joe Parr, III Drs. Dena & Jerome Puskin Mr. & Mrs. Willis Ritter Mr. & Mrs. Steven Seelig Dr. John Sherman Mr. John Sogn Ms. Carol A. Stern * Mrs. Louise Wager * Mr. & Mrs. Jack Yanovski Contributor Anonymous (2) Mr. Ronald Abeles Ms. Ann Albertson Mr. Robert B. Anderson Mike & Cecilia Ballentine Ms. Patricia Bulhack Mr. & Mrs. Stephen K. Cook * Ms. Irene Cooperman Mr. Dean Culler Mr.& Mrs. J. Steed Edwards Mr. John Eklund Mr. & Mrs. William English Dr. & Mrs. John H. Ferguson Mr. & Mrs. Mayo Friedlis Mr. Dean Gatwood Mr. Carolyn Guthrie Mr. & Mrs. William Gibb

John and Carol Evans with Louise and Joel Alper. Carol and Joel are members of the Board of Directors.

Dr. Karl Habermeier Dr. William Hatcher Mrs. Rue Helsel Dr. Roger Herdman Mr. & Mrs. William Hickman Ms. Katharine C. Jones Dr. Elke Jordan Mr. & Mrs. William W. Josey * Ms. Anne Kanter Dr. & Mrs. Charles Kelber Ms. Martha Jacoby Krieger * Mr. & Mrs. Paul Legendre Mr. & Mrs. Herbert J. Lerner Mr. & Mrs. Eliot Lieberman * Mr. David E. Malloy & Mr. John P. Crockett * Mr. David McGoff * Jim & Marge McMann Dr. & Mrs. Oliver Moles Jr. * Ms. Cecilia Munoz & Mr. Amit Pandya Mr. Stamatios Mylonakis Ms. Katherine Nelson-Tracey * Mrs. Jeanne Noel Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth A. Oldham, Jr. Ms. Anita O’Leary * Mr. Larz Pearson & Mr. Rick Trevino Mr. & Mrs. Alan Peterkofsky Ms. Cindy Pikul Dr. & Mrs. Manuel Porres Mrs. Dorothy Prats Mr. & Mrs. Clark Rheinstein * Mr. Andrew Robert Ms. Joyce Sauvager Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Shannon Mr. Charles Sturrock Dr. & Mrs. Szymon Suckewer Mr. & Mrs. John F. Wing Dr. & Mrs. Richard Wright Mr. & Mrs. Philip Yaffee Member Anonymous Mr. & Mrs. Donald Abbott Mrs. Carolyn Alvarez-Agria Ms. Marietta Balaan * Mr. Mikhail Balachov Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Baldwin Mr. & Mrs. Richard Bender Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Breslow Dr. Rosalind Breslow * Mr. Allan Bozorth Mr. & Mrs. Frederick Brown Mrs. Dolores J. Bryan Mr. & Mrs. Stan Bryla Mr. Bill Charrier Dr. & Mrs. Chuck Chatlynne Dr. F. Lawrence Clare Mrs. Patsy Clark

Dr. & Mrs. Gordon M. Cragg Ms. Louise Crane Mr. Alan T. Crane Dr. & Mrs. James B. D’Albora Mr. and Mrs. David Dancer * Ms. Louis Dicker Mr. Jian Ding Mr. Paul Dragoumis Ms. Sandra Doren Mr. Charles Eisenhauer Mr. Robert Fehrenbach Mr. Harold Freeman Mr. & Mrs. Richard O. Gilbert Dr. & Mrs. Neil Glaudemans Ms. Laura Governale Mr. Joseph Hamer Ms. Nina Helmsen Dr. & Mrs. Donald Henson Mr. & Mrs. James Hochron * Mr. & Mrs. Donald Jansky * Ms. Elizabeth Janthey Mr. & Mrs. Jacek Jarzynski Ms. Carol S. Jordan Ms. Elizabeth King Mrs. Rosalie King Mr. & Mrs. Allan Kirkpatrick * Ms. Cherie Krug Ms. S. Victoria Krusiewski Mr. & Mrs. John R. Larue Mr. William R. Lee Dr. David Lockwood Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth MacPherson Ms. Sharon F. Majchrzak * Mr. & Mrs. Forbes Maner Mr. and Mrs. James Mason Mr. & Mrs. Robert McGuire Mr. & Mrs. Duncan McHale Mr. & Mrs. David Miller Mr. & Mrs. T. Lindsay Moore Ms. Stephanie Murphy Mrs. Gillian Nave Dr. Ruth S. Newhouse Mr. Lawrence Novak Mrs. Elizabeth Olson Mr. Thomas Pappas Dr. & Mrs. David Pawel Dolly Perkins & Larry Novak Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Oldham Evelyn & Peter Philipps Mr. Charles A. O’Connor & Ms. Susan F. Plaeger Mr. & Mrs. Robert Rizzi Ms. Lisa Rovin * Mr. Sydney Schneider Ms. Katherine Schnorrenberg * Dr. & Mrs. Paul Silverman Dr. Barbara Sonies

National Philharmonic board member Mark Williams with pianist Brian Ganz and Philharmonic President Kenneth Oldham Jr.

Mr. & Mrs. William Stevens Mr. Robert Stewart Ms. Sarah Thomas Ms.Renée Tietjen * Mr. & Mrs. Donald A. Trayer Ms. Virginia W. Van Brunt * Mr. Sid Verner Mr. Gerald Vogel

Chorale Sustainers Circle Mr. And Mrs. Fred Altman Mr. And Mrs. William F. Baker, Jr. Dr. Ronald Cappelletti Ms. Nancy Coleman Mr. Dale Collinson Dr. Maria A. Friedman Dr. And Mrs. Bill Gadzuk Dr. Robert Gerard And Ms. Carol Goldberg Ms. Sarah Gilchrist Dr. Stacey Henning Mr. Larry Maloney

Mr. David B. Ward Mr. Raymond Watts Mr. Robert E. Williams Ms. Joan Wikstrom Ms. Lynne Woods * Dr. Nicholas Zill * Chorale contributors

Mr. And Mrs. Carl Mcintire Mr. And Mrs. Richard Mcmillan, Jr. Dr. Wayne Meyer Mr. And Mrs. Kent Mikkelsen Mr. And Mrs. James E. Murray Mr. Thomas Nessinger Ms. Martha Newman Ms. Aida Sanchez Mrs. Jan Schiavone Dr. And Mrs. Robert Temple Ms. Ellen Van Valkenburgh Mr. And 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 Ms. Dieneke Johnson

Mr. and Mrs. Albert Lampert Mrs. Margaret Makris Kenneth A. Oldham Jr. Mr. W. Larz Pearson Mr. Mark Williams *Deceased

National Philharmonic Staff Piotr Gajewski, Music Director & Conductor Stan Engebretson, Artistic Director, National Philharmonic Chorale Victoria Gau, Assistant Conductor Kenneth A. Oldham, Jr., President Filbert Hong, Director of Artistic Operations Deborah Birnbaum, Director of Marketing & PR Leanne Ferfolia, Director of Development Dan Abbott, Manager of Development Operations Auxiliary Staff Amy Salsbury, Graphic Designer

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Board of directors Reginald Van Lee, Chairman* (c) James J. Sandman, Vice Chair* (c) Jon Sedmak, Vice Chair* (c) Christina Co Mather, Secretary* David Kamenetzky, Treasurer* (c) Burton J. Fishman, Esq., General Counsel* + Neale Perl, President* Douglas H. Wheeler, President Emeritus Patrick Hayes, Founder † Gina F. Adams* Arturo E. Brillembourg* Hans Bruland (c) Beverly Burke Rima Calderon Karen I. Campbell* Josephine S. Cooper Debbie Dingell Robert Feinberg* Norma Lee Funger Bruce Gates* Olivier Goudet Jay M. Hammer* Brian Hardie Grace Hobelman (c) Jake Jones Steven Kaplan, Esq.* (c) Elizabeth Baker Keffer Jerome B. Libin, Esq. (c) Jeffrey Norris Rachel Tinsley Pearson* Joseph M. Rigby Yvonne Sabine Charlotte Schlosberg Claude Schoch Samuel A. Schreiber

Alison Simmons Irene F. Simpkins Orville A. Smith Ruth Sorenson* Wendy Thompson-Marquez Mary Jo Veverka* Gladys Watkins* Carol W. Wilner

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 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

Gladys Watkins, President Annette Morchower, First Vice President Lorraine Adams, Second Vice President Cynthea Warman, Recording Secretary Ruth Hodges, Assistant Recording Secretary Ernestine Arnold, Corresponding Secretary Anna Faith Jones, Treasurer Glendonia McKinney, Assistant Treasurer Charlotte Cameron Marshall, Immediate Past President Barbara Mackenzie Gordon, Founder

LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS Jerome B. Libin, Esq. James J. Sandman, Esq.

* Executive Committee + Ex Officio † Deceased (c) Committee Chair As of August 11, 2011

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 August 11, 2011)

$100,000+

Altria Group, Inc. Booz Allen Hamilton Betsy and Robert Feinberg Mars, Incorporated Ms. Jacqueline Badger Mars The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation National Arts and Cultural Affairs Program/The Commission of Fine Arts Mr. Reginald Van Lee

$50,000-$99,999

Ms. Christina Co Mather and Dr. Gary Mather Daimler Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts DyalCompass FedEx Corporation

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph F. Horning The Horning Family Fund Susan and Jim Miller Park Foundation, Inc. Mr. Bruce Rosenblum and Ms. Lori Laitman Mr. and Mrs. Sanford Slavin

$35,000-$49,999

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Carl D. † Hobelman and Grace P. Hobelman NoraLee and Jon Sedmak

$25,000-$34,999

Abramson Family Foundation Mark and Terry McLeod National Endowment for the Arts PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP The Rocksprings Foundation Toyota

Troutman Sanders LLP Mr. and Mrs. Stefan F. Tucker (L) Wachovia Bank, A Wells Fargo Company

$15,000-$24,999

Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Adams Diane and Norman Bernstein Mr. and Mrs. Arturo E. Brillembourg Mrs. Ryna Cohen Mr. and Mrs. Art Collins Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Morton Funger Mr. and Mrs. Jay M. Hammer The Hay-Adams Hotel KPMG LLP Judith A. Lee, Esq. (L) (W) LightSquared

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Mr. and Mrs. John Marshall Dan Cameron Family Foundation, Inc. Nancie G. Marzulla, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Glenn A. Mitchell MVM, Inc. Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation, Inc. John F. Olson, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Frank H. Pearl Ms. Rachel Tinsley Pearson Mr. and Mrs. Neale Perl Billy Rose Foundation Mr. James J. Sandman and Ms. Elizabeth D. Mullin (L) Mr. and Mrs. Hubert M. Schlosberg (L) (W) Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Simpkins Ruth and Arne Sorenson Verizon Washington, DC Ms. Mary Jo Veverka Washington Gas Light Company

$10,000-$14,999

Mr. Avid Partners, LLC Mr. and Mrs. Eliezer H. Benbassat BET Networks Chevron DCI Group The Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco Mr. and Mrs. Jose Figueroa Mr. Gregory I. Flowers and Mrs. Patricia M. Flowers George Wasserman Family Foundation, Inc. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. Mr. and Mrs. Steven Kaplan Mrs. Elizabeth Keffer Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Steve Lans Macy’s Marriott International The Honorable Bonnie McElveenHunter Carol and Douglas Melamed Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Milstein Ms. Janice J. Kim and Mr. Anthony L. Otten Prince Charitable Trusts Southern Company Sid Stolz and David Hatfield Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Young

$7,500-$9,999

Capitol Tax Partners Ernst and Young David and Anna-Lena Kamenetzky Mr. and Mrs. Peter L. Kreeger Dr. and Mrs. Louis Levitt The Meredith Foundation The Hon. Mary V. Mochary and Dr. Philip E. Wine Ourisman Automotive of VA PEPCO Sutherland Asbill & Brennan

$5,000-$7,499

Anonymous Dr. and Mrs. Clement C. Alpert Ms. Susan Angell Mrs. Dolly Chapin DIOR Ms. Pamela Farr Mr. Olivier Goudet and Mrs. Valerie Liquard Ms. Carolyn Guthrie Mr. and Mrs. Brian J. Hardie Ms. Annette Kerlin Kiplinger Foundation Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Jerome B. Libin (L) Mr. and Mrs. David O. Maxwell Mr. Claude Schoch Target The George Preston Marshall Foundation Mr. and Mrs. John V. Thomas Mr. and Mrs. J. Christopher Turner Venable Foundation The Washington Post Company Mr. Marvin F. Weissberg and Ms. Judith Morris

$2,500-$4,999

Anonymous (4) Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Abel Smith Mr. and Mrs. Robert Alvord Ambassador and Mrs. Tom Anderson Robert and Arlene Bein Jane C. Bergner, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Boris Brevnov Mr. and Mrs. William N. Cafritz The Charles Delmar Foundation Dr. and Mrs. Purnell W. Choppin Ms. Nadine Cohodas Mr. and Mrs. John Kent Cooke Mr. and Mrs. J. Bradley Davis Dr. Morgan Delaney and Mr. Osborne P. Mackie Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Eagle (L) Linda R. Fannin, Esq. (L) Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Fischer Mr. and Mrs. Burton J. Fishman Mrs. Dielle Fleischmann Friday Morning Music Club, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Gibbens Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Giles Dr. and Mrs. Michael S. Gold James R. Golden Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Graage Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Graham Debra Harrison and Diana Hossack Alexine and Aaron Jackson (W) Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Jacobs Mr. and Mrs. Merritt Jones Mr. and Mrs. David T. Kenney Mr. and Mrs. Edward Kessler (W) Kinexum Services LLC Mrs. Stephen K. Kwass Dr. and Mrs. Lee V. Leak (W) Ms. Laurie Lemley Ms. Sandy Lerner The Honorable and Mrs. Jan Lodal Dorothy P. Loeb, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Christoph E. Mahle (W) Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Manaker Ms. Doris H. McClory (W) Mr. Robert Meyerhoff and Ms. Rheda Becker Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Dr. Robert Misbin Mr. and Mrs. Robert Monk Mrs. Muriel Miller Pear Mr. and Mrs. Timothy F. Pegler Jerry and Carol Perone Mr. and Mrs. Charles Perret Mr. Trevor Potter and Mr. Dana Westring Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pritchard Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ramsay Dr. and Mrs. Douglas Rathbun Renah Blair Rietzke Family and Community Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Peter Rich Ms. Aileen Richards and Mr. Russell Jones Ms. Christine C. Ryan and Mr. Tom Graham Lena Ingegerd Scott and Lennart Lundh Peter and Jennifer Seka Mr. and Mrs. Stanton Sloane Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Small Mr. Eric Steiner Ms. Mary Sturtevant Mr. and Mrs. George R. Thompson Jr. Mr. and Mrs. R. Moses Thompson Mr. and Mrs. Brian Tommer Mr. and Mrs. Mark Weinberger Dr. and Mrs. Herbert D. Weintraub Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Weiss Dr. Sidney Werkman and Ms. Nancy Folger Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wilkins Mr. and Mrs. James J. Wilson Mr. Bruce Wolff and Ms. Linda Miller Mr. and Mrs. Paul A. Young, NOVA Research Company

$1,500-$2,499

Anonymous Ms. Lisa Abeel Mrs. Rachel Abraham

AllianceBernstein Mr. and Mrs. William Backer BB&T Private Financial Services Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Brodecki Mr. Peter Buscemi and Ms. Judith Miller Drs. Judith and Thomas Chused Dr. Mark Cinnamon and Ms. Doreen Kelly Phyllis and George Cohen Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Cook Mr. Paul D. Cronin Mrs. Gay S. Estin Marietta Ethier, Esq. (L) Mrs. Sophie P. Fleming Ms. Wendy Frieman and Dr. David E. Johnson Mr. Gary Gasper Mrs. Paula Seigle Goldman (W) Mrs. Barbara Goldmuntz Mrs. Barbara W. Gordon (W) James McConnell Harkless, Esq. Ms. Gail Harmon Dr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Harris (W) Ms. Gertraud Hechl Mr. and Mrs. Carl F. Hicks, Jr. Mrs. Enid T. Johnson (W) Dr. and Mrs. Elliott Kagan Mr. E. Scott Kasprowicz Mr. and Mrs. James Kleeblatt Mr. and Mrs. Steven Lamb Mr. Francois Lang Mr. and Mrs. Richard F. Larkin James M. Loots, Esq. and Barbara Dougherty, Esq. (L) Rear Adm. and Mrs. Daniel P. March Howard T. and Linda R. Martin Mr. Scott Martin Mrs. Gail Matheson Ms. Katherine G. McLeod Mr. Larry L. Mitchell Mr. and Mrs. Scott Mitchell Ms. Kristine Morris Lt. Gen. and Mrs. Michael A. Nelson The Nora Roberts Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Norris Mr. and Mrs. Jack H. Olender Mr. Francis O. O’Neill Mr. and Mrs. Gerald W. Padwe Ms. Jean Perin Mr. J. A. Pierce and Ms. Lola Reinsch Mr. Sydney M. Polakoff Adam Clayton Powell III Ms. Lucy Rhame Mr. and Mrs. Martin Ritter Mr. and Mrs. Dory Saad Mr. and Mrs. Samuel A. Schreiber Ms. Mary B. Schwab Dr. Deborah J. Sherrill Ms. Bernice Simmons Virginia Sloss (W) Mrs. Nadia Stanfield Cita and Irwin Stelzer Mr. Richard Strother Ms. Loki van Roijen Ms. Viviane Warren Christopher Wolf, Esq. (L) CDR and Mrs. Otto A. Zipf

$1,000-$1,499

Anonymous Ruth and Henry Aaron Mr. John B. Adams Mr. and Mrs. James B. Adler Dr. and Mrs. Syed S. Ahmed Mr. Donald R. Allen Ms. Carolyn S. Alper Jeff Antoniuk and The Jazz Update Dr. and Mrs. James Baugh Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Bennett Hon. and Mrs. Donald Bliss Mrs. Florence K. Brody (W) Bonnie and Jere Broh-Kahn Mr. and Mrs. Hans Bruland S. Kann Sons Company Fdn. Inc. Amelie and Bernei Burgunder, Directors Ms. Beverly J. Burke Ms. Peggy Cooper Cafritz Dr. C. Wayne Callaway and Ms. Jackie Chalkley

Ms. Karen I. Campbell Dr. and Mrs. Abe Cherrick Mr. Jules Cohen Mr. Tom Colella and Ms. Blair Bennett Ms. Benita Coleman Ms. Josephine S. Cooper Dr. Ronald M. Costell and Ms. Marsha E. Swiss Mr. David D’Alessio Dr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Danks Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Davis Edison W. Dick, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Dickstein Mr. Anthony E. DiResta (L) Ms. Nancy Ruyle Dodge Dynamic Concepts, Inc. Mr. Stanley Ebner and Ms. Toni Sidley Ms. Lisa Egbuonu-Davis Drs. Roselyn P. and Charles H. Epps, Jr. Mrs. John G. Esswein Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock, LLC Mr. and Mrs. David Frederick Mr. Donald and Mrs. Irene Gavin The Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg Ms. Marianna Gray Dr. Samuel Guillory Mr. J. Michael Hall and Dr. Natalie Hall Dr. Maria J. Hankerson, Systems Assessment & Research, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. James Harris, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. James K. Holman Mr. Charles E. Hoyt and Ms. Deborah Weinberger (L) Drs. Frederick Jacobsen and Lillian Comas-Diaz Mr. and Mrs. Broderick Johnson Ms. Anna F. Jones (W) Ms. Margaret M. Jones Mr. and Mrs. Terry Jones Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Kamerick Mrs. Carol Kaplan Mr. and Mrs. Sherman E. Katz (L) Mr. and Mrs. John E. Kilcarr Stephen and Mary Kitchen (L) Ms. Elizabeth L. Klee Dr. and Mrs. Marvin C. Korengold Mr. Simeon M. Kriesberg and Ms. Martha L. Kahn Sandra and James Lafond Mr. and Mrs. Eugene I. Lambert (L) Mr. and Mrs. Gene Lange (L) Mr. Robert G. Liberatore Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Loughlin Gary and Susan Lytle Ms. Sandra Masur John C. McCoy, Esq. (L) Vanda B. and Maria E. McMurtry, Davis & Harmon LLP Dr. Jeanne-Marie A. Miller Ms. Dee Dodson Morris Mr. Richard Moxley Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Mulcahy Dr. William Mullins and Dr. Patricia Petrick Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Muscarella Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Nettles Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence C. Nussdorf Mr. and Mrs. John Oberdorfer Dr. Gerald Perman W. Stephen and Diane E. Piper Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Polinger The Honorable and Mrs. Stephen Porter Mr. and Mrs. Greg Prince Mr. and Mrs. David Reznick Dr. Irene Roth Mr. and Mrs. Michael Rowan Mr. and Mrs. Horacio Rozanski Mr. and Mrs. Norman W. Scharpf Dr. and Mrs. Hans Schneider Mr. and Mrs. Albert H. Small, Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Spooner Ms. Carolyn Stennett Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Strong Ms. Wendy Thompson-Marquez Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Tomares Mr. and Mrs. Jim Trawick

G. Duane Vieth, Esq. (L) Drs. Anthony and Gladys Watkins (W) A. Duncan Whitaker, Esq. (L) Drs. Irene and John White Ms. Sensimone Williams Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Winter Mr. and Mrs. Dennis R. Wraase

$500-$999

Anonymous Mr. Andrew Adair Ms. and Mrs. Edward Adams (W) Mr. Jerome Andersen Ms. Ernestine Arnold (W) Miss Lucile E. Beaver Dr. and Mrs. Devaughn Belton (W) Ms. Mary Ann Best Ms. Carol A. Bogash Ms. Patricia N. Bonds (W) Mr. and Mrs. Charles Both Mr. and Mrs. Russell Brown Mrs. Elsie Bryant (W) Mrs. Gloria Butland (W) Dr. Warren Coats, Jr. Compass Point Research and Trading, LLC Mr. and Mrs. F. Robert Cook Mr. John W. Cook Mr. John Dassoulas Dr. and Mrs. Chester W. De Long Mr. and Mrs. James B. Deerin (W) Mrs. Rita Donaldson Economic Analysis Group, Ltd. Mrs. Yoko Eguchi Mr. Chip Ellis Dr. Irene Farkas-Conn Mr. and Mrs. Harold Finger Ms. Maura Fox Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Freeman Mrs. Judith Frosh Dr. Melvin Gaskins Mr. and Mrs. William L. Goldman (W) Mrs. Donna Grogan (W) Mr. Jack Hairston Dr. and Mrs. Harry Handelsman (W) Jack and Janis Hanson Mrs. Flora Harper Ms. Barbara Harris Mr. and Mrs. Peter Hartwell Mr. Lloyd Haugh Mr. and Mrs. Louis Hering Ms. Sally E. Howe Dr. and Mrs. John Howell Dr. Josephine S. Huang Mr. and Mrs. Larry Huggins Ralph N. Johanson, Jr., Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jones Mrs. Edna R. Jones (W) Mr. Jake Jones and Ms. Veronica Nyhan-Jones Mr. and Mrs. William Jones (W) Ms. Janet Kaufman (W) Dr. Rebecca Klemm, Ph.D. Mr. and Mrs. Howard Kolodny Mr. Daniel L. Korengold and Ms. Martha Dippell Mr. and Mrs. John Koskinen Mr. and Mrs. Nick Kotz LA Executive Services Mr. Richard Lampl and Ms. Margie Pearson Mr. William Lascelle and Blanche Johnson Ms. May Lesar Jack L. Lipson, Esq. (L) Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey A. Lipson The Honorable Cheryl M. Long (W) Mr. and Mrs. Theodore C. Lutz Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Lynch Mr. Bill Maddox and Ms. Pamela Hazen Mr. and Mrs. David Maginnes (W) Miss Shirley Marcus Allen Mr. Winton E. Matthews, Jr. Ms. Hope McGowan Mr. and Mrs. Keith McIntosh Mr. Kevin Joseph McIntyre Mr. and Mrs. Rufus W. McKinney (W) Ms. Cheryl C. McQueen (W) Mr. Jeffrey M. Menick Mrs. G. William Miller Ms. Robin Miller and Ms. Lila Blinder

Mr. and Mrs. Adrian L. Morchower (W) Mr. Charles Naftalin Mr. and Mrs. David Neal Mr. and Mrs. David Nicholson Mr. and Mrs. Henry Obering Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Papoian Ms. Beverly Perry Ms. Robin Phillips and Mr. Andrew Finn (W) Ms. Susan Rao and Mr. Firoze Rao (W) Mrs. Lynn Rhomberg Ms. Carolyn Roberts Mr. Lincoln Ross and Changamire (W) Mr. Burton Rothleder Mr. and Mrs. Michael Schultz In memory of Mr. H. Marc Moyens Mrs. Zelda Segal (W) Mr. and Mrs. Steven Seiler Dr. Deborah Sewell (W) Mrs. Madelyn Shapiro (W) Mr. and Mrs. Daniel B. Silver Ms. Jean Simons and Mr. Steven P. Solow Mr. Birendar Singh Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sonneborn (W) Mr. and Mrs. George H. Spencer (L) Dana B. Stebbins Dr. and Mrs. Moises N. Steren Mr. David Stern Sternbach Family Fund Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Strickland Mr. Robert J. Toma Dr. and Mrs. Dana Twible Ms. Julie Vass (W) Mr. and Mrs. John Veilleux (W) Ms. Ellen Walker (W) Mr. John Warren McGarry (L) Mr. and Mrs. Douglas H. Wheeler Mr. and Mrs. John Wilner Mr. and Mrs. James D. Wilson (W) Ms. Linda Winslow Ms. Christina Witsberger

Njambi (W) and Earl Wynn Mr. Alexander Yaffe Dr. Saul Yanovich Mr. James Yap Paul Yarowsky and Kathryn Grumbach

IN-KIND DONORS

Arnold & Porter, LLP Ms. Ossie Borosh Mr. and Mrs. Charles Both Davis, Carter, Scott Ltd. Gayle and Thomas Delashmutt Embassy of Australia Embassy of Spain Ms. Roberta Flack Mr. Daniel L. Korengold and Ms. Martha Dippell Dr. and Mrs. Marc E. Leland Ms. Sandy Lerner The Honorable and Mrs. Jan Lodal Lord & Taylor Mars, Incorporated Ms. Jacqueline Badger Mars Mr. Wynton Marsalis Mr. Neale Perl Ms. Carol Ridker Mr. Claude Schoch St. Gregory Luxury Hotels & Suites The Beacon Hotel The Capital Grille Chevy Chase The Hay-Adams Hotel Mr. John C. Wohlstetter Key: (W) Women’s Committe (L) Lawyer’s Committee

Washington Performing Arts Society Staff Neale Perl President Debra Harrison Chief Operating Officer Douglas H. Wheeler President Emeritus Development Carolyn Burke Director of Strategic Philanthropy Daren Thomas Director of Leadership and Institutional Gifts Meiyu Tsung Director of Major Gifts Roger Whyte, II Director of Special Events Michael Syphax Foundation Relations Manager Lauren Behling Donor Records Coordinator Chelsey Christensen Membership Gifts Associate Education Katheryn R. Brewington Assistant Director of Education/ Director of Gospel Programs Megan Merchant Education Program Coordinator Koto Maesaka Education Associate Njambi Embassy Adoption Consultant Michelle Ebert Friere CIS Consultant Finance and Administration Allen Lassinger Director of Finance Belinda Miller Assistant Director of Finance Robert Ferguson Database Administrator

Marketing and Communications Jonathan Kerr Director of Marketing and Communications Hannah Grove-DeJarnett Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications Scott Thureen Audience Development Manager Keith A. Kuzmovich Website and Media Manager Celia Anderson Graphic Designer Brenda Kean Tabor Publicist Mike Rowan Marketing and Group Sales Coordinator Corinne Baker Advertising and Ticketing Coordinator Programming Samantha Pollack Director of Programming Wynson Taylor Programming and Production Coordinator Stanley J. Thurston Artistic Director, WPAS Gospel Choirs Ticket Services Office Folashade Oyegbola Ticket Services Manager Christian Simmelink Ticket Services Coordinator Michelle Shelby Ticket Services Assistant

Applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 77

Reggie Van Lee, Ruth Sorenson, Shirley Marcus Allen and Arne Sorenson

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

Bethesda Row is a property of Federal Realty Investment Trust, NYSE: FRT.

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 † Mr. James J. Sandman and Ms. Elizabeth D. Mullin

Certif Cer t ied tif ed Pre-O Pre-O e Owne w d wne

W W W. B E T H E S DA R OWA RT S . O R G W W W. B E T H E S DA R OW . C O M

78 Applause at Strathmore • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011

by by

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 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.

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 Metro attendant to exit at no cost.

For all non-ticketed events, Monday – Friday, parking in the garage is $4.75 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 4th 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 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 79

encore

by Sandy Fleishman Q. What’s your goal in the lecture?

I try to give a sense—in a half hour—of who the composer is, the context in which the music was composed and the music itself. I always give them things they can listen for, during the concert. … [Audience members are] there for two reasons: They want to learn something about what they’re hearing, but they also want to be entertained.

Q. How long does it take to prepare?

Between 8 to 10 hours. … I like to make digital clips of what the audience is going to hear—musical examples—where I take a recording, open it in sound editing software, crop what I want and open it in iTunes [to use in] my lecture. Then, in the lecture, I might say something like “The Dies Irae (Verdi’s Requiem) opens with four earth-shattering chords that sound like this” and play the example.

Victoria Gau

V

ictoria Gau specializes in being versatile—her résumé includes orchestra and opera conductor, pianist, violist and opera coach, plus she “covers” every National Philharmonic performance in case the conductor can’t make it. Audience members are capitalizing on the Oberlin grad’s expertise: Since she began leading free pre-concert lectures for the Philharmonic two seasons ago, attendance has doubled. As a result, the National Philharmonic is moving the preconcert lectures from the Education Center to the concert hall this fall, says Philharmonic President Ken Oldham. Gau also makes her Strathmore debut in March, conducting Mozart’s monumental Requiem in D minor.

80 applause at Strathmore • September/October 2011

Q. You’re so busy—with the Philharmonic’s String and Choral Institutes, conducting the Capital City Symphony and others. Plus you’ve got a husband and two daughters.

How do you stay focused?

The real trick is to find ways to compartmentalize. … You have to discipline yourself to say “now, I’m going to do this.” It doesn’t come naturally to me, I’m a high-energy person. Working seven days a week, the ongoing challenge is to find a moment to take a break.

Michael Ventura

Assistant Conductor National Philharmonic

Q. Why are more conductors talking directly to audiences?

We’re looking for a new way to bridge that perceived gap [between performers and audience]. … At lectures, people sometimes bring me something they want to talk about—one brought a different translation of Verdi’s Requiem; another had a jazzy recording of the Messiah. … When we did Mahler 2 (Resurrection), I drew a huge diagram of the last movement of the symphony on a whiteboard, and one man told me he put it on his iPhone. He said, “we took it into the concert hall and followed along.” I thought it was great… I like getting people excited about what I’m excited about.

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