Unsuk Chin Composer
Haydn, Pärt + Chin 15 October 2021 / 7:30PM Jack Singer Concert Hall
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program Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 92 in G Major, Hob. I:92 (Oxford)
28’
I. Adagio — Allegro spiritoso II. Adagio cantabile III. Menuetto: Allegretto IV. Presto
Arvo Pärt
Fratres for String Orchestra and Percussion
12’
Unsuk Chin
Graffiti
23’
I. Palimpsest II. Notturno urbano III. Passacaglia
About the Calgary Phil Karl Hirzer Associate Conductor Karl Hirzer, a conductor and pianist from New Westminster, British Columbia, has been Resident/ Associate Conductor with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra since 2016. Active internationally, Hirzer has led performances with ensembles such as the Sczcecin Philharmonic, Symphony Nova Scotia, Regina Symphony Orchestra, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Orchestra Senzaspine, and the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana. He works regularly with new music titans Land’s End Ensemble, most recently in collaboration with American composer John Corigliano, who said: “Mr. Hirzer brought a combination of detailed accuracy and intense musical feeling to the work [Mr. Tambourine Man], resulting in an absolutely marvelous performance.” Hirzer previously acted as Assistant Conductor for the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble. He was a faculty member at the 22nd Morningside Music Bridge program in Warsaw. Hirzer has performed with renowned soloists including Evelyn Glennie, Chris Botti, Agata Szymczewska, Jonathan Crow, and Owen Pallett. A trained pianist, he holds bachelor’s (University of Victoria) and master’s (McGill University) degrees in performance, as well as an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto diploma.
The Calgary Philharmonic celebrated 65 years as a pillar of Calgary’s vibrant arts community in 2020 and has grown to be one of Canada’s most celebrated live music ensembles. Led by Music Director Rune Bergmann, the Calgary Phil presents classical standards, pop favourites, bold collaborations, and cutting-edge new works, and attracts world-renowned guest artists and conductors. In a typical Season, the Orchestra welcomes over 100,000 visitors to the concert hall and reaches audiences around the world through its free and accessible digital programming and live-stream initiative — an immersive, online concert experience that launched in 2017. Follow the Calgary Philharmonic @calgaryphil on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and sign up for email updates at calgaryphil.com/newsletter.
about the pieces Symphony No. 92 in G Major, Hob. I:92 (Oxford) Joseph Haydn 1732 to 1809 Joseph Haydn composed his symphonies 82 to 87 on commission from Le Concert de la Loge Olympique, an elegant and virtuosic orchestra based in Paris, and then composed 90 to 92 for them as well. No. 92 (1789) is a highly imaginative and colourful work, qualities that have led many commentators to place it on par with the 12 symphonies Haydn composed after it — the last of his career, the ‘London’ Symphonies. It has another, more direct English connection. Haydn arrived in London for the first time in 1791. Shortly thereafter, Oxford University awarded him an honorary doctorate. He had yet to compose any of the ‘London’ Symphonies, so as a gesture of gratitude at the award ceremony, he conducted his most recent symphony, No. 92. This is how it acquired its nickname.
Fratres Arvo Pärt b. 1935 Up to the mid-1970s, Arvo Pärt composed in an emotionally chilly, intellectual contemporary style. Dissatisfied with that approach, and having been deeply impressed by his first exposure to the sacred music of the Middle Ages, he virtually withdrew from composing. After spending eight years on an intense study of medieval music, he emerged with a radically different creative style, one that emphasizes beauty and eloquent simplicity. His soulful music has made him the most frequently performed living classical composer. Fratres (Brothers) is one of his most popular works. He has offered no explanation of the title, but a solemn plea for global charity and understanding, or a heartfelt impression of the devotional life of nuns and monks, would not seem too great a stretch of the imagination.
Graffiti Unsuk Chin b. 1961 Winner of the 2004 Grawemeyer Award for her Violin Concerto, Unsuk Chin’s output features both electronic and acoustic scores. Her music is modern in language, but lyrical and non-doctrinaire in communicative power. Her works are performed worldwide by major orchestras, contemporary music ensembles, and interpreters. Chin has been championed by such illustrious conductors such as Kent Nagano, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel, and Sir Simon Rattle, and violinists Christian Tetzlaff and Renaud Capuçon. Her music has been performed by the Bavarian State Opera (including her first opera, Alice in Wonderland, in 2007), Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic. She has been Artistic Director of the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Music of Today series since 2011. She has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and was the Artistic Director of its Contemporary Music Series between 2006 and 2018. Regarding this composition, Chin notes: “My ensemble piece Graffiti (which dates from 2013) can be likened to a palimpsest. The music is poly-dimensional and multilayered; one can hear allusions to a manifold of styles, which are juxtaposed in a kaleidoscopic manner. A special stimulus was the controversial phenomenon of Street Art, which — without being commercial and without ever attempting at being ‘high culture’ — nevertheless often displays remarkable creativity and skill. Besides, Street Art often wittily succeeds in criticizing the commercialization and uniformity of cities insofar as it thwarts the expectations created by omnipresent mass media and by advertising. As for Graffiti, the music shifts quickly and unexpectedly between primitivism and refinement, complexity and transparency. It calls for great agility, virtuosity, and constant changes of perspective from the musicians; each instrument is being treated as a soloist.” Program Notes by Don Anderson ©2021
Orchestra First Violins Diana Cohen Concertmaster
John Lowry
Associate Concertmaster
Donovan Seidle
Assistant Concertmaster
Edmund Chung Hangyul Kim Olga Kotova Bonnie Louie Genevieve Micheletti Maria van der Sloot Hojean Yoo TBD TBD
Second Violins
Celli
Horns
Arnold Choi Josue Valdepenas Kathleen de Caen Thomas Megee David Morrissey Daniel Poceta TBD TBD
Robert McCosh Jennifer Frank-Umana TBD Maxwell Stein Heather Wootton
Basses Sam Loeck Kyle Sanborn Mathew Heller Trish Bereti-Reid Patrick Staples Jonathan Yeoh
Lorna Tsai Stephanie Soltice-Johnson Erin Burkholder Jeremy Gabbert Hyewon Grillet-Kim Craig Hutchenreuther Minnie Min Kyung Kwon Theresa Lane Adriana Lebedovich Steven J. Lubiarz
Flutes
Violas
David Sussman
Laurent Grillet-Kim Marcin Swoboda Arthur Bachmann Jeremy Bauman Peter Blake Michael Bursey Alisa Klebanov Jesse Morrison
principal associate principal assistant principal
Sara Hahn-Scinocco Gwen Klassen
Piccolo Gwen Klassen
Oboes Alex Klein David Sussman
English Horn Clarinets Slavko Popovic Jocelyn Colquhoun
Bassoons Antoine St-Onge Michael Hope
Trumpets Adam Zinatelli Miranda Cairns
Trombones James Scott TBD
Bass Trombone David Reid
Tuba Tom McCaslin
Timpani Alexander Cohen
Percussion TBD
Harp Tisha Murvihill
Librarian Rob Grewcock
Assistant Librarian TBD
Personnel Manager Michael Thomson