Program Notes: The Lone Bellow & John Williams Tribute

ALTERNATIVE 2023/24

THE LONE BELLOW WITH THE COLORADO SYMPHONY CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, conductor Friday, January 19, 2024 at 7:30pm Boettcher Concert Hall

Program to be announced from stage.

CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 2 HOURS WITH A 20 MINUTE INTERMISSION

FIRST TIME TO THE SYMPHONY? SEE PAGE 19 OF THIS PROGRAM FOR FAQ’S TO MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE GREAT!

PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

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PROGRAM I

ALTERNATIVE BIOGRAPHIES CHRISTOPHER DRAGON, conductor Australian conductor Christopher Dragon is the Music Director of the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and Resident Conductor of the Colorado Symphony. He joined the Colorado Symphony in the 2015/2016 Season as Associate Conductor – a position he held for four years. For three years prior, Dragon held the inaugural position of Assistant Conductor with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, which gave him the opportunity to work closely with Principal Conductor Asher Fisch.

Dragon has a versatile portfolio ranging from live-to-picture performances including Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, a wide variety of collaborations with artists such as the Wu-Tang Clan, Cynthia Erivo and Joshua Bell, to standard and contemporary orchestral repertoire such as Danny Elfman’s Violin Concerto, Eleven Eleven; all areas of which he has become highly sought after. Christopher has become known for his charisma, high energy and affinity for a good costume, consistently delivering unforgettable performances that has made him an audience favourite.

Recent highlights include his successful debut with the San Francisco Symphony, performances of Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton with Danny Elfman reprising the role of Jack Skellington and historic performances with Nathaniel Rateliff at Walt Disney Concert Hall and David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Upcoming debuts include the WRD Funkhausorchester, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Greensboro Symphony Orchestra.

Christopher is highly sought after as a guest conductor and has worked with San Francisco Symphony, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Utah Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Philharmonic, Modesto Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In Australia, he has guest conducted the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. His 2015 debut performance at the Sydney Opera House with John Pyke and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was released on album by ABC Music and won an ARIA the following year He has also conducted at numerous festivals including the Breckenridge and Bangalow Music Festivals, with both resulting in immediate re-invitations. At the beginning of 2016 Dragon conducted Wynton Marsalis’ Swing Symphony as part of the Perth International Art Festival alongside Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Christopher began his conducting studies in 2011 and was a member of the prestigious Symphony Services International Conductor Development Program in Australia under the guidance of course director Christopher Seaman. He has also studied with numerous distinguished conductors including Leonid Grin, Paavo and Neeme Jarvi at the Jarvi Summer Festival, Fabio Luisi at the Pacific Music Festival and conducting pedagogue Jorma Panula.

PROGRAM II

C O LO R A D O S Y M P H O N Y.O R G

ALTERNATIVE BIOGRAPHIES LONE BELLOW The Lone Bellow burst onto the scene with their self-titled debut in 2013. The Nashville-based trio (Zach Williams, Brian Elmquist, Kanene Pipkin) quickly became known for their transcendent harmonies, serious musicianship and raucous live performance — creating what NPR calls, ‘earnest and magnetic folk-pop built to shake the rafters.’

In 2015, the band released Then Came The Morning, produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner. The album was nominated for an Americana Music Award and took the band to numerous late night shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Show With David Letterman and Later…with Jools Holland, among others. In 2017, The Lone Bellow returned with Walk Into A Storm, produced by legendary music producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Sturgill Simpson), followed by 2020’s Half Moon Light, an artistic triumph the band worked toward for years.

In a departure from their past work with elite producers Dessner and Cobb, the trio struck out on their own for their fifth full-length album Love Songs for Losers, dreaming up a singular sound encompassing everything from arena-ready rock anthems to the gorgeously sprawling Americana tunes the band refers to as “little redneck symphonies.” Recorded at the possibly haunted former home of the legendary Roy Orbison, the result is an intimate meditation on the pain and joy and ineffable wonder of being human, at turns heartbreaking, irreverent, and sublimely transcendent.

After sketching the album’s 11 songs in a nearby church, the band holed up for eight weeks at Orbison’s house on Old Hickory Lake, slowly carving out their most expansive and eclectic body of work yet. Co-produced by Elmquist and Jacob Sooter, Love Songs for Losers also finds Pipkin taking the reins as vocal producer, expertly harnessing the rarefied vocal magic they›ve brought to the stage in touring with the likes of Maren Morris and Kacey Musgraves.

For The Lone Bellow, the triumph of completing their first self-produced album marks the start of a thrilling new chapter in the band’s journey. “At the outset it was scary to take away the safety net of working with a big-name producer and lean on each other instead,” says Pipkin.

“It took an incredible amount of trust, but in the end it was so exciting to see each other rise to new heights.” And with the release of Love Songs for Losers, the trio feel newly emboldened to create without limits. “This album confirmed that we still have beauty to create and put out into the world, and that we’re still having fun doing that after ten years together,” says Elmquist.

“It reminded us of our passion for pushing ourselves out onto the limb and letting our minds wander into new places, and it sets me on fire to think of what we might make next.”

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PROGRAM III

SPOTLIGHT 2023/24 A TRIBUTE TO JOHN WILLIAMS WITH YOUR COLORADO SYMPHONY WILBUR LIN, conductor SEOYOEN MIN, cello JUSTIN BARTELS, trumpet Saturday, January 20, 2024 at 7:30pm Sunday, January 21, 2024 at 2:30pm Boettcher Concert Hall

JOHN WILLIAMS

Olympic Fanfare and Theme

JOHN WILLIAMS

Superman March

HENRY MANCINI

Peter Gunn Theme from Peter Gunn

JOHN WILLIAMS

Music from Jaws

JOHN WILLIAMS

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

JOHN WILLIAMS

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Suite

JOHN WILLIAMS

Hook — INTERMISSION —

Saturday’s concert is dedicated to Julie Rubsam PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

PROGRAM IV

C O LO R A D O S Y M P H O N Y.O R G

SPOTLIGHT 2023/24 JOHN WILLIAMS

Star Wars Main Theme

MICHAEL GIACCHINO

Rogue One Suite

JOHN WILLIAMS

Wide Receiver

JOHN WILLIAMS

Elegy for Cello and Orchestra

JOHN WILLIAMS “The People’s House” & “With Malice Towards None” from Lincoln JOHN WILLIAMS

Theme from Jurassic Park

JOHN WILLIAMS

E.T., Adventures on Earth

CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR AND 50 MINUTES WITH A 20 MINUTE INTERMISSION

FIRST TIME TO THE SYMPHONY? SEE PAGE 19 OF THIS PROGRAM FOR FAQ’S TO MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE GREAT!

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PROGRAM V

SPOTLIGHT BIOGRAPHIES

PHOTO: LAI YUEH-CHUNG

WILBUR LIN, conductor Known for his creative programming and inviting stage presence, Wilbur Lin’s career has taken him to symphony halls and opera theaters across the United States, Europe, Latin America, and Taiwan. Recently appointed Music Director of the Missouri Symphony, Lin also joins the conducting staff of the Colorado Symphony as assistant conductor in 2023.

Lin’s 2022/23 season saw his debuts with the Rochester Philharmonic, Oak Ridge, Ann Arbor, and Elgin symphonies, and a return to Indiana’s Richmond Symphony. His other recent highlights include his debut with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, opening its 2021/22 season, a new studio recording with pianist Eric Zuber and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and conducting and covering the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops where he recently finished his tenure as assistant conductor (2019-2022).

In addition to his positions with the Colorado, Cincinnati, and Missouri symphonies, in recent years, Lin has conducted the Chamber Philharmonic Taipei, Manchester Camerata, Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil (El Salvador), Taipei Philharmonic, Taipei Symphony, Liverpool Mozart, Academy Orchestra of Taiwan Symphony, Richmond Symphony (IN), and LaPorte Symphony orchestras. As a cover conductor, Lin has worked with, notably, the Taiwan Symphony, Cincinnati Ballet, and Minnesota orchestras. In his role as the assistant conductor of the Colorado Symphony, Lin also serves as the Music Director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra.

A graduate of Riccardo Muti‘s Italian Opera Academy, Lin’s operatic endeavors include conducting Verdi’s Macbeth at Teatro Alighieri (Ravenna, Italy), Die Zauberflöte and Barber of Seville with the Winter Harbor Music Festival (Winter Harbor, Maine), Menotti’s The Medium and Amelia Goes to the Ball as the conductor of Northern Illinois University (Dekalb, IL), and has coached and performed as a pianist with the Indianapolis Opera, Indiana University Opera Theater, Reimagining Opera for Kids, and the Cincinnati Ballet. In 2022, Lin led a new workshop production of Robeson by Scott Davenport Richards at the Cincinnati Opera.

Lin held the position of Taiwan Symphony Orchestra International Talent Fellow (2019-2021), Weiwuyin Opera (Taiwan) Conducting Fellow (2019-2020), Lord Rhodes Scholar (2013-2014), was a two-time recipient of Mortimer Furber Prize for Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), and holds a doctoral degree in orchestral conducting from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Lin has studied with Arthur Fagen and David Effron at Jacobs, Clark Rundell and Mark Heron at the RNCM, and Apo Hsu at the National Taiwan Normal University.

He has also received conducting coaching with, notably, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Riccardo Muti, Sir Mark Elder, Helmuth Rilling, and has assisted Louis Langrée, James Gaffigan, and John Morris Russell, among others.

PROGRAM VI

C O LO R A D O S Y M P H O N Y.O R G

SPOTLIGHT BIOGRAPHIES SEOYOEN MIN, cello Seoyoen Min has served as Principal Cello of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra since her inaugural season in 2019/20. As a native of South Korea, she has made multiple international appearances in performances and competitions, most notably winning First Prize in the Strad Music Competition, Seoul Soloists Cello Ensemble Competition, Music Association of Korea Competition, and Segye Times Competition, as well as Second Prize in the 2018 Samuel & Elinor Thaviu Endowed Scholarship Competition in String Performance.

As an active soloist in both the United States and South Korea, Seoyoen made her Youngsan Art Hall debut in 2016, where she was selected for the Young Artist of Youngsan Debut Concert Series. Most recently, she was featured with the Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, performing the Friedrich Gulda Cello Concerto with Christopher Dragon. Other solo engagements include concerts with the Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, Seoul National Symphony Orchestra, the Seoul Academy Ensemble, the Seoul Soloists Cello Ensemble, and OZ Ensemble.

A founding member of the Edith String Quartet, Seoyoen has continued to engage in a variety of chamber music collaborations throughout her career. Some highlights include performing in a cello ensemble with Lynn Harrell, and with Kyung Sun Lee in the Virtuosi Seoul Ensemble, as well as work with the St. Lawrence Quartet. Active in her local performing arts community in Colorado, she also regularly performs at Englewood Arts as a chamber musician and soloist, and the Front Range Chamber Players. Seoyoen has also worked to pave the way for the contemporary music scene in South Korea, where she was a member of the emerging contemporary music group <Ensemble BLANK>. During her summers, she performs with South Eastern Young Artists in Georgia as a guest artist, Grand Teton Music Festival as Principal Cello, and the “Going Home Project” Orchestra as Assistant Principal.

Seoyoen has also begun to leave a mark as a private teacher in her local community and guest faculty member at music institutions. She has most recently taught a masterclass at the University of Wyoming, where she also taught a class at the UW Cello Festival. Her own mentors include musical figures such as Lynn Harrell, Gary Hoffman, Xenia Jankovic, Peter Bruns, and Tilmann Wick. She holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, where she studied with Hans Jørgen Jensen, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University.

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SPOTLIGHT BIOGRAPHIES JUSTIN BARTELS, trumpet Justin Bartels has held the position of Principal Trumpet since July 2008 and has served on the brass faculty at the University of Colorado in Boulder since 2012. Prior to arriving in Denver, Justin had an established professional career. He held the Principal Trumpet positions with Columbus Symphony in Columbus, Ohio from 2007-2008 and was a fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida from 2003-2006.

Justin played 5 seasons with the Central City Opera as Principal Trumpet from 2006 – 2012.

Justin has played Guest Principal Trumpet with the San Francisco Symphony, New York City Ballet, and St. Louis Symphony. He has also had the pleasure of performing with many of the country’s top orchestras including: The New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, and the Houston Symphony.

Justin is a proud graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (B.M. 2003), he also attended the University of Alabama (BM Studies 1996-1997) and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (BM Studies 1997-2000). Justin had the privilege to study with many great trumpet teachers and performers including Marie Speziale, John Rommel, Ed Cord, Alan Siebert, Michael B. Johnson, and Joe Ardovino. Justin attended high school in Birmingham, Alabama where he was part of a thriving instrumental music program at Pelham High School under the direction of the late James H. Duren.

Justin enjoys skiing, playing hockey and golf as well as watching the Denver Broncos, Colorado Avalanche, Alabama Crimson Tide football and the Atlanta Braves baseball. He lives in Denver with his wife Myroslava, violinist with the Colorado Symphony, their two daughters and their two Siberian cats Dagny and Mikko.

PROGRAM VIII C O LO R A D O S Y M P H O N Y.O R G