Program Notes: MLK Tribute

PUBLIC BENEFIT CONCERT 2023/24

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. TRIBUTE AND HUMANITARIAN AWARDS WITH YOUR COLORADO SYMPHONY WILBUR LIN, conductor LA’SHANDRIA GRAY, vocalist YOUNG VOICES OF COLORADO JENA DICKEY, Founder/Director of YVC Signature ADAM CAVE, Director of YVC Voicemale Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 7:30pm Boettcher Concert Hall

JOHN STAFFORD SMITH

The Star-Spangled Banner

GERSHWIN

Strike Up the Band

TRAD/ ARR. PANION III

Ride on King Jesus

ANDRE J. THOMAS

I Dream a World

JOHNSON/ ARR. O’NEIL

Lift Every Voice and Sing

MARQUES L.A. GARRETT

Sing Out My Soul

STILL

Mother and Child

ROLLO DILWORTH

One Mile

TINDLEY/ ARR. O’NEIL

We Shall Overcome

CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR AND 30 MINUTES WITH A 20 MINUTE INTERMISSION PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY

SOUNDINGS 2 0 2 3/ 24

PROGRAM I

PUBLIC BENEFIT CONCERT 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.

FIRST TIME TO THE SYMPHONY? SEE PAGE 19 OF THIS PROGRAM FOR FAQ’S TO MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE GREAT! SOUNDINGS 2 0 2 3/ 24

PROGRAM III

PUBLIC BENEFIT CONCERT BIOGRAPHIES LA’SHANDRIA GRAY, vocalist Denver is pleased to welcome La’Shandria Moore-Gray. She is a native of Mobile, AL, relocating to Denver in 2019, with her husband, Antonio.

La’Shandria loves music, and performed her first solo, at the age of 5. She matriculated at Rust College, Holly Springs MS, where she majored in Music Education, with a minor in English/Language Arts. She is a national recording artist and song writer; most recently mistering with Will Harris and Friends and releasing her first solo single “Restoration”, which is now available on all audio media platforms. La’Shandria is the Founder and CEO of the H.U.S.H Project, Inc. “Help Us Stop Hurting”, a non-profit, whose mission is to advocate for victims of sexual abuse. Although currently located in Mobil Alabama, there are plans to expand H.U.S.H in the Denver Metro Area. She is a sought-after motivational speaker for youth, seeking to inspire the next generation of leaders.

La’Shandria enjoys spending time with her husband, of 15 years, Antonio Gray and at family gatherings, being the second oldest of 8 siblings. She loves to laugh and just have fun with family and friends. You can often find her listening to empowering audio books, as she seeks to live her best life. She is currently working on her next musical project with her producer, Will Harris, and in the not-too-distant future, look for the release of her first book focused on restoring the black family.

PROGRAM IV

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

PUBLIC BENEFIT CONCERT BIOGRAPHIES YOUNG VOICES OF COLORADO, chorus oung Voices of Colorado has provided Y a singing music education to boys and girls in the communities south of metropolitan Denver for 33 years. Seven levels of instruction and performances ensure that every child is comfortable yet challenged to develop and grow as a musician. Singers ages 5-18 participate in weekly classes and semi-annual major concerts, led by a professional staff of gifted teacher-directors.

Dedicated to diversity and inclusion, the YVC community provides a rich environment for its members and their families, through its outstanding music education and leadership programs.

YVC choirs have performed for the national conferences of the Organization of American Kodály Educators and the American Orff Schulwerk Association and three times each for Southwestern ACDA and Colorado Music Educators Association. Locally, they collaborate with orchestras and community choirs and host outreach events for elementary students. Although a favorite destination is Llangollen, North Wales, they have traveled to 13 other countries and throughout the U.S., including Hawaii and New York’s Carnegie Hall. With the launch of Sing A Mile High in 2006, Young Voices’ youth choirs assumed the role of host choir to the annual festival.

The most selective of YVC choirs, Signature directed by Jena Dickey and VoiceMale directed by Adam Cave, rehearse once per week throughout the school year. All members have completed at least Level One theory, certified by the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music.

Signature Vanessa Angelier Kyra Elmer Anna Irene Fung Annie Gao Olivia Hitchens Leviya Katz Chiara Kulikovski Bella Lin

PROGRAM VI

Lucy Marsicek Brieya McLean Cahdla McLean Dani Miller Chanie Morris Kassidy Owens Nyobi Sobanski Olivia Vyhmeister Sofia Vyhmeister

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

VoiceMale William Frandrup Simon Harrison Zakary Katz Jason Lee Patrick McClaury Dakota Potton Sawyer Rankin Brennon Tompkins Weston River Williams Marco Vyhmeister

PUBLIC BENEFIT CONCERT BIOGRAPHIES JENA DICKEY, Young Voices Of Colorado, founder of YVC and director of Signature Jena Dickey, Founder/Artistic Director of Young Voices of Colorado and co-Founder of Sing A Mile High Children and Youth Choral Festival, has been a leader in the national children’s choir movement for over 30 years.

She holds a Bachelor of Music with High Honors in Music Education from the University of Texas (Austin) and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Colorado (Boulder). Postgraduate study includes Choral Music Experience, Toronto Children’s Chorus Conductors’ Symposia, Creating Artistry and Kodály studies in the U.S. and Hungary.

She has presented workshops for state, regional and national conference of CMEA, ACDA, AOSA and OAKE and chaired the 2012 ACDA national Children’s Choir Conductors’ Retreat in Denver.

Jena was guest director of the 2017 Shenzhen Bay (China) Music Festival and served Colorado ACDA and Southwestern ACDA as Chair for Children’s and Youth Community Choirs. For Young Voices she directs Vox Anima and Signature and oversees an artistic faculty of seven professional musicians.

ADAM CAVE, director of VoiceMale Adam Cave is in his 16th year as choir director at Cherry Creek High School where he directs four choral ensembles. Mr. Cave has been teaching for 22 years and has led choirs on tours domestically and internationally, including performances at the annual NAfME convention (2007, 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2024) and Southwest ACDA convention (2016). He is recognized as a Cherry Creek High School Teacher of the Year and served as president of Colorado ACDA from 2017 to 2019. He currently serves on the staff of Young Voices of Colorado and is an active member of the Denver-based semi-professional choir, Kantorei. Adam received his Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, and his Master of Music in Music Education and Conducting from Colorado State University. Adam and his wife, Emily, have three amazing sons: Owen, Arlo, and Elliot.

S O U N D I N G S 2 0 2 3 / 2 4 PROGRAM VII