MUSIC OF THE AMERICAS FEAT. COPLAND SYMPHONY NO. 3
PERFORMED BY YOUR COLORADO SYMPHONY
CARLOS MIGUEL PRIETO, conductor
CLAUDIA DE LOURDES DÍAZ, soprano
GRAYSON RIEK, boy soprano
COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS, TAYLOR MARTIN, and MARY LOUISE BURKE, directors
Friday, March 7, 2025 at 7:30pm
Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, March 9, 2025 at 1:00pm
Boettcher Concert Hall
CHÁVEZ Symphony No. 2, “Sinfonia india”
BERNSTEIN Chichester Psalms for Chorus and Orchestra
I. Psalm 108:2; Psalm 100
II. Psalm 23; Psalm 2:1-4
III. Psalm 131; Psalm 133:1
CONTRERAS Corridos
— INTERMISSION —
COPLAND Symphony No. 3
I. Molto moderato
II. Allegro molto
III. Andantino quasi allegretto
IV. Molto deliberato – Allegro risoluto
CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR AND 45 MINUTES INCLUDING A 20 MINUTE INTERMISSION.
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
CARLOS MIGUEL PRIETO, conductor
Known for his charisma and expressive interpretations, Mexican conductor and Grammy-winner Carlos Miguel Prieto has established himself not just as a major figure in the orchestra world but also as an influential cultural leader, an educator, and a champion of new music. In a significant career development, he started his tenure as Music Director of the North Carolina Symphony at the beginning of the 2023–2024 season.
From 2007 to 2022, Prieto was the Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, the country’s leading ensemble, and significantly raised the caliber of the orchestra. He was also Music Director of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra from 2006 to 2023, where he helped lead the cultural renewal of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. In 2008, he was appointed Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería (OSM),which heled to a Latin Grammy-nomination for Best Classical Music Album. In 2023, Prieto led OSM in a highly successful tour of the United States, and in 2024 they return to perform in residence at Vail! Bravo.
Recent highlights include engagements with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Spanish National Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Strasbourg Philharmonic, and Auckland Philharmonia.
Prieto is in demand as a guest conductor with many of the top North American orchestras, including Cleveland, Dallas, Toronto, Minnesota, Washington, New World, and Houston. He has enjoyed a particularly successful relationship with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony. In 2023, Prieto made his hugely successful BBC Proms debut at Royal Albert Hall.
Since 2002, alongside Gustavo Dudamel, Prieto has conducted the Orchestra of the Americas, which draws young musicians from the entire American continent. A staunch proponent of music education, Prieto served as Principal Conductor of the YOA from its inception until 2011 when he was appointed Music Director. In 2018 he conducted the orchestra on a tour of European summer festivals, which included performances at the Rheingau and Edinburgh festivals as well as Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. He has also worked regularly with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the NYO2 in New York.
Prieto is renowned for championing Latin American music as well as his dedication to new music. He has conducted over 100 world premieres of works by Mexican and American composers, many of which were commissioned by him. Prieto places equal importance on championing works by Black and African American composers such as Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, and Courtney Bryan, among others.
Prieto has an extensive discography that includes Deutsche Gramophone, Naxos, and Sony labels. Prieto was recognized by Musical America as the 2019 Conductor of the Year. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Prieto studied conducting with Jorge Mester, Enrique Diemecke, Charles Bruck, and Michael Jinbo.
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
CLAUDIA DE LOURDES DÍAZ, soprano
Claudia de Lourdes Díaz is a Puerto Rican soprano who recently earned her Master’s degree in Voice Performance from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. In 2025, Ms. Díaz won the Colorado-Wyoming District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, a notable achievement that reflects her exceptional talent. She also claimed second place at the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition in 2024. Her vocal training has taken her to prestigious programs worldwide, including the Teatro Regio di Parma’s Accademia Verdiana in New York (2025), Prague Summer Nights Festival (2023), Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Vocal Academy (2021), and the Bologna International Opera Academy (2021). Currently continuing her post-graduate studies at the Lamont School of Music, Ms. Díaz is earning a Performance Certificate in Vocal Performance under the guidance of renowned soprano Heidi Melton.
In addition to her studies, Ms. Díaz has had the honor of performing with the Lamont Opera Theater; her roles include the Water in Portman’s The Little Prince and Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the fall of 2024, she portrayed Mademoiselle Silberklang in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, under the musical direction of Maestra Sahar Nouri. De Lourdes recently performed an excerpt from Dvořák’s Rusalka with the Lamont Symphony Orchestra for their Evening of Orchestral & Opera Masterpieces concert. Ms. Díaz is now preparing for her solo debut as Suor Angelica in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, produced by the Lamont Opera Theater this upcoming Spring 2025.
TAYLOR MARTIN, director designate, Colorado Symphony Chorus
Taylor Martin is Director Designate and Conductor for the Colorado Symphony Chorus and Artistic Director of ELUS Vocal Ensemble. In 2019 Taylor made his debut with the Colorado Symphony conducting their staged version of Handel’s Messiah, titled Messiah: Awakening. Now in his tenth season with the Colorado Symphony Chorus, he has frequently taken the podium during the holiday season for productions of A Colorado Christmas and Messiah. Taylor has prepared the Chorus for productions with the Colorado Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Dallas Symphony, and he recently conducted a concert tour of Austria featuring works for chorus and organ, leading Anton Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Salzburg Domorchester. Known for his musical versatility, Taylor has prepared choruses for Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, Al Green, and Josh Groban, among other critically acclaimed artists. Now in his eighth season with ELUS Vocal Ensemble, Taylor has led performances of great a cappella repertoire through imaginative programming of new music and major works, such as David Lang’s the little match girl passion and Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem to considerable acclaim.
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
MARY LOUISE BURKE, associate director and conductor, Colorado Symphony Chorus
Mary Louise Burke is in her 31st season with the Colorado Symphony Chorus. In addition to assisting Chorus Director Duain Wolfe for many years, she has also prepared the chorus for various Colorado Symphony pops concerts and special projects, including Too Hot to Handel. She is the Creative Director of the Symphony’s A Colorado Christmas concerts. In the summer of 2022, she conducted the Symphony chorus on their concert tour of Austria. She has worked as the Associate Director of the Colorado Children’s Chorale, participating in hundreds of concerts and dozens of the Chorale’s regional, national and international tours. She was also Vocal Director of the Children’s Chorale, where she provided specialized vocal coaching and opera preparation. With an expertise in vocal technique, Burke frequently conducts seminars in vocal and choral techniques for area church and community choirs. She is the Vocal Advisor at Montview Presbyterian Church and has taught classes in Find Your Authentic Voice at the University of Denver. She has a Doctorate in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado.
COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS
The Colorado Symphony’s 2024/25 Season marks the 41st year of the Colorado Symphony Chorus. Founded in 1984 by Duain Wolfe, our chorus has earned a reputation as one of the finest symphonic choruses in the United States. This outstanding chorus of volunteers joins the Colorado Symphony for numerous concerts each year, performing the great Masterworks, as well as pops concerts, movies and special projects, all to repeated critical acclaim.
Additionally, the Chorus has been featured annually at the Bravo!Vail Music Festival, performing with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra or Dallas Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of notable conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jaap van Zweden, Alan Gilbert, Fabio Luisi, Hans Graf, as well as 25 years with the Aspen Music Festival.
In 2009, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the chorus, Duain Wolfe conducted the chorus on a concert tour of Europe, presenting the Verdi REQUIEM in Budapest, Vienna, Litomysl and Prague; in 2016 the chorus returned to Europe for concerts in Paris, Strasbourg and Munich featuring the Fauré Requiem. In the summer of 2022, the Chorus toured Austria, performing to great acclaim in Vienna, Graz and Salzburg.
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
COLORADO SYMPHONY CHORUS
Duain Wolfe, Founding Director and Conductor Laureate
Taylor Martin, Director Designate and Conductor
Mary Louise Burke, Associate Director and Conductor
Jared Joseph, Assistant Conductor
Hsiao-Ling Lin and ShaoChun Tsai, Pianists
David Rosen, Chorus Manager
Barbara Porter, Associate Manager
Eric Israelson, Chorus Manager Emeritus
SOPRANO
Meredith Anderson
Lottie Andrews
Lori Ascani
Mahli Benbow
Brianna Bettis
Jude Blum
Susan Brown
Jeremy Burns
Emily Burr
Denelda Causey
Ruth Coberly
Sarah Coberly
Suzanne Collins
Angie Collums
Kerry Harrold Cote
Claudia Dakkouri
Julia Damore
April Day
Mary Dobreff
Emily Eck
Kate Emerich
Gracie Ewert
Madalyn Farquhar
Lisa Fultz
Andria Gaskill
Jenifer Digby Gile
Lori C. Gill
Jackie Havens
Alaina Headrick
Elizabeth HedrickCollins
Erin Hittle
Elizabeth Hott
Angela Hupp
Lauren Kennedy
Lindsey Kermgard
Meghan Kinnischtzke
Leanne Lang
Catherine Look
Rebecca Machusko
Anne Maupin
Shannon McAleb
Erin Montigne
Wendy Moraskie
Jeannette O’Nan
Kimberly Lord Pflug
Barbara Porter
Lori A. Ropa
Roberta Sladovnik
Syd Timme
Susan von Roedern
Marcia Walker
Alison Wall
Karen Wuertz
Cara Young
Joan Zisler
ALTO
Liz Arthur
Priscilla Adams
Brenda Berganza
Mary Boyle Thayer
Charlotte Braud-Kern
Michelle Brown
Cass Chatfield
Jayne Conrad
Martha Cox
Janie Darone
Debbie Davies
Barbara Deck
Valerie Dutcher
Michelle Fronzaglia
Sharon Gayley
Daniela Golden
Gabriella Groom
Pat Guittar
Sheri Haxton
Kaia Hoopes
Wendy Ho-Schnell
Brandy Jackson
Olivia Isaac
Christine Kaminske
Naryoung Annette Kim
Annie Kolstad
Andrea LeBaron
Juliet Levy
Carole A. London
Tinsley Long
Joanna K. Maltzahn
Susan McWaters
Annélise Nelson
Kristen Nordenholz
Christine Nyholm
Sheri Owens
Jill Parsons
Syder Peltier
Jennifer Pringle
Donneve S. Rae
Leanne Rehme
Kathi Rudolph
Melanie Stevenson
Deanna Thaler
Clara Tiggelaar
Kim Trubetskoy
Pat Virtue
Benita Wandel
Beth York
TENOR
Kevan Angel
Gary Babcock
Ryan Bowman
Jim Carlson
Dusty Davies
Nicholas Dietrich
Jack Dinkel
Roger Fueher
John Gale
Frank Gordon Jr.
Forrest Guittar
David Hodel
Sami Ibrahim
Curt Jordan
Ken Kolm
Sean Lund-Brown
Tom Milligan
Richard Moraskie
Garvis J. Muesing
Tim Nicholas
Dallas Rehberg
David Rosen
Andrew Seamans
Evan Secrist
Jerry Sims
Philip (P.J.) Stohlmann
Daniel Thompson
Hannis Thompson
Max Witherspoon
Kenneth Zimmerman
BASS
John Adams
Grant Carlton
Bob Friedlander
Tim Griffin
Chris Grossman
Colin Hall
Nic Hammerberg
Doug Hesse
David Highbaugh
Leonard Hunt
Terry Jackson
John Jones
Jared Joseph
Matthew Kersten-Gray
Jakson McDaniel
Nalin Mehta
Matthew Molberg
Greg Morrison
Eugene Nuccio
John Phillips
Ben Pilcher
Tom Potter
Jacob Pullen
Ken Quarles
Joshua Richards
Adam Scoville
Russ Skillings
Matthew Smedberg
Riley Somo
Matt Steele
Wil Swanson
Mike West
Marc Whittington
Lu Wu
Jeffrey Zax
CLASSICS BIOGRAPHIES
COLORADO CHILDREN’S CHORALE
Victoria Bailey, Assistant Conductor
Emily Crile, Artistic Director
The Colorado Children’s Chorale annually trains more than 400 members between the ages of 7 and 14 from all ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds representing more than 170 schools in the Denver metro area and beyond. Since its founding in 1974, the Chorale has sung countless performances with some of the world’s finest performing arts organizations, performed for numerous dignitaries, and appeared in several television and radio broadcasts. The Performance Program includes a series of self-produced concerts, numerous performances with other Colorado arts organizations and touring around the world. The Chorale’s 2024-25 season also includes A Colorado Christmas and Carmina Burana with the Colorado Symphony and La bohème with Opera Colorado.
The Colorado Children’s Chorale has been performing with the Colorado Symphony since its founding in 1989. Their first season included a performance of Chichester Psalms. Since that time, Chorale children have appeared with the Colorado Symphony in more than 250 performances.
GRAYSON RIEK, voice
Grayson Riek, an eighth grader at Colorado Academy, is a member of the Colorado Children’s Chorale National Tour Choir with which he has performed at Carnegie Hall, traveled to Germany and the Czech Republic to compete in the Prague Musica Orbis Festival, and will perform throughout Singapore and Malaysia in June. He also appeared with a Chorale ensemble in La bohème with Bravo Vail. Grayson’s individual credits include Simba in The Lion King, Gomez in The Addams Family, Aladdin in Aladdin, the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, Dromio of Ephesus in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, and Prince Hans in Frozen. Grayson is also an accomplished pianist who regularly performs at various local venues, has won numerous awards, and received “Top-Talent Circle” ratings in the National Piano Guild Auditions. In his free time, Grayson can be found practicing his music and spending time with his two dogs.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
CARLOS CHÁVEZ (1899-1978)
Sinfonía India (Symphony No. 2)
Carlos Chávez was born on June 13, 1899 in Mexico City, and died there on August 2, 1978. He composed his Sinfonía India in 1935 and conducted its premiere on a CBS Radio broadcast on January 23, 1936. The score calls for two piccolos, three flutes, three oboes, E-flat clarinet, two B-flat clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, timpani, percussion, harp and strings. Duration is about 12 minutes. This piece was last performed by the orchestra September 27, 1992, conducted by Thomas Cockrell.
Carlos Chávez, the most important and influential figure in 20th-century Mexican music, devoted his life to raising the educational, concert and creative activities of his native land to the standards of the other great musical nations. His career included an enormous list of achievements that would have staggered a man of lesser energy and dedication: between 1928 and 1949, he founded and conducted Mexico’s first permanent professional orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica de México; he was director of the National Conservatory of Music, where he revolutionized the curriculum by including the study of native music; he was head of the Mexican Department of Fine Arts; he initiated government-sponsored research into folklore and ancient instruments that led to the formation of a small ensemble of archaic Aztec and Nahua instruments; he championed the works not only of contemporary Mexican composers, but also those from throughout the country’s history; he was Charles Eliot Norton Lecturer at Harvard University in 1958-1959; he guest conducted many of the major orchestras in the western hemisphere; and he was one of the great composers of his generation.
In 1935 William S. Paley, founder of the Columbia Broadcasting System, invited Chávez to conduct one of his own compositions with the CBS Orchestra on a radio broadcast. Chávez chose to write a new piece for the occasion, and on January 23, 1936 he premiered what became his most popular work — the Sinfonía India. The score takes its name from the composer’s use of several melodies of Mexican Indian derivation, namely from the Seri and Yaquis of Sonora and the Huicholes of Nayarit, and from his utilization of several indigenous percussion instruments.
Chávez considered his one-movement Sinfonía India to be a condensed version of the traditional symphonic plan, not unlike the tightly unified form Liszt had created for his tone poems. Following an energetic introduction in vigorous mixed meters, the first theme, based on a Huichol melody, is presented by the violins and oboe. The contrasting second theme is a Yaqui tune given with touching simplicity by the E-flat clarinet. In place of a central development section, Chávez composed what he termed a “slow movement,” based on a step-wise melody from Sonora. After a recapitulation of the first and second themes, a galvanic, whirling “finale” is constructed upon a Seri melody treated in ostinato fashion.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)
Chichester Psalms for Chorus, Boy Soloist and Orchestra
Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and died on October 14, 1990 in New York City. He composed Chichester Psalms in 1965 and conducted its premiere on July 15, 1965 with the New York Philharmonic. The score calls for three trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, two harps and strings. Duration is about 19 minutes. This piece was last performed by the orchestra April 12, 2018, conducted by Brett Mitchell.
The Chichester Psalms was commissioned by the Very Rev. Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral for the 1965 Southern Cathedrals Festival, in which the musicians of Chichester have participated with those of the neighboring cathedrals of Salisbury and Winchester since 1959. The musical traditions of these great cathedrals extend far back into history, to at least the time when the eminent early-17th-century composer Thomas Weelkes occupied the organ bench at Chichester. The mood of the Chichester Psalms is humble and serene, unlike the powerful but despairing nature of Bernstein’s “Kaddish” Symphony of 1963, composed shortly before this work. Both use traditional texts sung in Hebrew, but the message of the Psalms is one of man’s closeness to God rather than the one of frustration and anger and shaken faith engendered by God’s inexplicable acts as portrayed by the “Kaddish.” It is indicative that the composer chose the 23rd Psalm (“The Lord is my Shepherd”) for the second movement, the heart of the Chichester Psalms.
The first movement opens with a broad chorale (“Awake, psaltery and harp!”) that serves as the structural buttress for the entire composition. It is transformed, in quick tempo, to open and close the dance-like main body of this movement (in 7/4 meter), and it reappears at the beginning and end of the finale in majestic settings. The bounding, sprung rhythms and exuberant energy of the fast music of the first movement are a perfect embodiment of the text, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.”
The touching simplicity of the second movement recalls the pastoral song of David, the young shepherd. The sopranos take over the melody from the boy soloist, and carry it forward in gentle but strict imitation. Suddenly, threatening music is hurled forth by the men’s voices punctuated by slashing chords from the orchestra. They challenge the serene strains of peace with the harsh question, “Why do the nations rage?” The quiet song, temporarily banished, reappears in the high voices, like calming oil on troubled waters. The hard tones subside, and once again the shepherd sings and strums upon his harp. As a coda, the mechanistic sounds of conflict, soft but worrisome, enter once again, as if blown on an ill wind from some distant land.
The finale begins with an instrumental prelude based on the stern chorale that opened the work. The muted solo trumpet and harp recall a phrase from the shepherd’s song to mark the central point of this introduction. The chorus intones a gently swaying theme on the text, “Lord, Lord, My heart is not haughty.” The Chichester Psalms concludes with yet another adaptation of the recurring chorale, here given new words and a deeper meaning. This closing sentiment is not only the central message of the work, and the linchpin of its composer’s philosophy of life, but also is a thought which all must hold close in troubled times: Behold how good,/And how pleasant it is,/For brethren to dwell/Together in unity.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
Bernstein: Chichester Psalms
I.
Psalm 108, verse 2:
Urah, hanevel, v’chinor!
Awake, psaltery and harp!
A-irah shah . ar! I will rouse the dawn!
Psalm 100, entire:
Hariu l’Adonai kol haarets.
Iv’du et Adonai b’simch.a.
Bo-u l’fanav bir’nanah.
D’u ki Adonai Hu Elohim.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before His presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord, He is God. Hu asanu, v’lo anah.nu. It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.
Amo v’tson mar’ito.
Bo-u sh’arav b’todah,
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, H.atseirotav bit’hilah, And into His courts with praise, Hodu lo, bar’chu sh’mo.
Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.
Ki tov Adonai, l’olam h.as’do,
For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, V’ad dor vador emunato.
And His truth endureth to all generations.
Psalm 23, entire:
Adonai ro-i, lo eh.sar.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Bin’ot deshe yarbitseini, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, Al mei m’nuh.ot y’nah.aleini, He leadeth me beside the still waters, Naf’shi y’shovev, He restoreth my soul, Yan’h.eini b’ma’aglei tsedek, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, L’ma’an sh’mo.
For His name’s sake. Gam ki eilech Yea, though I walk B’gei tsalmavet, Through the valley of the shadow of death, Lo ira ra, I will fear no evil, Ki Atah imadi.
For Thou art with me.
Shiv’t’cha umishan’techa
Thy rod and Thy staff Hemah y’nah.amuni. They comfort me.
Ta’aroch l’fanai shulchan.
Neged tsor’rai,
Thou preparest a table before me.
In the presence of mine enemies, Dishanta vashemen roshi
Thou anointest my head with oil,
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
Cosi r’vayah.
My cup runneth over. Ach tov vah.esed
Surely goodness and mercy
Yird’funi kol y’mei h.ayai,
Shall follow me all the days of my life, V’shav’ti b’veit Adonai
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord L’orech yamim. Forever.
Psalm 2, verses 1-4: Lamah rag’shu goyim
Why do the nations rage, Ul’umim yeh’gu rik?
And the people imagine a vain thing?
Yit’yats’vu malchei erets,
The kings of the earth set themselves, V’roznim nos’du yah.ad,
Al Adonai v’al m’shih.o.
N’natkah et mos’roteimo,
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His annointed.
Saying, let us break their bonds asunder, V’nashlichah mimenu avoteimo.
Yoshev bashamayim
Yis’h.ak, Adonai
And cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens
Shall laugh, and the Lord Yil’ag lamo! Shall have them in derision!
Psalm 131, entire:
Adonai, Adonai,
Lord, Lord, Lo gavah libi,
My heart is not haughty, V’lo ramu einai,
Nor mine eyes lofty, V’lo hilachti
Neither do I exercise myself
Big’dolot uv’niflaot
In great matters or in things Mimeni. Too wonderful for me.
Im lo shiviti
Surely I have calmed V’domam’ti, And quieted myself, Naf’shi k’gamul alei imo,
As a child that is weaned of his mother, Kagamul alai naf’shi.
My soul is even as a weaned child.
Yah.el Yis’rael el Adonai
Let Israel hope in the Lord Me’atah v’ad olam.
From henceforth and forever.
Psalm 133, verse 1:
Hineh mah tov,
Behold how good, Umah nayim,
And how pleasant it is, Shevet ah.im
For brethren to dwell Gam yah.ad.
Together in unity.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
SALVADOR CONTRERAS (1910-1982)
Corridos for Chorus, Soprano and Orchestra
Salvador Contreras was born on November 10, 1910 in Cuerámaro, Guanajuato, Mexico, and died on November 7, 1982 in Mexico City. He composed Corridos in 1941, and it was premiered on August 15, 1941 in Mexico City by the National Orchestra of Mexico, conducted by Carlos Chávez. The score calls for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, two harps and strings. Duration is about 8 minutes. This is the premiere performance by the orchestra.
Salvador Contreras, born in 1910 in Cuerámaro, 200 miles northwest of Mexico City, was introduced to music by his father, a church organist, and began playing violin when he was twelve. He took lessons with local teachers and became serious about the instrument the following year when the family moved to Mexico City and Salvador was taken on as a student by his uncle, a professional violinist. Contreras was admitted to the Mexico City Conservatory in 1926 to study composition and conducting with Carlos Chávez and violin with Silvestre Revueltas, but economic hardship forced him to leave the school to help support the family playing with various groups around the city. He was able to return to the Conservatory in 1931, when he resumed his education and met Daniel Ayala, Blas Galindo and José Pablo Moncayo, fellow composition students of Chávez. In 1934, they formed the Grupo de los Cuarto (“Group of Four”) to promote their own works and foster the cause of modern Mexican music, much in the manner of the Russian Five and the French Six. Following Chávez’s example as composer and teacher, their works were imbued with Mexican styles, themes and ethos, and they all came to hold influential positions as conductors, educators and administrators. After leaving the Conservatory, Contreras composed, taught violin, directed the orchestra at the High School of Music at the National Institute of Fine Arts, and played in various local orchestras until 1946, when he joined the National Orchestra of Mexico. He left that position in 1955 to become conductor of opera at the National Institute, and three years later he was appointed professor of violin and orchestra director at the Mexico City Conservatory, his alma mater. Contreras retired in 1964 and died on November 7, 1982 in Mexico City.
The Corrido, which originated in Mexico in the early 19th century and became especially popular during the Mexican Revolution in the 1910s, is a traditional song type that tells a story, often about oppression, history, criminals, workers or other social themes. In 1939, Vicente T. Mendoza (1894-1964), a musicologist, composer and graduate of the Mexico City Conservatory, published El Romance Español y El Corrido Mexicano, his groundbreaking study of the influence of Spanish music in the history of the Corrido. In 1941, Salvador Contreras chose from Mendoza’s study three Corridos and one Romance, a song type about chivalric love from the time of Spanish rule in Mexico, and set the Corridos for chorus and the Romance for solo soprano with orchestra. His Corridos was premiered on August 15, 1941 at a Festival of Traditional Mexican Music given by the National Orchestra of Mexico under the direction of Carlos Chávez; the premieres of Huapango by José Pablo Moncayo and the orchestral version of Sones de Mariachi by Blas Galindo were given on the same program.
The first Corrido, La Indita (“The Indian Girl”), accompanies a canacua, a wedding dance performed by girls wearing flower crowns in the state of Michoacán. Las Dos Mariás (“The Two Marias”) is an original Corrido by the Michoacán folklorist Alfonso del Río. Romance de Román Castillo, for solo soprano, is based on a Spanish Romance dating from the 18th century. Los Dorados (“The Golden Ones”) refers to the squadron of bodyguards that protected Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution.
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
CORRIDOS (FOLK BALLADS)
Salvador Contreras
1. La Indita (the Indian girl)
An Indian girl in her water garden Was cutting flowers, While the Indian boy who watered them Enjoyed flirting with her.
The second verse has no literal meaning; it is onomatopoeic and has no English translation.
Tarimbá, de blanca me dio, de blanca me sesa, de sesa manesa, de entrar y salir, de doministrai, de doministrai, de pípili hui.
I saw an Indian carrying a load Wearing a simple bow tie.
I am not surprised by the Indian boy But rather by how skinny he is.
My sweet girl, I will provide For your blue petticoats, But you have to go out with me, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
2. Las Dos Marías (The Two Marias)
I had a Maria who was so cold, so cold, That she was pure ice both night and day. I had another Maria who was on fire, on fire So much that she was dripping butter.
Oh, my friend, sir!
Oh, how well my work is going! If step by step I earn it soon, Without hesitation I will look for a love.
Since I am a rancher of few words, I tell little lies, but not long ones. One girlfriend cheats, two make fools, Three will play tricks and four make two yokes.
Where are you going, Roman Castillo, Where are you going? Poor man! Don’t look for more feuds, For our ladies here. Your horse is already injured, Your sword is broken, Your exploits are unique, And your love has no bounds.
Have mercy, Roman Castillo! Have mercy, poor me! If you persist in your life, I will die from pain.
You are noble, you are brave, A man with a great heart. Your exploits are unique, And your love has no bounds.
4. Los Dorados (The Golden Ones)*
I am one of the Golden Ones
Of my General Villa; I have earned ten ranks, And soon will be made leader.
The heart of El Dorado Was made to suffer With his well-wrapped pistol, He has nothing to fear.
My rifle and my mare They are my faithful companions; I have to walk twenty leagues To kill pale-skinned rats.
*Pancho Villa, by 1914, created “Los Dorados”, a group of loyal men who became the squadron that served as his personal escort.
3. Roman Castillo’s Romance (Soprano solo)
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
Third Symphony
Aaron Copland was born on November 14, 1900 in Brooklyn, New York, and died on December 2, 1990 in North Tarrytown, New York. He began his Third Symphony in August 1944 in the remote Mexican village of Tepotzlan, and completed it on September 29, 1946 at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. Sergei Koussevitzky led the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Symphony’s premiere, on October 18, 1946. The score calls for two piccolos, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, piano, two harps and strings. Duration is about 43 minutes. This piece was last performed by the orchestra April 29-May 1, 2016, conducted by Andrew Litton.
The Third Symphony of 1944-1946 brings together the two dominant strains of Copland’s musical personality: the abstract, modernist style of his Symphony for Organ and Orchestra (1924) and Short Symphony (1933) is particularly evident in the first and third movements, while the influence of folk song and New England and Quaker hymnody, familiar from Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, Rodeo, Lincoln Portrait and other works of the early 1940s, is strongest in the second and fourth. The opening movement, in moderate tempo, eschews traditional symphonic sonata form in favor of a structure in two large musical paragraphs with a benedictory coda. The first section presents the movement’s three themes, each introduced with the simplicity and economy that mark Copland’s best music: a smooth melody in wide-spread octaves for violins, clarinets and flute; a theme in similar style initiated by oboes and clarinets; and a broad phrase of unsettled tonality intoned by the trombones. The trombone phrase is worked out at some length, and rises to a mighty climax before a sudden quiet ushers in the briefer second section, in which the first two themes are ingeniously combined to lead to an even more violent outburst based on the trombone motive. Another abrupt hush begins the coda, which is built from variants of the first and second themes suspended in a musical setting of unaffected beauty and sweet melancholy.
The Scherzo begins with a boisterous brass preview of the movement’s principal theme. The theme is presented in full by horn, clarinets and violas in a more deliberate tempo, and recurs twice (unison low strings and, in augmentation, in the low brass) with intervening episodes. The trio is given over to a folksy little waltz melody that would not be out of place in Rodeo or Billy the Kid. After a truncated return of the first section, a grandiloquent presentation of the waltz theme and a striding transformation of the Scherzo theme close the movement.
The main part of the Andantino is occupied by what Copland called a “close-knit series of variations” on a graceful theme presented by the solo flute. The melody, he continued, “supplies thematic substance for the sectional metamorphoses that follow: at first with quiet singing nostalgia; then faster and heavier — almost dance-like; then more child-like and naive; and finally vigorous and forthright.” Framing these variations as introduction and postlude are austere, almost mysterious transformations of the trombone theme from the first movement hung high in the violins.
The Finale follows without pause. The Fanfare for the Common Man, written in 1942 at the invitation of Eugene Goossens for a series of wartime fanfares introduced under his direction
CLASSICS PROGRAM NOTES
with the Cincinnati Symphony, provides the thematic material for the introduction. The wellknown strains are first heard, softly, in the high woodwinds and then given in their familiar stentorian guise by the brass and percussion. The main portion of the movement begins with the presentation of an animated, syncopated theme by the oboe. A broad restatement of the Fanfare motive by the trombones opens the development section, which is unusual in that the structural second theme, a lyrical strain in a swaying meter, is embedded within it. The development builds to a climax. The recapitulation weaves together the finale’s principal theme, fragments of the Fanfare, and the opening motive of the first movement. A magnificent peroration capped by another return of the theme that began the entire work closes this great American Symphony.
DENVER YOUNG ARTISTS ORCHESTRA SIDE BY SIDE WITH YOUR COLORADO SYMPHONY
WILBUR LIN, conductor
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at 7:30pm
Boettcher Concert Hall
MOLLY JOYCE Side by Side
HOLST
Selections from: The Planets
I. Mars, the Bringer of War
II. Venus, the Bringer of Peace
II. Mercury, the Winged Messenger
— INTERMISSION —
MASON BATES Soundcheck in C Major
HOLST Selections from: The Planets
V. Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age
IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
CONCERT RUN TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 1 HOUR AND 10 MINUTES INCLUDING A 20 MINUTE INTERMISSION.
FIRST TIME TO THE SYMPHONY? SEE PAGE 37 OF THIS PROGRAM FOR FAQ’S TO MAKE YOUR EXPERIENCE GREAT!
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY
PUBLIC BENEFIT CONCERT BIOGRAPHIES
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. Currently the Music Director of the Missouri Symphony, Lin was also recently promoted to associate conductor of the Colorado Symphony.
Lin’s 2024/25 season will commence with a production of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (Elixir of Love) with the Missouri Symphony and Landlocked Opera Company, followed by concerts with the Colorado, Taipei, Missouri, Ann Arbor, Juneau, and Acadiana symphonies, of which the latter two will be debut performances. In recent seasons, Lin’s highlights included his debuts with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Oak Ridge, Ann Arbor, Elgin, Taipei, and Indiana’s Richmond symphonies, a new studio recording with pianist Eric Zuber and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, a digital single release with the Denver Young Artists Orchestra, and conducting and covering the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati Pops where he finished his tenure as assistant conductor in 2022.
As a cover conductor, Lin has worked with, notably, the Taiwan Symphony, Cincinnati Ballet, and Minnesota orchestras. In his role as the associate 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), Le nozze di Figaro and L’elisir d’amore with the Missouri Symphony, 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, 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 of Robeson by Scott Davenport Richards at the Cincinnati Opera.
Educated in Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Lin has studied with Arthur Fagen and David Effron at Indiana University, Clark Rundell and Mark Heron at the Royal Northern College of Music, 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 Peter Ounjian, Jun Märkl, Louis Langrée, James Gaffigan, and John Morris Russell, among others.
PUBLIC BENEFIT CONCERT BIOGRAPHIES
DENVER YOUNG ARTISTS ORCHESTRA
Founded in 1977 with the support of the Denver Symphony Orchestra, the award-winning Denver Young Artists Orchestra has been the premier option for aspiring young musicians in the front range for over 45 years. Now operating as an educational affiliate to the Colorado Symphony, the organization’s three orchestras, educational workshops, and after-school Tune Up violin classes train nearly 300 students, ages seven to twenty-three, from approximately 100 schools across Colorado. DYAO performs throughout the Denver metro with largescale, collaborative, and outreach performances. Members of the orchestras graduate into conservatories and universities across the country including Brown University, The Eastman School of Music, Harvard University, The Juilliard School, Stanford University, and Yale University. Alumni who continued to professional music careers are found in many major orchestras across the country including the Atlanta Symphony, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, and Metropolitan Opera. To learn more, visit dyao.org.
