Brantley Manderson brantley@encoremagazine.com
Kelli Dill kelli@encoremagazine.com
Hila Johnson hila@encoremagazine.com EDITOR
Robert Viagas robert@encoremagazine.com
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Tamara Hooks tamara@encoremagazine.com DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Jennifer Nelson jennifer@encoremagazine.com
Happy New Year! We are grateful to each of you for supporting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra—especially our beloved subscribers. It gives us great joy to be able to go on a musical journey through the season with you.
A bold and ambitious leg of the journey lies just ahead for the Orchestra and Music Director Nathalie Stutzmann as they scale what Nathalie describes as “a Himalaya”—eight of Beethoven’s nine transformative symphonies, performed in conversation with each other, over four weeks this spring. In addition to these mountains, the Orchestra, Chorus and soloists will tackle the great Missa solemnis—one of Beethoven’s mystical late-period works and considered by many to be one of his most supreme achievements—and we’ll have a chance to hear our own David Coucheron, Danny Laufer, and Julie Coucheron as soloists in his Triple Concerto.
We hear Beethoven’s music all the time—in concerts, in cartoons, in commercials— but it’s not often that we have the opportunity to hear so many of his significant works performed live in close proximity with such exceptional performing forces. With Nathalie’s fresh and iconoclastic interpretations, the depth and artistry of our Orchestra and Chorus and the imagination of our soloists, this in-depth exploration of Bethoven’s works promises to be one we will remember for years to come.
As we present this extraordinary cycle, we are reminded of the unique bond we share with our subscribers. Your commitment provides a foundation for all that we do, making it possible for us to tackle ambitious projects. Soon we will be announcing the 2025-26 season, and we hope you'll join us on the journey by renewing your subscription. Subscribing is the best way to immerse yourself in the music you love while saving money and enjoying benefits like flexible ticket changes, advance notice of special programming, and discounted parking. Whether you have been a patron for years or have just joined the ASO family, we are thrilled to have you along for this remarkable journey.
With deepest gratitude,
Jennifer Barlament, Executive Director
Nathalie Stutzmann is the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the second woman in history to lead a major American orchestra. She was Principal Guest Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 2021 to 2024.
Nathalie made big news in the opera pit in 2023 with her debut at the Bayreuth Festival with Wagner's Tannhäuser. The performances resulted in her being named 'Best Conductor' of the year in the 2024 Oper! Awards. She returned to Bayreuth in 2024 for a revival of Tannhäuser and will be back in 2026 to mark the 150th anniversary of the Festival, conducting a new production of Rienzi.
Her opera debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2023 was declared by The New York Times as “the coup of the year.”
The 24-25 season with the Atlanta Symphony features key pillars of the romantic repertoire including a complete Beethoven Symphony cycle and Missa solemnis. With several notable debuts including the Czech Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and her conducting debut at the Musikverein with Wiener Symphoniker; her season also includes returns to the New York Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Philadelphia Orchestra and L.A Philharmonic. In June 2025 she will return to Bruxelles La Monnaie to conduct Carmen.
Nathalie Stutzmann has signed an exclusive recording contract with Warner Classics/Erato and her first symphonic recording for the label of Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 and American Suite with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra was released in
Awarded the 2023 Opus Klassik “Concerto Recording of the Year” for her recording of Glière and Mosolov Harp concertos with Xavier de Maistre and WDR Sinfonieorchester, 2022 also saw the release of complete Beethoven Piano Concertos recorded with Haochen Zhang and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Gramophone praised it as “a brilliant collaboration that I urge you to
Nathalie started her studies at a very young age in piano, bassoon, cello and studied conducting with the legendary Finnish teacher Jorma Panula.
As one of today’s most esteemed contraltos, she has made more than 80 recordings and received the most prestigious awards. Recognized for her significant contribution to the arts, Nathalie was named “Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur”, France’s highest honor; and “Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French government.
Patrick Viguerie chair
Janine Brown immediate past chair
Bert Mills treasurer
Angela Evans secretary
Phyllis Abramson
Keith Adams
Juliet M. Allan
Susan Antinori
Rona Gomel Ashe
Andrew Bailey
Jennifer Barlament*
Keith Barnett
Paul Blackney
Janine Brown
Betsy Camp
Lisa Chang
Susan Clare
Russell Currey
Sheila Lee Davies
Carlos del Rio, M.D. FIDSA
Lisa DiFrancesco, M.D.
Lynn Eden
Yelena Epova
Angela Evans
Craig Frankel
Sally Bogle Gable
Anne Game
Rod Garcia-Escudero
Sally Frost George
Robert Glustrom
Julie Goosman
Bonnie B. Harris
Charles Harrison
Michael Hoffman
Tad Hutcheson, Jr.
Roya Irvani
Joia M. Johnson
Chris Kopecky
Carrie Kurlander
Scott Lampert
James H. Landon
Daniel Laufer*
Donna Lee
Susan Antinori vice chair
Lynn Eden vice chair
Sukai Liu
Kevin Lyman
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Shelley McGehee
Arthur Mills IV
Bert Mills
Molly Minnear
Hala Moddelmog*
Caroline Moïse
Anne Morgan
Terence L. Neal
Galen Lee Oelkers
Dr. John Paddock
Margie Painter
Howard D. Palefsky
Cathleen Quigley
Doug Reid
James Rubright
Ravi Saligram
William Schultz
Neil Berman
Benjamin Q. Brunt
John W. Cooledge, M.D.
John R. Donnell, Jr.
Jere A. Drummond
Carla Fackler
Charles B. Ginden
John T. Glover
Dona Humphreys
Aaron J. Johnson, Jr.
James F. Kelley
Patricia Leake
Karole F. Lloyd
Meghan H. Magruder
Howell E. Adams, Jr.
John B. White, Jr.
* Ex-Officio Board Member
^ On Sabbatical
James Rubright vice chair
V Scott
Charles Sharbaugh
Fahim Siddiqui
W. Ross Singletary, II
John Sparrow
Elliott Tapp
Brett Tarver^
Valerie Thadhani
Yannik Thomas
Maria Todorova
Ben Touchette
S. Patrick Viguerie
Kathy Waller
Chris Webber
Richard S. White, Jr.
Mack Wilbourn
Kevin E. Woods, M.D., M.P.H.
Penelope McPhee
Patricia H. Reid
Joyce Schwob
John A Sibley, III
H. Hamilton Smith
G. Kimbrough Taylor, Jr.
Michael W. Trapp
Connie Calhoun
Azira G. Hill
Ray Uttenhove
Chilton Varner
Adair M. White
Sue Sigmon Williams
Ben F. Johnson, III
FIRST VIOLIN
David Coucheron concertmaster
The Mr. & Mrs. Howard R. Peevy Chair
Justin Bruns
associate concertmaster
The Charles McKenzie Taylor Chair
Lauren Roth
assistant concertmaster
Jun-Ching Lin
assistant concertmaster
Anastasia Agapova
Kevin Chen
Carolyn Toll Hancock
The Wells Fargo Chair
John Meisner
Christopher Pulgram
Juan R. Ramírez Hernández
Olga Shpitko
Kenn Wagner
Lisa Wiedman Yancich
Sissi Yuqing Zhang
SECTION VIOLIN ‡
Judith Cox
Raymond Leung
The Carolyn McClatchey Chair
SECOND VIOLIN
Sou-Chun Su
acting / associate principal
The Atlanta Symphony Associates Chair
The Frances Cheney Boggs Chair
Jay Christy
acting associate / assistant principal
Rachel Ostler
acting assistant principal
Dae Hee Ahn*
Robert Anemone
Noriko Konno Clift
Paolo Dara
David Dillard
Paul Halberstadt
Eun Young Jung
Eleanor Kosek
Yaxin Tan
VIOLA
Zhenwei Shi
principal
The Edus H. & Harriet H.
Warren Chair
Paul Murphy
associate principal
The Mary & Lawrence Gellerstedt Chair
Catherine Lynn
assistant principal
Marian Kent
Yang-Yoon Kim
Yiyin Li
Lachlan McBane
Jessica Oudin
Madeline Sharp
CELLO
Daniel Laufer
acting / associate principal
The Miriam & John Conant Chair
Karen Freer
acting associate / assistant principal
The Livingston Foundation Chair
Thomas Carpenter
Joel Dallow
The UPS Foundation Chair
Ray Kim
Isabel Kwon
Nathan Mo
Brad Ritchie
Denielle Wilson
Nathalie Stutzmann
music director
The Robert Reid Topping Chair
BASS
Joseph McFadden
principal
The Marcia & John Donnell Chair
Gloria Jones Allgood
associate principal
The Lucy R. & Gary Lee Jr. Chair
Karl Fenner
Michael Kurth
The Jane Little Chair
Jungsu Lee
Nicholas Scholefield
Daniel Tosky
FLUTE
Christina Smith principal
The Jill Hertz Chair
The Mabel Dorn Reeder
Honorary Chair
Robert Cronin
associate principal
C. Todd Skitch
Gina Hughes
PICCOLO
Gina Hughes
OBOE
Elizabeth Koch Tiscione
principal
The George M. & Corrie Hoyt Brown Chair
Zachary Boeding
associate principal
The Kendeda Fund Chair
Jonathan Gentry
Emily Brebach
ENGLISH HORN
Emily Brebach
William R. Langley
resident conductor & atlanta symphony youth
orchestra music director
The Zeist Foundation Chair
CLARINET
Jesse McCandless
principal
The Robert Shaw Chair
Ted Gurch*
associate principal
Ivan Valbuena
associate principal
Julianna Darby
Marci Gurnow*
Alcides Rodriguez
E-FLAT CLARINET
Ted Gurch*
Ivan Valbuena
BASS CLARINET
Alcides Rodriguez
BASSOON
Cameron Bonner principal
The Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation Chair
Anthony Georgeson
associate principal
Laura Najarian
Juan de Gomar
CONTRABASSOON
Juan de Gomar
HORN
Ryan Little principal
The Betty Sands Fuller Chair
Andrew Burhans
associate principal
Kimberly Gilman
Bruce Kenney
Norman Mackenzie director of choruses
The Frannie & Bill Graves Chair
TRUMPET
Michael Tiscione
acting / associate principal
Finan Jones
conducting fellow
The Madeline & Howell Adams Chair
Mark Maliniak
acting associate principal
William Cooper
Ian Mertes
TROMBONE
Nathan Zgonc
acting / associate principal
The Terence L. Neal Chair, Honoring his dedication & service to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Home Depot Veterans Chair
Jason Patrick Robins
BASS TROMBONE
Vacant
Jordan Milek Johnson fellow
TUBA
Michael Moore principal
The Delta Air Lines Chair
Joshua Williams fellow
Zeist Foundation ASO Fellowship Chair
TIMPANI
Michael Stubbart
acting / assistant principal
The Walter H. Bunzl Chair
Joseph Petrasek
principal
The Julie & Arthur
Montgomery Chair
Michael Jarrett
assistant principal
The William A. Schwartz Chair
Michael Stubbart
The Connie & Merrell
Calhoun Chair
HARP
Elisabeth Remy Johnson
principal
The Sally & Carl Gable Chair
KEYBOARD
The Hugh & Jessie Hodgson
Memorial Chair
Sharon Berenson †
LIBRARY
Joshua Luty principal
The Marianna & Solon
Patterson Chair
Sara Baguyos
associate principal
James Nelson
Neil and Sue Williams Chair
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Advisory Council is a group of passionate and engaged individuals who act as both ambassadors & resources for the ASO Board and staff. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra extends heartfelt gratitude to the members listed on this page.
Jane Morrison
advisory council chair
Justin Im
internal connections
task force co-chair
Robert Lewis, Jr.
internal connections task force co-chair
Frances A. Root
patron experience task force chair
Eleina Raines
community connections & education task force co-chair
Tiffany Rosetti
community connections & education task force co-chair
Otis Threatt
community connections & education task force co-chair
MEMBERS
Dr. Marshall & Stephanie Abes
Krystal Ahn
Kristi & Aadu Allpere
Logan Anderson & Ian Morey
Evelyn Babey
Asad & Sakina Bashey
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Meredith W. Bell
John Blatz
Jane Blount
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Johnston
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Robert Lewis, Jr.
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Jane Morrison
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Sugarman
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For more information about becoming an Advisory Council member, please contact Cheri Snyder at cheri.snyder@atlantasymphony.org or 404.733.4904.
By Phil Kloer
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra music director Nathalie Stutzmann likens the orchestra’s next challenge to climbing a mountain, and not just any middling mountain.
“For any orchestra in the world, a Beethoven cycle is a Himalaya,” she says. “I think it’s incredibly exciting for us, but also for the audience, because it’s rare to be able to hear the full symphony cycle plus the Triple Concerto plus the Missa solemnis.”
That’s the marching order for the ASO’s Beethoven Project, which starts Jan. 23 and runs through the fall, culminating, of course, with the Ninth.
“Beethoven always asks from us almost more than we can give,” the conductor continues. “He’s so demanding. And there is also all the history of music around, before and after this cycle, which has existed with everything he has transformed.”
Originally, the ASO’s Beethoven celebration was to have been in 2020, the 250th anniversary of his birth, and included a performance of the Missa at Carnegie Hall. But the Covid pandemic crashed those plans.
Stutzmann came aboard in 2022, and a project like this is exactly the sort of undertaking she embraces.
“An ensemble like the Atlanta Symphony is not just a public performance ensemble. It’s also its own organism that’s growing and developing, especially under Nathalie’s leadership,” says Jennifer Barlament, the ASO’s executive director.
“In addition to Haydn and Mozart, which the orchestra is playing a lot of this year, the Beethoven symphonies are this very formative set of repertoire, where a music director and the orchestra have an opportunity to build together,” she continues.
Stutzmann always goes back to the original page to start her process.
“It’s my passion to take these pieces and start from scratch,” she says. “Just pick up the score and read it with laser eyes and try to understand how it is shaped, so that I have a clear vision from the first note to the last.”
“After all this work, the vision of the score is getting into my soul,”
she continues. “And I think the players feel it immediately. If you are genuine with it, you just trust your body to transmit it to the orchestra.”
“She really tries to access that initial germ of musical intent,” adds Barlament. “I think people will be surprised, because it’ll feel like they’re hearing some of those pieces for the first time, even if they’ve heard them a million times.”
Some of the music is so familiar because about midway through the last century, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), was elevated from being one of the great composers, alongside Bach, Mozart and others, to being the composer, at least to big chunks of the general public.
He became the exemplar of classical music, preeminent in the pantheon, as Shakespeare is to literature and Picasso is to art.
The cultural double whammy was provided by Chuck Berry and Charles Schulz. Berry wrote “Roll Over Beethoven” in 1956 to herald rock and roll pushing aside classical music; the song was a hit for several artists and lodged that earworm into lots of teenaged ears.
Around the same time, Charles Schulz’s newspaper strip “Peanuts” was becoming a phenomenon. Schulz loved Beethoven and played his records so much while he was drawing that he wore out some of the vinyl, according to his museum. In more than 300 “Peanuts” strips, the young character Schroeder expressed his passion for Beethoven, whose glowering bust always sat on Schroeder’s toy piano; sometimes Schulz would copy out great bursts of Beethoven’s actual musical notation into the strips.
In one strip, Lucy asks Schroeder: “I’m looking for the answer to life, Schroeder. What do you think is the answer?”
“BEETHOVEN!” Schroeder shouts in the next frame.
From there it seemed Beethoven rolled over everything. When Voyager 1 was launched into space, it contained a disc called the “Golden Record” of music and images that would communicate who we are to any alien life that found it. Of the composers selected by Carl Sagan and a committee at Cornell University, Beethoven got the most playing time.
In A Clockwork Orange, the violent psychopath Alex’s only redeeming quality is his love of Beethoven. The Ninth Symphony pulses in the background throughout the Christmas heist movie Die Hard, and a disco version of the Fifth lights up the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
The public is also drawn to the tragedy of his life, the slow deterioration of his hearing, which isolated him socially even as he continued to write some of his greatest music.
“The public conception of him is kind of aligned with how we see artists,” says Barlament. “He’s got the wild hair; he’s got the stern look. He does make a great bust.”
“He’s a little bit crazy, in his own world, running around with voices in his head.”
And the music that he could not stop from pouring out.
“What you are, you are by accident of birth; what I am, I am by myself,” he once wrote in a letter to a prince who had not followed through on a promise.
“There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven.”
We are deeply grateful to the following leadership donors whose generous support has made the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's season possible.
The 4,115th and 4,116th Concerts of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Friday, January 10, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Sunday, January 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Atlanta Symphony Hall
violin and director
The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.
Serenade in E major for String Orchestra, Op. 22, B. 52 (1875) 27 MINS
I. Moderato
II. Tempo di valse
III. Scherzo: Vivace
IV. Larghetto
V. Finale: Allegro vivace
INTERMISSION
20 MINS
The Coca-Cola Holiday Concerts are presented by Holiday concerts are made possible through an endowment from the Livingston Foundation in memory of Leslie Livingston Kellar.
Le quattro stagioni for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 8 (The Four Seasons) (P 1725) 37 MINS
I. Concerto in E major, RV 269, "La primavera" (Spring)
Allegro
Largo
Allegro
II. Concerto in G minor, RV 315, "L'estate" (Summer)
Allegro
Adagio
Presto
III. Concerto in F major, RV 293, "L'autunno" (Autumn)
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro
IV. Concerto in F minor, RV 297, "L'inverno" (Winter)
Allegro
Largo
Allegro
by Noel Morris Program Annotator
1. In the early 20th century, American poet Ezra Pound had a hand in launching a Vivaldi revival. Until that time, the composer had been all but forgotten.
2. Antonín Dvořák’s father slated his son to be a butcher, like himself. Young Dvořák proved to be a slippery apprentice and always found local villagers who could teach him music.
3. Vivaldi wrote many of his concertos for an orchestra of foundling girls. Their musicianship became famous throughout Europe, and their concerts became a popular tourist attraction in Venice.
4. Dvořák grew up around Czech folk musicians, and their influence can be heard in his rhythms and harmonies. Contrary to popular belief, he rarely quoted folk songs. Almost all his material was original.
5. The Four Seasons comes with poems describing rural scenes at various times of the year. Vivaldi uses his music to paint pictures of nature, people, and animals, including birdsongs and thunderstorms.
At sixteen, Antonín Dvořák left his village and set off for the Prague Organ School; he quickly outgrew his teachers. Turning to the likes of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schumann, he learned from them by studying their scores. Meanwhile, Dvořák taught, played church organ, and played viola in a theater orchestra. He worked long hours, but lived in poverty. Staying mainly with family, he continued to study while he turned out songs, symphonies, operas, and quartets—much of which sat on a shelf.
First ASO performance of this piece.
Maybe he was optimistic about his latest opera—or maybe it was the unplanned pregnancy—but Dvořák proposed marriage to his 19-year-old student Anna Čermáková in 1873. Now, with a growing family, Dvořák’s optimism was not unfounded. That summer, the Ministry of Education
announced the Austrian State Stipendium for poor, talented, young artists. Dvořák submitted his entry, putting his work before the famous critic Eduard Hanslick and composer Johannes Brahms. The Minister filed the following report:
“Anton Dwořák of Prague, 33 years old, music teacher, completely without means. He has submitted fifteen compositions, among them symphonies and overtures for full orchestra which display an undoubted talent, but in a way which as yet remains formless and unbridled... The applicant, who has never yet been able to acquire a piano of his own, deserves a grant to ease his straitened circumstances.”
With the award money, the Dvořák family moved into their own place, and Antonín kicked into high gear. Over the next year, he produced another symphony, a set of duets, a string quintet, a piano trio, a piano quartet, and his much-loved Serenade for Strings. He wrote the Serenade in just twelve days in the spring of 1875. A Prague orchestra gave the world premiere in 1876, and he included the piece in his application for the State Stipendium the following year.
Dvořák went on to win the stipend five years in a row. In 1878, Brahms decided Dvořák was ready for the next level and introduced him to his publisher. The Dvořáks never worried about money again.
First ASO performance: March 11, 1987
Iona Brown, violin and director
Most Recent ASO performance: January 3, 2024, David Coucheron, violin and director
Antonio Vivaldi was the master of the side hustle. He was an ordained priest, a schoolteacher, a touring opera composer, an impresario, and a theater director. During his lifetime, he achieved fame and fortune yet died a pauper and a stranger in a foreign land. He is wildly popular today, although he was almost lost to history. For all these reasons, Vivaldi’s music has been copied, borrowed, and arranged—he has a vast filmography (The Morning Show, Fantastic Four, Six Feet Under, What We Do in the Shadows, Spy Game, Madagascar 2, etc.)—yet there are holes in what we know about his life. For example, we don’t know when he wrote his most famous music, The Four Seasons
Vivaldi was the son of a violinist who worked at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. As a working-class boy, he had only one path to higher education: the priesthood. Because he suffered from “tightness of the chest,” young Antonio was allowed to live at home, where he continued to play music with his father. Not long after his ordination in 1703, he became master of violin at Ospedale della Pietà, a school for foundling girls. Because many of the students were illegitimate daughters of the nobility, the school was well-funded, giving Vivaldi all the resources needed for an excellent orchestra.
Later in life, as his popularity waned, Vivaldi turned his attention to Charles VI, the Holy Roman Emperor. Moving to the Austrian capital in 1740, the composer had hoped to win a royal appointment, but Charles died suddenly. Without income or royal protection, Vivaldi sank into poverty and died alone in 1741. His music was forgotten (apart from the Bach transcriptions) until 1926 when someone discovered a crate of Vivaldi manuscripts at a boarding school in Italy’s Piedmont. Music lovers started scrambling to recover, reconstruct, perform, and publish his music. In 2012, an entire opera surfaced at an Italian library.
The original manuscript of The Four Seasons is missing. The concertos made their way onto 21st-century music stands through a 1725 publication from Amsterdam, part of a set of twelve violin concertos titled “The contest between harmony and invention.” Although we don’t know the year of composition, The Four Seasons came from a golden age for the violin. Just a hundred miles from Venice, violin makers, especially the Amati, Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families, made innovations to the instrument’s design. Today, their violins are priceless. The other factor making the eighteenth century a golden age for the violin had to do with Vivaldi himself; his virtuosity as a player caused other composers to reimagine the instrument’s expressive capabilities.
With The Four Seasons, Vivaldi did something that would become popular a hundred years after his death: he used
instrumental music to tell a story. The 1725 publication includes a sonnet for each concerto with which Vivaldi painted sound pictures. For example, during the harvest feast (Autumn), the countrymen sink into a drunken stupor. For this effect, Vivaldi uses irregular rhythms to evoke the image of a man staggering off searching for a place to sleep. Some editions of The Four Seasons credit Vivaldi as the author of the sonnets; however, this has never been verified.
In the Spring concerto, Vivaldi gives us birdsong, a spring thunderstorm, a sleeping goatherd, and festive bagpipes. Summer brings scorching heat, more birdsong, cool breezes, bickering neighbors, and a summer squall. The storm hammers the crops with hailstones. The Autumn concerto is about the harvest feast—country folk sing, dance, and drink themselves into a stupor. Vivaldi follows that with a merry hunt with baying hound dogs and guns blazing. The Winter concerto brings “the bitter blast of a horrible wind” and days spent beside a cozy fire, plus a risky walk across the ice. “That’s winter but of a kind to gladden one’s heart.”
The Four Seasons Sonnets attributed to Antonio Vivaldi
SPRING
Allegro
Spring has arrived, and joyfully the birds greet her with glad song, while at Zephyr’s breath the streams flow forth with a sweet murmur. Her chosen heralds, thunder and lightning, come to envelop the air in a black cloak; once they have fallen silent, the little birds return anew to their melodious incantation:
Largo
then on the pleasant, flowerbedecked meadow, to the happy murmur of fronds and plants, the goatherd sleeps next to his trusty dog.
Allegro
To the festive sound of rustic bagpipes nymphs and shepherds dance beneath the beloved sky at the glorious appearance of spring.
Allegro
In a harsh season burned by the sun, man and flock languish, and the pine tree is scorched; the cuckoo unleashes its voice, and soon we hear the songs of the turtledove and the goldfinch. Sweet Zephyr blows, but Boreas suddenly opens a dispute with his neighbor; and the shepherd laments his fate for he fears a fierce squall is coming.
Adagio His weary limbs are robbed of rest by his fear of fierce thunder and lightning and by the furious swarm of flies and blowflies.
Presto
Alas, his fears are only too real: the sky fills with thunder and lightning, and hailstones hew off the heads of proud cornstalks.
Allegro
The countryman celebrates with dance and song the sweet pleasure of a good harvest,
and many, fired by the liquor of Bacchus, end their enjoyment by falling asleep.
Adagio
Everyone is made to abandon singing and dancing by the temperate air, which gives pleasure, and by the season, which invites so many to enjoy the sweetness of sleep.
Allegro
The huntsmen come out at the crack of dawn with their horns, guns and hounds; the quarry flees and they track it; already terrified and tired out by the great noise of the guns and hounds, the wounded beast makes a feeble effort to flee but dies in agony.
Allegro
To shiver, frozen, amid icy snow in the bitter blast of a horrible wind; to run, constantly stamping one’s feet; and to feel one’s teeth chatter on account of the excessive cold;
Largo
To spend restful, happy days at the fireside while the rain outside drenches a good hundred [people];
Allegro
to walk on the ice, and with slow steps to move about cautiously for fear of falling; to go fast, to slip and fall down;
to go on the ice again and run fast until the ice cracks and opens up; to hear coming out of the iron gates Sirocco, Boreas and all the winds at war: that’s winter, but of a kind to gladden one’s heart.
DAVID COUCHERON, violin + director
David Coucheron joined the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as Concertmaster in September 2010. At the time, he was the youngest concertmaster in any major U.S. orchestra. He has performed as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.
Coucheron has given solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and the Olympic Winter Games (Salt Lake City, Utah), as well as in Beograd, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Serbia, Singapore and Shanghai. His chamber music performances have included appearances at Suntory Hall, Wigmore Hall and Alice Tully Hall. Coucheron serves as the Artistic Director for the Kon Tiki Chamber Music Festival in his hometown of Oslo, Norway. He is on the artist-faculty for the Aspen Music Festival and Brevard Music Festival.
An active recording artist, recordings with sister and pianist Julie Coucheron include “David and Julie” (Naxos/Mudi) and “Debut” (Naxos). He is the featured soloist on the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s recording of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, which was released in Fall 2014.
Coucheron began playing the violin at age three. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music, his Master of Music from The Juilliard School and his Master of Musical Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with teachers Igor Ozim, Aaron Rosand, Lewis Kaplan and David Takeno. Coucheron plays a 1725 Stradivarius, on kind loan from Anders Sveaas Charitable Trust.
The 4,117th and 4,118th Concerts of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, January 16, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Atlanta Symphony Hall
AZIZ SHOKHAKIMOV, conductor
BEHZOD ABDURAIMOV, piano
The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.
POLINA NAZAYKINSKAYA (b. 1987)
Winter Bells (2010) 16 MINS
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943)
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 (1934) 24 MINS
Behzod Abduraimov, piano
INTERMISSION 20 MINS
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)
Petrushka (1911, rev. 1947) (1910-1911) 35 MINS
I. The Shrovetide Fair
Introduction
Danse Russe
II. Petrushka's Room
III. The Moor's Room
IV. The Shrovetide Fair (Toward Evening)
Introduction
Wet-Nurses' Dance
Peasant With Bear Gypsies and a Rake Vendor
Dance of the Coachmen Masqueraders
Death of Petrushka
This weekend’s concerts are dedicated to MS. ANGELA L. EVANS in honor of her generous support of the 2023/24 Annual Fund.
by Noel Morris Program Annotator
1. Behzod Abduraimov made a highly acclaimed recording of Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra on Rachmaninoff’s own piano.
2. Both Niccolò Paganini and Sergei Rachmaninoff are considered among the best on their respective instruments.
3. Growing up in post-Soviet Russia, Polina Nazaykinskaya didn’t know other female composers. Her professors at the Moscow Conservatory urged her to focus on violin because of her gender. Finally, she arrived in the United States with $500 in her pocket and studied composition at the Yale School of Music.
4. There are multiple versions of Petrushka, including the original 1911 ballet score and the 1947 version, which was designed to function better as a concert piece (it also enabled Stravinsky to copyright his work in the West and collect royalties).
5. Both Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky left Russia, became United States citizens, and settled in Los Angeles.
After finishing my first year at Yale, I was looking for inspiration. I was preparing to write my first symphonic work, but I did not have material or an idea with which I could work. In search of it, I returned to Russia and visited an old Russian village. There, I was able to connect to my roots and rekindle my imagination by visiting a series of sacred places in the wilderness. I was all alone, with the vastness of space and rocks stretching in all directions. And then it came to me. It was a choral, religious motif that I could faintly discern. I sat down on a fallen tree and wrote it into my scratch book.
First ASO performance of this piece.
The symphony begins with a fleeting image. A Russian winter filled with void, bleakness, and an eerie feeling. A traveler on a long journey on the brink of madness and desperation,
fighting his way through the deadly blizzard. A vision from the past, joyous and wondrous, materializes and disappears as a mirage in the middle of a snowy desert. Will the traveler survive? For whom shall the bells toll when their ringing resonates at a distance? Will he be spared, or will he perish before completing his journey?
First ASO performance: March 31, 1956
Henry Sopkin, conductor
Artur Rubinstein, piano
Most Recent ASO performance:
November 17-19, 2022
John Storgårds, conductor
Inon Barnatan, piano
RACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Niccolò Paganini was one of the original goths. With “large, black eyes, [a] hooked nose, and jet black hair,” his face appeared gaunt and pale. Some described him as cadaverous. Onstage, his long, wiry frame twisted into strange postures as he played violin as if demon-possessed. In fact, people whispered that he’d sold his soul for those abilities. As a natural showman, Paganini did nothing to convince them otherwise.
His violin technique defied convention. Setting the bar for all future players, he distilled his violin gymnastics into a fiendish set of solo pieces, “caprices,” and went down in history as one of the all-time greats.
Beyond the mythology surrounding Paganini, his 24th Caprice cast a spell over composers. Dozens have written music based on its bouncy tune, including Johannes Brahms, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Benny Goodman, and the Russian metal band Aria.
Two months after the Bolsheviks seized power, the esteemed composer and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff slipped out of Russia. He left his estate, his friends, and his career and reduced his entire existence to a couple of suitcases. But that wasn’t the worst part; his wife and kids had no country, no security—and they had no income. The Rachmaninoffs moved to America in 1918, where Sergei embarked on a piano career and rebuilt his fortune.
Rachmaninoff’s life in the West was a mixed bag. He bought fast cars and a home in Beverly Hills, but the trauma of leaving Russia never left him. He all but lost his desire to write music.
In 1930, he was on a European tour with his wife, Natalia, when they passed through Lucerne. On impulse, they bought a lakeside lot and built a summer home.
Bathing in the natural beauty of the Swiss Alps, the composer found his muse in 1934 and wrote a set of variations on Paganini’s 24th Caprice. The sections take on wildly different personalities. One echoes the sound of jazz pianist Art Tatum. Several variations include the spooky medieval chant “Dies irae (Day of Wrath)”. He created the tender eighteenth variation by flipping the Paganini tune upside down.
In 1937, choreographer Mikhail Fokine suggested turning the Rhapsody into a ballet. Rachmaninoff loved the idea and responded with a scenario.
“Consider the Paganini legend—about the sale of his soul... in exchange for perfection in art, and for a woman.” he wrote. “All variations on the “Dies irae” would be for the Devil... the eleventh variation to the eighteenth—these are the love episodes.” Variation nineteen would be the “triumph of Paganini’s art.” The ballet Paganini debuted in London in 1939. The Rhapsody continues to be an audience favorite.
In 1909, Igor Stravinsky was a skinny, 28-year-old, no-name who got the chance of a lifetime. He took it. He wrote the score for a ballet called The Firebird and became a giant of 20th-century music overnight.
Stravinsky’s ballet was an assignment by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev for a Russian ballet company in Paris. Young Stravinsky had been Diaghilev’s fifth choice for the project—he was his first choice for the next one.
Flush with success, Stravinsky felt he needed to get the sounds of The Firebird out of his head, so he started writing some orchestral music. Along the way, the idea of puppets came to him, akin to the puppet theaters popular on the streets of St. Petersburg. He told Diaghilev about the concept, and they began
First ASO performance: January 31, 1955
Igor Stravinsky, conductor
Most recent ASO performance: November 3, 2013
James Gaffigan, conductor
to kick around ideas together until a scenario for a new ballet took shape.
According to music critic Alex Ross, designer Alexander Benois asked the composer “to write a ‘symphony of the street,’ a ‘counterpoint of twenty themes,’ replete with carousels, concertinas, sleigh bells, and popular airs.”
Using folk songs and dazzling orchestral effects, Stravinsky crafted a vivid music bed for Diahilev’s dancers, including an organ-grinder, a street dancer performing to a triangle, a music box, and drummers summoning people to the puppet theater.
In the ballet, a Charlatan brings three puppets to life: Petrushka, the Ballerina, and the Moor. Petrushka pines for the Ballerina, but she prefers the Moor. The Charlatan makes them dance. After the show, the puppets return to their enclosures, and a seduction scene follows. Little Petrushka bursts in on the lovers, but the Moor runs him off. Rushing outside into the bustling crowd, the Moor murders Petrushka. Onlookers cry for justice, but the old magician reminds them that Petrushka is nothing but straw and sawdust. In the end, Petrushka’s ghost appears overhead and torments the Charlatan.
Stravinsky was a magician with musical instruments. Notice how he pulls you into Petrushka’s anguish with a honking bassoon and a cockeyed pas de deux between the Moor (trumpet) and Ballerina (flute). And you can’t miss the dancing bear crossing the stage as the double basses play oompahs under a shrieking clarinet and tuba solo.
AZIZ SHOKHAKIMOV, conductor
Aziz Shokhakimov is Music Director to Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and Artistic Director to Tekfen Philharmonic Orchestra. During 2015 – 2021 he held the position of Kapellmeister to Deutsche Oper am Rhein. His guest conducting has included orchestras such as Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and hr-Sinfonieorchester. In North America, he has conducted Houston, Utah, Toronto and Seattle symphony orchestras.
Upcoming engagements include Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Seattle Symphony. He will also return to the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel and Bayerischer Staatsoper to conduct Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
Behzod Abduraimov’s performances combine an immense depth of musicality with phenomenal technique and breathtaking delicacy.
The 2024/25 season will see Abduraimov performing with the Bamberger Symphoniker, Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, NDR Radiophilharmonie as part of the Canary Islands Festival, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Sinfonieorchester Basel and Berner Symphonieorchester. In North America, Behzod appears with the Detroit Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and Vancouver Symphony.
In August 2024, Behzod marked the tenth anniversary of his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. He will return to California in November 2024 and make two important recital debuts: Cal Performances in Berkeley and Walt Disney Concert Hall presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The 4,119th and 4,120th Concerts of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, January 23, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, January 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Atlanta Symphony Hall
STUTZMANN, conductor
The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21 (1800) 26 MINS
I. Adagio molto. Allegro con brio
II. Andante cantabile con moto
III. Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace
IV. Finale: Adagio. Allegro molto e vivace
INTERMISSION 20 MINS
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 ("Eroica") (1803) 47 MINS
I. Allegro con brio
II. Marcia funèbre: Adagio assai
III. Scherzo: Allegro vivace
IV. Finale: Allegro molto
Presented with generous support from
Thursday's concert is dedicated on behalf of BILL & RACHEL SCHULTZ to the remarkable ASO musicians led by Nathalie Stutzmann, volunteers, Board, chorus, and the ASO staff led by Jennifer Barlament.
Saturday's concert is dedicated to JUNE AND JOHN SCOTT in honor of their generous support of the 2023/24 Annual Fund.
by Noel Morris Program Annotator
As the Viennese rang in the New Year, 1794, Mozart had been dead for two years. Franz Joseph Haydn, the “father of the symphony,” was the world’s most famous composer and had wealth, prestige, and job offers. On a trip to London, he took a victory lap. He signed autographs and performed soldout concerts. He considered bringing a pupil along to run errands, but his most promising student— Beethoven—was too independent and ambitious. On that trip, Haydn presented the culmination of his life’s work: the last of his 104 symphonies.
First ASO performance: December 1, 1946
Henry Sopkin, conductor
Most recent ASO performance:
November 29 - December 3, 2020
Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor
Back in Vienna, Beethoven avoided Haydn’s arena for five more years, focusing on the piano. And then, in 1800, he made his move. At 30, Beethoven booked a hall and a pickup orchestra. He sold tickets and presented a concert that included his newly-minted First Symphony, along with works by Mozart and Haydn.
To our ears, it’s hard to comprehend what the first audience noticed about Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1: it started in the wrong key (they had expected a C major opening for a C major symphony); his cheeky minuet had a rumbling timpani, which didn’t belong in a courtly dance, and he inexplicably featured the wind section. Clearly, Beethoven understood the forms that Haydn and Mozart had handed him. But he added a dash of mischief, and people liked it. A critic called it the most interesting concert in a long time and praised the symphony’s “art, novelty,” and “wealth of ideas.”
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3
“With Eroica, we have crossed irrevocably a major boundary in Beethoven’s development and in music history.”
—Biographer Maynard Solomon
Was Napoleon Bonaparte a hero or a tyrant? Some people still can’t agree. At best, he engendered an ecstatic sense of hope as he abolished feudalism, expanded education, and granted civil liberties. At worst, he conquered half of Europe.
First ASO performance: October 22, 1949
Henry Sopkin, conductor
Most recent ASO performance: May 1, 2022
Donald Runnicles, conductor
Consolidating his power, Napoleon wrested control of the press, persecuted dissenters, and elevated his own family. Yet he was so charismatic that he cast a spell over people. It took time—and 3 million dead—before disillusionment set in. Beethoven’s early admiration of the “little Corsican” was such that he wrote a watershed symphony in tribute: “Sinfonia grande intitulata Bonaparte del Sigr. Louis van Beethoven.”
To evoke a revolutionary, Beethoven became a revolutionary. His “Bonaparte” Symphony packs explosive energy into an expansive, roiling musical landscape. The symphony is monumental in scale (nearly twice as long as his First Symphony), heroic in character, and even contains a solemn funeral march in anticipation of the hero’s death.
But then came the plot twist: at the 1804 coronation, Napoleon declared himself emperor, seized his crown in front of the pope, and placed it upon his own head. With that, according to early biographers, Beethoven gouged the name “Bonaparte” from his title page (although he continued to run hot and cold on the subject). Twice, the French army invaded Vienna, causing inflation and food shortages. Beethoven hated that, and then at one point considered moving to Paris.
Ultimately, the composer remained in Vienna, where a “Napoleon Symphony” wouldn’t fly, so he accepted payment from Prince Lobkowitz and dedicated the Third Symphony to him. In 1806, Beethoven published the piece as Sinfonia Eroica, “Heroic Symphony, Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man.”
A sketchbook from his 1802 stay in Heiligenstadt shows Beethoven toying with a melody from his Twelve Contredanses and his ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus That tune became the basis of Eroica’s extraordinary finale, a set of variations that run from brooding to triumphant, shocking to playful.
December 16, 1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn. His grandfather Ludwig was the much-loved Kapellmeister at court (master of music). Beethoven’s brute father, Johann, was a tenor and a lesser talent, although he was popular at the local pub. He beat music into young Ludwig, starting with piano and adding violin and viola.
Young Ludwig started earning his keep at fourteen, playing for the court. He helped care for his brothers and ran interference for the family, scooping up his drunken dad before the authorities could arrest him.
At sixteen, Ludwig received a grant from the Elector of Bonn to study music in Vienna. He arrived eighteen days later and presented himself to Mozart. Little is known about that meeting, but an urgent message quashed Beethoven’s hopes: his mother lay on her deathbed, and he had to hurry home.
Mozart died before Beethoven could make it back to Vienna. The younger composer bided his time in Bonn, growing into a monster pianist and improviser. After five years, Count Waldstein bankrolled a return trip, sending Beethoven to study with Franz Joseph Haydn. Sadly, the two composers didn’t mesh; their personalities clashed. Beethoven snuck lessons from other teachers and jumped into the fast lane, cranking out piano music to match his dazzling virtuosity. Hopping from palace to palace, he wowed the Viennese elite and became a local celebrity.
In truth, Beethoven owed a great debt to Haydn (and Mozart). He absorbed their legacy and took up the mantle, writing chamber works, concertos, solo piano pieces, and his first two symphonies. Emphasizing clarity and restraint, he demonstrated full command of the Classical style.
The Middle “Heroic” Period
“Without suffering, there is no struggle; without struggle, no victory; without victory, no crown.”
Beethoven biographer Jan Swafford attributed those words to Maria Magdalena van Beethoven, the composer’s mother. For her, it was a motto, but it reads like prophecy to us. Where Classicists treated struggle with a delicate hand, middle-period Beethoven seized it by the throat and turned it into art.
In his mid-twenties, Beethoven began to experience tinnitus in his left ear—a disastrous condition for a busy pianist. In 1802, a doctor recommended he take the waters in Heiligenstadt, a spa town nestled among vineyards and the Vienna Woods. Beethoven spent six months there, taking day hikes and writing music. Needless to say, the mineral baths did nothing for his hearing, but he did begin to come to terms with it. He described his condition in a letter to his brothers—a portrait of desperation, despair, and grit.
“I would have ended my life—it was only my art that held me back,” he wrote. Through that letter, we learn about the maelstrom in Beethoven’s head and his struggle to see a way forward. “Ah, it seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me.” He never sent the letter but always kept it with him.
From that moment, Beethoven threw his energy into composition. Ideas poured from his brain, and he scribbled them out, amassing many sketches that would later become symphonies, concertos, and chamber works. While his first decade in Vienna centered around the private homes of the elite, his second put him before the public. Haydn and Mozart’s lean, gentile aesthetic no longer aligned with his spirit.
During his “Heroic” decade, he ripped the polite veneer off music to express tragedy, adversity, heroism, and victory. First up, he wrote his Bonaparte Symphony, the piece we’d come to know as Eroica. He followed with the Symphonies Nos. 4-8, three piano concertos, his Violin Concerto, and
his opera Fidelio. His music shocked the Viennese with its tempestuousness and scale and lit the way for the Romantics.
• In 1792, Francis II became Holy Roman Emperor. He convulsed at the very mention of revolution (French Revolutionaries guillotined his aunt Marie Antoinette in 1793). Francis blanketed Vienna with censors, spies, and secret police. He prohibited talk of liberal ideals. Amid the crackdown, 22-yearold Beethoven left Bonn, crossed through Napoleon’s army, and settled in the Austrian police state.
• As a child of the Enlightenment, Beethoven fervently believed in liberty, equality, brotherhood, science, and the power of reason to solve problems. In government, his ideals aligned with the (then) popular notion of enlightened despotism—an absolute ruler must act in the interest of his people, support education, the arts, freedom, and the separation of church and state.
• In Vienna, you could scarcely swing a powdered wig without hitting a musician. Nevertheless, the city had no standing orchestra for public concerts. Stability for a professional musician meant working as a servant. Members of the high nobility kept orchestras in-house and devoted hours to mastering their instruments. The dawn of the 19th century brought change: Beethoven saw a rapid decline in private orchestras as nobles ran out of money. A rising middle class offered an eager and promising alternative. And Beethoven broke with the convention of trying to serve; he wrote music to follow his muse and worried about profit later.
• Napoleon invaded Vienna twice, in 1805 and 1809. In 1806, he broke the nearly 1,000-year stronghold of the Holy Roman Empire and forced its dissolution. The diminished Francis II became the first Austrian Emperor, Francis I. As all this went down, Beethoven wrote music in a nearby flat, working on his Violin Concerto, the Appassionata Sonata, the Fourth Piano Concerto, the Razumovsky Quartets, and the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies.
The 4,121st, 4,122nd and 4,123rd concerts of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Atlanta Symphony Hall
STUTZMANN, conductor
The use of cameras or recording devices during the concert is strictly prohibited. Please be kind to those around you and silence your mobile phone and other hand-held devices.
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op.36 (1801-1802) 32 MINS
I. Adagio molto. Allegro con brio
II. Larghetto
III. Scherzo: Allegro
IV. Allegro molto
INTERMISSION
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
MINS
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1807-1808) 34 MINS
I. Allegro con brio
II. Andante con moto
III. Scherzo: Allegro
IV. Allegro
Presented with generous support from
Thursday's concert is dedicated to SALLY AND PETE PARSONSON in honor of their generous support of the 2023/24 Annual Fund.
Saturday's concert is dedicated to SUSIE AND PATRICK VIGUERIE in honor of their generous support of the 2023/24 Annual Fund.
by Noel Morris Program Annotator
Based on Beethoven’s written word, 1802 was a dark year. His hearing declined, and he began to lose hope. Passing his days at a “cure” in the spa town of Heiligenstadt, he contemplated suicide. But instead of ending his life, he pledged to devote it to writing music. Curiously, nothing of the anguish he felt filtered into the symphony he wrote while he was there. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 is a sunny, boisterous piece in the classical style—almost.
First ASO performance: October 31, 1948
Henry Sopkin, conductor
Most recent ASO performance: April 26-29, 2018
Carlo Rizzi, conductor
In 1802, the Viennese audience had certain expectations about symphonies, thanks to the legacy of Haydn and Mozart. For example, they thought a symphony should have a minuet—a gentile, courtly dance in 3/4 time. Beethoven disagreed; he swapped it out for a Scherzo, a musical joke. And that playful mood fed into the finale, where the violins take a bounding leap into a spirited romp. One critic compared the movement to “a repulsive monster, a wounded, tail-lashing serpent, dealing wild and furious blows as it stiffens into its death agony at the end.” Some argued Beethoven was trying too hard to be novel. We now know he was just getting started.
It is rare that four notes go viral. The famous “da da da dahhhh” doesn’t just open a symphony, it spawns a symphony. It is the brick with which Beethoven fashions the entire building (just for fun, try counting the number of times you hear that rhythm across the orchestra). While Beethoven’s Third Symphony is expansive, the one we know as the Fifth is a tightly conceived, interconnected wonder that amplifies Beethoven’s belief in the human capacity to overcome adversity.
First ASO performance: December 17, 1949
Henry Sopkin, conductor
Most recent ASO performance: September 9-11, 2021
Robert Spano, conductor
In 1802, Beethoven returned from his six-month stay in Heiligenstadt with a fire in his belly. As ideas popped into his head, he scribbled them into a pocket notebook. Whether walking down the street, hiking in the woods, or dining at an inn, he would stop to write them down. From one sketchbook dated 1803 and 1804 come the seeds of concertos, his opera
Fidelio, and his Third, Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. It’s no coincidence that the four-note rhythm that gave rise to the raging Fifth also became the sublimely serene Fourth Piano Concerto; sketches for both works appear side-by-side in that book.
Beethoven worked on the Fifth Symphony off and on until completing the piece in early 1808. It is a powerhouse, belying the condition in which he lived. He suffered profound hearing loss and a series of illnesses, including an infection in his finger that kept him from the piano. He also quarreled with family and friends as his disability and irritability robbed him of community.
On a frigid December day in 1808, Beethoven rented a concert hall and hired a pick-up orchestra and chorus to give “a concert for his benefit.” The Viennese public filed into the unheated space to witness the premieres of his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, Fourth Piano Concerto, Choral Fantasy, and more. Sadly, there wasn’t enough rehearsal time for all that music, and it was a fiasco. One sympathetic witness wrote: “There we sat, in the most bitter cold, from half past six until half past ten, and confirmed ourselves the maxim that one may easily have too much of a good thing.” It was an audacious move by an audacious composer.
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is a volcano in C minor; no one in 1808 would have expected it to finish in C major. The glorious sunshine comes out with the finale, with the help of five instruments that weren’t part of an 1808 symphony orchestra: piccolo, contrabassoon, and three trombones (alto, tenor, bass). Today, players credit Beethoven with creating their jobs.
To learn more about Beethoven, see page 37.
Please join us for the
February 4, 2025
CELEBRATING 80 YEARS OF THE ASO
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Thank you!
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra continues to prosper thanks to the support of our generous patrons. The list below recognizes the donors who have made contributions since June 1, 2023. Their extraordinary generosity provides the foundation for this worldclass institution.
Jeannette Guarner, MD &
John & Ray Uttenhove
$1,000,000+
A Friend of the Symphony
$100,000+
Sheila Lee Davies & Jon Davies
Barney M. Franklin & Hugh W. Burke Charitable Fund
$50,000+
The Antinori Foundation
Ms. Lynn Eden
Ms. Angela L. Evans∞
John D. Fuller
The Gable Foundation
Robert & Roberta** Setzer
Ann Marie & John B. White, Jr.°∞
$35,000+
Cari K. Dawson & John M. Sparrow
Sally & Walter George
Sally & Pete Parsonson ∞
Patty & Doug Reid
Mary & Jim Rubright
Slumgullion Charitable Fund
Kathy Waller & Kenneth Goggins
Patrick & Susie Viguerie
$25,000+
John & Juliet Allan
Mr. & Mrs. Paul J. Blackney
Janine Brown & Alex J. Simmons, Jr.
Connie & Merrell** Calhoun
John W. Cooledge
Sally** & Larry Davis
Mr. Richard H. Delay & Dr. Francine D. Dykes∞
Paulette Eastman & Becky Pryor Anderson**
Carlos del Rio, MD∞
Bonnie & Jay Harris
Mr. & Mrs. Charles B. Harrison
Donna Lee & Howard Ehni
John & Linda Matthews∞
John R. Paddock, Ph.D. & Karen M. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Ms. Margaret Painter
Bill & Rachel Schultz°
June & John Scott∞
Mrs. Edus H. Warren
$17,500+
Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Bailey
Jennifer Barlament & Kenneth Potsic∞
Ms. Elizabeth W. Camp
Wright** & Alison Caughman
Ms. Lisa V. Chang
Ms. Yelena Epova & Mr. Neil Chambers
Florencia & Rodrigo Garcia Escudero
Dick & Anne Game°
Pam & Robert Glustrom
Ms. Joia M. Johnson
Dr. & Mrs. Scott I. Lampert
Dr. Jennifer Lyman & Mr. Kevin Lyman
Ms. Deborah A. Marlowe & Dr. Clint Lawrence
Ms. Molly Minnear
Caroline & Phil Moïse
Moore Colson, CPAs & Bert & Carmen Mills
Terence L. & Jeanne Perrine
Neal°
Victoria & Howard Palefsky
Martha M. Pentecost
Joyce & Henry Schwob
Mr. Fahim Siddiqui & Ms. Shazia Fahim
Ross & Sally Singletary
Mrs. Sue S. Williams
Drs. Kevin & Kalinda Woods
$15,000+
Phyllis Abramson, Ph. D.
Madeline** & Howell E. Adams, Jr.
Mr. Keith Adams & Ms. Kerry Heyward°
Aadu & Kristi Allpere°
Mr. Neil Ashe & Mrs. Rona Gomel Ashe
Keith Barnett
Mr. David Boatwright
Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin Clare
Russell Currey & Amy Durrell
Mr. & Mrs. Erroll B. Davis, Jr.∞
Lisa DiFrancesco, MD & Darlene Nicosia
Eleanor & Charles Edmondson
Craig Frankel & Jana Eplan
In Memory of Betty Sands
Fuller
Roya & Bahman Irvani
Sarah & Jim Kennedy
Brian & Carrie Kurlander∞
James H. Landon
Mr. Sukai Liu & Dr. Ginger J. Chen
John F. & Marilyn M. McMullan
Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Mills IV
Anne Morgan & Jim Kelley
Lynn & Galen Oelkers
Ms. Regina Olchowski & Mr. Edward Potter
Barbara & Andrew Paul
Ms. Cathleen Quigley
V Scott
Beverly & Milton Shlapak
Mr. John A. Sibley, III
Elliott & Elaine Tapp°
Judith & Mark K. Taylor
Dr. Ravi & Dr. Valerie Thadhani
Mr. Yannik Thomas
Maria Todorova
Carol & Ramon Tomé Family Fund
Adair & Dick White
Mr. Mack Wilbourn
$10,000+
A Friend of the Symphony
Paul & Melody Aldo∞
Mr. & Mrs. Calvin R. Allen
Farideh & Al Azadi Foundation
Estate of Elizabeth Ann Bair
Jack & Helga Beam∞
Mr. & Mrs. Gerald R. Benjamin
Kelley O. & Neil H. Berman
Karen & Rod Bunn
Lisa & Russ Butner∞
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas C. Chubb III
Ms. Tena Clark & Ms. Michelle LeClair
Janet & John Costello
Donald & Barbara Defoe°
Peter & Vivian de Kok
Marcia & John Donnell
Dr. John Dyer & Mrs. Catherine Faré Dyer
Marina Fahim
Dr. & Mrs. Leroy Fass
Dr. V. Alexander Garcias
Dr. Paul Gilreath
Mr. Max M. Gilstrap
The Hertz Family Foundation, Inc.
Azira G. Hill
Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin Hill
Clay & Jane Jackson
Ann A. & Ben F. Johnson III°
James Kieffer
Ann & Brian Kimsey∞
Stephen & Carolyn Knight
Dr. & Mrs. Douglas Mattox
Jane Morrison∞
Gretchen Nagy & Allan Sandlin
Mr. & Mrs. Solon P. Patterson
Margaret H. Petersen
David F. & Maxine A.** Rock
Ms. Frances A. Root
Thomas & Lynne Saylor
Tom & Ani Steele
John & Yee-Wan Stevens
Mr. & Mrs. Edward W. Stroetz, Jr.
Stephen & Sonia Swartz
George & Amy Taylor∞
Carolyn C. Thorsen
Mr. & Mrs. Benny Varzi
Drs. Jonne & Paul Walter
Dr. & Mrs. James O. Wells, Jr.
Camille W. Yow
$7,500+
Dr. Marshall & Stephanie Abes
Ms. Johanna Brookner
Judith D. Bullock
Patricia & William Buss∞
John Champion & Penelope Malone
Mark Coan & Family
Ms. Diane Durgin
Mr. & Mrs. William A. Flinn
Grace Taylor Ihrig**
Jason & Michelle Kroh
Dr. Fulton D. Lewis III & S. Neal
Rhoney
Mr. Robert M. Lewis, Jr. & G.
Wesley Holt
Elvira & Jay Mannelly
Belinda & Gino Massafra
Berthe & Shapour Mobasser
Mr. Cesar Moreno & Mr. Greg Heathcock
Ms. Eliza Quigley∞
Mr. & Mrs. Joel F. Reeves
Hamilton & Mason Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Peter Toren
Kiki Wilson
Mr. David J. Worley & Ms. Bernadette Drankoski
$5,000+
A Friend of the Symphony (2)
Mr. & Mrs. Louis Alrutz
Mr. Logan Anderson
Dr. Evelyn R. Babey
Lisa & Joe** Bankoff
Asad & Sakina Bashey
Herschel Beazley
Meredith Bell
Mr. John Blatz
Rita & Herschel Bloom
Dr. & Mrs. Jerome B. Blumenthal
Mrs. Sidney W. Boozer
Ms. Jane F. Boynton
Carol Brantley & David Webster
Margo Brinton & Eldon Park
Jacqueline A. & Joseph E. Brown, Jr.
CBH International, Inc
Ms. Stacey Chavis
Mrs. Amy B. Cheng & Dr. Chad A. Hume, Ph.D
Ned Cone & Nadeen Green
Matt & Kate Cook
Carol Comstock & Jim Davis
Mr. & Mrs. DeBonis
Mr. Christopher J. Decoufle & Ms. Karen Freer
Mr. & Mrs. Paul H. Dimmick∞
Xavier Duralde & Mary Barrett
Dieter Elsner & Othene Munson
Robert S. Elster Foundation
Dr. & Mrs. Carl D. Fackler
Ellen & Howard Feinsand
Bruce W. & Avery C. Flower∞
Mr. David L. Forbes
Annie Frazer & Jen Horvath
Gaby Family Foundation
Charles Ginden
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Goodsell
Mr. & Mrs. David Goosman
The Graves Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Louis Gump
Sally W. Hawkins
Ms. Elizabeth Hendrick
Hilley & Frieder
Richard & Linda Hubert
Tad & Janin Hutcheson
Mr. Justin Im & Dr. Nakyoung
Nam For
Mr. W. F. & Dr. Janice Johnston
Mr. & Mrs. Baxter Jones
Cecile M. Jones
Lana M. Jordan∞
Dr. Jennifer Kahnweiler & Dr.
William M. Kahnweiler
Paul** & Rosthema Kastin
Mr. & Mrs. Mark A. Kauffman
Mona & Gilbert Kelly°
Mr. Charles R. Kowal
Pat & Nolan Leake
Drs. Joon & Grace Lee
Ms. Cynthia Smith
Ms. Eunice A. Luke
Dr. & Mrs. Ellis L. Malone
Ms. Erin M. Marshall
Beau and Alfredo Martin
Ms. Darla B. McBurney
Ed & Linda McGinn°
Mr. Suneel Mendiratta
Mr. Bert Mobley∞
Sue Morgan∞
Mr. Charles Morn
Mr. William Morrison & Mrs.
Elizabeth Clark-Morrison
Ms. Bethani Oppenheimer
Ms. Amy H. Page
Ralph Paulk & Suzanne Redmon Paulk
Ann & Fay Pearce°
Jonathan & Lori Peterson
In Memory of Dr. Frank S. Pittman III
Dr. & Mrs. John P. Pooler
Dr. John B. Pugh
Mr. John Rains
Mr. Joseph Rapanotti
Leonard Reed
Mrs. Susan H. Reinach
Dr. Jay Rhee & Mrs. Kimberley Rhee∞
Vicki & Joe Riedel
Ms. Maria Rivera
Ms. Felicia Rives∞
Tiffany & Rich Rosetti∞
Dr. & Mrs. Rein Saral
Katherine Scott
Suzanne Shull∞
Baker & Debby Smith
Ms. Victoria Smith
Ms. Lara Smith-Sitton
Mr. & Mrs. Peter Stathopoulos
Dr. Steven & Lynne Steindel°
In memory of Elizabeth B.
Stephens by Powell, Preston & Sally∞
Beth & Edward Sugarman
Mr. G. Kimbrough Taylor & Ms. Triska Drake
Dede & Bob Thompson
Trapp Family
Chilton & Morgan** Varner
Amy & Robert Vassey
Ms. Juliana T. Vincenzino
Emily C. Ward
Alan & Marcia Watt
Ruthie Watts
Mr. & Ms. Robert L. Welch
Dr. Nanette K. Wenger
John F. Wieland, Jr.
Suzanne B. Wilner
Mr. & Mrs. M. Beattie Wood
$3,500+
A Friend of the Symphony
Anthony Barbagallo & Kristen Fowks∞
Drs. Jay & Martin Beard-Coles
Mr. & Mrs. Dennis M. Chorba
Malcolm & Ann Cole
Jean & Jerry Cooper
Mr. David S. Dimling
Mr. Ramsey Fahs
John** & Martha Head
Barbara M. Hund
Cameron H. Jackson
Ms. Rebecca Jarvis
Mrs. Gail G. Johnson
Wolfgang** & Mariana Laufer
Mr. & Mrs. Christopher D. Martin
Molly McDonald & Jonathan Gelber
Hala & Steve Moddelmog
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Owen, Jr.
Ms. Kathy Powell
S.A. Robinson
Gerald & Nancy Silverboard
Ms. Martha Solano
Mrs. Dale L. Thompson
Dr. Brenda G. Turner
David & Martha West
Ms. Sonia Witkowski
Zaban Foundation, Inc.
$2,000+
A Friend of the Symphony (3)
Mr. James L. Anderson
Dr. & Ms. Bruce Beeber
Dr. & Mrs. Joel E. Berenson
Susan & Jack Bertram
Leon & Joy Borchers
Mr. and Mrs. Sam Boyte
Martha S. Brewer
Harriet Evans Brock
George & Gloria Brooks
Benjamin Q. Brunt
Dr. Aubrey Bush & Dr. Carol Bush
Mr. & Mrs. Walter K. Canipe
Mr. & Mrs. Ricardo Carvalho
Betty Fuller Case
Mr. Jeffery B. Chancellor & Mr. Cameron England
Julie & Jerry Chautin
Mr. James Cobb
Susan S. Cofer
Liz & Charlie Cohn°
Ralph** & Rita Connell
William & Patricia Cook
Dr. & Mrs. John E. Cooke
Mary Carole Cooney & Henry R. Bauer, Jr
R. Carter & Marjorie A. Crittenden Foundation
Claire & Alex Crumbley
Dr. & Mrs. F. Thomas Daly, Jr.
Jerome J. Dobson
Mr. & Mrs. Graham Dorian
Gregory & Debra Durden
Mr. Trey Duskin & Ms. Noelle
Albano
Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Edge
Erica Endicott & Chris Heisel
Mr. & Mrs. Paul G. Farnham
Mr. Nigel Ferguson
Karen Foster
Dr. Elizabeth C. French
Mr. & Mrs. Sebastien Galtier∞
Marty & John Gillin°
Sandra & John Glover
Mrs. Janet D. Goldstein
Mr. Robert Golomb
Mr. James N. Grace
Richard & Debbie Griffiths
Mr. & Mrs. George Gundersen
Deedee Hamburger
Phil & Lisa Hartley
Mr. & Mrs. Steve Hauser°
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Hawk
Mr. & Mrs. John Hellriegel∞
Ann J. Herrera & Mary M. Goodwin
Kenneth & Colleen Hey
Sarah & Harvey Hill, Jr.°
Laurie House Hopkins & John D. Hopkins
James & Bridget Horgan°
Mr. & Mrs. Brian Huband
Dona & Bill Humphreys
Lillian Kim Ivansco & Joey Ivansco
Silvey James & Rev. Jeanne Simpson
Nancy & John Janet
Sally C. Jobe
Aaron & Joyce Johnson
Coenen-Johnson Foundation
Teresa M. Joyce, Ph.D
Mr. Alfred D. Kennedy & Dr. William R. Kenny
Mr. & Mrs. Randolph J. Koporc
Dr. & Mrs. William C. Land, Jr.
Lillian Balentine Law
Mr. & Mrs. Chris Le
Mr. & Mrs. Van R. Lear
Elizabeth J. Levine
Mr. and Mrs. J. David Lifsey
Deborah & William Liss°
Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Levingston
Barbara & Jim MacGinnitie
Dr. Marcus Marr
Mrs. Sam Massell
In Memory of Pam McAllister
Mr. & Mrs. James McClatchey
Martha & Reynolds McClatchey
Birgit & David McQueen
Anna & Hays Mershon
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas B. Mimms, Jr.
Mr. Jamal Mohammad and Mr. Marcus Dean
Ms. Helen Motamen & Mr. Deepak Shenoy
Janice & Tom Munsterman
Melanie & Allan Nelkin
Agnes V. Nelson
Denis Ng
Gary R. Noble, MD & Joanne Heckman
Mr. & Mrs. Berk Nowak
Mr. & Mrs. James Pack
Dana & Jon Parness
Mr. Doug F. Powell
Mr. Ron Raitz
Ms. Patricia U. Rich
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas G. Riffey, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Roberts
Betsy & Lee Robinson
Dr. Judith Rohrer
Ms. Lili Santiago-Silva & Mr. Jim Gray
Drs. Lawrence and Rachel Schonberger
Ms. Donna Schwartz
Dick Schweitzer
Mr. David C. Shih
Alan & Marion Shoenig
Nick & Annie Shreiber
Helga Hazelrig Siegel
Diana Silverman
Ms. Charlotte Skidmore & Maj.
Gen. Arnold Fields
Anne-Marie Sparrow
Peggy & Jerry Stapleton
James & Shari Steinberg
Dr. & Mrs. John P. Straetmans
Kay R Summers
Ms. Linda F. Terry
Johnny Thigpen & Clay Martin
Duane P. Truex III
Ms. Cathryn van Namen
Wayne & Lee Harper Vason
Vogel Family Foundation
Dr. James L. Waits
Mr. Charles D. Wattles & Ms.
Rosemary C. Willey
Russell F. Winch & Mark B. Elberfeld
Mrs. Lynne M. Winship
Herbert** & Grace Zwerner
Patron Leadership (PAL) Committee
We give special thanks to this dedicated group of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra donorvolunteers for their commitment to each year’s annual support initiatives:
Linda Matthews
chair
Kristi Allpere
Helga Beam
Bill Buss
Pat Buss
Kristen Fowks
Deedee Hamburger
Judy Hellriegel
Belinda Massafra
Sally Parsonson
June Scott
Milt Shlapak
Lara Smith-Sitton
Jonne Walter
Marcia Watt
° = We are grateful to these donors for taking the extra time to acquire matching gifts from their employers.
** = Deceased
∞ = Leadership Council: We salute these extraordinarydonors who have signed pledge commitments to continue their support for three years or more.
$1,000,000+
Boston Consulting Group
Delta Air Lines
$100,000+
1180 Peachtree, LLC
The Coca-Cola Company
Georgia Power Company
Graphic Packaging International, Inc.∞
The Home Depot Foundation Invesco QQQ
$75,000+
Alston & Bird LLP
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Norfolk Southern Foundation
$50,000+
Accenture∞
BlackRock KPMG LLP, Partners & Employees
PwC
The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University
$25,000+
AFFAIRS to REMEMBER
Aspire Media
Bank of America Charitable Foundation
BlueLinx Corporation
Cadence Bank∞
Chick-fil-A Foundation | Rhonda & Dan Cathy∞
Eversheds Sutherland
Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP
Northside Hospital
Porsche Cars North America Inc.
Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc.
Troutman Pepper
$15,000+
Cisco
Council for Quality Growth
Deloitte
Georgia-Pacific
Van Dang Fragrances
WABE 90.1 FM
Warner Bros. Discovery
$250,000+
Emerald Gate Charitable Trust
Lettie Pate Evans Foundation∞
Goizueta Foundation∞
The Halle Foundation
$100,000+
Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation∞
Amy W. Norman Charitable Foundation
Charles Loridans Foundation, Inc.
The Zeist Foundation, Inc.
$75,000+
Paul M. Angell Family Foundation∞
The Molly Blank Fund of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation∞
$50,000+
City of Atlanta Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs
Robert and Polly Dunn Foundation, Inc.
National Endowment for the Arts
The Vasser Woolley Foundation, Inc.
$25,000+
The Jim Cox, Jr. Foundation
The Roy and Janet Dorsey Foundation
Fulton County Board of Commissioners
Georgia Council for the Arts
League of American Orchestras∞
The Marcus Foundation, Inc.∞
Massey Charitable Trust
$20,000+
Choate Bridges Foundation
The Ray M. & Mary Elizabeth Lee Foundation, Inc.
The Mark and Evelyn Trammell Foundation
$10,000+
AAA Parking
Costco Wholesale
Davis Broadcasting's WJZA Smooth Jazz 101/100
Hamilton Capital Partners, LLC
Jazz 91.9 WCLK
King & Spalding LLP
La Fête du Rosé
WVEE-FM | V-103.3 FM
$5,000+
A Friend of the Symphony Music Matters
Perkins&Will
The St. Regis Atlanta
WhoBody Inc.
Yellow Bird Project Management
$2,000+
Legendary Events
The Piedmont National Family Foundation
$10,000+
The Breman Foundation, Inc.
The Scott Hudgens Family Foundation
The Sartain Lanier Family Foundation
$5,000+
Azalea City Chapter of Links
The Fred & Sue McGehee Family Charitable Fund
The Hellen Plummer Charitable Foundation, Inc.
$2,000+
2492 Fund
Paul and Marian Anderson Fund
The Parham Fund
The Alex & Betty Smith DonorAdvised Endowment Fund
TEGNA Foundation
Named for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s founding Music Director, the HENRY SOPKIN CIRCLE celebrates cherished individuals and families who have made a planned gift to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. These special donors preserve the Orchestra’s foundation and ensure success for future generations.
A Friend of the Symphony (22)
Madeline* & Howell E. Adams, Jr.
Mr.* & Mrs.* John E. Aderhold
Paul & Melody Aldo
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald R. Antinori
Elizabeth Ann Bair*
Dr. & Mrs. William Bauer
Helga Beam
Mr. Charles D. Belcher*
Neil H. Berman
Susan & Jack Bertram
Mr.* & Mrs.* Karl A. Bevins
The Estate of Donald S. & Joyce Bickers
Ms. Page Bishop*
Mr.* & Mrs.* Sol Blaine
John Blatz
Rita & Herschel Bloom
The Estate of Mrs. Gilbert H. Boggs, Jr.
W. Moses Bond
Mr.* & Mrs. Robert C. Boozer
Elinor A. Breman*
Carol J. Brown
James C. Buggs*
Mr. & Mrs.* Richard H. Burgin
Hugh W. Burke*
Mr. & Mrs. William Buss
Wilber W. Caldwell
Mr. & Mrs. C. Merrell Calhoun
Cynthia & Donald Carson
Mrs. Jane Celler*
Lenore Cicchese*
Margie & Pierce Cline
Dr. & Mrs. Grady S. Clinkscales, Jr.
Suzanne W. Cole Sullivan
Robert Boston Colgin
Mrs. Mary Frances
Evans Comstock*
Miriam* & John A.* Conant
Dr. John W. Cooledge
Dr. Janie Cowan
Mr. & Mrs. William R. Cummickel
Bob* & Verdery* Cunningham
Mr. Richard H. Delay & Dr. Francine D. Dykes
John R. Donnell
Dixon W. Driggs*
Pamela Johnson Drummond
Mrs. Kathryn E. Duggleby
Catherine Warren Dukehart*
Ms. Diane Durgin
Arnold & Sylvia Eaves
Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Edge
Geoffrey G. Eichholz*
Elizabeth Etoll
Mr. Doyle Faler
Brien P. Faucett
Dr. Emile T. Fisher*
Moniqua N Fladger
Mr. & Mrs. Bruce W. Flower
A. D. Frazier, Jr.*
Nola Frink*
Betty* & Drew* Fuller
Sally & Carl Gable
William & Carolyn Gaik
Dr. John W. Gamwell*
Mr.* & Mrs.* L.L. Gellerstedt, Jr.
Ruth Gershon & Sandy Cohn
Micheline & Bob Gerson
Max Gilstrap
Mr. & Mrs. John T. Glover
Mrs. David Goldwasser
Robert Hall Gunn, Jr. Fund
Billie & Sig Guthman
Betty G.* & Joseph* F. Haas
James & Virginia Hale
Ms. Alice Ann Hamilton
Dr. Charles H. Hamilton*
Sally & Paul* Hawkins
John* & Martha Head
Ms. Jeannie Hearn*
Barbara & John Henigbaum
Jill* & Jennings* Hertz
Mr. Albert L. Hibbard
Richard E. Hodges
Mr.* & Mrs. Charles K. Holmes, Jr.
Mr.* & Mrs.* Fred A. Hoyt, Jr.
Jim* & Barbara Hund
Clayton F. Jackson
Mary B. James
Nancy Janet
Mr. Calvert Johnson & Mr. Kenneth Dutter
Joia M. Johnson
Deforest F. Jurkiewicz*
Herb* & Hazel Karp
Anne Morgan & Jim Kelley
Bob Kinsey
James W.* & Mary Ellen* Kitchell
Paul Kniepkamp, Jr.
Vivian & Peter de Kok
Miss Florence Kopleff*
Mr. Robert Lamy
James H. Landon
Ouida Hayes Lanier
Lucy Russell Lee* & Gary Lee, Jr.
Ione & John Lee
Mr. Larry M. LeMaster
Mr.* & Mrs.* William C. Lester
Liz & Jay* Levine
Robert M. Lewis, Jr.
Carroll & Ruth Liller
Ms. Joanne Lincoln*
Jane Little*
Mrs. J. Erskine Love, Jr.*
Nell Galt & Will D. Magruder
K Maier
John W. Markham*
Mrs. Ann B. Martin
Linda & John Matthews
Mr. Michael A. McDowell, Jr.
Dr. Michael S. McGarry
Richard & Shirley McGinnis
John & Clodagh Miller
Ms. Vera Milner
Mrs. Gene Morse*
Hal Matthew Mueller* and Constance Lombardo
Ms. Janice Murphy*
Mr. & Mrs. Bertil D. Nordin
Mrs. Amy W. Norman*
Galen Oelkers
Roger B. Orloff
Barbara D. Orloff
Dr. Bernard* & Sandra Palay
Sally & Pete Parsonson
James L. Paulk
Ralph & Kay* Paulk
Dan R. Payne
Bill Perkins
Mrs. Lela May Perry*
Mr.* & Mrs. Rezin E. Pidgeon, Jr.
Janet M. Pierce*
Reverend Neal P. Ponder, Jr.
Dr. John B. Pugh
William L.* & Lucia Fairlie*
Pulgram
Ms. Judy L. Reed*
Carl J. Reith*
Mr. Philip A. Rhodes
Vicki J. & Joe A. Riedel
Helen & John Rieser
Dr. Shirley E. Rivers*
David F. & Maxine A.* Rock
Glen Rogerson*
Tiffany & Richard Rosetti
Mr.* & Mrs.* Martin H. Sauser
Bob & Mary Martha Scarr
Mr. Paul S. Scharff & Ms. Polly G. Fraser
Dr. Barbara S. Schlefman
Bill & Rachel Schultz
Mrs. Joan C. Schweitzer
June & John Scott
Edward G. Scruggs*
Dr. & Mrs. George P. Sessions
Mr. W. G. Shaefer, Jr.
Charles H. Siegel*
Mr. & Mrs. H. Hamilton Smith
Mrs. Lessie B. Smithgall*
Ms. Margo Sommers
Elliott Sopkin
Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel
Mr. Daniel D. Stanley
Gail & Loren Starr
Peter James Stelling*
Ms. Barbara Stewart
Beth & Edward Sugarman
C. Mack* & Mary Rose* Taylor
Isabel Thomson*
Jennings Thompson IV
Margaret* & Randolph* Thrower
Kenneth & Kathleen Tice
Mr. H. Burton Trimble, Jr.*
Mr. Steven R. Tunnell
Mr. & Mrs. John B. Uttenhove
Mary E. Van Valkenburgh
Mrs. Anise C. Wallace
Diane Woodard & Bruce
Wardrep
Mr. Robert Wardle, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. John B. White, Jr.
Adair & Dick White
Mr. Hubert H. Whitlow, Jr.*
Sue & Neil* Williams
Mrs. Frank L. Wilson, Jr.
Mrs. Elin M. Winn
Ms. Joni Winston
George & Camille Wright
Mr.* & Mrs.* Charles R. Yates
Jennifer Barlament executive director
Lizzy Clements executive assistant, senior management
Alvinetta Cooksey executive & finance assistant
Gaetan Le Divelec vice president, artistic planning
Kelly Edwards director of operations
RaSheed Lemon
artistic coordinator
Sarah Grant vice president of education & community engagement
Ryan Walks
atlanta symphony
youth orchestra & teen programs manager
Elena Gagon Dunn family programs & community engagement manager
Michael Kralik manager of school engagement
Jadonna Brewton
interim talent development program manager
Emily Liao Master vice president & general manager
Paul Barrett director of production
Richard Carvlin senior stage manager
Ebner Sobalvarro interim orchestra personnel manager
Jeremy Tusz
audio recording engineer & producer
Marcia Chandler chorus administrator
Joshua Luty principal librarian
Sara Baguyos associate principal librarian
James Nelson assistant librarian
Ashley Mirakian vice president, marketing & communications
Camille McClain director of marketing & communications
Matt Dykeman director of digital content
Adam Fenton director of multimedia technology
Delle Beganie content & production manager
Mia Jones-Walker marketing manager
Whitney Hendrix creative services manager, aso
Amy Godwin communications manager
Sean David video editor
Bob Scarr archivist & research coordinator
Russell Wheeler
vice president, sales & revenue management
Nancy James front of house supervisor
Erin Jones
senior director of sales & audience development
Jesse Pace senior manager of ticketing & patron experience
Dennis Quinlan manager, business insights & analytics
Robin Smith guest services coordinator
Jake Van Valkenburg group sales & audience development supervisor
Milo McGehee guest services coordinator
Anna Caldwell guest services associate
Nicole Panunti
vice president, atlanta symphony hall live
Will Strawn director of marketing
Christine Lawrence director of ticketing & parking
Lisa Eng creative services manager
Caitlin Buckers
marketing manager
Dan Nesspor ticketing manager, atlanta symphony hall live
Liza Palmer event manager
Jessi Lestelle event manager
Nicole Jurovics booking & contract manager
Meredith Chapple marketing coordinator, live
Shamon Newsome booking & contract associate
Susan Ambo
executive vice president & cfo
Kimberly Hielsberg vice president of finance
April Satterfield controller
Brandi Reed staff accountant
Grace Sipusic vice president of development
Cheri Snyder senior director of development
William Keene director of annual giving
James Paulk senior annual giving officer
Renee Contreras director of foundation & corporate relations
Dana Parness manager of individual giving & prospect research
Beth Freeman senior manager of major gifts
Sharveace Cameron senior development associate
Rachel Bender manager of donor stewardship and events
Sarah Wilson manager of development operations
Jenny Ricke foundation & corporate giving associate
The Woodruff Arts Center’s unprecedented $67 million capital campaign will bring new life to our campus, expand access to our proven educational programming, and secure our place as Atlanta’s center for the arts. Scan the QR code to learn more about Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff.
$1,000,000+
Delta Air Lines
The Goizueta Foundation
The Hertz Family Foundation, Inc.*
The Home Depot Foundation
The Imlay Foundation
$500,000 - $999,999
Acuity Brands Anonymous
$250,000 - $499,999
Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation
Bank of America Charitable Foundation
$100,000 - $249,999
A friend of the Woodruff Arts Center
Thomas and Aimee Chubb
Ann and Jeff Cramer*
Emerald Gate Charitable Trust
Fraser Parker Foundation
$10,000 - $99,999
Annie Adams
H. Ross and Claire Arnold
Janine Brown and Alex Simmons
Cousins Properties
Michael and Mindy Egan
Vicki Escarra
Candace Steele Flippin
Georgia Council for the Arts
Patrick Gunning and Elizabeth Pelypenko
Rand and Seth Hagen
Philip Harrison and Susan Stainback
Julia Houston
The Marcus Foundation
James M. Cox Foundation
Norfolk Southern Foundation
Patricia and Douglas Reid*
PNC
Robert W. Woodruff Foundation
The Tomé Foundation
The Zeist Foundation
The Fraser-Parker Foundation
Georgia Power Foundation
J. Bulow Campbell Foundation
Kelin Foundation
Chick-fil-A Foundation |
Rhonda and Dan Cathy
The Fay S. and W. Barrett Howell Family Foundation
The Hearst Foundations, Inc.
Joia Johnson
The Sartain Lanier Family Foundation, Inc.
Phil and Jenny Jacobs
Robert and Margaret Reiser*
Truist Charitable Fund
Kathy Waller and Kenny Goggins
Robin and Hilton Howell KPMG
The Dennis Lockhart and Mary Rose
Taylor Memorial Fund
Barry and Jean Ann McCarthy
Richard and Wimberly McPhail
Kavita and Ashish Mistry
Hala and Steve Moddelmog
Kent and Talena Moegerle
National Endowment for the Arts
Kenneth Neighbors and Valdoreas May
Galen and Lynn Oelkers
Mark and Jennifer Pighini
Sara Giles Moore Foundation
Lauren and Andrew Schlossberg
Southface Energy Institute
Dave Stockert and Cammie Ives
Tull Charitable Foundation
Vasser Woolley Foundation
Patrick and Susan Viguerie
D. Richard Williams and Janet Lavine
John and Ellen Yates
*Denotes additional support for the Alliance Theatre’s Imagine Campaign
We are grateful to our dedicated Annual Fund donors for ensuring that everyone in Atlanta can experience the power of the arts. Their gifts support the arts and education work of the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and High Museum of Art.
$1,000,000+
A Friend of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
$500,000 - $999,999
A Friend of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Anonymous
$250,000 - $499,999
Accenture
Art Bridges Foundation
Farideh and Al Azadi Foundation
Mr. Joseph H. Boland, Jr.
Thalia and Michael C. Carlos Advised Fund
Chick-fil-A Foundation | Rhonda and Dan Cathy
Sheila Lee Davies and Jon Davies
$100,000 - $249,999
1180 Peachtree
A Friend of the High Museum of Art
Alston and Bird
AT&T Foundation
Atlantic Station
Bank of America Charitable Foundation
Helen Gurley Brown Foundation
Cadence Bank Foundation
City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
Cousins Foundation
Forward Arts Foundation
Art Bridges
Emerald Gate Charitable Trust
Georgia Power Company
Sara Giles Moore Foundation
The Home Depot Foundation
The Halle Foundation
Invesco QQQ
Sarah and Jim Kennedy
Ms. Anne H. Morgan and Mr. James F. Kelley
Norfolk Southern Foundation
Novelis, Inc.
The Rich’s Foundation
The Shubert Foundation
Alfred A Thornton Venable Trust
Truist Trusteed Foundations:
The Greene-Sawtell Foundation, Guy Woolford Charitable Trust, and Walter H. and Majory M. Rich
Memorial Fund
UPS
Smurfit Westrock
Barney M. Franklin and Hugh W. Burke
Charitable Fund
Fulton County Board of Commissioners
Dick and Anne Game
Georgia Council for the Arts
Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
Georgia-Pacific
Graphic Packaging International, Inc.
John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland
Charitable Foundation
The Hertz Family Foundation, Inc.
Karen and Jeb Hughes
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Abraham J. & Phyllis Katz Foundation
King and Spalding, Partners & Employees
KPMG LLP, Partners & Employees
Charles Loridans Foundation, Inc
The Marcus Foundation, Inc.
Northside Hospital
PNC
Patty and Doug Reid
Southern Company Gas
Carol and Ramon Tomé Family Fund
Warner Bros. Discovery
Kelly and Rod Westmoreland
wish Foundation
