2 0 1 6 / 1 7 S E A SON
Danail Rachev, Music Director & Conductor
PROGRAM MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 22 — NOVEMBER 17, 2016
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Contents September–November 2016 CONCERTS 19 Schumann and Brahms September 22 Sponsored by Oregon Eye Consultants 29 Mahler’s 6th October 20 Sponsored by The Haugland Family Foundation 41 Youth Concert: iCompose November 15 Sponsored by Marie Jones & Suzanne Penegor
23 To open the 51st season on September 22, cellist Joshua Roman returns to Eugene to perform Schumann’s lyrical Concerto.
and Oregon Community Credit Union
43 Hough Plays Beethoven November 17 Sponsored by Summit Funding FEATURES 26 In the Key of E[ducation] 50 Donor Spotlight 51 Beyond the Podium 55 On That Note ON STAGE AND OFF 11 Welcome 12 Calendar 14 Orchestra Roster 15 Conductor 56 Scenes from Offstage 57 Support the Symphony 58 Founders Society 59 51st Season Partners 60 Thank You to Our Supporters 63 Endowment Fund 64 Board of Directors and Administrative Staff
47 One of the greatest
musicians of our age, poetic English pianist Stephen Hough plays Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3 on November 17.
41 Our first pair of Youth Concerts will explore
what it means to compose and create music, while showcasing the achievements of young musicians and young composers throughout history and today.
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The Eugene-Irkutsk Sister City Committee sends its warmest congratulations to the Eugene Symphony for such a glorious 50th Anniversary Celebration. May beautiful notes ring for another 50 years!
In the name of the Eugene-Irkutsk Sister City Committee and in memory of the Groza-Gorbatenko Family.
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
Welcome September–November 2016 Dear Friends, Welcome to the Eugene Symphony’s 51st Season! The golden sparkle of our 50th Anniversary Season felt as though it had hardly begun to fade before we jumped into high gear for our 51st just a few months ago. We are still so thankful for the community support and celebration of last year’s landmark as we honored our past and launched into our future—into which we are forging with great energy and enthusiasm! In June, several Eugene Symphony staff and Board members visited Baltimore, where former Eugene Symphony Music Director Marin Alsop keynoted the League of American Orchestras’ conference entitled “The Richness of Difference.” Even before this inspiring conference, our Eugene Symphony Association, under the leadership of Board members Dave Pottinger and Laura Parrish, began unearthing ways we might increase the breadth of backgrounds and interests on our Board, staff, and especially in our audience members. Why? There are so many reasons, not the least of which is to ensure we are consistently achieving our mission: Enriching Lives Through the Power of Music. The Board of Directors takes that to mean ALL lives in our community. To truly deliver on our mission means we must reach out to people who don’t typically come to our concerts in the Hult Center. Our new program, Symphony Connect, will partner with other organizations to place small chamber ensembles into new venues and in front of new audiences. We also seek YOUR input about ways we can become better in tune with the needs of our community—if you have an idea, please let us know. As we embark on our 51st year, we are excited to hear capstone projects programmed by Music Director Danail Rachev. We are also so eager for you to meet our three finalists for the candidate who will succeed Maestro Rachev and continue to lead our orchestra into a bright future. The search for his successor has been a diverse and competitive one! I can tell you the three finalists are AMAZING! Come see them conduct, and help us choose who will be next at the helm of our orchestra and our music community. Warmly, Matt Shapiro, President of Eugene Symphony Association Board of Directors Dear Music Lovers, When I became Music Director here nearly eight years ago, it’s almost like everyone became my family. This orchestra will always be very close to my heart and I will carry great memories with me. Every concert that we’ve done together has been important for me, and my last season will be the same way. To open the season, I chose one of my favorites, Brahms’s Fourth Symphony. The finale of this masterpiece seems to me a great summation of an incredible symphonic output. This piece—by using the old musical form of the passacaglia—shows how its inherited formality could be transfigured by a composer as gifted as Brahms: a fitting close for the last page of his symphonic music. Then, in October, another favorite of mine: Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. This is the composer’s most troubled and painfully tragic piece, paradoxically expressed in the most uniform classical shape of any of his symphonies. It is almost as if the composer wants to prevent these raw emotions from spilling away by giving them this stricter order. The result is a piece of music with a rich inner world that should feel cathartic to the listener. In November, I’m pleased to perform both Beethoven and Shostakovich, as well as a brand-new piece by our next generation of creative minds. The premiere of Ode to the Future, a piece written by five young Oregon composers under the guidance of Robert Kyr, will be a wonderful experience for us as musicians, and most certainly for the students, as they hear the piece performed live by a full orchestra. This is just the beginning of another great journey through music together—I am so glad you’re here with us! Danail Rachev, Music Director & Conductor
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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Calendar SEPT 20
4:00–5:30 pm – Master Class with cellist Joshua Roman in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
NOV 16
10:00–11:30 am – Master Class with pianist Stephen Hough at Beall Hall, University of Oregon School of Music and Dance
SEPT 22 SCHUMANN AND BRAHMS
NOV 17 HOUGH PLAYS BEETHOVEN
7:00–7:30 pm – Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview with Music Director Danail Rachev and cello soloist Joshua Roman in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:00–7:30 pm – Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview with Music Director Danail Rachev and piano soloist Stephen Hough in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
8:00 pm – Symphonic series concert conducted by Music Director Danail Rachev and featuring Joshua Roman, cello, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Oregon Eye Consultants
8:00 pm – Symphonic series concert conducted by Music Director Danail Rachev and featuring Stephen Hough, piano, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Summit Funding
DEC 6
4:00–5:30 pm – Master Class with violinist Elena Urioste in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
DEC 8
KORNGOLD VIOLIN CONCERTO
7:00–7:30 pm – Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview with Music Director Search Finalist Dina Gilbert and violin soloist Elena Urioste in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
8:00 pm – Symphonic series concert conducted by Music Director Search Finalist Dina Gilbert and featuring Elena Urioste, violin, Silva Concert Hall
OCT 20 MAHLER’S 6TH
7:00–7:30 pm – Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview with Music Director Danail Rachev in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
8:00 pm – Symphonic series concert conducted by Music Director Danail Rachev, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by The Haugland Family Foundation
NOV 15
10:30 am & 12:30 pm – Elementary School Youth Concerts: iCompose: The Future of Music Sponsored by Marie Jones & Suzanne Penegor and Oregon Community Credit Union
DEC 11 AMADEUS – SPECIAL CONCERT
6:00 pm – Special concert, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Comfort Flow Heating
JAN 24
4:00–5:30 pm – Master Class with pianist Andrew von Oeyen in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
JAN 26 BARBER PIANO CONCERTO
MAHLER’S 6TH
7:00–7:30 pm – Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview conducted by Music Director Search Finalist Ryan McAdams and piano soloist Andrew von Oeyen in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center 8:00 pm – Symphonic series concert conducted by Music Director Search Finalist Ryan McAdams and featuring Andrew von Oeyen, piano, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Eugene Symphony Guild
October 20
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
FEB 4
PINK MARTINI – SPECIAL CONCERT
5:00 pm – Special concert featuring Pink Martini, Silva Concert Hall
51ST SEASON GALA
Immediately following Pink Martini Concert – Celebrate with dinner, music, dancing, and a live auction at Eugene Symphony’s biggest benefit event of the year, Hilton Eugene. For details, visit eugenesymphony. org/gala
FEB 13 – FEB 16 FEB 14
Residency with guitarist Sharon Isbin and composer Christopher Rouse. For full residency details, visit eugenesymphony. org/education/artist-residencies 10:30 am & 12:30 pm – Elementary School Youth Concerts: The Orchestra Moves Sponsored by Marie Jones & Suzanne Penegor and US Bank
FEB 16
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION
7:00–7:30 pm – Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview with Music Director Danail Rachev, guitarist Sharon Isbin, and composer Christopher Rouse in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
8:00 pm – Symphonic series concert conducted by Music Director Danail Rachev and featuring Sharon Isbin, guitar, and composer Christopher Rouse, Silva Concert Hall
MAR 14
4:00–5:30 pm – Master Class with pianist Kuok-Wai Lio in The Studio, lower level of The Hult Center
YOUNG COMPOSERS ODE TO THE FUTURE November 17
APR 13
THE DAMNATION OF FAUST
7:00–7:30 pm – Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview with Music Director Danail Rachev in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
8:00 pm – Symphonic series concert conducted by Music Director Danail Rachev, featuring Eugene Symphony Chorus and digital projections by Harmonic Laboratory, Silva Concert Hall
MAY 9
4:00–5:30pm – Master class with violinist Ryu Goto, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
MAY 11 ALPINE SYMPHONY
7:00–7:30 pm – Guild Concert Preview with Music Director Danail Rachev and violin soloist Ryu Goto in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
8:00 pm – Symphonic series concert conducted by Music Director Danail Rachev and featuring Ryu Goto, violin, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Slocum Center for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
MAR 16 BARTÓK PIANO CONCERTO
7:00–7:30 pm – Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview with Music Director Search Finalist Francesco Lecce-Chong and piano soloist Kuok-Wai Lio, in The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
MAY 21
2:30 pm – Play it Again! Adult Chamber Music performance at First Christian Church in Eugene
8:00 pm – Symphonic series concert conducted by Music Director Search Finalist Francesco Lecce-Chong and featuring KuokWai Lio, piano, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Zachary Blalack – Ameriprise Financial All Master Classes, Residency Activities, Guild Concert Previews, and the Play it Again! performance are free and open to the public.
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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Eugene Symphony VIOLIN I
CELLO
Searmi Park, Concertmaster Caroline Boekelheide Lisa McWhorter, Assistant Concertmaster Ray & Cathie Staton Della Davies Bob Gray Memorial Chair Stephen Chong Anthony Dyer Rosemary Erb John & Emilie York Jenny Estrin Yvonne Hsueh Debra & Dunny Sorensen Nelly Kovalev Bashar Matti* Sophie Therrell Matthew, Aaron & Alex Shapiro Vacant
Anne Ridlington, Principal Diana G. Learner & Carolyn J. Simms Vacant, Assistant Principal Marion Sweeney, Kate & Cama Laue Dale Bradley David Chinburg Kathryn Brunhaver* Ann Grabe James Pelley Nancy Sowdon
VIOLIN II Matthew Fuller, Principal Ray & Libby Englander Sasha Chandler, Assistant Principal Alice Blankenship Theodore W. & Laramie Palmer David Burham Dan Athearn Sandra Weingarten & Ryan Darwish Julia Frantz Bob & Friedl Bell Virginia Kaiser Claudia Miller Valerie Nelson* Marilyn Tyler Herb Merker & Marcy Hammock Jannie Wei Vacant
VIOLA Holland Phillips, Principal Don & Lin Hirst Miriam English Ward, Assistant Principal Lauren Culver* Lauren Elledge Marilyn Kays Anamaria Ghitea Adam Hoornstra Shauna Keyes Vacant Kimberly Uwate** Matt Shapiro & Maylian Pak
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BASS Richard Meyn, Principal Ellis & Lucille Sprick Forrest Moyer, Assistant Principal Tyler Abbott Charles & Reida Kimmel Rick Carter Milo Fultz Greg Nathan† Nathan Waddell
FLUTE Kristen Halay, Principal George & Kay Hanson Wendy Bamonte Jill Pauls (Piccolo)
OBOE
ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL 2016/17 Danail Rachev, Music Director and Conductor Music Director and Conductor Chair is sponsored by Betty Soreng
Jennifer Harrison Carol Crumlish Lydia Van Dreel Duncan & Jane Eyre McDonald Scott King Jonathan Kuhns (Assistant Horn)
TRUMPET Sarah Viens, Principal Joshua Silva David Bender G. Burnette Dillon & Louise Di Tullio Dillon
TROMBONE Henry Henniger, Principal Michael & Nancy Oft-Rose Ron Bertucci† Charles & Deborah Larson James Meyer Stephen & Cyndy Lane
TUBA Michael Grose, Principal
TIMPANI Ian Kerr, Principal Jim & Janet Kissman
PERCUSSION
Kelly Gronli, Principal Anonymous Cheryl Denice John & Ethel MacKinnon Annalisa Morton (English Horn)
Tim Cogswell, Principal Susan Gilmore & Phyllis Brown Brian Scott Charles & Georgiann Beaudet Randal Larson Sean Wagoner
CLARINET
KEYBOARD
Michael Anderson, Principal Hugh & Janet Johnston Louis DeMartino (E-flat Clarinet) Carol Robe (Bass Clarinet) Anonymous
BASSOON Vacant, Principal Mike Curtis Peter Gregg Steve Vacchi (Contrabassoon) Ted & Marie Baker David Hattenhauer
HORN
Christine Mirabella, Principal Garr & Joan Cutler
HARP Jane Allen, Principal Laura Maverick Graves Avery Chair
CHORUS DIRECTOR Sharon J. Paul * denotes University of Oregon Graduate Teaching Fellow ** denotes one-year appointment † denotes leave of absence
David Kruse, Principal David & Paula Pottinger
EUGENE SYMPHONY
Danail Rachev Heralded as “a musician of real depth, sensitivity, and authority” Danail Rachev is Music Director & Conductor of Eugene Symphony. Since beginning his tenure in 2009, Rachev’s visionary leadership has built on the Symphony’s 50year tradition of artistic excellence in the core repertory while increasing its commitment to music of today. He is credited with commissioning four works over the last six years, and led the Northwest premiere of a fifth work jointly commissioned by a consortium of orchestras. Rachev is recognized for broadening the orchestra’s audiences through creative and innovative programming, as well as for increasing community engagement and education opportunities for the region. Under Rachev, the Eugene Symphony launched its first-ever free summer concert in 2009 reaching a capacity crowd of more than 5,000, including many Symphony newcomers. Now in its eighth year, Eugene Symphony in the Park has become a beloved summer tradition in Eugene, highlighting emerging local talent. For the Eugene Symphony’s 50th Anniversary Season in 2015/16, Rachev envisioned a global cultural journey onstage and off, including three world premieres as well as collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma and André Watts. Rachev’s recent guest conducting engagements have included returns to the London Philharmonic, England’s Bournemouth Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Dallas and Alabama; touring Holland with Het Gelders Orkest; and debuts with the symphonies of Richmond, Spokane, Tuscon, Edmonton, and Turkey’s Presidential Symphony, as well as the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Florida Orchestra. Worldwide, Rachev has returned to conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and appeared with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta Nacional do Porto, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, which he led on tour in Summer 2013. A champion of new music, Rachev has been dedicated to developing Eugene audiences—and the Eugene Symphony— through commissioning, collaborating with, and programming leading composers of today including John Adams, Mason Bates, Avner Dorman, Steven Stucky, Osvaldo Golijov, John Harbison, Robert Kyr, Roberto Sierra, and Tomas Svoboda.
EUGENE SYMPHONY MUSIC DIRECTORS Lawrence Maves, Founding Conductor (1966–1981) William McGlaughlin (1981–1985) Adrian Gnam (1985–1989) Marin Alsop, Conductor Laureate (1989–1996) Miguel Harth-Bedoya (1996–2002) Giancarlo Guerrero (2002–2009) Danail Rachev (2009–) SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR Rachev launched his professional career as Assistant Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra (2008–2010) and the Dallas Symphony (2005–2008), leading and programming numerous public concerts and educational programs. Rachev has often enjoyed working with young musicians, serving as conductor of the Juilliard Pre-College Symphony from 2002 to 2005 and guest conducting the Brevard Music Center Orchestra and Sinfonia and Colorado’s National Repertory Orchestra. Rachev was born in Shumen, Bulgaria and trained at the State Musical Academy in Sofia, where he received degrees in orchestral and choral conducting. Granted a full scholarship, he moved to the United States to continue his studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Rachev was a conducting fellow at the American Academy of Conducting in Aspen and a participant in the League of American Orchestras’ National Conducting Institute, which led to his debut with the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. The first-ever conducting fellow of the New World Symphony, he studied with Michael Tilson Thomas and worked alongside him on many occasions. Other mentors have included Gustav Meier, Vassil Kazandjiev, David Zinman, and Leonard Slatkin. When not in Eugene, Rachev and his wife, arts administrator and soprano Elizabeth Racheva, reside in Philadelphia with their two young daughters, Kalina Louise and Neviana Jean.
EUGENE SYMPHONY GUILD PRESENTS
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ALL THAT JAZZ A BENEFIT FOR THE EUGENE SYMPHONY
DINNER PERFORMERS MUSICIANS DESSERT & SILENT AUCTIONS
SATURDAY, OCT 22, 2016 at 6:30 PM FORD ALUMNI CENTER, UO CAMPUS RESERVATIONS online at eugenesymphonyguild.org or call Ginger Fifield at 760-550-0515
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
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TONI PIMBLE | ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Giselle A tale of true love. Many of ballet’s most prized roles. The Romantic Era’s greatest classical ballet.
FRIDAY, OCT 28 | 7:30 PM SUNDAY, OCT 30 | 2:00 PM Hult Center for the Performing Arts eugeneballet.org | 541-682-5000 | Hult Center Box Office | UO Ticket Office SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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Keyhan F. Aryah, M.D. Comprehensive Ophthalmologist Specializing in Anterior Segment & Cataract Surgery
Riverbend District Main Office
Robert J. Champer, M.D. Ph.D. Ophthalmologist Specializing in Diseases & Surgery of the Retina & Vitreous
Florence Newport Roseburg North Bend
John W. Karth, M.D. Ophthalmologist Specializing in Diseases & Surgery of the Retina & Vitreous
Call: 1-800-848-4126 541-687-1927 View: www.oregoneyeconsultants.com
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Enhancing the life of each patient by taking care of all their vision needs
W. Benjamin Kunz, M.D. Comprehensive Ophthalmologist Specializing in Cornea & Refractive Surgery Robert M. Beardsley, M.D. Ophthalmologist Specializing in Diseases & Surgery of the Retina & Vitreous Uveitis & Ocular Inflammatory Diseases EUGENE SYMPHONY
Schumann and Brahms Eugene Symphony Danail Rachev, conductor | Joshua Roman, cello Thursday, September 22, 2016 8 PM | Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview, Thursday, September 22, 2016 7 PM | The Studio, Hult Center
Anton Webern (1883–1945)
Passacaglia, Op. 1
Robert Schumann Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129 (1810–1856) I. Nicht zu schnell II. Langsam III. Sehr lebhaft
Joshua Roman, cello I N T E R M I S S I O N
Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (1833–1897) I. Allegro non troppo II. Andante moderato III. Allegro giocoso IV. Allegro energico e passionato
Concert Sponsor
This concert will be broadcast on KWAX-FM 91.1 at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 14. Broadcasts underwritten in part by Kernutt Stokes. SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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Schumann and Brahms
ANTON WEBERN (1883–1945) Passacaglia, Op. 1 [1908] Scored for two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets plus bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings. This is the first Eugene Symphony performance, and performance time is approximately 11 minutes.
September 22, 2016 Program Notes
Anton Webern was Arnold Schoenberg’s first student and most loyal disciple. Their formal course of study only lasted from 1904 to 1908, but Webern continued to follow his mentor—only nine years his senior—with fanatical devotion, once writing to him, “You are set up in my heart as my highest ideal whom I love more and more, to whom I am more and more devoted.” The Passacaglia for orchestra that Webern composed in 1908, as he neared the end of his studies with Schoenberg, was the first work he declared worthy of an opus number. (Between his exacting standards and his highly distilled style, Webern only produced 31 works with opus numbers in his lifetime, totaling just over three hours of music). The musical language of this early Webern work is still rooted in tonality, although passages stretch the D-minor tonal center to its outer bounds, pointing toward the freeform atonality that Schoenberg and Webern adopted soon after. The Passacaglia renews a formal structure from the Baroque era, in which a recurring motive supports a series of short, continuous variations. Plucked strings introduce the eight-measure foundation, and subsequent cycles add sparse and transparent layers of counterpoint, very much in character with Webern’s mature sound. Fans of his aphoristic miniatures might be surprised by the sheer breadth of the Passacaglia, which blooms into saturated orchestral climaxes and stretches out for a full 11 minutes—a luxurious span never again equaled in Webern’s output.
by Aaron Grad ©2016
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810–1856) Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129 [1850] In addition to the solo cello, this work is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. First performed by the Eugene Symphony in January 1985 under the direction of Adrian Gnam with Carter Brey as soloist. Performance time is approximately 25 minutes. Robert Schumann moved to Düsseldorf in 1850 to begin his new post as Municipal Music Director. Despite the added strain of conducting and managing an orchestra, he entered one of his most productive periods of composition, completing fifty works over the next four years. Sadly, this phase also marked the final collapse of Schumann’s mental health. Not long after the move, Clara Schumann noted her husband’s “highly nervous, irritable, excited mood.” The orchestra forced Robert to resign his conducting post in 1853, and the next year he threw himself into the Rhine River in a suicide attempt. He lived out his remaining years in an insane asylum.
“The romantic quality, the vivacity, the freshness and humor...and what euphony and deep feeling one finds in all the melodic passages!” — Clara Schumann on her husband Robert’s Cello Concerto One of the first pieces Schumann completed in Düsseldorf was originally labeled a Konzertstück for cello and orchestra and was later published as a Cello Concerto. The composition does contain the three typical movements of a concerto, but the heading of Konzertstück (“Concert Piece”) captures Schumann’s desire to create a more integrated and continuous form, rather than a showy concerto full of virtuosity for its own sake. To that end, he dispensed with a hefty orchestral introduction, connected the three movements with linking material, and included orchestral accompaniment during a solo cadenza, among other departures from traditional concerto form. Schumann penned the Cello Concerto in just two weeks, completing it on the day he conducted
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
KEEP AN EAR OUT FOR... ...a series of double-stops, in which cello soloist Joshua Roman plays two notes at once, during the achingly beautiful second movement of Schumann’s Concerto. KEEP AN EYE ON... ...a Eugene Symphony percussionist playing a lone triangle in the third movement of the Fourth Symphony, the only percussion instrument Brahms called for besides the standard set of timpani.
his first concert in Düsseldorf. He must have held some misgivings about the work, since he canceled a scheduled premiere in 1852 and delayed its publication until 1854. The first performance did not occur until 1860, four years after Schumann died. Clara Schumann was among the first to appreciate the strengths of the work when, in 1851, she wrote, “The romantic quality, the vivacity, the freshness and humor, also the highly interesting interweaving of violoncello and orchestra are indeed wholly ravishing, and what euphony and deep feeling one finds in all the melodic passages!” Schumann had played the cello as a boy, and again briefly after a hand injury curtailed his piano playing, and he put his intimate understanding of the instrument to use in the concerto. The solo part exploits the full sonic range of the instrument, from the growling bass of the open C-string to the steely soprano territory beyond the treble staff, while the deft orchestration ensures that the soloist is never obscured. The interconnected movements feature thematic cross-references throughout. The opening gesture of three successive chords, for example, takes on new forms in the second and third movements; likewise, the interval of a descending fifth that pervades the slow movement reappears in the accompaniment to the finale’s cadenza.
(Continued on page 14)
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Schumann and Brahms Program Notes (Continued from page 13) JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897) Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 [1884–85] Scored for two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, and strings. First performed by the Eugene Symphony in October 1975 under the direction of Lawrence Maves, and last performed in November 2008 under the direction of Giancarlo Guerrero. Performance time is approximately 39 minutes. In 1870 Brahms claimed, “I shall never write a symphony! You can’t have any idea what it’s like always to hear such a giant marching behind you!” The giant in question was Beethoven, and his legacy haunted Brahms, especially in the signature genres of symphonies and string quartets. Brahms was 40 by the time he released a quartet, and 43 before his First Symphony reached the public. After that tipping point, orchestral music came pouring from Brahms as if a spigot had been opened, with three more symphonies, three concertos and two overtures coming in the decade that followed. He began his fourth and final symphony in 1884, and he completed it the next year, in time to conduct a performance by the court orchestra in Meiningen, a group directed by his close friend and champion Hans von Bülow. The Fourth Symphony, in particular its first movement, demonstrates just how well Brahms integrated the Classical style of Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn. The main theme is a marvel of balance
and efficiency, saying so much with simple pairs of notes, first falling and then rising. The mystical air of the slow movement comes in part from Brahms’ use of an even older musical idea, the Phrygian mode developed in pre-tonal church music. The movement is technically situated in the key of E Major, but the archaic harmonies and the use of chords borrowed from the minor mode maintain the pathos and tension of the symphony’s overall trajectory in E minor.
For the finale of his Fourth Symphony, Johannes Brahms introduced another musical device from the past, a passacaglia—the same cyclical structure Webern used for his Opus 1 which opens tonight’s concert. The rousing third movement in C Major provides welcome relief from the heavy emotions of the two earlier movements, with piccolo and triangle brought in to add extra sparkle in the treble register. For the finale, Brahms introduced another musical device from the past, a passacaglia—the same cyclical structure Webern used for his Opus 1, which opens tonight’s concert. (There are numerous parallels in the musical material and orchestration that attest to the influence of Brahms’ symphony on Webern.) Brahms adapted the underlying theme of his passacaglia from a cantata by Bach, once again signaling his reverence for music of the past.
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Schumann and Brahms Guest Artist Joshua Roman Joshua Roman has earned an international reputation for his wide-ranging repertoire, a commitment to communicating the essence of music in visionary ways, artistic leadership and versatility. As well as being a celebrated performer, he is recognized as an accomplished composer, curator, and programmer. In a multifaceted 2015/16 season, Roman premiered his own Cello Concerto with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra. In April 2016, he began a residency with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as part of which he will perform Mason Bates’ Cello Concerto. Roman will pursue his artistic vision both as Artistic Director of TownMusic at Town Hall Seattle and as Artistic Advisor of Seattle’s Second Inversion. He also continues to perform classics of the repertoire, and in February made his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra playing Dvořák’s beloved Cello Concerto.
As Artistic Director of TownMusic in Seattle Joshua Roman has showcased his own eclectic musical influences and chamber music favorites, as well as promoting newly commissioned works. Highlights of recent seasons have included a solo performance on the TED2015 main stage, performances with the Columbus Symphony, and a program of chamber works by Lera Auerbach at San Francisco Performances with Auerbach and violinist Philippe Quint. He premiered Dreamsongs, a cello concerto written for him by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis, and had two of his own compositions premiered in Washington DC and Seattle. Roman has demonstrated inspirational artistic leadership throughout his career. As Artistic Director of TownMusic in Seattle he has showcased his own eclectic musical influences and chamber music favorites, as well as promoting newly commissioned works. He has also recently been appointed the inaugural Artistic Advisor of award-winning contemporary streaming channel Second Inversion, launched by Seattle’s KINGFM to cultivate the next generation of classical audiences. Roman’s cultural leadership includes using digital platforms to harness new audiences. In 2009 he developed “The Popper Project,” performing, recording and uploading the complete etudes from David Popper’s High School of Cello Playing to his dedicated YouTube channel. In his latest YouTube project, “Everyday Bach,” Roman performs Bach’s cello suites in beautiful settings around the world. He has collaborated with photographer Chase Jarvis on Nikon video projects, and Paste magazine singled out Roman and DJ Spooky for their cello and iPad cover of Radiohead’s “Everything in Its Right Place,” created for the Voice Project. For his creative initiatives on behalf of SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
classical music, Roman was named a 2011 TED Fellow, joining a select group of next generation innovators who show potential to positively affect the world. Beyond these initiatives, Roman’s adventurous spirit has led to collaborations with artists outside the music community, including his co-creation of “On Grace” with Tony Awardnominated actress Anna Deavere Smith, a work for actor and cello which premiered in February 2012 at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. His outreach endeavors have taken him to Uganda with his violin-playing siblings, where they played chamber music in schools, HIV/AIDS centers, and displacement camps, communicating a message of hope through music. Before embarking on a solo career, Roman spent two seasons as Principal Cello of the Seattle Symphony, a position he won in 2006 at the age of 22. An active chamber musician, Roman has collaborated with established artists such as Andrius Zlabys, Cho-Liang Lin, Assad Brothers, Earl Carlyss, Christian Zacharias and Yo-Yo Ma, as well as other dynamic young soloists and performers from New York’s vibrant music scene, including the JACK Quartet, Talea Ensemble, Derek Bermel, the Enso String Quartet and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A native of Oklahoma City, Roman began playing the cello at the age of three on a quarter-size instrument, and gave his first public recital at age ten. Homeschooled until he was 16, he then pursued his musical studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Richard Aaron. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Cello Performance in 2004, and his Master’s in 2005, as a student of Desmond Hoebig, former principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra. Roman is grateful for the loan of an 1899 cello by Giulio Degani of Venice.
4
th
Anniversary Season
tickets: 541-682-5000 • eugeneopera.com
Much Ado About Nothing
A captivating marriage of the wit of Shakespeare with the magic of Berlioz
(Béatrice et Bénédict)
October 28 & 30
7:30 pm Friday • 2:30 pm Sunday Soreng Theater at the Hult
NEW YEAR’S EVE GALA
OPERA TRIO Aïda
Visit Egypt of the Pharoahs in Verdi’s
Act 1 Scene 1
Witness Revolutionary France in Poulenc’s
Dialogues of the
Carmelites Act 3
Party with a Prince in Vienna in Strauss’s
Die Fledermaus
Act 2
December 31 & January 2
7:30 pm Saturday • 2:30 pm Monday Silva Hall at the Hult
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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In the Key of E[ducation] Meet the Composers: Ode to the Future by Mollibeth Cox, Education Director Earlier this year, the Eugene Symphony received a National Endowment of the Arts grant to fund a yearlong composition project for young Oregon composers. Under the mentorship and guidance of Robert Kyr, master composer and Philip H. Knight Professor of Music at the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance, five high-school students from across the state have co-created a new work based on the iconic “Ode to Joy” from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The Eugene Symphony will perform the resulting theme and variations—entitled Ode to the Future—at the Symphony’s November 17, 2016 concert at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. The educational program commenced with the May 12, 2016 world premiere of Robert Kyr’s new Piano Concerto (Dawning of the World), specially commissioned by Eugene Symphony on the occasion of the orchestra’s 50th Anniversary. The high school composers, who were selected through a competitive statewide application process, met with Kyr to study the score of his concerto, attend the rehearsals and concert, and participate in discussions about the genesis of the work. The project continued throughout the summer, with Kyr mentoring the students in extensive composition work sessions in Eugene, Salem, and Portland. In late September, the students also received instruction in notation and score preparation from five University of Oregon graduate composers, as a requirement for a course that Kyr teaches, in which aspiring composition teachers study the art and practice of teaching composition. Regarding his experience of teaching the Ode to the Future composers, Kyr remarked, “I am thrilled to be teaching five very promising young composers, who are not only gifted as creators of new music, but are also skilled performers—true musicians. Together, they have reimagined Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” through composing piano variations on this familiar theme and then orchestrating them in a colorful and imaginative way. Their approach to Beethoven has been respectful and yet celebratory. In taking Beethoven’s theme to heart, they have created their own music out of the joyful character of his masterpiece.” Cayla Bleoaja, 16, is a classical pianist and performing artist who has released two original albums, performed in more than 200 concerts, and dedicated more than 1,000 hours to volunteer community outreach. She is an Honors student at George Fox University in Newberg, and a book’s best friend. Bleoaja says, “Studying Beethoven’s masterpiece and learning under the guidance of Robert Kyr was an incredible source
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of motivation and a learning experience. As an aspiring film composer, I valued the emotion and atmosphere inspired by the project. The concept was inspired by understanding the scope of the challenges that shaped Beethoven’s perspective and personality. Escaping into such a depth of emotion and allowing myself to linger, to explore, was a powerful and empowering experience.” Wesley Coleman, 17, is a junior at Thurston High School. He is a singer, pianist, saxophonist and composer. He has sung on stage since he was five years old and currently sings in his high school’s two audition-only ensembles. He performs and solos with his school jazz band, marching band, pep band and symphony. He started composing on the piano when he was in fourth grade. His career goal is to be a film and media composer. “The composition project has been meaningful to me because it has given me the opportunity to work with other very talented young composers,” says Coleman. “I have been incredibly grateful to work with Dr. Kyr who mentored and guided me throughout the process. I start by experimenting with the melody on the piano where most of my compositions take shape. From there I take ideas that are cohesive and develop them into different variations adding rhythmic and harmonic textures.” Marissa Lane-Massee, 18, studies harp and bassoon with professors at UO while playing sousaphone in the Oregon Marching Band. She is originally from Keizer, Oregon where she lives with her parents, younger brother, and cat named Helen. Marissa likes to hike, kayak, and ski on days where she isn’t working on her family’s hazelnut farm. “This project has been meaningful because it has given me a glimpse into the professional composition world,” says Lane-Massee. “I’m very glad that I’ve gotten to work with a very talented bunch of young composers who share a lot of the same goals and interests as me. The project has helped me to diversify in the way I collaborate and compose, and has shown me that deliberate, hard work does pay off.” “My inspiration came through a process—a meandering, fuddled process, really. I realized that variations were just like these little themes of music; short and sweet, but often very drastic and different from another. I guess inspiration isn’t one of those things a person can achieve when they want it; it has to be found with patience.”
EUGENE SYMPHONY
Ode to the Future composers Cayla, Marissa, Joseph, and Katie at the May 12, 2016 performance of Robert Kyr’s Piano Concerto Dawning of the World, a special commission of Eugene Symphony’s 50th Anniversary and the start of the Ode to the Future project.
Joseph Miletta, 18, is a violinist from Salem, Oregon, and has performed in many different musical groups such as the Salem Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sprague Camerata, and the Salem Pops Orchestra. He also performs with the Etherius Quartet, which has performed for both the Oregon State Senate and House of Representatives. He says, “I find joy in composing, and being able to have my ‘voice’ heard in concert is an amazing opportunity. I enjoy the diversity that is only found through collaboration, and in so doing, I have learned other techniques for writing music. I feel like this project has allowed me to expand my horizons and really see what I can do.” Katie Palka, 15, is a 10th grade homeschooled violinist. When not composing, she loves writing poetry, short stories, and novellas, as well as studying Latin. Her hobbies include hiking, swimming, yoga, photography, and watching Doctor Who and Sherlock. “It is absolutely incredible to be able to hear something you’ve composed be performed,” Palka says. “To have the opportunity to write for not only for a few professionals, but a full orchestra—that’s fantastic. Throughout this whole process, Dr. Kyr has been such a phenomenal teacher and mentor. He’s taught us such valuable techniques and helped us develop our own voices as young composers.” SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
The Ode to the Future project is a milestone in the history of the Eugene Symphony, bringing together a master composer with the best and brightest of Oregon’s next generation of talented composers, in order to co-create a piece that celebrates music, the Symphony’s mission, and the future of Oregon and of music. Regarding the entire project, Kyr observed, “The achievement of our five Ode to the Future composers is a testament to the musical talent of our youth that is such an impressive part of Oregon’s artistic culture. We should proudly celebrate the accomplishments of these five young composers, who indeed give us hope for the future. I am confident that these promising composers—in collaboration with their peers—will create a thriving, creative musical culture within our own borders and beyond. I am grateful to the Eugene Symphony for giving them this remarkable opportunity at this stage in their artistic development.”
Ode to the Future World Premiere with Eugene Symphony Thursday, November 17, 2016 8:00 PM | Hult Center Read more about the piece on page 32.
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
Mahler’s 6th Eugene Symphony Danail Rachev, conductor Thursday, October 20, 2016 8 PM | Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview, Thursday, October 20, 2016 7 PM | The Studio, Hult Center
Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 6 in A minor, “Tragic” (1860–1911) I. Allegro energico, ma non troppo II. Andante moderato III. Scherzo IV. Finale Tonight’s concert will be performed without intermission.
Concert Sponsor
The Haugland Family Foundation
Additional Support
This concert will be broadcast on KWAX-FM 91.1 at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, November 15. Broadcasts underwritten in part by Kernutt Stokes. SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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Mahler’s 6th
GUSTAV MAHLER (1860–1911) Symphony No. 6 (“Tragic”) [1903–04] Scored for four flutes, three piccolos, four oboes, three English horns, five clarinets including E-flat and bass clarinets, four bassoons, contrabassoon, eight horns, six trumpets, four trombones, tuba, two sets of timpani, percussion, two harps, celesta, and strings. First performed by the Eugene Symphony in November 1998 under the direction of Miguel Harth-Bedoya. Performance time is approximately 80 minutes.
October 20, 2016 Program Notes by Aaron Grad ©2016
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In his lifetime, Gustav Mahler was known primarily as an elite conductor. He had studied piano and composition at the Vienna Conservatory (and we can tell from a surviving student work that he was experimenting with chamber music modeled after Brahms), but once his conducting career took off he narrowed the focus of his composing to two genres exclusively: songs and symphonies. Rising rapidly through conducting jobs in smaller cities, Mahler was only 28 when he earned his first prestigious post directing the Royal Hungarian Opera in Budapest. From 1897 to 1907 he occupied one of the most influential podiums in Europe, leading the Vienna Court Opera, and in his last years he made his mark in the New World, directing the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic. He always kept up his composing on the side, mostly during his summers when opera houses went dark, and upon his death at 50 he left a legacy of nine enormous symphonies, plus the symphonic song cycle Das Lied von der Erde and most of a Tenth Symphony. It took decades to make sense of Mahler’s complicated musical legacy, and the Nazi suppression of his music (owing to his Jewish origins) diminished his already uncertain standing. Champions like Leonard Bernstein helped restore Mahler to the repertoire in the latter part of the 20th century, and now with more than a century’s hindsight we are able to appreciate his symphonies for the grand, nostalgic and hyper-expressive vessels that they are, so solid and yet so fleeting—not unlike the ill-fated Titanic that launched the same month as Mahler’s death.
EUGENE SYMPHONY
The love of Mahler’s life was Alma Schindler, a Viennese beauty 20 years his junior whom he married in 1902. They had their first daughter a few months before he began his Sixth Symphony in 1903, and he finished the work after his second daughter was born in 1904. During summers spent at his lakeside villa in southern Austria, Mahler’s idyllic routine was to walk briskly each morning to his one-room studio in the forest for uninterrupted composing time. Despite the apparent joys of those working holidays with his new family, that summer generated some of his darkest music to date.
“My Sixth Symphony seems to be yet another hard nut, one that our critics’ feeble little teeth cannot crack.” — Gustav Mahler Mahler conducted the premiere of the Sixth Symphony in 1906 in Essen, Germany, an event that apparently left the audience baffled. (Mahler wrote privately, “My Sixth seems to be yet another hard nut, one that our critics’ feeble little teeth cannot crack.”) He added the “Tragic” nickname for the Vienna debut in 1907, but then he omitted it for subsequent performances and publications. The “Tragic” label can provide a useful point of entry to the Sixth Symphony, but it does not apply to all 80 minutes of this subtle and varied music. As we can expect from Mahler, the work wears its heart on its sleeve, yet it also maintains an uncannily balanced and elegant design. In terms of structure, it is the most Classical of Mahler’s symphonies: There are four movements, each with tempos and functions that square with the precedents of Haydn and Beethoven. It is also more abstract than earlier works, moving away from the heroic programs, vocalists, song quotations and rustic parodies of the Second, Third and Fourth Symphonies. Even the Fifth Symphony, which began Mahler’s shift toward “pure” music, offers more concrete points of reference, with its opening Funeral March and redemptive rise to a major-key conclusion. Nothing so demonstrative underlies the format of the Sixth Symphony, although in retrospect it parallels aspects of Mahler’s own life, most poignantly in the finale. The opening movement of the Sixth Symphony launches immediately into tense and stormy A-minor material that marches forward insistently,
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
prodded by pulsing bass and thumping percussion. A lush and lyrical theme, supposedly representing Alma, provides maximal contrast. In true Classical fashion, and uncharacteristically for Mahler, the opening exposition section repeats verbatim. Complementing the heft of the musical ideas and the large orchestra, colorful flecks of tinkling celesta, clanking cowbells and jangling triangles add shimmering brilliance. The return of the lyrical “Alma” theme and other triumphant, majorkey motives bring the movement to a spirited conclusion, the tragedy temporarily dispelled. There is some controversy about which movement comes next. Mahler submitted the score for publication with the Scherzo second, but for the premiere he swapped the Andante moderato into the second position. In the version that matches Mahler’s lasting preference, the slow movement prolongs the ambiguity of the symphony’s ultimate direction, continuing the opening movement’s slippery distinctions between major and minor and basking in a gentle cascade of nostalgic melodies.
KEEP AN EAR OUT FOR... ...subtle, and not so subtle, changes in tempo in the Scherzo movement of the Sixth Symphony, as Mahler’s music alternates between charming and manic moods. KEEP AN EYE ON... ...the sledgehammer wielded by one of the Eugene Symphony’s percussionists in the fateful final movement of Mahler’s Sixth...not that you’ll be likely to miss it!
The Scherzo resumes the fateful march toward tragedy, stomping forward like the beginning of the symphony. The vivid shrieks and pounding percussion have real terror behind them, but there is also a mannered, deliberate quality that maintains an edge of emotional separation—for now. That winking sensibility especially comes to the fore in the contrasting trio sections, helping this Scherzo adhere to its Classical origins as a joking movement. (Continued on page 24)
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Mahler’s 6th Program Notes (Continued from page 23) The symphony completes its descent with the fateful hammer strikes during the finale, meant to sound with a dull thud like the fall of the axe. Alma later wrote that the three blows foreshadowed the tragedies of 1907: the death of one of their daughters, the diagnosis of Mahler’s life-threatening heart condition (which did ultimately kill him, as he feared it would), and the loss of his dream job in Vienna. Mahler himself later deleted the
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third strike of the hammer, as if unable to bear its mortal finality; some performances restore the last blow and others leave it silent, but either way the symphony maintains its chilling grip to the end. It is music that plumbs the depths of human experience, touching dark places that are real and integral, if not always comfortable. This is the ultimate gift to humanity from the man who once said, “A symphony is like the world—it must contain everything.”
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
Youth Concerts: iCompose: The Future of Music Eugene Symphony Danail Rachev, conductor Tuesday, November 15, 2016 10:30 AM & 12:30 PM | Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center Georges Bizet (1838–1875)
Prelude from Carmen
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major, K.16 I. Molto allegro
Georges Bizet (1838–1875)
L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2 IV. Farandole
Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)
Valse triste, Op. 44, No. 1
Marissa Lane-Massee (b. 1998) Ode to the Future: Variations on Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” Joseph Miletta (b. 1998) World Premiere* Welsey Coleman (b. 1999) Cayla Bleoaja (b. 1999) Katie Palka (b. 2001) Under the mentorship of Robert Kyr (b. 1952) ** Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
Tzigane Grace Rosier, violin
These concerts are dedicated to the memory of Gorgie Hofma, whose passionate belief in the power of music to help young people inspired us all. **Please see pages 18 and 19 for composer bios, and page 36 for mentor bio. Youth Concert Season Sponsors Concert Sponsor Education Program Support
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
Marie Jones and Suzanne Penegor Additional Support *Support from National Endowment for the Arts — Art Works
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
Hough Plays Beethoven Eugene Symphony Danail Rachev, conductor | Stephen Hough, piano Thursday, November 17, 2016 8 PM | Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview, Thursday, November 17, 2016 7 PM | The Studio, Hult Center Marissa Lane-Massee (b. 1998) Ode to the Future: Variations on Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” Joseph Miletta (b. 1998) World Premiere* Welsey Coleman (b. 1999) Cayla Bleoaja (b. 1999) Katie Palka (b. 2001) Under the mentorship of Robert Kyr (b. 1952) ** Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 (1810–1856) I. Allegro con brio II. Largo III. Rondo: Allegro
Stephen Hough, piano I N T E R M I S S I O N
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op. 103, “The Year 1905” (1906–1975) I. The Palace Square II. The 9th of January III. In Memoriam IV. The Tocsin
**Please see pages 18 and 19 for composer bios, and page 36 for mentor bio.
Concert Sponsor
Guest Artist Sponsor
*Support from National Endowment for the Arts — Art Works
This concert will be broadcast on KWAX-FM 91.1 at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, December 6. Broadcasts underwritten in part by Kernutt Stokes. SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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Hough Plays Beethoven
OREGON YOUNG COMPOSERS PROJECT Ode to the Future: Variations on Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” Scored for two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets plus bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, percussion, and strings. Performance time is approximately nine minutes. For this work, each of the Ode to the Future composers created several piano variations and then orchestrated them, with the entire composition and orchestration process being guided and mentored by Robert Kyr. Although one always hears the connection to Beethoven’s familiar choral theme, each variation reveals the creative personality and individuality of its composer in the way that the source is transformed and brought to life in the medium of the orchestra. The result is a set of variations that explores Beethoven’s masterpiece from a wide variety of perspectives and emotional angles, which range from lyrical and reflective to playful, dynamic, and energetic. Please see the Key of E[ducation] article on page 18 for composer bios and page 36 for mentor bio. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 [1800–03] In addition to the solo piano, this work is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. First performed by the Eugene Symphony in April 1972 under the direction of Lawrence Maves with Hugo Steurer as soloist. Last performed in January 2010 under the direction of Danail Rachev with Mihaela Ursuleasa as soloist. Performance time is approximately 34 minutes.
November 17, 2016 Program Notes by Aaron Grad ©2016
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Beethoven wrote the bulk of the Third Piano Concerto in 1800, in time for a major debut concert in Vienna, but he chose to play an earlier concerto instead. After a few more years of tinkering, he unveiled the new concerto on an 1803 program that also included the premieres of the Second Symphony and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives as well as a reprise
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performance of the First Symphony. On the day of the concert, Beethoven awoke at five a.m. to copy out trombone parts, and then he led the program’s only rehearsals, working from eight in the morning until breaking in the afternoon for snacks and wine. He led one more run-through of the oratorio for good measure, and finally, after a short interval, he commenced the show at six that evening. For the concerto, Beethoven performed off of a hastily written score that, in the words of his page turner Ignaz von Seyfried, contained “almost nothing but empty leaves; at the most, on one page or another a few Egyptian hieroglyphs wholly unintelligible to me were scribbled down to serve as clues for him.” The concerto’s opening measures have a balanced, Classical flavor, with a definitive statement from the strings countered by a questioning response from the winds. In line with the style that would come to dominate Beethoven’s “middle” period, the themes separate into essential fragments to be examined from all angles, with various rising triads, falling scales, and timpani-like alternations appearing in the foreground and background.
The score for Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto contained “almost nothing but empty leaves; at the most, on one page or another a few Egyptian hieroglyphs wholly unintelligible to me were scribbled down to serve as clues for him.” — Ignaz von Seyfried The first E-Major chord of the central Largo could hardly be more alien, or more luminous. The movement continues as a study in contradictions: humble yet ornate, foreign yet familiar, slow yet restless. A striking exchange occurs when the flute and bassoon trade childlike melodies over a simple plucked background, while the piano issues gusts of sound blurred by the sustain pedal. The finale returns to the home key with a theme that lands heavily on an unresolved A-flat: the very same pitch that, in a different guise, defined the bright harmonies of the slow movement. (On the piano, A-flat is identical to G-sharp, the major third
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KEEP AN EAR OUT FOR... ...a radiant E-flat Major chord played by piano soloist Stephen Hough that begins the slow second movement of Beethoven’s Concerto, utterly dispelling the thunderous C-minor closing moments of the first. KEEP AN EYE ON... ...the Eugene Symphony’s mighty brass section during the violent second movement of Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony, which depicts the “Bloody Sunday” massacre at the Winter Palace in 1905.
in the key of E.) Later in the movement, the same musical pun turns A-flat back into G-sharp, and the key of E returns briefly to put a radiant new sheen on the movement’s central theme. DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906–1975) Symphony No. 11 in G Minor, Op. 103, The Year 1905 [1956–57] Scored for three flutes, piccolo, three oboes, English horn, three clarinets plus bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, and strings. This is the first Eugene Symphony performance, and performance time is approximately 55 minutes. Dmitri Shostakovich, born in 1906, did not personally witness the Revolution of 1905, which began in his native city of Saint Petersburg when Tsarist guards massacred hundreds of unarmed protestors on a day remembered in Russia as “Bloody Sunday.” But stories of that first political quake were much discussed in his liberal-leaning family, and he grew up singing the songs associated with the year of strikes and protests that only ended when the Tsar made modest political concessions (not enough, however, to stave off the 1917 Revolution). Shostakovich did have a front-row seat for the development of the Soviet Union, with all its promise (Continued on page 34)
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Hough Plays Beethoven Program Notes (Continued from page 35) and internal contradictions. At 29, he was the most accomplished of all Soviet composers, but his style of sharp-witted modernism—what a scathing newspaper editorial dubbed “muddle instead of music”—made him a target of Stalin at a particularly dangerous time. Shostakovich survived that rebuke in 1936, and he learned to channel his nuanced and ironic worldview into music that, on its surface,
peppered with song quotations that any Russian would recognize. Yet as is so often the case with Shostakovich, a subtler interpretation lurks just beneath: is this actually a protest against Soviet might, in solidarity with victims in Hungary and elsewhere? According to Testimony, the controversial Shostakovich memoirs edited (or some would say fabricated) by Solomon Volkov,
The Eleventh Symphony “deals with contemporary themes even though it’s called ‘1905.’ It’s about the people, who have stopped believing because the cup of evil has run over. That’s how the impressions of my childhood and my adult life come together.” — Dmitri Shostakovich, ostensibly as told to Solomon Volkov satisfied the party’s demand for simple, patriotic music suited for the everyman, i.e. “Soviet Realism.” Redeemed for a time, Shostakovich suffered an even harsher blow in 1948, when he topped the list of composers censured for “formalism,” costing him his faculty position and leading him to bury most of his major scores for years. Stalin’s death in 1953 and the subsequent “thaw” led by Khrushchev allowed Shostakovich to bring out meatier works like the Tenth Symphony and the First Violin Concerto, but it hardly ended the political oppression and danger. It was on Khrushchev’s watch, after all, that Soviet forces killed thousands of protestors in Hungary in 1956—an eerie repetition of 1905 in Russia. This is the context in which Shostakovich composed the Symphony No. 11, subtitled The Year 1905. Through one lens, it looks like model “Soviet Realism,” depicting a heroic moment for the motherland in an accessible musical language
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the symphony “deals with contemporary themes even though it’s called ‘1905.’ It’s about the people, who have stopped believing because the cup of evil has run over. That’s how the impressions of my childhood and my adult life come together.” The fascinating and sometimes maddening truth with Shostakovich is that we can never be certain what exactly he meant; all we can do is listen intently. In the Eleventh Symphony, programmatic titles set up the basic scenario, starting frigidly and ominously with the first movement, The Palace Square. That site runs red with blood on The Ninth of January, the date of the massacre, represented in a turbulent scherzo. The third movement, In Memoriam, progresses in the measured steps of a funeral march. The heading of the finale, The Tocsin, signifies an alarm or warning bell. This call to arms seems to suggest that the perpetrators of violence are due for a reckoning— whomever those villains may be.
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Hough Plays Beethoven Guest Artist Stephen Hough Stephen Hough is regarded as a renaissance man of his time. Over the course of his career he has distinguished himself as a true polymath, not only securing a reputation as a uniquely insightful concert pianist, but also as a writer and composer. Hough is commended for his mastery of the instrument along with an individual and inquisitive mind which has earned him a multitude of prestigious awards and a long-standing international following.
In 2001 Stephen Hough was the first classical performing artist to win a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in 2014. In 2001 Hough was the first classical performing artist to win a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. He was awarded Northwestern University’s 2008 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano, won the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award in 2010, and in January 2014 was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in the New Year’s Honors List. Hough’s recent engagements include recitals in Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Paris, Boston, San Francisco, the Kennedy Center and Sydney, and a performance televised worldwide with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle. He is also a regular guest at festivals such as the BBC Proms, where he has made more than 20 concerto appearances. Highlights of Hough’s 2016/17 season include re-engagements with the New York Philharmonic and the St. Louis, Atlanta, Seattle, Indianapolis, Oregon, North Carolina, Colorado, Fort Worth, Puerto Rico and Madison symphonies. Internationally he returns to the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Iceland and São Paulo symphonies. Many of Hough’s catalogue of more than 50 albums have garnered international prizes, several Grammy nominations, eight Gramophone Magazine Awards including ‘Record of the Year’ in 1996 and 2003, and the Gramophone ‘Gold Disc’ Award in 2008, which named his complete Saint-Saens Piano Concertos as the best recording of the past 30 years. Hough’s most recent releases, all for Hyperion, include the two Brahms Piano Concertos with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra; Scriabin, Janacek – Sonatas and Poems; Grieg Lyric Pieces; and the Dvořák and Schumann concertos with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra led by Andris Nelsons. Hough is also the featured artist in an iPad app about the Liszt Piano Sonata, which includes a fully-filmed performance
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and was released by the cutting-edge, award-winning company Touch Press. Published by Josef Weinberger, Hough has composed works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensemble and solo piano. His Mass of Innocence and Experience and Missa Mirabilis were respectively commissioned by and performed at London’s Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral. In 2012, the Indianapolis Symphony commissioned and performed Hough’s own orchestration of Missa Mirabilis, which was subsequently performed by the BBC Symphony as part of Hough’s residency with the orchestra and recorded for Hyperion with the Colorado Symphony. Hough has also been commissioned by the musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic, London’s National Gallery, Wigmore Hall, Le Musée de Louvre and Musica Viva Australia among others and he has performed his two piano sonatas, Sonata No. 1 (broken branches) and Sonata No. 2 (notturno luminoso) on recital programs in London, New York, St. Paul and Chicago. A noted writer, Hough regularly contributes articles for The Guardian, The Times, The Tablet, Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine and wrote a blog for The Telegraph from 2008 to 2016, which became one of the most popular and influential forums for cultural discussion and for which he wrote more than 600 articles. His book, The Bible as Prayer, was published by Continuum and Paulist Press in 2007. Hough resides in London where he is a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music and holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at his alma mater, the Royal Northern College in Manchester. He is also a member of the faculty at The Juilliard School.
Hough Plays Beethoven Composer Mentor for Ode to the Future Robert Kyr Composer, writer and filmmaker Robert Kyr has produced a prolific body of music for instrumental and vocal ensembles, which is widely performed in this country and abroad. Recently, the American Academy of Arts and Letters recognized his work with an Arts and Letters Award, and his oratorio, Songs of the Soul, was named one of the “Best of 2014” by National Public Radio (NPR). Since 1990, Kyr has taught at the University of Oregon, where he is Philip H. Knight Professor of Music and chair of the composition department, and where he has developed a focused undergraduate and graduate curriculum that integrates the study of composition with theory and contemporary performance practice. The composition program at Oregon is presently one of the largest in the United States—a thriving community of 45 composers. He also directs the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, the Music Today Festival, and the Vanguard Concert and Workshop Series, all of which are devoted to the performance of new music by young composers. He holds degrees from Harvard (Ph.D.), University of Pennsylvania (M.A.), and Yale (B.A.).
The Wildish family is proud to sponsor an evening with Stephen Hough. Enjoy!
a musical journey
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Donor SPOTLIGHT The Conductor’s Cabinet
By Matthew McLaughlin, Chair of Conductor’s Cabinet and Board Member When I was asked to chair the Conductor’s Cabinet campaign to raise funds and community partners to provide the support and advocacy required to undertake an international Music Director Search, I was an immediate and thrilled YES! A Music Director is so much more than the person waving a stick at the orchestra while dancing to the music. A Music Director who earns the respect of his or her orchestra creates an amazing symphonic experience. A Music Director who also earns the respect and admiration of the community is one that helps the organization flourish. This selection process is vital to our organization, but even greater, to our entire community. The Eugene Symphony continues a rich history of one of the most thoughtful, engaged, and strategic search processes in our industry that has discovered some of the greatest conducting talent in the country. It has attracted the likes of Marin Alsop, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Giancarlo Guerrero, and now Danail Rachev. I’m sure our next conductor will be no less phenomenal, and it’s such an exciting time to take part in our future success story! The Conductor’s Cabinet is a group of 50 or so people who have contributed financially to our search process and who now have the opportunity to get to know the three finalists and help our future take shape. Once the new Music Director is chosen our cabinet volunteers will act as advocates and ambassadors, launching him or her into our community. The search requires this financial support to pay costs for conducting fees, travel, meetings, interviews, special events, and more. To carry out this critical process, the Symphony depends on the generosity of patrons to invest in the future with them.
This valuable relational and financial support will also act as an attractive recruitment tool, as prospective candidates will see firsthand the community support for him or her and their creative future in the region. On Wednesday, September 7, the Conductor’s Cabinet was the first to hear about the search progress and the finalists from the nationally recognized expert and Chair of our Music Director Search, Roger Saydack. When the three finalists are in Eugene, the Conductor’s Cabinet will have behind-the-scenes access and opportunities to share feedback directly with Roger and the Search Committee. Once the new Music Director has been selected, Conductor’s Cabinet members will have the privilege to welcome, advocate for, and connect our new leader into our community during his or her first season. I am thrilled to chair the Conductor’s Cabinet and to join with my fellow Board members and all the other Symphony volunteers, donors, and staff to ensure that we find a conductor with the creativity and leadership required for a strong and healthy legacy of music for our region, for generations to come. Though our Conductor’s Cabinet is fully enrolled, you can still get involved with this important process. The easiest way is to attend the three concerts that will be conducted by the finalists—on December 8, 2016, January 26 and March 16, 2017. Audience surveys will be distributed and the Search Committee will review your input. Thank you for your support of and interest in Eugene Symphony’s next Music Director! (Above, left to right) Conductor’s Cabinet Chair Matthew McLaughlin; the Cabinet learns about the Music Director finalists; Roger Saydack, Chair of the Music Director Search Committee.
Thank you, Conductor’s Cabinet members! Betty L. Soreng George & Kay Hanson Caroline Boekelheide Dave & Paula Pottinger Barbara & James Walker Diana G. Learner & Carolyn Simms Galina Groza Jack & Dondeana Brinkman Roger Saydack & Elaine Bernat
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Herb Merker & Marcy Hammock Matt Shapiro & Maylian Pak Mike Fox & Rebekah Lambert Paul Roth Ray & Cathie Staton Peter Gregg Terry West & Jack Viscardi Dave & Sherrie Kammerer Anne & Terry Carter
Niles & Mary Ann Hanson Philip & Sandra Piele Matthew McLaughlin Anonymous Laura Avery Leonard & Inge Tarantola Otto & Joanna Radke Dr. James & Jan Ward
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The Finalists: Who will be our next Music Director & Conductor?
Beyond the Podium Insights about the Eugene Symphony
By Scott Freck, Eugene Symphony Executive Director During my time in the wonderful world of orchestra administration, I’ve been involved in three searches for Music Directors. Each time, these experiences have been inspiring, challenging, and, most of all, exciting. It is an opportunity for the organization to look closely at its strongest assets, its desired areas for improvement, and carefully consider who will best take the artistic helm to lead it into continued success and growth. Eugene Symphony’s current search is perhaps the most exciting I’ve been around, because the legacy here for selecting Music Directors is quite remarkable in the industry. Each of the conductors who have come to Eugene have made their own mark and set the bar high. Most recently conductors like Marin Alsop, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and Giancarlo Guerrero have moved onto the national and international stage as leaders in the field. I, and many others, feel that Danail Rachev’s future is similarly bright. Roger Saydack, a Eugene lawyer and long-time Symphony patron chairing the Music Director Search Committee for the fifth time said recently, “The Eugene Symphony’s reputation, carried out into the music world by its previous Music Directors, has attracted the strongest pool of candidates we’ve ever seen here.” Roger is considered to be the industry authority on the subject, and authored the League of American Orchestras’ publication about Music Director searches. He continued, “It is so gratifying to see that the search process we have built over the past three decades is really paying off.”
This extensive international search has led the Search Committee to the following three finalists for our next Music Director & Conductor: • Dina Gilbert, currently Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in Canada; • Ryan McAdams, a respected symphonic, opera, and new music conductor; and • Francesco Lecce-Chong, who is Assistant Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. The finalists will conduct public, ticketed Symphonic series concerts as part of the 2016/17 “The Eugene Symphony’s reputation, carried out into the season. Gilbert, McAdams, and Lecce-Chong will lead music world by its previous Music Directors, has attracted the the orchestra on December strongest pool of candidates we’ve ever seen here.” 8, January 26, and March 16, — Roger Saydack, Music Director Search Committee Chair respectively. After each concert, audience members will have the And quite the search it has been so far! Beginning in March, opportunity to provide feedback to the Search Committee via the Search Committee—comprising five orchestra musicians, survey. The candidates will also meet with the Search Committee four members of the Board of Directors, and two community and the Board of Directors, and make appearances at community members—received more than 250 applications from groups throughout Eugene during their respective weeks in candidates in 44 countries around the world, and 33 different Oregon. US states plus the District of Columbia. Danail Rachev will conduct the other six Symphonic series After a diligent process of reviewing submissions, checking concerts this season with inspiring capstone programs. We references, viewing videos, and conducting phone interviews, the expect that a new Music Director will be announced by the committee narrowed the pool to nine semi-finalists who visited Board of Directors after Maestro Rachev’s final concert on May Eugene in late July and early August. During their in-person 11, 2017, and his successor will take the podium in July 2017. visits, candidates interviewed with the Search Committee and conducted a rehearsal reading with a chamber ensemble of (Continued on page 40) Eugene Symphony musicians.
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Beyond the Podium (Continued from page 39)
About the finalists and their concerts this season To make a fair test for each candidate, we chose a Mozart overture and a challenging 20th century instrumental concerto to accompany, and then left the rest of the program up to them. We asked them to consider repertoire that would fit within our season and make for a fully engaging and meaningful experience for both audience and orchestra, while at the same time presenting who they are as artists. All three finalists took the opportunity to heart, put a lot of thought into it, and built wonderfully different and interesting programs. DINA GILBERT Recognized for her energy, precision and versatility, Dina Gilbert brings great passion to the orchestral repertoire, and is also dedicated to conducting new commissions and works by Canadian composers. A native of Québec, she is the assistant conductor at the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since April 2013. In addition to frequently conducting rehearsals with the OSM, Gilbert leads the orchestra in many concerts, including main series subscription events, youth concerts and the annual OSM in the Parks concerts. Gilbert is also the founder and artistic director of Ensemble Arkea, a Montrealbased professional chamber orchestra that presents innovative interpretations of orchestral music. In 2012 she made her debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. In February 2014, she conducted the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Germany) as one of the selected participants in the prestigious Sir Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition. She has collaborated many times with young Canadian composers, premiering more than 30 works and has also conducted many studio recordings for films and video games soundtracks. December 8, 2016 | 8 PM | Hult Center Mozart: Overture to The Magic Flute Korngold: Violin Concerto (Elena Urioste, violin) Stravinsky: Petrouchka (1947 version) Dukas: The Sorceror’s Apprentice Dina created a colorful program chock full of storytelling. Mozart’s final opera The Magic Flute, is wildly inventive—what with a vengeful queen, high priests, bird people, and a dragon, you know you’re in for a good time—and the overture captures that fanciful spirit perfectly. Then, we hear the Violin Concerto by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, who may be the great 20th century composer you’ve probably never heard of. After starting his career as an opera composer in Vienna, he fled to Hollywood in the 1930s to escape the Nazis. There he helped create the classic film soundtrack sound and even won two Oscars. This concerto heralded his return to non-cinematic music in 1945, and it’s luscious, lyrical, and fiendishly difficult.
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DINA GILBERT
Up next, Dina added Stravinsky’s Petrouchka, the second of three ballet scores he wrote for the Ballets Russes in Paris. Two years later in 1913, he produced The Rite of Spring. The ballet is set at a fair, and the story revolves around a love triangle between three puppets. The title character is a clown, which is an archetypal figure in European puppetry (in English speaking countries he is known as Punch) and as you might know, it doesn’t end well for him. The music is highly descriptive and thoroughly original, and also very difficult for the orchestra. Some in the audience might remember that it was part of the Music Director search concerts in 2002 when Giancarlo Guerrero was hired. To end the program, Dina chose Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Another great storytelling piece, this one is based on a poem by Goethe, and was made famous in 1940 by Walt Disney’s Fantasia. Who can forget poor Mickey Mouse bewitching those broomsticks to carry all of that water around? In all, this will be an engaging evening, and I think it’s a nice touch that our French-Canadian conductor included some French music on her program. RYAN McADAMS A resident of Brooklyn, New York, Ryan McAdams received his M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from The Juilliard School in 2006, and a B.M. in Piano Performance from Indiana University in 2004. He is quickly establishing himself as a prized symphonic, operatic, and contemporary music conductor. In February 2010, he made a highly successful subscription European debut with the orchestra of the Maggio Musicale in Florence and led the
EUGENE SYMPHONY
RYAN McADAMS
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, with soloists Julian Rachlin and Mischa Maisky, in September 2010. His subscription debut with the Israel Philharmonic, replacing an indisposed Raphael Frühbeck de Burgos, was hailed as “extraordinary,” “masterful,” and “immense[ly] dramatic” by the Jerusalem Post; a live recording of the concert was released by the IPO on the Helicon Classics label. He has returned to the Israel Philharmonic twice since, most recently in a run of performances featuring concerti with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and Orff ’s Carmina Burana. A Fulbright scholar, he previously served as Apprentice Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, assisting then-Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert. McAdams is the first-ever recipient of the Sir Georg Solti Emerging Conductor Award. January 26, 2017 | 8 PM | Hult Center Mozart: Overture to Don Giovanni Barber: Piano Concerto (Andrew von Oeyen, piano) Brahms: Symphony No. 1 Ryan’s program opens with the Overture to Don Giovanni, Mozart’s most dramatic and serious opera from 1787. The foreboding opening gives way to enchanting and sure-footed music—this is Mozart at the peak of his powers. Then, we’ll hear Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto, which premiered in 1962 at the opening of Philharmonic Hall in New York, which of course was later Avery Fisher Hall and now David Geffen Hall. The piece won the Pulitzer Prize the next year. Its outer movements are electric and diabolical, while the middle movement is a canzona, essentially a song without words, which is perfectly fitting for one
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FRANCESCO LECCE-CHONG
of the 20th century’s great writers for the voice. Ryan chose to close the program with Brahms’s Symphony No. 1. Music history’s great late bloomer, Brahms didn’t write a string quartet until 40, and didn’t write a symphony until he was 43. In fact, at 39, he said “I shall never write a symphony—you can’t have any idea what it’s like to hear such a giant marching behind you.” (He was referring to Beethoven, of course.) Brahms persevered and worked on the piece for 14 years, and it was worth the wait. It’s arguably the greatest first symphony ever written, and it’ll make a musically substantive test for Ryan and the orchestra. FRANCESCO LECCE-CHONG American conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong, a native of Boulder, Colorado, has worked with orchestras around the world including engagements with the National Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He currently holds the positions of Assistant Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. Previously, Lecce-Chong served as Associate Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Grand Teton Music Festival. Lecce-Chong holds a Bachelor of Music degree with honors in piano and orchestral conducting graduate from the Mannes College of Music, and a diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied as a Martin and Sarah Taylor Fellow with Otto-Werner Mueller. (Continued on page 42)
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Beyond the Podium (Continued from page 41) March 16, 2017 | 8 PM | Hult Center Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No. 1 Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3 (Kuok-Wai Lio, piano) Mozart: Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio R. Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier (1945 version) Francesco moved the overture that we had chosen to open the program to the second half, creating a beautifully structured and brilliantly paced concert. He opted to begin with Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1, one of many works of music based on the Faust legend, including several by Liszt himself (to say nothing of the large dramatic work by Berlioz on our April 2017 program). This set of music is based on a different version of Faust by the poet Nikolaus Lenau, and this scene depicts Mephistopheles luring Faust to a village inn, where Mephistopheles entrances all of the villagers by playing a waltz on a violin. Following Liszt is another Hungarian-born composer, Bela Bartók. His Piano Concerto No. 3 is his last completed concerto, and its outer movements are virtuosic and bubbling, while the tender second movement is marked Andante religioso. Toward the end he included literal transcriptions of birdsong he heard while convalescing in Asheville, North Carolina, and the result is mesmerizing. At the start of the second half of Francesco’s program, that’s where we’ll hear Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio, the second oldest of his operas that are staged today. The opera is set in a harem in Turkey, which we hear vividly through
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the use of exotic percussion instruments such as cymbals and triangle—believe it not, they were exotic in 18th-century Vienna! To complete the program, Francesco closes with Strauss’s Suite from Der Rosenkavalier. In 1910, Strauss was the most famous and wealthy musician on the planet. He had shocked the world with Salome and Elektra, both of which are psychologically dark and disturbing. To follow them up he turned to the past and wrote his version of a musical comedy. The plot isn’t a million miles from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, with those old operatic standby devices, mistaken identity and a woman playing a man dressing up as a woman. Strauss’s inclusion of waltzes in Rosenkavalier also recalls an earlier time, but it still has Strauss’s soaring melodies and resplendent orchestration. Again, this is a wonderfully entertaining and meaningful program, and a great opportunity for us to learn about the chemistry between conductor and orchestra. I am tremendously eager to hear these programs and to witness the finalists conduct our orchestra—I hope you are, too! It’s an exciting time for not only the Symphony, but also the greater Eugene community, as we discover who will be next to lead our orchestra into the future. I invite you to help us complete the last part of our search process by attending these concerts and sharing your perceptions of the finalists. Enjoy the journey with us!
EUGENE SYMPHONY
On That Note On That Note introduces a member of the orchestra. This issue features Principal Trombone Henry Henniger, who joined the orchestra in 2012. How long have you been playing music? I’ve been playing the trombone since the fifth grade. That’s about 25 years! Why did you decide to play the trombone? The trombone picked me. I wanted to play saxophone because I thought it looked cool. Then the day we got to pick our instrument I was called last in the raffle. The only instrument left was a crusty old trombone called, “the Dude.” So after I got over my saxophone sadness, I started discovering the trombone. When you’re not playing your trombone, what would we most likely find you doing? I would be having fun with my family. My wife and I have three boys ages nine, six, and three. They keep us very busy! I’d also be working in my garden or woodworking in the garage. What are you most looking forward to playing in the 51st season and why? The repertoire this season is huge! I can’t pick
...with Henry Henniger
just one but Mahler’s 6th and Alpine Symphony are two of my favorites that I’m really looking forward to. Where is your favorite place on the planet and why? Anywhere outdoors. I love camping, hiking, fishing, and mountain biking. You’re a professor at University of Oregon. What’s your favorite part about teaching? I love helping students to improve and seeing them change into a young professional in their field. I also really enjoy getting to know each student. Musician or composer you wish you had known personally, and why? I would have liked to have known Berlioz or at least see him work. He created such epic music for the time he lived. As a brass player it’s always fun to perform his music. Red, white, stout, hoppy or none of the above? I’m definitely more of a beer drinker than wine. We are so lucky to live next to Hop Valley! It’s one of my favorite breweries. What do you think some audience members might find surprising about you? For a while I tried to grow the world’s largest pumpkin. No, I’m serious! I never made it happen though. It takes a lot of time and devotion to grow super-big pumpkins, not to mention space in your garden. The biggest one I grew was just under 300 pounds. Do you have any other exciting life endeavors you’d like to share? Someday I would like to get certified to SCUBA dive!
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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Scenes from Offstage
(Top row) Nearly 2,000 people gathered for Eugene Symphony’s summer concert on July 18 at Cottage Grove’s Bohemia Park. (Middle row) At the Eugene summer concert on July 16, a young boy tries out the flute with guidance at the Instrument Petting Zoo (IPZ). The IPZ comes to the Hult Center’s outdoor plaza on a hot August day, and two girls experiment with brass instruments. Biking onlookers enjoyed the Symphony Connect brass quintet led by Dave Bender at Island Park as part of Willamalane’s summer concert series on August 17. (Bottom row) At the Roseburg summer concert on August 19, the audience tripled in size compared to 2015 with more than 3,000 attendees! A family kicks back to enjoy the eighth-annual Eugene summer concert at Cuthbert Amphitheater.
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ASSOCIATE MEMBER: $60–124 Invitation to Association Annual Meeting
OUR PROGRAMS AND PERFORMANCES ARE NOT ONLY FOR YOU, THEY ARE POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF YOU.
Ticket sales cover less than 50% of the operating costs to support our musicians and performances. Whether you are able to give $10, $100, $1,000, or $10,000, every gift makes a difference and ensures our symphony can keep playing for you, your neighbor, and the next generation. Your gift also supports Eugene Symphony’s community engagement and music education programs, extending our reach to allow more than 20,000 children and adults experience the joy of music. MAKE A GIFT
TODAY!
Contact Sara Mason, Development Director 541-687-9487 x104 | sara.mason@eugenesymphony.org
Annual season brochure Notice of special events
SYMPHONY MEMBER: $125–249 All of the above, plus: Season program magazine recognition
SUSTAINING MEMBER: $250–499 All of the above, plus: Invitation to a dress rehearsal event
BENEFACTOR: $500–999 All of the above, plus:
Invitation to one post-concert reception Voucher redeemable for two regular Symphonic series concert tickets
CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE: $1,000–2,499 All of the above, plus: Invitation to two dress rehearsals Access to Conductor’s Circle priority subscription seating Opportunity to sponsor a section musician for a season ($1,500 and above)
FOUNDERS SOCIETY: $2,500+ THE ENCORE SOCIETY Leave a Legacy The Encore Society recognizes loyal Symphony patrons who have chosen to include the Eugene Symphony and/or Eugene Symphony Endowment in their bequests or other charitable giving plans. Encore Society members receive special benefits and invitations. For more information, contact Sara Mason, Development Director.
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
All of the above, plus: Donors receive exclusive benefits, such as an invitation to a reception with Maestro Rachev and special recitals by Symphony musicians, and access to Founders Club receptions at all performances.
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F ou n d e rs S ociety of the Eugene Symphony
The Eugene Symphony Founders Society is a group of donors who have made an extraordinary and profound commitment to the Symphony with an annual contribution of $2,500 or more. We are proud to acknowledge our Founders Society members whose gifts have strengthened our onstage, community engagement, and music education programs. For more information on the Founders Society, its benefits, and how to join, please contact Development Director Sara Mason at sara.mason@eugenesymphony.org or 541-687-9487, x104, or visit our website at eugenesymphony.org. *Denotes a gift to the Conductor’s Cabinet Campaign
PLATINUM PATRONS | $25,000 – $49,999 Nathan & Marilyn Cammack Mira Frohnmayer & The Estate of Marcia Baldwin
Eugene Symphony Guild Marie Jones & Suzanne Penegor Niles & Mary Ann Hanson*
Betty L. Soreng Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation*
GOLD PATRONS | $10,000 – $24,999 Keyhan & Lauren Aryah Dennis & Janet Beetham Natalie & Zack Blalack Caroline Boekelheide*
Elaine Twigg Cornett & Zane J Cornett The Haugland Family Foundation David & Sherrie Kammerer* David & Paula Pottinger*
James & Jane Ratzlaff Dr. Matthew Shapiro & Maylian Pak* Ray & Cathie Staton* Terry West & Jack Viscardi* Barbara & James Walker*
SILVER PATRONS | $5,000 – $9,999 Anonymous* (2) Warren & Kathy Barnes Robert & Friedl Bell Jack & Dondeana Brinkman* Marci Daneman G. Burnette Dillon & Louise Di Tullio Irene Gerlinger Swindells Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Pamela Graves
Peter Gregg* Galina Groza* George & Kay Hanson* Ms. Chris K. Johnson Marilyn Kays Mike Fox & Rebekah Lambert* Matthew McLaughlin* Herb Merker & Marcy Hammock* Meg Mitchell
Donald Gudehus & Gloria Page Otto & Joanna Radke* Paul Roth* Martha B. Russell Subfund of the Arts Foundation of Western Oregon Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Chris Walton & Elizabeth Sheehan Dunny & Debbie Sorensen Leonard & Inge Tarantola* Charles Zachem
BRONZE PATRONS | $2,500 – $4,999 Anonymous (2) Joseph & Margaret Adelsberger Marin Alsop Laura Avery* Kent Barkhurst Joanne Berry Ruby Brockett Susan Butler Anne & Terry Carter* Deborah Carver & John Pegg Elizabeth Chambers William & Karla Chambers Jeff & Julie Collins Jana & Mark Cox Edna P. DeHaven Ray & Libby Englander Susan & Greg Fitz-Gerald
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Kevin Forsythe & Elizabeth Tippett Scott & Leslie Anderson Freck Bill & Judy Freck Lynn Frohnmayer Dennis & Nancy Garboden Susan K. Gilmore & Phyllis J. Brown Verda M. Giustina Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Giancarlo Guerrero Elizabeth & Roger Hall Miguel Harth-Bedoya & Marita Caceres de Harth-Bedoya Lin & Don Hirst Starly Hodges John & Robin Jaqua Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Hugh & Janet Johnston Jeannette Kimball
Jim & Janet Kissman Deborah Lewis Larson Diana G. Learner & Carolyn Simms* Michael Lewis & Martha MacRitchie Laura Parrish & Richard Matteri Duncan & Jane Eyre McDonald Thomas & Loren Mohler James & Marilyn Murdock Philip & Sandra Piele* Arden Olson & Sharon Rudnick Danail Rachev & Elizabeth Racheva Roger Saydack & Elaine Bernat* Heinz & Susan Selig Sandra Weingarten & Ryan Darwish Dr. James & Jan Ward* Jim & Sally Weston John & Emilie York
EUGENE SYMPHONY
Season Partners The Eugene Symphony extends a special thanks to the individual, corporate, and foundation partners whose generosity and commitment to the arts in our community keep the music playing throughout our season.
CONCERT SPONSORS
The Haugland Family Foundation
GUEST ARTIST SPONSORS Umpqua Bank Skeie’s Jewelers
Chvatal Orthodontics Eugene-Irkutsk Sister City Committee
Wildish Companies
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SPONSORS Kernutt Stokes Ferguson Wellman The Gilmore Agency
Oakmont Family Dental Euro-Asian Automotive M. Jacobs Fine Furniture, Inc.
Eugene Airport The Office of John E. Villano, DDS
IN-KIND SEASON SPONSORS Dot Dotsons Hilton Eugene
The Broadway Wine Merchants Marché
Oregon Electric Station
SPECIAL THANKS TO... City of Eugene/Hult Center for the Performing Arts Framin’ Artworks
Partnered Solutions IT Kesey Interprises JLN Design
Amanda Smith Photography Technaprint
FOUNDATION PARTNERS The Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation
Herbert A.Templeton Foundation
The Silva Endowment Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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Season Supporters The Eugene Symphony extends our heartfelt thanks to the individuals, corporations, and foundations that have made generous contributions this season. Your support and generosity help keep the arts flourishing in our community. Conductor’s Circle ($1,000–$2,499) Anonymous (2) Kevin & Irene Alltucker Frank & Dorothy Anderson Virginia P. Anderson Ted & Marie Baker Louise Bishop & James Earl Karl & Linda Anonymous Shawn & Melva Boles John & Christa Brombaugh Delpha Camp Robert & Kathleen Carolan Harriet Cherry & John Leavens Norma F. Cole Edwin & June Cone Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation
J. Glenn & Ellen A. Cougill Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Carol Crumlish John & Linda Cummens Paul & Vivian Day Dieter & Juanita Engel John & Jo Fisher Robert & Violet Fraser Sam Fryefield Judson Parsons & Diana Gardener Shirley J. Hawkins Lisa A. Hawley William & Barbara Hemphill Monica Careaga Houck Ellen Hyman
Joanne Johnson Allan & Dorothy Kays Charles & Reida Kimmel Eunice Kjaer Steve & Cyndy Lane Nena Lovinger Bob & Brenda Macherione John & Ethel MacKinnon Gary P. Marcus Darian & Karen Morray John & Barbara Mundall Searmi Park Suzanne Penegor Hope Pressman David & Jane Pubols John Quilter
James & Connie Regali Diane & Greg Retallack Nancy Oft & Mike Rose Mike & Sheila Schwartz John & Betty Siebs Ellis & Lucille Sprick Martha J. Steward Bradley Stewart Andy Storment Cathye Tritten Phyllis Villec Jack & Mary Lee Ward John & Sandy Watkinson Jim & Yvonne Wildish Louise Wiprud Marguerite Zolman
Mary Forestieri Gary J. LeClair & Janice R. Friend Mary Gent Michael & Janet Harbour James Harper David Hattenhauer Ronald & Cecilia Head Lucille P. Heitz Sandra Hicks Judith Horstmann & Howard Bonnett Joseph Hudzikiewicz Ty Huling Ronald & Donna Ivanoff Mandy Jones Carolyn Kortage Doris Kuehn Lynda Lanker Kaye Lefrancq Andrew Lewinter Donald Holst & Kathy Locurto Lois Long John & Patricia Lorimer
Mark & Denise Lyon Sara & David Mason Robert & Barbara Maurer Robert & Colleen McKee Glenn Meares & Marty McGee Mary Mercier Bonita Merten Lee & Mary Jean Michels Dan & Linda Montgomery Mary Ann Moore Boyd & Natalie Morgan Alexander Murphy & Susan Gary Christian & Betsy Nielsen Peace Health Medical Group Dr. Richard & Kristina Padgett Theodore & Laramie Palmer Mary Breiter & Scott Pratt In memory of Britta Putjenter Joyce Pytkowicz Marjory Ramey Karol & Ellen Richard Thomas Ripp Jim & Paula Salerno
Jane Scheidecker Annie Schmidt Roberta Singer Judy Sobba Brad & Coleen Stangeland Craig Starr & Sandra Scheetz Jim Steinberger & Joyce Gardner Steinberger Jason Tavakolian & Jennifer Lamberg Jeff & Linda Taylor Charitable Fund Carol Thibeau John & Renate Tilson Jean Tuesday Pierre & Mary Lou Van Rysselberghe Dave Veldhuizen & Roanne Bank Peter & Josephine Von Hippel Hilda H. Whipple Pamela Whyte & Ron Saylor Harry & Connie Wonham Candice Woyak Brandon Julio & Haydn Zhang
Joan Bayliss & Irwin Noparstak Sara Bergsund Laird & Ronnie Black Leonard & Janet Calvert Frank & Nancy Carlton Ernest Chizinski Barry Cooper & Beth Valentine Don-Lee Davidson James & Hannah Dean
Marilyn Deaton Michael Drennan Peter Edberg & Bryna Goodman David & Jean Fenton Pat Flake Ninkasi Brewing Robert Foster David Foulkes & Nancy Kerr Dorothy Frear
Benefactors ($500–$999) Anonymous Gil & Roberta Achterhof Carmen Bayley Jeff & Nancy Beckwith Joyce Benjamin Ron & Janet Bertucci Lauren Bird-Wiser Carl Bjerre & Andrea Coles-Bjerre John Blackburn Jim & Joanna Branvold Bill & Lynn Buskirk Ellen Campbell George & Fanny Carroll Mary Clayton Allan & Nancy Coons Hiett & Caron Cooper Roger Coulter David & Priscilla Croft Wendy Dame & Don Doerr Stephen & Francoise Durrant John Etter Jane & Latham Flanagan, MD McClure Associates
Sustaining Members ($250–$499) Anonymous (2) Mardi Abbott Liz Alcott St. Clair Raychel Kolen & Paul Allen Brian & Laurel Allender Howard Anderson & Susan Rutherford Tony Anthony & Christine Shirley Vernon Arne
Robert H. Horner & Polly Ashworth John Attig & Marilyn Warner Fran Aversa Roger & Lela Aydelott Robert Baechtold Landa & Doug Baily Don Baldwin Loren C. Barlow
This listing is current as of September 12, 2016. Every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. If your name has been inadvertently omitted or incorrectly listed, please accept our apologies and contact Ashley Petsch at ashley.petsch@eugenesymphony.org. Thank you for your generosity.
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
Season Supporters Sustaining Members ($250–$499) David & Deena Frosaker Barbara Gates Robert Gilberts & Pat Candeaux Gilberts Sylvia Giustina Roger Guthrie & Nancy Golden Mary Grinage David Guy Mary Globus & Gary Harris Erwin & Vicki Haussler David & Donna Hawkins Web & Belinda Hayward Jim & Judith Hendrickson Dr. Richard & Judith Hicks Ken Higgins David & Marcia Hilton Harold & Martha Hockman Sara Hodges Lewis & Sandra Horne Robert Huffman & Mary Miller James & Helen Jackson Lyman & Judith Johnson Benton Johnson
Kaye Johnston Peter & Jane Kay Tim & Linda King John & Muriel Kurtz William Langdon Teresa & William Lewis Richard & Jacquie Litchfield Doug & Diane Livermore Bert Lund Stephen & Clari McDermott Doug McKay A. Dean & Lucille McKenzie Joseph & Xandra McKeown Michael Milstein Jack & Barbara Miner Dr. Jeffrey Morey & Gail Harris Gerald Morgan Jon & Barb Morgan George & Cheryl Morris John P. Munson Jane Murphy Janet Van Nada Diane Vandehey-Neale
Ninkasi Brewing Heather Nolle David & Anne O’Brien Harold & Joyce Owen William Pfeffer Nathan & Robin Phillips Guntis & Mara Plesums Dave & Linda Pompel Jane & Kenn Poznar Camilla Pratt Nancy Reed Dwyane & Bette Rice Joe & Marian Richards Scott Ricker & Mary Gleason-Ricker Linda & Tom Roe Gerald & Marcia Romick Royce & Phyllis Saltzman Norman & Barbara Savage Douglas & Shirley Schaaf Richard & Karen Scheeland Karen Seidel Donald Seiveno
Betty Lou Snyder Lynn Soderberg Dave & Dorothy Soper Howard & Sharon Speer Kenneth & Kathleen Springate Ginny Starr Jane Stephens Tom Stevens & Flo Delaney Gerald & Heidi Stolp Tim & Ann Straub David Stuck & Janis Sellers-Stuck John & Carol Sullivan John & Margaret Thomas Hubert John & Linda Kay Van Peenen Dusty & Sam Wellborn Debbie Wetle Terry & Lucy White Forrest & Anna Williams Tom & Tina Williams Robert & Patricia Wilson Kelly B. Wolf JoAnn Zinniker Alex Zunterstein
Alan & Martha Kimball Betty Kjeldgaard Martha & Sergio Koreisha Edward Lawry & Sandra Wu Dr. Mark & Marie Litchman Janet Logan & William Oakley Jeff & Luanne Lynn Barbara J. McCarty David & Doris McKee Sara Brownmiller & Milo Mecham Anthony J. Meyer & Joan Claffey Rose Marie Moffitt John & Shanna Molitor John & Cheryl Moore Beth Moore & Lorne Bigley Kenneth & Jackie Murdoff Duncan & Saundra Murray William & Margaret Nagel Carol Nylander Richard J. O’Brien Dr. Jay & Mary C. O’Leary Diane Ostergaard Catherine Page & David Johnson Dorothy Parrott James & Susan Pelley Ashley Petsch Randy Prince Andrzej Wieckowski & Teresa Prussak-Wieckowska Michael Racine Tyler Radke Lloyd & Marilyn Rawlings Helen M. Reed Troy & Kathryn Richey Bernard & Ginger Bopp
Daniel & Kay Robinhold Ron Wallace & Elizabeth Rogers-Wallace Kelli Rosen Sally Ann Ross Dick Ruf Robert S. Russell Michael Russo Madeline Santoyo Gregory Schultz Jeffrey & Rena Segebartt Kim & Tim Sheehan Mike Shippey & Mary Minniti Marty & Mary Lou Smith Joanne & John Soper Phoebe Staples Barry & Marilyn Stenberg Charles & Yvonne Stephens Maria & Delmar Storment Wayne & Leslie Taubenfeld Susan & Bahram Tavakolian Betty Taylor Edward Teague Addie Vandehey Janet Van Nada Kent & Gail Waggoner Jerry & Janet Walsh Gerald Webking Barrie & Lois Wells Mary Ellen West Ted & Leslie West Dina Wills & Rev. D. Bjorn Olson Donald Wisely V. Gerald & Ann Woeste Thomas & Mariol Wogaman Ness Zolan & Emily Levy
Symphony Members ($125–$249) Anonymous (2) Chuck Adams Patricia Ahlen Lucille Allsen Don & Marianne Anderson Robert & Margie Anderson Susan Archbald Gerry Aster Sue Bach Jim & Helen Ball William & Alice Beckett Lawrence & Margaret Bellinger David & Judith Berg Richard & Betsy Berg John & Lucy Bigelow Jack Birky Gerald & Patricia Bradley Bill Brandt Robert & Patricia Brasch Jack & Toni Brown The Kiva Norma & Stanley Bryan Susan Burke & Clive Thomas Michael Burkhardt Amy Jo Butler Windermere Jean Tate Real Estate Gary & Carole N. Chenkin Vicki Ingram & Patti Cook David Correll Mark & Anne Dean John DeWenter & Dorothy Velasco Cynthia Dickinson Marion Diermayer & Peter Kosek Lisa Dodd Alex Dracobly & Julie Hessler
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
Phillip Duchemin Dr. John & Virginia Dunphy Robert & JoAnn Ellis James Ellison & Julie Aspinwall-Lamberts Darian & Edward Fadeley Gary Ferrington Margot Fetz Virginia Fifield Paul & Jean Frantz Charles & Barbara Ganzel George & Lynn Gibson Carole Gillett Elizabeth G. Glover Edward & Ann Gordon Gerald & Lynda Green George & Susan Greenwald David & Lois Hagen Sandy Harland Tim Harrow Gale & Rosemary Hatleberg Carmen Hayes Ralph & Anne Haynes Andrew & Marilyn Hays Morley Hegstrom Phyllis Helland & Raymond Morse Holly Helton & Peter Gallagher Dale Derby & Ingrid Horvath Ardis N. Hughes Allen Jablonski Stephen Jones Liz & Greg Gill Ronald & Sylvia Kaufman Lilliane & Edward Kemp Robert Kendall
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Season Supporters Memorial Funds
Foundation Support
The Eugene Symphony would like to express our appreciation to those who have given, in the spirit of remembrance, to the following memorial funds.
The Eugene Symphony is grateful to the following foundations for their generous support in helping us to craft a community and culture that celebrates the arts.
Marcia Baldwin Chandler Barkelew Phyllis Barkhurst Constance Mae Beckley Norma Jean Bennett Donald Bick Valentina Bilan Bert Evans Laurel Fisher Diane Foley Dave Frohnmayer Jean Glausi Marilyn Graham Ilene Hershner Gorgie Hofma
Gilbert Stiles Avery III Bruce Kilen Melvin Lindley Donald Lytle Milton Madden Billie Newman Jack Pyle John A. Schellman Jane Schmidt Dr. John A. Siebs John Siebs Jan Stafl, MD Mary TIbbetts Richard (Dick) G. Williams Barbara Wolfe
American Federation of Musicians, Local 689 The Chambers Family Foundation The Collins Foundation The Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation National Endowment for the Arts The Haugland Family Foundation Nils & Jewel Hult Endowment – Arts Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation The Silva Endowment Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation James F. & Marion L Miller Foundation Oregon Arts Commission Oregon Cultural Trust Oregon Community Foundation Herbert A. Templeton Foundation
Zen is to have the heart and soul of a little child. — Takuan
Award Winning Arborists
541-461-1737
Supporting the Eugene Symphony since 1997
A B C D E F G H I
K
M
O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
D E S I G N
Graphic Design | Marketing Communications | Social Media 541.484.0651 Copywriting/Editing | Art Direction | Website Design jln@jlndesign.com
Jerril L. Nilson | jln@jlndesign.com | 541.484.0651
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
The Eugene Symphony is profoundly grateful to our endowment donors for their vision and commitment to ensuring audiences will continue to enjoy the Symphony for generations to come. Crescendo Society The Crescendo Society is composed of donors who have made gifts of cash, stocks, other cash equivalent gifts, or Charitable Trusts. Anonymous Gil & Laura Avery Laura Maverick Graves Avery Harp Chair Laura Avery Visiting Masters Program Dr. John Bascom Joanne Berry Anne Boekelheide Caroline & Virgil Boekelheide Bill & Barbara Bowerman Nathan & Marilyn Cammack Carter & Carter Financial, Inc. Estate of Adeline Cassettari Carolyn S. Chambers The Phil Cass Memorial Fund Bruce Harlan Clark Crow Farm Foundation Dimmer Family Foundation Clyde & Mardell Quam Family Chair Anna Mae Esslinger The Eugene Symphony Guild The Bob Gray Family Bob Gray Chair Bob Gray Recognition Fund Estate of Lois J. Greenwood Peter Gregg Estate of Marguerite Grundig Niles & Mary Ann Hanson Miguel Harth-Bedoya Fund Rosaria P. Haugland Foundation James L. Hershner Memorial Fund Dr. & Mrs. George Hughes
Gina Ing Spirit Fund Gina Ing David & Sherrie Kammerer Edward W. Kammerer Memorial Fund Marilyn Kays James & Janet Kissman Estate of Hervey E. Klusmire Esther Klusmire Estate of Amelia Krieg Estate of Clarice Krieg Liberty Bank Estate of Helen Elizabeth Lilja Lorry I. Lokey Donor Fund Silicon Valley Community Foundation Trish & Keith McGillivary Dory Lea McGillivary Memorial Fund Mel & Carol Mead Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation National Endowment for the Arts Estate of Dan Pavillard Stuart & Joan Rich Roger Saydack & Elaine Bernat The Phil Cass Memorial Fund Georgianne & Ken Singer Mrs. Ray Siegenthaler Dunny & Debbie Sorensen Ray & Cathie Staton Gordon & Zdenka Tripp James & Sally Weston Wildish Family Mr. & Mrs. Douglas Walwyn
Estate of Margaret Willard Tom & Carol Williams Lolette Willis Memorial Fund Harry Wolcott Dena Gregg Memorial Fund Christine Barreto Bob & Frield Bell Gunhild Bertheau Caitriona Bolster Robert E. Christiansen Mike Curtis & Annalisa Morton Carol & John Dinges Annalisa Hiler Margaret Knudsen Josephine Markland Mary McCarty Geraldine Ota & Hal Finkelstein Gary Purpura John & Ruth Talbot Paul Winberg & Bruce Czuchna Alan Yordy Marin Alsop Fund for Artistic and Administrative Excellence Anonymous Jerry & Mary Blakely Helen & Kenneth Ghent Helmuth & Marguerite Grundig Dan Pavillard Wally Prawicki Betty & John Soreng
Encore Society The Encore Society is composed of donors who have created their legacy of music and the arts by including the Eugene Symphony and/or the Eugene Symphony Endowment Fund in their wills, trusts, or other estate plans. Anonymous (3) Barbara Aster Gilbert S. Avery, III John & Ruth Bascom Marjorie Beck Trust
Joanne Berry The Brockett Family Dr. & Mrs. John Cockrell (Irrevocable Trust) Julie Collis
Ray Englander Starly Kathryn Friar (Irrevocable Trust) Jo-Anne Flanders Ed & Ann Gordon
Ms. Chris K. Johnson Dan & Gloria Lagalo Theodore & Monica Nicholas Wally Prawicki Sandra Weingarten Harry Wolcott Estate
Steinway Maintenance Society The Eugene Symphony extends sincere thanks to those who have joined the Steinway Maintenance Society to create an endowed fund to ensure that the “Pavillard” Steinway D Concert Grand is properly insured, stored, and maintained.
Leave a legacy that provides the joy of music for future generations. Please remember the Eugene Symphony in your will or trust. For information about planned gifts or gifts to the Endowment Fund, contact Sara Mason at sara.mason@eugenesymphony.org or 541-687-9487, x104 or visit our website at eugenesymphony.org.
SEPTEMBER–NOVEMBER 2016
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Eugene Symphony
eugenesymphony.org Tel 541-687-9487, Fax 541-687-0527 115 West 8th Avenue, Suite 115, Eugene, OR 97401
EUGENE SYMPHONY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EUGENE SYMPHONY STAFF
Matthew Shapiro, President David Pottinger, Vice President & President Elect
Danail Rachev, Music Director and Conductor Scott Freck, Executive Director Courtney Glausi, Executive Operations Assistant
Cathie Staton, Secretary Warren Barnes, Treasurer Dunny Sorensen, Past President
DIRECTORS Carolyn Abbott Zachary Blalack Deborah Carver Julie Collins Raymond N. Englander Mary Ann Hanson David Kammerer Sylvia Kaufman Stephanie Pearl Kimmel Sarah Maggio Jane Eyre McDonald
Matthew McLaughlin Trieber Meador Meg Mitchell Arden Olson Laura Parrish Joanna Radke Paul Roth Michael Vergamini Jack Viscardi Sean Wagoner Barbara Walker Sandra Weingarten
DIRECTORS EMERITUS Phil Cass, Jr. Carolyn S. Chambers
Betty Soreng David Ogden Stiers
EUGENE SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION PAST BOARD PRESIDENTS
1965–1972 Orval Etter 1972–1973 Charles Williams 1973–1975 Thad Elvigion 1975–1977 Nancy Coons 1977–1978 Oscar S. Strauss 1978–1980 Nancy Coons 1980–1981 Janet Johnston 1981–1982 Judy Hicks 1982–1984 Janet Johnston 1984–1986 George “Duffy” Hughes 1986–1988 Ruby Brockett
1988–1991 James Forbes 1991–1993 John Watkinson 1993–1995 Georgiann Beaudet 1995–1997 Clark Compton 1997–1999 Gary Grinage 1999–2002 John Watkinson 2002–2003 Gil Achterhof 2003–2006 David Kammerer 2006–2012 Mary Ann Hanson 2012–2015 Dunny Sorensen
ARTISTIC Lindsay Pearson, General Manager Thor Mikesell, Interim Operations Manager Hanya Etter, Librarian Sharon Paul, Chorus Director Amy Adams, Chorus Manager Bill Barnett, Recording Engineer Rick Carter, Piano Technician DEVELOPMENT Sara Mason, Development Director Ashley Petsch, Donor Relations Manager Susanna Brown, Development Intern EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Mollibeth Cox, Education & Community Engagement Director Sarah Kim, Education & Community Engagement Intern FINANCE Jana Cox, Finance and Administrative Director Cassandra Frickey, Accounting Associate Kaye Johnston & Heather Nolle, Volunteer Coordinators MARKETING Lindsey K. McCarthy, Marketing Director Josh Francis, Marketing Coordinator and Program Magazine Advertising Sales Manager
Season Design: Cricket Design Works Program Magazine Design/Production: JLN Design, Jerril Nilson Advertising: josh.francis@eugenesymphony.org, 541.687.9487, ext.115
ENDOWMENT FUND OF THE EUGENE SYMPHONY TRUSTEES
Silva Chambers David Hawkins, Chair Varner J. Johns III
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Suzanne Penegor John Watkinson
The Eugene Symphony is a resident company of the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. Support provided by the City of Eugene.
EUGENE SYMPHONY
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