Francesco Lecce-Chong, Music Director & Conductor
SEASON
PROGRAM MAGAZINE 1
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
OPENING NIGHT SEPT 27
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
Contents September – November 2018 23 Our 53rd Season
CONCERTS 19 Opening Night September 27 Sponsored by
opens on September 27 with cellist Julie Albers performing Bloch’s Schelomo.
Oregon Eye Consultants
27 Bernstein & Beethoven October 18 Sponsored by
The Haugland Family Foundation
41 Youth Concert: Meet the Orchestra! November 13 Sponsored by
Marie Jones & Suzanne Penegor
43 Birds of a Feather November 15 Sponsored by
Zachary Blalack – Ameriprise Financial
FEATURES 15 On That Note 38 Key of E[ducation] 50 Donor Spotlight ON STAGE AND OFF 11 Welcome 13 Conductor 14 Orchestra Roster 16 Calendar 49 Scenes from Offstage 51 Support the Symphony 52 Founders Society 53 53rd Season Partners 54 Thank You to Our Supporters 59 Endowment Fund 60 Board of Directors and Administrative Staff
27 On October 18,
Francesco leads the orchestra in Bernstein’s iconic Second Symphony, “The Age of Anxiety.”
47 Contemporary ensemble Eighth Blackbird
performs Jennifer Higdon’s On a Wire with the orchestra on November 15.
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
Welcome September – November 2018 Greetings all! I am thrilled to welcome you to the Eugene Symphony’s 2018/19 season! While this is my second season as Music Director, this season’s programs are the very first that I have curated for us to explore together. They feature works and composers that have deep personal meaning for me, and that I have been waiting for years to showcase. I hope this season will bring you meaningful experiences through great pillars from the repertoire, such as Verdi’s Requiem, lesser-known gems like Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony, and modern-day classics like John Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony. This fall, we celebrate the centennial year of Leonard Bernstein, who was undoubtedly the single most influential force in American music. His legacy is being celebrated around the globe with thousands of performances in 2018. Bernstein’s brilliance as a composer, conductor, pianist, educator, and philosopher enabled him to inspire multiple generations of musicians and audiences of all ages. I have put together three diverse programs this fall to explore the many facets of this amazing musician—his music, heritage, culture, and politics. Ultimately, though, we pay homage to Bernstein every time we go to the concert hall—his influence on repertoire and orchestral style continue to this day. And here in Eugene, we have a unique connection to Bernstein for it was one of his star protégées, Marin Alsop, who helped turn our symphony into the powerhouse regional orchestra that we are today. Thank you for joining us, and I look forward to sharing another wonderful season of exciting performances with you! Yours truly,
Francesco Lecce-Chong, Music Director & Conductor
Dear Friends, I am so excited about the programming that Music Director & Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong has planned for our 53rd season. I had intended to list my favorite concerts, but the season is filled with so many extraordinary musical events that I am unable to recommend one over another. One standout, of course, is Star Wars Live in Concert: Episode IV, A New Hope. The orchestra will play John Williams’ iconic score live while the audience enjoys the original film (and my favorite) of the Star Wars franchise. Tickets are going fast, so secure yours today! This was a very busy summer for community engagement. On top of our popular Summer Concerts in Eugene and Cottage Grove, we held 11 Instrument Petting Zoos in Eugene, Springfield, Creswell, and Veneta, Symphony musicians played at a Eugene Emeralds game (where our very own Francesco threw out the first pitch), and community members got to take the baton at the Conduct-the-Symphony event. Each year, our community engagement events reach more than 20,000 people! Read more about the summer of community engagement in the Key of E[ducation] article on page 26. Even as the events outside the concert hall bring classical music to the community at-large, our concert programs inside the Hult Center continue to grow new audiences thanks to Francesco’s energy and vision. If you haven’t already done so, please consider a gift to the Eugene Symphony and help us continue our mission of Enriching Lives Through the Power of Music. Thank you for your ongoing support. See you in the concert hall!
David Pottinger, President of Eugene Symphony Board of Directors
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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Congratulations Francesco Lecce-Chong on your first anniversary of a ♍ noteworthy♍ year as Music Director and Conductor of the Eugene Symphony! Thank you for your enthusiastic support of the Instrument Petting Zoo and opportunities for youth and families to experience the power of music. Instrument Petting Zoo Sponsor: Galina Groza and Family In Honor of Eugene-Irkutsk Sister City Committee
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR
Francesco Lecce-Chong American conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong has garnered acclaim for his dynamic performances, commitment to innovative programming and profound engagement in community outreach. In April 2017, Lecce-Chong was appointed Music Director & Conductor of the Eugene Symphony, following in the paths of renowned predecessors including Marin Alsop and Giancarlo Guerrero. In the same season, he became the winning Music Director candidate of the Santa Rosa Symphony, a post he assumes in 2018/19. In summer 2018, he concluded his three-year tenure as Associate Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. His previous posts include Associate Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Grand Teton Music Festival. Active as a guest conductor, he has appeared with orchestras around the world including the National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and Hong Kong Philharmonic while collaborating with renowned soloists such as Renée Fleming and Itzhak Perlman. During the current and the coming seasons, Lecce-Chong makes his subscription debuts with the Colorado Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic, Xi’An Symphony Orchestra and returns to the Civic Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony. He is equally at home with opera repertoire, having built his opera credentials as staff conductor with the Santa Fe Opera and conducted Madama Butterfly at the Florentine Opera with the Milwaukee Symphony. Also trained as a pianist and composer, Lecce-Chong champions the work of new composers and the need for arts education. With the Milwaukee Symphony, he helped create their first Composer Institute, providing performance opportunities for young American composers. In his leadership positions, he has curated and presented the works of both active and lesser-known composers, presenting the premieres of commissions by the Milwaukee Symphony, Eugene Symphony, and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. Lecce-Chong has complemented his programming with a strong commitment to arts education for all ages. For four seasons, he provided artistic leadership for the Milwaukee Symphony’s nationally lauded Arts in Community Education program—one of the largest arts integration programs in the country. In his first season in Eugene, he has devoted
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 (2009–2017) Francesco Lecce-Chong (2017– ) SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
his time to connecting the orchestra and community by launching a family concert series, creating a monthly Symphony Happy Hour and building collaborations with schools, human service agencies, and businesses. Lecce-Chong is the recipient of several distinctions, including the prestigious Solti Foundation Award. A native of Boulder, Colorado, he began conducting at the age of 16 and graduated from the Mannes College of Music and Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller. He has had the opportunity to work closely with many internationally celebrated conductors including Bernard Haitink, David Zinman, Edo de Waart, and Manfred Honeck.
Eugene Symphony MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR Francesco Lecce-Chong Betty Soreng
VIOLIN I Jennifer Estrin**, Acting Concertmaster Caroline Boekelheide Della Davies**, Acting Assistant Concertmaster Ray & Cathie Staton Lisa McWhorter†, Acting Assistant Concertmaster Jamie Chimchirian Stephen Chong Joanne Berry Della Davies Sandra Weingarten & Ryan Darwish Anthony Dyer Rosemary Erb John & Emilie York Clara Fuhrman* Yvonne Hsueh Debra & Dunny Sorensen Sophie Therrell Matthew, Aaron & Alex Shapiro Vacant
VIOLIN II Matthew Fuller, Principal Ray & Libby Englander Sasha Chandler, Assistant Principal Dan Athearn Bob Gray Memorial Chair Alice Blankenship Theodore W. & Laramie Palmer David Burham Julia Frantz Bob & Friedl Bell Virginia Kaiser Claudia Miller Marilyn Tyler Herb Merker & Marcy Hammock Jannie Wei Vacant
VIOLA Holland Phillips, Principal Don & Lin Hirst Miriam English Ward, Assistant Principal Devin Burgess* Pamela Burovac Lauren Elledge Marilyn Kays Anamaria Ghitea
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Shauna Keyes Karlie Roberts Kim Uwate
CELLO Anne Ridlington, Principal Diana G. Learner & Carolyn J. Simms Eric Alterman, Assistant Principal Dale Bradley David Chinburg Marion Sweeney, Kate Laue & Cama Evans Joseph Eggleston* Ann Grabe James Pelley Nancy Sowdon Vacant
BASS Richard Meyn, Principal Ellis & Lucille Sprick Forrest Moyer, Assistant Principal Tyler Abbott Charles & Reida Kimmel Rick Carter Greg Nathan Nathan Waddell Vacant
FLUTE Kristen Halay, Principal George & Kay Hanson Wendy Bamonte Jill Pauls (Piccolo)
OBOE Kelly Gronli, Principal Anonymous Cheryl Denice John & Ethel MacKinnon Annalisa Morton (English Horn)
CLARINET 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 David Kruse, Principal David & Paula Pottinger Jonathan Kuhns-Obana** Jennifer Harrison† Lydia Van Dreel Duncan & Jane Eyre McDonald Scott King Kelly McGlothlin** (Assistant Horn)
TRUMPET Sarah Viens, Principal Jeff & Julie Collins Joseph Klause** David Bender G. Burnette Dillon & Louise Di Tullio Dillon
TROMBONE Henry Henniger, Principal Michael & Nancy Oft-Rose Vacant James Meyer Stephen & Cyndy Lane
TUBA Michael Grose, Principal
TIMPANI Ian Kerr, Principal Jim & Janet Kissman
PERCUSSION Tim Cogswell, Principal Susan Gilmore & Phyllis Brown Brian Scott Charles & Georgiann Beaudet Randal Larson† Sean Wagoner
KEYBOARD Christine Mirabella, Principal Garr & Joan Cutler
HARP Jane Allen, Principal Laura Maverick Graves Avery Chair
CHORUS DIRECTOR Sharon J. Paul
CONDUCTING FELLOWS Jonathan DeBruyn Nicholas Sharma * denotes University of Oregon Graduate Employee ** denotes one-year appointment † denotes leave of absence
EUGENE SYMPHONY
ON THAT NOTE
Holland Phillips On That Note introduces a member of the orchestra. This issue features Principal Viola Holland Phillips. Hometown? I was born and raised in Starkville, MS, though I completed high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts (before it was part of the UNC system). What year did you join the orchestra, and how long have you been playing music? I Joined in 2005 as a Graduate Teaching Fellow with the University of Oregon in the First Violins. I’ve been a musician since I was in the womb (my mother was a soprano). I began playing the violin on my 4th birthday. It was a birthday present—I had my first lessons at the American Suzuki Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. What made you decide to play your instrument? My older sister started playing violin when I was two years old, and I was inspired by her interpretation of Vivaldi’s famous A-minor Violin Concerto. I perform on the viola most of the time now. I came to the viola later in life, the result of an interesting combination of circumstances. It has been an extraordinary gift to rediscover my musical world through the lens of a true inner voice. When you’re not playing your instrument(s), what would we most likely find you doing? Spending time with the greatest joy in my life, my son August. I also like to work in my yard, sew, and go for walks. If you weren’t a musician what would you be? My answer to this would probably change daily. I double majored in music and art history at Vanderbilt University and considered becoming a musicologist. But who knows, maybe I would try my hand at computer programming? I could listen to music while working. What is your favorite piece of all time to play and why? I have many favorites, but if I have to choose, I would select two: Brahms F-minor Piano Quintet and Schubert Cello Quintet (in spite of my obsession with the music of Carl Nielsen). I’ve gotten to play all of the violin and viola parts for both of these chamber works and both are amazing, no matter the perspective. If you could meet one composer/musician, who would it be and why? None: I would prefer to be a fly on the wall and observe Carl Nielsen’s conversations with Knud Jeppesen. Where is your favorite place in Oregon and why? Anywhere with my family. Red, white, stout, hoppy or none of the above? Hoppy.
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
Favorite book/movie you’ve read/seen recently? With a 15-month-old, I haven’t had much opportunity to keep up with much, though I try to stay on top of current events. For fun, I keep my cousin’s book handy because it never disappoints: Tell About Night Flowers: Eudora Welty’s Gardening Letters, 1940–1949 by Julia Eichelberger. What do you think some audience members might find surprising about you? I actually do have a Southern accent. You just have to catch me at the right moment. Tell us a fun fact about yourself. Two fun facts: I am trying to grow avocado plants and I really want to play Nielsen’s Symphony No. 2 before I die.
Calendar SEPT 24
Happy Hour with Francesco, details at 5:00 pm eugenesymphony.org/events
SEPT 25
Master class with cellist Julie Albers, 4:00 pm The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
OPENING NIGHT September 27
SEPT 27 OPENING NIGHT
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor Julie Albers, cello
6:30 pm Guild Concert Preview, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:30 pm Symphonic series concert, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Oregon Eye Consultants
DEC 1
OCT 15 OCT 16
OCT 18 BERNSTEIN & BEETHOVEN
Happy Hour with Francesco, details at 5:00 pm eugenesymphony.org/events
Master class with pianist Ran Dank, 4:00 pm The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor Ran Dank, piano
6:30 pm Guild Concert Preview, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:30 pm Symphonic series concert, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by The Haugland Family Foundation
NOV 12
Happy Hour with Francesco, details at 5:00 pm eugenesymphony.org/events
NOV 13
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor 7:00 pm Special concert, Silva Concert Hall
DEC 3
STAR WARS LIVE IN CONCERT (EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE)
Happy Hour with Francesco, details at 5:00 pm eugenesymphony.org/events
DEC 4
Master class with violinist Chloë Hanslip, 4:00 pm The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
DEC 6
THE RED VIOLIN
Tito Muñoz, guest conductor Chloë Hanslip, violin
6:30 pm Guild Concert Preview, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:30 pm Symphonic series concert, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Skeie’s Jewelers
JAN 21
Happy Hour with Francesco, details at 5:00 pm eugenesymphony.org/events
JAN 22
Master class with pianist Natasha Paremsky, 4:00 pm Beall Hall, University of Oregon School of Music and Dance
Elementary School Youth Concerts: 10:30 am & Meet the Orchestra 12:30 pm Sponsored by Marie Jones & Suzanne Penegor, Chvatal Orthodontics and Oregon Community Credit Union
JAN 24 TCHAIKOVSKY PIANO CONCERTO
4:00 pm Master class with Eighth Blackbird, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
NOV 16 BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor Eighth Blackbird, contemporary ensemble
6:30 pm Guild Concert Preview, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:30 pm Symphonic series concert, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Zachary Blalack–Ameriprise Financial
6:30 pm Guild Concert Preview, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:30 pm Symphonic series concert, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Comfort Flow Heating
FEB 2
GALA 2019
5:30 pm Celebrate with dinner, performance, dancing and a live auction at Eugene Symphony’s biggest benefit event of the year, Eugene Hilton.
FEB 11
16
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor Natasha Paremsky, piano
Happy Hour with Francesco, details at 5:00 pm eugenesymphony.org/events
EUGENE SYMPHONY
FEB 12
Master class with pianist Pallavi Mahidhara, 4:00 pm The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
FEB 14
RHAPSODY IN BLUE
Teddy Abrams, guest conductor Pallavi Mahidhara, piano
6:30 pm Guild Concert Preview, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:30 pm Symphonic series concert, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Summit Funding
MAR 18
Happy Hour with Francesco, details at 5:00 pm eugenesymphony.org/events
MAR 19
Elementary School Youth Concerts: 10:30 am & The Orchestra Rocks 12:30 pm Sponsored by Marie Jones & Suzanne Penegor and US Bank
4:00 pm Master class with violinist Julian Rhee, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
MAR 21 DOCTOR ATOMIC & BRAHMS
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor Julian Rhee, violin
6:30 pm Guild Concert Preview, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:30 pm Symphonic series concert, Silva Concert Hall
BERNSTEIN & BEETHOVEN October 18
APR 15
Happy Hour with Francesco, details at 5:00 pm eugenesymphony.org/events
APR 16
Master class with pianist Christopher Taylor, 4:00 pm Beall Hall, University of Oregon School of Music and Dance
APR 18
THE COLOR OF SOUND
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor Christopher Taylor, piano
6:30 pm Guild Concert Preview, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:30 pm Symphonic series concert, Silva Concert Hall Sponsored by Imagination International
APR 28
FAMILY CONCERT: AN AFTERNOON WITH BEETHOVEN
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor 1:30 pm First performance, Soreng Theater
3:30 pm Second performance, Soreng Theater Instrument Petting Zoo and other family friendly activities precede each performance Sponsored by Delta Sand & Gravel
MAY 6
Happy Hour with Francesco, details at 5:00 pm eugenesymphony.org/events
MAY 9
VERDI’S REQUIEM
Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor Eugene Symphony Chorus
6:30 pm Guild Concert Preview, The Studio, lower level of the Hult Center
7:30 pm Symphonic series concert, Silva Concert Hall
MAY 18
Play It Again! Adult Chamber Music 2:30 pm performance at First Christian Church, Eugene
JUNE 1 SYMFEST
5:30 pm Pre-concert festivities including beer and wine tastings, food carts, and live music 7:30 pm Eugene Symphony performance featuring various Eugene performing artists and groups 9:00 pm Post-concert dance party in the Lobby and jazz lounge by The Jazz Station in Soreng Theater Sponsored by Roaring Rapids Pizza Company
All Master Classes, Residency Activities, Guild Concert Previews, and the Play it Again! performance are free and open to the public.
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
SYMPHONIC I — SEPT 27
Opening Night Eugene Symphony Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor | Julie Albers, cello Thursday, September 27, 2018 7:30 PM | Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview 6:30 PM | The Studio, Hult Center
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
Three Dance Episodes from On the Town I. The Great Lover II. Lonely Town (Pas de deux) III. Times Square: 1944
Ernest Bloch (1880–1959)
Schelomo: Hebraic Rhapsody for Violoncello and Orchestra Julie Albers, cello
I N T E R M I S S I O N
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 I. Moderato II. Allegretto III. Largo IV. Allegro non troppo
Concert Sponsor
Guest Artist Sponsor
This concert will be broadcast on KWAX-FM 91.1 on Tuesday, October 16 at 10 a.m. Broadcasts underwritten in part by Kernutt Stokes.
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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Opening Night LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918–1990) Three Dances from On the Town (1945) These dances, which open the Eugene Symphony celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s centennial, derive from his first Broadway musical, On the Town. It opened in December of 1944, when Bernstein had just established himself as a leading American conductor and composer. The idea for the musical, in turn, derives from Fancy Free, Jerome Robbins’ hit ballet, premiered at American Ballet Theatre in April of 1944. Both the ballet and the musical tell the stories of three American sailors on 24-hour leave in New York during World War II. Bernstein’s ballet music contributed significantly to his quick rise to fame.
Program Notes by Tom Strini ©2018
sailor. The finale is a Times Square panorama, and it features several iterations of the famous tune, “New York, New York.” Music Director & Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong noted that Bernstein brought enormous musical ambition to On the Town. “You hear a young genius who is not about to sit back and write your typical Broadway show. The multiple extended dance sequences allowed Bernstein and Jerome Robbins to showcase their modern innovations and would eventually lead to their most famous collaboration, West Side Story,” he said. In 1949, MGM released a movie version with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Alas, movie mogul Louis B. Mayer disliked Bernstein’s music—too operatic and complex—and replaced most of it with songs by Roger Edens. The film won an Oscar for Best Music, but Bernstein would have nothing to do with it.
LOOK for the woodwinds during Bernstein’s On the Town. There are unusual visitors to the section, including a bright piccolo clarinet solo at the opening of the last movement, a couple of sultry saxophone solos, and a smooth bass clarinet in the slow movement.
SCORED: For one flute, piccolo, one oboe, English horn, three clarinets including E-flat and bass clarinets; alto saxophone, two horns, three trumpets, three trombones, timpani, percussion, piano, and strings.
Two colleagues convinced Bernstein and Robbins to expand the three-sailors idea into a full-blown musical and signed on as producers. All four were just 25 years old. Legendary director George Abbott joined as the adult in the room. MGM bought the movie rights, an investment that helped advance the Broadway project. While Fancy Free’s music was jazz inspired, Bernstein wrote completely new music for the Broadway musical. With the title song, “New York, New York” leading the way, the show was a smash hit. (The Eugene Symphony will perform the complete Fancy Free ballet music on November 18.) The dance suite opens with The Great Lover, in which the starry-eyed sailor Gabey dreams of sweeping Miss Turnstiles, the NYC subway poster girl, off her feet. In Lonely Town (Pas de Deux), Gabey observes a high-school girl lured and cast off by a worldly
ERNEST BLOCH (1880–1959) Schelomo: Hebraic Rhapsody for Violoncello and Orchestra (1916)
HISTORY: First performed by the Eugene Symphony in January 1991 under the direction of Marin Alsop, and last performed in September 2010 under the direction of James Paul. DURATION: Approximately 11 minutes.
The long, unfurling solo cello lines in Bloch’s Schelomo bring to mind operatic arioso—elaborate, even virtuosic heightened speech. Bloch originally conceived the work as a baritone voice setting of passages from the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes. Schelomo is Hebrew for Solomon; Ecclesiastes is traditionally attributed the King Solomon. Bloch switched from voice to cello at the urging of cellist friend Alexander Barjansky, in part because Bloch couldn’t decide on a language. The composer told his biographers, years later, “One may imagine that the voice of the solo cello is the voice of the King Schelomo. The complex voice of the orchestra is the voice of his
”I first met this evening’s soloist, Julie Albers, when we were both in middle school and I was studying violin with her mother. Julie has developed a brilliant career as a soloist and chamber musician—including performing with the Eugene Symphony in 2013. It will be particularly special for me to collaborate with her for the 20
first time and bring Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo, a standard in the cello repertoire, to the Eugene Symphony for the first time. Bloch spent many years composing in Agate Beach—less than 100 miles from Eugene along the coast—and it was important to me feature this important 20th century composer in my first season living in EUGENE SYMPHONY
PROGRAM NOTES — SEPT 27
age… his world… his experience.” In a 1932 interview, Bloch called the piece “a psychoanalysis” of Solomon, an especially complex and conflicted Biblical character. “It helps to know that Bloch was thinking of the cello line as the voice of King Schelomo,” said Julie Albers, tonight’s soloist. “This tells me that the rhythms should closely resemble spoken word. I can assume that it’s my job to disguise the meter and rhythmic organization, so the listener hears thoughts pouring out rather than music fitting exactly into place.” In Schelomo, one of several explicitly Jewish compositions, Bloch imitates calls of the shofar (ram’s horn) and altered scales suggest the Middle East. Lecce-Chong programmed the piece, in part, because it relates to the Bernstein theme of the orchestra’s 2018 season. “Bernstein conducted and recorded Bloch’s music, and I also see a strong connection in their music,” Lecce-Chong said. “Both composers wrote multiple works inspired by their Jewish heritage and one can hear a clear connection between Schelomo and Bernstein’s first symphony, which was based on the Hebrew text of Jeremiah.” Schelomo divides into three distinct sections. The first introduces six ideas, notably a showy cello cadenza that will interrupt the piece twice more. A shofar-like theme, introduced by the celesta, marks the second section. It combines with the cadenza ideas to build to the work’s biggest climax. Bloch further explores his initial ideas in the third section, which ends with a rueful version of the cadenza. Bloch wrote the piece just before he moved to the United States. He had important positions across the country, before spending the last 17 years of his life in Agate Beach, Oregon. SCORED: For solo cello, three flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, three clarinets including bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, percussion, two harps, celesta and strings. HISTORY: This is the first Eugene Symphony performance. DURATION: Approximately 20 minutes. (Continued on page 14)
Oregon. Also on the program, we will kick off our Bernstein celebration with the jazzy suite from his hit musical, On the Town. In Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, we will explore Bernstein, the conductor, who made the most iconic and controversial recording of this monumental work in 1959.”
Poster from the original production of On the Town.
— Francesco Lecce-Chong SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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PROGRAM NOTES — SEPT 27
Opening Night (Continued from page 13) DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906–1975) Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Opus 47 (1937) In 1936, at Stalin’s behest, a writer in the Soviet cultural bureaucracy published in Pravda a scathing rebuke of Shostakovich’s hit opera, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, and of his music in general. The culture minister later instructed Shostakovich to “reject formalist errors and in his art attain something that could be understood by the broad masses.” In 1937, a few days before the premiere, Shostakovich published an article in which he described his Symphony No. 5 as “a Soviet artist’s creative response to justified criticism.” Some heard the somewhat more conservative work as acquiescence. Others heard it as sarcastic and bitterly political in a way that would fly above the heads of the commissars but would be understood by those in the know. The symphony succeeded mightily with the public, the musical community and, finally, with the Soviet cultural apparatus. It restored the composer’s status and safety—for a while, anyway.
LISTEN for the harp in Shostakovich’s symphony, as some of the most haunting and mesmerizing music features the harp. Often it helps simmer the music down after a wild stretch, or it can signal the calm before storm. The debate about its political implications goes on, both despite and because of Testimony, Solomon Volkov’s 1979 book. Volkov claimed, controversially, that Shostakovich dictated his memoir to him. The book did much to establish the composer as a brave resister to tyranny rather than a Soviet hack. Testimony has prompted a consensus of performers to interpret his works as documents of political anguish. Leonard Bernstein arrived at that position early. He conducted the Shostakovich Fifth often, notably on an East Bloc tour with the New York Philharmonic in 1959. Shostakovich attended the Moscow performance of the Fifth. In a Young People’s Concert script from 1966, Bernstein recalled their meeting: “When the New York Philharmonic and I visited Russia, back in 1959, I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting Shostakovich. And I had an impression of a very reserved man, speaking very little, a bit nervous, and very shy. I suspect that that is the
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true nature of the man, but you’d never know it from hearing his music. As a composer he has a great deal to say, serious or light, whatever it happens to be, and he says it with enormous confidence, ease, and boldness.” “Bernstein saw the political side of Shostakovich,” said Francesco Lecce-Chong. “He wanted music to make people connect with their humanity, and he heard that in Shostakovich. For Bernstein, this was music about people rising up triumphant. But it’s so easy to get caught up in that and forget that all elements in the Soviet Union embraced it. Some heard it as protest. Some heard it as ‘yes, he accepted our criticism.’” The old-fashioned first and second movements adhere to Classical forms—sonata in the first, scherzo in the second. The Communists heard the scherzo as jolly; resisters heard it as satire of official forced cheer. The third movement is perhaps the most haunting depiction of loneliness—with the music, at times, being reduced to a thin veil of shimmering violins with a single sobbing oboe or clarinet. The finale opens with a hurtling, crazed march. It gives way to a slow horn solo that opens the touching, introspective middle section. Martial snare drums mark the grim return of A-section ideas, but now they are slower, heavier and more menacing. An abrupt shift from minor to major suggests triumph at the end—perhaps. “Everyone thinks the Fifth is about despair, loneliness and violence,” Lecce-Chong said. “And yet, it has incredible warmth. His climaxes are traumatizing; they create fear. But that makes the beautiful moments all the more beautiful. Bernstein thought of it as a battle, and good wins. Conductors today fill the finale with screams of anguish. “But must we appreciate the Fifth based solely on the circumstances around it? Can’t we be happy at the end? It’s not a battle. It’s not a victory. It’s a message of hope. Those repeated high A’s at the end? They’re not screams of anguish. People persist. They persevere. “Perseverance—for me, that’s the story of Shostakovich.” SCORED: For two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, three clarinets including E-flat clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, two harps, and strings. HISTORY: First performed by the Eugene Symphony in October 1985 under the direction of Adrian Gnam, and last performed in January 2010 under the direction of Danail Rachev. DURATION: Approximately 44 minutes.
EUGENE SYMPHONY
GUEST ARTIST — SEPT 27
Julie Albers American cellist Julie Albers is recognized for her superlative artistry, her charismatic and radiant performing style, and her intense musicianship. She was born into a musical family in Longmont, Colorado, and began violin studies at the age of two with her mother, switching to cello at four. She moved to Cleveland during her junior year of high school to pursue studies through the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Aaron. Miss Albers soon was awarded the Grand Prize at the XIII International Competition for Young Musicians in Douai, France, and toured France as soloist with Orchestre Symphonique de Douai.
Albers made her major orchestral debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1998, and has performed in recital and with orchestras throughout North America, Europe, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. In 2001, she won Second Prize in Munich’s Internationalen Musikwettbewerbes der ARD, and was also awarded the Wilhelm-Weichsler-Musikpreis der Stadt Osnabruch. While in Germany, she recorded solo and chamber music of Kodaly for the Bavarian Radio; these performances have been heard throughout Europe. In 2003, Albers was named the first Gold Medal Laureate of South Korea’s Gyeongnam International Music Competition, winning the $25,000 Grand Prize. In North America, Albers has performed with many important orchestras and ensembles. Recent performances have included exciting debuts on the San Francisco Performances series and with the Grant Park Music Festival where she performed Krzysztof Penderecki’s Concerto Grosso for three cellos with Penderecki conducting. Past seasons have included concerto appearances with the Orchestras of Colorado, Indianapolis, San Diego, Seattle, Vancouver, and Munchener Kammerorchester among others.
Albers’ recorded solo and chamber music performances have been heard throughout Europe. In addition to solo performances, Albers regularly participates in chamber music festivals around the world. 2009 marked the end of a threeyear residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two. She is currently active with the Albers String Trio and the Cortona Trio. Teaching is also a very important part of Albers’ musical life. She currently is Assistant Professor and holds the Mary Jean and Charles Yates Chair at the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Albers’ debut album with Orion Weiss includes works by Rachmaninoff, Beethoven, Schumann, Massenet, and Piatagorsky and is available on the Artek Label. Albers performs on a N.F. Vuillaume cello made in 1872 and makes her home in Atlanta with her husband, Bourbon, and their dog, Dozer.
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
SYMPHONIC II — OCT 18
Bernstein & Beethoven Eugene Symphony Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor | Ran Dank, piano Thursday, October 18, 2018 7:30 PM | Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview 6:30 PM | The Studio, Hult Center
David Schiff (b. 1945)
Stomp
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety” I. The Prologue II. The Seven Ages III. The Seven Stages IV. The Dirge V. The Masque VI. The Epilogue Ran Dank, piano
I N T E R M I S S I O N
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 I. Allegro vivace con brio II. Allegretto scherzando III. Tempo di menuetto IV. Allegro vivace
Concert Sponsor
The Haugland Family Foundation
This concert will be broadcast on KWAX-FM 91.1 on Tuesday, November 13 at 10 a.m. Broadcasts underwritten in part by Kernutt Stokes.
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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Bernstein & Beethoven DAVID SCHIFF (b. 1945) Stomp (1990) David Schiff, in addition to being a widely performed composer and music professor at Reed College in Portland, holds degrees in literature from Columbia and Cambridge. He writes on musical subjects often. He has published books on the music of George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and of Elliott Carter, the super-brainy high-art composer who was among Schiff ’s mentors at The Juilliard School. The books reflect his wideranging musical interests and influences, which, in addition to the classical canon, include jazz, rock, Broadway and Soul. James Brown, for instance, inspired Stomp, which the Eugene Symphony performs tonight. Marin Alsop, Eugene Symphony Conductor Laureate, commissioned Stomp for the Concordia Orchestra. In an email, Schiff said that Stomp, along with his other works Scenes from Adolescence and Slow Dance, “evoke dance rhythms from my teenage years. Stomp was inspired not by a specific song of Brown’s, but from my experience of seeing him perform live at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. His energy was astonishing—he was in constant motion—and that’s what I wanted to capture in the music.” Stomp advances in darting, jittery, syncopated gestures rapidly exchanged among all quarters of the orchestra, as if the players were trading flurries of jabs in a sparring session. It’s all in good fun—until the haymaker at the very end. SCORED: For two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, trombone, percussion, piano, and strings. HISTORY: This is the first Eugene Symphony performance. DURATION: Approximately seven minutes. LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918–1990) Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety (1949) The Eugene Symphony’s Bernstein centennial celebration continues, with this musical response to W.H. Auden’s long poem, “The Age of Anxiety” (1947).
The poem, which runs 136 pages, prompted a mix of critical pans and raves and continues to do so. Ran Dank, tonight’s pianist, finds it hard to take: “Honestly—and I am quite a literary person—this poem is a colossal bore. The whole point is to express ennui and boredom, and it does that very well. It was an experiment of its time, but I find it very dated. It exists as a poem, a ballet (by Jerome Robbins) and as a symphony. The symphony is the most successful. Bernstein made the basic premises of the poem—loneliness and alienation—so much more vivid and accessible. Once in a while, the movie is better than the book.”
LOOK for the solo piano, percussion, and bass sections in “The Age of Anxiety.” Bernstein goes all out for a jazz episode in the middle of the work that almost exclusively features these instruments “jamming” away. Even admirers admit that Auden might have written the most famous poem that hardly anyone reads. Very little happens: Four lonely strangers meet and talk. Nevertheless, it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 and prompted four printings in just a few years. Its title became a bumper sticker for the Existentially challenged of the mid- and late-20th century. And it excited and fascinated Bernstein. A friend, Richard Adams Romney, sent Bernstein a copy and wrote a margin note suggesting a tone poem. Bernstein was not the only intellectual to see deeper meaning in the banal goings-on of the poem. He wrote: “The essential line of the poem (and of the music) is the record of our difficult and problematical search for faith.” The music, like the poem, divides into six sections and two halves. The Prologue introduces Malin, Quant, Emble, and Rosetta. In “The Seven Ages,” they discuss life from infancy to death. In “The Seven Stages,” they embark on a somewhat surreal and drunken “dream quest” for pre-civilization happiness.
”Portland-based composer David Schiff brings popular dance rhythms to the stage in Stomp, which sets us up for Bernstein’s kaleidoscopic ‘The Age of Anxiety.’ In this one work—half symphony and half piano concerto—Bernstein brings together all his strengths as a composer, conductor, pianist, and philosopher 28
Program Notes by Tom Strini ©2018
as he translates W.H. Auden’s Pulitzer Prize-winning poem into music. This is one of my favorite works of Bernstein’s because we hear an unmatched versatility in a composer jumping between edgy modernist techniques, jazz, Broadway, and (towards the end) the Bernstein who composed my favorite film score to On the Waterfront. EUGENE SYMPHONY
PROGRAM NOTES — OCT 18
Part 2 opens with “The Dirge,” a lament for the loss of a guiding “colossal dad.” “The Masque,” a late-night party at Rosetta’s place, includes her abortive love affair with Emble. In an Epilogue, dawn breaks, they return to their daily lives and, in Bernstein’s music, at least, have faith restored. Bernstein crafted some of his most ingenious structures for “The Seven Ages” and “The Seven Stages.” He couched these brief episodes as 14 evolving variations. The second variation works out a detail from the first, the third works out a detail from the second, and so on, in a musical game of telephone leading to a very different story by the end. It would be hard to follow this thread in detail even with a score, and nearly impossible without one, but we all can sense the progress and cohesion that tie the 14 bits together. Leave it to Bernstein to build “The Dirge” on a 12-tone row, an avant-garde technique used by early 20th century European modernists, and base the very next bit, “The Masque,” on a bluesy Broadway tune he wrote for On the Town. (That song was cut from the show, by the way. For more about it, see the program note for Eugene Symphony’s September 27 concert.) European music of the late 19th century abounds with Dark Nights of the Soul followed by redemptive, faith-restoring sunrises. Bernstein turns to that tradition here. In 1965, he revised the Epilogue to make it more uplifting and affirmative. “This is my favorite concert work by Bernstein,” said Francesco Lecce-Chong, the Eugene Symphony’s Music Director & Conductor. “It represents everything he was: composer, conductor, pianist, and philosopher. And on top of that, we hear the coming together of all his musical interests: Modernism, ballet, Broadway, jazz, and film. It is an entirely unique work whose daring experimental qualities would only be topped later on by his epic MASS. So much of his music is an attempt to figure out what it means to be human, and The Age of Anxiety goes further with that than any other of his works.” SCORED: for solo piano, two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, three clarinets including bass clarinet, two bassoons, (Continued on page 22)
The program finishes with Beethoven’s surprisingly ecstatic Eighth Symphony. All the Beethoven symphonies were a major part of Bernstein’s repertoire as a conductor, and he recorded two complete cycles in New York and Vienna.”
Leonard Bernstein (at top), composed “The Age of Anxiety” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning six-part poem by W. H. Auden (above).
— Francesco Lecce-Chong SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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PROGRAM NOTES — OCT 18
Bernstein & Beethoven (Continued from page 21) contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, two harps, pianino, and strings. HISTORY: First performed by the Eugene Symphony under the direction of Marin Alsop in May 1992 with Dean Kramer as soloist. DURATION: Approximately 35 minutes. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Opus 93 (1812) Romanticism has trained us to expect the trauma or joy in an artist’s private life to manifest in the artist’s work. We seek clarification of the art by examining the life. Sometimes they overlap. But more often, they don’t. Artists sometimes “express themselves.” Mostly, though, they “go to work.” Beethoven’s life was a mess around 1812, when he wrote the Symphony No. 8. In 1811, he tried and failed, due to advancing deafness, to perform his Emperor Concerto. He was frustrated in love; the famous “immortal beloved” letter comes from this period. He was busy browbeating his brother, Johann, over his unmarried cohabitation with a woman who had a child. He was broke. You would never imagine any of that to be the case from listening to the Eighth, the fastest, most boisterous, funniest and, to me at least, the cheekiest of his nine symphonies. He wrote no actual slow movement for it. The second movement tick-tocks along like a metronome and has no thematic development. The third movement is a way-out-of-vogue minuet. In the finale, Beethoven dropped way-out-of-key, unprepared chords into two important spots, for no reason other than to launch the recapitulation of the main theme in the totally “wrong” key. Rustic, thumping basses and timpani abound throughout, especially in the not-very-genteel minuet.
If you find yourself laughing out loud and don’t know why, rest assured: Beethoven gave you ample reason. “The Eighth uses the same small orchestra of his first symphony and is also the same relatively short length,” LecceChong said. “It’s easy to think of it as a neo-Classical throwback. But Beethoven used this slimmed down orchestra to wreak havoc on what remained of the proper classicism of Mozart and Haydn. Beethoven isn’t even trying to break rules anymore. He owns the rules. He makes the rules.
LISTEN for the peculiar second movement of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony. It made some wonder if Beethoven was making fun of one of the new inventions of his day, the metronome. Can you hear the incessant tick-tick-tick-tick of the metronome? “When you throw yourself at this work like a person possessed, it takes on a whole new meaning: like the hero Beethoven staring down his problems saying: ‘I will be happy!’” In a roundabout way, maybe art and life do meet in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, after all. SCORED: For two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. HISTORY: First performed by the Eugene Symphony in March 1987 under the direction of Christopher Wilkins, and last performed in November 2002 under the direction of Giancarlo Guerrero. DURATION: Approximately 26 minutes.
O’Fallon Lecture in Art and American Culture
“Plastic Pollution: Art to Action” Wednesday, October 17, 2018 7:30 p.m. • 156 Straub Hall
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live stream: ohc.uoregon.edu
Dianna Cohen
Inspired by her creative work with ubiquitous plastic bags, artist Dianna Cohen co-founded the Plastic Pollution Coalition, a group that addresses the pervasive problem of plastic pollution. 2018–19 THE COMMON GOOD
EO/AA/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
GUEST ARTIST — OCT 18
Ran Dank Technically dazzling and intellectually probing artistry exemplify Ran Dank’s pianism and musicality—captivating audiences and critics alike. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Naumburg Piano Competition and the Sydney International Piano Competition, and First Prize winner of the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. The summer 2018 season included a recital at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival performing Frederic Rzewski’s tour-de-force 36 Variations: The People United Will Never Be Defeated followed by appearances at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and a duo recital with pianist Soyeon Kate Lee at the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival. Dank and Lee were special guest performers at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival’s 2018 Gala.
Dank’s busy 2017/18 season featured performances across North America, Europe, and Asia. The 2018/19 season features duo recitals with Soyeon Kate Lee at the Yale School of Music, San Francisco Performances, and a return to the Pro Musica San Miguel de Allende as well as Brahms, Janáček and Franck Sonatas with acclaimed violinist Augustin Hadelich on the Linton Music series. Orchestral engagements include: Shostakovich’s First Piano Concerto with the Toledo Symphony, Alain Trudel, conductor; Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stuart Chafetz; and Mozart with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra. Dank’s busy 2017/18 season featured appearances with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and Eckart Preu, the Portland Symphony and Ken-David Masur, with the Spokane Symphony and Morihiko Nakamura, and the Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern for their season finale. He performed chamber music with the Amernet Quartet at Maverick Concerts and had duo appearances with pianist Soyeon Kate Lee at the Smithsonian Institute, Cincinnati’s Linton Music, and Le Poisson Rouge in New York City. Solo recitals included the Gilmore Piano Festival, New York City Town Hall recital for Peoples Symphony Concerts, Washington Performing Arts Society at the Kennedy Center, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Finland’s Mänttä Festival, Philip Lorenz Memorial Concerts in Fresno, the
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
Israel Conservatory of Music and chamber music at the Seattle, Montreal, Israel, Great Lakes, and Skaneateles Chamber Music festivals, and at Maverick Concerts with the Shanghai Quartet. Ran Dank and Soyeon Kate Lee have established a series of concerts, Music by the Glass, held in a New York SoHo art gallery, where the audience of young professionals listen, mix and mingle with performing artists who play solo pieces and chamber works accompanied by treats sweet and savory, paired with wines by the glass.
EUGENE SYMPHONY GUILD’ S 2018
FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL SILENT AUCTION! VINTAGE CLOTHING! BAKE SALE! MUSIC ALL DAY! CHILDREN’S CORNER! PLANTS & BULBS! INSTRUMENT PETTING ZOO! & MORE! TO BENEFIT THE EUGENE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Saturday, October 27 10 am–4 pm First United Methodist Church | 1376 Olive Street, Eugene FEATURING
Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestra Ensemble | Allegra | Oregon Tuba Ensemble Inspirational Sounds Gospel Choir | and more!
Tickets $15 in advance/at the door, 10 and younger FREE INCLUDES COMPLIMENTARY APPETIZERS AND MULLED CIDER
Tickets at Down To Earth, McKenzie Honey Farms & Gifts, Gray’s Garden Center, Haven Home Garden Gift (Springfield), NuVo Salon (Creswell) and online at eugenesymphonyguild.org SPONSOR
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
2018/19 Season | Francesco Lecce-Chong, Music Director & Conductor
CONCERTS Experience the Symphony in new and interactive ways.
DECEMBER 1, 2018
SPECIAL CONCERT
STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE THE FILM WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA GROUP DISCOUNT AVAILABLE
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AN AFTERNOON WITH BEETHOVEN
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
SALEM SEASON FRI. OCT. 26 | 7:30pm*
FRI. JAN. 18 | 7:30pm*
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4
Americana with Edgar Meyer
Carlos Kalmar, conductor • Jeffrey Kahane, piano
Norman Huynh, conductor • Edgar Meyer, double bass
Bernstein: On the Town: Three Dance Episodes • Andrew Norman: Split Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite • Bottesini: Double Bass Concerto No. 2 • Meyer: Double Bass Concerto No. 3 Still: Afro-American Symphony
FRI. NOV. 16 | 7:30pm*
FRI. FEB. 8 | 7:30pm*
Beethoven’s “Emperor”
Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony
Alexander Soddy, conductor • Ingrid Fliter, piano
Carlos Kalmar, conductor • Simone Lamsma, violin
• Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1, “Classical” • Khachaturian: Violin Concerto Dvořák: Symphony No. 8
FRI. NOV. 30 | 7:30pm*
FRI. MAY 10 | 7:30pm*
Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances
Peer Gynt
Eivind Gullberg Jensen, conductor • James Ehnes, violin Anders Hillborg: Exquisite Corpse • Walton: Violin Concerto Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
Carlos Kalmar, conductor • Jane Archibald, soprano Mozart: Don Giovanni Overture • Britten: Les Illuminations • Grieg: Peer Gynt
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Promo Code: Kickoff Expires Oct. 15
* NEW! All 2018/19 Salem concerts will be starting at 7:30 pm in Smith Auditorium at Willamette University
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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KEY OF E[DUCATION]
Summer of Engagement: Music around every corner! By Katy Vizdal, Education & Community Engagement Director We’ve been bringing symphonic music outside the concert hall and into the community all summer! This beautiful Oregon summer marked an incredible three months jam-packed with musical experiences around every corner. We brought our Instrument Petting Zoos to new regional libraries, we marked the 10th anniversary of our outdoor summer concert at the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene, and we collaborated with new partners to provide opportunities for people to connect with music, bring communities closer together, and inspire new generations of musicians and music-lovers! Read on for details… On Saturday, July 21, the Eugene Symphony celebrated our 10th annual outdoor summer concert at the Cuthbert Amphitheater in Eugene, attracting more than 3,500 music lovers from all over the region. Maestro Francesco Lecce-Chong and the orchestra delivered a stunning performance of an exciting program including music honoring Leonard Bernstein’s centennial year, Sibelius’ Finlandia, a performance by 17-year-old viola prodigy Karlie Roberts, all capped off with an encore of the Main Title from Star Wars. Audience members, and kids most of all, excitedly waved their new “Symphony sabers” in colors of red, blue and green in the air along with the music, as prompted by Maestro Lecce-Chong. For those who aren’t familiar with Star Wars, blue and green sabers represent the good guys (the Jedi), whereas red symbolizes the forces of evil (the Sith). All in all, the audience did a great job of waving their Symphony sabers in coordination with major and minor themes in the music, making
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a beautiful display of lights in the evening dusk. (If you missed the encore, don’t worry! We present Star Wars: Live in Concert (Episode IV: A New Hope), with the original episode projected on a big screen above the stage while the Eugene Symphony plays John Williams’s iconic soundtrack, on Saturday, December 1 at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.) Two nights later, on Monday, July 23, we made our fourth consecutive trip to Bohemia Park in Cottage Grove, and were welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd of about 1,500. This partnership with the City of Cottage Grove has grown into one of their beloved seasonal traditions, anchoring a strong series of music and other performances under their tented bandshell. Mayor Jeff Gowing also got into the act, conducting Johann Strauss, Jr.’s “Thunder and Lightning Polka” to great applause. We are grateful for our southern neighbors’ hospitality, and look forward to returning there next July. This summer also brought the expansion of our popular Instrument Petting Zoo program, which introduces the young (and young at heart) to a variety of orchestral instruments, inspiring new generations of musicians. Violin, trumpet, flute, cello, you name it… we have it! With the national library theme of “Libraries Rock” this year, several regional libraries invited us to bring our Instrument Petting Zoo to present fun, hands-on, musical experiences to their summer readers. We returned to annual engagements at Eugene Public Library and Springfield Library, and visited two new sites in Creswell and Fern Ridge. Overall, we
EUGENE SYMPHONY
(Page 26, clockwise) A youngster learns about the flute at an Instrument Petting Zoo. Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis conducts a Eugene Symphony string ensemble at the Conduct-the-Symphony event in July during Eugene’s Sunday Streets. Principal Trombone Henry Henniger duels young Madison Diaz with Symphony sabers at the 10th Annual Eugene Symphony in the Park. (Above) Eugene Symphony musicians perform at a Eugene Emeralds baseball game.
reached nearly 800 people through Instrument Petting Zoos this summer. For the first time ever, the Eugene Symphony hosted a Conduct-the-Symphony event as part of the City of Eugene’s Sunday Streets initiative. Imagine you’re walking down the street, you hear classical music in the distance, so you walk over and discover it’s a small orchestra performing the music of Mozart, Beethoven, and Journey (yes, the 80s rock band). But then upon closer inspection, you notice there is an eight-year old conducting… that’s right! At Conduct-the-Symphony ANYONE can walk up and try their hand at conducting the orchestra. A few high-profile guests stopped by to conduct the mini-Symphony, including Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis, Eugene’s very own S.L.U.G. Queen Santa Frida Babosita, and Police Chief Chris Skinner, who lip-synced along to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” with a huge smile on his face. Participants received a commemorative Eugene Symphony baton, so they can practice their new conducting skills in the audience-free safety of their homes.
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
Finally, on July 24, Symphony Night at the Ballpark brought Symphony flair to our local minor-league baseball team, the Eugene Emeralds. Maestro Lecce-Chong, a self-proclaimed avid baseball fan, threw out the first pitch, and Symphony musicians played “The Star-Spangled Banner” to a stadium full of fans. Our Symphony brass quintet also performed Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla’s “Libertango” to support the Ems’ new brand addition, Los Monarcas de Eugene (The Monarchs of Eugene), part of a national initiative to celebrate diversity in Minor League Baseball as well as highlight Latino communities. We also hosted an Instrument Petting Zoo on the concourse of PK Park before the game (which, sadly, the Ems lost in extra innings). We are proud to offer these activities, along with another dozen or so programs for children, youth, students, and adults across a five-county area, which together reach more than 45,000 people annually. As this 53rd season begins, we look forward to telling you more about our work throughout the region, enriching lives through the power of music.
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
YOUTH CONCERT — NOV 13
Meet The Orchestra Eugene Symphony Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor | Eighth Blackbird, contemporary ensemble Tuesday, November 13, 2018 10:30 AM & 12:30 PM | Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center
featuring excerpts from: Bryce Dessner (b. 1976)
Brushy Fork from Murder Ballades
Ernest Muzquiz (b. 1947)
Auburn Run-Out
Paul Dukas (1865–1935)
Fanfare from La Péri
Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Serenade in E-flat Major, Op. 7
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48
Tom Johnson (b. 1939)
Counting Duet
Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)
On a Wire
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 Mvt I. Allegro con brio
Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880)
Can-Can from Orpheus in the Underworld
Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983)
Estancia, Op. 8 IV. Final Dance: Malambo
Youth Concert Season Sponsors
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Education Program Support
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
Marie Jones and Suzanne Penegor Additional Support
Support Hult Operations (SHO)
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
SYMPHONIC III — NOV 15
Birds of a Feather Eugene Symphony Francesco Lecce-Chong, conductor | Eighth Blackbird, contemporary ensemble Thursday, November 15, 2018 7:30 PM | Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center Eugene Symphony Guild Concert Preview 6:30 PM | The Studio, Hult Center
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 I. [Allegro] II. Allegro
Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)
On a Wire Eighth Blackbird, contemporary ensemble Matthew Duvall, percussion Nathalie Joachim, flutes Lisa Kaplan, piano Yvonne Lam, violin and viola Michael J. Maccaferri, clarinets Nick Photinos, cello
I N T E R M I S S I O N
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Six German Dances, K.571 I. D Major II. A Major III. C Major IV. G Major V. B-flat Major VI. D Major
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
Fancy Free I. Enter Three Sailors II. Scene at the Bar III. Enter Two Girls IV. Pas de deux V. Competition Scene VI. Three Dance Variations (Galop, Waltz, Danzon) VII. Finale
Concert Sponsor
Guest Artist Sponsor
This concert will be broadcast on KWAX-FM 91.1 on Tuesday, December 4 at 10 a.m. Broadcasts underwritten in part by Kernutt Stokes.
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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Birds of a Feather JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048 (1721) Bach wrote the six Brandenburg Concertos to enhance his résumé. He sensed that his very pleasant job in the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen would soon be written out of the budget. He heard of an opening with the Margrave of Brandenburg and composed/compiled—some of the material went back years—and submitted the six concertos. He didn’t land the job, but soon moved on to a combination of positions in Leipzig, where he stayed the rest of his life. The Margrave filed away the Brandenburgs in his library. His estate sold the manuscripts, which eventually landed in the Royal Library in Berlin. They languished there, undiscovered, until they came to light during a library inventory in 1849. After publication in 1850, the concertos quickly became standard repertoire as stellar examples of Baroque orchestral scoring. Each of them features state-of-the-Baroque-art virtuoso passages for a distinct set of instruments. No. 3 is all strings. Each of the three violins, violas, and cellos has a distinct, individual part. This gives Bach the flexibility to bring, say, the violins together in unison to give a more orchestral sound or to split them up to enrich the harmony or to showcase one part or another. A Baroque concerto is not the soloist-versus-orchestra showpiece as we think of concertos today, but rather a free-flowing exchange in which one instrument or group of instruments stands out from the crowd before merging back into it. “The players shift roles with every passing second,” said Music Director & Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong. “It’s like a game. I always feel so happy when I play the Brandenburgs.” Lecce-Chong, who will lead from the harpsichord, had the option of using a larger orchestra. He legitimately could have put four players on each part. But he will stick with the minimum and go with the chamber-music approach. Bach employed Ritornello form, a common structure in the period, in all six concertos and the first and third movements of No. 3. In a Ritornello, the whole ensemble plays a theme that recurs three or more times. Between these statements, soloists
or solo groupings play virtuosic contrasting material. Bach wrote just two chords for the middle movement. He almost certainly intended for a soloist to improvise over those chords, which Lecce-Chong will do. SCORED: For harpsichord and strings. HISTORY: First performed by the Eugene Symphony in December 1971 under the direction of Lawrence Maves. DURATION: Approximately 10 minutes. JENNIFER HIGDON (b. 1962) On a Wire (2011) On a Wire sounds nothing like Bach’s Brandenburg, but Francesco Lecce-Chong put them together on this program because they have a lot in common. “Jennifer Higdon has the same sort of idea Bach had,” he said. “They both wrote in three layers: solo, chamber, and orchestral. And On a Wire is very much in Ritornello style, with thoughtful solo asides along the way. Each player gets a miniconcerto. It’s almost as if the instruments are winking at each other as they toss things around.”
LOOK for the six musicians of Eighth Blackbird. Don’t miss them moving between playing their own instruments and the inside of the piano, as well as how they non-verbally communicate with each other while playing. The Bach and Higdon works also have mood in common. These are rollicking, angst-free pieces, not easy to play, but great fun once you nail them down. Higdon added an element of musician choreography. The ensemble moves about the stage as they play, most notably gathering at the keyboard for a OnePiano-12-Hands passage. That sounds like a daunting task—just playing an instrument well is hard enough. But Higdon
”I am delighted to welcome four-time GRAMMY-winning ensemble, Eighth Blackbird, for a residency in Eugene. Renowned American composer Jennifer Higdon’s 2010 concerto On a Wire was written specifically for them to showcase their unique capabilities. However, the general idea of a concerto for a small group 44
Program Notes by Tom Strini ©2018
of instruments started way back in the 17th century—most famously, with J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. We open the program with the third Brandenburg Concerto which uses 11 players who playfully switch between being the ‘soloist’ and the ‘orchestra’ at any given moment. The second half of our program features what I like to EUGENE SYMPHONY
PROGRAM NOTES — NOV 15
composed the piece for Eighth Blackbird and knew they could handle it. In her own program note, the composer wrote: “On a Wire is Eighth Blackbird’s high-wire-act-of-a-concerto. Having already written two chamber works for this group, I was familiar with their ability to do all sorts of cool things on their instruments, from extended techniques, to complex patterns, to exquisitely controlled lyrical lines. I also admire the pure joy that emanates from their playing, no matter the repertoire. [The piece] highlights the group as an ensemble… and utilizes some of their unique staging: the players move about and perform beyond their primary instruments. So, imagine six blackbirds, sitting on a wire…” SCORED: For solo sextet comprising flute, piccolo, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, marimba, and piano, this work is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, bassoon, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, two trombones, tuba, percussion, and strings. HISTORY: This is the first Eugene Symphony performance. DURATION: Approximately 25 minutes. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) Six German Dances, K.571 (1789) Mozart wrote dozens and dozens of dances. He could crank them out quickly, and they had a ready market. They are trifles, to be sure, but charming trifles. The K.571 set is a sprightly affair, with buoyant triple meters and tempos throughout. Even the march-like No. 3 and the gruff, bombastic “Turkish” No. 6 trip along smartly in threefour. Mozart based them on the ländler, a rustic dance with lots of stomping, hopping, physical comedy and a good bit of contact between the sexes. The men generally wore hobnail boots when they danced it. The gentry found it amusing. The straightforward da capo musical forms—essentially A-B-A—follow the pattern of the minuet. “This is street dance music,” Lecce-Chong said. “Mozart keeps its fun, vulgar quality while making sure it’s just elegant (Continued on page 34)
call ‘street music.’ Mozart took the wild and rough country dances of his day and dressed them up to be suitable for royal courts. A couple of centuries later, a young Bernstein took the chaotic jazz from New York City streets and turned it into the ballet that launched his career—Fancy Free.”
American Ballet Theater performing Leonard Bernstein’s Fancy Free (top). A German man dances a ländler, circa 1897 in Munich.
— Francesco Lecce-Chong SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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PROGRAM NOTES — NOV 15
Birds of a Feather (Continued from page 33) enough for a court ballroom—that is until the end with the shrieking piccolo and clashing cymbals!” SCORED: For one flute, flautino, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, percussion and strings except violas. HISTORY: This is the first Eugene Symphony performance. DURATION: Approximately 10 minutes. LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918–1990) Fancy Free (1944) “Mozart’s German Dances and Bernstein’s Fancy Free form my Street Music pair,” Lecce-Chong said. “Bernstein was going for this gritty, New York café style, a jazzy, New York approach to things. Mozart did that with rustic Austrian dances back in the day, and Bernstein did that with New York jazz.” The Eugene Symphony completes their Bernstein Centennial celebration with the work that put Bernstein on the musical map and launched his career. Fancy Free was Bernstein’s first collaboration with choreographer Jerome Robbins. Lonely sailors on leave roamed New York in the war years, and Robbins got the idea for a ballet about three of them. Robbins was a dancer in Ballet Theater (soon to become ABT, American Ballet Theater). He constantly lobbied to create a work for the company, and the directors finally hit on a dance about three sailors on 24-hour leave in New York. Robbins approached Bernstein to write the music. Bernstein had recently become a New York sensation for stepping in to conduct the New York Philharmonic on an emergency basis, with no rehearsal. No angst-ridden princes show up in Fancy Free, and no one would mistake Bernstein’s score for Tchaikovsky. Robbins strove to create a thoroughly American, thoroughly modern ballet, and Bernstein was all in with thoroughly American music. So these three sailors—a dreamy one, a joker, and a hustler— walk into a bar. Billie Holiday is playing on the radio before the
orchestra starts up. They drink, they boast, they roughhouse, they joke, they compete for the attentions of a couple of beauties. They put on a dance contest; loser gets no girl. The ladies are too smart to stick around, and flee when the boys end up in a fist fight.
LISTEN for the jazz piano in Fancy Free. In between wild dance episodes, Bernstein features a laid-back jazz pianist providing background music at a busy New York 1940s bar. Bernstein’s edgy, jumpy, exuberant music, with its jagged, syncopated rhythms, forcefully propels Robbins’ choreography. Bernstein held the vernacular jazz of the day in front of a range of avant-garde fun-house mirrors, and Robbins did much the same with jazz, Broadway and ballroom swing. The audience perceived the familiar filtering through the strange and adored both. Fancy Free established Robbins as a rising star and further solidified Bernstein as a modern genius. The ballet was so popular that Bernstein and Robbins expanded the three-sailors idea into On the Town, their first Broadway musical—another hit. (For more about On the Town, see the program notes for September 27.) But On the Town and Fancy Free live in different musical worlds. “In Fancy Free, Bernstein hadn’t gone full-on Broadway,” Lecce-Chong said. “In the ballet score, he’s rough and gruff. It has a symphonic compass, but it still evokes the guy playing trumpet on the street corner for nickels and dimes.” SCORED: For two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, piano, and strings. HISTORY: This is the first Eugene Symphony performance. DURATION: Approximately 25 minutes.
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
GUEST ARTIST — NOV 15
Eighth Blackbird Eighth Blackbird, hailed as “one of the smartest, most dynamic contemporary classical ensembles on the planet” (Chicago Tribune), began in 1996 as a group of six entrepreneurial Oberlin Conservatory students and quickly became “a brand-name defined by adventure, vibrancy and quality” (Detroit Free Press). Over the course of more than two decades, Eighth Blackbird has continually pushed at the edges of what it means to be a contemporary chamber ensemble, presenting distinct programs in Chicago, nationally, and internationally, reaching audiences totaling tens of thousands. The sextet has commissioned and premiered hundreds of works by composers both established and emerging, and have perpetuated the creation of music with profound impact, such as Steve Reich’s Double Sextet, which went on to win the 2009 Pulitzer Prize.
The ensemble’s extensive recording history has produced more than a dozen acclaimed albums and four Grammy Awards. The ensemble’s extensive recording history, primarily with Chicago’s Cedille Records, has produced more than a dozen acclaimed albums and four Grammy Awards for Best Small Ensemble/Chamber Music Performance, most recently in 2016 for Filament. Longstanding collaborative relationships have led to performances with some of the most well-regarded classical artists of today, from heralded performers like Dawn Upshaw and Jeremy Denk, to seminal composers like Philip Glass and Nico Muhly. In recent projects, Eighth Blackbird has joined forces with composers and performers who defy the persistent distinction between classical and nonclassical music, including
works by The National’s Bryce Dessner and Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Perry, and performances with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, My Brightest Diamond frontwoman Shara Nova, Will Oldham (aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and Iarla Ó Lionáird of The Gloaming, among others. Eighth Blackbird first gained wide recognition in 1998 as winners of the Concert Artists Guild Competition. Since 2000, the ensemble has called Chicago home, and has been committed to serving as both importer and exporter of world class artistic experiences to and from Chicago. A recent year-long pioneering residency at the Museum of Contemporary Art-Chicago, during which the ensemble served as a living installation with open rehearsals, performances, guest artists, and public talks, exemplified their stature as community influencers. Receiving the prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, Chamber Music America’s inaugural Visionary Award, and being named Musical America’s 2017 Ensemble of the Year have supported Eighth Blackbird’s position as a catalyst for innovation in the new music ecosystem of Chicago and beyond. Eighth Blackbird’s mission—moving music forward through innovative performance, advocating for new music by living composers, and creating a legacy of guiding an emerging generation of musicians—extends beyond recording and touring to curation and education. The ensemble served as Music Director of the 2009 Ojai Music Festival, has held residencies at the Curtis Institute of Music and at the University of Chicago, and holds an ongoing Ensemble-in-Residence position at the University of Richmond. In 2017, Eighth Blackbird launched its boldest initiative yet with the creation of Blackbird Creative Laboratory, an inclusive, two-week summer workshop and performance festival for performers and composers in Ojai, CA.
Live in motion.
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541.393.2180 ~ slocumcenter.com/symphony Enhancing the community through the support of youth activities and the arts
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
Scenes from Offstage
(Top, left to right) Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong throws out the first pitch at a Eugene Emeralds game in July. Francesco poses with Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis (and her Symphony saber!) at the 10th Annual Eugene Symphony in the Park. Francesco proposed to his girlfriend, Chloe Tula, a second-year Harp Fellow with the New World Symphony, on July 3, 2018, and she said yes! Congrats to the happy couple! (Above, left to right) Audience members relax on the Cuthbert Amphitheater lawn at the 10th Annual Eugene Symphony in the Park, and light up their Symphony sabers as the orchestra performs music from Star Wars. Volunteer Jenny Gusset helps young James Blalack try out the cello at an Instrument Petting Zoo. For more photos, like the Eugene Symphony Association at facebook.com/eugenesymphony and follow us on Instagram at @eugene.symphony
APRIL – MAY –2018 SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER 2018
(At left) Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner conducts a Eugene Symphony string ensemble at the Conduct-theSymphony event during Eugene Sunday Streets in July.
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DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Chvatal family keeps youth smiling through music
Erin Dickinson volunteering at a Youth Concert (at left). Colin, Brad, Erin, Chloe, and Andrew traveling in Thailand (at right).
Why do you value music in your life? Our son, Andrew, has been playing violin since he was five years old. By that time, he had already been asking when he could start lessons for at least a year. He’s really passionate about it, and his enthusiasm has drawn us more into the world of classical music. Seeing the amazing performances of the Eugene Symphony has further deepened our enjoyment of music. Going to the concerts has been a great time as we often meet with friends prior to the concerts, during intermission, and often afterwards. It gives us—and others—an opportunity to put away our cell phones and other technologies and immerse ourselves in beautiful music for a few hours each month. It’s really something that we look forward to, both as a couple and occasionally with our son who enjoys the concerts as well.
first time. They are so excited to be there! Seeing the awed and energized kids become quiet as the performance starts is magical. From a professional standpoint, the symphony connotes a very professional brand that Chvatal Orthodontics is both excited and proud to support!
What do you believe music provides to a community? Music provides an opportunity for the community to come together and share in a unique experience that has connected people for centuries and yet is still relevant today. A great example: we were riding our bikes through Eugene Sunday Streets in late July and had a chance to watch some of the Eugene Symphony Conduct-the-Symphony event. The casually-dressed musicians were assembled under a shady carport in downtown Eugene. A large crowd had gathered to hear the music and to watch others try their hand at conducting. As soon as the music stopped, the crowd dissipated and everyone went on their way. It was a great example of how music—especially classical music—brings people together, even in non-traditional and unexpected settings.
Can you share a specific story of seeing your contributions to the Eugene Symphony “at work”? Going to the Youth Concerts and seeing the students be engaged and enthralled in the performance is really rewarding. Knowing that thousands of students are getting a chance to see world-class music is something that we enjoy sponsoring each year. Also, Erin’s position on the board and seeing the behind the scenes activity allows Brad to see how our donations and energy—joined with others’ contributions—can help spread music throughout our community.
Why do you choose to support the Eugene Symphony? The Eugene Symphony is such a vibrant organization! From the amazing concerts to the numerous community engagement programs, there always seems to be something that the Symphony is doing. Being part of such a hard-working and farreaching organization is something that really makes us proud. We look forward to watching the Eugene Symphony maintain and grow its programs for many years. One of our favorite community events to support is the Youth Concerts where thousands of students are brought to the Hult Center to experience classical music—many of them for the
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Why do you prioritize supporting music? Although we are inundated with requests to support various organizations, the Eugene Symphony has been a priority for us personally and professionally. We want to see music not only be present, but also to thrive in our region, and we know that can’t happen without support from the community. We know that our donation reaches far beyond the monthly performances. Music is calming. Music is inspiring. We never know whose life it will touch, but we’re glad to support an organization that reaches so many in our community!
Why would you encourage others to attend and support the symphony? Eugene is fortunate to have such a first-rate Symphony. For a city this size to be able to attract world-class guest artists like Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Renée Fleming speaks volumes about its quality. At the same time, the Eugene Symphony has a very inclusive environment. You don’t need to know anything about classical music or to dress up in fancy clothes to be welcome at the concert. There are people there from all walks of life. Many people bring their children; youth tickets are only $10! Our Music Director, Francesco Lecce-Chong is devoted to making the Symphony approachable and appealing to all, and the 2018/19 program is designed to appeal to all different tastes. Everyone should come to at least one performance. At the very least, it’s a great date night, but it could also be the beginning of a great and lasting relationship!
EUGENE SYMPHONY
BENEFITS
BECOME A SYMPHONY MEMBER
SYMPHONY MEMBER: $100–250 Season program magazine recognition Invitation to Annual Meeting Celebration Receive Music Matters, insider newsletter from Music Director & Conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong
SUSTAINING MEMBER: $250–499 All of the above, plus: Invitation to special events Opportunity to attend two open dress rehearsals
BENEFACTOR: $500–999 All of the above, plus: Invitation to one Meet Francesco & Musicians post-concert private reception Voucher for a pre-concert and intermission visit to Founders Club donor lounge Voucher redeemable for two Symphonic series concert tickets
CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE: $1,000–2,499 OUR PROGRAMS AND PERFORMANCES ARE NOT ONLY FOR YOU, THEY ARE POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF YOU.
Ticket sales cover less than 50% of the costs required to support the Eugene Symphony. As a member, your gift will help bring music to more than 45,000 people in our region this season, as you invest in all of Eugene Symphony’s onstage, community engagement, and music education programs.
MEMBERS Contact Sara Mason, Development Director 541.687.9487 x1104 | sara.mason@eugenesymphony.org or visit eugenesymphony.org/support-us
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
All of the above, plus: Opportunity to attend all open dress rehearsals Voucher for three pre-concert and intermission visits to Founders Club donor lounge Access to Conductor’s Circle priority subscription seating Opportunity to be acknowledged as musician sponsor for season ($1,500 and above)
FOUNDERS SOCIETY: $2,500+ All of the above, plus: Donors receive exclusive benefits, such as an invitation to all Meet Francesco & Musicians post-concert receptions, 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, x1104, or visit our website at eugenesymphony.org.
PLATINUM PATRONS | $25,000 + Nathan & Marilyn Cammack Eugene Symphony Guild
Niles & Mary Ann Hanson Marie Jones & Suzanne Penegor
Terry West & Jack Viscardi
GOLD PATRONS | $10,000 – $24,999 Keyhan & Lauren Aryah Dennis & Janet Beetham Natalie & Zack Blalack Dave & Sherrie Kammerer
Meg Mitchell David & Paula Pottinger James & Jane Ratzlaff Paul Roth
Dr. Matthew Shapiro & Maylian Pak Betty L. Soreng Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Ray & Cathie Staton Barbara & James Walker
SILVER PATRONS | $5,000 – $9,999 Anonymous Warren & Kathy Barnes Deb Carver & John Pegg Chvatal Orthodontics Elaine Twigg Cornett & Zane J Cornett Marci Daneman Mike Fox & Rebekah Lambert Bill & Judy Freck
Pam Graves in memory of Glendora Burbank George & Kay Hanson Starly Hodges Jenny Jonak & Mike Bragg Sarah G Maggio Matthew McLaughlin Trieber & Michelle Meador Herb Merker & Marcy Hammock Philip & Sandra Piele
Otto & Joanna Radke Martha B. Russell Subfund of the Arts Foundation of Western Oregon Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Dunny & Debbie Sorensen Andy Storment Sharon Ungerleider Paul & Lory Utz Jack & Florence Vollstedt
BRONZE PATRONS | $2,500 – $4,999 Anonymous (2) Joseph & Margaret Adelsberger Kevin & Irene Alltucker Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Robert & Friedl Bell Mary Joanne Berry Shawn & Melva Boles Jack & Dondeana Brinkman Anne & Terry Carter William & Karla Chambers The Chambers Family Foundation Brad Chvatal & Erin Dickinson Harriet Cherry & John Leavens Jeff & Julie Collins Ashlee Crib & Walt Woliver Edna P. DeHaven G. Burnette Dillon & Louise Di Tullio Dillon Ed & Molly Emberlin Ray & Libby Englander
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Ginger Fifield Susan & Greg Fitz-Gerald Kevin Forsythe & Elizabeth Tippett Scott & Leslie Anderson Freck Susan K. Gilmore & Phyllis J. Brown Verda M. Giustina Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation The Gray Family Peter Gregg Galina Groza Elizabeth & Roger Hall Erwin & Vicki Haussler Lin & Don Hirst Hugh Johnston Marilyn & Michael Kelley Phillip Kimmel & Stephanie Pearl-Kimmel Deborah Lewis Larson Diana G. Learner & Carolyn Simms Michael Lewis & Martha MacRitchie Duncan & Jane Eyre McDonald
Andy & Elizabeth McWilliams James & Marilyn Murdock John & Andrea Murphy Janet Van Nada Arden Olson & Sharon Rudnick Laura Parrish & Richard Matteri Blandon Ray & Kim Nies Mike & Casey Roscoe Doneka R. Scott & Cedric Skillon Heinz & Susan Selig Sheppard Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Ellis & Lucille Sprick Inge Tarantola Michael Vergamini Chris Walton & Elizabeth Sheehan Dr. James & Jan Ward Sandra Weingarten & Ryan Darwish Bruce & Carol Whitaker 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
Marie Jones & Suzanne Penegor
GUEST ARTIST SPONSORS Chvatal Orthodontics Eugene-Irkutsk Sister City Committee Jonak Law Group
Oakmont Family Dental Summit Bank
Slocum Center for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Wildish Companies
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SPONSORS Eugene Airport Ferguson Wellman
George Rode Repair Shops Grain Millers, Inc. The Gilmore Agency
Kernutt Stokes Oregon Community Credit Union
IN-KIND SEASON SPONSORS Elizabeth Chambers Cellar Hilton Eugene
COMMUNITY SUPPORT SPONSORS Comfort Flow Heating
Marché Rhythm & Blooms
Silvan Ridge Winery Technology Association of Oregon
SPECIAL THANKS TO... City of Eugene/Hult Center for the Performing Arts Euphoria Chocolate Company Framin’ Artworks Kesey Enterprises
JLN Design Partnered Solutions IT Amanda Smith Photography Technaprint
FOUNDATION PARTNERS
The Silva Endowment Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation
The Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
Herbert A.Templeton Foundation Support Hult Center Operations (SHO)
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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) Gil & Roberta Achterhof The Alsop Family Foundation Virginia P. Anderson Laura Avery Ted & Marie Baker Allan & Caitlin Benavides Louise Bishop & James Earl Carl Bjerre & Andrea Coles-Bjerre Ruby Brockett John & Christa Brombaugh Jim & Bev Buckley Susan Bulkeley Butler Delpha Camp Robert & Kathleen Carolan Curtis Chong Norma F. Cole Edwin & June Cone Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation Allan & Nancy Coons Jana & Mark Cox John & Linda Cummens Wendy Dame & Don Doerr
Bill Starbuck & Joan Dunbar Designated Fund Stephen & Francoise Durrant Dieter & Juanita Engel James & Susan Finney John & Jo Fisher Brad Foley Eric & Kristin Forrest Robert & Violet Fraser Lynn Frohnmayer Liz & Greg Gill Donald Gudehus & Gloria Page Ron & Marge Hamilton Michael & Janet Harbour Stephanie Harris Lucille P. Heitz Dr. Larry & Sharon Hirons Monica Careaga Houck Ellen Hyman John & Robin Jaqua Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation Ms. Chris K. Johnson Allan & Dorothy Kays
Doreen Kilen Jim & Janet Kissman Eunice Kjaer Steve & Cyndy Lane Lynda Lanker Gary J. LeClair & Janice R. Friend Kaye LeFrancq Bob & Brenda Macherione Gary P. Marcus Lee & Mary Jean Michels J Anthony & Mary Mohr Darian & Karen Morray John & Barbara Mundall Alexander Murphy & Susan Gary Nancy Oft & Mike Rose Theodore & Laramie Palmer Judson Parsons & Diana Gardener Stan & Julie Pickett John & Joanne Porter Hope Hughes Pressman Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation In memory of Britta Putjenter
John F. Quilter Dr. Candice Rohr Jim & Paula Salerno Nathan & Robin Phillips Royce & Phyllis Saltzman Roger Saydack & Elaine Bernat John & Betty Siebs Ken & Kenda Singer Ginny Starr Martha J. Steward Marion Sweeney, Kate Laue, & Cama Evans Sing & David Tam Jeff & Linda Taylor Charitable Fund Cathye Tritten Ellen Tykeson Gayle Umenhofer Jim & Cathy Walker John & Sandy Watkinson Jim & Sally Weston Steve & Kim Wildish Harry & Connie Wonham Woodard Family Foundation Marguerite Zolman
David Guy Mary Louise Douda Howard & Kathleen Epstein Jane & Latham Flanagan, MD Mark & Carey Garber Lisa A. Hawley Ronald & Cecilia Head Bob & Debbie Heaton Kenneth Helphand David & Marcia Hilton Donald Holst Cynthia Hostetter Emmy Jenson Stephen Jones & Kay Hayford Brandon Julio & Haydn Zhang Toshiro & Irene Katsura Doris Kuehn Dana O’Leary-Parrish Andrew Lewinter Richard & Jacquie Litchfield
Lois Long in memory of Dr. George M. Long Nena Lovinger & Robert Emmons Mark & Denise Lyon John & Ethel MacKinnon Robert & Colleen McKee Mary Mercier Bonita Merten Mary Ann Moore Boyd & Natalie Morgan Andrew Nelson & Ann Carney Nelson Christian & Betsy Nielsen David & Anne O’Brien Douglas Park & Beth Stormshak C Bennett & Ilene Pascal Linda & John Van Peenen David & Jane Pubols Michelle Quinney
Marjory Ramey Reed Family Foundation Ellen Rentz Richard Romm Karen Seidel Roberta Singer Jerry & Sandi South Craig Starr & Sandra Scheetz Jim Steinberger & Joyce Gardner Steinberger Mike & Catheryn Stickel Jason Tavakolian & Jennifer Lamberg Carol Thibeau Mandi Tribble & Steve Engel Pierre & Mary Lou Van Rysselberghe Peter & Josephine Von Hippel Forrest & Anna Williams
Loren C. Barlow John & Sylvia Barry David Baslaw & Ginny Burkey Janine Benner & Greg Dotson
Ron & Janet Bertucci Laird & Ronnie Black David & Sheila Bong Lynn & Ben Bonner
Benefactors ($500–$999) Anonymous (2) Linda Ague & Kirk Kneeland Frank & Dorothy Anderson Roanne Bank Carmen Bayley John Blackburn David & Sheila Bong Mary Breiter & Scott Pratt Barbara Britt Greg Brokaw & Elaine Lawson Ann Burgess Michael Burkhardt Bill & Lynn Buskirk Melvin Carlson Jr. George & Fanny Carroll Mary Clayton Laura Coffin & Gerard Ostheimer Carol Crumlish Paul & Vivian Day Marilyn Deaton
Sustaining Members ($250–$499) Anonymous Carolyn Abbott Lucille Allsen Tony Anthony & Christine Shirley
Vernon Arne Karen Artiaco & Jack Hart Ronald & Julia Babcock Robert Baechtold
This listing is current as of June 30, 2018. 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 the Eugene Symphony Development Department at 541-687-9487 ext. 1110. Thank you for your generosity.
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
Season Supporters Sustaining Members ($250–$499) Jim & Joanna Branvold Jack & Toni Brown Sara Brownmiller & Milo Mecham Sue Burkholder Leonard & Janet Calvert Julia Carver & Brooks Tull Chris & Judy Chavez Ernest Chizinski Suzanne Clark Hiett & Caron Cooper Roger Coulter Ashlee Cribb & Walt Woliver Nancy Cummings Brian & Nancy Davies Tom Stevens & Flo Delaney Tomi Douglas Peter Edberg & Bryna Goodman John Etter Gary Ferrington Robert & Jill Foster David Foulkes & Nancy Kerr Barbara Gates Mary Gent Pat Candeaux Gilberts
Sylvia Giustina Scott Ricker & Mary Gleason-Ricker Jeff & Susan Gusinow Grayson & Esther Haclerode Desiree Hansen & Breon Price John & Claudia Hardwick Jamie Harper & Roxie Thoren David & Donna Hawkins Robert & Deborah Heaton Jim & Judith Hendrickson Richard Herskowitz & Jill Hartz Richard & Judith Hicks Ken Higgins Sara Hodges Lewis & Sandra Horne Robert H. Horner & Polly Ashworth Judith Johnson Pamela McClure-Johnston & Roy Johnston Peter & Jane Kay Sue Keene Dorothy Kemp
Tim & Linda King John & Muriel Kurtz Martin Jones & Gayle Landt Doug & Diane Livermore Bert Lund Gerald MacLean Charles & Leslie Martinez Sara & David Mason Robert & Barbara Maurer Jo Ann McCabe Michael McCarthy Lucille McKenzie in memory of Dean McKenzie Michael Milstein Jack & Barbara Miner Dr. Jeffrey Morey & Gail Harris Mary Anne Morrison Judith Mortimore Kenneth & Jackie Murdoff Chris Murray Jill Overley Harold & Joyce Owen James Pelley & Susan McConnell Ashley Petsch William & Cheryl Pickerd
Dave & Linda Pompel Dr. R Charles & Karen Ray Joe & Marian Richards Norman & Barbara Savage Eric Schabtach & Bonnie Murdock Sarah Schram Dr. Susan Rieke-Smith & Jeffry Smith Betty Lou Snyder Richard D. Spurlin Jane Stephens Gerald & Heidi Stolp Tim & Ann Straub David Stuck & Janis Sellers-Stuck John & Carol Sullivan Wayne & Leslie Taubenfeld Jean Tuesday Jerome & Judy Vergamini Phyllis Villec Gerald & Veronika Walton Hilda H. Whipple Terry & Lucy White Illona Wilken Robert & Patricia Wilson Kelly B. Wolf
John & Judith Kraft Donald Landstrom & Zachary Ruhl William Langdon John & Karen Lawrence Edward Lawry & Sandra Wu Joyce Leader Hope Lewis The Lillegard Family Janet Logan & William Oakley Eileen Loritsch Margaret Malsch Greg & Lynne McCutcheon Gary & Jill McKenney Suzanne Gilbrt McRae Sarah & Josh McCoy Mike Shippey & Mary Minniti Rose Marie Moffitt John & Shanna Molitor Judith Moomaw Beth Moore & Lorne Bigley John & Cheryl Moore Kathy Moulton Karen Murphy Duncan & Saundra Murray Beverly A. Murrow Diane Vandehey-Neale Marilyn Nelson Melvin Nygaard & Mary Sykes Carol Nylander Ruth Obadal Jeffrey & Deborah Ogburn Joy Olgyay & William Taliaferro Dorothy Parrott Lindsay Pearson
Michele Piastro & Allen Jablonski Douglas W. Pierce & Cynthia L. Secrest Jim Pilling Guntis & Mara Plesums Michael & Judy Ponichtera Sharon & Michael Posner Andrzej Wieckowski & Teresa Prussak-Wieckowska Richard & Patricia Rankin Lloyd & Marilyn Rawlings Jim & Sandy Ridlington Edith C. Roberts Daniel & Kay Robinhold Gerald & Marcia Romick Sally Ann Ross Robert S. Russell Michael & Wendy Russo Eva Safar Madeline Malsch Richard & Karen Scheeland Gregory Schultz Suzanne & Marc Shapiro Marty & Mary Lou Smith Joanne & John Soper Dave & Dorothy Soper Howard & Sharon Speer John & Julie Stacy Phoebe Staples Barry & Marilyn Stenberg Maria & Delmar Storment Patrick & Marjorie Sullivan Fay Sunada & Patrick Wagner Susan & Bahram Tavakolian Edward Teague
Symphony Members ($125–$249) Anonymous (2) Mardi Abbott Dr. Don & Marianne Anderson Susan Archbald Jo Anne Arnold Gerry Aster Roger & Lela Aydelott Avon Lee & Robin Babb Sue Bach Don Baldwin George Bateman Diane Baxter Joan Bayliss & Irwin Noparstak Lawrence & Linda Ann Beach William & Alice Beckett Joyce Benjamin David & Judith Berg Richard & Betsy Berg Sara Bergsund John & Lucy Bigelow Robert & Patricia Brasch The Kiva Grocers - Booksellers Norma Bryan Susan Burke & Clive Thomas June Hopkins & Don Campbell Elizabeth Charley Linda Cheney & Fred Felter Gary & Carole Chenkin Anthony J. Meyer & Joan Claffey Victor Congleton Alan Contreras Mark & Anne Dean Dale Derby & Ingrid Horvath Cynthia Dickinson Donald & Jenna Diment
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
Alex Dracobly & Julie Hessler Dr. John & Virginia Dunphy John Faville Margot Fetz Lamar & Jane Forvilly Carl J. Frank Dorothy Frear Carole Gillett Tony & Courtney Glausi Elizabeth G. Glover Warren & Susan Griffith James Grimm & Jocelyn Bonner Mary Grinage Sally Grosscup David Gusset Haissam Haidar Scott & Mary Halpert Roger & Karen Hamilton Gale & Rosemary Hatleberg Bernard Robe & Diane Hawley Andrew & Marilyn Hays Phyllis Helland & Raymond Morse Leslie Hildreth Harold & Martha Hockman Judith Horstmann & Howard Bonnett James & Helen Jackson Carol A. James Benton Johnson Robert Kendall Alan & Martha Kimball Charles & Reida Kimmel Anita Klock Margaret Knudsen
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Season Supporters Symphony Members ($125–$249) Gary Tepfer & Esther Jacobson-Tepfer John & Renate Tilson Liz Tritz
Addie Vandehey William Waddel Carol Myree Welch Mary Ellen West
Donald Wisely William & Pat Wiswall V. Gerald & Ann Woeste Thomas & Mariol Wogaman
Susannah Wielesek & Bob Wright JoAnn Zinniker Alex Zunterstein
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.
Gilbert Stiles Avery III Marcia Baldwin Chandler Barkelew Phyllis Barkhurst Constance Mae Beckley Norma Jean Bennett Donald Bick Valentina Bilan Caroline Boekelheide Norma Bryan Hanya Etter Bert Evans Laurel Fisher Diane Foley Dave Frohnmayer Jean Glausi Marilyn Graham Ilene Hershner Gorgie Hofma Cory Hultenberg Bruce Kilen
American Federation of Musicians, Local 689 The Chambers Family Foundation The Haugland Family Foundation Herbert A. Templeton Foundation National Endowment for the Arts New Music USA Nils & Jewel Hult Endowment - Arts Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation James F. & Marion L Miller Foundation Juan Young Trust Oregon Arts Commission Oregon Cultural Trust Oregon Community Foundation The Silva Endowment Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation Supporting Hult Operations (S.H.O) Woodard Family Foundation
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Melvin Lindley Donald Lytle Milton Madden Ardice Mick Billie Newman Yun Kol ‘Jin’ Pak Reverend William Pfeffer Jack Pyle Ellen B. Rice Richard Rintoul Cece Romania John A. Schellman Jane Schmidt Helen R. Shapiro Dr. John A. Siebs John Siebs Benson Snyder Jan Stafl, MD Leonard Tarantola Mary Tibbetts Richard (Dick) G. Williams Barbara Wolfe
EUGENE SYMPHONY
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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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 Robert Baechtold John & Ruth Bascom Marjorie Beck Trust
Joanne Berry The Brockett Family Ann & Terry Carter 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 David & Paula Pottinger 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 2018
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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
David Pottinger, President Deborah Carver, Vice President Dr. Matthew McLaughlin, Secretary Warren Barnes, Treasurer
Dr. Matthew Shapiro, Past President Zachary Blalack, Treasurer-Elect
Francesco Lecce-Chong, Music Director & Conductor Scott Freck, Executive Director Sarah Smaw, Executive & Administrative Coordinator
Arden Olson Joanna Radke Mike Roscoe Paul Roth Dr. Doneka Scott Suzanne Shapiro Dunny Sorenson Andrew Stiltner Elizabeth Tippett Michael Vergamini Jack Viscardi Alicia Voorhees Sean Wagoner Connie Wonham
ARTISTIC Lindsay Pearson, General Manager Lauren Elledge, Librarian Sharon Paul, Chorus Director Amy Adams, Chorus Manager Bill Barnett, Recording Engineer Rick Carter, Piano Technician
Betty Soreng David Ogden Stiers
FINANCE Mary Scarpinato, Finance & Administrative Director Nancy Holloman & Caroline Manewal, Volunteer Coordinators
DIRECTORS Susan Ashton Harriet Cherry Julie Collins Ashlee Cribb Mike Curtis Erin Dickinson Dr. Raymond N. Englander Mary Ann Hanson David Kammerer Stephanie Pearl Kimmel Sarah Maggio Jane Eyre McDonald Trieber Meador Meg Mitchell DIRECTORS EMERITUS Phil Cass, Jr. Carolyn S. Chambers
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 2015–2017 Dr. Matthew Shapiro
DEVELOPMENT Sara Mason, Development Director Tegan DeBolt, Development & Fundraising Manager EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Katy Vizdal, Education & Community Engagement Director
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Vacant, Marketing & Communications Director Vacant, Marketing & Audience Engagement Manager Season Design: Cricket Design Works Program Magazine Design/Production: JLN Design, Jerril Nilson
ENDOWMENT FUND OF THE EUGENE SYMPHONY TRUSTEES
Silva Chambers David Hawkins, Chair Varner J. Johns III
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Ann Marie Mehlum 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
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2018
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SOCIETY Ensure your love and legacy of music for generations Include the Eugene Symphony in your estate plan. Gifts of cash, stock, trusts, IRA, Life Insurance
“My wife and I love the Eugene Symphony and have been devoted fans and supporters since 1981. To ensure our support endures long after we are gone, we made sure the symphony endowment was in our estate plans. We want the legacy of excellence, joy, and vibrancy that this orchestra provides to the region to play on!” — DR. RAY AND LIBBY ENGLANDER, Encore Society members
For more information, visit EUGENESYMPHONY.ORG/ENCORE Or contact Sara Mason at 541-687-9487 x1104 or sara.mason@eugenesymphony.org
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EUGENE SYMPHONY
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