Monte Perkins, Conductor presents
“A CELEBRATION OF SPIRIT” Featuring Festival City Symphony’s French Horn section in the Schumann “Concertstück”
January 26, 2014 3:00 PM Pabst Theater 144 E. Wells
A Celebration of Spirit
1
PROGR A M Overture to The Thieving Magpie.............................................................................Gioacchino Rossini Concert Piece for Four Horns and Orchestra, op. 86, F Major............................. Robert Schumann I. Lebhaft.(Lively) II. Romanze; Ziemlich langsam, doch nicht schleppend.(Slow, but not too slow) III. Sehr lebhaft.(Very lively) Kelly Hofman, Nancy Cline, Anne Maliborski, Charles Payette, solo horns Intermission Symphony No.5, op. 100, B-flat Major..........................................................................Sergei Prokofieff I. Andante. II. Allegro marcato. III. Adagio. IV. Allegro giocoso. FCS SPECIAL GUESTS SUPER READERS---children who have earned free tickets for themselves and their families by participating in Milwaukee Public Library’s SUPER READERS program.
***Festival City Symphony is a member organization of Association of Wisconsin Symphony Orchestras, the Creative Alliance, VISIT Milwaukee, an affiliate member of UPAF, and a program partner at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. FCS made the Business Journal’s “Book of Lists” 2002 – 2007, 2010, and 2012.***
T H A N K S TO O U R S P O N S O R S Festival City Symphony would like to take this opportunity to thank its sponsors, without whom these programs would not take place.
Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Franklyn and Barbara Esenberg Fund
for operational expenses in-kind support for “Pajama Jamborees” through in-kind contribution 2
Festival City Symphony
F E S T I VA L C I T Y S Y M P H O N Y Chief Executive Officer................................................................................................Franklyn Esenberg Conductor/Artistic Director...............................................................................................Monte Perkins Executive Director................................................................................................................. Linda E. Jones Education Director..................................................................................................................Jayne Perkins Librarian.................................................................................................................................. Christine Treter Assistant Librarians.......................................................................................Robert and Martha Kriefall Board of Directors Franklyn Esenberg, Chairman of the Board Theodore Zimmer, Secretary/ Treasurer JoAnn Norris Charlane O’Rourke Robert W. Stack
A Celebration of Spirit
3
C O N D U C TO R ’ S N O T E S “A C E L E B R AT I O N O F S P I R I T ” Welcome to the first concert for the new year by Festival City Symphony. Today’s performance features three works by composers of different nationalities, periods and styles, and each is special in its own way. Gioacchino Rossini (1792 – 1868) was the quintessential man of the theatre, writing thirtyfive operas in twenty years. His last, William Tell, premiered in 1829 and, though he lived another almost forty years, he never wrote another, perhaps due simply to psychological exhaustion. His two-act opera La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) premiered in 1817 to good success but is little performed today, probably being overshadowed by others such as Barber of Seville, Cinderella, and An Italian Girl In Algiers. The rather thin plot revolves around a maid who is accused by her employer of stealing jewelry, only to be exonerated when it is shown that the objects were actually taken by a bird attracted to their glitter. The Overture has become one of Rossini’s most popular works. The Concertstück (Concert Piece) for Four Horns and Orchestra is, quite simply, unique in the literature. Robert Schumann (1810-1856) wrote it in just two days in 1849 and it premiered in Leipzig in 1850. At this time the horn was only becoming the valved instrument we know today. Valves were invented in the early 19th Century, but few hornists were anxious to adopt the new-style instruments. By mid-century younger players had taken to and mastered the valved horn, allowing composers to write fully chromatic parts for the instrument. Schumann’s work calls for four virtuosi, with great technical challenges in the outer movements and a beautiful song-like second movement romance. We are extremely fortunate to have players of this caliber in our orchestra and are very proud to present the horn section of Festival City as our soloists. Fifteen years passed between the composition of the Fourth Symphony and the Fifth Symphony of Sergei Prokofieff (1891 – 1953). After living in Paris for ten years, Prokofieff decided to return to live in Moscow in 1932, despite the increasingly hostile attitude of the Soviet government towards artists. He told reporters he had been writing down themes for a new symphony in a special notebook, and once he decided to complete his project it took him only one month to fully compose the Fifth and another month to orchestrate it. It is a work of pure music with no program. Prokofieff himself called it music “about the spirit of man…. celebrating freedom, happiness, and strength”. How much of that description was due to political necessity we will never know, but the terms seem very appropriate. The work’s premiere on January 13, 1945, in Moscow with the composer conducting was memorable as well. The Soviet army was gaining the upper hand on Nazi invaders and Prokofieff had to wait to start the performance until the sound of an artillery battle subsided. We hope you enjoy these three very special and different pieces and will join us in March for an all - Mendelssohn program.
4
Festival City Symphony
S
ymphony undays
CLASSICAL MUSIC FOR ALL AGES
“TIMELESS ROMANCE” SYMPHONY SUNDAYS CONCERT Sunday, March 16, 2014 3:00 pm
Pabst Theater 144 E. Wells Street Children Program Notes at 2:45 Tickets: $14, Adult $8, Child, student, or senior
This concert features three master works by Felix Mendelssohn, beginning with his youthful “Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Milwaukee violin soloist and MSO concertmaster Frank Almond joins FCS for the “Violin Concerto in E minor,” Mendelssohn’s last orchestral work. The concert will close with the timelessly romantic “Symphony No. 3 (Scottish),” reminiscent of the novels of Sir Walter Scott.
festivalcitysymphony.org 414-365-8861 festivalcitysymphony@wi.rr.com
A Celebration of Spirit
5
FRENCH HORN SECTION AS SOLOISTS In addition to performing with the Festival City Symphony for the past two years, Kelly Hofman (playing Horn I) is the Principal Horn of the Wisconsin Philharmonic and holds positions with the Green Bay, Fox Valley, and Kenosha Symphonies. She is an alumna of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and performs regularly with the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony. During the summer, Kelly is on faculty at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC where she teaches and performs as 3rd horn in the Eastern Festival Orchestra. As a soloist, Ms. Hofman has been the featured soloist in Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with both the Wisconsin Philharmonic and the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestras. She also performed on the regional artists’ recital for the 2013 Midwest Horn Workshop. As a chamber musician, Kelly performs regularly with the Eastern Chamber Players (NC) and the International Chamber Artists (IL). In addition to performing, Ms. Hofman maintains a full private teaching studio. Ms. Hofman attended the New England Conservatory, and Northwestern University. Her primary teachers were Dick Mackey, Gail Williams, and Ted Thayer. Horn II, Nancy Cline, has played with FCS off and on for years, but has been a regular member of the horn section for the last 5 years. She also played with the orchestra when it was the Milwaukee Civic Orchestra back in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. Ms. Cline, a Milwaukee native, attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 1975 to 1980 as music performance major on full scholarship. “I love the beautiful sound of the horn! Playing it fills my soul! The most challenging thing about playing the horn is the opportunity for error. You can hit almost any note with any valve combination, so there is a 50/50 chance that you may make an error. But, if you are prepared, go for the music and are successful, the outcome makes it worth all the pressure.” Nancy has been a regular member of the Wisconsin Philharmonic (formerly the Waukesha Symphony) for almost 32 years and also plays with many other musical groups and orchestras in Southeastern Wisconsin. She has been on the faculty of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music since 2008 and is an Adjudicator for the Wisconsin School Music Association’s Solo and Ensemble Festivals.
6
Festival City Symphony
FRENCH HORN SECTION AS SOLOISTS
c o n t.
Third Horn player, Anne Maliborski, has played with FCS for 10 years. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, she received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Horn Performance from Northwestern University and a Chamber Music Certificate from the University of WisconsinMilwaukee. Ms. Maliborski also performs with the Milwaukee Ballet, Skylight Music Theater, Wisconsin Wind Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Philharmonic and is on the faculty at Carroll University. What Anne enjoys most about playing the Horn is “ . . . always being challenged to play different types of music in different music groups, with different musicians.” Her favorite musical memory is performing with the Doobie Brothers for Harley’s 100th Anniversary Celebration. Her advice to young musicians is: “ . . . study with the best teachers around, no matter how expensive it seems at the time.” Fourth Horn player , Charles Payette, has played in FCS for two years. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he earned his Bachelor of Music Education from Indiana University, where he studied Horn with Philip Farkas. After graduation, he returned to the Chicago Area where he has been an active performer for many years. In high demand, Charles performs regularly with many ensembles. Currently he can be heard with the Northbrook Symphony, CinqueVenti Wind Quintet, Festival City Symphony in Milwaukee, the Chicago Metropolitan Brass Ensemble and in the pit for Glenview Theatre Guild productions. He also performs for several weeks in the summer with the Lakeside Symphony in Lakeside, OH. “I am so excited about playing the Schumann Concertstück! Not only with Festival City Symphony, but also with my colleagues in the section. They are all fine musicians and really great people. Performing in a solo horn quartet is definitely different from playing in the section. Yes, it is all four of us playing together as usual like in a symphony where we may get to play some solo’s as a section, but in the Schumann we are the soloists all the time! Definitely a challenge, but so exhilarating with the exciting parts that Schumann wrote.”
A Celebration of Spirit
7
PERSONNEL FIRST VIOLIN Robin Petzold Concertmaster Pamela Simmons Ass’t Concertmaster Catherine Bush Marvin Suson Tatiana Migliaccio Mary Stryck Alyssa Yank Al Bartosik Katie Brooks Isabel Escalante Carol Christensen SECOND VIOLIN Ellen Scott Principal Juanita Groff Ruth Bryskier Laurie Asch Melissa Mann Cheryl Ann Fuchs Hilary Mercer Eva Szoke Tassia Hughes VIOLA Christine Treter Principal Olga Tuzhilkov Lynne Fields Jenna Dick Julie Roubik Korinthia Klein Mary Pat Michels CELLO Tom Smith Principal Elizabeth Bender Stefan Kartman Sacia Jerome Melissa Honigman Martha Kriefall Jared Snyder Carol Wittig 8
Festival City Symphony
BASS Charles Grosz Principal Kathryn Jursik Barry Clark Michael Gudbaur Steve Rindt FLUTE Kristen Fenske Principal Heidi Knudsen Carol Meves PICCOLO Carol Meves OBOE Bonnie Cohen Principal Suzanne Swenson ENGLISH HORN Suzanne Geoffrey CLARINET Franklyn Esenberg Principal Linda E. Jones E-FLAT CLARINET Christopher Zello BASS CLARINET Orlando Pimentel BASSOON Lori Babinec Principal Steven Whitney CONTRA BASSOON Carol Rosing
HORN Kelly Hofman Principal Nancy Cline Anne Maliborski Charles Payette Kathryn Krubsack Sean Brown TRUMPET Gerry Keene Principal Joe Burzinski William Dick TROMBONE Jacob Tomasicyk Principal Thomas Bagin BASS TROMBONE Nick Weckman TUBA Dan Neesley TIMPANI Robert Koszewski PERCUSSION Robert Kriefall Principal Josh Sherman Randy Maio Bony Plog-Benavides HARP Ann Lobotzke PIANO Ruben Piirainen