L E T T E R F R O M T H E E X E C U T I V E D I R E C TO R Thank you for joining us on this meaningful day of recognition as we pay homage to those who have served for this great country. It is with great pleasure that we welcome back former President of the Chicago Symphony, Henry Fogel, to share letters and speeches from WWII with us all today. With his words, and pianist Soheil Nasseri’s moving performance of the Warsaw Concerto, this concert it sure to touch our hearts on many levels. As we remember our struggles in the past, it is hard not to forget the struggles we face today. These are very trying times and The Wisconsin Philharmonic needs your help to move forward. The Philharmonic is here to serve the community and to provide opportunities to escape our daily lives for a world of music and wonder. We urge you to share your love of this orchestra with your friends and colleagues, to encourage community and corporate partnership, and to give meaningfully to our giving campaign. A donation to honor someone you love, such as a veteran in your family, would go a long way in ensuring that the inspiring melodies and live, professional concert performances that excite, heal, soothe and entertain the soul today will continue for generations to come. Visit our table in the lobby for more details on how to leave a gift in honor of a loved one to support this historic orchestra. Thank you to the Northeast Waukesha County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and to all of you, our dedicated audience, for attending today’s performance of Salute to Our Veterans: Battle of Britain. We look forward to seeing you again throughout the historic season ahead. Andrea Rindo Executive Director
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Founded 1947
presents
Salute to Our Veterans: Battle of Britain
Sunday, November 11th, 2012 Shattuck Auditorium, Carroll University Henry Fogel, Narrator Alexander Platt, Conductor Spitfire Prelude, from The First of the Few (1942)...............................................Sir William Walton (1902-1983) March, from H.G. Wells’ Things to Come (1936).........................................................Sir Arthur Bliss (1891-1975) Night Flight.........................................................................................................................Samuel Barber (1910-1981) March, from The Dam Busters (1955)................................................................................... Eric Coates (1866-1957) Funeral March, Op. 42...................................................................................................Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Two Pieces for Strings, from Henry V (1944)................................................................................Sir William Walton Passacaglia: the Death of Falstaff Touch Her Soft Lips and Part Theme, from 49th Parallel (1941)................................................................Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) Fugue, from The Spitfire: Prelude & Fugue.....................................................................................Sir William Walton Crown Imperial March.........................................................................................................................Sir William Walton INTERMISSION Orb and Sceptre March........................................................................................................................Sir William Walton Warsaw Concerto, from Dangerous Moonlight (1941)......................................Richard Addinsell (1904-1977) Soheil Nasseri, piano Armed Forces Salute.........................................................................................................arr. Bob Lowden (1920-1999) A Salute to the Big Bands
arr. Calvin Custer (1939-1998)
The Country Springs Hotel is the official hotel of The Wisconsin Philharmonic. We welcome our special guests from the Northeast Waukesha County Chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Please turn off all cellular phones and other digital devices. We respectfully request members of the audience to refrain from the use of camera equipment or recording devices during the performance. Join us next month for our annual Christmas Concert! A Royal Christmas Tuesday, December 4th, 2012, 7:30 PM Shattuck Auditorium, Carroll University 2
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THE WISCONSIN PHILHAR MONIC VIOLIN I Catherine Bush, Concertmaster Darlene Rivest, Assistant Concertmaster Katherine Brooks Andrea Buchta Tony Perez Isabel Escalante Cynthia Arden Emily Stodola Jennifer Wendling Michelle Pera VIOLIN II Christopher Ruck, Principal Anna Newbury, Assistant Principal Catherine Kolb Alyssa Yank Lynn Pietsch Samuel Grabow Chloe Groth Shannon O’Leary VIOLA Mary Pat Michels, Principal Jennifer Kozoroz, Assistant Principal Lynne Fields Justine Heinrichs Ron Arden Scott Craig VIOLONCELLO Trischa Loebl, Principal Braden Zitoun, Assistant Principal Elizabeth Bender Sacia Anne Jerome Jared Snyder Melissa Honigman
CONTRABASS Charles Grosz, Principal Gina Thompson, Assistant Principal Steven Rindt Michael Gudbaur
BASSOON Andrew Jackson, Principal Steven Whitney
HARP Kelsey Erdahl
HORN Kelly Hofman, Principal Joel Benway Nancy Cline Anne Maliborski
CONTRABASSOON Gerik Fon-Revutzky
KEYBOARD Kevin Bailey FLUTE Joanna Messer, Principal Emma Koi
TRUMPET Charles Finton, Principal Joseph Burzinski Mark Eichner
PICCOLO Rosemary Bennett OBOE Suzanne Geoffrey, Principal Kaylyn Ruemler ENGLISH HORN Matthew Siehr
TROMBONE Jacob Tomasicyk, Principal Glen Lunde BASS TROMBONE Michael McLemore TUBA Dan Neesley
CLARINET Christopher Zello, Principal Dan Roberdeau Bernard Parish
TIMPANI Terry Smirl
E-FLAT CLARINET Bernard Parish
PERCUSSION Mike Lorenz, Principal Josh Sherman Sarah Basel
BASS CLARINET Anna Najoom
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A L E X A N D E R P L AT T, M U S I C D I R E C TO R Alexander Platt has forged a unique career among the younger American conductors, combining a true commitment to regional orchestras and their communities with an ability to lead cutting-edge projects on the international scene. Building on his bedrock experience as Apprentice Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Opera (1991-93), Alexander is now in his third highly successful season as Music Director of both the La Crosse Symphony and the Greater Grand Forks Symphony, his seventeenth as Music Director of the Marion, Indiana Philharmonic, and his sixteenth as Music Director of The Wisconsin Philharmonic. This follows twelve seasons as Music Director of the Racine Symphony (1993-2005), which he transformed from a struggling community orchestra to an artistically and fiscally thriving institution, and three seasons (2007-10) as Principal Conductor of the Boca Raton Symphonia—an assignment born of his debut with the orchestra and Sir James Galway at the International Festival of the Arts Boca on 48 hours’ notice, where he led the ensemble (in the opinion of The Palm Beach Post) into becoming the finest of the orchestras to emerge from the collapse of the Florida Philharmonic. Following acclaimed assignments with the Minnesota Opera and the Skylight Opera Theatre, Alexander Platt made his debut with Chicago Opera Theater in 1997 (conducting Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI), and was appointed Resident Conductor and Music Advisor in 2001. Over the next twelve seasons, he led the Chicago premieres of Britten’s DEATH IN VENICE, John Adams’ NIXON IN CHINA, the Bizet/Peter Brook LA TRAGEDIE DE CARMEN, and the Britten/Shakespeare A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM; the double-bill of Schoenberg’s ERWARTUNG and Bartok’s BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE, with Samuel Ramey and Nancy Gustafson; the world premiere of the Tony Kushner/Maurice Sendak version of Hans Krasa’s BRUNDIBAR; the premiere of his own version for young people of Tchaikovsky’s IOLANTA; and the world-premiere recording of Kurka’s THE GOOD SOLDIER SCHWEIK—all to high acclaim in Opera News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times of London, and both the great Chicago papers. In 2007 he made his Canadian debut at the Banff Festival, leading the co-premiere in conjunction with Calgary Opera of John Estacio’s FROBISHER, to accolades from Opera Canada. In Spring 2012 Alexander concluded his tenure at COT with the Chicago premiere of the Dmitri Shostakovich Moscow, Land of the Cherry-Bird Trees, to unanimous praise in the media. As a guest conductor Alexander Platt has led the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Freiburg Philharmonic in Germany and for three years the Aalborg Symphony in Denmark, as well as the Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble, Camerata Chicago, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Illinois, Lexington, Riverside California and Hudson Valley Philharmonics, and the Houston, Charlotte, Columbus, Flagstaff, Sioux City, El Paso and Indianapolis Symphonies. In 2012-13 he makes his debut with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony, as well as a return visit to Boca Raton. Alexander Platt made his New York debut in 2007 with the Brooklyn Philharmonic before thousands in Central Park, the first of several appearances with the orchestra. In addition to all these activities, Alexander Platt spends his summers in the Hudson Valley as the sixth Music Director of the Maverick Concerts in Woodstock, New York – the oldest summer chamber-music festival in America, where he follows in the footsteps of legendary maestrias Leon Barzin and Georges Barrere. Under his direction the concert series has become a thriving, eclectic festival. A recent highlight of his work there was his leading the world premiere of his chamber-orchestra version of David Del Tredici’s landmark music-drama FINAL ALICE (1976). The 2007 performance won accolades in The New York Times, which praised it as a workable version of Del Tredici’s masterpiece. Alexander Platt has been devoted to the music of our time. Over the last three decades he has led the U.S. premieres of concert works of Britten, Shostakovich, Ned Rorem, Colin Matthews 4
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and Judith Weir, and has been an advocate for composers as diverse as Michael Torke, Libby Larsen, Joan Tower, and Simon Holt. In 2010 and 2011, with The Wisconsin Philharmonic, he led Aaron Jay Kernis’ Simple Songs, the world premiere of Daron Hagen’s Third Symphony, and the co-premiere of Joseph Schwantner’s symphony Chasing Light; at the Maverick Concerts, he led the world premiere of the chamber version of Hagen’s Seven Last Words for piano and orchestra; and while in Grand Forks and La Crosse he directed the North American premiere of both the Britten Temporal Variations for oboe and strings, and the reconstruction of his unfinished Clarinet Concerto for Benny Goodman. In summer 2012 at the Maverick Concerts, he leads the premieres of works by Harold Meltzer and Russell Platt, and in the autumn, with the La Crosse Symphony and The Wisconsin Philharmonic, he leads the world premiere of his commission of John Corigliano’s Sonata for Violin and Orchestra, with violinist Lara St. John. A research scholar for the National Endowment for the Humanities before he entered college, Alexander Platt was educated at Yale University, as a conducting fellow at both Aspen and Tanglewood, and then at King’s College Cambridge under a British Marshall Scholarship. At Cambridge he led all of the important musical societies, deputized in the legendary King’’s College Choir, and as conductor of the Cambridge University Opera Society led revivals of both Britten’s OWEN WINGRAVE and Berlioz’s BEATRICE AND BENEDICT, to high praise in the London press. During this time he also made his professional conducting debut at Aldeburgh, his London debut at the Wigmore Hall, and reconstructed the lost chamber version of the Mahler Fourth Symphony which has gone on to become a classic of the repertoire. In addition to recording for National Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio, the South-West German Radio and the BBC, his 2004 recording of Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with violinist Rachel Barton Pine still appears frequently on radio stations across America.
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H E N R Y F O G E L , N A R R ATO R Henry Fogel was appointed to the position of President and CEO of the American Symphony Orchestra League in July, 2003. Prior to that, Mr. Fogel was President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association for eighteen years beginning in 1985, where he oversaw not only the Orchestra, but ancillary activities including the Civic Orchestra (a training orchestra), an independent presenting series of classical, jazz, and world music attractions, the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and management of the Symphony Center facility. During the period of Mr. Fogel’s leadership, the Association’s endowment increased from $19 million to over $160 million, and the Orchestra was in the black for fifteen of his eighteen years. Also during his tenure, the CSO undertook a massive program of community engagement and strengthened its educational programs considerably. In 1997, Mr. Fogel completed overseeing the award winning Symphony Center project – the $120 million dollar renovation and expansion of Orchestra Hall. Mr. Fogel has been, and remains, involved with many arts organizations. He was Chairman of the Board of the American Symphony Orchestra League from 2001-2003, and served a previous ten year term as a League Trustee in the 1980s and 90s. He is a member of the Illinois Arts Alliance, which he served as both President and Chairman in the past, and is a member of the Board of WTTW-Channel 11 in Chicago, the Board of Overseers of the Curtis Institute, the Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago Music School, the Executive Committee of the Avery Fisher Artist Program and the Honorary Board of the Institute for the Study of Black Music at Columbia College. He has served as a judge at conducting competitions in New York, Helsinki, and Tokyo. Mr. Fogel is a professor at Roosevelt University’s College of Performing Arts in Chicago, where he teaches a course in orchestral studies. He has been a record reviewer for Fanfare magazine since 1981, and has contributed several entries to the book Contemporary Composers, and to The Harvard Dictionary of Music. He also writes a monthly column for Auditorium, the leading music magazine in South Korea. He has produced many series of radio programs for Chicago Fine Arts Station WFMT that have been syndicated nationally, including, currently, “Collectors’ Corner,” which is derived from his extensive collection of over 20,000 classical recordings. He is also a regular panelist on the Quiz of the Metropolitan Opera international broadcasts. He has served as a consultant for management and labor issues to many orchestras throughout the country, including those in Houston, Louisville, Detroit, Syracuse, Buffalo, San Antonio, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Omaha, as well as many Illinois orchestras. He also serves as an observer for the Opera Program of the National Endowment for the Arts. He has received honorary doctorate degrees from Northwestern University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Columbia College in Chicago, and Roosevelt University in Chicago. In 1999, Mr. Fogel received a Cultural Leadership Citation from Yale University’s School of Music for service to the cultural life of the nation. In 1998, he received a Civic Leadership Award from DePaul University’s College of Commerce. In 1997, he received the Top Chicagoan Award from Chicago Magazine. In 1990, he was named by Business Week magazine as one of the five best managers of cultural organizations in the United States. Mr. Fogel served as Executive Director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. from 1981 to 1985, and Orchestra Manager of the New York Philharmonic from 1978 to1981. From 1963 to 1978, he was Vice President and Program Director of radio station WONO in Syracuse, New York, where he conceived the first radio fundraising marathon for an orchestra. Mr. Fogel has acted as producer and broadcast host for more than 100 radiothons for some 26 different orchestras. He is also a passionate Chinese cook, having studied for three years under Virginia Lee, author of the New York Times Chinese Cookbook. A native of New York City, Henry Fogel received his education at Syracuse University. He and his wife, Frances, have a son, Karl, and a daughter, Holly, and three grandchildren. All of the Fogels live in the Chicago area. 6
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Getting Better while Growing Older Congratulations to The Wisconsin Philharmonic on 65 Successful Years
Celebrating our 96th year Salute to Our Veterans: Battle of Britain
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SOHEIL NASSERI, PIANO Pianist Soheil Nasseri has been lauded by The New York Times as “consistently interesting...consistently thoughtful...a vivid imagination. Filled with character...” and by the Berliner Zeitung as “Fantastic! A real talent. [In Beethoven] We in the audience could not possibly have had more fun.” In addition to critical acclaim for his playing, The New Yorker has noted that Mr. Nasseri is “one of New York’s most prolific recitalists.” Since 2001 he has performed 20 completely different solo recital programs in New York, all without repeating a single piece: at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, and at Merkin Concert Hall. These concerts included 25 premieres of contemporary works in addition to 30 of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, a part of Mr. Nasseri’s pledge to perform all of Beethoven’s works involving piano by the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth in 2020. Mr. Nasseri made his European debut in 2004 at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Sicily. Since then he has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world: in addition to his regular New York concerts, he has performed solo recitals or concerti at the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center in Washington, Berlin’s Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, London’s Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, Tokyo’s Musashino Center, Florence’s Teatro Comunale, and Palermo’s Teatro Politeama, as well as concerts in Montreal (Canada), Dublin (Ireland), Bucharest (Romania), Santa Cruz (California), Portland (Oregon), Baltimore (Maryland), Jacksonville (Florida), Savannah (Georgia), Norfolk (Virginia), and Tehran (Iran). As concerto soloist Mr. Nasseri has appeared with conductors Fabio del Cioppo, Justus Frantz, David LaMarche, John Lopez, Edward Polochick, and Ormsby Wilkins, and he is also active as a chamber musician, playing 4 piano quintets at Bargemusic in New York and collaborating with a tenor on the Beethoven Lieder. In 2010 he joined the American Ballet Theatre for 9 all-Chopin performances at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, playing a costumed role onstage in the ballet Lady of the Camellias, both acting and performing solo and concerto works. Major performances in the 2012-13 season will include piano concerti in Waukesha (Wisconsin) with Alexander Platt and The Wisconsin Philharmonic, Markand Thakar and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra (Maryland), Alexander Dmitriev and the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia (Russia), and Timothy Smith and the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra (California), as well as debuts in Cincinnati (Ohio) and Bordeaux (France). Another of Soheil Nasseri’s interests has been music education: he has given concerts at more than 60 public schools in the U.S. since 2003. Mr. Nasseri also regularly performs new music and as such 9 composers have written pieces specifically for him: Richard Danielpour, Avner Dorman, Hormoz Farhat, Martin Kennedy, Samir Odeh-Tamimi, Haskell Small, Ronn Yedidia, Ljova Zhurbin, and Samuel Zyman. As a recording artist he has 6 solo albums on the Naxos, Centaur, Mahoor, and 21CCC labels. Born in Santa Monica, California, Soheil Nasseri began studying the piano at the age of five and at the age of twenty moved to New York in part to study with Karl Ulrich Schnabel. In 2001 Mr. Nasseri became a protégé of Jerome Lowenthal who remains Mr. Nasseri’s mentor today, along with Claude Frank. Other teachers include Irina Edelman, Anna Balakerskaia, Clinton Adams, Eva Pierrou, and Ann Schein. Soheil Nasseri divides his time between residences in New York and Berlin.
S A L U T E TO O U R V E T E R A N S : B AT T L E O F B R I TA I N Welcome to another in The Wisconsin Philharmonic’s series of musical tributes to our veterans, past and present. This year, on Veterans’ Day itself, we celebrate the Anglo-American cooperation in the dark, early days of World War II, the “Battle of Britain,” when America and the British Empire saved civilization as we know it. Born in Pennsylvania of Irish Protestant stock, Samuel Barber remains the most lyrically gifted of all the great American composers. This quality, combined with his exacting formal mastery, made for some of our finest symphonic art. Drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942, Barber Salute to Our Veterans: Battle of Britain
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earnestly tried to set to music the atmosphere of American airmen in wartime; what emerged was a full-scale symphony, inspired by his interviews with actual Air Force pilots. Corporal Barber’s Symphony No.2, premiered by no less than that legendary champion of American music, Serge Koussevitsky and his Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1944, was both a critical and audience success. Twenty years later, Barber had his publisher destroy the printed scores and parts for the symphony (thankfully, a spare set of parts was discovered in the 1980’s, allowing, once again, for the entire symphony to be performed). What then remained, however, was the symphony’s central slow movement, an airborne nocturnal the composer renamed Night Flight, which was duly premiered in 1964 by another of our great American orchestras, the Cleveland Orchestra, and their maestro George Szell. Night Flight’s title is an homage by Barber to that novella of the same name by the great French author, airman and patriot Antoine de Saint-Exupery who as a pilot for the Free French Forces in World War II would mysteriously disappear over the Mediterranean (shot down by the Luftwaffe). Night Flight is, in Barber’s words, a work “suggested by the feelings of a lonely flier at night, whose only contact is through a radio-beam.” With an orchestral piano and a high, e-flat clarinet bringing that radio-beam to life at its climax, Saint-Exupery’s own words best describe the composer’s thoughts in Night Flight’s final bars: The pilot could mark night coming on by certain signs that called to mind the craters of a harbour – a calm expanse beneath, faintly rippled by the lazy clouds...A single radio-post still heard him. The only link between him and the world was a wave of music, a minor modulation. Not a lament, no cry, yet the purest of sounds that ever spoke despair. Our British works today are a wonderfully diverse lot, mostly coming from the world of cinema. The oldest of them is actually not from the War years, but still hauntingly appropriate. The Opus 42 Funeral March of the Victorian-era master Sir Edward Elgar, drawn from his incidental music for one of the great plays of that era known as “the Celtic twilight,” W.B. Yeats’ Grania and Diarmid (Dublin, 1901). In Celtic legend, the story of Grania and Diarmid is surpassed only by that of Tristan and Isolde, and Elgar rose to the occasion by writing a morbidly elevated march full of the tense and tragic atmosphere in the days leading up to the Irish Civil War. After the death of Elgar in 1934, William Walton, the bright young talent of British music known for such daring works as the Viola Concerto and Facade, found himself thrust into the establishment in 1936 when he was asked to write a march for the coming coronation of King Edward VII. By the time of the ceremony in 1937, a new King, George VI, had taken his brother’s place, and with his wife Queen Elizabeth and two daughters (the eldest of them being the current Elizabeth II) would serve as the patriarch of an ideal Royal Family to represent the Empire in its greatest trial, the Battle of Britain. Walton’s stirring march, Crown Imperial, a glamorous extension of the style and tradition established with Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance marches and remains enormously popular – those royal-watchers among you may have noticed that it was recently used as the recessional music at the wedding of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge. With World War II raging on a few years later, Walton’s time was taken up writing film scores. His score for Sir Laurence Olivier’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s heroic history play Henry V would be the best of them. The two pieces for strings, Touch Her Soft Lips and Part and Passacaglia: the Death of Falstaff, are musical watercolors, eloquently memorializing the yearning and the tragedy of the War years. Contrary to popular belief, Walton’s Spitfire: Prelude and Fugue is not from his score of the 1968 movie Battle of Britain but rather from his score for the 1942 Leslie Howard vehicle, The First of the Few, which tells the story of the making of the Spitfire, the plane that arguably turned the tide in the Battle of Britain. One of no less than four different film scores that Walton would churn out in 1942, the music gleams with valor, determination and hope. Ralph Vaughan Williams, the dean of British composers in the 1940’s, made his own contribution to the War effort with his score for the 1941 film The 49th Parallel, a still-effective tale of patriotic derring-do in Canada made by the legendary team of Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell, 10
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that also starred Olivier. “Dedicated to the people of Canada,” the film is essentially a tribute to the united front of Britain, Canada and the United States, at a point when North American help was desperately needed (the United States would not enter the war until later that year). The opening title sequence, from which the music is drawn, remains poignant today: as Vaughan Williams’ noble strains unfold, the camera tracks an aerial view of the Canadian Rockies, the plains of Alberta, the metropolis of Toronto, and the North Atlantic coast. Another British film from 1941, Dangerous Moonlight, gave us the “Warsaw Concerto,” an endearingly effective tribute to the concerto style of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov written by the light-music master Richard Addinsell. The film starred Anton Walbrook as a shell-shocked Polish fighter pilot, who also happened to be a virtuoso pianist. The distinguished composer Sir Arthur Bliss was summoned in the late 1930’s to write the hauntingly effective score for Things to Come, a science-fiction movie with a script by H.G. Wells that was kind of British version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis; the opening March from that score is something of a minor masterpiece, unforgettable in how in seems to prophesy the oncoming tragedy of 1939. Perhaps a less familiar name today, Eric Coates (1886-1957) was the master of light music in mid20th century England; his jaunty Knightsbridge March from his orchestral suite London Every-Day (1933) still turns up now and then. Of a more muscular tone is a later work, his March for the World War II film The Dam Busters (1955). Featuring the venerable British stars Richard Todd and Sir Michael Redgrave (whose equally celebrated daughter, the late Lynn Redgrave, touched many hearts as an artist-in-residence at our own Ten Chimneys), the movie tells the story of the perils of the Royal Air Force in attempting to cripple the German industrial war machine. If William Walton’s Crown Imperial brilliantly conveys the best of the British spirit in the 1930’s then Orb and Sceptre (1953) sums up the joyous spirit of the postwar era with equal brilliance. Walton, now elevated to a knighthood in honor of his contributions, composed Orb and Sceptre for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In that same spirit of optimism and service, Bob Lowden’s Armed Forces Salute rounds out our concert’s second half, and Calvin Custer’s joyfully durable medley Salute to the Big Bands is our hats-off farewell. © 2012, Alexander Platt
B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S 2 011- 2 012 President...................................................................................................................................... Doug Haag, Hartland Executive Vice President..................................................................................................... Carol Taylor, Waukesha Senior Vice President..........................................................................................................John Almasi, Waukesha Treasurer................................................................................................................................ Jennifer Hausch, Juneau Secretary.............................................................................................................................. Nancy Hastad, Waukesha Susan Fobes, Sussex Suzanne Frank, Waukesha Ruth Harken, Pewaukee Larry Harper, Waukesha Mary Hood, Waukesha Karol Kennedy, Waukesha Diane McGeen, Waukesha
Ex-Officio, Non-Voting Andrea Rindo Alexander Platt
S TA F F Music Director...................................................................................................................................... Alexander Platt Executive Director.................................................................................................................................. Andrea Rindo Personnel Manager/Librarian......................................................................................................Mary Pat Michels Stage Manager.............................................................................................................................................Glen Lunde Salute to Our Veterans: Battle of Britain
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Ellen Strommen William & Carol Lamm
Geth Galloway Joan Newman
7Richard R. Lustig George & Edith Love
Don & Carol Taylor Ellen Strommen
Chet & Helen Goff Anonymous
In Memory of Hilary Bryant Anonymous Don & Carol Taylor
Dorothy Goff & Jim Frisch Charlie Goff McIntosh
Helen Pavlovics Anonymous Clara Saler Richard & Bernard Saler
Kiki Gould M.E. & Michael R. McCormick
Maestro Milton Weber Susanna Weber-Gadd
The Contributor Listing includes all contributions from the last twelve months received through October 5, 2012. Those who contributed after that date have our thanks and the assurance that your names will appear in the December 4, 2012 program. If you note an error in this list, please contact The Wisconsin Philharmonic at 262-547-1858 so that we may correct it for our next program.
THE WISCONSIN PHILHAR MONIC : GIVING OPPORTUNITIES Frugality and creativity have always been part of The Wisconsin Philharmonic’s history. Special efforts like the Annual Gala generate substantial funds which are deeply appreciated. In addition to special events, other fund development efforts add pivotal revenue to The Wisconsin Philharmonic’s bottom line. The Individual Campaign is conducted in the fall of each season. It is an opportunity for individuals to support The Wisconsin Philharmonic at a level that is meaningful to them. Contributors receive valuable benefits based on the level of their donation. For a complete list of donor levels and benefits, visit The Wisconsin Philharmonic’s web site (www.wisconsinphilharmonic.org). The Wisconsin Philharmonic also offers Planned Giving Programs, designed to ensure that The Wisconsin Philharmonic will continue for future generations. Options include Wills and Bequests, Trusts (like a Charitable Remainder Trust), Insurance (an old cash value policy), Appreciated Stock and Retirement Plan Proceeds. In-kind donations are also accepted. For more information about any of these options, contact The Wisconsin Philharmonic office at 262-547-1858.
T H E W I S C O N S I N P H I L H A R M O N I C : E N D OWM E N T F U N D S The Wisconsin Philharmonic offers four Endowment Funds that are open and accept additional donations. The Wisconsin Philharmonic Endowment Fund provides income to support general operations. Gifts to this permanent fund help to preserve the future of classical music in our communities. The James and Dorothy Goff Frisch Endowment Fund was created to honor these founding members of The Wisconsin Philharmonic and is used to sponsor a soloist during the season. The Wisconsin Philharmonic Education Investment Fund provides funding for the educational programs of The Wisconsin Philharmonic. The Anthony W. Bryant Scholarship Fund honors businessman and philanthropist, Tony Bryant, who has been an advocate of The Wisconsin Philharmonic for many years. The scholarship is awarded by competitive audition to a graduating high school senior who declares an intention to major in music while in college. 14
Wisconsin Philharmonic
T H E W I S C O N S I N P H I L H A R M O N I C E D U C AT I O N P R O G R A M S The Wisconsin Philharmonic education programs are an example of the Orchestra’s steadfast commitment to providing programs that serve the entire community and provide opportunities to help students achieve success and enrichment through classical music. Chapman Piano Competition – This biennial piano competition is open to all Waukesha County piano students age 14 through 20. The student prepares a selection from the repertoire list to perform by memory. The award to the winner includes cash and an opportunity to perform with The Wisconsin Philharmonic as a featured soloist. Shining Stars Scholarships – Annual auditions each March are open to string, wind and percussion Waukesha County students. The students play before Philharmonic musicians and receive the judges written evaluations. Winners are presented to the audience at The Wisconsin Philharmonic’s Season Finale concert and receive a cash award to be used for continuing music studies. Clinics by the Maestro – Maestro Alexander Platt, Music Director of The Wisconsin Philharmonic, offers free clinics once per year to four selected high schools. The purpose of Clinics with the Maestro is to encourage high school string players to continue making beautiful music. Major Classic for Minors – Chamber ensembles from The Wisconsin Philharmonic present programs in elementary schools throughout Waukesha County. Each presentation is about 45 minutes long and includes a demonstration of the instruments and their unique sounds, themes in music, conducting, and a question-and-answer period. For many students, this is the first experience with classical music and up-close exposure to musical instruments and performers. These programs are offered free to the schools. Masterworks Chamber Music Coaching – This project promotes the study of chamber music by assigning a Wisconsin Philharmonic musician to a high school as an ensemble coach. The group spends five sessions with its coach and is expected to practice outside classroom time. At the end of the program, groups perform their works at an annual chamber music festival. Additionally, students are given a writing assignment that can vary from self-reflection to a music critique. Middle School Orchestra Workshops – A new program for this season, the Middle School Orchestra Workshops open with a performance by a Wisconsin Philharmonic string quintet. Following the performance, students are split into sections to receive coaching from the professional musicians. The workshop ends with the Philharmonic musicians listening to a concluding performance and offering suggestions for improvement.
VISIT OUR OFFICE The Wisconsin Philharmonic 234 W. Main Street Suite 9 PO Box 531 Waukesha, WI 53187-0531 Phone: (262) 547-1858 Fax: (262) 547-5440 Website: www.wisconsinphilharmonic.org Email: info@ wisconsinphilharmonic.org
Salute to Our Veterans: Battle of Britain
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PLEASE HELP US THANK OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS
Concerts Harken Family Foundation
Guest Artists Arts Waukesha Don L. & Carol G. Taylor Family Foundation Hess & Helyn Kline Foundation James and Dorothy Goff Frisch Endowment Fund
Season Partners Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
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Wisconsin Philharmonic