Encore 3: 2017-2018 by Jax Symphony

THE MAGAZINE OF THE JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY

THE SEASON OF MAGIC

JAXSYMPHONY.ORG JAXSYMPHONY.ORG

Feb - Mar 2018

WELCOME!

Insight One hour prior to each Florida Blue Masterworks Series concert, join Music Director Courtney Lewis and other Masterworks guest conductors in Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall to hear their insight on the program. An open, low-key 15 to 25 minute presentation including question and answer time will provide the opportunity to learn more about the fantastic works performed by the Jacksonville Symphony. Guest artists often join the conductor to give their vision of the works to be presented. Insight is a new angle on the concert experience. You’ll never listen to the music the same way after hearing Insight. So come early, grab a seat and hear what the experts have to say.

INSIGHT

is sponsored by

Tickets: 904.354.5547 Contributions: 904.354.1473 Administration: 904.354.5479 JaxSymphony.org Encore! Production

Publisher – Robert Massey Editors – Amy Rankin, Sydney Schless Graphic Designer – Kenneth Shade Advertising Sales – Caroline Jones Photography – Tiffany Manning, Renee Parenteau Fran Ruchalski Communications Coordinator – Sydney Schless

Dear Friends, Welcome to the Symphony! This has been a thrilling season. From our Opening Night Fanfare Celebration to January’s 2018 Gala featuring the incomparable Renée Fleming, the Jacksonville Symphony has already performed more than 60 concerts throughout northeast Florida, reaching nearly 100,000 individuals. We roll into spring continuing to build on the incredible momentum of the past few months. Requiem for an Angel, perhaps the most artistically anticipated Masterworks programs of the season, will feature violin soloist Anthony Marwood, who was just named a Member of the British Empire (MBE). At the end of February, the Symphony performs Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Shostakovich’s greatest symphony, his fifth. Following two performances at Jacoby Symphony Hall, we take the production to Daytona Beach and West Palm Beach, serving as Jacksonville’s cultural ambassador to Central and South Florida. In March, Music Director Courtney Lewis returns with a program featuring two extraordinary works by Mozart, mingled with pieces from two composers who greatly admired his music: Debussy and Tchaikovsky. Our Pops series continues with Raiders of the Lost Ark, featuring a live performance of John Williams’ rousing score, an evening of love songs from the beautiful songstress Storm Large and LEGENDS, featuring the music of Diana Ross, Billie Holiday, Beyoncé and more. In mid-February, the Florida Ballet is back by popular demand to join the Symphony in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” and Copland’s iconic Appalachian Spring, which will be part of a Coffee Concert program as well as our second Family Concert of the year. Don’t miss a special performance by the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus, led by Director Donald McCullough, on Sunday, February 18. Finally, following a sold-out performance of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone this past October, the Daily’s Place Symphony Series will return on March 10 with An Evening of Symphonic Hip Hop featuring multiple GRAMMY® award-winning artist Wyclef Jean. We will soon announce the 2018 – 2019 season and can’t wait to share what Masterworks, Pops, Coffee, Movies and Special Presentations we have curated for you. On behalf of our musicians and staff, I sincerely thank you for your patronage! Here’s to many more delightful experiences together.

@jaxsymphony

#jaxsymphony

is the official piano of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. 4 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

Robert Massey President and CEO

EnCORE

THE MAGAZINE OF THE JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY

2017 - 2018 SEASON

VOLUME 24 – ISSUE THREE

EVENTS 21

DEPARTMENTS 4

Welcome

Music Director Courtney Lewis

Symphony Association Board

About the Symphony

6, 9, 56-58

Thank You, Supporters

12-13

Jacksonville Symphony Musicians

Sound Investment Program

The Cadenza Society

Volunteer Activities and Events

Jacksonville Symphony Administration

REQUIEM FOR AN ANGEL FLORIDA BLUE MASTERWORKS SERIES February 2, 3 APPALACHIAN SPRING RAYMOND JAMES COFFEE SERIES FAMILY SERIES February 9, 11 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - FILM WITH ORCHESTRA FIDELITY NATIONAL FINANCIAL POPS SERIES February 16, 17 SYMPHONY CHORUS CONCERT SPECIAL PRESENTATION February 18 SHOSTAKOVICH FIVE FLORIDA BLUE MASTERWORKS SERIES February 23, 24 STORM LARGE - CRAZY ARC OF LOVE RAYMOND JAMES COFFEE SERIES FIDELITY NATIONAL FINANCIAL POPS SERIES March 2, 3 JSYO SPRING CONCERT YOUTH ORCHESTRAS SERIES March 4 SPRING CIVIC ORCHESTRA CONCERT CIVIC ORCHESTRA March 11 MOZART AND FRIENDS FLORIDA BLUE MASTERWORKS SERIES March 16, 17 LEGENDS: DIANA ROSS, BILLIE HOLIDAY, BEYONCÉ AND MORE FIDELITY NATIONAL FINANCIAL POPS SERIES March 23, 24

COVER PHOTO BY TIFFANY MANNING (left to right)

Back Row: Michael Harper, DJ Cheek, Daniel Rios

Middle Row: Patrick Graham, Conrad Cornelison, Yuping Zhou

Front Row: Jonathan Kuo, Chi-Yin Chen, Ran Kampel, Kacy Clopton Not pictured: Jiayi Huang

ENCORE 5

The Jacksonville Symphony gratefully acknowledges some of our most important music makers. J. Wayne & Delores Barr Weaver

Ruth Conley

Robert D. and Isabelle T. Davis Endowment Fund

The Roger L. and Rochelle S. Main Charitable Trust

State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.

The Jessie Ball duPont Fund Special Gift in Honor of the City Rescue Mission Staff

PGA TOUR, Inc.

The DuBow Family Foundation

Donald C. McGraw Foundation

Valdemar Joost Kroier Endowment Fund

Yvonne Charvot Barnett Young Artist Fund • bestbet • Biscottis • G. Howard Bryan Fund • Brooks Rehabilitation • CSX Transportation, Inc. Cummer Family Foundation • Downtown Investment Authority • Drummond Press • Jess & Brewster J. Durkee Foundation • Fleet Landing David and Ann Hicks • The Kirbo Charitable Trust • Martin Coffee Co • National Endowment for the Arts • Publix Super Markets Charities Rice Family Foundation • David and Linda Stein • Jay and Deanie Stein Foundation • Carl S. Swisher Foundation Edna Sproull Williams Foundation • Stein Mart • SunTrust • Vanguard Charitable-Kessler Fund Woodcock Foundation for the Appreciation of the Arts ACOSTA Sales & Marketing • Arcus Capital Partners • Baptist Health • Buffet Group USA • Burgman Winston Youth Orchestra Scholarship Fund Tom Bush BMW • CenterState Bank • Chartrand Foundation • Claude Nolan Cadillac • Dana’s Limousine and Transportation Services Duval Motor Company • Enterprise Holdings Foundation • Harbinger Sign • JAX Chamber • JAX Chamber - Downtown Council Brady S. Johnson Charitable Trust • The Main Street America Group • Mayse-Turner Fund • Parsley’s Piano • PNC • Rowe Charitable Foundation Sabel Foundation • Shacter Family Foundation • The Shultz Foundation • Harold K. Smith Foundation • Stellar Foundation • TigerLily Media V Pizza • Wells Fargo • Westminster Woods on Julington Creek • Workscapes • Zimmerman Family Foundation A-B Distributors, Inc. • The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida • Cornelia and Olin Watts Endowment Fund Charter Members of the Corporate Conductor’s Club: Admira Dentistry with Dr. Joe Barton • Arkest LLC • Assign Commercial Group LLC • Bank of America/Merrill Lynch • Jacksonville Business Journal PRI Productions • Meinrod & Leeper Wealth Management • Dr. Christine Ng - ngderm.com • Saunders & Company Media Partners: WJCT Public Broadcasting • Florida Times-Union 6 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

MUSIC DIRECTOR Courtney Lewis Music Director, Haskell Endowed Chair With clear artistic vision, subtle musicality and innovative programming, Courtney Lewis has established himself as one of his generation’s most talented conductors. The 2017/18 season will mark his third season as music director of the Jacksonville Symphony. Highlights of the past season included engagements with the Dallas Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Since his debut in November 2008 with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, he has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony, Washington National Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Houston Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and Ulster Orchestra, among others. As a young conductor, Courtney Lewis has served as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, associate conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra and Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

RENEE PARENTEAU

From 2008 to 2014, Courtney Lewis was the music director of Boston’s acclaimed Discovery Ensemble, a chamber orchestra dedicated not only to giving concerts of contemporary and established repertoire at the highest level of musical and technical excellence, but also bringing live music into the least privileged parts of Boston with workshops in local schools. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lewis read music at the University of Cambridge during which time he studied composition with Robin Holloway and clarinet with Dame Thea King. After completing a master’s degree with a focus on the late music of György Ligeti, he attended the Royal Northern College of Music, where his teachers included Sir Mark Elder and Clark Rundell.

ENCORE 7

SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers

David M. Strickland, Chair Tim Cost, Vice Chair Michael Imbriani, Treasurer Elizabeth Lovett Colledge, Secretary Robert Massey, President and CEO

Executive Committee

Don Baldwin, Marketing Committee Chair Gilchrist Berg, Vision 2020 Campaign Co-Chair Carl Cannon, Vision 2020 Campaign Co-Chair R. Chris Doerr, At-Large Member Margaret Gomez, Foundation Board Chair Randolph R. Johnson, Development Committee Chair Matthew S. McAfee, Immediate Past Board Chair John Surface, At-Large Member Randall C. Tinnin, Programming Committee Chair Gwendolyn “Gwen” Yates, Governance Committee Chair

Board of Directors

Sandra Sue Ashby, ex officio Martha Barrett Douglas A. Booher Karen Bower J.F. Bryan, IV Chung-Hae Casler Tyler Dann Barbara Darby Jack Dickison, ex officio Michael Drexler Aubrey Edge Katheryn Hancock, ex officio Anne H. Hopkins Wesley Jennison Susan Jones Charles S. Joseph Allison Keller Ross Krueger Anne Lufrano Elizabeth McAlhany Sheila McLenaghan Rick Moyer W. Ross Singletary III Douglas Worth

Foundation Board Margaret Gomez, Chair Gilchrist Berg R. Chris Doerr Peter Karpen

8 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

Honorary Directors Ruth Conley David W. Foerster Preston H. Haskell Robert E. Jacoby Frances Bartlett Kinne Mary Carr Patton Robert T. Shircliff Mary Ellen Smith Jay Stein James Van Vleck James H. Winston

Multicultural Advisory Council African-American Council Mr. Mark Chapman Ms. Betty Collier Dr. Barbara Darby Dr. Helen Jackson Mrs. Pamela Prier Ms. Willetta Richie Mr. Henry L. Rivers Mrs. Patricia Sams Ms. Veronica Tutt Ms. Felicia Wilcox Reverend Barry Wright Hispanic-American Council Mrs. Alicia Burst Mr. Rafael Caldera Mr. Gil Colon Mr. Victor Cora Dr. Barbara Darby Mr. Wilfredo Gonzalez Mrs. Maribel Hernandez Mr. Ed Perez Ms. Betzy Santiago

Past Board Chairs

Olin E. Watts, Founding President Wellington W. Cummer Hugh R. Dowling Giles J. Patterson Carl S. Swisher Gert H. W. Schmidt Robert R. Bowen Roger L. Main Charles L. Hoffman Hugh Abernethy Archie J. Freels Harold K. Smith Jacob F. Bryan, III Ira M. Koger J. Shepard Bryan, Jr. Randall C. Berg W. E. Grissett, Jr. B. Cecil West James C. Blanton David C. Hastings Alford C. Sinclair Constance S. Green Arthur W. Milam John H. McCallum Preston H. Haskell Sylvia F. “Tibby” Sinclair J. F. Bryan, IV David W. Foerster E. William Nash, Jr. James H. Winston Robert T. Shircliff Robert O. Purcifull Carl N. Cannon Phillip E. Wright Jay Stein Mary Ellen Smith R. Travis Storey John S. Peyton A. R. “Pete” Carpenter Steven T. Halverson Gerald J. Pollack James Van Vleck R. Chris Doerr Richard H. Pierpont Martin F. Connor, III Matthew S. McAfee

The Jacksonville Symphony Association gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the following individuals, businesses and foundations: Gifts to the Annual Fund between July 1, 2016 and January 5, 2018. ∆ Designates a gift in-kind * Designates deceased

PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL $100,000+

Amy and Gilchrist B. Berg BRASS Ruth Conley in memory of Paul Conley Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville Fidelity National Financial Mrs. Josephine Flaherty Florida Blue Monica and Bob Jacoby Florida State College of Jacksonville ∆ PRI Productions ∆

$50,000 - $99,999

Anonymous gift in honor of the City Rescue Mission Staff Pete and Lory Doolittle State of Florida, Division of Cultural Affairs Mrs. C. Herman Terry Florida Times-Union ∆

$25,000 - $49,999 Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. John D. Baker II Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Bryan, IV Tim and Stephanie Cost Robert D. and Isabelle T. Davis Endowment Fund Stephen and Suzanne Day Deutsche Bank Chris and Stephanie Doerr Donald C. McGraw Foundation DuBow Family Foundation EverBank Haskell Valdemar Joost Kroier Endowment Fund Jessie Ball duPont Fund Anne and Robert Lufrano

Magnolia Foundation Roger L. and Rochelle S. Main Charitable Trust Mayo Clinic Mr. and Mrs. Matthew S. McAfee Mr. and Mrs. Russell B. Newton Jr PGA TOUR Regency Centers, Inc. Rice Family Foundation Stein Mart, Inc. VyStar Credit Union J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Music Education Endowment Quentin and Louise* Wood Omni Hotels and Resorts ∆ ENCORE 9

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B E L LW E T H E RJA X .C O M

TWO ALUMS • TWO ERAS • TWO SUCCESSES ULYSSES OWENS, JR. Jazz Artist with three solo albums, 2-time Grammy Award winner, recently joined the Faculty at The Juilliard School in the Jazz Studies Program

JULIAN ROBERTSON National Young Arts Finalist, Recipient of Full Scholarship at The Juilliard School

CLASS OF 2001

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Offering Intensive Studies in Dance, Vocal, Instrumental Music, Film, Creative Writing, Theatre and Visual Arts

F O R 2017 AU D I T I O N I N FO R MAT ION:

10 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

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ABOUT THE JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY

As Music Director Courtney Lewis begins his third season at the conductor’s podium, the Jacksonville Symphony celebrates an expanded 2017/2018 season that promises more weeks of music reaching more people than ever before. Last year’s record attendance of 255,000 individuals is sure to be broken this season. As the concert schedule expands to 38 weeks, there are new events, along with more artists that will make the season shine. The Daily’s Place Symphony Series debuted with the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, performed with live orchestra soundtrack and was a first of its kind partnership between a symphony and a NFL team. The Jacksonville Symphony is one of Northeast Florida’s most important cultural institutions. Founded in 1949, the Symphony is ranked among the nation’s top regional orchestras. The Symphony’s home, Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, is considered to be an acoustic gem. Each year thousands enjoy the Symphony’s performances both at Jacoby Symphony Hall in the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts and at venues located throughout Northeast Florida. The Symphony is also the community’s leader in music education for children, serving four county school districts. In addition to offering free tickets to children under the age of 18 for select Masterworks,

and other special youth pricing, there are several programs to foster music education. This year the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras is under the direction of assistant conductor and JSYO Principal Conductor Deanna Tham. As part of the JSYO’s activities, they will be gearing up to play in L.A.’s famous Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall this coming June as one of just three student orchestras invited to perform in the Los Angeles International Music Festival. Over the years the Jacksonville Symphony has hosted some of the most renowned artists of the music world including Isaac Stern, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Itzhak Perlman, Kathleen Battle, Mstislav Rostopovich, Audra McDonald, Joshua Bell and Lang Lang. This year the Symphony will host the incomparable Renée Fleming for the January 2018 Gala. Our season would not be possible without the generosity of our donors, patrons and volunteers. We thank them and all our patrons for their support. For more information about the Jacksonville Symphony, please visit www.Facebook.com/JaxSymphony, follow us on Twitter @JaxSymphony, and on Instagram at JaxSymphony.

ENCORE 11

THE ORCHESTRA

Anthony Anurca SECOND/CONTRA BASSOON

Katharine Caliendo SECOND HORN

Chi-Yin Chen VIOLIN

Patrice Evans VIOLIN

Anna Genest VIOLIN

Melissa Barrett

Christopher Bassett

Patrick Bilanchone

Aaron Brask

Rhonda Cassano

Kevin Casseday

Laurie Casseday

Christopher Chappell

Kacy Clopton

Conrad Cornelison

Clinton Dewing

Ileana Fernandez

Kayo Ishimaru-Fleisher PRINCIPAL HARP

SECTION PERCUSSION

Annie Hertler

Jiayi Huang

Max Huls

ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER

Dr. Hugh A Carithers Endowed Chair

BASS TROMBONE

BASS

SECOND FLUTE

Tristan Clarke

PRINCIPAL TRUMPET

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL CELLO

Kenneth Every

Betsy Federman

PRINCIPAL TIMPANI

Patrick Graham

SECOND CLARINET

CELLO

Michael Harper

SECOND TRUMPET

12 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

BASS

CELLO

PRINCIPAL BASSOON

PRINCIPAL KEYBOARD

The George V. Grune Endowed Chair

VIOLIN

THIRD HORN

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLIN

VIOLIN

VIOLA

Andrew Bruck VIOLIN

DJ Cheek

PRINCIPAL VIOLA

Aurelia Duca

PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLIN

Kevin Garry

VIOLIN

THE ORCHESTRA

Vernon Humbert CELLO

Mark Knowles FOURTH HORN

Ellen Caruso Olson VIOLA

Jorge A. PeÃ±a Portillo VIOLA

Piotr Szewczyk VIOLIN

James Jenkins

Ran Kampel

PRINCIPAL TUBA

Jennifer Glock Endowed Chair

Jonathan Kuo

Jason Lindsay

VIOLIN

Eric Olson

PRINCIPAL OBOE

PRINCIPAL CLARINET

BASS

Brian Osborne THIRD/UTILITY TRUMPET

Cynthia Kempf VIOLA

Todd Lockwood

Colin Kiely VIOLA

Brian Magnus

Joel Panian

Susan Pardue VIOLA

PRINCIPAL TROMBONE

Paul Strasshofer

SECTION PERCUSSION

Les Roettges

Alexei Romanenko

PRINCIPAL FLUTE

PRINCIPAL CELLO

James Tobias

Carol Whitman

John Wieland

Yuping Zhou

SECOND TROMBONE

VIOLIN

The Musicians of the Jacksonville Symphony are proudly represented by the American Federation of Musicians, Local 444.

Steve Merrill

CELLO

SECOND OBOE/ENGLISH HORN

Daniel Rios

VIOLIN

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL BASS

PRINCIPAL HORN

Kevin Reid

Ilana Kimel

PRINCIPAL BASS

PRINCIPAL PERCUSSION

Jeffrey Peterson

BASS

VIOLIN

Backstage Employees are proudly represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.) Local 115, Saul Lucio, Business Agent.

ENCORE 13

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BEHIND THE CURTAIN: THE AUDITION PROCESS by Richard A. Salkin You sit alone with your instrument, silently, on a stage behind a screen, trying to control your breathing. Just beyond the screen, a committee sits, just as silently, waiting to hear you dazzle them with your playing. As you perform the passages they’ve requested, they’ll listen intently to every note, every silence, every nuance of every phrase you produce. They’ll try to imagine how the music you make might blend with existing symphony members playing the same passage. And they’ll write down their impressions in real time for discussion later. You came here at your own expense, hoping to win a coveted position with the Jacksonville Symphony, an American orchestra that is skyrocketing in stature; so they can be choosy. Based on your resume and perhaps a recording, you survived one round of scrutiny simply by securing an invitation to audition at all. Most didn’t get this far. You’ll be competing for this opportunity with an unknown number of other applicants—perhaps dozens; maybe hundreds. Austere and intimidating, the audition process is the hoop most professional musicians must jump through every time they seek a new position. Not just here but in orchestras worldwide. Even Music Director Courtney Lewis had his own internal struggles with high-pressure auditions. “For me, the key to winning auditions is understanding the flow of your own emotional energy, learning what prevents you from accessing your best energy. Once I figured that out for myself, I started winning auditions.” Lewis just extended his own three-year contract.

The Selection Process The process for choosing new musicians is negotiated into the approved Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the musicians and Symphony administration. The new contract “has been a real game changer in terms of the caliber and the number of people we’ve been able to attract,” Lewis said. “It has made life tremendously easier.” For each opening, there’s a custom-selected committeen. Typically it will include the section leader and others who play the same or similar instruments. So for a Second Violin position, for example, the audition committee might include the existing Principal Second Violinist, along with other violinists and perhaps other string players. Before auditions begin, each committee will sift through dozens—sometimes hundreds—of resumes and recordings and develop a list of applicants who will be invited to audition for the position. “There’s a standard repertoire for each instrument,” explained James Jenkins, Principal Tuba and a member of several audition committees last year. “We try to pick repertoire that helps us determine the best candidate and helps the applicant demonstrate what we need to hear.”

Getting the notes right is only a start. “The baseline is complete accuracy,” Lewis said. “We want people who are always in control of their instrument.” Yet mastery of basics is just the price of admission. Candidates are also judged on more subjective criteria. Though Lewis doesn’t participate in these auditions—he’ll select later from a list of candidates approved by the committees— he has his own standards. “I’m looking for a musical point of view,” he said. “Not someone who can play perfectly like a machine.” Associate Principal Bassist Todd Lockwood has more specific qualities in mind. “When you get seven people in a room, they’re all looking for something slightly different,” he said. “To me, it starts with rhythm. That’s the most important thing.” He also expects pitch and intonation, dynamics and phrasing to be on the money. He wants to know if the candidate will “actually do what’s on the page. If not, it’s easy for me to not advance the person.”

Isolating the sound The audition process, which conforms to a national ethics code by the musicians’ union, keeps the committee’s focus on the music, not the visuals. Hence the screen. There’s also a carpet runner—so nobody can tell if, say, someone is wearing heels—and a proctor to

shuttle any questions and answers from one side of the screen to the other. To avoid distraction, all participants surrender their cellphones. For Jenkins, “There’s more stress on anonymity” than when he first auditioned in 1995. As a committee member, “you get to hear the applicants play the exact same music in exactly the same order, without having any visual stimulation to help or hinder you with your evaluation.” The screen prevents committee members from noticing “things that might make a difference in the way we think, like how they present themselves artistically and aesthetically, what type of instrument they play. All those variables get erased.” If candidates hold their instruments oddly or contort their faces when they play, committee members can’t see it or be influenced by it. They don’t know the name, ethnicity, gender, age, height, weight, attire, education or other irrelevant characteristics of the person who’s about to play. Ultimately, each applicant’s performance is scored by every committee member. Those with top scores will advance to a short list, from which Lewis makes the final decision. Sometimes all that work comes to naught. Despite tons of resumes, recordings and auditions, there are times the audition ENCORE 15

CONCERTMASTER CANDIDATES From top-left: Nigel Armstrong Vivek Jayaraman Joseph Meyer Emma McGrath Julia Noone Lauren Roth (not pictured) Stephen Tavani

committee and music director deem no musician qualified to join the orchestra. Sometimes a musician who wins a position with the Jacksonville Symphony accepts one with another orchestra. Neither of those scenarios occurred this season. Sometimes the top finalists will be invited back for a trial week—a deeper dive to discover the minute differences between the most qualified musicians vying for a spot. “When you get down to two or three candidates so equal in their basic ability, the main decision comes down to how they fit in with the group,” Jenkins explained. “It can be quite illuminating. Many musicians sound compelling by themselves but may sound different in a group.” A trial week gives the committee members a chance to see and hear candidates more closely, watching them rehearse and perform with other section members. “It’s an on-the-job test,” said Robert Massey, President and CEO of the Symphony. “How do they blend with the section? Does their sound match the person sitting next to them? Are they prepared? Are they marking their parts appropriately?”

Choosing a concertmaster Using this blind audition process, the Jacksonville Symphony has filled most of its vacancies, with only a few remaining. But one position requires a closer look: the Isabelle Davis Endowed Concertmaster Chair, a job left vacant at the end of last season.

“Since the concertmaster’s role is so much more significant, we lose part of the screen,” said Lockwood, who sits on the concertmaster selection committee. “We didn’t qualify candidates out of an audition; Courtney was allowed to invite four finalists and the committee invited four.” Each comes to Jacksonville for two weeks and performs in one concert conducted by Lewis and a specialty concert, such as one in the Pops series, conducted by someone else. Massey said concertmaster candidates are put through a series of musical and non-musical paces. As he quipped unintentionally about a key duty of the concertmaster, “If a candidate doesn’t bow well, it‘s not going to bode well.” He continued, “It’s one of the highest-profile positions we have. Key board members and administrative leadership have dinner with all candidates to see how they handle themselves at donor events. Are they articulate enough to do a segment on WJCT? Do they have artistic leadership skills? Do they know how to communicate with the section leaders? With Courtney? And what about the public? In addition to all these performance and musical leadership qualifications, the concertmaster has to be an excellent ambassador of the Symphony.” So far this season, Jacksonville audiences have already heard from Nigel Armstrong, Julia Noone, Vivek Jayaraman and Emma McGrath. Still to come: Stephen Tavani, Joseph Meyer, and Lauren Roth.

16 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

If the selection process seems a little regimented, well, that’s by design. “With the concertmaster process in particular, it can change what the orchestra is,” Lockwood explained. The right concertmaster “can change the sound, help us play better, and add so much nuance. It’s a very exciting time to be able to see what’s out there and have an impact on the process. This is the best thing for the orchestra.” No one familiar with the process is prepared to commit to a firm ETA, though Lockwood, Massey and Lewis have all said they hope a concertmaster can be named by the end of the current season. It’s all worth the effort, though, and it speaks volumes about the Symphony’s place in the musical universe. “The quality of the candidates is higher,” Jenkins said. “The buzz in the orchestra world is that things are changing and moving in a positive direction here in Jacksonville.” Understanding what musicians go through just to play in the Jacoby “can give audiences a greater appreciation for what you hear,” Massey said. “All of our musicians are incredibly talented professionals. Most beat out another hundred people for their spot. The men and women you see on stage worked incredibly hard to get where they are. It’s an investment on our part, a commitment on their part. How they’ve grown as an ensemble has been really amazing. As a result, we’re punching way above our weight class.”

THREE IDEAS FOR YOUR CHARITABLE AND PLANNED GIVING IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER BENEFIT

This provision allows those 70 ½ and older to donate as much as $100,000 of IRA account assets each year directly to one or more public charities, such as the Jacksonville Symphony. The donations will count as part of the IRA owner’s required annual payout. There is no income tax charitable deduction for the donated assets but they don’t count as income, either. To qualify, the donation must be made directly to a charity, no donor advised fund or grant making foundation. The assets must be transferred directly to the Symphony from the IRA custodian, such as a bank or mutual fund.

GIFTS OF STOCK

If you own stock it is often more tax-wise to contribute stock than cash. This is because a gift of appreciated stock generally offers a two-fold tax saving. First, you avoid paying any capital gains tax on the increase in the value of the stock. Second, you receive an income tax deduction for the full fair market value of the stock.

GIFTS OF LIFE INSURANCE

Bob Shircliff (right), co-chairman of Cadenza Society and Music Director, Courtney Lewis

Life insurance provides an easy way to continue your lifetime of giving. If you are currently making an annual gift to the Jacksonville Symphony and would like for these gifts to continue beyond your lifetime, you may wish to consider a gift of an existing life insurance policy. This is an easy way for you to make a lasting gift. For professional advice, please check with your attorney, accountant or other tax professional.

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CONCERTMASTER SEARCH Concertmaster Audition Process

The Jacksonville Symphony is hosting seven candidates for the concertmaster position during the 2017/2018 season. Candidates will play with the orchestra for one Masterworks series weekend and one Pops/Special Presentation weekend. Please give them a warm Jacksonville welcome.

Stephen Tavani – January 26 & 27 / February 2 & 3 Violinist Stephen Tavani was recently appointed as the new concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, where he holds the Joseph and Marie Field Chair. As a soloist, he has performed with Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, the National Repertory Orchestra, the American Youth Symphony, the Brentwood Westwood Symphony and others. Tavani recently served as guest concertmaster for the Louisiana Philharmonic as well as concertmaster for ensembles including the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, the Colburn Orchestra and the Youth Orchestra of Americas. An avid chamber musician, Tavani has collaborated with many great musicians, including Edgar Meyer, Roberto Díaz, Peter Wiley, Paul Katz and José Franch-Ballester. In summer of 2016, he participated in his first season of the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival and he returned in 2017. Tavani is also a member of the New York Classical Players and has played with the Dolce Suono Ensemble. In the spring of 2016, he toured extensively with a chamber ensemble from Curtis On Tour throughout Spain and Germany. Tavani performed at the 11th Sibelius International Violin Competition in Helsinki and in the 2012 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Tavani holds an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Ida Kavafian and Arnold Steinhardt. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles and is currently completing his studies in the Concertmaster Academy program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He plays on a W.E. Hill & Sons bow generously loaned by Tom Frisina. Tavani is happily married to his wife Amanda, a double bassist and music educator. He grew up in Northern Virginia in a musical family of six brothers, including two cellists, another violinist, and a pianist.

Joseph Meyer – March 10 / March 16 & 17 Joseph Meyer, violin, is an active soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader who has been garnering critical acclaim throughout the country. He has been described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “a standout player, both technically brilliant and musically innovative.” Currently Meyer holds positions as associate concertmaster of the Charlotte Symphony and the Colorado Music Festival, as well as guest concertmaster of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. He is on the faculty of Davidson College in North Carolina. Former leadership positions in other orchestras include concertmaster of the Louisiana Philharmonic, and a member of the Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Milwaukee Symphony, Charlotte Symphony and New World Symphony. Recently he served as guest concertmaster of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance for the reopening of New Orleans’ Orpheum Theater, rebuilt after hurricane Katrina. As part of a joint Carnegie Hall/State Department initiative to promote cultural exchange, he has performed chamber music and has given masterclasses throughout Central Asia. Upcoming performances for the 2017-2018 season include serving as guest concertmaster in New Orleans and Jacksonville, as well as chamber music and solo performances in the U.S. He will also serve as guest concertmaster with the Louisiana Philharmonic in a Phillip Glass residency at Carnegie Hall. He graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Camilla Wicks and Mark Sokol. Meyer performs on a 1740 Celoniati violin and a Dominique Peccatte bow. ENCORE 19

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MASTERWORKS SERIES

Friday & Saturday, February 2 & 3, 2018 l 8 pm “Insight” one hour prior to each Masterworks concert

Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

REQUIEM FOR AN ANGEL Courtney Lewis, conductor Haskell Endowed Chair

Anthony Marwood, violin Benjamin Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20 BRITTEN Lacrymosa Dies Irae Requiem aeternam Alban Violin Concerto BERG Andante; Allegretto Allegro; Adagio

~ Intermission ~ Edward Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55 ELGAR Andante; nobilmente e semplice - Allegro Allegro molto Adagio Lento - Allegro Sponsored by:

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PROGRAM NOTES By Steven Ledbetter

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) Sinfonia da Requiem, Op. 20 (21 minutes) The Sinfonia da Requiem is the most significant early orchestral work by the 27-year-old Benjamin Britten. Moreover, its performances under Serge Koussevitzky’s baton in Symphony Hall in January 1942 had far-reaching consequences for the young composer. After performing this vivid and gripping work, Koussevitzky asked Britten why a composer with such a clear theatrical flair had not written an opera. Britten had, in fact, recently come across a poem that strongly appealed to him as the potential basis for an opera, but--ever practical--he asked, “Who would perform it?” Koussevitzky replied, “You write. I perform.”

This conversation was eventually formalized into a commission for an opera which became Peter Grimes, generally recognized as the beginning of a rich modern tradition of British opera. The composer’s ability to conceive bold theatrical strokes and to project them musically, one of the great strengths of Peter Grimes, is already apparent in the Sinfonia da Requiem. Even though it lacks a text or a specific dramatic impetus, the work cannot help but evoke the time in which it was written and the composer’s personal situation at that time. The layout in multiple movements and the seriousness of its construction might have suggested the simple term “symphony” for the work. The less generic and more specific

title Sinfonia da Requiem, which might be translated “symphony after the manner of a requiem,” turns the listener’s thoughts to ultimate issues. The first impulse in writing a large and serious score—and no doubt the one that suggested the word “requiem” for its title—had been the death of the composer’s mother early in 1937. But the political situation worldwide no doubt played a part as well. The situation intensified with the Munich crisis of September 1938 and Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler in the hope of finding “peace in our time.” By the following spring Hitler had annexed Czechoslovakia, and on September 1, with the surprise Nazi attack on Poland, a new world war began in earnest. Early in 1939 two of Britten’s close friends, poet W.H. Auden and writer Christopher Isherwood, had emigrated to the United States. He was tempted to follow, largely out of his determined pacifism (and the hope that the United States would remain out of a European war), and partly because of his realization that his music was better appreciated abroad than at home. The actual starting point of his Sinfonia da Requiem came when the British Council asked him if he would write a substantial piece for some celebration dealing with “the reigning dynasty of a foreign power”--not identified at first. Britten agreed, with the stipulation that “no form of musical jingoism” was necessary. The foreign power turned out to be Japan, then planning a celebration for the 2600th anniversary of the emperor’s dynasty. Britten submitted the outline of the three-movement symphony with its movement headings (Lacrymosa, Dies irae and Requiem aeternam) for approval from the Japanese. Having received that, he composed the work and sent the score to Tokyo. Only then did the planners of the celebration decide that the Christian theme of the work was an insult to the Emperor. Once the Japanese had refused the work, Britten was at liberty to offer it anywhere else, and both the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony performed it within a period of nine months. Once Britten began to make a name for himself as an opera composer, much of his earlier instrumental music was rather cast into a shadow for a time, with relatively few performances. But in recent years the Sinfonia NOTES (continued on page 23)

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Anthony Marwood, violin Anthony Marwood is a solo classical violinist, performing with acclaimed orchestras around the world. He was born in London and studied with Emanuel Hurwitz at the Royal Academy of Music, David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and took lessons from Sándor Végh and Daniel Phillips at IMS Prussia Cove. He was named Instrumentalist of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society in 2006 and was the violinist of the Florestan Trio for 16 years. This year, Marwood was named Member of the British Empire (MBE), a British order of chivalry that rewards contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organizations and public service. He is co-artistic director of the Peasmarsh Chamber Music Festival in East Sussex and performs annually at the Yellow Barn Festival in Vermont. Marwood was appointed a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music in 2013. He has a close association with the Australian National Academy of Music in Melbourne and the Pettman National Junior Academy in Auckland. He plays a 1736 Carlo Bergonzi violin. Marwood is the principal artistic partner with Les Violons du Roy in Canada and the artistic partner for the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. He regularly performs with the Tapiola Sinfonietta in Finland, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the St Louis Symphony. He has performed with conductors Valery Gergiev, Sir Andrew Davis, Thomas Søndergård, David Robertson, Gerard Korsten, Ilan Volkov, Jaime Martin and Douglas Boyd. In 2015 he toured with the New Zealand, Sydney, Tasmanian and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras. He played with the New World Symphony in Miami, A Far Cry in Boston and at Festivals in Sanguine Estate in Australia, Lockenhaus in Austria and Bridgehampton, New York. He also performed Beethoven’s violin concerto at Lanaudière in Quebec. Marwood’s regular chamber music partners include Thomas Adés, Martin Fröst, Steven Isserlis, Lawrence Power and Aleksandar Madžar. In the 2014-15 season he was a featured artist at London’s Wigmore Hall. Anthony has made more than 30 CDs for the Hyperion label, both as soloist and as a former member of the Florestan Trio; he has also recorded for EMI, BIS and Wigmore Live. Many composers have written concertos for him, including Thomas Adès, Steven Mackey, Sally Beamish and, most recently, the young American Samuel Carl Adams.

NOTES (continued from page 21)

da Requiem in particular has emerged as one of the composer’s most powerful and affecting scores. The Sinfonia da Requiem is one of those pieces that feels big, even though it is remarkably taut and compact, the three movements together lasting only about twenty minutes. The opening movement, entitled Lacrymosa (“full of tears”) is filled almost single-mindedly with the mood of lamentation at the dominance of Death (the thundering blows on the pitch D became symbolic for Britten of Death’s power). The movement builds, in a long arch constructed almost entirely from the syncopated sighing figures heard at the outset against a dark marching pulse in the bass. Dies irae (“day of wrath”) describes the Last Judgment in a Requiem Mass; here it symbolizes the full outbreak of war, described by the composer in his first program note as “a form of Dance of Death, with occasional moments of quiet marching rhythm.” It is a frenzied movement, filled with arresting orchestral color. When the scherzo returns after the saxophone’s eerily lyrical treatment

of the Lacrymosa theme, the entire movement disintegrates into fragments and nothingness. Out of the collapse comes the ultimate consolation of the final movement, headed Requiem aeternam (“eternal rest”). With a turn toward D major and spacious open sonorities, Britten gives the flutes a gentle song that has grown out of a passage heard in a quite different way in the second movement; the strings have their part to play in the middle of the movement, and the ending becomes more luminous as it progresses. The symphony closes in peace--though surely, in 1940, it was peace hoped-for, not peace achieved.

Alban Berg (1885-1935) Violin Concerto (22 minutes)

In February 1935, when the American violinist Louis Krasner approached Berg with a request for a violin concerto, the 50-year old composer temporized, largely because he was concerned about completing his opera Lulu. Much as he wanted to devote himself to Lulu, Berg was in financial straits. He had been quite

well off for a number of years after the success of Wozzeck had provided him with a stream of royalties. But the takeover of German politics by the National Socialists and their ensuing action labeling Wozzeck as “degenerate” and banning it from performances in Germany had ended that particular stream of income. Then, in April, an event occurred that moved Berg to accept Krasner’s $1,500 offer. Manon Gropius, the daughter of Alma Mahler (the composer’s widow) and the architect Walter Gropius, suddenly died at eighteen. She had been a beautiful, lively talented girl who was just about to be part of the cast of a Salzburg production of Everyman when she took ill. She was to play the role of an angel. Generally, Berg was a composer who worked slowly and painstakingly. But in this case he seemed like a man possessed, as if he somehow knew his time was short. That was, in fact, the case, but he can hardly have known in June or July that a wasp would sting him on August 11 and that he would develop a septicemia that carried him off two days before Christmas. ENCORE 23

Whatever was in his mind as he composed, it clearly involved the ultra-romantic complications that he managed to create for himself in his real life, and he composed out in the music elements that symbolized his own life and loves. He wrote the concerto with a gold pen that was ostensibly a gift from the author Franz Werfel, but in fact it was from Werfel’s sister, Hanna Fuchs-Robettin, with whom Berg had fallen madly in love in 1925. Another, earlier love affair is also recalled during the course of the work—Berg’s youthful relationship with a chambermaid in his family’s home in Carinthia, Marie Scheuchl, which had resulted in the birth of a daughter. In any case, Berg finished the concerto at white heat, and the result is, in the minds of many listeners, the most intense and moving composition ever written by a composer who wrote in the twelve-tone style. Berg laid out the work in two movements, each of which is subdivided into two parts of contrasting moods. The first starts rather slowly, then gets faster. The second half moves in the opposite direction, beginning rather quickly, but ending in a very slow second part. As with many of his other works, Berg lays out phrases and sections in groups of bars according to a number theory that he followed consistently. He had read a book by Wilhelm Fleiss that maintained that the natural rhythms of a man’s life related to the number 23, while the feminine number was 28. Somehow he and Hanna considered 10 to be “their” number. These numbers are worked out all through the concerto. The solo violin begins by running quietly up over the four open strings of the instrument, then down again, in an introduction that Berg identifies as “10 measures”—in other words, a private message to Hanna. After the introduction is over, the soloist plays out the entire 12-note row that forms the basis of the piece. Berg made a point of building it up with four overlapping triads making up the first nine notes. Then, beginning with the ninth, he presents four notes moving up in whole steps that will appear later in the piece. This very carefully shaped tone row provides the raw material for the movement, and it indicates from the beginning that traditional harmonies may be admitted to this very new theoretical world. He thought of this beginning as a kind of prelude. When it moves into the Allegretto, it does so with characteristically “Viennese” sonorities. In the middle of this music there appears a folk-like tune in 3/8

time that Berg identified in the score as a “Carinthian folk melody,” evidently a reference to the daughter that he did not officially acknowledge. Up until now, the work has been surprisingly sweet in character. The second movement begins with a much more violent explosion of dissonance, a stormy, rhythmically driven passage that only gradually quiets down for the last phase of the concerto. The more we have learned about Berg and his passion for puzzles and hidden messages in recent years, the more it is possible to “decode” passages from the Violin Concerto. But in listening to a performance, that completely misses the point. Even before anything was known beyond the dedication to Manon Gropius, audiences who heard the work were gripped by the expressive power of the music, as they still are today.

Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55

(50 minutes) Elgar was in almost every respect an outsider: selftaught in a day when only strict academic training at Oxford or Cambridge was considered essential; Roman Catholic in a country officially Protestant. But most galling was the fact that he was the son of a shopkeeper in a classridden society that looked down on people “in trade.” And yet, ironically, it is the very things that made him feel ever the outsider that also allowed him to develop his musical talents as a composer of marked originality. My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.

Elgar spent his formative years in Worcester, where he lived with his family over the Elgar Brothers music shop, where he spent as much time as possible absorbing the scores in stock. With all that music at hand, he was able to pursue his musical enthusiasms without having his talents dampened by the incredible

24 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

stodginess of the academic instruction at the official schools. The most unlikely experience proved to be the most valuable. For five years, to 1884, he conducted an “orchestra” made up of staff members of the County Lunatic Asylum in nearby Powick. For this ensemble he composed original music and rescored the classics to include whatever instruments were available from week to week. Thus he gained firsthand knowledge of instrumental technique and orchestration such as few composers have ever had. But Elgar remained a purely local celebrity until he was 40. The work that brought him sudden and lasting national prominence was Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma), performed in 1899 under Hans Richter. From that point, Elgar was at last widely recognized as the longawaited great and original English composer. In 1898 he had proposed a commemorative symphony, a kind of English Eroica, on the subject of General Gordon, who had died in the massacre at Khartoum in 1885. By 1899 he was “making a shot at it,” but sketches either came to nothing or were, in the end, used for his Second Symphony. The first real hint of the Aflat symphony comes from the summer of 1907, when Elgar’s wife noted in her diary for June 27 that Elgar had played her a “great, beautiful tune.” This was the motto theme of the symphony, the stately march that opens the proceedings and recurs in various guises throughout. Elgar completed the score on September 25, dedicating it to Hans Richter, whom he called a “true artist and true friend.” The premiere on December 3, under Richter’s direction, was one of the great triumphs of the composer’s life. To Walford Davies, who wrote an analysis for the premiere, Elgar confided this view: “There is no programme beyond a wide experience of human life with a great charity (love) and a massive hope in the future.” Even before the advent of broadcasting to help spread the fame of a new work rapidly, the Elgar First achieved an extraordinary record almost at once. The hundredth performance of the work took place only a little more than a year after the premiere, and by then it had been heard in Austria, Germany, Russian, Australia and the United States and 17 times in London. When he began the first rehearsal with the orchestra for the first London performance, Richter had said, “Gentlemen, let us now

rehearse the greatest symphony of modern times, and not only in this country!” The first movement begins, after two introductory drumrolls, with a solemn march of noble simplicity, accompanied by a staccato stalking bass line. The march theme recurs many times, at least in part, during the symphony. Nothing could be more clearly or solidly in Aflat, the home key of the symphony, but this is in fact a misleading impression, because Elgar is preparing a tense and powerful contrast with the first Allegro, which is in D minorthe farthest key possible from the tonic! Elgar has thus turned normal symphonic practice insideout. Instead of presenting the slower introduction as a means of gradually clarifying the tonality from doubt to certainty, he begins in calm confidence which is drastically eroded once the movement gets underway. The remainder is a continuing struggle between many diverse musical ideas and tonalities in a discourse made still more complex by the composer’s tendency to elaborate his material at each restatement. The exposition functions for all the world as if the movement were in D minor. And yet we cannot forget its warm nobility. The recapitulation begins with the Allegro theme again in D minor, but the ensuing material comes round to A-flat, once again posing explicitly the question of these two very distant keys. The motto sneaks in to introduce

the coda, which builds to a powerful climax, but then dies away in a final magical phrase. The second and third movements are played without pause, a sustained note in the strings serving as a link between them. Yet they are so different in character few people realize that the principal theme in each movement consists of precisely the same notes! The bustling perpetuo moto of the scherzo turns into a theme of lavish lyricism by being played in longer note values. The Scherzo of the second movement is a shade demonic, with brassy marches intruding into the rushing strings, though there is an episode of lighter, more lyrical character featuring flutes and solo violin. After the last return of the fast string passage, the main theme begins to go through a transformation, gradually slowing down to an end. This, in turn, leads to one of the most magically expressive slow movements in all of music, with melodic flourishes blossoming out on all sides. The delicacy of the scoring is unsurpassed even in Elgar. Jaeger, in his appreciative letter to Elgar, noted that at this passage, “We are brought near Heaven.” This new, heavenly, theme is the last thing we hear at the end of the movement.

movement. Tense, hushed tremolos introduce a somber funeral march theme. This theme recurs, now fortissimo in the full orchestra, and it undergoes an even more surprising change when the persistent last stands of strings try to bring back the motto theme in a minor key. Now the funeral march presents itself in a sustained legato that reveals an unexpected affinity with the motto. Following a recapitulation of the Allegro material, the somber character of the march is reiterated and Elgar brings back echoes of earlier themes in a coda that culminates in the most grandiose possible affirmation in a statement of the motto once again firmly established in the home key. The emotional spectrum of Elgar’s music encompasses doubt as well as confidence, anger as well as joy, humor as well as sobriety. Just as Mahler’s music has come into its own in recent years, we have begun to find a new Elgar, a composer whose preoccupations are strikingly akin to our own. And in doing so, we can perhaps find consolation in the powerful final pages of this symphony, which affirm those values that the composer summed up as “a great charity (love) and a massive hope in the future.” © Steven Ledbetter (www.stevenledbetter.com)

The finale returns to the fundamental argument between the battling tonalities of the first

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COFFEE SERIES FAMILY SERIES

Coffee Series: Friday, February 9, 2018 l 11 am Family Series: Sunday, February 11, 2018 l 3 pm Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

APPALACHIAN SPRING Nathan Aspinall, conductor The Florida Ballet

Ludwig van BEETHOVEN

Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, “Pastoral“ *

Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside

Scene by the brook

Merry gathering of country folk

Thunderstorm

Shepherd’s Song: Happy, grateful feelings after the storm

* A selection of movements will be performed on the Family Series concert. Aaron COPLAND

Suite from Appalachian Spring (rev. 1945)

The Coffee Concert is hosted by the Jacksonville Symphony Guild. Coffee and tea are provided by Martin Coffee Company, Inc. PRI Productions is the proud Event Production Partner of the Jacksonville Symphony. Dana’s Limousine is the official transportation of the Jacksonville Symphony. Omni Jacksonville Hotel is the official hotel of the Jacksonville Symphony.

Heather Olschewske, choreography Heather Olschewske grew up in upstate New York where she began her training with Bill Hotaling. In 1995, she graduated with honors from SUNY Brockport with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. There, she studied with Timothy Draper, Randy James, Clyde Morgan, Susannah Newman, Sondra Fraleigh, among many others. While at Brockport, she performed and toured with DANSCORE and SANKOFA. After graduation from Brockport, she taught dance and theater in Jacksonville, FL from 1995-1999. Heather then spent the next five years managing the dance program at Berwick Academy in Southern Maine and choreographed for the Portsmouth School of Ballet. She has continued her studies in dance at Bates Dance Festival, The Florida Dance Festival, The Portsmouth Percussive Dance Festival and The FDEO conference where she has participated in master classes with Robert Atwood, Terry Creach, Clyde Evans Jr., Danny Buraczeski and Desmond Richardson. Since returning to the Jacksonville area, Olschewske has taught at Douglas Anderson School of The Arts and is currently a member of the faculty at St. Johns Country Day School and Florida Ballet, as well as the artistic director at Arts Edge. She has been a member of The New Hampshire Dance Alliance and is currently a member of The National Dance Educators Organization, The Florida Dance Educators Organization and The Florida Dance Association. Olschewske is an ABT certified teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

Choreographer’s Note My choreography for “Appalachian Spring” is more in the form of abstract storytelling. While it is inspired by, and true to an overall theme in Graham’s work, it is intentionally different in both structure and premise. It is meant to be a modern take on a traditional American Story. At its core, “Appalachian Spring” is a story of newness and the promise of the future, but also struggle. Where Graham’s work focuses on a newly married couple in the American Frontier, my piece focuses on the overall promise that America represents to two newly arrived immigrants. The story takes them through the conflict of attempting to fit in a new society, at one turn being rejected, but at others embraced as they seek to achieve their dreams. There is an inherent struggle throughout both stories to achieve what, in many ways, is a utopian promise. While it is inspired by Graham, and how can it not be, it is intentionally different so as not to be compared to her; it honors her, but does not copy her. Both Graham’s choreography and Copland’s score are iconic and have been recognized as American classics. It is my intention to honor their works, while adding a modern American interpretation.

Appalachian Spring Choreography by Heather Olschewske

Florida Ballet Members Olivia Barcia, Ashley Brandt, Clio Chazan-Gabbard, Amina Kolenc, Morgan Olschewske, Meleah Paishon, Joshua Abbott, Dante Emanuel, Samuel Johnson, Julian Rachal, Kenley Beam, Penelope Bloodworth, Ester Kosik, Lidinia Mena-Smith, Emma Parnell

ENCORE 27

Nathan Aspinall, conductor Nathan Aspinall is currently the associate conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony. Recent performances in this position have included Handel’s Messiah, Prokofiev’s Cinderella and a special event concert with organist Cameron Carpenter. Formerly, he held the position of young conductor with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra where he assisted Chief Conductor Johannes Fritzsch and visiting guest conductors and conducted concerts for the education series. Aspinall studied French horn and conducting at the University of Queensland and upon graduation was awarded the Hugh Brandon Prize. In 2012 Aspinall attended the Aspen Music Festival studying with Robert Spano and Hugh Wolff. He was awarded the Robert J. Harth Conducting Prize, inviting him to return to Aspen in 2013. Aspinall has conducted the Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras. In addition he has conducted the Queensland Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra and has acted as assistant conductor for Opera Queensland. Festival master classes and appearances have included the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Oregon Bach Festival and the Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Seminar. During the 2017/18 season, Aspinall will lead the Jacksonville Symphony in his second Masterworks subscription appearance conducting Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 and Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto with Behzod Abduraimov. As a guest conductor he will return to the Atlanta and Queensland Symphony Orchestras. Aspinall studied Orchestral Conducting with Hugh Wolff at New England Conservatory in Boston.

28 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

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ENCORE 29

UPCOMING SYMPHONY SPECIALS

APR 20 Fri: 8pm

APR 22 Sun: 3pm

EAR SHOT

BECOME OCEAN

Courtney Lewis, conductor

The Jacksonville Symphony welcomes emerging, young composers from the EarShot program, a partnership between the American Composers Orchestra, League of American Orchestras, American Composers Forum, and New Music USA. Composers will spend a week with the Symphony workshopping compositions under the guidance of Courtney Lewis, the musicians of the Symphony and mentor composers. The week concludes with a concert featuring these works that just may be among the next generation’s greatest hits.

“Life on this earth first emerged from the sea. As the polar ice melts and sea levels rise, we humans find ourselves facing the prospect that once again we may quite literally become ocean.” John Luther Adams’ words convey his inspiration in composing this Pulitzer Prize wining score, performed by the Symphony to commemorate Earth Day 2018. Dr. Quinton White, executive director of Jacksonville University’s Marine Science Research Institute, will be giving a presentation before the program.

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30 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SOUND INVESTMENT PROGRAM Music in the Schools (Elementary School)

Musicians from the Jacksonville Symphony visit schools throughout Northeast Florida introduce smaller ensembles (quartets/quintets) and integrate music with a variety of grade-appropriate curricula.

Music in the Schools (Middle and High School)

The new Jacksonville Symphony Chamber Orchestra provides students with a unique program for a smaller orchestra which is not traditionally seen in concert halls. Visiting middle and high schools throughout the region, this ensemble uses music to create cross-curricular connections.

Family Concerts (Infants-Age 10)

Musical classics and creative storytelling are sure to engage and enthrall children of all ages. Add to this concert experience by attending FREE pre-concert activities designed specifically for the theme of each concert. Activities include crafts, games and the Instrument Zoo presented by the Jacksonville Symphony Guild. Family concerts are used to establish a foundation for learning, reading and/or storytelling. This is essential in creating successful students, and ultimately, successful adults and an educated work force. Designed for children ages 4-10, these concerts now include age-appropriate activities, privacy areas and a relaxed environment to welcome infants and toddlers to create a fun experience for the entire family to learn and listen together.

Mayo Clinic Community Concerts (All Ages)

With a promise of making musical accessible to all, the Jacksonville Symphony provides free concerts throughout the community.

JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SOUND INVESTMENT PROGRAM SPONSORED BY THE J. WAYNE AND DELORES BARR WEAVER MUSIC EDUCATION ENDOWMENT Sponsored in part by: Deutsche Bank, Enterprise Holdings Foundation, Carl S. Swisher Foundation and Edna Sproull Williams Foundation

FIELD TRIPS Youth Concerts (Elementary School)

Each fall (Preludes), winter (Nutcracker) and spring (Young Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Concerts), elementary school students attend a 45-minute concert featuring the full Jacksonville Symphony at Jacoby Symphony Hall. Educator classroom guides and supporting material maximize the impact of the experience for the child. Sponsored in part by: Woodcock Foundation for the Appreciation of the Arts

Students at the Symphony (Middle and High School)

Students at the Symphony is a concert-going experience that provides FREE tickets to students and their families for select Jacksonville Symphony Masterworks and Pops concerts via school partnerships. Pre-concert workshops and activities with Symphony Teaching Artists teach students about the orchestra and connect content of each performance to general elements of musical knowledge, allowing students to make cross-curricular connections. Sponsored in part by: DuBow Family Foundation, Downtown Council of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and Wells Fargo

ENCORE 31

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32 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

EQUITY

POPS SERIES Friday & Saturday, February 16 & 17, 2018 l 7 pm Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

Deanna Tham, conductor PARAMOUNT PICTURES Presents A LUCASFILM LTD Production A STEVEN SPIELBERG Film

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK Starring HARRISON FORD KAREN ALLEN PAUL FREEMAN RONALD LACEY JOHN RHYS-DAVIES DENHOLM ELLIOTT Music by JOHN WILLIAMS Executive Producers GEORGE LUCAS and HOWARD KAZANJIAN Screenplay by LAWRENCE KASDAN Story by GEORGE LUCAS and PHILIP KAUFMAN Produced by FRANK MARSHALL

A Note from the Composer In creating the character Indiana Jones, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg introduced an enduring and much loved figure into the pantheon of fictional movie heroes. Raiders of the Lost Ark was illuminated by the superb comedy-action performance of Harrison Ford and enlivened by the spirited direction of Steven Spielberg. Speaking for myself, I must say that the experience of composing the music for this film, and for the subsequent installments in the series, was a very happy one, and offered me a wild and truly joyous ride. I’m especially delighted that the magnificent Jacksonville Symphony has agreed to perform the music this evening in a live presentation of the movie. I know I speak for everyone connected with the making of Raiders in saying that we are greatly honored by this event… and I hope that tonight’s audience will experience some measure of the joy and fun we did when making the film nearly thirty-five years ago.

Directed by STEVEN SPIELBERG

Tonight’s program is a presentation of the complete film Raiders of the Lost Ark with a live performance of the film’s entire score, including music played by the orchestra during the end credits. Out of respect for the musicians and your fellow audience members, please remain seated until the conclusion of the credits. “RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK” Licensed by LUCASFILM LTD and PARAMOUNT PICTURES. This program licensed by LUCASFILM LTD and PARAMOUNT PICTURES. Motion Picture, Artwork, Photos ©1981 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved. MUSIC WRITTEN BY JOHN WILLIAMS BANTHA MUSIC (BMI) ALL RIGHTS ADMINISTERED BY WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. (BMI) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USED BY PERMISSION. Presented by:

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ENCORE 33

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John Williams In a career spanning more than five decades, John Williams has become one of America’s most accomplished and successful composers for film and for the concert stage, and he remains one of our nation’s most distinguished and contributive musical voices. He has composed the music and served as music director for more than one hundred films, including all eight Star Wars films, the first three Harry Potter films, Superman, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Memoirs of a Geisha, Far and Away, The Accidental Tourist, Home Alone and The Book Thief. His 45-year artistic partnership with director Steven Spielberg has resulted in many of Hollywood’s most acclaimed and successful films, including Schindler’s List, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Indiana Jones films, Munich, Saving Private Ryan, The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse and Lincoln. His contributions to television music include scores for more than 200 television films for the groundbreaking, early anthology series Alcoa Theatre, Kraft Television Theatre, Chrysler Theatre and Playhouse 90, as well as themes for NBC Nightly News (“The Mission”), NBC’s Meet the Press, and the PBS arts showcase Great Performances. He also composed themes for the 1984, 1988, and 1996 Summer Olympic Games, the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. He has received five Academy Awards and fifty Oscar nominations, making him the Academy’s most-nominated living person and the secondmost nominated person in the history of the Oscars. He has received seven British Academy Awards (BAFTA), twenty-three Grammys, four Golden Globes, five Emmys, and numerous gold and platinum records. In 2003, he received the Olympic Order (the IOC’s highest honor) for his contributions to the Olympic movement. He received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in December of 2004. In 2009, Mr. Williams was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and he received the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the U.S. Government. In 2016, he received the 44th Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute – the first time in their history that this honor was bestowed upon a composer. In January 1980, Mr. Williams was named nineteenth music director of the Boston Pops Orchestra, succeeding the legendary Arthur Fiedler. He currently holds the title of Boston Pops Laureate Conductor which he assumed following his retirement in December, 1993, after fourteen highly successful seasons. He also holds the title of Artist-in-Residence at Tanglewood. Mr. Williams has composed numerous works for the concert stage, among them two symphonies, and concertos commissioned by several of the world’s leading orchestras, including a cello concerto for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a bassoon concerto for the New York Philharmonic, a trumpet concerto for The Cleveland Orchestra, and a horn concerto for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, Mr. Williams composed and arranged “Air and Simple Gifts” especially for the first inaugural ceremony of President Barack Obama, and in September 2009, the Boston Symphony premiered a new concerto for harp and orchestra entitled “On Willows and Birches.”

PRODUCTION CREDITS Raiders of the Lost Ark – Film with Orchestra produced by Film Concerts Live!, a joint venture of IMG Artists, LLC and The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc. Producers: Steven A. Linder and Jamie Richardson Production Manager: Rob Stogsdill Production Coordinator: Sophie Greaves Worldwide Representation: IMG Artists, LLC Supervising Technical Director: Mike Runice Technical Director: Chris Szuberla Music Composed by John Williams Music Preparation: Jo Ann Kane Music Service Film Preparation for Concert Performance: Ramiro Belgardt Technical Consultant: Laura Gibson Sound Remixing for Concert Performance: Chace Audio by Deluxe The score for Raiders of the Lost Ark has been adapted for live concert performance. With special thanks to: Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm Ltd, Steven Spielberg, Frank Marshall, John Williams, Alan Bergman, Howard Roffman, Chris Holm, Chip McLean, Darryl J. Franklin, Dan Butler, Pat Woods, Mark Graham and the musicians and staff of the Jacksonville Symphony.

ENCORE 35

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MAR

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Behzod Abduraimov, piano

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JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY CHORUS Sunday, February 18, 2018 l 3 pm Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY CHORUS CONCERT Donald McCullough, conductor Jacksonville Symphony Chorus Antonín Te Deum, Op. 103 DVOŘÁK Te deum laudamus: Allegro moderato maestoso Tu Rex gloriae: Lento maestoso Aeterna fac cum Sanctis: Vivace Dignare Domine: Lento

~ Intermission ~ Franz Joseph Mass in D minor, Hob. XXII:11 “Lord Nelson Mass” HAYDN Kyrie Gloria Credo Sanctus Benedictus Agnus Dei PRI Productions is the proud Event Production Partner of the Jacksonville Symphony. Dana’s Limousine is the official transportation of the Jacksonville Symphony. Omni Jacksonville Hotel is the official hotel of the Jacksonville Symphony.

PROGRAM NOTES By John Bawden

Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904) Te Deum, Op. 103 (19 minutes) Dvořák came from a humble home; his father ran an inn and a butcher’s shop. Despite his son’s obvious musical talent, there was little money to spare for music lessons. Yet from these modest circumstances Dvořák rose to become a national hero, his country’s greatest composer and one of the most celebrated musicians in the world. The American cultural establishment was acutely aware that it did not have the musical heritage enjoyed by Europe and was keen to take steps to rectify the situation. It was decided that a suitably distinguished figure to head the Conservatory would give weight to this objective, and so it was that in October 1891 Dvořák was appointed director of the National Conservatory in New York. In June, he received a request from Jeanette Thurber, the founder of the National Conservatory,

to write a cantata to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. This would also be, she wrote, a celebration of Dvořák’s arrival. She would send him a suitable text immediately and the new work would receive its premiere on October 12th. When the promised text failed to arrive, Dvořák became increasingly anxious that there might be insufficient time to write the piece before his departure. Naturally, he felt obliged to do his best to comply with Thurber’s request and so he turned instead to the great Latin hymn, Te Deum Laudamus. He sketched the work out in less than a week and had completed it by the end of July. It was not in fact performed at the Columbus celebrations for which it had been intended but received its first performance only a fortnight later, on 21st October 1892 at the New York Hall, with a choir of 250 singers conducted by Dvořák himself.

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) Mass in D minor “Lord Nelson Mass”

(43 minutes) Throughout his life, Haydn was a pioneering figure, exploiting the untapped potential of the symphony, sonata and string quartet. The almost childlike cheerfulness of his music, unfailing invention, classical elegance and intellectual power, explains to a large extent its appeal. He was hailed as a genius throughout Europe, admired and revered by the public and by his peers. Mozart said, ‘Haydn alone has the secret both of making me smile and of touching my innermost soul.’ In 1795 Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy, Haydn’s employer at Eisenstadt, commissioned him to compose a new setting of the mass each year to mark the name-day of his wife, Princess Maria. At that time the Viennese mass was a relatively straightforward affair with organ accompaniment and perhaps a small group of strings. Haydn’s early masses are mostly of this type but now, in his sixties, he proceeded to expand the format. The superb Nelson Mass of 1798, the third and most celebrated of these masses, was described by the late H. C. Robbins Landon, chief biographer on Haydn, as ‘arguably Haydn’s greatest single composition.’ In 1800, Nelson, heralded as the savior of Europe since his victory over Napoleon’s fleet, visited Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy at Eisenstadt, where he met Haydn. Whilst there, Haydn’s Te Deum and the Mass in D minor, as the Nelson Mass was originally called, were performed in his honor. It was after this visit that Haydn’s Mass in D minor became known as the Nelson Mass. For economic reasons Prince Nikolaus had dismissed nearly all the wind players from his court orchestra, leaving Haydn with only trumpets, timpani, organ and strings. With typical resourcefulness he turned this apparent disadvantage into an opportunity, creating a highly distinctive sonority found in no other mass. His writing for the trumpets is particularly imaginative; he exploits to great effect their dark lower tones as well as their familiar bright upper register.

ENCORE 37

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Jacksonville Symphony Chorus Donald McCullough, Director, Tom Zimmerman Endowed Chair • Jill Weisblatt, Chorus Manager William Adams B. David Avery Deborah Baker Jerrye Baker Susan Baker Stan Ballenger Carole Vanderhoef Banks Alla Bartosh May Beattie Jessica Bergstol Taylor Boice Elizabeth Bricknell Louise Brooks Dorothy Jean Bush Greg Canady Rita Cannon Charles Carroll Kenneth Chin Estelle Chisholm Dale Choate Melody Choate Sandy Clarke Susan Connors Bradley Corner Nancy Crookshank Julie Cross

Katherine S. Crowell Marley Curtis Jane Daugherty Julie Davis Tracy Davis Alyce Decker Stephanie Doerr Jeffrey Elledge Gregory Fisher, Jr. Jennifer Flagge Kate Flint Brian Ganan Veronica Gibson Bonnie Goldsmith Michele Hale Robert Hall Carol Heckrotte Wayne Heckrotte Deborrah Hoag Dennis Holt Kathy Hunt Ryan Justice Kiki Karpen William Kolb Charl Kuhlmann Ken Kutch

Lena Leon de Lahaye Ginger Lindberg Melissa H. Lumsden Mark Macco Linda MacLeod Jim Maher Walter Mattingly Sarah Elizabeth McAlhany Marianne McAlhany James McGuffin Kate Medill Osvaldo Medina Patricia Medlock Bill Meisel Janet Metcalf Barbara H. Miller Molly Miller Kenneth Mixon Libby Montgomery John Morrow Sevella Mostella Tom Nesbitt Christina Ng Ben Norman Katie Obi Sally Offen

John Owen Jane Palmer R. Hugh Patterson Rosina Paul Anne Petersen John Petersen David Pierson Deborah Pierson Laura Jane Pittman Kelsey Potratz Carolyn Price Vickie Prince John Pugh Nancy Purcell Bob Quinby Amy Quinn Mark Reasoner Timothy Redding Nancy Lammert Redfern Wynn Redmon Caitlin Regan Patti Robertson Karl Rogers Robert Roth Kim Rowland Anne Julie Ruvane

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Donald McCullough

Director, Jacksonville Symphony Chorus, Tom Zimmerman Endowed Chair Hailed by the Washington Post for his “dazzling expertise” on the podium, Donald McCullough is considered one of America’s pre-eminent choral conductors. He became the director of the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus in 2012. In November 2014, he led the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus on its first appearance in Carnegie Hall. Previously, he was the director of the Master Chorale of Washington in the John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall for more than a decade, developing a reputation for creating choruses that sang “with an innate sense of lyricism and musical poise” and “sensitive, scrupulous and heartfelt” (Washington Post). During his tenure with the Master Chorale, the 120-member symphonic chorus performed 16 world premieres, produced three nationally distributed CDs, and toured twice throughout Central Europe. The Chorale earned The Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence in North America. McCullough is also a composer whose works have been critically acclaimed throughout North America and Europe. Routinely sought after for commissions, his works have been described as “powerful and heart-wrenching,” “mystically beautiful” and “remarkably inspirational.” Previously, McCullough was the founder and music director of two Norfolk-based choruses: the Virginia Chorale and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra Chorus. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Organ and Vocal Performance from Stetson University and master’s degrees in Sacred Music and Vocal Performance from Southern Methodist University. A native of Jacksonville, FL, he recently moved to Atlantic Beach, FL, to focus on his expanding composing career.

About the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus The Jacksonville Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Donald McCullough, is an all-volunteer group of individuals from all walks of life who have a love of singing choral music. The 140 members must audition to participate.

This season the chorus will participate in several performances including Faure’s Requiem, Holiday Pops, and the final Masterworks performance Twilight of the Gods.

Choral singing is the most popular form of participation in the performing arts according to a recent study by Chorus America. Over 18% of American households report one or more adults participate in a chorus.

“The Symphony chorus is designed to sing over the Symphony,” said McCullough. “I look for voices that have focus and ring to them and that are sizeable enough to add to the sound we are trying to achieve.” Some of the voice factors that go into selecting a choral member include their ability to sing in tune, which must be impeccable; their flexibility, range, diction and innate sense of musicality. The Chorus is celebrating its 33rd season this year and was founded by past Music Director Roger Nierenberg. In 2014 the Chorus traveled to New York City for perform under McCullough’s direction in the Lincoln Center premiere of his cantata In the Shadow of the Holocaust.

ENCORE 41

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Sergei Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 RACHMANINOFF Allegro ma non tanto Intermezzo Finale

~ Intermission ~ Dmitry Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 SHOSTAKOVICH Moderato Allegretto Largo Allegro non troppo PRI Productions is the proud Event Production Partner of the Jacksonville Symphony. Dana’s Limousine is the official transportation of the Jacksonville Symphony. Omni Jacksonville Hotel is the official hotel of the Jacksonville Symphony.

PROGRAM NOTES By Steven Ledbetter

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 (39 minutes)

When Rachmaninoff came to write his Third Piano Concerto, he had a far different problem from the one that had faced him when composing the Second. At the time he started the earlier concerto, there was a question whether he would ever compose again at all. His confidence and self-esteem had been shattered by the catastrophic premiere of his First Symphony in 1897. It took Rachmaninoff two years to develop the courage to compose again, and then only after extensive counseling sessions, partly under hypnosis, with a psychiatrist. Thus, by 1909, when he began work on his Third Concerto, he had to compete with his younger self. In addition to the success of the Second Concerto, his Second Symphony had just won the Glinka Award of 1000 rubles, beating out Skryabin’s Poem of Ecstasy for

the honor. He spent the summer of 1909 planning his first American tour. But the culminating event took place in New York City on November 28 when he premiered the new piano concerto with Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony Society. The same forces repeated it two days later at Carnegie Hall and Rachmaninoff played it once more on January 16, 1910, this time with the Philharmonic, Mahler conducting. The general tone of critical response and this from critics who had heard the work three times in the space of seven weeks was that, despite its many and undoubted beauties, the concerto was too long and rather full of notes. The New York Herald predicted that “it will doubtless take rank among the most interesting piano concertos of recent years,” but added the observation as true today as it was then that “its great length and extreme difficulties bar it from performances by any but pianists of exceptional technical powers.” Of course, Rachmaninoff himself was a pianist of “exceptional technical powers,” among the

most utterly gifted keyboard artists of all time, and he was writing specifically for himself. Yet he opened the concerto not with a stunning blast of virtuosity but rather with a muted muttering in the strings of a subdued march character and then, after two measures, a long, simple melody presented in bare octaves in the piano. Rachmaninoff was often asked whether this was a folk tune, and he always insisted that it was completely original and had simply come into his mind freely while working on the concerto. The theme itself, and its rustling accompaniment, both play a role in the progress of the movement. The orchestra takes over the theme while the piano begins rapid figuration to a solo climax and preparation for the second theme. This begins with a dialogue between soloist and orchestra emphasizing a rhythmic motif that soon appears in a leisurely, romantic cantabile melody sung by the piano. A literal restatement of the concerto’s opening bars marks the beginning of the development, which employs mostly material from the main theme and its accompaniment. This culminates in a gigantic solo cadenza which takes the place of the normal recapitulation, commenting in extenso on the motivic figures of first the principal theme, then the secondary theme; after its close, only a brief reference to both themes suffices to bring the movement to a close. The slow movement, entitled “Intermezzo,” seems to start in a “normal” key with a brief languishing figure in the strings that generates an elegiac mood in its extensive development. But the piano enters explosively to break the mood and carry us to the decided untypical key of D-flat, where Rachmaninoff presents a sumptuous and lavishly harmonized version of the main theme in a texture filled with dense piano chords. A bright contrast comes in a seemingly new theme, presented as a light waltz, heard in the solo clarinet and bassoon against sparkling figuration in the piano. But Rachmaninoff has a very subtle trick up his sleeve here: the “new” theme is, in fact, note-for-note, the opening theme of the entire concerto, but beginning at a different pitch level of the scale and so changed in its rhythm as to conceal the connection almost perfectly! The soloist “interrupts” the end of the slow movement with a brief cadenza that leads back to the home key of D minor for the finale. This is the ne plus ultra of virtuosic concerto finales, NOTES (continued on page 45) ENCORE 43

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Behzod Abduraminov, piano Behzod Abduraimov was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1990. He began to play the piano at the age of 5 as a pupil of Tamara Popovich at Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent. He is an alumnus of Park University’s International Center for Music(ICM) where he studied with Stanislav Ioudenitch and now serves as the ICM’s artist-in-residence. Abduraimov has collaborated with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, NHK Symphony and Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestras, and prestigious conductors including Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Manfred Honeck, Vasily Petrenko, James Gaffigan, Jakub Hrusa, Thomas Dausgaard and Vladimir Jurowski. He appeared at Carnegie Hall in 2015 and performed for the Cliburn Concerts, Carolina Performing Arts, the Vancouver Recital series and played concerts in Houston, Pittsburgh, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Minnesota Orchestra. Abduraimov has recently appeared at the Aspen Music Festival and with orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony and Seattle Symphony. In 2015 he made his debut with the Münchner Philharmoniker under Gergiev featuring in their new 360 degree Festival and subsequently made his BBC Proms debut with them. Abduraimov’s captivating performances continue to receive international praise. He has been described by The Times as the “master of all he surveys” and The Washington Post has noted to “keep your ear on this one.” He released his first concerto disc in 2014 on Decca Classics which features Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai under Juraj Valčuha. Abduraimov’s debut recital CD won both the Choc de Classica and the Diapason Découverte.

NOTES (continued from page 43)

filled with impetuous and dashing themes, rhythmically driving, syncopated and sunny by turns. An extended Scherzando section in E-flat fills the middle of the movement. It involves both acrobatic and lightly spooky variations on a capricious theme which seems new at first but turns out to be related to the opening of the finale and the second theme of the first movement. Moreover, between the increasingly ornate miniature variations, Rachmaninoff inserts a reminder of both themes of the first movement. Following the restatement of all the thematic material, the piano builds a long and exciting coda that brings this most brilliant and challenging of concertos to a flashing, glamorous close.

Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975) Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 (44 minutes)

The Fifth has long been the best-known and most frequently performed of Shostakovich’s 15 symphonies. The work fits neatly into the historical symphonic tradition, and, with its four movements progressing from a minor-key opening of considerable dramatic force to the assertive major-key close, it clearly deserves to be called a “Fifth Symphony,” a unique genre single-handedly created by Beethoven and

enlarged by Tchaikovsky and Mahler. The piece was composed at great speed at a difficult time for Shostakovich. Until 1936, his career had been largely a string of successes, beginning with the first performance of his astonishingly mature and personal First Symphony when he was only nineteen. In the ensuing years he had composed more symphonies, film scores, the satirical opera The Nose and the sassy ballet The Age of Gold. His opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was given two distinguished productions in Moscow and Leningrad which premiered only two days apart in January 1934. Both Russian productions were near their one-hundredth performance when—fatefully—Stalin saw it. The opera dealt with an adulterous love affair that led to murder; Stalin objected violently to the orchestral passage with suggestive trombone glissandos that described the consummation of the affair behind a closed curtain. The result was an attack in Pravda on January 28, 1936. Shostakovich was on tour in the far-away Russian city of Arkhangelsk when he bought that issue of the paper. He recalled later, “I’ll never forget that day, it’s probably the most memorable in my life.” The opera was dropped from the repertoire immediately. And when one of the composer’s friends wrote to Stalin urging that he take into account Shostakovich’s musical works “singing the

praises of our socialist homeland,” things went from bad to worse. Stalin attended his ballet Limpid Stream at the Bolshoi. Soon yet another attack appeared. “Two editorial attacks in Pravda in ten days—that was too much for one man. Now everyone knew for sure that I would be destroyed. And the anticipation of the noteworthy event—at least for me—has never left me.” At the time of the Pravda attack, Shostakovich was about halfway through composing his Fourth Symphony, an elaborate and lengthy work for a huge orchestra in an abstract and “modern” mode. He completed it in May 1936 and conductor Fritz Stiedry had begun rehearsals for the planned premiere at the end of the year. But when the attacks on Shostakovich as an “enemy of the people” and “formalist” continued, Stiedry, who clearly did not understand the music, lacked the courage to brave a performance in the face of what was sure to be official condemnation. Finally in December Shostakovich withdrew the score, fearful of the consequences if this difficult work failed to please (it did not receive its first performance for a quarter century). One might expect the effects of these cumulative denunciations to have been total withdrawal from creative work, but, surprisingly, the opposite seems to have been the case. ENCORE 45

Less than four months after withdrawing the Fourth, Shostakovich began work on his Fifth Symphony, completing it in just three months. Gone is the enormous orchestra required by the Fourth, as well as some of the “constructivist” working-out of materials. And yet, although the response expected of a composer placed in such an ambivalent political position might well have been a patriotic cantata or some other form of inflated pseudo-artistic rhetoric, Shostakovich worked once again in the purely abstract medium of the symphony. The first movement is built on a series of motives introduced in the opening musical paragraph presented in the strings alone. These ideas reappear in new relationships while Shostakovich moves from the home D minor to the key of E-flat minor, where the strings, with some punctuation from the harp, introduce the second theme, its long-held notes in the violins soaring and then dropping in large leaps over a rhythmic accompaniment. The pace gradually quickens as the motives are fused and reformed in an Allegro that becomes progressively more hectic and turns into a vigorous but grotesque march. The strings and woodwinds reintroduce the opening canonic idea against a massive restatement of the lyrical second theme in the brasses to build the climactic tension, leading off with the second of the three motives heard at the beginning. The recapitulation consists of a long winding-down of energy, a kind of unrolling of the tensions built up in the exposition, closing with all of the principal ideas summarized in a few bars stated in the original Moderato tempo. The second movement, a lumbering and slightly grotesque scherzo, is more lighthearted and less overtly satirical than some of Shostakovich’s other movements of this type, but it is neatly made, with its heavy 3/4 pulse occasionally interrupted by 4/4—just often enough to throw the heavy dance character of the movement a little off-center.

premiere, the finale resolves the tension of the earlier movements in “optimism and joy of living.” The ending, to be sure, is in D major, but the composer’s optimism seems quite unmotivated. Most analysts, even those recognizing the cleverness with which Shostakovich has prepared the ending, argue that it doesn’t quite work, that the energy is whipped up without an adequate sense of release. Shostakovich’s own view, at least as quoted in a striking passage from Testimony helps explain the problem: I discovered to my astonishment that the man (Yevgeny Mravinsky) who considers himself its greatest interpreter does not understand my music.* He says that I wanted to write exultant finales for my Fifth and Seventh Symphonies but I couldn’t manage it. It never occurred to this man that I never thought about exultant finales, for what exultation could there be? I think it is clear to everyone what happens in the Fifth. The rejoicing is forced, created under threat, as in Boris Godunov. It’s as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, “Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing,” and you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering, “Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing.” Certainly that very driven march theme has a forced quality that lacks real joy, so the link to the scene early in Musorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov, is a reasonable one—and if that was indeed the composer’s coded hidden message in this finale, the “optimism” that he claimed for it in his official statement is entirely ironic. Shostakovich has been widely regarded as a great and expressive composer of ambivalent music, of music reflecting the doubts and the terrors of our century. Perhaps the key to understanding the finale of the Fifth is the realization that even at its most assertive, Shostakovich’s music remains, at its core, deeply ambivalent. © Steven Ledbetter (www.stevenledbetter.com)

The Largo, in which the brasses remain silent throughout, was composed, Shostakovich said, in just three days. It grows out of broad, sustained, meditative ideas that become more and more intense, even distraught. These are balanced with a more static but very bright passage for flutes and harp. The somber richness of the texture derives in part from the fact that the strings are subdivided here into eight parts. The last movement has aroused the greatest critical controversy. According to the composer’s official view, as presented at the 46 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

PATRIOTIC POPS!

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MAY 26 Sat: 8 pm

Nathan Aspinall, conductor Join the Symphony as we celebrate Memorial Day and honor those in the U.S. military who made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting our freedom. Hear your favorite patriotic selections from the Star-Spangled Banner to themes of the great branches of our military. It promises to be one of the most inspiring events of the season.

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ENCORE 47

An invitation to play your part in the future of our Orchestra CADENZA SOCIETY

Cadenza Society members are a group of dedicated supporters who have made a future financial commitment to ensure that the orchestra you love will be able to keep making vibrant music for generations to come.

Membership is easy. No immediate donation is necessary. You simply need to name Jacksonville Symphony as a beneficiary in your will, trust, insurance policy, donor advised fund or foundation. Cadenza Society Members receive recognition in Encore as well as invitations to:

Fall Cadenza Society Luncheon

• An exclusive Cadenza Society gathering with Music Director Courtney Lewis • Onstage Open Rehearsals

• Annual Donor Appreciation Night Kaye Glover • 904.354.9136

J a x S y m p h o n y. o r g / l e g a c y The Jacksonville Symphony gratefully acknowledges these members for including the Symphony in their estate planning. Mark and Rita Allen Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Anderson Sandra Sue Ashby Rick E. Bendel Jacob F. Bryan IV Elizabeth I. Byrne, Ed.D. Carl and Rita Cannon Clarissa and Warren Chandler Estelle and Terry Chisholm Col. and Mrs. Robert B. Clarke Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Clyne Mike and Naomi Coffey Luther and Blanche Coggin Elizabeth Schell Colyer Ruth P. Conley Caroline S. Covin Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Cowden Dr. Amy Crowder in memory of Carole V. Ewart Sara Alice Bradley Darby* Stephen and Suzanne Day Ann Derby Chris and Stephanie Doerr Mr. and Ms. Pete Doolittle Jeff Driggers* Brock Fazzini Josephine Flaherty Mr. and Mrs. David Foerster Friend of the Symphony (4) Mr. and Mrs. George D. Gabel, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Allan Geiger John L. Georgas* Linda Barton Gillis

Rabbi Robert and Marilyn Goodman Sue Gover Mary T. Grant* Camille Clement Gregg Charitable Remainder Trust in memory of Ruthwood Craven Samek Dr. Dan W. Hadwin and Dr. Alice Rietman-Hadwin Suna Hall Preston H. Haskell Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hetzel Richard Hickok and Andrea Ashley Bev and Bill Hiller Calvin and Ellen Hudson Charitable Trust Wes and Beth Jennison Virginia Johnsen Rebecca and Randolph Johnson Mrs. Rita H. Joost Elizabeth Kerr Frances Bartlett Kinne, Ph.D. Norman and Dolores Kramer Dr. and Mrs. Ross T. Krueger E. Michael and Heidja Kruse Mrs. Edward W. Lane, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Lindsey Dr. D’ Anne and Mr. Daniel Lombardo Leyse Lowry Jean Lumpkin* Ambassador Marilyn McAfee Doug and Laura* Mathewson Allison McCallum Frances Watts McCurry Lee and Bobbie Mercier Roxie Merrill

48 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

Robert A. and Fay Mills* Sherry Murray* Mr. and Mrs. E. William Nash, Jr. Janet and Joseph Nicosia Lloyd Hamilton Oakes Charitable Remainder Trust in memory of Ruthwood Craven Samek Mr. Val Palmer Mr. and Mrs. Joe Peters Ruth (Rusty) Pierce Richard and Leslie Pierpont JoAnne Reilly J. William Ross Ruthwood C. Samek* Carol and Bob Shircliff Mrs. Sally Simpson Ann H. Sims* Mr. and Mrs. Al Sinclair* Helen Morse and Fritz Skeen Ana and Hal Skinner Virginia Smith* Mary Love Strum Gwynne* and Bob Tonsfeldt Chip and Phyllis Tousey Rev. W. Glenn Turner Mary Jane and Jack Uible Stephen R. Wickersham Steven Williams Renee Winkler Quentin E. Wood Thomas C. Zimmermann* *Designates deceased

COFFEE SERIES POPS SERIES

Coffee Series: Friday, March 2, 2018 | 11 am Pops Series: Friday & Saturday, March 2 & 3, 2018 l 8 pm Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

STORM LARGE

THE CRAZY ARC OF LOVE Michael Krajewski, conductor

Calvin and Ellen Hudson Charitable Trust Endowed Chair

Storm Large, guest vocalist

Selections will be announced from the stage. There will be one intermission for evening Pops performances.

The Crazy Arc of Love The fabulous Storm Large joins the Symphony and principal pops conductor Michael Krajewski for a night of classic songs of romance. Sit back and enjoy the excitement and mystery of love! Many of us have probably formed connections with songs that immediately make us think of a significant other, past or present. These songs have the ability to, with just the first few notes, harken back memories of some of the fondest romantic moments throughout our lives. There is nothing more classic than “My Funny Valentine.” A tune that has been around since 1937 has become a popular jazz standard that has appeared on over 1,300 albums and been performed by over 600 different artists! In fact, in 2015, this jazzy love song was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry for its “cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation’s audio legacy.” It’s a love song that is sure to be heard many years to come.

And of course, it would not be a romantic evening without staples from America’s favorite crooner: Frank Sinatra. One of the most popular and influential musical artists of, at least, the 20th century, Sinatra is still one of the best-selling artists of all time. In fact, even he has a recording of “My Funny Valentine.” Perhaps one of his greatest hits was a song arranged in less than a day. Sinatra’s arranger at the time, Nelson Riddle, finished writing out the hit arrangement of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” as his wife drove him to the recording studio! Interestingly enough, Riddle said his inspiration for the arrangement came from Maurice Ravel’s famous Boléro.

Since Queen released the single in 1976, we’ve all be on the search for “Somebody to Love.” This hit single written by Queen’s lead singer Freddie Mercury skyrocketed to the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and charts in the UK upon its introduction. Since its release in 1976, this hit has been heard on a variety of television shows and movies including Glee, Gossip Girl, Happy Feet and Ella Enchanted. This show, from top to bottom, contains some of the most popular love songs of all time. Whether you sing them secretly in your bedroom or blast them in the car, this show is sure to have you singing along with the always incredible Storm Large.

Love songs can be found everywhere, especially in musicals. In 1978, the entire nation fell in love with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the hit musical Grease. And everyone felt Newton-John’s heartfelt emotion when she sang “Hopelessly Devoted to You” on her the front porch. ENCORE 49

Storm Large, guest vocalist Storm Large shot to national prominence in 2006 as a finalist on the CBS show Rock Star: Supernova, where she built a fan base that follows her around the world to this day. Highlights of the 2016/2017 season included debuts with the Atlanta, Baltimore and BBC Symphony Orchestras, as well as return engagements with National Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Recent highlights include engagements with the New York Pops, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, RTÉ Dublin and Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as performances at Carnegie Hall and the United States Capitol. Storm made her debut with the band Pink Martini in 2011, singing four sold-out concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She continues to tour internationally with the band. Her memoir, Crazy Enough, was released by Simon and Schuster in 2012 and named Oprah’s Book of the Week. In the fall of 2014, Storm & Le Bonheur released a record designed to capture their sublime and subversive interpretations of the American Songbook. Entitled simply Le Bonheur, the recording is a collection of tortured and titillating love songs: beautiful, familiar, yet twisted … much like the lady herself.

Michael Krajewski Principal Pops Conductor, Calvin and Ellen Hudson Charitable Trust Endowed Chair Known for his entertaining programs and clever humor, Michael Krajewski is a much sought after conductor of symphonic pops. He is music director of The Philly Pops and principal pops conductor of the Atlanta and Jacksonville Symphonies. Previously, he was principal pops conductor of the Houston Symphony for 16 seasons. As a guest conductor Krajewski has performed with the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; the Boston and Cincinnati Pops; the San Francisco, Baltimore, Detroit, Indianapolis, Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and National Symphonies, and numerous other orchestras across the United States. In Canada he has led Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, and the Edmonton, Winnipeg and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphonies. Other international appearances include performances in Dublin and Belfast with the Ulster Orchestra as well as performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Spain’s Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. With degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit and the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music, Krajewski furthered his training at the Pierre Monteux Domaine School for Conductors. Krajewski lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife Darcy. When not conducting he enjoys travel, photography and solving crossword puzzles.

RAYMOND JAMES COFFEE SERIES • FIDELITY NATIONAL FINANCIAL POPS SERIES

MAY 4/5

Fri: 11am & 8pm / Sat: 8pm

REINEKE, RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN Steven Reineke, conductor TONYs, OSCARs, EMMYs, GRAMMYs, PULITZERs. Rodgers and Hammerstein won them all for musicals we’ll never forget including Carousel, The King and I, Oklahoma and The Sound of Music. Join the Symphony and Pops great Steven Reineke as we bring you an evening of the best songs from arguably the best songwriting team ever.

Tickets: 904.354.5547 • JaxSymphony.org ENCORE 51

MEET THE MUSICIANS

CONRAD CORNELISON PRINCIPAL BASSOON

Taking his self-appointed role of class clown very seriously, Conrad Cornelison only chose the bassoon because his elementary school teacher described it as “the clown of the orchestra.” Fast forward to 2017, Conrad still has a bit of a gleam in his eye when he talks about his pairing with the bassoon. It even helped him when he first met his father-in-law, a fellow bassoon player. “The first time Xiaodi (Conrad’s wife) brought me to meet her father, I felt like I needed to pull out my bassoon and audition for him!” Conrad and Xiaodi, who plays the oboe, first met at Rice University when both were students. Both musicians spend a lot of their free-time making their own reeds. “Purchasing pre-made reeds can be very expensive,” Conrad explains. “When you make your own, you are able to craft them to your own personal playing needs at a lower cost.” Having agonized over the many years of using overpriced tools that never quite fit their needs, Conrad and Xiaodi Liu have opened their own reed crafting business called LC Double Reeds (lcdoublereeds.com). Together they are creating tools that are thoughtfully designed but at a lower price-point. An avid outdoors man, Conrad enjoys camping, hiking and mountain climbing in his free-time. Some of his favorite outdoor adventures have included hiking through the Smoky Mountains and the Red River Gorge with friends. But, after having moved down to Florida, he’s had to adjust his adventure locations just a bit. Having only been in Jacksonville for a few months, Conrad has decided the beach is the place to be. Accompanying him and Xiaodi on these beachside adventures is their schnauzer Toby. Taken at Manifest Distilling in downtown Jacksonville by photographer Tiffany Manning

52 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY VISION 2020 CAMPAIGN There has never been a moment like this in the Symphony’s history.

Two decades ago, our community came together to build a world-class performance venue—Jacoby Symphony Hall. Now is the time for us to finish the job. With outstanding artistic and administrative leadership, we have the opportunity to secure the Symphony’s financial—and artistic—legacy for generations to come. The Jacksonville Symphony is vital to Northeast Florida. It’s one of our largest and most prestigious cultural assets, with an annual economic impact that exceeds $25 million. The Symphony presents more than 200 concerts each year, reaching more than a quarter million individuals— 70,000 of them being students. One third of its annual programming is dedicated to education and engagement programs that ensure the entire community is served by symphonic music. To secure the Symphony’s future stability, we plan to transform our financial model, including developing new ticketing options, exploring additional programming and venues—and most significantly—dramatically increasing our fundraising efforts, including doubling our endowment.

Vision 2020 is a comprehensive campaign, designed to raise $50 million by December 31, 2020, through 4 components: Annual Operating Fund: $25,000,000 goal

Capital Improvements: $5 million goal

Like most performing arts organizations, less than 40% of the annual budget comes from ticket sales. The remaining 60% must be raised through philanthropic gifts from individuals, corporations and foundations, government grants, and endowment distribution. The Annual Fund needs to grow over five years from $4 million per year to $5 million in order to continue producing concerts of the highest artistic quality, attract and retain the best musicians, engage top guest artists and conductors, and provide music education programming to more than 70,000 area students annually.

Jacoby Symphony Hall is one of the Southeastern United States’ only designated symphonic music venues, and these capital improvements will protect this cultural resource as well as enhance the community’s experience with the Symphony. Projects include: • Acoustical Improvements: Stage Reflector • Mezzanine Level Seat Reconfiguration • Finish out of the Chorus Room to a multi-use facility • Upgrades to Davis Gallery • A/V and Technology Enhancements • Renovate Administrative Offices • Repair/replacement of roof • Replacement of carpet • Upgrades to Main Floor restrooms to meet ADA standards

Endowment Fund: $18,000,000 goal The financial stability of American symphony orchestras rests on three pillars: Annual Operating Funds, Tickets Sales and Endowment Distributions. The Jacksonville Symphony would like to have an Endowment of $40 million, roughly four times its annual operating budget.

Planned Giving: goal of 100 new members in the Cadenza Society

Endowment gifts, and especially those that support operational expenses, are an exceptional gift to any charity. Their permanency and perpetuity allow for an organization to plan well into the future. The importance of this gift cannot be overstated. It demonstrates the depth and creativity of those who support the Jacksonville Symphony and is a significant vote of confidence.

Cadenza Society members realize the importance of ensuring the excellent symphonic performances and music education programs that we love today are here for our children and grandchildren. By leaving a deferred gift to the Symphony, either by designating it as a beneficiary in your will, trust, insurance policy or other estate planning vehicle, you will secure the future of symphonic music in Jacksonville for generations to come. Estate gifts will become part of the permanent endowment.

Endowed Principal Chairs greatly enhance the artistic quality of an orchestra because they will trigger greater interest in each endowed position as potential candidates see the stability and financial security that it provides. One of the goals of the Vision 2020 campaign is to endow every Principal Chair.

Gilchrist Berg, Co-Chair • Carl Cannon, Co-Chair

The Jacksonville Symphony’s endowment funds are overseen by an Endowment Committee and invested smartly, performing in the top five percent of funds in the country for the past 20 years.

Vision 2020 Campaign Leadership Robert Jacoby, Honorary Co-Chair Robert Shircliff, Honorary Co-Chair J.F. Bryan IV • Chris Doerr • Matt McAfee David Strickland • Doug Worth For more information, please contact: JoLynne Jensen, Vice President and Chief Development Officer, at 904.358.1479 or jjensen@jaxsymphony.org.

Strengthening our symphony, financially and artistically, is not a luxury but an imperative.

CORPORATE CONDUCTOR’S CLUB ENGAGE I ENTERTAIN | CONNECT

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CONCERT EXPERIENCES INTERMISSION RECEPTIONS COMPLIMENTARY VALET PARKING YEAR-LONG RECOGNITION ADVERTISING DISCOUNTS SPECIAL EVENTS

$3,000 – SILVER 16 Flexible concert tickets

32 Flexible concert tickets

Complimentary Intermission Reception Vouchers

12-month recognition as “Corporate Silver” in Encore

12-month recognition as “Corporate Gold” in Encore and listing in Symphony Season Guide

Not Available

Up to 8 complimentary parking passes

Discount on season advertisement in Encore

Invitations to exclusive member events

EARLY ACCESS TO THE ANNUAL GALA

BE A CATALYST FOR MUSIC

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Exclusive discount on Gala table purchase Ability to reserve a table before tickets go on sale

Corporate contributions empower the Jacksonville Symphony to share the magic of great music. The Jacksonville Symphony creates experiences that build a more joyful, connected, cultured and economically-thriving Jacksonville. Corporate Conductor’s Club members make that happen.

Connect your company to the Symphony by joining today. 904.354.7779 - Corporate@JaxSymphony.org – JaxSymphony.org/Corporate

54 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

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Anonymous Arts Consulting Group ∆ Sandra Sue Ashby Bank of America Biscottis ∆ Brooks Rehabilitation G. Howard Bryan Endowment Fund Sandra and Phillip Burnaman Mr. and Mrs. A. R. “Pete” Carpenter Luther and Blanche Coggin Elizabeth Lovett Colledge CSX Transportation, Inc. Cummer Family Foundation Sally and Tyler Dann Jane and Jack Dickison Edward* and Susan Doherty Downtown Investment Authority Drummond Press Jess & Brewster J. Durkee Foundation Jon A. Ebacher and Jill T. Wannemacher Andrew Farkas Fleet Landing Margaret Gomez Paul and Nina Goodwin Scott and Camille Gregg Harbinger Sign Hicks Charitable Foundations Michael and Maryann Imbriani Jacksonville Symphony Association Endowment Fund Jacksonville Symphony Guild Rebecca and Randolph Johnson Charlie and Anne Joseph Bob and Cindy Kastner Michel and Heidja Kruse The Thomas M. Kirbo and Irene B. Kirbo Charitable Trust Mrs. Edward W. Lane, Jr. National Endowment for the Arts Lee and Darlene Nutter Publix Super Markets Charities Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Rettner Riverplace Capital Management, Inc. Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Shircliff Samuel Shorstein Mr. and Mrs. Ross Singletary Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP ∆ Suzanne Spanier St. Vincent’s HealthCare David and Linda Stein David and Elaine Strickland SunTrust Bank, North Florida John and Kristen Surface Carl S. Swisher Foundation

Erlane D. and John E. Tait Chip and Phyllis Tousey Jim and Joan Van Vleck Vanguard Charitable - Kessler Fund Tom Vickery and Sarah McAlhany George and Ellen Williams Edna Sproull Williams Foundation The Winston Family Foundation Dr. Eugene and Brenda Wolchok Quentin Wood Woodcock Foundation for the Appreciation of the Arts Mr. and Mrs. Douglas C. Worth

CONDUCTOR’S CLUB GOLD $5,000 - $9,999

Acosta Sales & Marketing Advanced Dermatology - Dr. Christine Ng Drs. Julie R. and James D. Baker, III Sally and Jim Baldwin Baptist Health John and Cherie Billings Robert and Helen Bohnstengel Annette and Bill Boling Ginny and Bob Bon Durant Paul and Kathy Bosland Nancy and Ted Burfeind Mary Ann Burns and Suzanne Burns Dalton Carl and Rita Cannon Dr. and Mrs. John D. Casler CenterState Bank Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, Inc. Claude Nolan Cadillac, Inc. Linda L and Patrick W Clyne Sharon and Martin Connor Cornehl Family Foundation Fund Tom and Jesse Dattilo Susan P. Davis Alice and O’Neal Douglas Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Drew Duval Motor Company Mr. and Mrs. George W. Gibbs, III William G. Gingrich Mr. and Mrs. John Godfrey Claudia B. Gordon* Cynthia and Walter Graham, Jr. Betty Lu Grune Bill and Nancy Hetzel Joe and Renate Hixon Dr. Anne H. Hopkins, Emeritus Professor Calvin and Ellen Hudson Mr. and Mrs. Victor A. Hughes John Ievalts and Lise Everly Ira and Eva Jackler Lillian and Bunky Johnson Mr. and Mrs. J. Malcolm Jones

56 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

Lawrence & Kathy Kanter Philanthropic Fund of the JCF Peter and Kiki Karpen Dr. Frances B. Kinne Patty and Jim Kleck Mr. and Mrs. Eugene J. Kovarik Dr. and Mrs. Ross T. Krueger Mrs. Anne Kufeldt Dave and Mary Pat Kulik Kustura Technology ∆ Bill and Barbara Maletz Martin Coffee ∆ Frances W McCurry Julie and Michael McKenny Margaret Leu Means Dorothea E. Neinstedt Janet and Joseph Nicosia Robert and Flo Anne O’Brien Mary Carr Patton Deborah and David Pierson Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pippin Mr. and Mrs. Raymond A. Ross Jr Susan and John Ryzewic Saunders & Company Ed and Whitney Selover Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Sisisky Helen Morse and Fritz Skeen Richard G. and Ann F. Skinner Advised Fund Kent and Marie Smith Dr. Mark A. Spatola and Dr. Mihaela Ionescu Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Spetnagel III Joseph and Anna Spiak Brooke and Hap Stein Jay and Deanie Stein The Thomas Family Foundation Mrs. Barbara Thornton Tom Bush BMW Jacksonville Gwynne* and Bob Tonsfeldt V Pizza ∆ Cindy and Chris Ware Dr. and Mrs. H. Warner Webb Ms. Barbara W. Webster Wells Fargo Foundation Westminster Woods on Julington Creek Dr. and Mrs. Scott Wiedenmann Norma and Jack Williams Dr. and Mrs. Charles N. Winton Martie Yohe Carleton and Barbara Zacheis

CONDUCTOR’S CLUB SILVER $2,500 - $4,999

Anonymous Admira Dentistry with Dr. Joe Barton Mr. and Mrs. Conrad F. Ahrens Mark and Rita Allen

Arkest LLC David and Beth Arnold Assign Commercial Group LLC Teri and Jim Babcock Stephen E. and Phyllis C. Bachand Mr. and Mrs. Don Baldwin Claudette and Richard Barker Byron and Cynthia Bergren Ms. Julie Bessent Joyce R. Blackburn Mr. and Mrs. James C. Blanton Borkowski Family Foundation Sandy and Jack Borntraeger Mr. and Mrs. Raymond W. Boushie John and Cletia Bowron Mr. and Mrs. David B. Boyer Col. and Mrs. E. M. Brisach Rod and Pat Brock Mark and Beth Brockelman Karen and Mark Brown Cecilia Bryant and Richard Tipsey Jim and Carol Bryce Shelia McLenaghan and Duke Butler Mr. Stanley W. Cairns Mrs. Diane Cannon Warren and Clarissa Chandler Chartrand Foundation Sandra and Andrew Clarke Patricia Clegg in Memory of George F. Clegg Mike and Naomi Coffey Meade and Alvin Coplan Caroline Covin in memory of Robert Covin Mr. John Cranston Peter Dalmares Mr. and Mrs. Thomas P. Davis Douglas Anderson School of the Arts In Memory of Shirley Collupy Dr. and Mrs. James W. Dyer Enterprise Holdings Foundation Greg and Helen Euston Randy and Lynn Evans Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Fernley III Mrs. Betty Fipp Mr. and Mrs. David Foerster Daniel Fuller and Kim Vermillion Clark and Lauretta Gaylord Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation Pat and Fred Gieg Lawrence and Phyllis Goldberg Rabbi Robert and Marilyn Goodman Mel and Debbie Gottlieb Wayne Greenberg and Elizabeth Shahan O. C. and Mae Jean Gregg Jim and Pat Griffiths Becky and Tommy Grimes Dr. William Haas PHD Mrs. Egbert Heilman Mrs. Joan F. Heller Holland & Knight Dr. Diane DeMell Jacobsen Ms. JoLynne Jensen Andrew and Gurmeet Keaveny Mr. and Mrs. Charles Keller Dr. and Mrs. John R. Kelley

David and Sally Ketcham Dr. Annette Laubscher Janine Leland and Tom Larson Harriet LeMaster Mr. Courtney Lewis Gene H. Lewis Carolyn Marsh Lindsay Mrs. Richard C. Lonsdale Mrs. John R. Mackroth Mr. and Mrs. John Malone Robert Massey and Lisa Ponton Susan and Ron Masucci Ann and Bob Maxwell Mayse-Turner Fund for Public Performance of Classical Music Alison McCallum Davis and Sandra McCarty Donald McCurry and Suzanne Keith Rachel T. Maddox Memorial Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation Marcia Mederos Meinrod & Leeper Wealth Mgmt Newman Family Foundation John and Dorothy Nutant Capt. John and Mrs. Carol O’Neil Jr (USN Ret.) Marie and Joel Pangborn Mr. and Mrs. John Peyton PNC Donald Albert James Robinson Bruce Rosborough and Judy Ham Herb and Ann Rowe Charitable Foundation Sheila and Louis Russo Ms. Betty Saunders Dr. and Mrs. Ralph A. Sawyer Mrs. Miyuki Scheidel Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Sherin Stephen and Joan Shewbrooks Mr. Benjamin Shorstein and Ms. Nicole Nissim Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Shorstein Mr. and Mrs. Mark J. Shorstein Steve and Judy Silverman Hal and Ana Skinner Harold K. Smith Charitable Fund Dr. Edward and Mary Ellen Smith Rev. and Mrs. J. Perry Smith Diane P. Soha In Loving Memory of Margaret B. Partridge Dr. Mandell and Rita Diamond Stearman Marianne and Ben Stein Mrs. C. G. Strum Mr. and Mrs. John Tancredi Mireille and Robert Threlkel Maureen and Ronald Townsend Mrs. Georgia Wahl Carol and Manuel Wallace Barbara C. West Arlene and Phil Wiesner Stephen Williams Mr. and Mrs. A. Daniel Wolff III Jacob and Karen Worner Hon. Gwen Yates and Lt. Col. Alton Yates, Ret.

CONCERTMASTER’S CIRCLE $1,000 - $2,499

Anonymous (2) Lewis and Sybil Ansbacher Family Foundation, Inc. Dr. and Mrs. George F. Armstrong Jr Dr. and Mrs. Dwight S. Bayley Berman Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Charles Berman Mr. and Mrs. Francesco Borghese The Brady S. Johnston Perpetual Charitable Trust John and Hilary Breen Mary Ann and Shepard Bryan Burgman Winston Youth Orchestra Scholarship Fund Jim and Mary B. Burt Mrs. Lynn Cabrera Gary and Barbara Christensen Tom and Pat Conway Mr. and Mrs. Warren C. Coughlin Harriett L. Dame Mr. John A. Darby and Dr. Barbara Darby Mr. and Mrs. Bruce R. Darnall Mr. and Mrs. Donald M. Davis Mr. and Mrs. Henry D’Hulst Dr. and Mrs. A. R. Eckels Mark R. Evans Jim and Elaine Funk Dr. John Gallo Jeff and Jolee Gardner Geneva Presbyterian Church Drs. Thomas Gonwa and Mary Alice Westrick Dr. Dan Hadwin and Dr. Alice Rietman-Hadwin Gisela Haemmerle Mr. Howard Haims Suna Hall Bill and Kent Hamb Jack and Grace Hand A. Sherburne Hart Paula and Kenneth Horn Barbara Johnson Rita H. Joost Luke and Sandy Karlovec Richard and Nancy Kennedy Don and Donna Kinlin Ted M. Klein and Barbara Levoy Sunny and Harold Krivan Mr. David Lakari James and Karen Larsen Norman and Mary Ellen Ledwin Alison R. Leonard Eleanor L. Lotz Hal and Frances Lynch William and Mary Lou MacLeod Mr. and Mrs. Donald Maley Mr. and Mrs. Philip S. May Jr Patrick and Helen Mayhew Mr. P. L. McWhorter Lee and Bobbie Mercier Brett and Susan Merrill Dr. Lesley Morgan Linda Crank Moseley Monica and Robert Mylod ENCORE 57

Tom and Harriet Nesbitt Mr. and Mrs. Ken New Robert Nuss and Ann Harwood-Nuss David and Kathryn Olson Patricia D. Page The Parker Foundation Dr. and Mrs. Matthew C. Patterson Richard G. Pohlig Ted and Jane Preston Mr. and Mrs. Robert Quinby Mike and Julia Suddath-Ranne Wynn Redmon Claudia and Steve Russey Dr. and Mrs. Wilbur C. Rust Anne and John Ruvane Peter Ryan in memory of Sandra J. Ryan Sabel Foundation Inc. Tom and Jane Schmidt Faith Schonfeld Becky Schumann Ms. Ruth Schwarzmann Mr. and Mrs. Chris Seubert Shacter Family Association The Stellar Foundation Rod Sullivan Crew of Tievoli Mr. and Mrs. Michael Tierney Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Towe Susan and James Towler Mr. and Mrs. Richard Tufaro Gabriele Van Zon Mary V. and Frank C. Watson Advised Fund Dr. and Mrs. Lowell B. Weiner Ph. D. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Whittemore Mr. and Mrs. John P. Wilchek Linda F. Wilkinson Mary Ann and Woody Witczak Dr. and Mrs. Daniel Wohl Zimmerman Family Foundation Mary Jean Zimmerman

$500 - $999

Anonymous (6) Mr. Thomas Argyris Barbara H. Arnold Arthur Vining Davis Foundations Dr. William and Linda Ann Bainbridge Janean C. Baker David and Gloria Beeman Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Bender, Jr. Laura and William Boxer Mr. and Mrs. William Braddock Teresa Brewer Caren and Dennis Buchman Dr. and Mrs. William Bullock Kevin and Pat Burke Dr Nancy J. Cable Dr. and Mrs. William H. Caldwell David and Lynne Campbell Mrs. Dorothy Cernik Ian M. Charlton Jeff and Lee Ann Clements Elizabeth Schell Colyer Mrs. Lucille Conrad

Mr. and Mrs. Arch Copeland Bill and Kathy Cosnotti Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Cowden LT Amy Crisp and Mr. Phillip Jenkins Mary Crumpton Mims Cushing Ms. Annabel Custer Noel and Mildred Dana Pritam Das and Denise Harnois Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Datz Mr. and Mrs. Julius Dean George and Sachi Deriso Marian Dickson in memory of Steve Dickson Paul and Doris Dorfman Margie and George Dorsey Kevin and Cathy Driscoll Mr. and Mrs. James F. Duffy Charles and Virginia Dunn Julia M. Edgerton Virginia M. Elliott Mr. and Mrs. Richard Ezequelle Bill and Judy Franson Mr. and Mrs. Michael S. French Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Fullerton Mr. Stephen M. Gahan Yves Genre Mr. and Mrs. Roland and Sara-Ann Gomez Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Greenslet Mr. and Mrs. Robert J. Gregg Richard Habres Carole Cooper-Haims and Howard Haims Malcolm and Joyce Hanson Drs. Alfred D. and Katherine A. Harding Karen Harris Mr. and Mrs. Coleman Hawk Hugh and Patricia Hayden Marion Haynes Mrs. Seldon Henry Dr. Hazem Herbly Howard and Janet Hogshead Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Holderfield Mrs. William G. Holyfield Jay and Jeanne Huebner Robert C. Hughes Mrs. Martha Huntley-Robertson Michael and Dawn Huskey Ms. Jo Carol S. Hutchins Pam and Mike Jackson Mr and Mrs. Terrence D. Jones Mr. and Mrs. Peter E. Kaplan William Kastelz, Jr. in memory of Sandra Ruth and Jack Kelly Ruth and Richard Klein Janet and Ron Kolar Mark and Mary Lemmenes Dr. and Mrs. J. P. Leventhal Jim and Robin Love Mr. and Mrs. David Lovett Leyse Lowry Sarah and Bill Mallory Gayle Manning Judith and Ray Mantle Dr. Mike and Marilyn Mass Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. McCauley

58 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FEBRUARY â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MARCH 2018

William and Brenda McNeiland Lydia Saris, M.D. and Daniel Mechenbier Mr. and Mrs. Gordon B. Middleton Douglass and Jane Miller Sue Mills Mr. and Mrs. Michael Minch Mrs. Mary Ann Moore Paul and Donna Nelson John and Kathie Nevin Mr. and Mrs. J. Kenneth E. Noon Earl and Susan Oehler Mr. Thomas C. Orr Audrey B. Patterson Sue Patton Suzanne C. Perritt Mr. and Mrs. Rickie Petersen John and Sally Pettegrew Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Poniatowski Nancy and Ted Powell in recognition of Dori and Bill Walton Mr. Jack and Dr. Miriam Price Judy and Jere Ratcliffe Ina W. Richter Mrs. Karen Ritchie Dr. Daniel S. Yip and Teresa Rodriguez-Yip Mr. Neil Rose and Dr. Jeannie Rose Mr. and Mrs. John Ryder Colleen Sanchez AdLib Luxury Tours and Transportation, Inc The Schultz Foundation, Inc. Mrs. Lorraine Scruby Robin Smathers Dr. Carolyn H. Smith Ms. Linda L. Smith Raul Soto-Acosta, MD George and Shirley Spaniel Dewey Sparks Dr. David A. Spring Kimber E. Strawbridge Esq Mr. James Stronski Ivy Suter Mr. David G. Sutliff Linda and Jim Sylvester Dorcas G. Tanner Elsie Thompson Jacqueline Tomassetti Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Torres Mrs. Alice Trainer Mr. Rudolf E. Urban Mr. Carl Utter Sheri Van Orden Billy J. and Nettie T. Walker Marvel S. Wallace Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Walton Cornelia and Olin Watts Endowment Fund Shirley Watts Bing John Tobias and Rebecca Wells Mr. and Mrs. Neil J. Wickersty

YOUTH ORCHESTRAS SERIES Sunday, March 4, 2018 l 5 pm Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

JSYO SPRING CONCERT Deanna Tham, conductor

Encore Strings

Helen Morin, conductor

G.F Handel/ Arr. H.B Fisher Ludwig van Beethoven/Arr. Christina Hans Elton John & Bernie Taupin/Arr. Longfield

Entrance of the Queen of Sheba Pastoral Symphony Crocodile Rock

G.P Telemann/Arr. Bob Mathews Johann Strauss Jr. & Josef Strauss/ Arr. Robert D. McCashin Franz Schubert/Arr. Robert D. McCashin John Williams/Arr. Jerry Brubaker

Sinfonia Pizzicato Polka

Premier Strings

Repertory Orchestra

Helen Morin, conductor

Symphony No. 8 “Unfinished” – Mvt. I Star Wars Heroes

Deanna Tham, conductor

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Marche Slav, Op. 31 Edvard Grieg Norwegian Dances, Op. 35 I. Allegro moderato II. Allegretto tranquillo e grazioso III. Allegro moderato alla Marcia IV. Allegro molto

~ Intermission ~ Deanna Tham, conductor

Philharmonic

Hector Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9 Richard Strauss Salome, Op. 54: Dance of the Seven Veils Sergei Prokofiev Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Op. 60 I. Birth of Kijé II. Romance III. Kijé’s Wedding IV. Troika V. Kijé’s Funeral

there are six ensembles that rehearse and perform under the direction of JSYO Principal Conductor and Symphony Assistant Conductor, Deanna Tham and her team of music educators. These professional conductors, along with Jacksonville Symphony musicians, nationally recognized soloists, and other professional educators in the community, enable the JSYO to serve the needs of each young musician with individualized, ability-level specific instruction. JSYO members are afforded unique musical experiences, in addition to the exposure to and performance of orchestral masterworks. For example, JSYO ensembles perform in the Symphony’s Jacoby Symphony Hall during the season as well as the annual Major/Minor concert which this year will be conducted by Jacksonville Symphony Music Director Courtney Lewis. At this concert, finalists in the annual Young Artists Concerto Competition showcase their exceptional talents by performing with their orchestra’s accompaniment. The Jacksonville Symphony and the JSYO also perform free community engagement concerts, both in Jacoby Symphony Hall and at various First Coast locations. This season, the JSYO Philharmonic will participate in their first-ever tour to the Los Angeles International Music Festival where they will perform at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The JSYO ensembles are as follows: Jump Start Strings beginner string students

Presented by: Support provided in part by:

PGA TOUR, Inc.

Cummer Family Foundation Rice Family Foundation Rowe Charitable Foundation Smoller Scholarship Fund

About the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras The Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras (JSYO) are Northeast Florida’s premiere developmental orchestral ensembles. Last season, the JSYO served more than 400 young musicians ages 7-21, who were admitted through competitive auditions. Through the in-depth study of classical repertoire, each orchestra improves its musical skills and understanding at both the individual student level and the ensemble level. In all,

Foundation Strings advancing beginner string students Encore Strings intermediate string students Premier Strings advancing intermediate string students Repertory Orchestra intermediate to advancing full orchestra Philharmonic advanced/pre-conservatory full orchestra

ENCORE 59

Accredited and Medicare certified, Aging True Community Senior Services, a non-profit organization, is happy to provide services that ensure the continuity of care coordination for our clients and their families.

Our services include:

Home Health Care •

Caregiver Support •

Personal and In-Home Care •

Nutrition Services Many of our services are subsidized, private pay and insurance.

For more information on our programs please contact us:

904.807.1203

A g i n g Tr u e . o r g ACHC Accredited. License @299993139

Proud Sponsor

OF THE JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY

Public Sponsors and Support

Healthier TOGETHER.

Florida Blue is proud to work alongside the Jacksonville Symphony. With a long-term commitment to the people we serve, together we will reach our goal of helping people and communities achieve better health. Jacksonville Symphony Association is funded in part by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville and the City of Jacksonville

877-352-5830 floridablue.com

and the

Florida Blue is a trade name of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Inc., an Independent 90383-0917 Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

6090383-0917 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018 FBLPN_Jax Symphony ad.indd 1

8/31/17 9:25 AM

Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council of Arts and Culture and the State of Florida.

Deanna Tham Assistant Conductor and JSYO Principal Conductor Hailing from Saratoga, California, Tham has conducted and guest conducted all over the United States, most recently working with renowned conductors Marin Alsop and James Ross at the Cabrillo Contemporary Music Festival. Before joining the Jacksonville Symphony, Tham was the music director of the 350-piece Louisville Youth Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta. Tham has also served as the music director of the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and has conducted the Boise Philharmonic, Ballet Idaho and Opera Idaho. Tham worked as the assistant conductor for the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra where she received a Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music in Orchestral Conducting, studying with Maestro Carl Topilow. While in Cleveland, she produced, programmed and directed a revolutionary cross-sensual concert experience with the International Culinary Arts and Sciences Institute combining taste and sound.

Support for JSYO is provided in part by: EverBank Cummer Family Foundation Rice Family Foundation Rowe Charitable Foundation PGA TOUR Smoller Scholarship Fund Publix Super Markets Charities Florida State College at Jacksonville

Previously, Tham was the music director of the American Chamber Orchestra. Her work with the company includes a groundbreaking, semi-staged version of Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, staged in English. During her time with the company she worked with many talented musicians, including those who sang with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She made great strides making the company a strong presence in the Chicago area and has sold recordings of her work with the company on iTunes. Tham has been a conducting fellow at the C.W. Post Chamber Music Festival working with Dr. Susan Deaver, the musicians of the Pierrot Consort and the talented youth of the festival orchestra. There, she was the recipient of the festival conducting award. In 2013, Tham made her debut with the National Music Festival. She was one of two assistant conductors who appeared with Maestro Richard Rosenberg, working with some of the top professional musicians and teachers from around the world. Her work with the festival has been featured on National Public Radio as well as American Public Media. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Wintergreen Summer Music Academy Conductor’s Guild Scholarship where she worked with Master Teacher Victor Yampolsky. Most recently, she was invited to compete in the Cadaques Orchestra International Conducting Competition. Tham has served as the assistant conductor of the Carnegie Mellon All-University Orchestra. While at Carnegie Mellon, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in horn performance. Tham went on to receive her Master of Music degree, with honors, from Northwestern University studying with Dr. Mallory Thompson. While at Northwestern, she worked with Dr. Robert Harris, Victor Yampolsky and Dr. Robert Hasty, making her equally at home in wind, orchestral and vocal settings. She also completed community outreach projects in the form of concerts in the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall Kid’s Fare series, participating in a movie music themed concert as well as conducting, managing and producing a multicultural themed interactive concert.

JSYO Special Programs Above all, the JSYO is committed to enriching the Jacksonville community through music education. Need-based scholarships are available for qualified young musicians in all JSYO ensembles. In addition to scholarship opportunities, the JSYO is offering three new Special Programs to advanced students that are aimed to not only help compensate for tour-related fees, but to provide educational and professional experience. The programs include: Arts Administration Assistantship Students will explore the fundamentals of running an arts organization throughout the various administrative departments of the Symphony. Honors Chamber Music Fellowship Gives selected students a 10-month, career building opportunity to perform chamber music of the highest level throughout Northeast Florida while also providing entrepreneurial skills. Orchestra Librarian Apprenticeship Students will work alongside the Jacksonville Symphony’s principal librarian to prepare all music used in a symphony orchestra rehearsal and performance. For more information visit JaxSymphony.org/jsyo. ENCORE 61

We thank the

Roger L. and Rochelle S. Main Charitable Trust

for their generous support helping us bring symphonic music to

• 255,000 people

• 70,000 students

Women in Song featuring YouTube Sensation “Girl of a thousand voices” Resulting in a banner 2016-2017 season

SATURDAY, APRIL 28 • 7:30PM • LAZZARA PERFORMANCE HALL

Tickets on Sale in February

62 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

www.JaxChildrensChorus.org

JSYO ASSISTANT CONDUCTORS Helen Morin, Conductor, Encore Strings and Premier Strings Helen Morin earned a Master of Music in Violin Performance with Lucia Lin at Boston University and holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin from Trinity College of Music, London, where she studied with John Crawford. Prior to her studies in the United States, she performed in Europe with the Britten Peers Orchestra, the Fine Arts Sinfonia of London, and as Concertmaster of the Trinity Sinfonia. Morin has been a guest artist at the Dartington International Music Festival, performed at the Brevard Music Festival, and toured Europe with the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra. She has performed at the London Festival Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Queens House Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College Chapel and St. Johns Square. She is a recipient of the Cavatina Trust Award and the Licentiate Trinity College London Teaching Diploma (qualifying her to teach at university level in the United Kingdom.) While in Massachusetts, she led the Civic Symphony Orchestra, MetroWest Orchestra and spent five seasons as a first violinist with the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra. She was a featured artist in the Rimscha Concert Series and director of the Hopkinton String Program. Since moving to St. Augustine in September 2010, Morin has substituted on several occasions for the Jacksonville Symphony, freelances with local chamber orchestras in St. Augustine as well as in the Jacksonville area and has a private violin studio. She is a member of the Georgia Coastal Symphony and has performed as part of the St. Augustine Music Festival Orchestra. She currently teaches music at R.B. Hunt Elementary School in St. Augustine, where she has established an after school strings program, now in its fifth year, in the St. Johns County School District.

Rose Francis, Conductor, FSCJ Foundation Strings Rose Francis was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Brevard County, Florida where she began her violin studies from a young age. She holds an undergraduate degree in Music Education where she studied violin under Dr. Simon Shiao and a Master of Music Performance in Conducting under the direction of Dr. Gordon Brock from the University of North Florida. Francis participated in master classes with the Ying String Quartet (violin), UNF Conducting Symposium participant with Eugene Corporon and was recently a conducting fellow with the Saratoga Orchestra for the Pacific North West Conducting Institute workshop with Diane Wittry and Dr. Anna Edwards. She has served as string orchestra director at Pine Forest Magnet School of the Arts since 2012, where she developed and cultivated a full-time string program for the entire school population with instruction including violin, viola, cello and bass. Francis teaches upper strings techniques and pedagogy as an adjunct professor at University of North Florida since 2016. She has served as the assistant conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Jacksonville from the beginning of its inaugural season in the fall of 2016. She develops educational outreach materials for multiple organizations throughout Jacksonville. Francis is an advocate for string education and an emerging leader in the field.

JSYO UPCOMING CONCERTS FEB

26 Mon: 6 pm

YOUNG ARTIST COMPETITION FINALS MAY

MAY

11 Fri: 8 pm

MAJOR/MINOR CONCERT

7 Mon: 7 pm

FESTIVAL OF STRINGS

Tickets: 904.354.5547 • JaxSymphony.org ENCORE 63

Naira Cola, Conductor,

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Clay County Foundation Strings

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Violinist Naira Cola has been playing with the Jacksonville Symphony since 2012. Cola was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, and her upbringing was filled with jazz, gospel and soul music. She studied at the Mannes College of Music under the tutelage of Sally Thomas and Dr. Ann Setzer before attending New York University and the Juilliard School for her graduate and post graduate studies. Over the course of her career, Cola has received numerous accolades for her unique artistry, including winning the Doris Kahn Concerto Competition, being a semi-finalist in the National Sphinx Competition and being awarded the Artist Award from the New York Foundation for the Arts. As a soloist, she has been featured on NPR radio, WUWF Classic radio and WEAR TV. She has also toured with Ensemble Du Monde chamber orchestra.

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64 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FEBRUARY â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MARCH 2018

Cola has served as an artist in residence for the Sphinx Performance Academy, Queens Borough Community College and the Noel Pointer School of Music, where she became the artistic director. She works each summer as the artistic director of the Four Strings Academy in Lexington, MA. As a pedagogue and advocate for arts education, she has instructed hundreds of students in Brooklyn and throughout the New York Metropolitan area.

David Song, Conductor, FSCJ Jump Start Strings

John Wieland, Conductor,

Woodland Acres Jump Start Strings and Foundation Strings John Wieland, principal bass for the Jacksonville Symphony, has assumed additional duties as assistant conductor for the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras in charge of Jump Start Strings and Foundation Strings at Woodland Acres and North Shore Elementary Schools.

A native of Jeon-Ju, South Korea, violinist David Hwan-Min Song began studying the violin at the age of 10. He received his training at the Jeonju Fine Arts Middle School under Seung-Gu Baek before immigrating to the United States in 2002. Since then, he has performed extensively as an orchestral, chamber and solo violinist. In 2003, Song made his solo debut with the Southwest Florida Youth Orchestra and has also appeared as a soloist with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, Song was featured as a soloist on NPR’s program From the Top, performing with pianist Christopher O’Riley. In 2005, he was selected to perform with the London Symphony during the Florida International Festival in Daytona Beach, Florida. In April 2011, Song was a featured guest soloist performing Pablo de Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy as First Prize Winner of the Southwest Florida Symphony Young Artist Competition. Song was a full scholarship student of the internationally renowned Routa KroumovitchGomez at Stetson University, where he received a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance. He was also a scholarship student of Dr. Bruce Berg at Baylor University where he pursued a Masters of Music in Violin Performance. Song currently serves as an assistant principal violin in the Savannah Philharmonic and the 2017/2018 season will be his first as an assistant conductor for the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras. He also performswith the Jacksonville Symphony, the Coastal Symphony of Georgia, the Orlando Philharmonic and the Southwest Florida Symphony.

Prior to joining the Jacksonville Symphony, Wieland was principal bass of the Virginia and Oklahoma Symphonies, as well as the Orquesta Sinfonica de Mineria in Mexico City and the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder Colorado. His bachelor’s degree is from the New School of Music in Philadelphia (now part of Temple University) and included studies with Michael Shahan (Associate Principal Bass/Philadelphia Orchestra) and (the late) William Smith (Assistant Conductor/Keyboard/Philadelphia Orchestra). Additional teachers include Eugene Levinson/Principal/New York Philharmonic and (the late) H.Stevens Brewster/Principal of the National Symphony. An avid educator, he has taught students from age three up to the university level. He has held faculty positions at the University of Central Oklahoma, Langston University, Bethune-Cookman University and Stetson University. His many former students teach all over North and Central America and many play professionally around the world.

Great Upcoming Performances You Won’t Want To Miss! February 2 Christiania Piano Quartet Christiania Piano Quartet

February 9 Miró Quartet Miró Quartet

February 15 – Gil Shaham, violin virtuoso with renowned pianist Akira Eguchi Gil Shaham

March 4 – Garrick Ohlsson, piano master Garrick Ohlsson

Dover Quartet

March 18 – Dover Quartet, our internationally acclaimed quartet-in-residence Tickets On Sale Now!

www.aicmf.com or 904-261-1779 for complete information about our 2018 season ENCORE 65

Your table is ready.

Experience the local flavors of Jacksonville at Julietteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant. Located in the Omni Jacksonville Hotel, enjoy pre-show dinner or post-show dessert. Or relax with a refreshing cocktail at J Bar. 904-355-6664 â&#x20AC;˘ omnihotels.com/jacksonville

JSYO Encore Strings

Helen Morin, conductor Violin Priya Adimula Aislin Alexander Varsini Balamurugan William Bell Tiffany Black Madeleine Callan Nikitha Chintala Ankitha Chintala Caiden Church Emily Caitlyn Docuyanan Jadah Foltz Ashley Fuentes Todd Gaines Taina Garcia Bruce Holley Jacob Holyer Sophia Ivec Faith Keister Christian Kim Christine Kim David Kim Keller Krieger Jace Lim Aleydis Lockwood Charlie Lu Abbygale Monroe Edmund Ng Abigail Okey Khobe Pierre

Arianna Rahmathulla Emaad Rahmathulla Gavin Sawyer Chinmay Shandilya Amelia Snodgrass Aden Speight Rodriguez Sebastian Thorn Timur Tiryakioglu Emma Waidner Mihajla Wickham Viola Raquel Abril Justin Berger Talina Fuentes Bryce Hamilton Anna Jones Cello Lyanne Claudio Amaya Gray Neriah Holley Thomas Karvounis Kai Nguyen Mihajla Wickham

JSYO Premier Strings Helen Morin, conductor

Violin Seth Arcenas Brea Armstrong Tiffany Black Brianna Borbely Jack Camp Rebekah Chun Ana Francisca Docuyanan Madison Fagan Katherine Graham Addison Hassler Claire Huang Stella Hyatt Anna Grace Keller Paul Kim Victoria Locklin Likhita Manchikanti Matthew Miel Gabriel Miel Alerice Milagrosa Kai Nguyen Gahyun Park Julia Peiris Erica Plauche Alyssa Ramesh

Tayana Rich Amanda Robinson Mary Clare Stinneford Ronak Venkata Natalie Watson Mihajla Wickham Enoch Xiao Ethan Xiao Viola Joshua Manuel Jairen Neil-Blake Janel Neil-Blake Aditya Singh Cello Kyle Bae Jack Gallishaw Ryan Gear Rachel Jones Finley Petchauer Sina Wegerer-Jones

Double Bass Christina Jones Emma Waidner

JSYO Repertory Orchestra Deanna Tham, conductor

Violin Carolyn Chen Augustina Cole Franchesca Dalugdug Ethan Das Caleb Feng Kismet Field Katherine Gabriel Megan Graham Sarah Guo Gerald Huang Jihae Kim Michael Kim Rohini Kumar William Li Audrey Lindsay Rachael Lovejoy Nora Menon Songhan Pang Audrey Plauche Eden Rewa James Robinson Willmott Alexander Roes

Elise Russu Sarah-Iyuna Spencer Pilar Thorn Isabella Vuong Yasmin Vuong Leila Warren Viola Russell Greco Nathan Oyler Cello Christina Bucher Rebecca Cooper LaRyn Fagan Sam Iturra Natalie Taunton Nicholas Willie Double Bass Chris Cavaliere Peter Goricki

Flute Rebecca Bohlender Ainsley Elgin Emily Kelsey Grace Seitz Oboe Dominik Klemetsrud Treston Lawson Katie Zabawa Clarinet Aidan Chau Theresa Le Ansley McNeese Hunter Robertson Bass Clarinet Cordelia Ciuk Aidan Pedersen Alex Tun Bassoon Brandon Boyle

Trumpet Toby Chau Gavin Rapelye Joseph Stancil Horn Owen Burow Claire Groulx Anna Leach Lillian Weller Trombone Ethan Halligan Alex Karstedt Tuba Willie Batista

JSYO Philharmonic

Deanna Tham, conductor Violin Saejin Albright Arianna Arcenas Noah Arcenas Cameron Black Lilah Dees Glen Dizon Lexi Feng Katherine Harland Laura Harrington Gabrielle Keller Anastasia Letkemann Ariel Lockley Fiona Lockley Nicole Lukens Mira Menon Benjamin Model Joseph Petchauer Sadie Pichelmann Dolaine Qian Jessica Rinosa Oona Roberts Daniel Savo Katie Seitz Selin Tiryakioglu Maxwell VanHoeij Max Warren Charles Woo

Oboe Jacob Hutchinson Mackenzie Ki Mathew Rowell

Viola Armando Atanda Breanna Lang Aditi Shandilya Kaitlyn Thornton

Trombone Alexis Potter Mason Wheeler Ian Wolff

Cello Andrew Angelo Hannah Budd Nathan Ealum Noah Hays Alejandro Ochoa Darren Wang Matthew Zabatta Double Bass Kieran Elwood Peter Goricki Flute Alyse Ellenburg Hanna Kissinger Alexandra McGuire Gabi Park

Clarinet Michael Jenkins Jenna Wolbers Frank Lukens Bass Clarinet Shelby DeVore Chris Nelson Bassoon Skye Sisco Sam Watson Horn Adam Agonoy Paola Colon Michael Flanagan Amanda Friedman Trumpet Carson Brite Allison Jenkins Rachel Katrinic

Tuba Bryce Pierce Percussion Anastasia Imeson Lucas Johnson Emma Lasswell Harp Isabelle Scott Leeann Watson Piano/Keyboard Joseph Petchauer

Percussion Connor Parish Harp Lina Leyhausen Leeann Watson

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Prelude Chamber Music Camp Prelude Chamber Music is THE PREMIER summer MUSIC camp and festival in northeast Florida with the most years of camp experience, the most outstanding teachers, and the best all-around musical experiences for students of all ages and abilities! We offer chamber music coaching and performances throughout the year, as well as in the summer. We work with Duval County Public Schools, area colleges, and other music schools to supplement their school instruction. For our camp, we provide generous scholarships as needed, and all our concerts and special events during camp are free and open to the community.

Join us for our 17th season at Prelude Chamber Music Camp June 3 - 10, 2018. Applications are available online now. Register by April 3 at PreludeChamberMusic.org. Prelude Chamber Music, Inc. is a 501C3 non-profit organization. We gratefully accept donations on our web site to help us provide camp scholarships and expand our offerings! 68 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG â&#x20AC;&#x201C; FEBRUARY â&#x20AC;&#x201C; MARCH 2018

JACKSONVILLE CIVIC ORCHESTRA Sunday, March 11, 2018 l 5 pm Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

CIVIC ORCHESTRA SPRING CONCERT Nathan Aspinall, conductor Richard WAGNER

Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, WWV 96

Joining the Community through Music Twice a year, individuals from all walks of life come together with the musicians of the Jacksonville Symphony to participate in an incredible representation of community – the Jacksonville Symphony Civic Orchestra. Members do not need to be professional musicians; they only need to have an abiding love for symphonic music.

Franz Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 “Unfinished” SCHUBERT Allegro moderato Andante con moto

During the 2015/2016 inaugural season the Jacksonville Symphony Civic Orchestra consisted of 61 individuals who played an orchestral instrument and joined with the Bedrich Vltava (The Moldau) members of the Symphony to perform for SMETANA friends, family and the community once a year. Now in its third year, the Civic ~ Intermission ~ Orchestra is expanding its season to perform two concerts on October 8 in Antonín Symphony No. 8, Op. 88, B. 163 in G major the fall and March 11 in the spring. DVOŘÁK Allegro con brio Adagio This year, the call went out in July (Spring Allegretto grazioso applications open in December) for those Allegro ma non troppo who would be interested in participating. This program runs approximately 90 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission. PRI Productions is the proud Event Production Partner of the Jacksonville Symphony. Dana’s Limousine is the official transportation of the Jacksonville Symphony. Omni Jacksonville Hotel is the official hotel of the Jacksonville Symphony.

It just takes an online registration, a $50 fee and the dedication to rehearse with the Symphony in the week leading up to the concerts. For tonight’s concert the group will be under the baton of the Symphony’s Associate Conductor Nathan Aspinall. The program opens with Richard Wagner’s Prelude to Die Miestersinger von Nürnberg and Franz Schubert’s famed “Unfinished” Symphony. The concert will close with Antonín Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony. Although they come from different backgrounds, with different jobs and from different areas, it is the magic of music that brings these musicians together!

The Jacksonville Symphony Civic Orchestra unites commmunity musicians and the Jacksonville Symphony in a side-by-side concert in the renowned Jacoby Symphony Hall.

JaxSymphony.org/Civic-Orchestra ENCORE 69

SATURDAY, APRIL 28

Times-Union Center ³ 8 p.m. fscjartistseries.org • (904) 632-5000

INSIGHT Get the scoop on the music!

One hour prior to each Masterworks Series concert, join the program’s conductor and guest artists in Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall to hear their insight on the program. An open, low-key 15 to 25 minute presentation including question and answer time will provide the opportunity to learn more about the fantastic works performed by the Jacksonville Symphony. Guest artists often join the conductor to give their vision of the works to be presented. Insight is a new angle on the concert experience. You’ll never listen to the music the same way after hearing Insight. So come early, grab a seat and hear what the experts have to say.

Gain even more “Insight”

View video program notes before you arrive and learn even more about the music. JaxSymphony.org/watch-listen/

INSIGHT

is sponsored by

MASTERWORKS SERIES

Friday & Saturday, March 16 & 17, 2018 l 8 pm “Insight” one hour prior to each Masterworks concert

Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

MOZART AND FRIENDS Courtney Lewis, conductor Haskell Endowed Chair

Wolfgang Amadeus Ballet Music from Idomeneo, Rè di Creta, K. 367 MOZART Chaconne Pas seul Passe-pied Gavotte Passacaille Piotr Ilyich Serenade in C major for Strings, Op. 48 TCHAIKOVSKY Pezzo in forma di Sonatina Walzer Elégie Finale (Tema Russo)

~ Intermission ~ Claude DEBUSSY

Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun

Wolfgang Amadeus Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K. 543 MOZART Adagio - Allegro Andante con moto Menuetto: Allegretto Allegro Presented by:

The Roger L. and Rochelle S. Main Charitable Trust

PROGRAM NOTES By Steven Ledbetter

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Ballet Music from Idomeneo, Rè di Creta, K. 366 (23 minutes) Between October 1777 and the following March, Mozart, en route to Paris with his mother, made an extended and happy visit to Mannheim, home of the finest orchestra in Europe“an orchestra of generals,” Mozart called it. The young composer, just 21 and ready to spread his wings, was captivated by

the musicmaking in Mannheim. The leading composers of the day had written grand tragic operas for the great theater of Elector Carl Theodor, and when Mozart met the Elector, he confessed that he would like to write an opera for his forces. The particular strengths of the Mannheim forces may well have turned his attention in the direction it was to take when he next composed an opera, for he wrote to his father in February, “I am eager to write [an opera]...but Italian, not German, and seria, not buffa.” Nothing came of his desire at the time, since Leopold was eager for the pair to get on

to Paris, where fame and fortune awaited his son. It was not to be; the aristocracy showed no special interest in an exprodigy now grown up, and during their stay Mozart’s mother fell seriously ill and died in early July. In the meantime, the Elector of Mannheim had inherited the Wittelsbach throne, so the court moved to Munich. Mozart visited his musical friends there in December, while making his reluctant return home to Salzburg. During the year he had witnessed, both in Mannheim and Paris, the highest quality of operatic production, and he was eager to contribute to it. Nothing came of his desire for nearly two years. Finally the Elector in Munich commissioned an opera from the young man, largely at the express wish of the musicians in his court, specifying that it be a serious opera in Italian. By this time Mozart was familiar with all the standard operatic styles in Europe; he had seen the latest works and the current state of the most established operatic genre, opera seria, the tradition of which extended back to the previous century. Mozart thought he could enrich and revivify a form that had enjoyed a long and successful popularity but that was becoming stale and traditionbound. In order to accomplish this aim, Mozart proposed to his librettist, a Salzburg cleric named Abbé Giambattista Varesco, that the story be cast more in the French manner, with ensembles and choruses to vary the texture. This was all the more easily accomplished in that the libretto was derived from that of an earlier French opera, Idomenée. Generally speaking the singer was monarch of the operatic world; composers wrote arias precisely tailored to the characteristics of an individual voice. But Mozart liked ensembles, in which various characters can express their feelings together. The resulting work is rich in elaborate choruses, and it boasts some superb ensemble numbers as well. In fact, Idomeneo was the finest opera seria composed in many years. It is a spacious work of great humanity. The “lieto fine” (happy ending) required by the Metastasian operatic style allowed the leading characters to personify a world of reason and forgiveness, a world of selfcontrol, where rulers do not descend to bloodshed as easily as they do in ours. If Mozart had continued to work in that vein, the history of opera might have been very different.

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For this event Mozart was given an extraordinary ensemble—the finest orchestra in Europe (the Mannheim orchestra) with twice the usual number of strings and a full wind complement including, for the first time in Mozart’s experience, clarinets. One of the most “French” elements of Idomeneo in its original Munich production (though one that has not been included in many performances since) is the extended ballet at the very end of the opera, after all the singing has ended. This wonderful ballet music, symbolizing the harmonious resolution of the dramatic situation, shows us a Mozart reveling in the quality of the finest orchestra he had yet had at his disposal.

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Serenade in C major for Strings, Op. 48 (28 minutes)

Tchaikovsky spent most of 1880 in the country, part of the time installed at Simaki, a small house on one of the estates of his patroness, Nadezhda von Meck. He was supposed to write a piece of music for the 25th anniversary of Tsar Alexander II’s accession to the throne, since the government hoped to generate a little enthusiasm for the ruler, who had recently been the subject of some assassination attempts. The original plan was to have a series of staged tableaux accompanied by music, each scene to be set by a different composer, chosen by lot. Tchaikovsky, to his chagrin, drew the subject, “Montenegrin villagers receiving news of Russia’s declaration of war on Turkey.” It is not surprising that he felt unable to do anything with such a topic; his creative inertia took the form of a variety of activities to help him avoid composing. Finally, though, while living at Kamenka, the home of his sister and her family, he began work on a composition for the Silver Jubilee Exposition. It was an overture dealing with Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, and would call for actual cannons in performance. At the same time, purely for his own satisfaction, he wrote a serenade for string orchestra, a late-nineteenth-century equivalent of the Classical divertimento. He completed the serenade on November 4, the overture two weeks later. Both works have long been among the popular favorites of Tchaikovsky’s output—the 1812 overture with all its glorious bombast and the Serenade for strings with its freshness and charm, its brilliant string writing, its graceful waltz of a character that Tchaikovsky made

entirely his own, its richly expressive elegy, and its lively finale based on one of those Russian folk tunes that reiterates over and over a simple melodic gesture, allowing the composer to deploy his substantial skills as an arranger to ring the changes on the obstinate little fragment of tune that grows ever livelier.

Claude Debussy

(1862-1918)

Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun (10 minutes) In 1865 the poet Stéphane Mallarmé produced a “Monologue d’un faune,” with which he hoped to obtain a performance at the Comédie Française. Having been told that his work would be of no interest as a theatrical piece, he put it aside for a decade. In 1875, Mallarmé tried to get his work published as “Improvisation du faune” in a literary anthology, again without success. Finally, the following year, he brought out his first book, which contained the text of the eclogue

entitled “L’Après-midi d’un faune.” Mallarmé continued to hope for a theatrical performance; as late as 1891 he promised in print to produce a new version for the theater. Throughout his life, he was also interested in music; he had even written an essay on Wagner for the “Revue wagnerienne.” His own poetry, he said, was inspired by “music proper, which we must raid and paraphrase, if our own music [poetry], is struck dumb, is insufficient.” Debussy had already set a Mallarmé text as early as 1884. We can be sure that poet and composer were personally acquainted by 1892, when they both attended a performance of Maeterlinck’s drama Pelléas et Mélisande,

72 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

and it is certainly likely that they discussed the musical possibilities of Mallarmé’s “Faune.” Debussy began composition of the Prelude that year, along with most of the other compositions that were to occupy him for the next decade. Years later he recalled that when Mallarmé heard the music for the first time, he commented, “I was not expecting anything of this kind! This music prolongs the emotion of my poem, and sets its scene more vividly than color.” The first performance of the Prelude made Debussy famous overnight; the striking character of this music, established his personality even in the eyes of those critics who expressed a wish for “an art more neat, more robust, more masculine.” The freshness comes in part from the delicacy of the instrumentation, which is filled with wonderfully new effects, of which the brilliant splash of the harp glissando over a dissonant chord at the end of the first flute phrase is only the most obvious. The careful bridging of sections, so that nothing ever quite comes to a full close without suggesting continuation, effectively blurs what is, after all, a fairly

straightforward ABA form. Debussy’s success in obtaining this fluid, pastel effect can be measured by the fact that musicians still argue about where the various sections begin and end. Most listeners, though, have been content to wallow in this exquisitely wrought play of color, harmony and misty melody without bothering to consider how much of the future was already implicit in this brief score.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K. 543 (29 minutes)

One of the greatest miracles in the history of music is Mozart’s achievement in the summer of 1788, composing his last three symphonies all in the space of six weeks. Even more impressive is the striking variety between the three works, each of which has a character and mood all its own. The first of the three, in E-flat major, was completed on June 26. By June 1788 Mozart’s fortunes had entered on the long, steady decline that culminated in his death, at age 35, three-and-a-half years later. Gone were the heady days of 1784, when his music was in constant demand in Vienna. He had hoped to obtain financial stability through the performances of his operas, but The Marriage of Figaro achieved only nine performances during its season in the repertory (1786), partly, at least, because other, more influentially placed, composers had their own fish to fry and were not interested in supporting Mozart. Then came Don Giovanni, composed for the citizens of Prague who had taken Figaro completely to their hearts. Although it was a sensation in Prague in the fall of 1787, the first Vienna performances the following spring did not attract enough attention.

a good sale when published. But it is hardly likely that Mozart would have composed three whole symphonies at a time when he was in desperate financial straits if he didn’t have some hope of using them in a practical way to support his family. Probably he wrote all three of the symphonies with the aim of introducing them at his own concerts. Clarinets were relatively new in the symphony orchestra and it was by no means a foregone conclusion that they would be included. Mozart’s choice of clarinets instead of oboes produces a gentler woodwind sonority especially appropriate to the autumnal lyricism of Symphony No. 39. The first movement opens with a stately slow introduction with dotted rhythms providing a nervous background for scale figures, culminating in a grindingly dissonant appoggiatura. Just as we seem about to settle onto the dominant, ready to begin the Allegro, the activity decelerates and we are confronted with a stark, hushed chromatic figure. The melodic line of the introduction only comes to a close in the opening phrase of the smiling allegro theme in the violins (with echoes in horns and bassoons), a calm pastoral scene following the tension of the preceding passage. The development section is one of

the shortest in any Mozart symphony, never moving far afield harmonically. Following a passage on the nearby key of Aflat, a vigorous modulation seems to be leading to C minor, but at the last moment a wonderful woodwind extension brings it around to the home key and ushers in the recapitulation. The slow movement opens with deceptive simplicity. Among these delicious moments are the woodwind additions to the main theme in the strings at the recapitulation. The main theme ends with a momentary turn to the minor just before the cadence. The hearty minuet provides a strong contrast to the delicacies of the Andante; its Trio features a clarinet solo with little echoes from the flute. The finale is often called the most Haydnesque movement Mozart ever wrote, largely because it is nearly monothematic. The principal theme, beginning with a group of scurrying sixteenthnotes followed by a hiccup, produces a series of motives that carry the bulk of the discourse. The scurrying turn appears alone or in combinations, turning to unexpected keys after a sudden silence; the “hiccup” often comes as a separate response from the woodwinds to the rushing figure in the strings. © Steven Ledbetter (www.stevenledbetter.com)

Neither opera, then, had much improved the Mozart family exchequer, and by early June 1788, only weeks after the Vienna premiere of Don Giovanni, Mozart was forced to write to his friend and fellow Mason, Michael Puchberg, requesting the loan of 100 gulden. Again on June 17 he needed money to pay his landlord and asked Puchberg for a few hundred gulden “until tomorrow.” Yet again on the 27th he wrote to thank Puchberg for the money so freely lent him, but also to report that he needed still more and did not know where to turn for it. It is clear from these letters that Mozart was in serious financial difficulty. How astonishing, then, to realize that between the last two letters cited he composed the Symphony No. 39! This, the most lyrical of the final three symphonies, gives no hint of the composer’s distraught condition. Mozart’s attempt to improve his family’s situation during this difficult summer is clearly apparent in the “minor” works he was composing along with the three symphonies. They are all either educational pieces, which could serve students well, or small and easy compositions that might be expected to have ENCORE 73

GET INVOLVED - VOLUNTEER WITH THE SYMPHONY The Jacksonville Symphony loves its volunteers. There are many ways to support the Symphony – you can give a gift, join an auxiliary group, serve as an usher or sing in the chorus. Read about the many opportunities to support our mission.

SAVE THE DATE:

The BRASS Annual Gala is planned for Sunday, April 29, 2018.

BRASS

Beaches Residents Actively Supporting the Symphony

BRASS is delighted to Open the Door to our upcoming 2018 season of events beginning with ‘Wines for Music’ on Sunday, February 25, 2018 at Marsh Landing Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach. BRASS is excited to introduce this event’s sponsor, ‘The Foley Food & Wine Society’. They are a highly respected organization comprised of 40 wine producers & vineyards in the Napa Valley region. BRASS 2018 continues in the tradition of sponsoring many of the Jacksonville Symphony Masterworks and Pops concerts throughout the year, raising money for music appreciation classes and a much-anticipated student music competition - the BRASS Ring. Our dedication to the Jacksonville Symphony is what motivates our members to work diligently and we have fundraised more than $350,000 for the Symphony during the past four years. To join BRASS, visit www.brassonline.org or write to info@brassonline.org for membership and event information.

ARIAS Continues Its Support of Nassau County Music Education ARIAS, Amelia Residents in Action for the Symphony, continues its primary mission as a provider of music education for the elementary grades of Nassau County schools. At the 4th grade level, we continue our wildly successful Instrument Zoo program, allowing children to handle and make sounds from the four families of symphonic instruments. We are continuing our financial support of Suzuki violin lesson sessions under the auspices of Arts Alive Nassau, moving up to the 4th grade level. In 5th grade, all students are exposed to marvelous melodies of a selection of Symphony ensembles right in their school. We extend our educational theme to adults as well by providing discounted bus transportation to a variety of Masterworks, Pops and special concerts, allowing a broad spectrum of county residents to enjoy our local musical gem! For membership information, please call Jack Dickison, ARIAS president, 904.277.0572.

THE GUILD Happy New Year from the Jacksonville Symphony Guild!!! I can’t believe that our Guild year is half over already. Time really goes quickly when we’re so busy. The holiday season is over and we are now working on our upcoming events. In February we will hold our annual Musician’s and Staff Luncheon. This is not a fundraiser, but it is our way of showing the musicians and staff members how much we appreciate them. In March we are planning a “Friends of the Guild” luncheon at Vicar’s Landing honoring long-time Guild supporter, Ruth Conley. Our big fundraiser of the year, the Queen’s Harbour Pops, will be in May. Our Education Committee is working hard presenting Instrument Zoos at local schools and at the Family Concerts. If you are interested in becoming a Guild member we would love to have you join us. There are opportunities available for everyone. We do many jobs from addressing and stuffing envelopes, working at the will call desk during concerts, serving coffee and cookies, helping with Instrument Zoos to serving on committees for luncheons and fundraisers. If you would like more information please call me at 904.880.0759. Sue Ashby, President, Guild of the Jacksonville Symphony 74 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

POPS SERIES

Friday and Saturday, March 23 & 24, 2018 l 8 pm Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts

LEGENDS: DIANA ROSS, BILLY HOLIDAY, BEYONCÉ AND MORE Nathan Aspinall, conductor N’Kenge, guest vocalist Kenny Seymour, music director

Selections will include: George GERSHWIN

Overture to Porgy and Bess

George GERSHWIN

My Man's Gone Now

George GERSHWIN

Fascinating Rhythm

John Wesley WORK, Jr.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Harold ARLEN

One for My Baby

George GERSHWIN

They Can't Take That Away From Me

Harold ARLEN

Stormy Weather

George BIZET

Overture to Carmen Jones

George BIZET/ Lyrics: Oscar HAMMERSTEIN II

“Dat’s Love“ from Carmen Jones

Cab CALLOWAY Zaz-zuh-zaz Beyoncé KNOWLES, Terius NASH, Shea TAYLOR

Love on Top

Alicia KEYS

If I Ain't Got You

Nickolas ASHFORD/ Valerie SIMPSON

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

Otis REDDING/ John FOGARTY

Respect / Proud Mary

This program runs approximately 1 hour 45 minutes, including one 20-minute intermission.

Presented by:

A special gift in honor of the City Rescue Mission Staff Students at the Symphony is supported in part by:The

DuBow Family Foundation

Legends She’s sung for Presidents, at the EMMYs, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. N’Kenge returns to the Symphony to bring you the songs of greats including Billie Holiday, Diana Ross, Leontyne Price, Beyoncé and more. George Gershwin’s beloved opera Porgy and Bess tells the story of a crippled beggar who is transformed by his unexpected and improbable love for Bess. The opera premiered in 1935 to an unpopular reception. It was not until a production with the Houston Grand Opera in 1976 that the opera gained a new popularity that still continues today. Gershwin defines Porgy and Bess as a folk opera. “Porgy and Bess is a folk tale. Its people naturally would sing folk music.” To date, Porgy and Bess is one of the most successful and frequently performed American operas. John Wesley Work III, credited with compiling “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” was a composer, educator, choral director and ethnomusicologist. He was born in Tullahoma, Tennessee to a family of professional musicians and grew up loving music. Well-known and uplifting, “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” is a spiritual song that dates back to around 1865 but first appeared in Work’s second edition of, New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. LEGENDS would not be complete without music from hit singer and songwriter Beyoncé. “Love on Top” appeared on the star’s fourth studio album and spent seven consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart as well as hitting number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” appeared in 1966 produced by a Motown label. The song’s first success is credited to Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, followed by yet another hit recording by the beloved American singer and actress, Diana Ross.

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MEET THE STAFF Bart Dunn

Principal Librarian Bart Dunn serves as the Jacksonville Symphony’s principal librarian. When asked why he chose to pursue a career as an orchestral librarian, he said, “I just sort of fell into it.” After earning his bachelor’s degree, Dunn went looking for music librarian jobs and found an opening as an ensemble librarian. He hasn’t looked back since! He has only been in Jacksonville for a few months but some of his favorites include the Cummer Museum and the restaurant Black Sheep. Dunn and his wife, Katie, enjoy watching Disney movies and cooking together. When he is not organizing the endless piles of music necessary to run a smooth season at the symphony, Dunn enjoys playing early music (think Baroque) on the viola da gamba. Some of his favorite composers are Marais, Telemann and Purcell.

DAILY’S PLACE SYMPHONY SERIES

Dunn is a representative of the Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association (MOLA) and came to Jacksonville after holding a position as the Performance Librarian, Ensembles Manager and Jazz Studies Department Coordinator at Temple University in Philadelphia. Prior to joining Temple University he worked with the Philadelphia Orchestra for two seasons as a Library Fellow. Dunn has a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance from Towson University in Baltimore and has completed coursework in Music History at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

WITH THE

JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY

Saturday

March 10

76 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

More Information at

JaxSymphony.org

N’Kenge, guest vocalist International Award Winning Singer N’Kenge, was called “Electrifying” by the NY Post in the role of Mary Wells that she originated in Broadway’s Smash Hit Motown: The Musical. Berry Gordy describes N’Kenge as “the most versatile artist I know.” N’Kenge was recently seen on National TV singing the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden. N’Kenge made her Broadway debut in Sondheim on Sondheim singing alongside the late great Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams. N’Kenge starred in London’s West End at the Theatre Royal in a tribute to Ray Charles and has done solo engagements in New York at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as well as the Library of Congress in Washington, DC that was broadcast worldwide by NPR. N’Kenge starred in the Michael Jackson Tribute Show World Tour and recently made her debut as Mother Hare/Circe in The Golden Apple at New York City Center Encores! N’Kenge is consistently seen as a soloist in pop programs with the Indianapolis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and New York Pops Orchestra among others around the globe. N’Kenge’s new musical inspired by the life and music of Hollywood’s Dorothy Dandridge SEPIA GODDESS had its world premiere in NYC to SOLD OUT performances and is heading to West End, London this fall. Written by Award winning Composer and Playwright Robert Mitchell and Produced by Julian Stoneman (Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia) and Richard Bell (Bubbling Brown Sugar).

Kenny Seymour, music director Kenny Seymour has developed a reputation as a consummate professional for his creativity, talent, versatility and all around great musicianship. He has worked with some of Broadway’s top producers, composers, playwrights, choreographers and directors, as well as many up and coming directors of film & television. Seymour has been the music arranger and orchestrator for shows on Fox, BET, NBC as well as the Inaugural Ball for President Barack Obama. Seymour has performed around the world, from the Legendary Apollo Theatre and Carnegie Hall to the Montreux Jazz Festival. His educational background includes the Manhattan School of Music and Berklee College of Music. www.kennyseymour.com

SYMPHONY IN 60 • HAPPY HOUR at 5:30 pm • 60 MINUTES OF MUSIC

• AFTER PARTY Enjoy drinks with your Symphony musicians.

Apr 5

BRAHMS SYMPHONY NO. 3

Tickets: 904.354.5547 • JaxSymphony.org ENCORE 77

JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY ADMINISTRATION EXECUTIVE OFFICE

Robert Massey, President & Chief Executive Officer Sally Pettegrew, Vice President of Administration Jennifer Barton, Chief Strategy Officer Cayte Connell, Executive Assistant & Board Liaison ARTISTIC OPERATIONS Roger Wight, Vice President & General Manager

Artistic Administration

Tony Nickle, Director of Artistic Administration Nathan Aspinall, Associate Conductor Donald McCullough, Chorus Director Ileana Fernandez, Staff Accompanist Linda Holmes, Ballet Coordinator Jill Weisblatt, Chorus Manager

Orchestral Operations

Bart Dunn, Principal Librarian Nidhi Gangan Every, Production Manager Ray Klaase, Stage Manager Shamus McConney, Technical Director James Pitts, Stage Associate Robert Grossman, Orchestra Personnel Manager Kenneth Every, Assistant Orchestra Personnel Manager Debby Heller, Assistant Librarian Annie Hertler, Bowing Assistant

Education & Community Engagement

Kathryn Rudolph, Director of Education & Community Engagement Brian Ganan, Education & Community Engagement Manager Deanna Tham, JSYO Principal Conductor & Assistant Conductor Naira Cola, JSYO Conductor Rose Francis, JSYO Conductor Helen Morin, JSYO Conductor

78 JAXSYMPHONY.ORG – FEBRUARY – MARCH 2018

David Song, JSYO Conductor John Wieland, JSYO Conductor Peggy Toussant, JSYO Site Coordinator Kyle Wehner, JSYO Site Coordinator

MARKETING

Peter Gladstone, Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer Amy Rankin, Director of Public Relations Anna Birtles, Digital Marketing Manager Scott Hawkins, Patron Services Manager Christie Helton, Marketing Manager Caroline Jones, Sales Manager Ken Shade, Graphic Designer Pam Ferretti, Assistant Patron Services Manager Sydney Schless, Communications Coordinator Betty Byrne, Patron Services Associate Tara Paige, Patron Services Associate Robin Robison, Patron Services Associate Cori Roberts, House Manager

DEVELOPMENT

JoLynne Jensen, Vice President & Chief Development Officer Kaye Glover, Major & Planned Giving Officer Terri Montville, Director of Institutional Giving Jessica Mallow, Assistant Director of Corporate Relations Kyle Enriquez, Senior Manager of Memberships & Events Ann Marie Ball, Development Operations Manager Maureen Cockburn, Interim Gift Services Associate

FINANCE

Deborah Forsberg, Chief Financial Officer Mark Crosier, Controller Sydna Breazeale, Staff Accountant Ashley Green, Administrative Services Associate

helping seniors stay safely at home

HONORS

background painting from the haskell collection Pan North VIII (detail) by Al Held (American, 1928-2005)

Passion.

Excellent design elevates performance. Just as an intricately designed musical instrument

elicits passion and delivers superior results, our designers and builders focus on every detail to ensure extraordinary outcomes. Our team of 1,355 architects, engineers, constructors and administrative professionals work harmoniously across the US, Latin America and Asia to deliver nearly $1B annually in solutions for commercial and industrial clients.

Jacksonville, FL (Corporate Headquarters) ◆ Akron, OH ◆ Atlanta, GA ◆ Beloit, WI ◆ Charlotte, NC ◆ Chicago, IL Cleveland, OH ◆ Columbus, OH ◆ Dallas, TX ◆ Houston, TX ◆ Livermore, CA ◆ Nashville, TN ◆ Oklahoma City, OK Pittsburgh, PA ◆ San Diego, CA ◆ St. Louis, MO ◆ St. Paul, MN ◆ Tulsa, OK ◆ China ◆ Malaysia ◆ Mexico ◆ Singapore