Marin Symphony 2012-2013 Season, Program Book 2, January through March

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M A R I N SY M P H ONY ALASDA IR NE ALE

| MUS IC DIRECTOR

Where great music comes to life.


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Award No. 1

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Contents

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PHOTO © PETER SCHAAF

Staff & Contributors Board & Advisors 60th Season, Our journey continues. Marin Symphony Orchestra Leadership 60th Season Highlights PROGRAM 2: Romantic Passions FAMILY CONCERT: A Family Valentine PROGRAM 3: Of Heroes and Angels PROGRAM 4: Remembrance and Renewal PROGRAM 5: Vive la France! Golf Tournament Benefit National Young Composers Challenge West Prelude In-Home Concerts Youth & Education Programs Donors, Gifts & Sponsor Appreciation Support Your Symphony Advertisers & Sponsors

PHOTO © EISAKU TOKUYAMA

27 PHOTO © PETER RODGERS

PHOTO © DF PHOTOGRAPHY

4 6 7 9 11 15 27 37 38 47 49 51 53 53 54 56 61 62

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Staff & Contributors ARTISTIC Alasdair Neale Music Director Stephen McKersie Chorus & Chamber Chorus Director Ann Krinitsky Youth Orchestra Director Anne Lerner-Wright Crescendo Orchestra Director

ADMINISTRATIVE Jeff vom Saal Executive Director Angela Colombo Director of Development Peter Rodgers Director of Marketing & Communications Marty Eshoff Director of Operations Sarah Knowles Patron & Board Relations Associate Craig McAmis Orchestra Personnel Manager Dawn Madole Music Librarian Andrei Gorchov Youth Programs Administrator Chris Jennings Symphony@Schools Coordinator Deborah Walter Accountant Erica Qiao Intern Nicky Church Intern

WEEKLY VOLUNTEERS James Levine, Phyllis Mart, Jan Mettner, Gloria Miner, Peri Sarganis, Judith Purdom

PROGRAM BOOK CREDITS Program Notes, Jon Kochavi Artist Interviews, Indi Young Designer/Editor, Peter Rodgers Advertising Sales, Big Cat Advertising Printer, MSI Litho Cover Photo, Eisaku Tokuyama


Board of Directors & Advisors OFFICERS

Commitee Chairs continued

Board of Directors continued

Dr. Frances L. White President and Chair

Renee Rymer Governance

Peter L. H. Thompson Immediate Past President

Dr. Beth Seaman Youth/Education

Stephen Goldman Vice President

Judith Walker Development

Renee Rymer Vice President

Dr. Frances L. White Strategic Planning

Mary Rabb Renee Rymer Stacy Scott Dr. Beth Seaman Sally Shekou Peter L. H. Thompson Judith Walker Dr. Frances L. White *Orchestra Member

Steven Machtinger* Secretary

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

EMERITUS

Shirin Aryanpour Edward S. Berberian Mary D’Agostino Jenny Douglass* Joanne Dunn Jim Finkelstein Renee Froman* Stephen Goldman Sandra Hoyer Richard Kalish Sepi Kazemi Steven Machtinger* Leslie Miller Catherine Munson Erica Posner* David S. Post

Louis Bartolini Marge Bartolini James Boitano Crawford Cooley Donald Dickey Alfred Heller Grace Hughes Ronald Johnson Stafford Keegin Alice T. May Gloria Miner Elizabeth Mulryan David Poff Hugo Rinaldi Madeleine Sloane

David S. Post Treasurer

COMMITEE CHAIRS Stephen Goldman Audience Development Richard Kalish Personnel Leslie Miller Audit & Investment David S. Post Finance

Marin Symphony Program

One Bank Stands Apart. At Bank of Marin you’ll bank with people who share your same values and commitment to the community. We do everything we can to help local businesses succeed, with a service level unique to an award winning community bank. Call, stop by, or visit us online at bankofmarin.com

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Where great music comes to life.


PHOTO © EISAKU TOKUYAMA

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You, the audience, are the spark that ignites our creative passions. We live to perform, and there’s nothing like playing live music for a great audience to bring out the best in us. We hope it brings out the best in you too, stimulating your imaginations and enriching your souls.

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Alasdair Neale, Music Director

Our journey continues...

Welcome to the 2012 – 2013 Marin Symphony 60th anniversary season — where great music comes to life. Whether you’re a seasoned concertgoer or here for the very first time, we are thrilled and honored to be making music for you. We appreciate you, our loyal patrons and subscribers. It is you who truly are the owners of this organization. Our board, staff, volunteers and the amazing musicians in this fine orchestra owe our thanks to you for providing consistent support — sustaining our Marin Symphony for sixty years. We have ambitious, yet realistic goals and dreams. A sound financial base. A passion for bringing innovative programming to the stage that speaks to the heart of Marin people. We aspire to provide extraordinary music education programs to our community which challenge and nurture our children, encouraging them to think for themselves and act on behalf of others. We seek not just to survive: our desire is to thrive and be known for our work and our thirst for excellence , both on stage and off. To experience an orchestra like ours in full flight is nothing short of spiritual. Our Marin Symphony is, by its very nature, a community gem and should be treated as such. We’re proactively adapting to the changes and realities of challenging times for orchestras, education, and the arts. With all of us working together, we’re confident that our community can continue taking your Marin Symphony to new heights. Join us for a dazzling journey straight to the heart of the music, where conductor, orchestra, soloists and audience become one. Enjoy Romantic Passions, Of Heroes and Angels, and the brilliant new season of inspired performances!

Alasdair Neale

Frances L. White, Ph.D.

Jeff vom Saal

Music Director

President and Board Chair Marin Symphony Association

Executive Director

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IS AT 90.3 | San Francisco 89.9 | Wine Country 104.9 | San Jose More info at kdfc.com 8

Where great music comes to life.


PHOTO © PETER RODGERS

ORCHESTRA

HORN Darby Hinshaw Principal ** Meredith Brown*** Nicky Roosevelt Loren Tayerle

Orchestra Personnel VIOLIN I Jeremy Constant Concertmaster The Catherine Munson Chair Philip Santos Assistant Concertmaster Karen Shinozaki Sor* Assistant Principal The Schultz Family Chair In Honor of Niels Schult z Mark Neyshloss Assistant Principal Sergi Goldman-Hull Emanuela Nikiforova Valerie Tisdel Claudia Fountain Brooke Aird Cindy Lee Van Chandler VIOLIN II Peggy Brady Principal Jeanelle Meyer Assistant Principal Dennie Mehocich* Kathryn Marshall Renee Froman* Joyce Lee Tao Nordlicht Tara Flandreau* Carla Lehmann Michelle Maruyama Akiko Kojima Thomas Yee VIOLA Jenny Douglass Principal The Elsie Rigney Carr Chair Elizabeth Prior-Runnicles Assistant Principal The Constance Vandament Chair Jennifer Sills Meg Eldridge Darcy Rindt Betsy London Oscar Hasbun Dan Kristianson Steven Machtinger Ann Coombs-Kenney

CELLO Jan Volkert* Principal Nancy Bien-Souza Assistant Principal Louella Hasbun David Wishnia Kelley Maulbetsch Elizabeth Vandervennet Isaac Melamed Robin Bonnell Adele-Akiko Kearns Erica Posner BASS Robert Ashley Principal Richard Worn Assistant Principal Pat Klobas Andrew Butler William Everett Andrew McCorkle FLUTE Monica Daniel-Barker Principal Holly Williams Katrina Walter Piccolo OBOE Margot Golding Principal Laura Reynolds English Horn CLARINET Arthur Austin Principal The Jack Bissinger & Robert Max Klein Chair Larry Posner The Tom & Alice May Chair Douglas Fejes Bass Clarinet BASSOON Carla Wilson Principal Karla Ekholm David Granger Contrabassoon

TR UMPET Carole Klein Principal James Rodseth Catherine Murtagh TR OMBONE Bruce Chrisp Principal Craig McAmis Kurt Patzner Bass Trombone TUBA Zachariah Spellman Principal TIMPANI Tyler Mack Principal PERCUSSION Kevin Neuhoff Principal Scott Bleaken Ward Spangler HARP Dan Levitan Principal KEYBOARD Heather Creighton Principal PERSONNEL MANAGER Craig McAmis LIBRARIAN Dawn Madole SANDOR SALGO Music Director Laureate Posthumous CHARLES MEACHAM Concertmaster Emeritus Posthumous

* Former member of Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra ** Principal, Program 3 *** Principal, Programs 1, 2, 4 & 5

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leadership

PHOTO © EISAKU TOKUYAMA

San Francisco Symphony in widely praised performances of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in Germany. His most recent appearance with that orchestra was in February 2007 when he replaced an indisposed Carlos Kalmar to lead the San Francisco Symphony in successful subscription performances.

Alasdair Neale, Music Director There’s nothing like experiencing live classical music played by our Marin Symphony under the leadership of Maestro Alasdair Neale. This is his 12 th season leading our orchestra and he has taken the musicians progressively to higher levels of excellence over the past decade. He’s one of the leading Bay Area conductors and a champion of youth education initiatives. Maestro Neale has made appearances on many of the world’s stages with renowned orchestras and soloists. Music Director Alasdair Neale began his tenure as Music Director of the Marin Symphony in 2001. He also holds the positions of Music Director of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Mr. Neale’s appointment with the Marin Symphony followed 12 years as Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. During that time he conducted both orchestras in hundreds of critically acclaimed concerts both here and abroad. In 1999, he substituted for an ailing Michael Tilson Thomas, conducting the

In his eighteen years as Music Director of the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Mr. Neale has propelled this festival to national status: it is now the largest privately funded free admission symphony in America. He has brought many celebrated guest artists to these annual events. In March 2002, to enthusiastically positive reviews, Mr. Neale collaborated with director Peter Sellars and composer John Adams to open the Adelaide Festival with a production of the opera El Niño. In April 1994, he conducted the San Francisco Symphony in the world premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis’ Colored Field, featuring English horn player Julie Ann Giacobassi. In 1993, the American Symphony Orchestra League named him a Leonard Bernstein American Conducting Fellow, and he led the New Jersey Symphony in a concert at the League’s annual conference. Alasdair Neale maintains a most active guest conducting schedule, both nationally and internationally. His recordings have been released by Arco/Decca and New World Records. Alasdair Neale holds a Bachelor’s degree from Cambridge University and a Master’s from Yale University, where his principal teacher was Otto-Werner Mueller. He lives in San Francisco.

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Sometimes you can’t put your finger on it — and it’s not the same for everyone. Perhaps it’s the flow, the details or just how it makes you feel. What draws you to fine music is not unlike what draws you to a fine home. To view more fine homes, we invite you to visit us at fhallen.com. Isn’t it time to love where you live?

Love where you live sm

Pictured: 10 Margarita, San Rafael

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leadership Dr. Frances L. White Board President Dr. Frances L. White, Superintendent/President Emerita and a community college educator for 32 years, retired as Superintendent/President of the Marin Community College District in June 2010. Previously, she served five years as President of Skyline College in San Bruno, California. Her administrative experience in community colleges covers a variety of roles including serving as the Executive Vice Chancellor at City College of San Francisco and the Interim Chancellor of the San Jose/ Evergreen Community College District. Dr. White has a Ph.D. in education administration from the University of California at Berkeley, a master’s degree in counseling psychology and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the California State University at Hayward. As a professional, Dr. White has served on numerous local, state and national boards, commissions and committees. She is the statewide recipient of the 2010 Harry J. Buttimer Distinguished Administrator Award in the California Community Colleges and was named “Women in Business: Education Leader of 2009” for the North Bay Business Journal. Dr. White currently serves as a lecturer in the Ed.D. Education Leadership Program at San Francisco State University, and is a founding adjunct faculty member of the program. She also works as a CEO search consultant for community colleges; as well as a consultant in strategic planning, organizational review and accreditation management for large and small community colleges. She currently serves as the president and chair of the Board of Directors for the Marin Symphony Association; and she is a new board member for the San Rafael Rotary. She is the author of several publications on educational leadership and lives in Marin with her husband, Harley.

Jeff vom Saal Executive Director Jeff vom Saal was appointed Executive Director of the Marin Symphony Association in July 2012. A native of upstate New York, Jeff began playing the trumpet at age four. Jeff attended and graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and studied with Peter Chapman and Charles Schlueter, members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the time. After graduating from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in 2001, Jeff became interested in arts administration. His first orchestra job was as Executive Director of the Metrowest Youth Symphony Orchestra in Framingham, Massachusetts. In 2005, Jeff and his family moved to Fargo, North Dakota, where he was the Executive Director of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony. In 2007, Jeff was asked to assume the leadership of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, which he did until his move to California this past summer. During his tenure with the QCSO, season ticket sales increased every year, educational programs grew, and the organization expanded the number and style of concerts significantly. Outside the Symphony, Jeff enjoys sailing, cycling, cooking and spending time with friends and family. Jeff has been married to his wife, Robyn, for nine years. They have two children, Melina and Max. The vom Saals live in Mill Valley.

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Anne-Marie McDermott Returns, April 3-7, 2013 Auerbach World Premiere, May 23-26, 2013 Single Tickets are now available online or by calling City Box Office at 415-392-4400 (Mon-Fri 9:30am-5pm, Sat Noon-4pm).

Where great music comes to life.

PHOTO © KRISTIN LOKEN ANSTEY

Experience the contagious energy, passion, and joy of the New Century Chamber Orchestra — one of only a handful of conductorless ensembles in the world.


60 th SEASON

60th season highlights... Inspired in Marin. Every year, thousands of people experience our concerts, hundreds of youth are mentored, and hundreds more are exposed to Youth and Education programs like Symphony@ Schools and Sit-In concerts. Today, your Marin Symphony includes an orchestra that has grown to approximately 85 professional musicians led by Maestro Neale, a highlyacclaimed 100-plus member chorus directed by Stephen McKersie and nearly 100 aspiring young musicians participating in the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra and Crescendo Program under the direction of Ann Krinitsky.

PROGRAM 1: Viva Italia! World renowned for their rhythmic, spirited, and stylized performances in multiple genres, three-time Grammy nominated Quartet San Francisco returned to join forces with the Marin Symphony and Maestro Neale on October 28th and 30 th to open our 60th Season. The world premiere of Jeremy Cohen’s “ Concerto Carnevale” for String Quartet and Orchestra — a spirited musical conversation between Quartet San Francisco as the “soloist” and the Marin Symphony kicked off the season in style. The soloists and orchestra were rewarded with standing ovations from the audience on both Sunday and Tuesday.

The Marin Symphony’s orchestral sound was balanced, transparent, and brilliant throughout. This (Jeremy Cohen’s Concerto Carnevale for String Quartet and Orhcestra) highly evocative piece echoes the music of film composers like Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola … and it could easily work as a movie score. The audience loved it all, and jumped to a standing ovation as soon as the Concerto Carnevale was finished.

Our opening salute to Italy featured Mendelssohn’s joyful, sunny, and festive scenes, as well as the majesty and grandeur of Rome’s pine forests in Respighi’s sonic blockbuster Pines of Rome.

” QSF PHOTOS © PETER RODGERS

GALA PHOTOS © MO DELONG

Marin Symphony Scores With Tour of Italy Viva Italia! concert review, Sunday, October 28, 2012 - Niels Swinkels, San Francisco Classical Voice

QSF made a cameo appearance at our Carnivale Italiano Gala on October 28.

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2012 Holiday Concerts by Candlelight Marin Symphony Chamber Chorus Saturday, December 1st at 7:30pm Sunday, December 2nd at 4:00pm

PHOTOS © PETER RODGERS

The Marin Symphony Holiday Concerts are presented on the first weekend of December at the Church of Saint Raphael, San Rafael. This season’s concerts featured the 38-member Marin Symphony Chamber Chorus, the Marin Girls Chorus, harpist Anna Maria Mendieta, Marin Symphony instrumentalists and smaller vocal ensembles performing world Holiday music. The audience and chorus concluded the programs singing carols in candlelight. The spirit and glow was magical.

2012/13 Season January 25-28 2013

Bach’s St. John Passion

Clara Rottsolk • Brennan Hall • Derek Chester Aaron Sheehan • Joshua Copeland William Sharp • American Bach Choir

Jeffrey Thomas • Music Director

March 1-4 2013

Concerts in San Francisco • Berkeley Belvedere • Davis

Handel: Dixit Dominus ~ Vivaldi: Beatus vir Bach: Concerto for Oboe d’amore Vivaldi: Concerto for Viola d’amore Debra Nagy • Elizabeth Blumenstock Kathryn Mueller • Eric Jurenas Danielle Reutter-Harrah • Robert Stafford American Bach Choir

“Electric camaraderie” San Francisco Classical Voice

Bach, Handel, & Vivaldi

May 3-6 2013

americanbach.org (415) 621-7900 16

Handel’s Apollo & Dafne

Bach: Arias for Bass ~ Handel: Silete venti Mary Wilson • Mischa Bouvier

Where great music comes to life.


60 th SEASON Youth & Education, 2012 & 2013 highlights

Crescendo Concert December 8th, 2012

PHOTO © CALVIN JOW

Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra Concert December 9th, 2012 Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival January 15th, 2012 January 20 th, 2013

PHOTO © PETER RODGERS

National Young Composers Challenge Workshop West (first-ever on the west coast) October 6th, 2012 Workshop and Composium West October 5th & 6 th, 2013 More on page 53

PHOTO © PETER RODGERS

Discover more about our Youth & Education programs BAYOF... starting on page 54

Innovations in Eyewear 210 Bon Air Center • Greenbrae 461-9222

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Fabulous Evenings, Dynamic Speakers, Food & Wine in the Company of Remarkable Women

JENNIFER SIEBEL NEWSOM

Media Madness: Empowering a Cultural Shift

LINDA BURCH

Media Madness: Empowering a Cultural Shift

JAN 29

LAURA LING

Journey of Hope: A Story of Courage, Love and Determination

REBECCA COSTA

MAR 19

APR 30

Adapting to an Increasingly Complex World

Tuesdays evenings from 6:30-9:00pm at the Mill Valley Community Center Presenting Sponsor

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60 th SEASON PROGRAM 2: Romantic Passions Sunday, January 20 th, 2013 at 3:00pm Tuesday, January 22 nd, 2013 at 7:30pm Nigel Armstrong, violin The second Marin Symphony program in its 60th Season brings Bay Area native Nigel Armstrong to the stage and dramatic works Maestro Alasdair Neale has prepared for his 12 th year with the orchestra. Sonoma’s twenty-two-year-old Nigel Armstrong reached international acclaim as a finalist in the 14th Tchaikovsky competition, where he was the highest-ranked prizewinner (Fourth Prize). Program details, notes and an artist interview begin on page 27.

Opening with Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla is a bold start to the program. I’m delighted the technically and musically brilliant Nigel Armstrong is performing with our Marin Symphony. He brings a youthful take to Bruch’s everpopular First Violin Concerto. And finally, Tchaikovsky’s last symphony takes our audience on a hyper-emotionally charged journey that scales the heights and plumbs the depths like few other works in the repertoire. –Alasdair Neale

The Bruch Concerto for Violin is a piece I haven’t played with orchestra before, though it was the first major piece that I learned with my teacher in San Francisco (summer of 2001). I’m very excited to have the chance to play it with an orchestra for the first time. I’m thrilled to be working with Alasdair and playing with the Marin Symphony, especially since I grew up in Sonoma. The Bruch concerto is very fiery in some ways. Some people have described it as younger in temperament. There is unbridled passion, unbridled joy. I certainly hope to convey those aspects to the audience. –Nigel Armstrong

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FAMILY CONCERT: A Family Valentine Sunday, February 10 th, 2013 at 3:00pm

PHOTO © PETER RODGERS

Alexandra Simpson, viola

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The Legend of Marina: Come with us on a musical journey with a head-strong young woman, named after the land in which she was born, who sets out on an adventure — to find her destiny in the world while renewing her love for the place and people from which she comes. Audiences of all ages will delight in seeing familiar lands and landmarks with a new perspective, accompanied by a musical score that underlines their beauty, mystery and significance. We’re partnering with the Marin History Museum and Youth in Arts to create exciting visuals for the performance. More on page 37.

Where great music comes to life.


60 th SEASON PROGRAM 3: Of Heroes and Angels Sunday, March 10 th, 2013 at 3:00pm Tuesday, March 12 th, 2013 at 7:30pm Axel Strauss, violin

–Alexander Kahn, San Francisco Classical Voice

PHOTO © PETER SCHAAF

Beethoven’s “Eroica” broke all the rules and established new musical boundaries. Two centuries later its astonishing powers remain undiminished. American composer Aaron Jay Kernis’ Musica Celestis is a heavenly meditation painted in radiant, ecstatic colors. Program details, notes and an artist interview begin on page 38.

Strauss emphasized the radical shifts of mood throughout the piece, from alternatively fiery and lyrical passages… His performance had an air of refreshing spontaneity that made it seem that the violinist was exploring and discovering the piece anew.

I played with the Marin Symphony seven or six years ago and I loved working with Alasdair. I was thrilled when he asked me to come play the Mozart. I love playing Mozart. I have been playing this particular concerto since I was ten. The more I spend time with Mozart’s music, the more and more I understand on how many levels that guy was a genius. As a performer you try to be in the moment, as present as you can be. You experience the performance as it happens. You can’t think about this difficult shift coming up. Instead, you can positively focus on something else, which is actually the very moment you’re in. Just be. Be the medium that brings the music the life. –Axel Strauss

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PROGRAM 4: Remembrance and Renewal Sunday, April 14 th, 2013 at 3:00pm Tuesday, April 16 th, 2013 at 7:30pm Featuring the Marin Symphony Chorus Brahms’ noble A German Requiem pays homage to the living in his towering choral masterpiece. Anna Clyne’s Within her Arms is a sensitive meditation for strings. Separated by 150 years, both works were inspired by the deaths of the composers’ mothers. More on page 47.

… the Marin Symphony Chorus, directed by Stephen McKersie, shown in the finale [Beethoven Symphony No. 9], making a strong conclusion to a double assignment.”

–Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

SAVE THE DATE! Mountain Play Dress Rehearsal Saturday, May 18 th, 2013 at 2:00pm Gates open at 11:00am Sound of Music “Sneak Preview” Benefit Don’t miss this annual Marin Symphony and Mountain Play tradition! Only 1000 tickets will be sold (discounts available for groups of 10 or more). Tickets are $40 for adults, $30 for children 6–18, and children under 6 are FREE. For tickets, call us: 415.479.8100. SAVE THE “NEW” DATE! Marin Syphony Golf Tournament, Dinner & Auction Monday, June 3 rd, 2013 at Marin Country Club. Details and more will be posted on marinsymphony.org.

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Where great music comes to life.


60 th SEASON

PROGRAM 5: Vive la France! Sunday, May 5 th, 2013 at 3:00pm Tuesday, May 7 th, 2013 at 7:30pm Joyce Yang, piano Debussy’s Piano Preludes are miniature masterpieces of tone painting. In an unusual juxtaposition you’ll hear them twice: first in the original piano version and then in ingenious orchestrations by Colin Matthews. Our season finale, the glorious masterpiece, La Mer, evokes the winds, the waves, the sounds and ambience of the sea, with Debussy’s sensuous tonal colors and gorgeous impressionistic harmonies. More on page 49.

–The Washington Post

The first impression Yang gives is of the pleasure she takes in the purely physical act of playing the piano. She’s not showy. Her attention to detail and clarity is as impressive as her agility, balance and creativity…

–Joan Reinthaler, The Washington Post

” PHOTO © OH SEOK HOON

Poetic and sensitive pianism… capable of hurling thunderbolts

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60 th SEASON

Pre-Concert Talks

PHOTO © PETER RODGERS

Half-hour talks with Music Director Alasdair Neale reveal insights into the creative process and expose the backstory behind performance s. Guest artists appear alongside the Maestro, engaging in conversations with each other and the audience.

Pre-Concert Talks begin on Sundays at 2:00pm and Tuesdays at 6:30pm, and are free for all ticket holders.

Tuesday Night Wrap Parties The gatherings after the evening’s performance are a Marin Symphony tradition. All Tuesday night ticket holders are invited to mingle with guest artists, orchestra members, Alasdair Neale and each other at Four Points by Sheraton San Rafael.

Book locally. Travel globally.

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PROGRAM

2 JANUARY 20 SUN @ 3:00 PM

JANUARY 22

N I G E L ARMSTRONG — v i olin

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TUES @ 7:30 PM


P R O G R AM 2: R OMANTIC PASSIONS

Alasdair Neale conducting Nigel Armstrong soloist

January 20, 2013 — Sunday at 3:00pm January 22, 2013 — Tuesday at 7:30pm

Glinka Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla Bruch Concerto for Violin No. 1 in G Minor, Opus 26

Vorspiel: Allegro moderato Adagio Finale: Allegro energico

Nigel Armstrong, violin

INTERMISSION Tchaikovsky

Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Opus 74, “Pathétique” Adagio Allegro Allegro Finale:

– Allegro non troppo con grazia molto vivace Adagio lamentoso – Andante

Concerts made possible in part by the generous support of Kaiser Permanente and Montecito Plaza Shopping Center with sustaining support from William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and Marin Community Foundation

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Program 2 Notes January 20 & 22, 2013 by Jon Kochavi Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla (

1842

)

Russian composer Mikhail Glinka based his second opera Ruslan and Ludmilla on a set of verses by Pushkin. Glinka had approached Pushkin with the idea, and there was talk of an adaptation of the fairy tale into a libretto by Mikhail Glinka the great writer himself, ( 1804 – 1857 ) but Pushkin was killed in a duel some months later in 1837. Still wishing to push forward, Glinka had his friend Bakhturin sketch a scenario, which Glinka reported he did “in a quarter of an hour while drunk.” A half dozen librettists tinkered with the text for years, resulting in a convoluted story involving multiple kidnappings of Ruslan’s beloved Ludmilla, search parties’ encounters with a wicked dwarf and his brother’s disembodied head, a friendly wizard and an evil wizardess, a magic ring, a magic sword, and a sleeping spell. With such a chaotic patchwork, the opera was not initially received well, but the boisterous Overture has long been a favorite in the repertoire. Based directly on music from the body of the opera, the Overture was the last part of the opera Glinka wrote, later admitting, “I wrote it straight out for orchestra, often working in the producer’s room during rehearsals.” The opening quick passagework showcases the orchestral violins, nicely setting up the wedding scene between Ruslan and Ludmilla that opens the opera as well as providing a musical frame, as the same music will come back in the triumphant final scene of the opera.

Max Bruch

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1838 – 1920

)

My Violin Concerto is progressing slowly — I do not feel sure of my feet on this terrain. Do you not think that it is in fact very audacious to write a Violin Concerto? Even after the concerto’s first performance in Coblenz in 1866, Bruch was still unsatisfied. He claimed to have rewritten the concerto “at least a half dozen times.” During this revision period, he consulted with a number of violinists including Joseph Joachim who recognized Bruch’s talent for melody, especially in his writing for the violin. After the work had undergone some fine tuning, Joachim served as soloist for the first performance of the definitive version in January, 1868, and years later called Bruch’s effort “the richest and most seductive” of all the great German violin concertos — high praise from the violinist who played such a key role in Brahms’ contribution to the genre.

Vorspiel: Allegro moderato Adagio Finale: Allegro energico

The success of the concerto was immediate, but Bruch could not have anticipated the lasting fame that the work would bring him. The popularity of the work actually became a burden for him as it tended to overshadow his other accomplishments, not the least of which included two later violin concertos which Bruch considered “just as good, if not better” than the G minor concerto. His annoyance at the work’s widespread celebrity was only compounded by his unfortunate decision to sell the rights to the concerto outright to the publisher very early on. Nevertheless, this concerto has remained a staple in the repertoire largely due to Bruch’s incredible gift for lyricism that seems to flow so effortlessly in his writing for the solo instrument here.

In 1865, Bruch began his duties as director of the Royal Institute of Music in Coblenz. This left him little time to compose his own

The concerto opens with an unusual first movement. Instead of a traditional sonata form allegro, Bruch writes what could be characterized as a dramatic dialogue between the solo violin and the orchestra (“Vorspiel” means “prelude”).

Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Opus 26 ( 1864 – 1867 )

(

music, which partially explains the lengthy gestation of his best known work, the violin concerto that Mr. Armstrong will play this evening. In fact, work on the concerto was begun just before his arrival in Coblenz and was finished shortly after his departure in the fall of 1867. However, there were other factors that contributed to delayed completion of the work. Bruch was not a violinist himself, and with tremendously popular Beethoven and Mendelssohn violin concertos casting a long shadow, Bruch was acutely critical of his own effort in the genre. His trepidation comes through clearly in a November 1865 letter to Ferdinand Hiller, his composition teacher:

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P R O G R A M 2 N OT ES: ROMANTIC PASSIONS The repetition of the opening theme leads into the second movement, which is linked to the first with a single held note in the violins. The beautiful E-flat major adagio is cast in sonata form. It is here in the long, singing lines of the solo violin that Bruch’s mastery of lyrical writing is most apparent. The G major Finale is a rollicking dance with a distinctively Hungarian flavor, perhaps, as biographer Christopher Fifield points out, influencing Brahms to write a remarkably similar finale to his own violin concerto ten years later.

Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky ( 1840 – 1893 )

that I am back home, I have settled down to sketch the score, and it is going with such speed that in less than four days, I have completed the first movement and the remainder is clearly outlined in my mind…. It will be novel in form; the finale for example is not a loud Allegro but an Adagio of considerable dimensions. You cannot imagine the joy I feel in the conviction that my time is not yet over and that I may still accomplish a great deal. Of course, I may be wrong, but I do not think so.

Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Opus 74, “Pathétique” ( 1892 – 93 )

Various travels and other composition projects forced him to delay orchestrating the symphony until the summer, but by early September it was complete. Although the orchestration proceeded slowly, Tchaikovsky’s regard for his new work only grew, as he wrote to Davidov in August:

Adagio – Allegro non troppo Allegro con grazia Allegro molto vivace Finale: Adagio lamentoso – Andante

I will in no way be surprised if this symphony is criticized or not much thought of — it will not be the first time that this has happened. But, I myself consider it the best and especially the most sincere of my works. I love it as I have never before loved any of my musical offspring…

Premiered just nine days before Tchaikovsky’s death, the Symphony No. 6 has become inextricably linked to the composer’s untimely passing. The dark and at times funereal mood of the outer movements supports this connection. However, the notion that Tchaikovsky wrote the symphony as a kind of autobiographical premonition of his own death is unfounded. Piecing together the final year of Tchaikovsky’s life, we find him to be at the pinnacle of his artistic power, a composer whose international reputation had made him soughtafter worldwide. His pace of composition had, if anything, quickened during this last year, despite throwing out a nearly complete symphony at the end of 1892. In February 1893, Tchaikovsky wrote to his nephew Vladimir Davidov (the eventual dedicatee of the Pathétique) about a new symphony:

I must tell you how happy I am about my work. As you know, I have destroyed a symphony that I began in autumn for it had little that was truly fine in it, only an empty pattern of sounds without inspiration. Just as I was starting on my trip [to Paris in December], the idea came to me for a new symphony, this time with a program, but a program that must remain hidden. Let those who can, guess it. The work will be entitled ‘A Program Symphony’ (No. 6). The program is saturated with subjective sentiment, and during my journey, I often shed tears while composing it in my mind. Now

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Program 2 Notes January 20 & 22, 2013 continued Tchaikovsky’s spirits remained high leading up to the premiere. His friend, Moscow music critic Kashkin, recalled a joking conversation they had at the time: “I told Peter he would outlive us all. He disputed the likelihood, but added that he had never felt so well and happy.” As he predicted, there was a lackluster response to the work upon its premiere on October 28 in St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky seemed unfazed, though, attending a play on November 1 and celebrating afterwards with a friend in the cast, assuring him that they both had long lives ahead of them. Five days later, Tchaikovsky would be dead. The cause of his death is still a matter of contentious dispute. A cholera epidemic in St. Petersburg and an ill-advised decision to drink a glass of unboiled water make the original determination of the source of Tchaikovsky’s illness as cholera plausible. But within weeks of his death, rumors began circulating that he had actually committed suicide. (Tchaikovsky had made a half-hearted attempt to take his own life some 15 years prior, as his disastrous marriage was rapidly disintegrating). It wasn’t until an article by musicologist Alexandra Orlova came out in 1981 that this rumor gained traction, largely due to its acceptance by respected Tchaikovsky biographer David Brown who codified it in the definitive “Tchaikovsky” entry in the New Groves Dictionary. Orlova argued that Tchaikovsky committed suicide at the urging of a “court of honor” made up of his former classmates at the School of Jurisprudence. They worried that his homosexual liason with a young nobleman would ruin his alma mater’s reputation, and only suicide would prevent this scandal from becoming public. Other musicologists, including Richard Taruskin, have argued vehemently against this account, claiming that it is based largely on unsubstantiated rumor. The truth surrounding Tchaikovsky’s death may never be definitively determined. The program Tchaikovsky had for his symphony also remains a mystery. The only hint we get is in its moniker, which became attached to the symphony the day after its premiere. Tchaikovsky’s brother, Modeste, wrote of the decision made that morning:


P R O G R A M 2 N OT ES: ROMANTIC PASSIONS I found my brother sitting at the breakfast table with the score… but still could not decide on the title. He did not want it to just have a number and had abandoned his original intention of calling it “A Program Symphony.” He asked, ‘Why “Program” when I do not intend to tell what the program is?’ I suggested calling it ‘Tragic Symphony’ but that did not please him either. I left the room before he had come to a decision. Then suddenly the word ‘pathetic’ occurred to me, I went back to the room and said the word to Peter. And I remember as though it were yesterday, how my brother exclaimed,‘Bravo! Splendid! Pathetic!’ and as I watched, he wrote on the score the title by which is has been known ever since. The word pathetic here is taken to mean “emotional,” “passionate,” or “with great feeling,” without the overtones of inadequacy which its current English usage suggests. While in sonata form, the first movement is unusual in the way that it starkly delineates its themes and sections. The tormented, tragic opening theme grows out of the solo bassoon line of the introduction, a kind of reverse sigh that climbs upward — not reflective or resigned, but actively pained with a tension that continues to grow. The famous romantic theme is completely separated from this dark opening, appearing as a reverie that fades through a pppppp dynamic in the closing descent in the clarinet. The peace is abruptly broken by a ff tutti chord which brings the tragic and increasingly menacing theme back. When the romantic theme returns

richly orchestrated in the recapitulation, its mood is mercifully retained and extended through the coda. Although in 5/4 time, the second movement is unmistakably a waltz. Some listeners have called it a “limping” waltz, or one with “two left feet,” but it is actually remarkable for its lack of awkwardness despite its unusual meter. The outer sections are bright and carefree, but the middle section, with its unrelenting, pulsing pedal on D (unusual in its B minor context), is unsettling, with references to the opening movement. Opening with a flittering motum perpetuum, the third movement eventually coalesces into a light-hearted march led by the winds. Later the winds provide ornamental episodes for repeated chordal declarations in the strings. The recapitulation of the themes builds with triumphant brass to a dramatic finish. The fourth movement plunges us back into the depths of conflict from the first movement. The passionate opening lament in the strings has the first and second violins playing alternating notes of the melody, with inner voices similarly divided. This highly unorthodox orchestration fragments the lines which ironically creates a more unified sound as the individual string sections can gain meaning only in the context of the whole. The beautifully lyrical D major second theme alters the mood, but as soon as it hesitates, the lament returns. When the second theme returns, it is recast tragically in minor, revealing its close association with the dark middle section from the waltz movement. It gradually sinks through the lowest registers of the orchestra and fades away into nothingness.

COLLEGE OF MARIN DRAMA DEPARTMENT PRESENTS

! l s t y e r a y M c M i james Du s u A y

b ed Direct

Special Opening Night Gala Performance

Director James Dunn

Celebrating the dedication of the James Dunn Theatre and James Dunn’s 80th birthday on March 1, 2013 at 8 pm. Proceeeds will benefit COM Performing Arts Programs. A limited number of tickets are available at $65 each for a preshow talk with James Dunn and reception, including special preshow musical performances, hors d’oeuvres, preferred seating at the gala performance, and after show birthday party! Gala ticket information: 415.485.9555

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Announcement of title restricted by Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals until mid-January 2013

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P R O G R A M 2 N OT ES: ROMANTIC PASSIONS

Guest Artist: Nigel Armstrong

Born in Sonoma, California, Mr. Armstrong made his solo debut at the age of 12 with the Baroque Sinfonia in Santa Rosa. Since then, he has appeared as soloist with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Orchestra of Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and Norwegian Radio Orchestra. He’s performed with multiple orchestras in California, including the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, the Burbank Philharmonic, the Downey Symphony Orchestra, and the American Philharmonic of Sonoma County, and in Nevada with the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2011 he performed the Korngold Violin Concerto with Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Colburn Orchestra. He has performed in many recitals including, most recently, for the Sonoma Classical Music Society with pianist Elizabeth Dorman on January 5th, 2013.

Twenty-two-year-old California Bay Area native Nigel Armstrong reached international acclaim as Fourth Prizewinner in the 14th Tchaikovsky International Competition — winning an award for the commissioned work by the renowned composer John Corigliano as well.

During the 2012-13 season, Mr. Armstrong appears as a soloist with the Marin Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Stamford (CT) Symphony, and returns to the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on their Baroque Conversations series leading a solo performance/lecture on the solo violin works of Bach.

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P R O G R A M 2 N OT ES: ROMANTIC PASSIONS

Nigel Armstrong Artist interview highlights by Indi Young The Bruch Concerto for Violin is a piece I haven’t played with orchestra before, but it was my first major piece that I learned with my teacher in San Francisco. Before I turned 10, my teacher and I worked for about a year and a half on a bunch of basic things, etudes and shorter pieces, setting up my technique in a proper way. It was in the summer of 2001 that he said I might be ready for a major work. He gave me the Bruch concerto. I was very excited… it was a big moment for me. I’m very excited to have the chance to play it with orchestra for the first time. It’ll be a great experience. Since I learned it when I was 11, I have played it in orchestra for other violin soloists. It’s nice to know the orchestra part of it—to get a sense of it that way. I do find that whenever one goes back to a piece, you discover new things and look at it a different way. My teacher always said it’s best to let pieces marinate for a while. I think it’s a very different feeling playing different parts that make up a piece. For me, to have the experience of playing in the orchestra, follow a soloist playing the piece, you get a sense for what are the parts … things that really stick out and things that fall apart, and where you can apply more. You get a better sense for what one, as a soloist, can do and should do. I think learning a piece, just the solo part, you certainly get a sense of the notes. You listen to recordings, play with a piano, get a sense of it. It’s nice to have a birds-eye view of it from having also played it in the orchestra. I’m very excited to be working with Alasdair and playing with the Marin Symphony, especially since growing up in Sonoma. The Bruch concerto is very fiery in some ways. Some people have described it as younger in temperament. There is unbridled passion, unbridled joy. It’s younger more in temperament than in form or composition, in relation to the other Germanic violin concertos. I certainly hope to convey those aspects to the audience. I have in my mind what I want to convey, and I think about conveying that. It’s a product of what I’ve heard from other violinists, other performers, and what I imagine what can be done with the piece. It’s my conception of the best performance, the best violin playing of the piece I can imagine. It’s my teaching, my past, my temperament. The passion and emotions happen as a result of that.

I will be doing other performances throughout the year while at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. I’m in my second year of a two-year diplomacy program devoted to classical music there. I picked Curtis because of all that I knew about the school and its reputation. It has been around since 1924, and it’s really … not perhaps as well known in the public sphere as Julliard, but it’s smaller and I feel like what I knew of the level and the teachers there, I was very happy to be accepted. I am very inspired by all the musicians there. Before I left for school this past Fall, I was in Aspen, Colorado for the music festival. I played there as a student and I have a lot of friends that play there now. I love hiking, river rafting and the mountains and getting out in nature. Aspen is a so beautiful and it’s wonderful to be in a place like that … we do musician things, like practicing, attending performances and reading chamber music. Chamber music is playing anything that requires between 3-9 players, mostly four players. Instead of working on the pieces in order to perform them, they’re pieces we know, and we just for fun, really, read the music together. It’s pretty common in conservatories, and at chamber music festivals. You get to know the pieces, it’s less serious, and it’s a way of interacting with the other participants. I also play a bit of jazz, myself. I enjoy jamming a bit, and fiddle tunes. I like taking a jazz tune and improvising on it, depending on what combination of instruments we have. I just find a few people who like to do it.” When asked if Nigel and his friends have put some of these on YouTube, he responded . Oh no! It’s for fun. We don’t want to embarrass ourselves. I do have some things up on YouTube… performances that I’ve done. I try to make sense of what’s good to put up there. For instance, Mozart … there is a lot of classical music on YouTube being played by many people. There can be 100 renditions of one piece on YouTube. What I have up there are special performances… I did some tango music while in Argentina last July. Originally I went for a violin competition, but there was a round that wasn’t tied to the competition itself. We were supposed to play tangos that were arranged for violin and accordion. I really enjoyed it and I really liked the feel of it. It’s still an evolving form of music… very rhythmically driven but with a lot of freedom above it. I was really drawn to the sounds, chords, and rhythms.

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FEBRUARY 2013

PHOTO © PETER RODGERS

ALEXANDRA SIMPSON — viola

A Family Valentine

FEBR UARY 10 SUNDAY @ 3:00 PM

Ann Krinitsky, conducting

Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra musicians assist aspiring young artists at the Petting Zoo following the Family Concert. The energy and enthusiasm is captivating! Sponsored by The Magic Flute.

Ann Krinitsky marinsymphony.org • 415.479.8100 • facebook.com/marinsymphony

PHOTO © PETER RODGERS

Berlioz Le Corsaire Overture Berlioz Harold in Italy (excerpts) I. Harold in the mountains. Scenes of melancholy, happiness and joy. II. Procession of pilgrims singing the evening hymn. III. Serenade of an Abruzzi-mountaineer to his sweetheart. IV. The brigand’s feast. Reminiscences of the preceding scenes. Telemann Viola Concerto featuring the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra viola section Doyle Music from the hit movie Brave

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PROGRAM

3

AX E L S T R AU S S — violin

MARCH 10 SUN @ 3:00 PM

MARCH 12

PHOTO © PETER SCHAAF

TUES @ 7:30 PM

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Where great music comes to life.


P R O G R A M 3: OF HER OES AND ANGELS

Alasdair Neale conducting Axel Strauss soloist

March 10, 2013 — Sunday at 3:00pm March 12, 2013 — Tuesday at 7:30pm

Kernis Musica Celestis Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219

Allegro aperto Adagio Rondo: Tempo di Menuetto

Axel Strauss, violin

INTERMISSION Beethoven

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Opus 55, “Eroica” Allegro con brio Marcia funebre: Adagio assai Scherzo: Allegro vivace Finale: Allegro molto

Concerts made possible in part by the generous support of US Bank and Marin Independent Journal with sustaining support from William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and Marin Community Foundation

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Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K.219 ( 1775 )

Program 3 Notes March 10 & 12, 2013 by Jon Kochavi

Musica Celestis (

1990

Allegro aperto Adagio Rondo: Tempo di Menuetto

)

American composer Aaron Jay Kernis first came to prominence in the early 1980’s when his Dream of the Morning Sky was premiered by the New York Philharmonic. He is now one of the most recognized Aaron Jay Kernis composers in the country, ( b. 1960 ) having been performed by every major orchestra and winning the Pulitzer for his 1998 String Quartet No. 2. Kernis’s style is eclectic, but his music can generally be described as direct and vivid, colorful and highly expressive.

Musica Celestis for string orchestra is among Kernis’s best-known works. It owes a clear debt to fellow Philadelphian Samuel Barber and his 1936 Adagio for Strings. Like Barber’s Adagio, Musica Celestis is arranged from the slow movement of a string quartet, Kernis’s First written earlier that year. The piece is a sustained, ethereal reflection, building to a moving climax at the upper reaches of the strings’ registers, furthering the parallel with Barber’s piece. Kernis explained the conceptual origins and form of the piece as follows: … Musica Celestis is inspired by the medieval conception of that phrase which refers to the singing of the angels in heaven in praise of God without end. “The office of singing pleases God if it is performed with an attentive mind, when in this way we imitate the choirs of angels who are said to sing the Lord’s praises without ceasing.” (Aurelian of Réöme, translated by Barbara Newman). I don’t particularly believe in angels, but found this to be a potent image that has been reinforced by listening to a good deal of medieval music, especially the soaring work of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). [The piece] follows a simple, spacious melody and harmonic pattern through a number of variations (like a passacaglia) and modulations, and is framed by an introduction and codas.

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During a concentrated period of composition in the last half of 1775 in Salzburg, Mozart wrote the last four of his five violin concertos, completing the fifth in December of that year. Although Mozart the performer was chiefly associated with the piano, he was also an accomplished violinist, and he probably had himself in mind as soloist when he wrote the concertos for his court orchestra in 1775. The compositions must have warmed the cockles of his father’s heart, as he had always considered his son’s talents on the violin to be exceptional but underutilized. In 1772, his father wrote to him,

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( 1756 – 1791 )

You don’t realize yourself how well you play the violin when you are on your mettle and perform with confidence, spirit, and fire. Leopold continued to encourage his son’s violin playing through the years, writing to him in 1777,

When I was saying the other day that you played the violin passably, [Salzburg violinist Antonio] Brunetti burst out, “What? Nonsense! He could play anything! Although later violin concertos have been dubiously attributed to him, the concerto that we hear this evening is probably the last complete violin concerto that Mozart wrote (he did go on to write a number of individual movements for violin and orchestra). Since the four concertos were written over such a short period, comparing them provides an interesting insight into the development of Mozart’s style. While all are admirably constructed and exude the grace and proportion that are typically associated with Mozart, the first (of the four) is somewhat slight and is not performed as often as the others. The middle two are more substantial and better suited to the concert hall. But the one we hear tonight is clearly a notch above the others in complexity, expressivity, sophistication of orchestration, and structural innovation. The first movement contains a twist in its form that scholar Donald Tovey called “one of the greatest surprises ever perpetuated in a concerto.”

Where great music comes to life.


P R O G R A M 3 N OT E S : OF HEROES AND ANGELS The final movement also contains a witty surprise: a “Turkish” theme appears quite unexpectedly in the middle of that movement. Mozart actually borrowed the theme from music that he had composed two years earlier for the ballet Le gelosie del serraglio. The unique combination of humor and elegance in this concerto has made it a favorite among audiences and violinists for over 200 years. The innovation in the first movement comes after the standard concerto introduction of themes by the orchestra. Instead of having the solo violin launch into a repetition of these themes, Mozart suddenly shifts to adagio, and the violin enters with an expressive new melody. When the allegro does start up again, the violin introduces yet another new theme that includes a spiral descent that seems to accelerate into the fall. The initial orchestral material serves as accompaniment and bridging material, and only the second part of the opening tutti is taken up by the soloist.

The E major second movement begins with an orchestral section that sets a comfortable pace and is characterized by quick shifts between piano and forte. The form is fairly free, with three distinct entrances by the violin, each expanding on the introduction through B major and G# minor. The movement ends with a cadenza. Each movement of the work contains a cadenza; the cadenzas written by nineteenth-century violinist Joseph Joachim have become standard in modern performances. The rondo finale, in the form A-B-A-C-A-D-A-B-A, begins as a stately, refined minuet, a stylized dance that is crisp and graceful. One can only imagine the surprise of the first audience when the A minor D section began and the Classical violinist suddenly became a gypsy fiddler! The Turkish dance moves along at breakneck speed, and short, rude chromatic waves sweep up and down in the orchestra between the fiddler’s sections. The low strings are even directed to play col legno, with the wood part of their bows. A cadenza links the gypsy episode back to the refined minuet.

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Program 3 Notes March 10 & 12, 2013 continued Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Opus 55, “Eroica” ( 1803 – 04 )

Allegro con brio Marcia funebre: Adagio assai Scherzo: Allegro vivace Finale: Allegro molto

Ludwig van Beethoven (

1770 – 1827

)

A true watershed work, the “Eroica” marks a turning point not only in Beethoven’s career but in the whole history of modern music. – Joseph Kerman The greatest single step made by an individual composer in the history of the symphony and in the history of music in general. –Paul Henry Lang Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 is universally acknowledged as one of the two or three most important works in all of Western music. It is longer and more complex than any symphony written before it. Beethoven’s use of motive and theme in the work were wholly unique at the time. The masterful development of his motivic ideas, so thoroughly complete, seems so natural to us now only because of the influence the “Eroica” had over future composers. Beethoven’s treatment of form is also entirely original, expanding the breadth of Classical sonata form and introducing a new take on theme and variation form (not to mention including a funeral march movement in a symphony, unheard of at the time). The story of the “Eroica” dedication is well known. The original title Beethoven gave to the symphony was “Bonaparte” in honor of Napoleon, whom Beethoven idolized for his republican ideals. However, on May 18, 1804, Napoleon’s newly ratified constitution stipulated that the government of the “Republic” was to be led by a hereditary Emperor, Napoleon himself. Upon hearing this news, Beethoven flew into a rage, saying,

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Then he’s nothing but an ordinary man. Now he’ll trample on all the rights of men to serve his own ambition; he will put himself higher than all others and turn out a tyrant! The symphony’s dedication was rescinded, the title furiously erased from the manuscript. In its place, Beethoven gave the symphony the heroic title by which it is now familiar, including the further subtitle: “To celebrate the memory of a great man.” With this history of the work as a backdrop, many musicologists have attempted to ascribe a program to the symphony, usually tracing a narrative thread involving the journey of a hero towards his ultimate victory. Others have argued that with a second movement funeral of the heroic subject, any such narrative is bound to fall flat, and that the piece is so musically rich, overlaying a story upon it is superfluous. In his ground-breaking book Beethoven Hero, Scott Burnham discusses the “Eroica” as the ideal battleground between programmatic and formalist approaches to musical analysis. According to Burnham,

[The] fundamental view of the musical process is constrained in the same ways [for both approaches]. The overmastering coherence heard in works like the “Eroica” Symphony has both inspired the use of the heroic metaphor and encouraged the coronation of such coherence as the ruling musical value of the formalist agenda. Therefore, it is the unity of the music itself that impresses us no matter which vantage point we take (or which narrative we read into the music). For Burnham, the “Eroica” represents a landmark because it raised the value of musical “coherence” to new heights, changing forever our underlying view of what music is. As for Beethoven himself, he was most concerned with having his contemporary audience pay attention through the entirety of his new symphony, writing,

As the symphony somewhat exceeds the usual length, it should be played rather nearer the beginning than the end of the concert... Otherwise it might lose some of its effect on an audience that is somewhat fatigued by what has gone before.

Where great music comes to life.


P R O G R A M 3 N OT E S : OF HEROES AND ANGELS

After two percussive bursts, the first theme slips in ephemerally in the cellos. The theme itself is utter simplicity: essentially an arpeggio, an unlikely candidate to sustain a long and complex movement. But Beethoven begins developing it immediately, gradually unraveling its hidden potential. There is a rich array of secondary themes, really just motivic fragments, that neatly fit together. The monumental development section powerfully spins out of themes introduced in the exposition. In addition to combining themes and presenting them in a fugato, Beethoven’s masterstroke here is the introduction of a completely new theme in minor, the most lyrical gesture in the entire movement. Just before the recapitulation, a single horn enters with the first theme a few bars “early,” creating a surprising dissonance and foreshadowing the expanded role of the horns in the recapitulation. The coda is nearly as long as the exposition, keeping scale with the massive movement and giving Beethoven an opportunity to bring back the lyrical minor theme from the development. The main theme of the C minor funeral march is stated in a repeated exchange between the violins and the oboe. The marching triplet rhythm of this theme are transformed into lilting memories of a happier time in the C major middle section. When the main theme returns, it quickly melts into a passionate fugato that is capped with a complete return of the theme with full orchestration. At the end of the coda, the main theme begins to fragment in the violins, giving us a hint at what is to come in the final movement.

The exciting scherzo builds on a rhythmic element from the first movement. Both in 3/4, the first movement plays with metric ambiguities by leaving out notes on downbeats, accenting off-beats, and presenting duple patters in the triple meter. The scherzo uses the same techniques, starting with the opening figure which alternates two one-beat notes in the 3/4 context. Thematic fragments in the winds clarify the meter, but pass by so quickly there’s hardly time to get comfortable. The contrasting trio section is built around an inspired horn fanfare resembling a hunting call. A quick introduction to the finale is followed by an odd pizzicato pattern in the strings. Of course, this turns out to be part of the variation theme: the bass portion in isolation. But this bass line has enough melodic interest of its own to serve as a countermelody to the main melody of the variation. Beethoven withholds this main melody though, until variation three where it finally appears in the oboe. The following variation immediately pushes the envelope with a shift to C minor and a fugato on the bass melody, and groups with the next three modulatory variations to form a kind of development set. Variation eight continues the development with an ingenious fugato on an inversion of the bass melody. The final three variations, including a glorious wind chorale and a majestic horn adaptation, serve the role of the recapitulation. A wild presto coda puts a final exclamation point on this ground-breaking work.

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Axel Strauss Artist interview highlights by Indi Young

Guest Artist: Axel Strauss The first German artist to ever win the International Naumburg Violin Award in New York, Axel Strauss has been equally acclaimed for his virtuosity and his musical sensitivity. Mr. Strauss made his American debut at the Library of Congress in Washington DC and his New York debut at Alice Tully Hall in 1998. Mr. Strauss has performed as soloist with major orchestras in North America, Europe and Asia and has collaborated with conductors such as Maxim Shostakovitch, Rico Saccani, Joseph Silverstein, and Alasdair Neale. Mr. Strauss has also served as guest concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic as well as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. Axel Strauss has given concerts in Moscow, Vilnius, Berlin, Bremen, Leipzig and Nuremberg. Concert tours have taken him to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Romania. He has also toured South America and performed in Japan with the Philharmonic Violins Berlin. In 1996 he began working with the late Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School and became her teaching assistant in 1998. He has also worked with such artists as Itzhak Perlman, Felix Galimir, and Ruggiero Ricci, and at the Marlboro Music Festival with Richard Goode, Mitsuko Uchida and Andras Schiff. Mr. Strauss has been residing in the United States since 1996. He maintains a busy performance schedule and serves as Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal. Before moving to Canada he was Professor of Violin and Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Axel Strauss performs on an outstanding violin by J.F. Pressenda, Turin 1845, on extended loan through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society in Chicago.

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I played with the Marin Symphony seven or six years ago and I loved working with Alasdair. He’s a terrific conductor and a terrific guy. I was thrilled when he asked me to come play the Mozart. I love playing Mozart. I have been playing this particular concerto since I was ten. The more I spend time with Mozart’s music, the more and more I understand on how many levels that guy was a genius. I think there are a lot of composers who have great craftsmanship, but to have the ability to create complex characters with his music …! Mozart is widely regarded as an opera composer. A lot of his instrumental music is compared with his operas. He uses the same tools to create characters in his instrumental music. That goes far beyond craftsmanship. That takes vision. It’s like Shakespeare, who also combined great technical skill with vision. It’s great that you know how to spell and you can construct good dialogue. But you have to have the vision to create the characters. Mozart hides the process so well it looks effortless. From a composer’s standpoint, his music appears like he could just write it and it would be complete right away. It never feels like something that went through many different stages and has been worked on. It feels immediate. It’s as if he had this idea, and it was perfect right away. He was known to write some of his pieces in some the noisiest bars in town. He sat down and just wrote his music. It was probably going through his mind for some time, and he finished it in his head before he sat down. As a performer you try to be in the moment, as present as you can be. You experience the performance as it happens. It’s harder than you think. When you practice a piece, you study it, you work on it, you criticize yourself, you make it better, and you develop it. You play many roles: performer, critic, listener. It’s not so easy in the performance to turn off those different aspects that are needed when you practice. But when you perform, you cannot question what you did. If you do something you did not intend to do, you can’t dwell on that. You can’t think about this difficult shift coming up. Instead, you can positively focus on something else, which is actually the very moment you’re in. Just be. Be the medium that brings the music the life. If you think about it, unless you are improvising, you’re looking basically at a piece of paper with symbols on it. Your job is to translate those symbols into sound. We have to translate what the composer meant when he wrote those symbols down, and we give a lot of ourselves into that translation as well. That’s why we are the medium.

Where great music comes to life.


P R O G R A M 3 N OT E S : OF HEROES AND ANGELS

We will never know for sure what the composer meant, though. We seem to have lost all the phone numbers for these guys. You build your understanding over time of the music you are playing, but also, for Mozart, knowing the operas and the chamber music, and his biography. You read how these came into being, and what motivated him. If you go into it, if you do the research, the music will be better. Mozart was extremely adept at understanding human nature. A parallel is Shakespeare. He was also able to paint characters that have so many layers to them. That is why they, to this day, still feel real. People haven’t really changed. The passions that drive people haven’t changed. That’s why the music from that era is still relevant. It means something today because it addresses the picture of human nature. With respect to the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 I will be playing, I can’t necessarily give you a story line. It’s difficult to describe without listening to the piece altogether. The piece is extremely witty, first of all. The first movement is witty in terms of quick changes—the energy of the music changes quickly. It’s very engaging on that level. Compositionally, it’s a big joke because all he uses as a building block is the A Major triad. The entire piece is based on the A Major triad, and it’s amazing he can build it on something so simple. The last movement has this section where he writes Turkish music. The Turks were seen as a threat at that time; the Turks were besieging Vienna. They were a culture that people were not familiar with, and people thought of them as the devil. People were afraid. Mozart makes this movement into a kind of joke about people being afraid. It’s not meant to be threatening. In Mozart’s opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, people were getting abducted from a Turkish harem. In this opera, Mozart portrays the Turks as both threatening and also capable of great humanity that people didn’t think that they had. They thought Turks were cruel and savage. I’m not sure this particular concerto was meant to be a hidden message or anything, but I think his characterization is fascinating. In the Turkish part, Mozart has the basses do a col legno, a sound effect where you hit the strings with the bow in a percussive beat. I don’t think he uses that anywhere else. It is an Arab effect … Mozart had certainly heard of the siege of Vienna. That was quite cruel at the time.

He was only 35 when he died. At that point he had written over 600 works. At the end of his life, if you listen to later symphonies, or to his Requiem (which is not his orchestration), you start hearing his style changing and evolving. It was cut off by him dying so early. I would be so curious to see what he would have done if he had lived 40 more years. We would probably consider all his works up until that age his “earlier works.” His better works would still have been to come. Schubert died even earlier than Mozart, at 31. Somebody made these calculations that if you gave people quills and paper, they wouldn’t be able to even just copy — write it out by hand — all the works these composers made. That doesn’t even take into account the creative process. It’s mind boggling! Mozart’s mind was so lively and engaged. He was full of energy. He would have been interesting to talk to. Yes, there is childish emotion in letters, but also such deep works. His music could be exalted, or it could be so sad and dark.

If I could call Mozart up, I would probably ask him what his future plans might have been in terms of writing music. What I find unbelievable is that he wrote all this music … well, he died very young.

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Where it all begins. ORCHESTRA Scott Sandmeier conductor Works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Shostakovich Saturday, February 16, 8 p.m. Tito Muñoz conductor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring: A 100th anniversary performance Saturday, May 4, 8 p.m.

CHAMBER MUSIC MASTERS Donald Weilerstein violin Vivian Weilerstein piano Works by Elgar and Enescu Tuesday, February 5, 7:30 p.m. Master Class* Thursday, February 7, 8 p.m. Concert Kim Kashkashian viola Featured work: Shostakovich Viola Sonata, Op. 147 Tuesday, March 19, 7:30 p.m. Master Class* Thursday, March 21, 8 p.m. Concert

ALUMNI RECITAL SERIES Robin Sutherland (’75) piano, with Conservatory artists in works by Rachmaninoff, Fauré and Nicholas Pavkovic (’11) Wednesday, April 24, 8 p.m.

Tickets $20/15/*Free | 415.503.6275 | 50 Oak Street, San Francisco

SEASON MEDIA SPONSOR


APRIL 2013

PROGRAM

MARIN SYMPHON Y C H O R U S

PHOTO © PETER RODGERS

4

APRIL 14 SUN @ 3:00 PM

APRIL 16 TUES @ 7:30 PM

Remembrance and Renewal

PHOTO © TODD ROSENBERG

Clyne Within Her Arms Brahms A German Requiem Marina Harris, soprano Ao Li, baritone Marin Symphony Chorus Stephen McKersie, director Concert Sponsor: Bank of Marin

ANNA CLYNE marinsymphony.org • 415.479.8100 • facebook.com/marinsymphony

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ApĂŠritif EntrĂŠes Cocktails Wines Desserts Celebrations www.leftbank.com 507 Magnolia Avenue, Larkspur 415.927.3331


MAY 2013

PROGRAM

5

JOYCE YANG — piano

MAY 5 SUN @ 3:00 PM

MAY 7

PHOTO © LARRY FORD

TUES @ 7:30 PM

Vive la France! Debussy/Matthews selected Piano Preludes, side-by-side with Joyce Yang Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major Debussy La Mer Concert Sponsor: LVP MARIN REALTORS Guest artist sponsors: Steve and Christina Fox

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JUNE 2013

Golf Tournament Dinner

& ...................................... Monday, June 3, 2013

SAVE THE NEW DATE

msa

PHOTOS © PETER RODGERS

golf tournament

You’re invited to our second annual Golf Tournament, Dinner, Silent and Live Auction at:

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OCTOBER 2013

Mark your calendar for Composium West: Sunday, October 6, 2013

Marin Symphony was proud to host the National Young Composers Challenge “Workshop West” at San Domenico School on Saturday, October 6, 2012. The free full day event attracted more than 130 participants from throughout the Bay Area, California, and some, from other parts of the U.S. Attendees discovered the principles of composition, orchestration, music notation, and scoring software from nationally recognized composers.

Young composers ages 13-18 may write their own score for either chamber ensemble or full orchestra and enter the National Young Composers Challenge Composium West, which takes place the day after Workshop West. This is an amazing afternoon of excitement, drama, and music for both the particpants and the audience! You’ll hear the winning compositions by America’s best young composers rehearsed, discussed, and performed by Maestro Christopher Wilkins and the Marin Symphony at the Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael, CA.

PHOTO © MARTIN SCHIFF

The first-ever “Workshop West” was a huge success!

Save the date for next year’s Workshop West: Saturday, October 5, 2013

PHOTOS © PETER RODGERS

We’re excited about what will be the second Workshop West event. Aspiring young musicians ages 13-18 are invited to attend the free full day program.

Discover more about the National Young Composers Challenge, the premier orchestra composition event in America, with entries from top young composers, ages 13-18, from across the United States: YoungComposersChallenge.org

Prelude concerts... Intimate in-home recitals take place within exquisite Marin homes. Sponsored by City National Bank.

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PHOTOS © PETER RODGERS

Sponsored by Marin Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, University of Central Florida, Rollins College, Full Sail University, and Goldman Charitable Foundation.

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Youth Concerts & Education Programs Connecting our communities to the future of live music... Marin Symphony Youth and Music Education Programs are at the heart of our mission to foster the dreams and aspirations of young musicians. Exposing young people early and continuing to engage them is one of the best ways to ensure that the next generation develops a love of music. Multiple programs are designed to teach and inspire both young musicians and future concert goers. Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra has been providing gifted young musicians ages 12 -18 an opportunity to be a part of our orchestra community since 1954. Directed and conducted by Ann Krinitsky, the orchestra performs winter and spring concerts and special Sit-In concerts at local schools, where younger students sit amidst the Youth Orchestra during the performance. Marin Symphony Crescendo Program is designed for elementary schoolchildren, teaching young musicians standard orchestral ensemble techniques and musicianship. The program is a stepping stone to the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra. Symphony@Schools brings guest artists and Symphony musicians into classrooms where kids interact with the performers. Symphony@ Schools also provides tickets to Marin Symphony performances, giving young people and their families a chance to experience the sound of a full orchestra playing live in the concert hall.

Our youth orchestras performed to standing ovations in December 2012! Crescendo Concert Anne Lerner-Wright, conducting Saturday, December 8 th at 3:00pm Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espanol Telemann, Selections from Don Quixote Dukas, Sorcerer’s Apprentice Bizet, Farandole Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra Concert Ann Krinitsky, conducting Sunday, December 9 th at 7:00pm Verdi, Overture to Nabucco Schubert, Symphony No. 8, Unfinished Bach, Double Violin Concerto, Movement I Joyce Lee, Alina Polonskaya, violins Sibelius, Symphony 4, 4th Movement

MSYO and Crescendo performances take place at the Marin Performing Arts Theater on the campus of College of Marin, Kentfield. Visit marinsympohny.org for more information and a current performance schedule.

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PHOTOS © PETER RODGERS

Spring 2012... Symphony@Schools event for over 500 students at Hall Middle School featuring Marin Symphony orchestra members.

Where great music comes to life.


PHOTOS © CALVIN JOW

YO U T H & EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra at the Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival in January 2012 at Davies Symphony Hall.

2013 Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival

PHOTOS © CALVIN JOW

On Sunday, January 20 at 3pm, our Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra takes part in the annual Bay Area Youth Orchestra Festival, this year hosted by the Santa Rosa Symphony at the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University. Every year, six of the Bay Area’s most talented young orchestral ensembles participate in this festival hosted by the San Francisco Symphony on a biannual basis. Proceeds from the concert benefit six organizations, one within each orchestra’s local community, that provide resources to underserved and homeless youth.

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Season 2012-2013 Annual Donors Please note: we list here the names of those from whom financial support was received between August 25, 2011 and January 11, 2013. Composers Club continued

A Category Apart: $30,000 and Above

Peter L. H. & Kathryn Thompson Anonymous (2)

William & Flora Hewlett Foundation Patrick M. McCarthy Foundation

Conductor’s Club: $2000–$3,499

Primary Sponsor: $10,000–$29,999

Bon Air Center Donald R. & Noel W. Dickey Steve Goldman & Melanie Love Sandra D. Hoyer Estate of Barbara Leibert Frank & Lois Noonan Ellis Stephens Marco A. Vidal Fund Anonymous (1)

Sponsor: $6,000–$9,999

Bank of Marin Marin Community Foundation Joanne Dunn George Fernbacher Steve & Christina Fox Ruth & Alf Heller Steven & Susan Machtinger Alasdair Neale & Lowell Tong The Bernard Osher Foundation Roland & Giti Underhill Jeff & Robyn vom Saal Mr. Harley White Sr. & Dr. Frances L. White

Composer’s Club: $3,500–$5,999 Hans Adler & Wanda Headrick Bank of America Lou & Marge Bartolini Jack Bissinger City National Bank Tracy & Jaison Layney Marin Music Chest Gloria Miner Llenroc Capital LLC LVP Marin Realtors, Catherine Munson Katherine McPherson, Masneri & Arno P. Masneri Fund The Rabb Family Robert & Erna Randig Renee Rymer & Antonio Clementino, Ph.D. The Schultz Foundation Herb & Malini Schuyten Dr. Elizabeth Seaman

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Deborah & Arthur Ablin Family Fund Autodesk Frank & Lee Battat Edward S. Berberian James & Caroline Boitano Mrs. John E. Cahill William & Lynn Callender Crawford & Jess Cooley Dr. Robert K. & Judith D. Creasy David Dee & Pat Callahan Joan & Allen Dekelboum Patricia S. Elvebak Helga Epstein Jennifer Finger & Scott Bucey Jim & Lynn Finkelstein Grace A. Hughes Kaiser Permanente Alice T. May Vivienne Miller Montecito Plaza Shopping Center Joyce Palmer Joseph & Eda Pell – Pell Family Foundation Barbara & Bill Peterson Joan Ring Yvonne Roth Richard & Anne Marie Ruben Sally Shekou & Robert Herbst Claire Collins Skall Dr. Walter Strauss Patricia C. Swensen Bruce C. Taylor & Lynn O’Malley Taylor Connie Vandament Sam Ziegler Anonymous (4)

Benefactor: $1,000–$1,999 Mrs. Brent M. Abel Muriel Adcock Roy & Barbara Allen Mr. & Mrs. Robert Bilger Bill & Patty Blanton Russ & Lynn Colombo Mary Denton & Monte Deignan Cele & Paul Eldering Chuck & Binny Fischer Abe & Suzanne Froman Alison C. Fuller

Benefactor continued

Hope Herndon Michael Ingerman & Madeleine Sloane Mary Ellen & Bob Irwin Bonnie & Peter Jensen Alan & Jean Kay Peter C. Kerner Marin Pacific Company, Inc. Ray Poelstra Larry & Erica Posner Joyce & Gary Rifkind Schrader-Robertson Family Fund Anonymous (2)

Guarantor: $400–$999

Vernon Birks Rosalind & David Bloom DeWitt Bowman Ava Jean Brumbaum Faye D’Opal Elizabeth Dakin Nancy Kent Danielson Roy & Marilyn Davis C. Donohoe Chester & Joy Douglass Jenny Douglass & Andy Basnight Stuart & Emily Dvorin Eckhoff Accountancy Corporation Ann Everingham Michael A. Freeman, MD & Victoria Stone Renee Froman Margot Golding & Mike Powers Mary M. Griffin-Jones Drs. Albert & Shirley Hall James C. Hormel & Michael P. Nguyen Sepi Kazemi Lamar Leland Dr. & Mrs. James S. Levine Marian Marsh & David Wade Mass Mutual Margaret Melsh Eugene & Phyllis Miller Leslie Miller & Richard Carlton Marnie Moore & Mike Mackenzie Larry & Betty Mulryan Brian Nagai & Robert B. Daroff, Jr. Timothy & Alice Pidgeon Maria Pitcairn Gary T. Ragghianti Attorney at Law Rick & Marilyn Riede Cynthia Sawtell Carole & John Shook Pat Small Alan & Paula Smith Sue & Bob Spofford Dr. & Mrs. Richard F. Sullivan Dom & Lee Tarantino Jan & Mark Volkert Jutdith Walker George Westfall & Susan Adamson Indi Young

Where great music comes to life.


DONOR APPRECIATION Sustainer: $100–$399

Kenneth & Barbara Adams Jill Aggersbury Tony Agpoon & Maia Welch Katherine E. Akos Michael & Marjorie Alaimo Kai & Kian Angermann Peter & Carolyn Ashby William E. Asiano Bruce & Joseph Bacheller David & Jennifer Bailey Alice Bartholomew Richard & Ann Batman Yvonne & Gary Beauchamp Bill & Carol Beck Raymond & Colleen Beck Roger Beck Gerry & Don Beers Sue Beittel Fred & Yvonne Beller Maria & Charles Benet Maxine J. Bennett Sheila Berg Philip M. Bernstein Gloria & Peter Bland Marion Blau Jeanie & Carl Blom Aaron Bogarske Al & Pat Boro Frances & Ben Borok Sydne & Allan Bortel Carroll & Eli Botvinick Pete & Sue Bowser Jack & Ute Brandon Richard Bricker & Emily Hanna Johnson Josh Brier & Grace Alexander Suzanne & David Broad Hon. & Mrs. Henry J. Broderick Amy & Mark Brokering Martin & Geri Brownstein Wendy Buchen Annie Bugher Mary Jane Burke Jerry & Jane Burroni Anne & John Busterud Marian & Don Byrd Bill & Jeanne Cahill Joyce F. Calanchini Glenn & Vicki Campbell Peter Carlson Lowell & Patsy Chamberlain Oscar & Joan Chambers Priscilla Christopher Stephen & Elizabeth Clark Leslie Connarn Mary & Fred Coons Geri & Wayne Cooper Paul & Paula Cooper Bob & Betty Copple Dolores Cuerva Graham & Rosana Cumming Jon Curtis Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Davidson Ursula & Paul Davidson Linda Davis & Michael Carroll Ken & Ann Davis Robert De Haan Sam & Ellen Dederian Margaret E. Deedy, Coldwell Banker Tom & Mary DeMund Helene Denebeim Nona Dennis William C. Diebel Thomas Diettrich Eleanor DiGiorgio Steven & Marilyn Disbrow Mervyn & Betty Dowd Ben Dresden & Ann Swanson Sara Duggin Ethel & Miles Durr Wendy Eberhardt

Gisela & Rolf Eiselin Kathi Elliot Jane C. Ellis Elizabeth Enemark Heather English Maxine & Bill Everest Bran & Carolyn Fanning Jim Farley Jean & Conger Fawcett Margaret Feldstein Michael & Barbara Fewer Roy & Barbara Filly Anice Flesh Matthew & Jan Fleumer RoyAnne & Jerry Florence Erdmuth Folker Donald Ford Suzy Foster Thomas & Cynthia Foster Carlo & Diane Fowler Margot Fraser Fund Vivienne Freeman Lila Friday Carole & Mark Friedlander James Fritz Peggy & Bob Fujimoto I. & S. Gambera Betty E. Gandel Margot & Ray Gergus Sally Germain Ghilotti Bros., Inc. Jerry C. Gianni & Donna Bandelloni John & Betty Goerke Ellen & Bob Goldman Margie Goodman Rev. Paul & Jean Gravrock Elizabeth Greenberg & James Papanu Rosemary & Leonard Greenberg Deborah Breiner Grund & John Grund Dr. & Mrs. Joseph Gryson David & Margie Guggenhime Joseph Gutstadt, M.D. Erika Hagopian Dottie & Robert Hamilton Ethlyn Ann Hansen Joey Hardin Helen Harper Richard & Julie Harris James & Laura Harrison William & Kathryn Harrison Cecile Hawkins Hennessy Funds Allan & Nancy Herzog Conn & Christina Hickey Louis & Faye Hinze Nancy Hoffman Joe & Clydene Hohenrieder Carol & Mickey Hollenberg Jennifer & Eitan Homa Ken & Donna Hoppe Catherine Houghton Robin Hudnut Doris N. Hunker Pat & Irene Hunt William & Gail Hutchinson Dr. Ifeoma Ikenze Dr. & Mrs. John Jansheski Irene Jaquette Frank Johnson Nancy M. Johnson-Curron, Victoria Johnson & Jennifer Johnson Liz Johnstone-Cecchi

Dorothy Jones Ted & Diana Jorgensen Gee Kampmeyer Olga B. Katanics Daniel & Judy Katsin John Keefe Orly Kelly Keon-Vitale Family Dan & Valerie King Josephine Kreider Ann Krinitsky & Stuart Chafetz Olivia LeFeaver Louis & Jeanne Leoncini Jules & Sybil Lepkowsky Catherine Less Iyana Leveque Dorothy Lindskog Bill Lockett & Dottie Berges Paul & Rebecca Lofholm Mr. & Mrs. Frank Lorch Susan Magnone Ralph & Maylee Maiano Mary Malouf Mike Marcley Daniel & Virginia Mardesich Lee Marken Lillian Marks Terrel J. & Stephanie A. Mason Kira & Chris Matthews Rosemary & John Maulbetsch Charles & Claire McBride Nion McEvoy Christine McMasters Carl Mehlhop Steve & Lynn Merlo Jan Mettner Frank & Mickey Meredith Anne S. Miller Jane Miller Mr. & Mrs. William Miller Abigail Millikan-States Dino Misailidis Glenn & Laura Miwa Mary & Steve Mizroch Sharon L. Modrick Mrs. G.R. Monkhouse Alan Mooers & Heather Preston Susan Morris Sahin & Shahrzad Moshfeghi Thomas K. Moylan Lettie S. Multhauf James Murrow Hilda Namm Louise C. Nave Ann Nilsson-Davis Mark & Kay Noguchi John & Evelyne Norris Gloria H. Northrup Fran & Dick O’Brien Ed & Linda O’Neil Ann W. Ocheltree Esther Oleari Stevanie Jan Olson Walter & Elaine Olson Merle & Clyde Ongaro Harry Oppenheimer & Sharon Leach William M. Palmer Gerald & Nancy Parsons Roberta Patterson Charles Penman Ellen Pesenti J. & M. Pettipas Joy & James Phoenix Carolyn & Arnold Piatti Jim & Jacquie Placak Robert C. Placak & Associates

Dr. & Mrs. R. Plambeck Janet Poelstra Michael & Stephanie Poley Suzie Pollak Robert & Donys Powell Ralph & Leslie Purdy Joan & David Quinn, Jr. Charles & Patricia Raven Pat & Art Ravicz Erick K. & Martha Richter-Smith Walt & Ilene Riethmeier Faith France & Hugo Rinaldi Judy & Richard Robinson Sue & Bill Rochester Adrienne Roth Diane Roth Richard & Anne Marie Ruben June E. Rubin & W. David Stern Helen Rutledge Georgia F. Sagues Angelo Salarpi Family Eva M. Sampson Dr. Rick & Cynthia Sapp Peri Sarganis Nancy & James Saunders Gary & Kathy Schaefer Georgia & Hugh Schall Nancy Schlegel Marilyn Schneider & Edward Simon Patricia York Schumacher Sylvia Schwartz Nancy & Terry Scott John & Elinor Severinghaus Andre & Lesley Shashaty Margaret C. Sheehy Betsy H. Shuey Joel & Susan Sklar Jacky Smith Kay Smith Marylyn J. So Rhonda & Fereydoon Soofer David & Marcia Sperling Alan Spiegelman Jean Starkweather Richard & Susie Stern John W. Stewart Inge Stiebel Marilyn & Arthur Strassburger Bettina M. Strongoli Edward Tanner Ed Texiera J. Ralph & Mary Ann Thomas L. Thomas Tobin Bob Towler Lee & Ginny Turner Bruce & Judy Walker Martha Wall Charles A. Weghorn Arlin Weinberger Sandra Weiss Carol Weitz Metta Whitcomb Jolley F. White Barbara J. Wilkes Randy Wilkinson Maynard & Helen Willms Margaret Wilner Roy Wonder & Barbara Ward William & Gloria Wong Ellie Wood Charles & Lynne Worth Warren Wu Judith Yarling Margery Zelles Ellie Zengler Anonymous (11)

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Thank you... The Symphony’s Tribute Program offers a memorable way to celebrate milestones such as weddings, anniversaries and births, and to honor the memory of family and friends. These gifts were received between August 25, 2011 and January 11, 2013.

GIFTS IN HONOR OF Lou Bartolini Richard & Anne Marie Ruben Peter L. H. & Kathryn Thompson Maynard & Helen Willms Mr. & Mrs. William Beck’s 50th Wedding Anniversary Edward Beck Jim Beck Raymond & Colleen Beck Roger Beck Sydne & Allan Bortel DeWitt Bowman John & Betsi Carey Ken & Ann Davis Steven & Marilyn Disbrow Donald Ford Thomas & Cynthia Foster Adele Gibbs Linda Goodman Robert Griffith Hazel Carter-Hattem Robin Hudnut Eleanor W. Hull Sylvia Kronke Elaine & Dwight Lubich Consuelo H. McHugh Worth Miller Nancy L. Nimick Dorothee & Phillip Perloff Margaret & Herbert Rosen Renee Rymer & Antonio Clementino, Ph. D Eunice Sheldon Bruce & Judy Walker Anita Weinert Metta Whitcomb Douglas Connor George Fernbacher Ann & Joan Fernbacher George Fernbacher Norma Fogel George Fernbacher William Larkin George Fernbacher D.K. MacDonald George Fernbacher Steve Machtinger Michael A. Freeman, MD

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Gifts in Honor Of continued

Gifts in Memory Of continued Jonathan Ruben Richard & Anne Marie Ruben David Ring Bruce & Joseph Bacheller Gisela & Rolf Eiselin Carl Mehlhop Alan Spiegelman William & Gloria Wong Barbara Veatch Hope Herndon Edsel Yarling Judith Yarling

Leslie Miller Daniel & Judy Katsin Tom Miller George Fernbacher Noralee Monestere Amy & Mark Brokering Boyd Quinn George Fernbacher Mary & David Rabb Susan Morris Jonathan Ruben Birthday Richard & Anne Marie Ruben Edward Shelton George Fernbacher Harry Ziegler George Fernbacher

The Board has arranged that monies designated to the ChairNaming Endowment Fund may be paid over time. The Marin Symphony expresses its profound gratitude to the following visionary individuals who have already claimed the chairs of their own:

GIFTS IN MEMORY OF

CONCERTMASTER’S CHAIR

Jean Airola William & Gloria Wong Richard Bechelli Lou & Marge Bartolini Elsie Carr Mike Marcley George Dexter Joanne Dunn Martha Harrison Iyana Leveque Edward C. Herndon Hope Herndon Amy Jones Lou & Marge Bartolini Susan Pegues Mason William & Gloria Wong Lora May Lou & Marge Bartolini Grace Northrup William & Gloria Wong John Pitcairn Joanne Dunn George Fernbacher Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba Richard & Anne Marie Ruben Claire Collins Skall Peter L. H. & Kathryn Thompson Diane Post George Fernbacher Rollin Post Lou & Marge Bartolini Lavon Reaber Donald R. & Noel W. Dickey Joanne Dunn Jan Mettner

presently honoring Jeremy Constant, is now The Catherine Munson Chair

PRINCIPAL VIOLA CHAIR presently honoring Jenny Douglass, is now The Elsie Rigney Carr Chair

PRINCIPAL CLARINET CHAIR presently honoring Art Austin, is now The Jack Bissinger & Robert Max Klein Chair

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL FIRST VIOLIN CHAIR presently honoring Karen Shinozaki, is now The Schultz Family Chair In Honor of Niels Schultz

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL VIOLA CHAIR presently honoring Elizabeth Prior-Runnicles, is now The Constance Vandament Chair

SECTION CHAIR, CLARINET presently honoring Larry Posner, is now The Tom & Alice May Chair

Where great music comes to life.


GIF ts , E N D OW M E N T, E N C O R E S O C I E T Y & SPONSOR APPRECIATION The Marin Symphony is most grateful to the members of the Encore Society and wish to applaud their gifts of lasting importance.

ENCORE SOCIETY

Encore Society continued

Kenneth & Barbara Adams Hans J. Adler & Wanda Headrick Ara Apkarian Lou & Marge Bartolini Frank & Lee Battat Robert & Patricia Bilger Jack Bissinger & Robert Max Klein* James & Caroline Boitano Steven & Ann Borden David Bott E. Joseph & Jo Ann Bowler Robert & Elza Burton William & Lynn Callender Karen Carmody Mary Carpou* Robert & Judith Creasy Christina Dewey Donald R. & Noel W. Dickey Vernon & Elke Dwelly Helga Epstein Branwell Fanning George Fernbacher Thomas & Julianna Foris Barbara & Bill* Friede Abe & Suzanne Froman Geraldine Gains Mary M. Griffin-Jones Alf & Ruth Heller Susan Hedge Hossfeld* David* & Sandra Hoyer Grace Hughes Robert & Mary Ellen Irwin Emily Hanna Johnson Robert & Edith Kane Carole Klein Nancy Kohlenstein Herbert & Barbara Graham Kreissler Lucinda Lee Barbara Brown Leibert* William Lockett Mrs. Frankie Longfellow*

Alice & Tom* May Charles Meacham* Vivienne E Miller Gloria Miner Theodore A. Montgomery Larry & Betty Mulryan Catherine Munson David Poff Jane T. Richards* Yvonne Roth Renee Rymer Nancy E. Schlegel Herb Schuyten Madeleine Sloane Ann* & Ellis Stephens Charles* & Patricia Swensen Wilbur & Jacqueline Tapscott Bruce & Lynn O’Malley Taylor Peter L. H. & Kathryn Thompson Sylvia F. Thompson* Audrey S. Tytus* Constance Vandament Marian Marsh & David Wade Maynard & Helen Willms Philip & Phyllis Ziring

*deceased

IN KIND An Affair to Remember Catering David & Jennifer Bailey Four Points by Sheraton San Rafael KDFC Marin Magazine Marin Independent Journal Stacy Scott Catering Peter L. H. & Kathryn Thompson White Oak Vineyards & Winery

REHEARSAL FACILITIES Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

A special thanks to all of the businesses, corporations, foundations and individuals who support our season concerts.

BUSINESS , CORPORATE & FOUNDATION SPONSORS Bank of America Bank of Marin Bon Air Center City National Bank Steve & Christina Fox Four Points by Sheraton William & Flora Hewlett Foundation Kaiser Permanente KDFC LVP Marin Realtors Marin Community Foundation Marin Independent Journal Marin Magazine Marin Pacific Company Patrick M. McCarthy Foundation Montecito Plaza Shopping Center Frank & Lois Noonan Bernard Osher Foundation Schultz Foundation U.S. Bank White Oak Vineyards & Winery

CORPORATE MATCHING GIFTS Argonaut Group Chevron Humankind City National Bank Genex Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Oracle Piper Jaffray VISA

The Marin Symphony is a member of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS & FOLDERS

PHOTOS © JAMES HALL

The Magic Flute

marinsymphony.org • 415.479.8100 • facebook.com/marinsymphony

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Through music we create more harmonious communities. Bon Air Center is proud to support the Marin Symphony www.bonair.com Over 50 unique shops & restaurants. Just off Highway 101 on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Greenbrae.


SUPPOR T

Live symphonic music lifts spirits and improves our quality of life. It shines a light of hope and touches our emotions like no other form of entertainment. Beyond our concerts, there are dozens of ways you can enhance your experience with us and expand the reach of our Marin Symphony. As a donor, you play a vital role in allowing us to share the profound and transformative experience of live music. When you contribute, you provide crucial support for Marin Symphony’s wide-ranging Educational and Youth Orchestra Programs as well.

PHOTOS © STUART LIRETTE

Be a part of it.

Conductor’s Club Gatherings in the Green Room bring donors, sponsors and friends together to share fine wines, food and our love of music. It’s just one of the benefits offered to those who annually donate more than $2000 to the Symphony.

Concert sponsors...

Every gift makes a real difference. Ticket sales for arts organizations cover only a portion of the costs associated with producing our exceptional artistic, education, and community initiatives. Your support at any level is vital and appreciated. Donors also receive priority seating assignments. For information about making a gift, creating an enduring legacy with your estate planning, or simply to learn more about taking advantages of benefits and privileges designed to enhance your concert-going experience, please call us at 415.479.8100, or visit marinsymphony.org/support.

marinsymphony.org • 415.479.8100 • facebook.com/marinsymphony

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12 16 32 06 60 52 31 05 25 24 12 26 08 47 17 34 20 04 63 41 36 43 26 14 30 33 02 29 45 64 46 50 18 14 33 10

Aldersly Garden Retirement Community American Bach Soloists Bank of America Bank of Marin Bon Air Center City National Bank College of Marin Corte Madera Town Center Dimensions in Travel Four Points by Sheraton San Rafael Frank Howard Allen Realtors Kaiser Permanente KDFC Left Bank LUXTON OPTICAL LVP MARIN REALTORS Marin Baroque Marin Independent Journal Marin Magazine Marin Music Chest Marin Theatre Company MOC Insurance Services Montecito Plaza Shopping Center New Century Chamber Orchestra Perotti & Carrade Peter Levi Plumbing, Inc. Private Ocean R.KASSMAN Rafael Floors Redwood Credit Union San Francisco Conservatory of Music San Rafael Pacifics Speak to Me Stonetree Golf Club The Magic Flute Villa Marin

PHOTO © EISAKU TOKUYAMA

Advertisers & Sponsors

Experience it. A Marin Symphony concert isn’t simply a classical music performance, it’s an experience to awaken your senses. It’s the way we create a unique relationship with our audiences, an exciting connection with artists, and with each other.

Connect with us. Call us 9am–5pm, Monday–Friday: 415.479.8100 Visit: 4340 Redwood Hwy., Suite 409C, San Rafael, CA 94903 Marin Center Box Office for single ticket sales: 415.473.6800 Email: greatmusic@marinsymphony.org marinsymphony.org

/marinsymphony

© Marin Symphony. All rights reserved. Programs, dates and guest artists subject to change.

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Where great music comes to life.

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SEASON


Marin Chief’s a she Meet Marin’s First Female Police Chief

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12/11/12 3:04 PM



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