GERSHWIN CELEBRATION WITH MARCUS ROBERTS TRIO

GERSHWIN CELEBRATION WITH MARCUS ROBERTS TRIO

Friday, October 6, 2023 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, October 8, 2023 at 2:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

John Morris Russell, conductor

Tatiana “LadyMay” Mayfield, vocalist

Marcus Roberts Trio

Marcus Roberts, piano

Roland Guerin, bass

Jason Marsalis, percussion

GEORGE GERSHWIN

Cuban Overture

GEORGE GERSHWIN/arr. Nelson Riddle

Vocal Set with Tatiana Mayfield

“‘S Wonderful”

“The Man I Love”

“Fascinating Rhythm”

Tatiana Mayfield, vocalist

GEORGE GERSHWIN/arr. Sol Berkowitz

“Promenade - Walking the Dog” from The Real McCoy

GEORGE GERSHWIN/arr. R.R. Bennett

Porgy and Bess, A Symphonic Picture

PROGRAM CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

Rhapsody in Blue

Marcus Roberts, piano

Roland Guerin, bass

Jason Marsalis, percussion

This weekend’s media sponsor is WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO

The length of this concert is approximately 2 hours. All programs are subject to change.

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra can be heard on Telarc, Koss Classics, Pro Arte, AVIE, and Vox/Turnabout recordings. MSO Classics recordings (digital only) available at mso.org.

GEORGE GERSHWIN/arr. Don Rose Girl Crazy Overture

GEORGE GERSHWIN/arr. Marcus Roberts Trio

Guest Artist Biographies

JOHN MORRIS RUSSELL

A master of American musical style, John Morris Russell has devoted himself to redefining the American orchestral experience. In his 13th season as conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the wide range and diversity of his work as a conductor, collaborator, and educator continues to reinvigorate the musical scene throughout Cincinnati and across the continent. As music director of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina, Russell leads the classical subscription series as well as the prestigious Hilton Head International Piano Competition. In his ninth season as principal pops conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Russell has also worked as a guest conductor with many of the most distinguished orchestras in North America.

With the Cincinnati Pops, Russell leads performances at historic Music Hall, concerts throughout the region, as well as domestic and international tours — including Florida in 2014 and China/ Taiwan in 2017. His visionary leadership at The Pops created the “American Originals Project” which has garnered both critical and popular acclaim in two landmark recordings: American Originals (the music of Stephen Foster) and American Originals 1918 (a tribute to the dawn of the jazz age) for which he was awarded a Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Compendium.” In 2020, the American Originals Project continued with King Records and the Cincinnati Sound with Late Night with David Letterman musical director Paul Shaffer, celebrating the beginnings of bluegrass, country, rockabilly, soul, and funk immortalized in recordings produced in the Queen City. Russell is also instrumental in the continuing development of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s wildly successful Classical Roots initiative, which he helped create nearly two decades ago to celebrate African American musical traditions.

The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra has enjoyed unprecedented artistic growth under John Morris Russell’s leadership since 2011; concert attendance has blossomed and the orchestra has doubled its number of concerts.

Russell earned degrees from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and Williams College in Massachusetts and has studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, and the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock, Maine.

Guest Artist Biographies

TATIANA “LADYMAY” MAYFIELD

Tatiana “LadyMay” Mayfield is a jazz/soul vocalist, musician, composer, and educator from Fort Worth, Texas. LadyMay has performed in various venues and festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad, which have earned her rave reviews from listeners and musicians in addition to numerous awards. In 2023, LadyMay was named as an awardee for the “Next Jazz Legacy” program created by NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington in partnership with the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and New Music USA with funding from the Mellon Foundation. Through this program, she will be mentored by pianist/vocalist/composer Patrice Rushen and jazz/soul harpist/composer Brandee Younger. Other highlights of her career include performing with the legendary Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, having a number one song on the UK Soul Chart, performing and teaching in Zhuhai, China, and being the first woman and African American person to receive a Master of Music in jazz composition from the University of Texas in Arlington. LadyMay has recorded three albums, From All Directions (2009), A Portrait Of LadyMay (2012), and The Next Chapter (2018). She has also provided vocals in various styles for several artists’ albums, television shows, and films. As an educator, Mayfield will join the faculty in the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, as the assistant professor of contemporary popular music in the fall of 2023. She has also taught at the University of Texas at Arlington (Arlington, TX), University of North Texas (Denton, TX), and Dallas College-Cedar Valley Campus (Lancaster, TX).

MARCUS ROBERTS

Pianist Marcus Roberts is known throughout the world for his many contributions to the field of jazz music and his commitment to integrating jazz and classical music to create something wholly new. Roberts has been often hailed as “the genius of the modern piano.” He grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where his mother’s gospel singing became the foundation for his musical style. He had his first piano lessons at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind and studied classical piano at Florida State University. His life and work have been featured on the CBS television show 60 Minutes.

Roberts’s critically-acclaimed legacy of recorded music reflects his tremendous artistic versatility and his unique approach to jazz performance. In addition to his renown as a performer, Roberts is an accomplished composer and arranger. He has had numerous commissions, including his most recent piano concerto, commissioned by the great Seiji Ozawa and the Saito Kinen Orchestra. Roberts has performed his groundbreaking arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue countless times over the past 25 years and each version is completely different.

Roberts holds several honorary doctoral degrees and is a professor of music at Florida State University and a distinguished professor of music at Bard College.

Guest Artist Biographies

ROLAND GUERIN

Roland Guerin is influenced by a wide range of musical styles, from jazz and blues to American folk and zydeco. His playing has a strong country groove with a relaxed feeling of swing. Guerin’s extensive recorded legacy includes several recordings of his own work as well as numerous recordings with other artists, including Marcus Roberts’s Grammy-nominated Portraits in Blue and the Blind Boys of Alabama’s Grammy-winning Down in New Orleans

JASON MARSALIS

Jason Marsalis has held the drum chair in the Marcus Roberts Trio for more than 25 years and is a founding member of Roberts’s Modern Jazz Generation band. Marsalis is widely regarded as one of the greatest drummers of his generation. His musical intellect and technical skill combined with a brilliant thematic, groove-based drum style has been a critical part of the sound and philosophy of Marcus Roberts’s bands for many years.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR YOUR MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA BY JOINING SYMPHONY FRIENDS TODAY

As a Friend, you belong to a group of nearly 2,000 Annual Fund contributors who sustain the MSO’s tradition of musical excellence. You also receive special benefits to enhance your MSO experience at the Bradley Symphony Center.

JOIN SYMPHONY FRIENDS TODAY!

Contact Annual Fund Manager Emma Zei at 414.226.7833 or zeie@mso.org.

mso.org/donate

2023.24 SEASON

KEN-DAVID MASUR

Music Director

Polly and Bill Van Dyke

Music Director Chair

EDO DE WAART

Music Director Laureate

RYAN TANI

Assistant Conductor

CHERYL FRAZES HILL

Chorus Director

Margaret Hawkins Chorus Director Chair

TIMOTHY J. BENSON

Assistant Chorus Director

FIRST VIOLINS

Jinwoo Lee, Concertmaster, Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair

Ilana Setapen, First Associate Concertmaster

Jeanyi Kim, Associate Concertmaster

Alexander Ayers

Yuka Kadota

Elliot Lee**

Ji-Yeon Lee**

Dylana Leung

Allison Lovera

Lijia Phang

Yuanhui Fiona Zheng

SECOND VIOLINS

Jennifer Startt, Principal, Andrea and Woodrow Leung Second Violin Chair

Timothy Klabunde, Assistant Principal

John Bian, Assistant Principal (3rd Chair)

Glenn Asch

Lisa Johnson Fuller

Paul Hauer

Hyewon Kim

Alejandra Switala**

Mary Terranova

VIOLAS

Robert Levine, Principal, Richard O. and Judith A. Wagner Family Principal Viola Chair

Georgi Dimitrov, Assistant Principal (2nd chair), Friends of Janet F. Ruggeri

Viola Chair

Samantha Rodriguez, Assistant Principal (3rd chair)*

Alejandro Duque, Acting Assistant Principal (3rd Chair)

Elizabeth Breslin

Nathan Hackett

Erin H. Pipal

Helen Reich

CELLOS

Susan Babini, Principal, Dorothea C. Mayer Cello Chair

Nicholas Mariscal, Assistant Principal *

Scott Tisdel, Associate Principal Emeritus

Madeleine Kabat

Shinae Ra

Peter Szczepanek

Peter J. Thomas

Adrien Zitoun

BASSES

Jon McCullough-Benner, Principal, Donald B. Abert Bass Chair *

Andrew Raciti, Associate Principal

Nash Tomey, Assistant Principal (3rd Chair)

Brittany Conrad

Teddy Gabrieledes **

Peter Hatch *

Paris Myers

HARP

Julia Coronelli, Principal, Walter Schroeder Harp Chair

FLUTES

Sonora Slocum, Principal, Margaret and Roy Butter Flute Chair

Heather Zinninger, Assistant Principal

Jennifer Bouton Schaub

PICCOLO

Jennifer Bouton Schaub

OBOES

Katherine Young Steele, Principal, Milwaukee Symphony League Oboe Chair

Kevin Pearl, Assistant Principal

Margaret Butler

ENGLISH HORN

Margaret Butler, Philip and Beatrice Blank English Horn Chair in memoriam to John Martin

CLARINETS

Todd Levy, Principal, Franklyn Esenberg Clarinet Chair

Benjamin Adler, Assistant Principal, Donald and Ruth P. Taylor Assistant Principal Clarinet Chair *

Taylor Eiffert*

Madison Freed**

E-FLAT CLARINET

Benjamin Adler *

BASS CLARINET

Taylor Eiffert*

Madison Freed **

BASSOONS

Catherine Van Handel, Principal, Muriel C. and John D. Silbar Family Bassoon Chair

Rudi Heinrich, Assistant Principal

Beth W. Giacobassi

CONTRABASSOON

Beth W. Giacobassi

HORNS

Matthew Annin, Principal, Krause Family French Horn Chair

Krystof Pipal, Associate Principal

Dietrich Hemann, Andy Nunemaker French Horn Chair

Darcy Hamlin

Kelsey Williams**

TRUMPETS

Matthew Ernst, Principal, Walter L. Robb Family Trumpet Chair

David Cohen, Associate Principal, Martin J. Krebs Associate Principal Trumpet Chair

Alan Campbell, Fred Fuller Trumpet Chair

TROMBONES

Megumi Kanda, Principal, Marjorie Tiefenthaler Trombone Chair

Kirk Ferguson, Assistant Principal

BASS TROMBONE

John Thevenet, Richard M. Kimball Bass Trombone Chair

TUBA

Robyn Black, Principal

TIMPANI

Dean Borghesani, Principal

Chris Riggs, Assistant Principal

PERCUSSION

Robert Klieger, Principal

Chris Riggs

PIANO

Melitta S. Pick Endowed Piano Chair

PERSONNEL MANAGERS

Françoise Moquin, Director of Orchestra Personnel

Constance Aguocha, Assistant Personnel Manager

LIBRARIANS

Paul Beck, Principal Librarian, Anonymous Donor, Principal Librarian Chair

Matthew Geise, Assistant Librarian & Media Archivist

PRODUCTION

Tristan Wallace, Technical Manager & Live Audio Supervisor

Paolo Scarabel, Stage Technician & Deck Supervisor

* Leave of Absence 2023.24 Season

** Acting member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra 2023.24 Season