Musical Magic:

Larry Painter and the Sorcerer’s Apprentice

A Joan Steele Stein Family Concert

Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 2:30 pm

ALLEN-BRADLEY HALL

Ryan Tani, conductorBenjamin Burney, Larry PainterNathan Wesselowski, Professor RumblegateScript written by Rebecca Whitney

Program

JOHN WILLIAMSHedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Suite for Orchestra

EDVARD GRIEG“In the Hall of the Mountain King” from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1

IGOR STRAVINSKYFinale from The Firebird Suite (1919 revision)

FELA SOWANDE“Akinla” from African Suite

PAUL DUKASThe Sorcerer’s ApprenticeNathan Wesselowski, narrator

JOHN WILLIAMSHedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Suite for Orchestra

The length of this concert is approximately 45 minutes and will be performed without intermission.

CONDUCTOR

RYAN TANI

Ryan Tani is in his first season as assistant conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. In 2021, he completed his two-year tenure as the Orchestral Conducting Fellow for the Yale Philharmonia under Music Director Peter Oundjian, where he was the recipient of the Dean’s Prize for artistic excellence in his graduating class. Committed to meaningful community music-making in the state of Montana, Tani has directed the Bozeman Chamber Orchestra, Bozeman Symphonic Choir, Second String Orchestra, and MSU Symphony Orchestras. He frequently serves as cover conductor for the St. Louis, Colorado, and Bozeman symphonies and also recently served on the faculty at the Montana State University School of Music.

Tani recently concluded his tenure as music director of the Occasional Symphony in Baltimore. A fierce advocate of new music, Tani curated over 20 commissions from Baltimore-based composers during his four-year directorship of OS. As resident conductor of the New Music New Haven series, he has collaborated, under the guidance of Aaron Jay Kernis, with Yale University composition students and faculty.

Tani is also a graduate of the Peabody Institute, where he studied conducting with Marin Alsop and Markand Thakar, and the University of Southern California, where he studied voice with Gary Glaze. In 2015, he was declared the winner of the ACDA Undergraduate Student Conducting Competition at their national conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition to his studies at Yale and Peabody, Tani has also studied conducting with Larry Rachleff, Donald Schleicher, Gerard Schwarz, Grant Cooper, and José-Luis Novo. Tani currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he can be found in the park with his dog, playing board games with friends and family, in the library with a good book, or in the practice room with his violin.

GUEST ARTISTS

BENJAMIN BURNEY, Larry Painter

Tenor Benjamin Burney, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, has performed locally in his hometown and internationally from the Caribbean Islands to Estonia. Recently, Burney performed in the world premiere of Iphigenia by Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding and went on to make his Kennedy Center debut with said opera. In past years, he has appeared in Florentine Opera’s Roméo et Juliette; Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company’s Merrie England; Folk Operetta’s Die Kathrin and The Flower of Hawaii; and Transgressive Theatre-Opera’s Comte Ory. Burney is a Benjamin A. Gilman alumnus, where he studied opera and Italian abroad in Milan, Italy, and performed with Il Coro Orchestra Sinfonico di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. Burney received his M.M. in vocal performance from Roosevelt University CCPA, and he graduated from Anderson University with a B.M. in vocal performance.

NATHAN WESSELOWSKI, Professor Rumblegate

Nathan Wesselowski (tenor) has been seen on stage with Florentine Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Cleveland Opera, The National Opera Company, Ash Lawn Highland Summer Festival, New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, In Tandem Theatre, First Stage, Fireside Theatre, and many other regional theatres. He received his Master of Music in vocal performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music and Bachelor of Music from Baker University.