Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012

mondavi center

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Ballet Preljocaj: Blanche Neige Photo by Jean-Claude Carbonne

program Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 3

The Overtone Quartet

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Angélique Kidjo

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Garrick Ohlsson, piano

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Curtis On Tour

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Alexander String Quartet

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focus on indian dance

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Zakir Hussain and the masters of percussion

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circus oz

from the directo

Before the Curtain Rises, Please Play Your Part • As a courtesy to others, please turn off all electronic devices.

• If you have any hard candy, please unwrap it before the lights dim.

• Please remember that the taking of photographs or the use of any type of audio or video recording equipment is strictly prohibited.

• Please look around and locate the exit nearest you.

That exit may be behind you, to the side or in front of you. In the unlikely event of a fire alarm or other emergency please leave the building through that exit.

• As a courtesy to all our patrons and for your safety, anyone leaving his or her seat during the performance may not be re-admitted to his/her ticketed seat while the performance is in progress.

Accommodations for Patrons with Disabilities 530.754.2787 • TDD: 530.754.5402 In the event of an emergency, patrons requiring physical assistance on the Orchestra Terrace, Grand Tier and Upper Tier levels please proceed to the elevator alcove refuge where this sign appears. Please let us know ahead of time for any special seating requests or accommodations. See page 55 for more information.

Donors 530.754.5438 Donor contributions to the Mondavi Center presenting program help to offset the costs of the annual season of performances and lectures and provide a variety of arts education and outreach programs to the community.

Friends of Mondavi Center 530.754.5000 Contributors to the Mondavi Center are eligible to join the Friends of Mondavi Center, a volunteer support group that assists with educational programs and audience development.

Volunteers 530.754.1000 Mondavi Center volunteers assist with numerous functions, including house ushering and the activities of the Friends of Mondavi Center and the Arts and Lectures Administrative Advisory Committee.

Tours 530.754.5399 One-hour guided tours of the Mondavi Center’s Jackson Hall, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre and Yocha Dehe Grand Lobby are given regularly by the Friends of Mondavi Center. Reservations are required.

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ext month we will announce and put on sale our 10th anniversary season. It will be filled with both new and familiar faces and old and new approaches as we launch our second decade. By the time we start that season, almost one million audience members will have attended Mondavi Center presentations in our first decade, complemented by the 100,000 young people at our school matinees. While visiting artists regularly praise our venue for its beauty, acoustics and comfort, they almost always pair that with praise for our audiences—for their focus, their appreciation and their enthusiasm. Great audiences complete great art, and at the Mondavi Center we have both.

That is why much of the focus of our 10th anniversary will be a celebration of our audiences. Therefore, we turn to you to tell us your stories about how the MC has affected your lives. What has moved you and what has put you off?

What opened your eyes and ears during the first 10 seasons? If you haven’t done so already, please step inside our Mondavi Memories Booth during any Jackson Hall event this season and share with us your memories, stories and recollections. These videos will become part of the flow of our 10th anniversary celebration and will help inform our programs going forward. If video is not your thing, you can also email us at memories@mondaviarts.org with your favorite Mondavi Moments.

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info

Photo: Lynn Goldsmith

before the show

Our own version of March Madness will be to live up to the challenge of bringing you, in one month’s time, artists from three continents, super groups in classical music and jazz and the latest in the world of cirque.

We are especially proud to present the second part of our Focus on India partnership with UC Davis’s Department of Middle East/South Asian Studies.

On March 21, we will explore both traditional and contemporary Indian Dance, featuring works by the Kalanjali, Dances of India School and a world premiere from leading Indian dancer Rachana Yadav. The next evening, Zakir Hussain returns with his Masters of Percussion in an Indian-inflected evening of virtuoso performance.

In addition to Yadav’s premiere, March will also see the long-awaited United States premiere of Ballet Preljocaj’s epic and beautiful Blanche Neige with performances on March 17 and 18. (There will be a special edition of our program book for those performances alone.) Very few things are a “must see,” in my book, but Blanche Neige, which is playing nowhere else on the west coast north of Los Angeles, is one of those events. At this point, tickets are scarce but do plan to join us if you haven’t already.

Thank you for visiting us at the Mondavi Center.

Lost and Found Hotline 530.752.8580 Recycle We reuse our playbills! Thank you for returning your recycled playbill in the bin located by the main exit on your way out.

Don Roth, Ph.D. Executive Director Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis

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MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Copyright © UC Regents, Davis campus, 2011. All Rights Reserved.

WHAT DO YOU SEE? We see a way to create new blood vessels.

You see life and limb saved.

The region’s only academic health center, UC Davis is globally recognized for discovery and innovation in vascular care. Here, internationally-renowned specialists conduct research, teach, and offer breakthrough treatments not available elsewhere. One promising study is investigating the use of patients’ own stem cells to create new blood vessels in the leg—giving hope to diabetics and others who face amputation. And that’s just the beginning.

To see the full story and more, visit YouSeeTheFuture.UCDavis.edu.

For more information, call 800-2-UC DAVIS.

YOU SEE INNOVATION

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| mondaviarts.org

Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Center for the Performing Arts

| UC Davis

Presents

MC

Debut

the Overtone Quartet Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Jason Moran & Eric Harland A Capital Public Radio Jackson Hall Jazz Series Event Saturday, February 25, 2012 • 8PM Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis

There will be one intermission.

Sponsored by

Individual support provided by Tony and Joan Stone

Pre-Performance Talk Saturday, February 25, 2012 • 7PM Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis Speaker: Cory Combs, Director of Outreach, Music and Enrichment, The Nueva School (see p. 4)

The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices.

Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.

Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle this playbill for reuse.

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Download to listen to your favorite news and music anytime

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WHERE WORLD-CLASS PERfORmAnCE PAiRS bEAutifuLLy WitH LocaL foods Downtown Davis’ only grocery store

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Pre-Performance Talk speaker: cory combs Cory Combs is an educator, historian, lecturer, bassist and composer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied classical performance, jazz and composition. He is currently director of outreach, music and enrichment at the Nueva School. He previously served as director of education at SFJAZZ, the non-profit organization behind the San Francisco Jazz Festival.

Additionally, he served as music director at Waldorf High School in San Francisco and directed the jazz program at the American Festival of the Arts in Houston, Texas. He continues to be an active guest clinician and educator at colleges and high schools.

capradio.org/ mobileapp 4

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Cory has presented frequent lectures on music history and culture throughout San Francisco and nationally, including at the Asian Art Museum, Pacific Asian Museum, Jewish Community Center, Davies Symphony Hall, Herbst Theater, City College, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco State University and on KQED Forum. He has released three CDs under his name, which have all received positive reviews in DownBeat and All About Jazz. His CD Valencia was listed as one of the 10 best CDs of the year by All About Jazz.

overtone quartet

the Overtone Quartet Dave Holland, Bass Chris Potter, Saxophone Jason Moran, Piano Eric Harland, Drums

Dave Holland (bass), a master of tone and rhythm, is a bassist, composer and bandleader now in his fifth decade as a performer.

His music possesses a rich and kaleidoscopic history. He is a seminal figure in post-1960s jazz, but has never allowed his work to be limited by tradition.

Born in 1946, the Wolverhampton, England, native was a steady figure on the London jazz scene when Miles Davis saw him at the fabled Soho jazz club Ronnie Scott’s in 1968, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. A month later, Holland was on the bandstand with Davis at Count Basie’s Harlem nightclub.

He then joined the rhythm section on Filles de Kilimanjaro and the revolutionary In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew sessions. It was a heady two years, but Holland was quickly developing his own ideas about music.

Eager to pursue his own radical new sounds, Holland did what many of his peers would not have contemplated. He quit Davis’s band, giving up the arena gigs at vast venues like Madison Square Garden to commit to the creation of his own music. And then he got even busier. The 1970s found Holland prolific. Solo and in collaboration, he became a dominant voice in the new music. Along with fellow Miles alum Chick Corea, he formed the shortlived supergroup Circle and then joined Sam Rivers for the epochal Conference of the Birds. The 1972 album, one of Holland’s first for the ECM label, was a quartet session that also featured multireedist Anthony Braxton and drummer Barry Altschul (both of Circle). Inspired by the birds that frequented the yard of Holland’s London home and a 12th century Persian epic written by Farid ud-Din Attar, the album became a classic: outward-thinking music that made the avant-garde swinging and coherent, suffused in feeling yet attentive to form. Holland also explored the essence of his instrument in the duo record with Barre Phillips, Music for Two Basses (1971) and the remarkable solo album Emerald Tears (1977).

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Interestingly enough, Holland’s solo albums—which also include the cello-driven Life Cycle (1983) and One’s All—brought him back full circle to his earliest fascination with the bass and strings.

It was Holland’s strengths as a collaborator that marked many of his most notable efforts of the decade. His ongoing association with Rivers, Braxton and trumpeter Kenny Wheeler saw Holland’s presence on a slew of important sessions, including a pair of improvisatory duets with Rivers and multiple credits on Braxton’s Arista recordings, such as the splendid New York (Fall 1974). Joining forces with DeJohnette again and guitarist John Abercrombie, Holland joined the collective Gateway trio from 1975–77 recording a pair of albums for ECM. (The trio recorded twice again in the 1990s and continues to play the occasional concert).

Ever versatile, Holland also recorded with folk and rock musicians.

As the only acoustic bassist living in Woodstock, New York, at the time, the Englishman was in demand. Michael Cuscuna, who produced several Braxton sessions with Holland on board, solicted his talents for Bonnie Raitt’s Give It Up. Holland also got in the studio with bluegrass legend Vassar Clements and John Hartford. (It was in the same spirit that Holland found himself jamming with Jimi Hendrix one fleeting night in 1969 with drummer Buddy Miles).

Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester. A series of albums recorded over the next four years—including Jumpin’ In, Seeds of Time and Razor’s Edge—laid the foundation for Holland’s songbook. Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smith for Extensions in 1989.

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The bassist also continued to enjoy strong collaborations with a vast range of his peers, often connecting with celebrated figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. The following year, Holland got together in a unique trio of jazz legends, drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle—a genuine power summit. Other stellar projects included Question & Answer with Pat Metheny and Roy Haynes as well as Like Minds with Gary Burton. This has been a consistent pattern in Holland’s career. During the 1990s, he renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), Porgy & Bess, and the Joe Henderson Big Band.

Likewise, Holland reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire. Fellow Davis alum Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock’s band again in 1996 and, more recently, was part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy for Album of the Year.

Throughout the 1990s into the new century, Holland moved from strength to strength, both building and consolidating his position as one of the music’s important and creatively seeking bandleaders.

He launched his third quartet—and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. The Pittsburgh native has been a mainstay in all of Holland’s bands, save for his sextet, since the mid-1990s. “He’s one of the great improvisers I’ve had a chance to play with,” Holland says. “He brings something new to the table every time.

I see guys scratching their heads at what he’s doing. I wanted a chordal instrument in the group. I didn’t necessarily want a piano.

I wanted something to give more openness to the music, chordally. Steve’s approach to playing can be very spacious at times. He knows when to lay out and when to play. There are often long stretches where he’s not playing and then he comes in just at the right moment. A lot of people ask me why I’m using vibes. The reason is Steve Nelson.”

Holland also formed his current quintet, which includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Among their notable recordings are Not for Nothin, Prime Directive and Extended Play.

Eubanks, who has been in Holland’s ensembles since the mid1980s, brings an expansive range to the band. “He can get a very pure French horn-like sound on the high register and can go from that to a real gutbucket sound, and all the points in between,” Holland says. “It’s really important to me that the musicians are deeply grounded in the tradition of the music but at the same time are looking to move that forward. Not only in their playing but in their composing as well.”

Holland first heard Potter when the award-winning tenor saxophonist was about 19 and playing alto with Red Rodney at the Blue Note. “I was doing a gig there with Joe Henderson,” Holland recalls. Later, he joined Potter on a recording session with DeJohnette and John Scofield. “I was struck by the composure he had for a young musician and his sense of balance. He played with a great deal of assurance.” Potter also knew Eubanks from their stints in the Mingus Big Band, which already made for great chemistry in the horn section.

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Drummer Nate Smith was also quite young when Holland first encountered him, during a visit to the University of Virginia in Richmond, where Smith was a student. After another encounter at a memorial concert for Betty Carter, with whom Smith performed in the vocalist’s last years, Holland invited him to join the quintet in 2003. “He’s got a great warmth to his playing, a great sense of community,” Holland says. “I always need players who can really get into a dialogue with each other in the music and are really listening to each other and are not up there playing for themselves.

And, again, he’s another fine composer in the band. Because of his generation, he brings a particular perspective to the music, as does Chris, which I really appreciate and enjoy.

When Holland talks about the musicians, it’s clear that he’s found an ideal mix of talents and attitudes with which to develop a full, complex and exciting sound that is, above all, of the moment.

“We’re all looking to play music that is relevant to the time we live in,” he says. “In the quintet we’re interested in a wide range of context for the music to work in. I’m not looking for a book of music that is only following one direction. I’m looking for something that covers a very broad range of approaches to improvisation, a balance between composition and improvisation and different compositional settings that have different influences on the performance.”

Holland has only gathered momentum with the new century. In 2000, he debuted his Big Band and its debut What Goes Around.

“As a player, I like the situation where you point me in a direction, and let me give a piece momentum,” says Holland. “That’s my aim, giving everyone in the big band the opportunity to delve into their own creative possibilities. There’s a fine line for balance—utilizing the band for my composing and arranging, but also keeping the flexibility and freedom in the music.”

Potter, an MVP in multiple settings for Holland, says the leader’s “core” bass lines allow him to launch his saxophone improvisations in many different directions. “As a leader, Dave approaches the band as something you wind up and let go,” he says. “Of course, he’s serious about the music. He wants us all to play at our highest level. He’s very curious to see how far we can take an idea and run with it.”

In 2005, Holland formed Dare2 Records, after a 34-year relationship with ECM Records, the label where he became a signature artist. Sharing the bandstand with the best of a younger generation of players in his fan-favorite quintet, he now has three albums out on Dare2: the Grammy Award-winning Overtime (2005), Critical Mass (2006) and Pass It On (2008). The debut recording from the Dave Holland Octet, entitled Pathways, was released in 2010 on Dare2 also. As he has in his music, Holland has embraced change and new ideas in business like few of his generation or younger.

A potent improvisor and the youngest musician ever to win Denmark’s Jazzpar Prize, Potter’s impressive discography includes 15 albums as a leader and sideman appearances on more than 100 albums. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his solo work on “In Vogue,” a track from Joanne Brackeen’s 1999 album Pink Elephant Magic, and was prominently featured on Steely Dan’s Grammy-winning album from 2000, Two Against Nature. He has performed or recorded with many of the leading names in jazz, such as Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, John Scofield, the Mingus Big Band, Jim Hall, Paul Motian, Dave Douglas, Ray Brown and many others.

His most recent recording, Ultrahang, is the culmination of five years’ work with his Underground quartet with Adam Rogers on guitar, Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes and Nate Smith on drums.

Recorded in the studio in January 2009 after extensive touring, it showcases the band at its freewheeling yet cohesive best.

Since bursting onto the New York scene in 1989 as an 18-year-old prodigy with bebop icon Red Rodney (who himself had played as a young man alongside the legendary Charlie Parker), Potter has steered a steady course of growth as an instrumentalist and composer-arranger. Through the 1990s, he continued to gain invaluable bandstand experience as a sideman while also making strong statements as a bandleader-composer-arranger. Acclaimed outings like Unspoken (with bassist and mentor Dave Holland, drummer Jack DeJohnette and guitarist John Scofield), Vertigo, Gratitude and Traveling Mercies showed a penchant for risk-taking and genre-bending. “For me, it just seemed like a way of opening up the music to some different things that I had been listening to but maybe hadn’t quite come out in my music before,” he explains.

Potter explored new territory on the partly electric Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard (with bassist Scott Colley, drummer Bill Stewart and keyboardist Kevin Hays) then pushed the envelope a bit further on Underground (with guitarist Wayne Krantz, electric pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Nate Smith). As he told JazzTimes: “I’ve wanted to do something more funk-related ... music that seems to be in the air, all around us. But also keep it as free as the freest jazz conception.”

He continued in this electrified, groove-oriented vein in 2007 with Follow The Red Line: Live at the Village Vanguard (with guitarist Adam Rogers replacing Krantz in the lineup). Says Potter of the adventurous new path he’s carved out for himself with his bass-less Underground quartet: “There was a point where I felt like the context I had been using before wasn’t quite working to express what I wanted or to move forward in some kind of way.

My aesthetic as a saxophonist has always been based in Bird and Lester Young and Sonny Rollins and all the other greats on the

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overtone quartet

Chris Potter (saxophone) A world-class soloist, accomplished composer and formidable bandleader, Chris Potter has emerged as a leading light of his generation. DownBeat called him “one of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet” while Jazz Times identified him as “a figure of international renown.” Jazz sax elder statesman Dave Liebman called him simply “one of the best musicians around,” a sentiment shared by the readers of DownBeat in voting him second only to tenor sax great Sonny Rollins in the magazine’s 2008 Readers Poll.

instrument. What I’ve learned from them in terms of phrasing, sound and approach to rhythm I’ll never outgrow. However music’s a living thing; it has to keep moving. I’ve been touched by many forms of music, like funk, hip hop, country, different folk musics, classical music, etc., and for me not to allow these influences into my music would be unnecessarily self-limiting. The difficulty is incorporating these sounds in an organic, unforced way. It helps me to remember I want people to feel the music, even be able to dance to it, and not think of it it as complicated or forbidding. If I can play something that has meaning for me, maybe I’ll be able to communicate that meaning to other people, and the stylistic questions will answer themselves.”

With the ambitious Song For Anyone (also released in 2007 and dedicated to the memory of Michael Brecker), Potter flexes his muscles as an arranger on original material for an expanded ensemble featuring strings and woodwinds. “That was a learning process,” he says of this triumphant tentet project, “because I hadn’t done anything on that scale before. I just decided to sit down and write, and it was extremely gratifying to see how it translated into live performance.”

Looking back over his 20 years since arriving in New York, Potter says, “I’ve had the chance to learn a lot from all the leaders that I’ve worked with. Each gave me another perspective on how to organize a band and make a statement. It’s taught me that any approach can work, as long as you have a strong vision of what you want to do.”

His initial gig with Red Rodney was an eye-opening and educational experience for the 18-year-old saxophonist. “I wish I had had the perspective I have now to appreciate what a largerthan-life character Red was.” Potter’s years with Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band represented a wholly different approach from Rodney’s old school bebop aesthetic on stage. “Motian has really had a big effect on the way that I think about music,” says the saxophonist. “He approaches things from such an anti-analytical way. It’s so different than so many of the other musicians that I’ve had a chance to work with. Motian more relies on his aesthetic sensibility and his instinct. He’s basically just trusting his gut and he’s so strong about it that he can make it work. And it takes a lot of courage to do that.”

From bassist-bandleader Dave Holland he learned about the importance of focus and willpower. “Dave is determined to make his music as strong as possible and present it in the best way,” says Potter, who has been a member of Holland’s groups for the past 10 years. “Playing with him, you have the feeling there’s this mountain standing behind you that you can completely rely on.

Working with him over the years has helped me see the true value of believing in what you’re doing.”

Potter also cites his time on the bandstand with guitar legend Jim Hall as inspirational. “The way that he can be both melodic and sweet and deeply inventive and open-minded at the same time made a big impression on me,” he says. Touring and recording with the enigmatic duo of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (Steely Dan) offered further insights into the artistic process. “They totally went their own way,” says Potter. “I have a lot of respect for them and their commitment to their art.”

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an exclusive wine tasting experience of featured wineries for inner circle donors

Complimentary wine pours in the Bartholomew Room for Inner Circle Donors: 7-8PM and during intermission if scheduled.

March 2 24

Angelique Kidjo • Fiddlehead Cellars Circus Oz • Silver Oak Cellars

April 17 28

Anoushka Shankar • Roessler Cellars Maya Beiser • Corison Winery

May 2

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San Francisco Symphony Chamber Ensemble Traverso Wines New York Philharmonic • D’Argenzio Winery

Featured wineries

For information about becoming a donor, please call 530.754.5438 or visit us online: www.mondaviarts.org.

Sponsored by

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Now a respected veteran (as well as a new father), Potter continues to work as a bandleader and featured sideman. Surely many interesting chapters await. As his longtime colleague alto saxophonist-composer Dave Binney told DownBeat, “Chris is open to anything now. From here on anything could happen.”

Jason Moran (piano) In 1999, the same year that he released his debut recording Soundtrack To Human Motion, the pianist and composer also joined New Directions, a band made up of young stars from the Blue Note roster that went on tour in celebration of the label’s 60th anniversary. At the core of New Directions was the genesis of a rhythm section—with Moran, bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits—that would become one of the most enduringly creative piano trios in jazz.

Ten years later, the trailblazing trio—which Moran has since dubbed The Bandwagon—headed into Avatar Studios in Manhattan to record Ten, the most assured and focused album of Moran’s acclaimed career, a snapshot of a mature band with a decade of shared musical experience from which to draw.

The Bandwagon made its first recording as a trio with Facing Left in 2000 and has been the foundation of the majority of Moran’s artistic statements since. The trio has been augmented by saxophonist Sam Rivers for Black Stars (which was named to NPR’s list of “The Decade’s 50 Most Important Recordings”) and guitarist Marvin Sewell on the blues exploration Same Mother (2005) as well as Artist In Residence (2006), a compendium of Moran’s arts institution commissions that also featured collaborations with soprano Alicia Hall Moran and conceptual artist Adrian Piper.

Rolling Stone has called Moran “the most provocative thinker in current jazz,” and in Mateen and Waits, he has found his ideal companions, two distinctive voices on their instruments who are restlessly creative and share his open-mindedness and diversity of influences, not just beyond jazz in classical music and hip hop, but also beyond music in art, film, dance and theater. Over 10 years the trio has developed an intuitive level of musical communication.

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Potter has remained committed to his art since his formative years. Born in Chicago on January 1, 1971, his family moved to Columbia, South Carolina, when he was three. He started playing guitar and piano before taking up the alto saxophone at age 10, playing his first gig at 13. When piano legend Marian McPartland first heard Chris at 15 years old, she told his father that Chris was ready for the road with a unit such as Woody Herman’s band, but finishing school was a priority. At age 18, Potter moved to New York to study at the New School and Manhattan School of Music, while also immersing himself in New York’s jazz scene and beginning his lifelong path as a professional musician.

Eric Du’sean Harland (drums) is a Grammy-nominated composer and drummer and a native of Houston, Texas, who currently resides on the east coast. He began his professional career in 1993 playing locally as he finished high school at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Harland won first chair in 1992-93 with the Regional and All State Jazz Band. He received a special Citation for Outstanding Musicianship in 1994 from the International Association of Jazz Educators.

During a workshop in high school, Wynton Marsalis discovered him and encouraged him to study in New York City. Harland attended Manhattan School of Music with a full scholarship in its music program. After music school Harland studied theology at Houston Baptist University (College of Biblical Studies) to become an ordained minister.

Harland has recorded more than 100 recordings with various artists including Terence Blanchard, McCoy Tyner, Charles Lloyd, John Mayer, Dave Holland, Ravi Coltrane, Zakir Hussain and Maria Farantouri to name a few. With Terence Blanchard, Harland has played on 18 movie scores such as Bo Jangles (with Gregory Hines), Caveman’s Valentine (with Samuel Jackson), Original Sin (with Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie), People I Know (with Al Pacino and Kim Basinger) and Dark Blue (with Kirk Russell).

Performing live is one of Harland’s greatest joys and he has had numerous opportunities to play with the greats in the industry.

Some of these artists include Betty Carter, Joe Henderson, Charles Lloyd, Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, McCoy Tyner, Michael Brecker, John Patitucci and Zakir Hussain.

As far as co-led groups, Harland is part of the SFJAZZ Collective, an eight-piece cutting-edge group brainstormed by Joshua Redman and featuring members like Stefan Harris, Mark Turner, Ed Simon, Miguel Zenon and more, the Overtone Quartet with (Dave Holland, Jason Moran and Chris Potter), James Farm with (Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks and Matt Penman) and currently Harland’s own group with Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, Harish Raghavan and Walter Smith lll.

In DownBeat’s 2008, 2009 and 2010 Critics Poll, Harland was awarded First Place in “Rising Star Drums.” The New York Times printed an article featuring Harland stating that “he is ... setting the rhythm of jazz’s future.” Harland has also been featured in 2002 and 2009 issues of Modern Drummer.

In a recent live review in The New York Times, critic Nate Chinen praised Moran’s “fierce longstanding group,” adding that they “didn’t follow his lead so much as flank him on both sides.

Though it’s a trio its sound described something bigger and more indivisible.”

Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle this playbill for reuse.

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Center for the Performing Arts

| UC Davis

Photo by Alexei Hay

Presents

Angélique Kidjo A Chevron World Stage Series Event Friday, March 2, 2012 • 8PM Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis

Sponsored by

The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices.

Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.

Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle this playbill for reuse.

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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BALLET DIRECTOR

RON CUNNINGHAM ISSUE #6

PLAYWRIGHT

GREGG COFFIN ISSUE #7

TONY WINNER

FAITH PRINCE ISSUE #8 ACTOR

COLIN HANKS ISSUE #15

PERFORMANCE ARTIST

DAVID GARIBALDI ISSUE #16

BROADWAY STAR

MARA DAVI ISSUE #19

Available at Raley's, Nugget Markets and Barnes & Noble.

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AngÉlique Kidjo

Angélique Kidjo Angélique Kidjo, Vocals Dominic James, Guitar Daniel Freedman, Drums Magatte Sow, Percussion Itaiguara Brandao, Bass

Spirit Rising Angelique Kidjo offers a banquet of rare musical treats in her new Razor & Tie album, Spirit Rising. Recorded in Boston during a PBS concert at station WGBH, it showcases Kidjo amid a line of special guests that includes Josh Groban, Dianne Reeves, Branford Marsalis and Ezra Koenig.

Angelique’s prior associations with Groban, Reeves and Marsalis have already produced some memorable results. And the presence of singer/guitarist Koenig, from the rock band Vampire Weekend, enhances the proceedings with a seasoning of youthful vigor.

Add to that the dancers of the Tony Award winning Broadway musical FELA!, the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, the Borromeo String Quartet, a trio of young horn players from Berklee College, and a world-class rhythm section led by the versatile bassist Christian McBride.

That collection of talent alone would be enough to make for a brilliant program of music. As it does.

But the element that brings such a uniquely dynamic quality to this succulent musical feast, taking every selection up to a different expressive level, is the fact that the entire program was recorded live. Spirit Rising is, in fact, Angelique’s first live recording. As any of her numerous fans will be quick to report, Angelique Kidjo performing live is one of the most awesome experiences in all of contemporary music.

Perhaps because it’s as exciting to her as it is to her listeners.

“I’m so happy when I’m on stage,” says Angelique. “Being on stage is what makes every singer/songwriter’s life worth it. Singing in the shower is only for yourself. But if you write and perform music for other people, you also have to be able to make them part of the music. The audience gives me energy, so I have to give it back. If I kept it, I wouldn’t be able to sleep for two days.”

Angelique’s goal, in this remarkable performance—which is also available on a DVD from WGBH—was to apply her irresistible, live-on-stage vivacity to a program of music representing both a tribute to her African roots and a convincing display of the musicwithout-boundaries that has become the essence of her art.

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In doing so, she cruises joyously through a set of her gripping original songs, rock specials such as the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” (with Reeves), Curtis Mayfield’s r&b “Move on Up” (with Marsalis) the Gershwin’s Songbook classic, “Summertime,” Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” a surprising take on Ravel’s “Bolero” (also with Marsalis), Vampire Weekend’s “I Think UR a Contra” (with Koenig) and a pairing with Groban on “Pearls,” a song they’ve done many times together.

Born in the West African country of Benin, raised in the busy port city of Cotonou, Angelique was surrounded by a multihued world of music, dance and art—from the rich sounds, rhythms and story telling of traditional Beninese culture to the far ranging fascinations of international pop, rock, blues, Latin music and jazz. Add to that the blessing of parents who honored creativity, who supported Angelique’s artistic goals unconditionally, encouraging her to give free rein to the talents she began to reveal as a six year old.

Expressing those talents to the fullest, drinking in all the music around her, transforming it all into a uniquely personal vision, she became a highly visible international artist while she was still in her 20s. Throughout the 1990s and beyond, she has performed globally, winning honor after honor, including a Grammy, while using her visibility to campaign for women’s rights, provide educational opportunities for girls and support environmental initiatives.

The desire to do the live performance that resulted in Spirit Rising has hovered in Angelique’s mind for years. Doing it with a close group of friends has allowed her to express a fundamental belief— one that has been with her from gifted childhood through success as an international star.

“Music is one,” says Angelique. “I’ve tried my entire career, my entire life, and I will continue trying until I die, to let people realize that music is for everyone. It’s not a matter of language, it’s not a matter of color, it’s not a matter of where you come from.

It is the only thing, really basically, where everybody can come together and make a conversation.”

—Don Heckman

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Mondavi Gala featuring the U.S. premiere of

Ballet Preljocaj’s

Blanche Neige Saturday, March 17, 2012 5:30 p.m. Champagne reception – Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center 7:00 p.m. Blanche Neige – Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center Post-performance dinner with Gala Executive Chef Michael Chiarello – Robert Mondavi Institute Black tie For further information or to purchase tickets by phone, please call 530.752.0991

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi

Margrit Mondavi

University of California, Davis

Chair, Honorary Gala Committee

Honorary Gala Committee Lois and John Crowe Morton and Marcy Friedman Ann and Gordon Getty Kathryn and Craig Hall

Lead Presenting Sponsor

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Barbara K. Jackson Garry Maisel Paul and Sandra Montrone Teresa and Richard Niello, Jr. Randy Reynoso Presenting Sponsor

Consul General of France Romain Serman and Laura Serman Arlene Schnitzer Shari and Garen Staglin Sofia and Angelo K. Tsakopoulos

Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Center for the Performing Arts

| UC Davis

Photo by Paul Body

Presents

Garrick Ohlsson, piano A Wells Fargo Concert Series Event Friday, March 9, 2012 • 8PM Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis

There will be one intermission.

Sponsored by

further listening see p. 20

The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices.

Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.

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MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542, S. 463

Trans. Liszt

J.S Bach

Sonata for Piano in B Minor (in one movement)

Liszt

Intermission

Les Jeux d’Eaux à la Villa d’Este (No. 4) from Années de Pèlerinage, Bk. III

Liszt

Feux Follets (No. 5) from 12 Études d’exécution transcendante

Liszt

Funérailles (No. 7) from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses

Liszt

Mephisto Waltz No. 1

Liszt

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MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Program Notes Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor, BWV 542 (1720) Johann Sebastian Bach (Born March 21, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany; Died July 28, 1750, in Leipzig) Transcribed for piano (1868) by Franz Liszt (Born October 22, 1811, in Doborján, Hungary [now Raiding, Austria]; Died July 31, 1886, in Bayreuth, Germany) Liszt created several works inspired by Bach. His arrangements include piano transcriptions of six Preludes and Fugues (BWV 543-548) done during the 1840s for use at his tour recitals; the Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor (BWV 542), published in 1868; the Adagio from the Violin Sonata No. 4 (BWV 1017) for organ; and organ adaptations of movements from the cantatas Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis (BWV 21), Aus tiefer Not (BWV 38) and Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (BWV 12). In 1880, he planned but never realized an arrangement of the Chaconne from the Violin Partita No. 2 (BWV 1004). Liszt’s original compositions honoring Bach are the Prelude and Fugue on the Name BACH of 1855 and the funereal Variations on “Weinen, Klagen,”composed in 1862 after the death of his daughter Blandine.

Bach is thought to have composed his bold and technically daunting Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor (BWV 542) in 1720 as an audition piece for the organist’s job at Hamburg’s Jakobkirche—the fugue theme was derived from a Dutch folk song as an apparent homage to the ancestral origins of the venerable organist and composer Jan Adams Reinken, one of the judges. (Bach did not get the job, and three years later he quit as music director at the court of Anhalt-Cöthen to become Kantor of Leipzig’s churches.)

Liszt’s transcription of the work, published in 1868, retains the musical content of Bach’s original but enriches the textures of the Prelude and adapts the voicing of the Fugue to his luxuriant brand of pianism.

The G Minor Fantasy and Fugue juxtaposes two of Baroque music’s least-related forms. The opening section is essentially a written-down improvisation whose sweeping scales, colossal harmonic progressions and dazzling figurations serve as a record of Bach’s peerless skill upon the keyboards and pedals. The fugue, on the other hand, is music’s most tightly integrated structure, growing from a single theme that threads through each of the voices and dominates the seamless piece from beginning to end.

Bach brought to this marriage of musical antitheses his limitless invention, flying virtuosity and unerring sense of impassioned drama.

Sonata for Piano in B Minor (1851–53) Liszt composed his revolutionary B Minor Piano Sonata in 1852– 53. The procedure on which he built this Sonata (as well as his Second Concerto and many of his orchestral tone poems) is called “thematic transformation,” or, to use the rather more jolly phrase of the American critic William Foster Apthorp, “The Life and Adventures of a Melody.” Never bothered that he was ignoring the Classical models of form, Liszt concocted his own new structures around this transformation process. (“Music is never stationary,”

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he pronounced. “Successive forms and styles can only be like so many resting places—like tents pitched and taken down again on the road to the Ideal.”) Basically, the “thematic transformation” process consists of inventing a theme that can be used to create a wide variety of moods, tempos, harmonies and rhythms to suggest whatever emotional states are required by the different sections of the piece. It is not unlike a single actor changing costumes to play Puck, Bottom the Weaver and Oberon all in the same production (now that’s an actor)—recognizably the same at the core but different on the surface for each scene.

There are at least four such scenes played continuously in Liszt’s Piano Sonata, which correspond roughly to “first movement,” “slow movement,” “finale” and “coda.” The principal theme, presented after seven measures of slow introduction, comprises two motivic components: a leaping exclamation followed by a dramatic triplet figure; and an ominous quick-note gesture in the low register. It is from these two pregnant fragments that the magnificent and thoroughly integrated structure of this Sonata is built. The only important melodic contrast is provided by a bold, striding theme introduced above repeated chords.

Les Jeux d’Eaux à la Villa d’Este from Années de Pèlerinage, Bk. III (1877) In 1550, Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI and son of the Pope’s daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, lost a power struggle to occupy the throne of St. Peter’s to Julius III. Julius appointed Ippolito Governor of Tivoli, 20 miles northeast of Rome, effectively sending him into internal exile, since such positions required that the magistrate never leave his jurisdiction.

Ippolito spent the remaining 22 years of his life ameliorating his velvet captivity by renovating the old Benedictine convent at Tivoli into an opulent palazzo and then surrounding it with some of the most spectacular gardens in Italy, widely famed for their groves of cypress trees and their incomparable fountains and water features.

In 1865, Liszt was granted “minor orders” in the church (which allowed him to perform a few small priestly duties but not to officiate at mass or to hear confession), and he was invited to stay at the Villa d’Este whenever he was in Rome. He frequently and gratefully partook of the beauty and tranquility of Tivoli over the next two decades, and during a visit in 1877, he composed a piece inspired by the fountains at the Villa d’Este—Les Jeux d’Eaux à la Villa d’Este. The Jeux d’Eaux is a path-breaking experiment in the musical depiction of water and light that proved to be an important source for the keyboard and harmonic techniques of the Impressionists, but Liszt also intended that its opalescent strains have a religious symbolism, which he indicated by appending to the score a quotation from the fourth chapter of the Gospel of St. John: “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

In 1826, when, at the age of 15, Liszt was being displayed in Paris as a child prodigy by his father, he composed a set of 12 Etudes.

The pieces were published in Marseilles as his Op. 1 the following year with a dedication to Mlle. Lydie Garella, then one of his most favored piano duet partners. Five years later, in Paris in 1831, Liszt heard Paganini play for the first time, and he spent the next several years trying to find keyboard equivalents for the dazzling feats that the legendary violinist accomplished on his instrument.

To that end, Liszt undertook a thorough transformation of his old Op. 1 Etudes in 1837, and produced one of the most awesome documents of instrumental virtuosity of the Romantic century— the 12 Transcendental Etudes.

Liszt’s Op. 1 Etudes found their principal influences in the finger-exercising pieces of his teacher Carl Czerny and the lyrical effusions of fashionable Italian opera. (Liszt’s dozens of arrangements, paraphrases, fantasias and reminiscences on operatic themes were among the most popular numbers on his recitals.) He had originally intended to produce a cycle of 48 numbers which, like the two books of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, would include two pieces in each of the major and minor keys (C major, A minor; F major, D minor; B-flat major, G minor, etc.), but he completed only 12 movements, giving them no titles except for their tempo markings. He took up the Etudes again in 1837, by which time his affair with the Countess Marie d’Agoult, wife of the equerry to the Dauphin of France, had progressed to the point of the imminent birth of their second child, an event that they chose to await among the Italian lakes—Cosima, later the wife of both Hans von Bülow and Richard Wagner, was born at Como on Christmas Eve. Liszt retained the thematic materials and key structures of his earlier pieces (he added a title to only one—Mazeppa, associated with Victor Hugo’s swashbuckling poem about the 16th-century Polish hero), but created in his Études d’Exécution Transcendante piano works of almost symphonic breadth whose difficulty of performance led Robert Schumann to call them “Sturm- und Graus-Etuden [‘Studies of Storm and Dread’], suitable for perhaps only 10 or 12 players in the whole world.”

Hector Berlioz believed that “no one else in the world could flatter himself that he could approach being able to perform them.”

Liszt returned yet again to the Transcendental Etudes in 1851, when he alleviated some of their technical difficulties, tightened their formal structures and added poetic titles to all but two of them. Even in this “simplified” final form, the version usually heard today in the concert hall, the Transcendental Etudes remain among the most imposing technical and interpretative challenges in the piano’s realm. Feux Follets (“Will-o’-the-Wisp”), delicate and charming, elicits some of the piano’s most ethereal sonorities.

Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Feux Follets (“Will-o’-the-Wisp”) from 12 Études d’exécution transcendante (“Twelve Transcendental Etudes”) (1826, 1837–38, 1851)

Funérailles from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses (1849) Liszt was a most unusual Hungarian patriot. Though born in Hungary, he was raised in the French language (he never did learn to speak Hungarian very well, despite several attempts), moved with his family to Vienna at the age of 10 and visited his homeland only infrequently thereafter. Yet he maintained an interest in his country and in Hungarian music throughout his life, writing numerous works incorporating national melodies: the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies and several other pieces for solo piano (six of the Rhapsodies were later transcribed for orchestra), a symphonic poem, a mass written for the coronation of Emperor Franz Josef as King of Hungary in 1867 and the Hungarian Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra. It is therefore hardly surprising that Liszt was considerably anguished by the brutal Austrian suppression of the ill-fated Hungarian uprisings in 1848 and 1849, though he eagerly abstained from any personal commitment to the cause of his countrymen. The execution on October 6, 1849, of Prime Minister Lajos Batthyány, who had campaigned in vain for the peaceful resolution of differences between Austria and Hungary, moved him to composition, however, and he produced the eloquent Funérailles within days of the event. (Frédéric Chopin’s death in Paris on October 17 was at one time credited with inspiring the piece, but that tragedy seems to have been incidental rather than causal to its creation.) Funérailles was included in a set of 10 pieces on sacred and meditative subjects issued in 1853 with the title Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, Liszt’s first important piano publication after taking over the music directorship of the Weimar court. He borrowed the name from a collection of poems by the French writer and statesman Alphonse de Lamartine, whose verses also provided the title for the contemporaneous symphonic poem Les Préludes. Funérailles was dedicated to Liszt’s long-time companion, Jeanne Élisabeth Carolyne, the Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein, who created a delicious furor as the composer’s mistress in Weimar.

Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (1859–60) The legend of Faust was an integral part of the German Romantic sensibility, especially in the timeless telling of the tale by Goethe, and it was this version that inspired Liszt’s symphony on the subject in the mid-1850s. The Mephisto Waltz of several years later, however, was spurred by Liszt’s reading of the story’s 1836 adaptation by Nikolaus Lenau. Lenau (1802–50) was, like Liszt, of Hungarian birth and German sympathy. He spent most of his unhappy life in Austria, writing works that reflected the extreme pessimism that was an important component of the full florescence of the northern Romantic Movement. Beside much lyric poetry, he wrote several long narratives, including one on Don Juan (which inspired Strauss’s tone poem on that topic) and another on Faust, this latter a succession of tableaux or “Episodes” more than 3,000 lines long.

It was one of these tableaux that inspired Liszt’s Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke—Mephisto-Walzer (“Dance in the Village Inn—Mephisto Waltz”), composed in 1859–60 for orchestra and arranged soon thereafter for piano. (Liszt wrote a Second Mephisto Waltz for orchestra in 1880–81 and a third one for solo piano in 1883.) The long prefatory excerpt from Lenau that Liszt placed at the head of the Mephisto Waltz No. 1 reads, in part: (cont. on p. 21)

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MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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by jeff hudson

further listening

Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Garrick Ohlsson, piano

Pianists have pronounced preferences regarding the instruments they play, and the companies that make pianos base their marketing strategies in part on the prestige of the artists who favor the instruments that their company makes.

This exercise in fame and influence has been going on for more than 200 years. Several piano makers curried Beethoven’s favor in the early 1800s. Franz Liszt—whose music you are hearing tonight—was courted by several piano companies (including the French maker Érard) keen to be associated with Liszt’s reputation as the most sensational pianist of his (and perhaps any) age.

Liszt’s fame remains so tangible that the Austrian company Bösendorfer still trades on his name today. The Bösendorfer website breathlessly recalls that in 1828—at a time when Liszt had a wellearned reputation for wrecking nearly every piano that he used for a concert performance, due to his relentless and heavy-handed technique—Liszt tried a Bösendorfer grand. “The piano held up under Liszt’s rigorous test,” the Bösendorfer website cheerfully reports (though keep in mind, the website is paid for by the company).

Garrick Ohlsson was involved in a now-infamous 1972 spat with Steinway (the American company that has dominated the field for decades). Ohlsson compared Bösendorfer pianos to Rolls-Royce sedans in a New York Times interview. Steinway responded by promptly hauling off the Steinway grand that Ohlsson was about to play in a concert at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. (Ohlsson played the concert on a borrowed Bösendorfer, whisked in at the last minute.)

Ohlsson and Steinway have long since made peace.

Ohlsson diplomatically told The New York Times in 2004 that “an artist’s job is not to endorse a piano but to play the best instrument available.” And when Ohlsson recorded his traversal of the etudes of Alexander Scriabin for an album released in 2004, he played a vintage 1876 Steinway Style 4 Concert Grand.

But when Ohlsson recorded his recent album (2011) containing the Liszt Sonata in B Minor and the Fantasy and Fugue on Ad Nos, Ad Salutarem Undam (based on a old German choral, reworked

by Liszt for organ and later piano four hands, and lastly arranged for solo piano by Busoni)—Ohlsson opted for a Bösendorfer Imperial Grand, with an extended keyboard containing 97 keys, rather than the standard 88 keys on most concert grands.

As this essay was written in December, I couldn’t determine which piano Ohlsson would play at tonight’s concert. If memory serves, he played a Steinway at his recital here in November 2005.

Other pianists, and opera companies as well, have mixed it up a bit with piano makers. Angela Hewitt incurred Steinway’s wrath when she started recording on Fazioli pianos (and saying nice things about Fazioli pianos in interviews) about a decade ago. But Hewitt played a Steinway when she performed Bach’s Goldberg Variations here in March 2009.

The Metropolitan Opera uses Yamaha pianos. There are other examples. It’s a very competitive business.

And with high-end concert grands running upwards of $100,000 in some instances, there’s quite a bit of money at stake when choosing an instrument as well.

Jeff Hudson contributes coverage of the performing arts to Capital Public Radio, the Davis Enterprise and Sacramento News and Review.

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“Faust: That girl over there enchants me. It must be immeasurably sweet to press oneself to those soft sensual lips that swell with yearning and make one lose all thought of self.

“The leader of the band gives Mephistopheles his fiddle. As the seductive music rings out all are caught up in a whirl of bacchantic revelry. Faust and his brunette drive their way through the dance in ecstasy. He fondles her little hands, stammers vows of love, and leads her out through the open door, still dancing, and across the meadows and into the wood. Intoxicated by passion, they are swallowed up in the roaring sea of their delight.”

Steamy stuff, this, and it is mirrored with disturbing fidelity in Liszt’s brilliant music. It is not necessary to follow intimately the progress of the Mephisto Waltz in order to appreciate its liaison with the action of the poem. It is sufficient to know that, following the rustic opening, there are two main themes that are transformed throughout the work into various diabolic countenances.

—Dr. Richard E. Rodda Garrick Ohlsson (piano) Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Although he has long been regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Frédéric Chopin, Ohlsson commands an enormous repertoire, which ranges over the entire piano literature. A student of the late Claudio Arrau, Ohlsson has come to be noted for his masterly performances of the works of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, as well as the Romantic repertoire. His concerto repertoire alone is unusually wide and eclectic—ranging from Haydn and Mozart to works of the 21st century—and to date he has at his command more than 80 concertos.

Last season, in recognition of the bicentenary of Chopin’s birth, Ohlsson presented a series of all-Chopin recital programs in Seattle, Berkeley and La Jolla, culminating at Lincoln Center in fall and winter of 2010. In conjunction with that project a documentary, The Art of Chopin, based on Chopin’s life and music and featuring Ohlsson, co-produced by Polish, French, British and Chinese television stations, was released in autumn 2010. In summer of 2010, he was featured in all-Chopin programs at the Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals, as well as appearances in Taipei, Beijing, Melbourne and Sydney.

Ohlsson opened the 2010–11 season in Carnegie Hall with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra followed by return visits to the orchestras of Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. (National Symphony), Milwaukee, Toronto, Miami (New World Symphony) and San Diego. In Europe, he visited orchestras in Sweden, Denmark, Spain and England, concluding his Chopin recital project in Detroit and New York in December.

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Garrick Ohlsson, piano

“Village Inn. A Wedding. Music and Dancing. Mephistopheles (peering through the window, to Faust): Choose one of the girls as your partner and join the melée.

In acknowledgement of the bicentenary of Liszt’s birth, the 2011– 12 season will include recitals of his works in cities including Chicago, Hong Kong, London and New York, where he will also visit Carnegie Hall with the Atlanta Symphony and Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic. Tours in Europe and Asia include concerts in France, England, Italy, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. Ohlsson will also return as guest soloist with orchestras in Indianapolis, Nashville, Portland, Ottawa and San Francisco, where he is a beloved regular. In partnership with the Wroclaw Philharmonic (Poland) he plans a tour of 12 concerts from Florida to California, presenting works of Chopin and Beethoven.

During the summer of 2006, Ohlsson presented the complete cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas at both the Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals, a cycle he performed for the first time in the summer of 2005 at Switzerland’s prestigious Verbier Festival.

Ohlsson is an avid chamber musician who has collaborated with the Cleveland, Emerson, Takács and Tokyo string quartets, among other ensembles. Together with violinist Jorja Fleezanis and cellist Michael Grebanier, he is a founding member of the San Franciscobased FOG Trio.

A prolific recording artist, Ohlsson can be heard on the Arabesque, RCA Victor Red Seal, Angel, Bridge, BMG, Delos, Hänssler, Nonesuch, Telarc and Virgin Classics labels. His 10-disc set of the complete Beethoven sonatas for Bridge Records is now complete and has garnered considerable critical praise, including a Grammy for Vol. 3. In addition, in 2011, he released a disc of works by Franz Liszt. In 2008, the English label Hyperion re-released his 16-disc set of the complete works of Chopin and recently released a disc of all the Brahms piano variations and a two-disc set of Carl Maria von Weber’s four piano sonatas.

A native of White Plains, New York, Ohlsson began his piano studies at the age of eight. He attended the Westchester Conservatory of Music and at 13, entered the Juilliard School in New York City.

His musical development has been influenced in completely different ways by a succession of distinguished teachers, most notably Claudio Arrau, Olga Barabini, Tom Lishman, Sascha Gorodnitzki, Rosina Lhévinne and Irma Wolpe. Although he won First Prizes at the 1966 Busoni Competition in Italy and the 1968 Montréal Piano Competition, it was his 1970 triumph at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, where he won the Gold Medal that brought him worldwide recognition as one of the finest pianists of his generation. Since then he has made nearly a dozen tours of Poland, where he retains immense personal popularity.

Ohlsson was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize in 1994 and received the 1998 University Musical Society Distinguished Artist Award in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He makes his home in San Francisco.

Management for Garrick Ohlsson: Opus 3 Artists, 470 Park Avenue South, Ninth Floor North, New York, NY 10016

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Center for the Performing Arts

| UC Davis

Presents

Curtis on Tour Featuring Nadir Khashimov, Roberto Díaz, Jason Vieaux and Eric Han A Debut Series Event Saturday, March 10, 2012 • 8PM Sunday, March 11, 2012 • 2PM Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center, UC Davis

There will be one intermission.

Individual support provided by Oren and Eunice Adair-Christensen

The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices.

Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.

Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle this playbill for reuse.

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Surve ying Judy ChiCago 1970 – 2 010

Judy Chicago, The Return of the Butterfly AP, 2009.

Lithograph, 24 x 24 in. © Judy Chicago. Courtesy of Judy Chicago and ACA Galleries, New York.

Artist, iconoclast, feminist, teacher.

Forty years of artwork with one message—art can inspire social change.

On vie w M a rch 3 thrOug h M ay 13

crockerartmuseum.org /crockerart

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216 O Street • Sacramento

curtis on tour

Curtis on Tour Nadir Khashimov, Violin Roberto Díaz, Viola Eric Han, Cello Jason Vieaux, Guitar

program Oblivion for Guitar and Strings

arr. Julien Labro

Piazzolla

Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7

Allegro serioso, non troppo

Adagio

Maestoso e largamente, ma non troppo lento—Presto

Kodály

Intermission

Red Trees, Wrinkled Cliffs

Adagio amoroso

Vivo

Zhou Tian

Quartet No. 15 for Guitar and Strings in A Minor

Maestoso

Minuetto a Canone: Andantino

Recitative: Andante sostenuto con sentimento

Adagio cantabile

Rondo: Allegretto

Paganini

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MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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curtis on tour

Program Notes Oblivion for Guitar and Strings (1984) Astor Piazzolla (Born March 11, 1921, in Mar Del Plata, Argentina; Died July 5, 1992, in Buenos Aires) Arranged by Julien Labro (born in 1981) The greatest master of the modern tango was Astor Piazzolla, born in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, a resort town south of Buenos Aires, on March 11, 1921, and raised in New York City, where he lived with his father from 1924–37. Before Astor was 10 years old, his musical talents had been discovered by Carlos Gardel, then the most famous of all performers and composers of tangos and a cultural hero in Argentina. At Gardel’s urging, the young Astor moved to Buenos Aires in 1937 and joined the popular tango orchestra of Anibal Troilo as arranger and bandoneón player.

Piazzolla studied classical composition with Alberto Ginastera in Buenos Aires, and in 1954, he wrote a symphony for the Buenos Aires Philharmonic that earned him a scholarship to study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. When Piazzolla returned to Buenos Aires in 1956, he founded his own performing group and began to create a modern style for the tango that combined elements of traditional tango, Argentinean folk music and contemporary classical, jazz and popular techniques into a Nuevo Tango that was as suitable for the concert hall as for the dance floor. In 1974, Piazzolla settled again in Paris, winning innumerable enthusiasts for both his nuevo tango and for the traditional tango with his many appearances, recordings and compositions. By the time that he returned to Buenos Aires in 1985, he was regarded as the musician who had revitalized one of the quintessential genres of Latin music.

Piazzolla continued to tour widely, record frequently and compose incessantly until he suffered a stroke in Paris in August 1990. He died in Buenos Aires on July 5, 1992.

In 1984, Piazzolla went to Rome to compose the score for director Marco Bellocchio’s screen version of Luigi Pirandello’s drama Enrico IV, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale.

“The theme in Henry IV,” wrote John Humphreys Whitfield of the University of Birmingham, England, “is madness, which lies just under the skin of ordinary life and is, perhaps, superior to ordinary life in its construction of a satisfying reality. The play finds dramatic strength in its hero’s choice of retirement into unreality in preference to life in the uncertain world.” Bellocchio thought that Piazzolla found “a very strong point of contact” in the character of the King, which he captured in the deeply nostalgic number Oblivion written for the film. The arrangement for guitar and strings is by the French-born American accordionist-bandoneónistcomposer-arranger Julien Labro.

Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 (1914) Zoltán Kodály (Born December 16, 1882, in Kecskemét, Hungary; Died March 6, 1967, in Budapest) Zoltán Kodály, 18 years old, arrived in Budapest from his home village of Nagyszombat in 1900 to study composition and education at the city’s university and at Eötvös College. In the Hungarian capital, he met Béla Bartók. The two were drawn

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together not just by their age and shared profession, but also by a missionary zeal to research and preserve the disappearing indigenous music and customs of their land, and in 1905, they set out on the first of many expeditions into the countryside to collect folksongs and dances. Among Kodály’s first instrumental works to transmute the characteristic idioms and ethos of native folksong and dance into his concert music was the Duo for Violin and Cello (Op. 7) of 1914.

The Duo, spread across three spacious movements that seem to imply some unarticulated epic tale, brings the cello and violin into exact equality, sharing motives, commenting and contesting as the music unfolds. A broad heroic statement from the cello serves as the first movement’s main theme. A lyrical complementary melody is presented quietly by the violin above the cello’s dronelike pizzicato accompaniment. These two motives are worked out at some length and with considerable ingenuity in the center of the movement before the recapitulation begins with the violin’s passionate return of the main theme. The Adagio ranges through episodes of introspective soliloquy, tragic outburst and hard-won reconciliation. The finale opens with a leisurely introduction that recalls some of the Duo’s earlier thematic material before launching into an increasingly fiery peasant dance.

Red Trees, Wrinkled Cliffs (commissioned work) Zhou Tian (Born December 22, 1981, in Hangzhou, China) Chinese-American composer Zhou Tian was born in 1981 in the city of Hangzhou, China, 100 miles southwest of Shanghai, and did his undergraduate work in composition and piano at the Shanghai Conservatory. In 2001, Zhou came to the United States to attend the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied composition with Richard Danielpour and Jennifer Higdon and piano with Meng-Chieh Liu. Zhou subsequently earned a master’s degree at the Juilliard School as a student of Christopher Rouse and a doctorate at the University of Southern California, where he studied composition with Stephen Hartke and Donald Crockett and piano with Antoinette Perry. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Music at Colgate University in 2011. Zhou’s music has been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, St. Cloud Symphony, Curtis Symphony, Guangzhou Elite Symphony, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, New Fromm String Quartet, Bakken Trio, Biava Quartet, Arditti Quartet, percussionist Pius Cheung and other noted ensembles and soloists. His distinctions include First Prize in the Washington International Competition for Composers, First Prize in the Kathryn Thomas International Composition Competition, Julius Hemphill International Composers Award, Presser Foundation Music Award, three ASCAP/Morton Gould Young Composer Awards and composition fellowships from the Aspen, Tanglewood and Fontainebleau music festivals; he has also served as Composer-inResidence for the Green Bay Symphony and the chamber series Music In the Loft in Chicago.

In a time when public relations and international marketing were barely flickering ideas in the thoughts of the most prescient entrepreneur, Nicolò Paganini knew the value of a spicy tale in enhancing his worldly reputation. In 1828 in Prague, where he had gone for concerts and dental surgery, Paganini met the German musicologist and folksong researcher Julius Schottky, adopted him as his “official biographer” and told him the story of his life. Some of it was true. Among the most titillating episodes made up by Paganini (who fancied himself irresistible to women when he was young) was one taken as gospel by all of his biographers through the 1950s—the yarn of the mysterious “lady of rank.” The influential Belgian critic, teacher, musicologist and composer François-Joseph Fétis summarized the tale in his Notice Biographique sur Nicolò Paganini, published in Paris in 1851: “Although Paganini was still in the prime of youth [19 supposedly], and had known nothing but success and profit, the violin lost its attraction in his eyes. A lady of rank having fallen desperately in love with him, and the feeling being reciprocated, he withdrew with her to an estate she possessed in Tuscany. This lady played the guitar, and Paganini imbibed a taste for that instrument, and applied himself sedulously to its practice. During a period of three years, he devoted all the energies of his mind to its study, and to agricultural pursuits, for which the lady’s estate afforded him ample opportunities.” Paganini declined to name the lady or her estate, nor have they been revealed by extensive subsequent research. During the years in question, from 1801 to 1804, Paganini was actually based in Lucca, where he taught, concertized, composed and served as concertmaster of the local orchestra with such success that he was taken into the court musical establishment as violinist and teacher when Napoleon turned the rule of the city that his forces had captured in 1799 over to his sister Elise and her violin-playing husband, Felix Baciocchi, in 1805. That his three-year affair with the mysterious “lady of rank” has not been brought to light while his intimate relationship with the Princess Elise has (it was unspecified whether the diamond ring she once gave him was for his musical or amatory services) indicates the factual flimsiness of the story. In 1810, he quit Lucca to begin the international tours that secured his reputation.

curtis on tour

Quartet No. 15 for Guitar and Strings in A Minor (1820) Nicolò Paganini (Born October 27, 1782, in Genoa, Italy; Died May 27, 1840, in Nice, France)

producing for it more than 200 solo and chamber works. He was the most important 19th-century composer for the instrument outside Spain.

The Quartet No. 15 for Guitar and Strings in A Minor of 1820 was the last of Paganini’s works in the form and the most extraordinary, eschewing an integrated ensemble texture in favor of according an almost concerto-like prominence to the viola. Though he founded his reputation on the brilliance and agility of the violin, Paganini harbored a special fondness for the dark throatiness of the viola, including it in all of his chamber compositions and writing for it a Sonata per la Grand Viola in 1834, playing a few concerts on a large-scale specimen in London in the 1830s and commissioning Hector Berlioz to compose Harold in Italy for the instrument in 1833 (a piece that Paganini admired but refused to perform himself because the solo part was not showy enough). The viola takes charge immediately at the outset of the Quartet by appropriating the dramatic main theme, a melody of wide leaps, sharp rhythms and stern emotion presented above a skeletal accompaniment in the other instruments. A brilliant solo passage in broken chords leads to the lyrical second theme, set high in the viola’s compass. Violin and viola share more equally in the development section, and the violin is assigned the main theme in the recapitulation, though the viola provides an animated counterpoint. Once the viola has reclaimed the second theme, however, it does not relinquish its importance for the remainder of the movement. The second movement is a Minuetto built around a close-order “canon”—i.e., a melody in exact imitation, like Row, Row, Row Your Boat—between viola and violin above a simple background in cello and guitar; the guitar claims its only featured moment in the Quartet in the central trio. The viola gets to play operatic mezzo-soprano in the next two movements, a flamboyant Recitativo declaimed against an agitated accompaniment and a tender wordless aria marked Adagio cantabile. The violin trades phrases with the viola and even takes the lead in one of the central episodes in the Gypsy-flavored Rondo that provides the work’s spirited close.

—Dr. Richard E. Rodda

Whatever the circumstances of his life during the first decade of the 19th century—documentary sources are few—Paganini had by then developed considerable skill on the guitar, the day’s most popular instrument for home entertainment in Italy (his earliest known composition is a set of variations for violin and guitar on the French revolutionary song Carmagnola from 1795, when he was 13), and he composed prolifically for it: some 60 sonatas for guitar and violin, 15 quartets for violin, viola, cello and guitar and a Duetto Amoroso for violin and guitar. Except for his daunting Caprices for solo violin, the only compositions that he allowed to be published during his lifetime were four collections of these chamber pieces with guitar. Though he never played it in public and claimed that he valued it mostly “as a spur to creation or to work out some special harmonies that I can’t produce on the violin,” he continued to write for guitar throughout his life,

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Nadir Khashimov (violin) Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1990, Nadir Khashimov entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2010 and studies with renowned violinists Shmuel Ashkenasi and Pamela Frank. All students at Curtis receive merit-based fulltuition scholarships, and Khashimov is the William R. Stensrud Annual Fellow. Khashimov recently won the grand prize at the Yankelevitch International Violin Competition in Omsk, Russia.

He has been a laureate in numerous other competitions, including second prize in the Blount Slawson Young Artist Competition (2006), second prize in the Fourth Paganini Moscow International Violin Competition (2006) and second prize and the audience prize at the Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition in Spain (2007). Khashimov has performed with many orchestras throughout the world, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, LaGrange Symphony Orchestra and Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra. He has participated in festivals and concerts in Europe, Asia and the United States. Prior to entering Curtis, Khashimov studied with Sergiu Schwartz at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. He graduated from the Uspensky Specialized School of Music for Gifted Children. He has received scholarships from the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation and the President of Uzbekistan and he has won of the Woodruff Award for Excellence.

Roberto Díaz (viola) A violist of international reputation, Roberto Díaz holds the position of President and CEO of the Curtis Institute of Music. As a professor of viola at Curtis and former principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Díaz has already had a significant impact on American musical life and will continue to do so in his dual roles as performer and educator.

Díaz has appeared as an orchestral soloist and recitalist in major cities around the globe and has worked with many of the leading conductors of our time. He has collaborated with important composers including Krzysztof Penderecki and Edison Denisov.

Díaz was principal violist of the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovich, a member of the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa and a member of the Minnesota Orchestra under Sir Neville Marriner. Díaz is a member of the Díaz Trio with violinist Andrés Cárdenes and cellist Andrés Díaz. His recording of transcriptions

by William Primrose with pianist Robert Koenig (Naxos) was nominated for a 2006 Grammy.

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The Curtis Institute of Music educates and trains exceptionally gifted young musicians for careers as performing artists on the highest professional level. One of the world’s leading conservatories, Curtis is highly selective and provides full-tuition scholarships to all of its 160 students. In this intimate environment, students receive personalized attention from a celebrated faculty.

A busy schedule of performances is at the heart of Curtis’s distinctive “learn by doing” approach. This philosophy has produced an impressive number of notable artists since the school’s founding in 1924, from such legends as Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber to current stars Juan Diego Flórez, Alan Gilbert, Hilary Hahn, Jennifer Higdon, Leila Josefowicz, Lang Lang and Time for Three.

Eric Han (cello) Born in Seoul in 1986, Eric Han entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2009 and studies with Carter Brey, principal cello of the New York Philharmonic and Peter Wiley, cello of the Guarneri String Quartet. All students at Curtis receive merit-based full-tuition scholarships, and Han is the Mark E. Rubenstein Annual Fellow. Han began cello studies at age seven and gave his first public performance at the age of 10 in George Weston Recital Hall in Toronto. At age 15, he made his orchestral debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall.

Han made his European debut with a 12-concert tour in England, which included recitals at the Edinburgh International Festival, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and Queen’s Hall. As a chamber musician, Han has performed with Joseph Silverstein, Ani Kavafian, Paul Coletti and members of the Altenberg Trio. Han has been the recipient of numerous awards in Canada, including the Tom Thomas Scholarship, Kiwanis Strings Division Scholarship and Toronto Symphony Orchestra Scholarship. Prior to entering Curtis, he studied with David Hetherington at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and Ronald Leonard at the Colburn School.

Jason Vieaux (guitar) has performed as a soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, among many others, working with renowned conductors such as Miguel Harth-Bedoya, David Robertson, Michael Stern, Jahja Ling and Stefan Sanderling. His programs and collaborations for Music@ Menlo, Strings Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Jupiter Chamber Players and others have forged his reputation as a firstrate chamber musician. Vieaux has 10 recordings to his credit and more to come under his multi-record deal with Azica Records.

He recorded his first CD when he was just 19 years old, and two years later released the top-selling Laureate Series Guitar Recital on the Naxos label. Vieaux is the youngest first-prize winner in the history of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Competition and a Naumburg International Guitar Competition prize winner. Vieaux began guitar studies at age eight with Jeremy Sparks in Buffalo, New York, and continued his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music with John Holmquist.

He is head of the Cleveland Institute of Music guitar department and is also affiliated with Philadelphia-based Astral Artists. Vieaux joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2011.

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Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Center for the Performing Arts

| UC Davis

Presents

Alexander String Quartet Zakarias Grafilo and Frederick Lifsitz, violins Paul Yarbrough, viola Sandy Wilson, cello

Lecturer: Robert Greenberg (2PM concert only)

An Alexander String Quartet Series Event Sunday, March 18, 2012 • 2PM and 7PM Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center, UC Davis

There will be one intermission (2PM concert only).

Question & Answer Session (7PM concert only) With members of the Alexander String Quartet Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center, UC Davis

The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices.

Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.

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alexander string quartet

Alexander String Quartet Lecturer: Robert Greenberg (2PM concert only)

String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 “American” Allegro ma non troppo Lento Molto vivace Vivace ma non troppo

Dvořák

Intermission (2PM only) String Quartet in G Major, Op. 106 Allegro moderato Adagio ma non troppo Molto vivace Finale: Andante sostenuto—Allegro con fuoco

The Alexander String Quartet records for FoghornClassics www.asq4.com

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Dvořák

String Quartet in F Major, Op. 96 “American” Antonin Dvořák (Born September 8, 1841, in Muhlhausen, Bohemia; Died May 1, 1904, in Prague) Dvořák spent the years 1892–95 as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, and while he was burdened with a heavy teaching and administrative load, these years were very productive musically, seeing the composition of the “New World” Symphony, the American Quartet, and the Cello Concerto.

This issue of a specifically “American” influence on these works has intrigued music lovers for years: how did life—and music—in America influence Dvořák? Nationalistic Americans were quick to claim that here at last was an authentic American classical music based on American materials, but Dvořák himself would have none of that. He denounced “that nonsense about my having made use of original American melodies. I have only composed in the spirit of such American national melodies.”

Exactly what Dvořák meant by composing “in the spirit” of American music is unclear, and the tantalizing question of influence remains, especially in a work like the American Quartet. In the summer of 1893, Dvořák took his family to Spillville, Iowa, for a vacation away from New York City. Spillville was a Czech community, and Dvořák spent a happy and productive summer there, surrounded by familiar language, customs and food. He sketched the American Quartet in only three days (June 8-10, 1893) and had it complete in 15. Dvořák’s comment was concise: “Thank God. It went quickly. I am satisfied.”

Generations of listeners have been more than satisfied with this quartet. Quiet string tremolandi provide the foundation for the viola’s opening theme—its rising-and-falling shape and sharp syncopations will provide much of the substance of the first movement. A songful second subject in the violin has a rhythmic snap that some have felt to be American in origin, though such a snap is typical of the folk music of many lands. The development contains a brief fugal passage derived from the opening viola subject, but this passes quickly and introduces little complication into this movement’s continuous flow of melody.

Many regard the Lento as the finest movement in the quartet. It too seems a continuous flow of melody, as the violin’s soaring theme—marked molto espressivo—arches hauntingly over throbbing accompaniment. This melody passes from violin to cello and on to the other voices; the ending—where the cello has this theme and the other instruments alternate pizzicato and bowed notes—is especially effective.

The scherzo rips along cheerfully, its main theme sharing the rhythm of the quartet’s opening theme; about 20 measures into this movement, Dvořák gives the first violin a melody he heard a bird singing during one of his first walks around Spillville (birdlovers should know that musicological and ornithological research has identified that bird as the scarlet tanager). The scherzo alternates this cheerful opening section with interludes that are in fact minor-key variants of that opening before Dvořák rounds things off with a da capo repeat. The most impressive thing about the rondo-finale is its rhythmic energy, in both the themes themselves

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alexander string quartet

Program Notes

and the accompanying voices. Some of the interludes recall the shape of themes from earlier movements before the blazing rush to the close—the coda of this movement is one of the most exhilarating Dvořák ever wrote.

The issue of American influence—whether spiritual, rhythmic or in the songs of native birds—on the music Dvořák wrote in this country will probably never be settled. Listeners may decide for themselves the ways in which this quartet seems to embody what Dvořák called the “spirit” of American music.

String Quartet in G Major, Op. 106 Antonin Dvořák In April 1895, Dvořák returned to Czechoslovakia after three years as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. America had fascinated Dvořák, but during every moment in the New World he had been assailed by a stinging homesickness that even a long visit home could not cure. Once home for good, he spent the summer of 1895 happily at the family retreat at Vysoká, where he could roam the fields and woods and raise his pet pigeons. In his pleasure at being home, he even forgot about music for a while: “Since I came back from America I haven’t put pen to paper … Here at Vysoká I grudge the time and prefer to enjoy the beauties of the countryside,” he wrote to a friend.

But in the fall he returned to Prague, where he took up his duties as professor of composition at the Conservatory, and during November and December he composed the String Quartet in G Major, his first work since coming home. Some critics have been quick to hear this quartet as “a hymn of thanksgiving,” an expression of joy at returning to his homeland, but we should be careful not to impose extra-musical “meaning” on a piece of pure music.

This is intensely-felt music, but by no means does it speak with unmixed joy. In fact, this complex, dramatic quartet rings at times with a vehemence unusual in chamber music.

This is big music, not just in its impressive length (40 minutes), but in its sound and range of expression. Dvořák’s score is littered with instructions that push the performers to the limits of their instruments (grandioso, con forza, appassionato, fortississimo), and he demands such techniques as rolled chords, double-stopped octaves and tremolos, sometimes thought inappropriate in chamber music. We should be careful about making easy assumptions as to what “message” this powerful quartet expresses far better to let it speak for itself simply as music.

The very beginning of the Allegro moderato is deceptive: the quiet leaps and swirling triplets offer no hint of the violence ahead, which erupts as this dramatic movement unfolds. Dvořák makes some surprising key changes along the way before the huge climax and powerful close. The slow movement is a series of variations on alternating themes. The grieving opening hardly sounds like music of thanksgiving, and throughout this impassioned movement Dvořák reminds his players: cantabile e molto espressivo and con sentimento e molto cantabile. The music rises to a tremendous C-major climax with a soaring, virtuoso part for first violin. The Molto vivace is a scherzo that sends the violins high above the lower voices, whose accompaniment bristles with complex rhythms. A brief slow introduction leads into the finale, a buoyant rondo. This

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movement features so many tempo (and mood) shifts that it has sometimes been compared to the dumka form. Its climax, which brings back first-movement themes, is dramatic and protracted.

—Harland Bromberger

The Alexander String Quartet has performed in the major music capitals of five continents, securing its standing among the world’s premier ensembles for more than three decades.

Widely admired for its interpretations of Beethoven, Mozart and Shostakovich, the quartet has also established itself as an important ad­vocate of new music through more than 25 commissions and numerous premiere performances. The Alexander String Quartet is a major artistic pres­ence in its home base of San Francisco, serving there as directors of the Morrison Chamber Music Center at the School of Music and Dance in the College of Creative Arts at San Francisco State University and Ensemble in Residence of San Francisco Performances.

The Alexander String Quartet’s annual calendar of concerts includes engagements at major halls throughout North America and Europe.

The quartet has appeared at Lincoln Center, the 92nd Street Y and the Metropolitan Museum in New York City; Jordan Hall in Boston; the Library of Congress and Dumbarton Oaks in Washington and chamber music societies and universities across the North American continent. Recent overseas tours have taken them to the U.K., the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Greece, the Republic of Georgia, Argentina and the Philippines. The many distin­guished artists to collaborate with the Alexander String Quartet include pianists Menahem Pressler, Gary Graffman, Roger Woodward, Jeremy Menuhin and Joyce Yang; clarinetists Eli Eban, Charles Neidich, Joan Enric Lluna and Richard Stoltzman; cellists Lynn Harrell, Sadao Harada and David Requiro; violist Toby Appel and soprano Elly Ameling.

Among the quartet’s more unusual collaborations has been numerous performances of Eddie Sauter’s seminal Third Stream work Focus, in collaboration with Branford Marsalis, David Sánchez and Andrew Speight.

The Alexander String Quartet’s 25th anniversary as well as the 20th anniversary of its association with New York City’s Baruch College as Ensemble in Residence was celebrated through a performance by the ensemble of the Shostakovich string quartet cycle. Of these performances at the Baruch Performing Art Center Engelman Recital Hall, The New York Times wrote, “The intimacy of the music came through with enhanced power and poignancy in the Alexander quartet’s vibrant, probing, assured and aptly volatile performances … Seldom have these anguished, playful, ironic and masterly works seemed so profoundly personal.” The Alexander was also awarded Presidential Medals in honor of its longstanding commitment to the arts and education and in celebration of its two decades of service to Baruch College.

Highlights of the 2010–11 season included two multiple concert series for San Francisco Performances, one presenting the complete quartets of Bartók and Kodály and the other music of Dvořák; the conclusion of a Beethoven cycle for the Mondavi Center and a

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continuing annual series at Baruch College in New York City. The quartet also performed an all-Beethoven program at the Lied Center of Kansas, two tours of Spain (including the inaugural performances of a new festival in Godella) and a second tour of Argentina. They also continued their annual residencies at Allegheny College, Lewis & Clark College and St. Lawrence University.

Over the past decade the Alexander String Quartet has added considerably to its distinguished and wide-ranging discography.

Currently recording exclusively for the FoghornClassics label, the Alexander’s most recent release (June 2009) is a complete Beethoven cycle. Music Web International has described the performances on this Beethoven set as “uncompromising in their power, intensity and spiritual depth,” while Strings Magazine described the set as “a landmark journey through the greatest of all quartet cycles.” The FoghornClassics label released a three-CD set (Homage) of the Mozart quartets dedicated to Haydn in 2004.

Foghorn released a six-CD album (Fragments) of the complete Shostakovich quartets in 2006 and 2007 and a recording of the complete quartets of Pulitzer Prize-winning San Francisco composer Wayne Peterson was released in 2008. BMG Classics released the quartet’s first recording of the Beethoven cycle on its Arte Nova label to tremendous critical acclaim in 1999.

In celebration of the Alexander String Quartet’s 30th anniversary, San Francisco Performances commissioned a new work for string quartet and mezzo-soprano from Jake Heggie; the work was premiered in a performance in collaboration with Joyce DiDonato in February 2012 at the Herbst Theater. Other recent Alexander premieres include Rise Chanting by Augusta Read Thomas, commissioned for the Alexander by the Krannert Center and premiered there and simulcast by WFMT radio in Chicago. The quartet has also premiered String Quartets Nos. 2 and 3 by Wayne Peterson and works by Ross Bauer (commissioned by Stanford University), Richard Festinger, David Sheinfeld, Hi Kyung Kim and a Koussevitzky commission by Robert Greenberg.

The Alexander String Quartet was formed in New York City in 1981 and the following year became the first string quartet to win the Concert Artists Guild Competition. In 1985, the quartet captured international attention as the first American quartet to win the London International String Quartet Competition, receiving both the jury’s highest award and the Audience Prize. In 1995, Allegheny College awarded Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees to the members of the quartet in recognition of their unique contribution to the arts. Honorary degrees were conferred on the ensemble by St. Lawrence University in 2000.

Robert Greenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1954, and has lived in the San Francisco Bay area since 1978. Greenberg received a B.A. in music, magna cum laude, from Princeton University in 1976. In 1984, Greenberg received a Ph.D. in music composition, with distinction, from the University of California, Berkeley.

Greenberg has composed more than 45 works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles. Recent performances of his works have taken place in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, England, Ireland, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands,

alexander string quartet

where his Child’s Play for String Quartet was performed at the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam.

Greenberg has received numerous honors, including three Nicola de Lorenzo Composition Prizes and three Meet-TheComposer Grants. Recent commissions have been received from the Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library of Congress, the Alexander String Quartet, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Strata Ensemble, San Francisco Performances and the XTET ensemble. Greenberg is a board member and an artistic director of Composers, Inc., a composers’ collective/production organization based in San Francisco.

Greenberg has performed, taught and lectured extensively across North America and Europe. He is currently music historian-in residence with San Francisco Performances, where he has lectured and performed since 1994, and a faculty member of the Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. He has served on the faculties of the University of California, Berkeley; California State University, East Bay; and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he chaired the Department of Music History and Literature from 1989-2001 and served as the Director of the Adult Extension Division from 1991-96. Greenberg has lectured for some of the most prestigious musical and arts organizations in the United States, including the San Francisco Symphony (where for 10 years he was host and lecturer for the Symphony’s nationally acclaimed “Discovery Series”), the Ravinia Festival, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Van Cliburn Foundation, Chautauqua Institute (where he was the Everett Scholar in Residence for the summer of 2006), Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra and Music@ Menlo.

Greenberg has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor and San Francisco Chronicle. For many years Greenberg was the resident composer and music historian to National Public Radio’s Weekend All Things Considered and presently plays that role on Weekend Edition, Sunday with Liane Hansen.

In 1993, Greenberg recorded a 48-lecture course, How to Listen to and Understand Great Music for the Teaching Company/SuperStar Teachers Program, the preeminent producer of college level courses-on-media in the United States. Twelve further courses— Concert Masterworks, Bach and the High Baroque, The Symphonies of Beethoven, How to Listen to and Understand Opera, Great Masters, The Operas of Mozart, The Life and Operas of Verdi, The Symphony, The Chamber Music of Mozart, The Piano Sonatas of Beethoven, The Concerto and The Fundamentals of Music—have been recorded since, totaling more than 500 lectures.

In 2003, the Bangor (Maine) Daily News referred to Greenberg as “the Elvis of music history and appreciation,” an appraisal that has given him more pleasure than any other. Dr. Greenberg is currently writing a book on opera and its impact on Western culture, to be published by Oxford University Press.

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Focus on indiaN Dance

Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Center for the Performing Arts

| UC Davis

Presents

MC

Debut

Focus on IndiaN Dance Kalanjali: Dances of India Rachana Yadav: Samvet A Mondavi Center Focus on India Event Wednesday, March 21, 2012 • 8PM Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis There will be one intermission.

Sponsored by Office of Campus Community relations

middle east/south asia studies

Individual support provided by Bill and Nancy Roe

The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices.

Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.

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Focus on indiaN Dance

Focus on indiaN Dance Kalanjali: Dances of India Rachana Yadav: Samvet program Kalanjali: Dances of India Tillana Vidya Sundaram, Dancer Shanti Ramrattan, Dancer Rani Ramrattan, Dancer Tanusree Sreedharan, Dancer Veena Krishnamacharya, Music (Natabhairavi Ragam and Adi Talam) Rukmini Devi Arundale, Choreography

Suite of Folk and Classical Dances Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, Composer (Tillana, Dhanasri Ragam and Adi Talam) Kalakshetra K.P. Kunhiraman and Katherine Kunhiraman, Choreography (Tillana) Dancers: Senior and intermediate students of Kalanjali’s Sacramento branch.

Egyptian Suite: The Story of Osiris and Isis (excerpt) Music recorded in India by artists of Kalakshetra and Bharatakalanjali (Jatiswaram, Bhairavi Ragam and Rupaka Talam) “Suryamurthe” by Muthuswami Dikshitar (Saurashtra Ragam, Chaturasra and Dhruva Talam) Mani Krishnaswami, Singer Katherine Kunhiraman, Choreographer Vidya Sundaram, Osiris Intermission Rachana Yadav Samvet Rachana Yadav, Dancer Aditi Mangaldas, Choregraphy Samiullah Khan, Composer and Vocalist Narayan Singh Chauhan, Lighting Designer Yogesh Gangani, Tabla Player Mahaveer Gangani, Pakhawaj Player Mohammad Ayub, Saranghi Player

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Focus on indiaN Dance

Kalanjali: Dances of India Program Notes Bharatanatyam is the most ancient of India’s classical dance styles, having origins in thousands of year-old temple ritual. During the British rule preceding independence in 1947, the classical Indian traditions were viewed as corrupt and barbaric. As India moved toward freedom, the ancient arts were revived and brought forward as symbols of cultural identity. Two main elements share prominence in most classical styles, pure decorative movements in elaborate ever-changing patterns of rhythm and geometry and narrative dance in which the dancers interpret the text of the accompanying songs with theatrical expression and an elaborate system of gesture language.

Tillana This is a very traditional setting for a tillana, as it would be presented in the most conservative performance in India. In tillana, pure abstract movements of Bharatanatyam in which mathematical patterns in footwork and geometric shapes in the body and limbs play in endless variety against a musical refrain. tillana concludes with a short verse, in this case with a prayer that the art of bharatanatyam be made famous throughout the world through the efforts of Rukmini Devi Arundale, founder of Kalakshetra Institute of Fine Arts in India, one of the chief artists to bring this art from obscurity and degradation to become the most popular classical style in India and the best known of India’s dances abroad.

Suite of Folk and Classical Dances The stories of romance between Radha, representing the human soul, and her beloved Krishna, representing the divine, are known throughout the world. Here in both the folk and classical songs accompanying the dances their love-play on the banks of rivers and in the shady lanes of their home in Brindavan is described in the poetry sections of the tillana. The text is interpreted through the elaborate gesture language of mudras.

“He wears a peacock feather in his hair as he dances to the rhythym of drums. Radha dances with her friends and with her beloved Krishna. The joy of their union is celebrated by all of humanity. Bells on ankles echo the dancing steps and singers accompany the dance. Oh, Lord Vishnu, on earth in the form of Krishna, your divine play is beyond words. Bless me and remove the confusion and pain of earthly existence.”

Egyptian Suite: The Story of Osiris and Isis The ancient Egyptians believed that in their earliest history Osiris and Isis walked the earth as king and queen, inspiring for all time a faith in ideals such as loyalty, the victory of good over evil and above all love, much as Rama and Sita have inspired India across the ages.

Jatiswaram With pure abstract dance movements the songstresses welcome the rising sun and usher in their king Osiris.

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Hymn to the Sun “Saultations O, Great Sun—friend of all growing things. Remover of sins, you give breath to the chick in the egg. Crown jewel of the planets, with your rising the dangers of darkness are gone and our life begins. You have created a river from heaven, bringing water to all lands. Roads lie open and fish dart before your seven-horse chariot, as ships sail north and south. Arms are raised in joy, adoring you at your rising. I give my heart to you unwaveringly.”

Biographies Kalanjali was founded by K.P. Kunhiraman and Katherine Kunhiraman in California in 1975. Over the years they have received many grants and awards from the California Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as from many local and national organizations for their service to Indian performing arts traditions. Kunhiraman was a senio Kalanjali in California in 1975. Kunhiraman was a senior performer and master teacher at Kalakshetra in Chennai for nearly 30 years, working directly with the greatest artists of their time—T.K. Chandu Panikkar and Rukmini Devi Arundale. He toured Europe and Asia with their illustrious Kalakshetra Dance Company.

Katherine, who lived with her family in India since her teens, studied dance for 12 years, first in Calcutta’s Rabindra Bharati University, then at Kalakshetra in Chennai, later with the Dhananjayans when they moved on to open their own performing and teaching institution, Bharatakalanjali.

Kalanjali presently conducts classes in Berkeley, Lafayette and Sacramento. Senior students have been seen frequently in the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival since its inception more than 30 years ago. A vibrant relationship, both professional and personal, with colleagues in India has opened the doors for many of their graduates to pursue the study and performance of classical dance with India’s most respected artists.

Vidya Sundaram (dancer in Tillana and Egyptian Suite: The Story of Osiris and Isis) studied with Kalanjali for many years performing her debut with the Kunhiramans and following her dream to dance with other teachers here and in India. She is a professional software designer, yet finds enough time to maintain a professional level of dance. Today she performs as the god Osiris, and has worked with Katherine in all levels of this production, Kalanjali’s newest project.

Other Kalanjali graduates in tonight’s performance who have made a place in their lives for a continued dance career while pursuing other careers are: Meena Nair, Shanti Ramrattan, Rani Ramrattan, Namita Patil, Tanusree Sreedharan and Ahalya Prakash. The Suite of Folk and Classical Dances is performed by senior and intermediate students from Kalanjali’s Sacramento branch.

Program Notes Samvet is based on the five elements of nature. Though it is a universal concept, it has been rendered and interpreted from a purely Indian point of view—the way a typical Indian person is brought up and how she would signify these five elements of Nature.

This performance is based on the Indian classical dance of kathak.

Rachana Yadav has taken five different forms of Indian literature and poetry to present each of the elements. These five genres of Indian poetry are viz, Sanskrit Sholkas, traditional bandish, ghazal and mantra contemporary Indian poetry, and they are unique to Indian literature.

The performance has been specially choreographed by the leading kathak exponent of India, Aditi Mangaldas, who herself has performed several times in the U.S. The music has been especailly composed by the Indian classical singer Samiullah Khan, who will also be the vocalist for this performance. Khan is atrained hindustani classical singer who has based the music for each of the elements on different Indian Ragas portraying the character of each of the elements. These ragas are unique to the Indian calssical form of music.

On the percussions (talba and pakhawaj) are Yogesh Gangani and Mahaveer Gangani, two very accomplished Indian percussionists.

They give the rhythmc support with the Kathak bols and recitations, which are an integral part of this classical dance form of kathak. They use percussion instruments like tabla and pakhawaj which are typical Indian percussion instruments, also used with Indian dance.

Mohammad Ayub is on the saranghi, a typical and unique string instrument of India. He plays the notes on the saranghi as well as maintains the cycle of the taal, which lends the required mood to each of the elements.

Biographies Rachana Yadav (dancer) is a kathak dancer based in Gurgaon, the National Capital Territory of Delhi Region, and owner of the The Rachana Yadav Kathak Studio. She has been a student of Aditi Mangaldas, a renowned kathak dancer of India. Yadav has performed extensively in India and other countries as a soloist as well as with the Aditi Mangaldas Dance Company, The Drishtikon Dance Foundation. Currently Yadav lives in Gurgaon, Haryana, with her husband and two daughters.

Samiullah Khan (composer and vocalist) is a talented young vocalist who also plays many instruments such as the harmonium (keys), sarangi (string) and surmandal (string). He is the son and disciple of Janab Shri Hafisullah Khan, a renowned sarangi player of India. Khan started his training in singing at a tender age of

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Focus on indiaN Dance

Rachana Yadav: Samvet

five. Today he is one of the leading male accompanying vocalists and has accompanied many of the leading kathak dancers of India.

He also composes music for kathak dance. Khan has participated as an accompanying musician in many leading cultural festivals, events and dance recitals in India as well as abroad. He has also traveled extensively through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations on a diplomatic passport. Currently he lives in Delhi with his mother and continues working as a freelance artist.

Narayan Singh Chauhan (lighting designer) is an accomplished lighting designer and technician for stage performances.

He trained at The National School of Drama. He has been working in the field for the many years and has worked with several leading dancers as well as theater and ballet companies. He has also traveled all over the world accompanying dancers as a lighting designer and technician. He has traveled to the U.S. on two previous occasions and to Canada once. He has also traveled to Europe and other countries through Indian Council for Cultural Relations on a diplomatic passport. Currently he lives in Mumbai with his wife and daughter and continues as a freelancer in light design as well as script writing in TV serials.

Yogesh Gangani (tabla) is a well known tabla player (percussions) who has played with many leading kathak dancers of India over the last 20–25 years. He hails from the traditional family of Jaipur Gharana of Kathak. His father Shri, Kundan Lal Gangani, was the main kathak guru of the Jaipur Gharana. Gangani was trained under his elder brother Shri Fateh Singh Gangani, who himself is a well known tabla player in this field. Gangani has participated in many leading festivals all over the world as an accompanying musician. He has also traveled extensively through Indian Council for Cultural Relations on a diplomatic passport. Currently he works as a tabla player at Kathak Kendra, The National Institute of Kathak Dance in New Delhi, India, where he has a permanent possition. This is a government institute that offers complete training in kathak dance. Gangani lives in Delhi with his wife and two children.

Mahaveer Gangani (pakhawaj) is a well known pakhawaj player (percussions), who has been playing as an accompanying musician with many leading kathak dancers of India. Gangani hails from the traditional family of Kathak of Jaipur Gharana. He is well traveled having played and participated as an accompanying musician in many leading cultural festivals and events all over the world including the U.S. and Canada. He has also travelled extensively through the Indian Council for Cultual Relations on a diplomatic passport. He is a freelance artist who works on a contractual basis with the Kathak Kendra Dance Repertory, The National Institute of Kathak, as well as other known dance repertories. Gangani lives in Delhi with his wife and two children.

Mohammad Ayub (sarangi) is a known sarangi player who has been playing as an accompanying musician with kathak dancers for the last 15 years. He has participated in many dance recitals as a sarangi player in India as well as abroad. He currently lives in Delhi and has a government job as a sarangi player at Kathak Kendra, The National Institute of Kathak Dance in Delhi, India.

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Zakir Hussain

further listening

by jeff hudson Zakir Hussain’s recording projects are many and varied.

Mondavi Center audiences are familiar with his work with banjo artist Bela Fleck and bassist Edgar Meyer—they performed in Davis about a year back, playing some of the material from their album The Melody of Rhythm, whic includes a triple concerto for banjo, bass, tabla and orchestra.

If you enjoy tonight’s concert, there are currently three CDs in the Masters of Percussion series, as well as a DVD (released in 2010).

Hussain has also participated in a number of jazz recordings, including the Shakti albums from the 1970s (including guitarist John McLaughlin among others) and some Remember Shakti reunion albums from the late 1990s and 2000s. Hussain has also worked with Charles Lloyd (reeds, piano, percussion) in a jazz-oriented band called Sangam, which released a self-titled album in 2006. The New York Times, reviewing Hussain’s performance at Carnegie Hall with Remember Shakti and Sangam in 2009, described him as “a fearsome technician but also a whimsical inventor, devoted to exuberant play ... he managed to exude humility throughout a concert clearly stamped by his proficiency.”

Hussain has also enjoyed a long collaborative percussionistmeets-percussionist group with drummer Mickey Hart (who started with the Grateful Dead). These include the Planet Drum album in 1991, as well as Supralingua (1998), Spirit Into Sound (2000) and Global Drum Project (2007).

Naturally, there are albums of traditional Indian music as well, including the album Tabla Duet (with Usted Allarakha, Hussain’s father and guru, from 1988) and a 1993 album with Shivkumar Sharma (who plays the santoor, an ancient instrument that bears some kinship to the hammered dulcimer). Hussain and Sharma have been touring again recently, which leads one to expect that there might be another album of duets in the works someday.

Hussain has his own label—Moment! Records—which released the Ravi Shankar album Concert for Peace, recorded live in London at Royal Albert Hall (1995).

Hussain has composed soundtracks for films including In Custody, The Mystic Masseur and Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. He also appeared as a leading actor in the film Heat and Dust (starring opposite the always luminous Julie Christie) in 1983.

Hussain participated in the early albums by L. Shankar, who made a splash playing a double-necked violin on his 1980 album Who’s to Know (which came out on the European jazz label ECM, of all places).

Jeff Hudson contributes coverage of the performing arts to Capital Public Radio, the Davis Enterprise and Sacramento News and Review.

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| mondaviarts.org

Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Center for the Performing Arts

| UC Davis

Presents

Photo by Susana Millman

MC Debut

Zakir Hussain and the Masters of Percussion A Crossings Series Event Thursday, March 22, 2012 • 8PM Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis

There will be one intermission.

Individual support provided by Bill and Nancy Roe

further listening see p. 40

The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices.

Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.

Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle this playbill for reuse.

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

41

zakir hussain and the masters of percussion

Zakir Hussain and the Masters of Percussion

Zakir Hussain, Tabla Fazal Qureshi, Tabla, Kanjira Rakesh Chaurasia, Bansuri (bamboo flute) T.H.V. Umashankar, Ghatam (clay pot) Sabir Khan, Sarangi Navin Sharma, Dholak Abbos Kosimov, Doyra Joy Singh of Metei Pung Cholom and special guest Antonia Minnecola, kathak dancer

Zakir Hussain The preeminent classical tabla virtuoso of our time, Zakir Hussain delivers brilliant performances that have established him as a national treasure in his native India and one of the world’s most esteemed and influential musicians, renowned for his genre-defying collaborations. His playing is marked by uncanny intuition and masterful improvisational dexterity, founded in formidable knowledge and study. Masters of Percussion, an outgrowth of Hussain’s memorable tours with his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, has enjoyed successful tours in the West since 1996. Joining the 2012 tour will be Fazal Qureshi, Rakesh Chaurasia, T.H.V. Umashankar, Sabir Khan, Navin Sharma, Abbos Kosimov, and the Joy Singh of Meitei Pung Cholom Performing Troupe.

Widely considered a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement, Hussain’s contribution has been unique, with many historic collaborations, including Shakti, which he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar, Remember Shakti, the Diga Rhythm Band, Making Music, Planet Drum with Mickey Hart, Tabla Beat Science, Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland and recordings and performances with artists as diverse as George Harrison, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Airto Moreira, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Cobham, Mark Morris, Rennie Harris and Kodo. His 2009 recording with frequent collaborators and triomates Bela Fleck and Edgar Meyer, The Melody of Rhythm, was nominated for a Grammy in 2010.

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The foremost disciple of his father, the legendary Ustad Allarakha, Hussain was a child prodigy who began his professional career at the age of 12 and had toured internationally with great success by the age of 18. He has been the recipient of many awards, grants and honors, including Padma Bhushan (2002), Padma Shri (1988), the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1991), Kalidas Samman (2006), the 1999 National Heritage Fellowship Award, the Bay Area Isadora Duncan Award (1998–99) and Grammy Awards in 1991 and 2009 for Best World Music Album for Planet Drum and Global Drum Project, both collaborations with Mickey Hart. His music and extraordinary contribution to the music world were honored in April 2009, with four widely-heralded and sold-out concerts in Carnegie Hall’s Perspectives series.

Also in 2009, Zakir was named a Member in the Order of Arts and Letters by France’s Ministry of Culture and Communication.

Most recently, the National Symphony Orchestra with Christoph Eschenbach commissioned and premiered Zakir’s Concerto for Four Soloists at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, which was met with great acclaim.

Rakesh Chaurasia, (bansuri) nephew of flute maestro Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, is the most accomplished disciple of his uncle and promises to carry the Chaurasia legacy to new heights.

Chaurasia possesses the right balance of strength and serenity, critical factors for an exceptional flautist. Chaurasia has already globe-trotted many times over, enthralling audiences at classical and semi-classical concerts in Japan, Australia, Europe, South Africa and U.S. He is also an accomplished and versatile studio performer, having recorded with most of the leading stalwarts of the Indian film industry.

T.H.V. Umashankar (ghatam) is descended from a lineage of highly accomplished Carnatic (South Indian classical) percussionists.

The grandson of Shri T.R. Hariharan Sharma and son of ghatam legend T.H. “Vikku” Vinayakram, he has distinguished himself as an accompanist to the esteemed Carnatic musicians of our time, including M.S. Subbulakshmi, Balamurali Krishna and U. Srinivas.

He has also performed with great musicians in the Hindustani (North Indian classical) tradition, with Western jazz artists such as John McLaughlin and Jonas Hellborg and as a regular session artist for Indian cinema music composers such as A.R. Rahman and Illayaraja.

Sabir Khan (sarangi) is an Indian sarangi player belonging to the Sikar Gharana (School) of Music—the same school which has produced some of the most respected, prodigious talents in Indian classical music. Khan was exposed to music when he was six years old through his grandfather Ustad Gulab Khan. He is well known today for his delicate mastery of sarangi. His technique of playing is a rare combination of sur and laya (note and rhythm). Khan has performed alongside great Indian artists such as Ustad Zakir Hussain, Pandit Kumar Bose, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, gazal maestros Ustad Gulam Ali, Talat Aziz, and the legendary singer Asha Bhosle. He has recently released an album with the great Lata Mangeshkar.

Navin Sharma (dholak) was born in the Ulhasnagar district of Maharashtra in 1975 to a musical family and started studying the dholak at a very young age. His first guru was his father, Shyam Rughuram Sharma, and through these studies was introduced to other local musicians who were actively composing scores for Bollywood films. After realizing his desire to study more Indian classical music, his father insisted he learn from tabla master Ustad Allarakha, with whom he studied for several years. Sharma has

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zakir hussain and the masters of percussion

Fazal Qureshi (tabla and kanjira) began his early training under the keen eye of his father and guru, Ustad Allarakha. With encouragement and inspiration from his elder brother Zakir Hussain, Qureshi has developed a style distinguished by a fine sense of rhythm, versatility and eloquence. He has performed both as a soloist and as an accompanist in prestigious classical music festivals in India and around the world. The remarkable ease with which Qureshi accompanies veteran as well as young Indian classical instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers of both North and South, as well as Western instrumentalists, speaks of the discipline and dedication with which this talented artist has pursued music.

For the past 16 years, he has performed with and composed for his world music band Mynta, based in Sweden. The group has six immensely popular and successful albums and tours regularly.

performed with many master musicians over his career and with many ensembles, including jazz, fusion, pop, rock, ghazal and bhajan.

Abbos Kosimov (doyra) was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to a very musical family. He studied at the College of Culture and Music under doyra master Mamurjon Vahabov and graduated in 1988. In 1991, Kosimov won second prize in Central Asia and Kazakhstan’s Competition of Percussion Instruments. A few years later, he established the Abbos School where he taught the talented youth of his country to play the doyra (presently there are more than 100 students in his school). In 2001, in honor of the 10th Anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence, Abbos was awarded a medal celebrating his status as an Honored Artist of Uzbekistan.

In 2005, he moved to the United States and he has since recorded and/or performed with Stevie Wonder, Randy Gloss’s Hands OnSemble, Giovanni Hidalgo and Zakir Hussain.

Joy Singh of Metei Pung Cholom is one of India’s premier performance troupes, combining dance, drumming and martial arts in their repertoire. Dedicated to the rejuvenation of traditional folk and classical Manipuri dance styles, they were established in 1963 by the late Guru Padmashri Amubi Singh, have performed thousands of concerts in India and have enjoyed many successful international tours. Known for their dynamic athleticism and proficiency as well as their unique-sounding drums, they are a visual feast, dazzling audiences with their acrobatic choreography.

Antonia Minnecola (kathak dancer) is one of few American artists recognized as a serious exponent of kathak, the dynamic classical dance style of North India. As a choreographer, she employs kathak to present contemporary works, often collaborating with artists of different genres, including musicians Zakir Hussain, Aashish Khan, Terry Riley, Mickey Hart and Taufiq Qureshi, as well as singer Molly Holm, poet Michael McClure and hip-hop artist Rennie Harris. Twice a recipient of the Marin Arts Council Individual Artist Grant for Choreography, Minnecola is the disciple of Sitara Devi, widely considered the greatest female kathak dancer of our time, with whom she has studied under the auspices of two Smithsonian Fellowships. She has appeared in many tours and festivals including the Bay Area’s Other Minds Festival, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the Asian-Pacific Performing Arts Festival, the Auckland Festival and at Jacob’s Pillow. As a solo kathak artist, she is often accompanied by her husband, tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, and has also appeared with his ensembles, Masters of Percussion and The Rhythm Experience.

She has assisted Zakir Hussain in his guest professor tenures at Princeton University and Stanford University, in several of his Meet the Composer residencies and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute. Most recently, she has been teaching kathak for Lines Ballet’s BFA Program in Dance at Dominican University www.zakirhussain.com

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Hyatt Place UC Davis 173 Old Davis Road Extension Davis, CA 95616, USA Phone: +1 530 756 9500 Fax: +1 530 297 6900 44

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Robert and Margrit Mondavi

Center for the Performing Arts

| UC Davis

Presents

Photo by Rob Blackburn

MC Debut

Circus Oz A Bistro 33 Marvels Series Event Saturday, March 24, 2012 • 8PM Sunday, March 25, 2012 • 3PM Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, UC Davis

There will be one intermission.

Sponsored by

The artists and your fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off all electronic devices.

Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden. Violators are subject to removal.

Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle this playbill for reuse.

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

45

circus oz

Circus Oz

Performers

Jeremy Davies Rowan Heydon-White Flip Kammerer Bec Matthews Stevee Mills Paul O’Keeffe Carl Polke (Musical Director) Ania Reynolds Luke Taylor Sarah Ward Mason West

Circus Oz When Soapbox Circus and the New Ensemble Circus merged in 1978, Circus Oz was born. As one of the world’s very first fullscale contemporary circuses, all the animals involved were human (although suspicious kangaroos and flocks of flying cockatoos have been sighted on stage from time to time). The show grabbed traditional circus skills, like trapeze, juggling and high wire, and flung them together with live music and a blatant disregard for the impossible—to create something entirely original.

The critics called it post-modern. The performers kept their tongues firmly jammed in cheeks. Circus Oz, in its combination of hilarity and intelligence, spectacle, irony, beauty and—yes, occasionally dagginess*—could only come from Australia. It wears its collective heart on its sleeve, passionately supporting gender equity and social justice but always combined with a good pratfall.

In the beginning they were a collective and the company did everything, fixing up the battered old trucks they toured in and sitting down between shows to sew their first canvas tent on borrowed sewing machines. Now they tour with shipping containers and a gang of highly skilled supporting crew, but they have never lost their commitment to that original spirit of multi-skilling and anarchic but disciplined creativity.

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Circus Oz has struck an acrobatic chord with audiences from Hobart to Arnhem Land, from Fremantle to the Sydney Opera House and all points in between. Since 1980, they have toured to 26 countries across five continents, where in each place, inevitably, audiences have never seen anything quite like it before. They have played sold-out seasons on 42nd Street in New York and one-off gigs at refugee camps on the West Bank. They have performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London, in a glass opera house in the Brazilian rainforest, the Tivoli in Copenhagen, in a tent erected in the Plaza de Toros Monumental in Barcelona and another in a walled compound in Bogota where the crowds almost rioted to get in! As they say, people seemed to like it and one thing led to another …

This show, like every Circus Oz performance in 34 years, will be a once off. When the performers meet the audience and the band kicks into gear, you never know exactly what will happen … that’s the sheer joy of it.

* adj: not fashionable or trendy

circus oz

Performer Bios Tim Coldwell (founding member and senior circus artist) is a founding member of Circus Oz, and is also a founding member of New Circus. He’s been a clown and ringmaster with Circus Royale, a tent hand and elephant boy with Ashton’s Circus and he’s walked on a high wire from the top of the Adelaide Festival Centre across the Torrens River.

Carl Polke’s unique brand of award-winning musical mayhem has shrieked across companies like Legs on the Wall, Urban Theatre Projects and Flying Fruit Fly Circus. Transcending fashion, form and function, Carl’s sweetly distilled synthesis of intellect and intuition is tonight delivered through The Vehicle of the Guitar Solo!

Jeremy Davies has been a core member of Canberra’s Warehouse Circus, co-founded circus company Kronik and has co-created many independent theater productions. He runs Melbourne’s major independent circus training space, Blue Circus Studios. He has also toured puppetry to 42nd Street New York. This is his second stint with Circus Oz.

Ania Reynolds has worked as a freelance musician, composer and musical director with a number of arts companies and institutions including Polyglot Puppet Theatre Company, Westside Circus and NICA. As a musician Ania has performed at various festivals and events around Australia with bands including Croque Monsieur, Johnnie and the Johnnie Johnnies and Yana Alana and Tha Paranas.

Rowan Heydon-White started swinging around on a trapeze at an early age, but it wasn’t until after she graduated from Charles Sturt University holding a B.A. in Communication Theatre and Media that she decided it was time to return to the world of circus and has performed throughout New Zealand, winning the “People’s Choice Award” at the World Buskers Festival in 2009.

Flip Kammerer is a born and bred bush baby from Albury, where she began her circus career with the Flying Fruit Fly Circus. She is a multi-skilled acrobat, tumbler, circus trainer, performer, musician, skater and break-dancer. Flip has been fortunate to have many varied experiences, from performing on Broadway to competing in extreme sports.

Bec Matthews has recorded and performed with many Melbourne-based bands, musical theater companies and orchestras. She is currently percussionist, performer, composer and co-musical director for the highly acclaimed cabaret act Yana Alana and Tha Paranas, which recently won six Green Room Awards including Best Ensemble, Original Songs, Musical Direction and Production.

Bec was previously the Musical Director for the Women’s Circus.

Stevee Mills spent her childhood bouncing on trampolines, hanging from monkey bars and cartwheeling instead of walking. This led to a successful career in gymnastics and a Bachelor of Circus Arts at NICA, which she completed in 2010. Mills lives in Melbourne with her roommate Kostya (a 60kg Mastiff), and she still prefers cartwheeling to walking.

Paul O’Keeffe, performing since age 11, has toured the world from Kalgoorlie to 42nd Street, New York, performing in circus, dance, puppetry, musicals and physical theater. Paul co-created extreme circus company Kronik and he also set up the Kronik professional circus studio in Melbourne. He has co-managed Canberra’s Warehouse Circus, run independent circus troupes and performed for a range of companies. This is his fourth year with Circus Oz.

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Luke Taylor began his circus career at the age of 12 when he joined the Flying Fruit Fly Circus. Since then he has gallivanted around the world including performing on Broadway. Luke decided to hone his skills by completing the Bachelor of Circus Arts at NICA, Melbourne. Since then he has performed in various Australian festivals and circuses.

Sarah Ward is a multi-award winning powerhouse cabaret performer. As a performing artist and songwriter she blends art and politics and has written original songs for the Circus Oz shows. In 2007, Sarah Ward created the queer cabaret diva Yana Alana and her award-winning shows with Tha Paranas. Sarah received Best Cabaret Artiste Green Room Awards in 2008 and 2010 and the show In Concert received an incredible six Green Room Awards in 2010 including Best Production. She was also one-half of the cult hit hip hop cabaret act Sista She. Mason West started at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus at the age of seven. After leaving high school at 16, he moved to New Zealand where he trained and worked as the head rigger for three years at CircoArts. As a performer he has worked throughout New Zealand and even landed a lead role in the BBC production The Lost World.

Production Staff Anna Pidgeon, Stage Manager Pete Sanders and Chad Albinger, Riggers Tristan Bourke, Lighting Operator Joe Ferguson, Audio Operator Mel Fyfe, Tour Manager Mike Finch, Artistic Director Tim Coldwell, Founding Member and Senior Circus Artist Margaret Murray, Production Manager Laurel Frank, Costume Designer Darryl Cordell, Set Designer Michael Baxter, Props Designer/Maker Antonella Casella, Artistic Associate

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Mondavi Center

Corporate Partners Platinum

g n i v i g f o t r a e th Donors

Your generous donation allows us to bring world-class artists and speakers to the Sacramento Valley and energize and inspire tens of thousands of school children and teachers through our nationally recognized Arts Education programs.

In appreciation of your gift, you receive a host of benefits which can include: • Priority Seating • Access to Donor-Only Events • Advance ticket sales for Just Added shows • Invitation to a cast party • Much, much more …

gold

Remember: Ticket sales cover only 40% of our costs.

silver Office of Campus Community Relations

For more information about how you can support the Mondavi Center, please contact: Mondavi Center Development Department 530.754.5438.

bronze

Visit our video booth and share your Mondavi Moment.

MONDAVI CENTER GRANTORS AND ARTS EDUCATION SPONSORS

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Tell Your Stor y Simply pop in by yourself or with a friend or family member and start talking!

As our audience, you have been a vital part of our success over the last 10 years. Now that we’re approaching our 10th anniversary, we want to hear your stories. Tell us how the performing arts at the Mondavi Center have thrilled you, inspired you and entertained you!

EVENT & ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PARTNERS

Boeger Winery Caffé Italia Ciocolat El Macero Country Club Hot Italian

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Hyatt Place Osteria Fasulo Seasons Restaurant Strelitzia Flower Company Watermelon Music

Talk to us about: • A favorite show • A time with friends or family • Something that surprised you • The show that made you think The video booth will be in the lobby before the shows and during intermission. Your few moments of sharing will play an important role as we get ready to celebrate our 10th season.

mondavi center

Mondavi Center

Individual Supporters

MondaviCenter InnerCircle Inner Circle Donors are dedicated arts patrons whose leadership gifts to the Mondavi Center are a testament to the value of the performing arts in our lives.

Mondavi Center is deeply grateful for the generous contributions of the dedicated patrons who give annual financial support to our organization.

These donations are an important source of revenue for our program, as income from ticket sales covers less than half of the actual cost of our performance season.

Their gifts to the Mondavi Center strengthen and sustain our efforts, enabling us not only to bring memorable performances by worldclass artists to audiences in the capital region each year, but also to introduce new generations to the experience of live performance through our Arts Education Program, which provides arts education and enrichment activities to more than 35,000 K-12 students annually.

For more information on supporting the Mondavi Center, visit MondaviArts.org or call 530.754.5438.

† Mondavi Center Advisory Board Member * Friends of Mondavi Center

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Impresario Circle $25,000 and up

John and Lois Crowe †* Barbara K. Jackson †* Friends of Mondavi Center And one donor who prefers to remain anonymous virtuoso Circle $15,000 – $24,999

Joyce and Ken Adamson Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation Anne Gray †* Mary B. Horton* Grant and Grace Noda* William and Nancy Roe †* Lawrence and Nancy Shepard † Tony and Joan Stone † Joe and Betty Tupin †* Maestro Circle $10,000 – $14,999

Wayne and Jacque Bartholomew †* Ralph and Clairelee Leiser Bulkley* Oren and Eunice Adair-Christensen* Dolly and David Fiddyment † M. A. Morris* Shipley and Dick Walters* Benefactors Circle $6,000 – $9,999 California Statewide Certified Development Corporation Camille Chan † Cecilia Delury and Vince Jacobs † Patti Donlon † First Northern Bank † Samia and Scott Foster Benjamin and Lynette Hart †* Dee and Joe Hartzog † Margaret Hoyt* Bill Koenig and Jane O’Green Koenig Garry Maisel † Stephen Meyer and Mary Lou Flint† Randall E. Reynoso and Martin Camsey Grace and John Rosenquist* Chris and Melodie Rufer Raymond and Jeanette Seamans Ellen Sherman Larry and Rosalie Vanderhoef †*

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Producers Circle $3,000 – $5,999

Neil and Carla Andrews Hans Apel and Pamela Burton Cordelia Stephens Birrell Kay and Joyce Blacker* Neil and Joanne Bodine Mr. Barry and Valerie Boone Brian Tarkington and Katrina Boratynski Michael and Betty Chapman Robert and Wendy Chason Chris and Sandy Chong* Michele Clark and Paul Simmons Tony and Ellie Cobarrubia* Claudia Coleman Eric and Michael Conn Nancy DuBois* Stephen Duscha and Wanda Lee Graves Merrilee and Simon Engel Catherine and Charles Farman Domenic and Joan Favero Donald and Sylvia Fillman Andrew and Judith Gabor Kay Gist Fredric Gorin and Pamela Dolkart Gorin Ed and Bonnie Green* Robert Grey Diane Gunsul-Hicks Charles and Ann Halsted Judith and Bill Hardardt* The One and Only Watson Lorena Herrig* Charley and Eva Hess Suzanne and Chris Horsley* Sarah and Dan Hrdy Dr. Ronald and Lesley Hsu Debra Johnson, MD and Mario Gutierrez Teresa and Jerry Kaneko* Dean and Karen Karnopp* Nancy Lawrence, Gordon Klein, and Linda Lawrence Greiner Heat, Air, and Solar Brian and Dorothy Landsberg Drs. Richard Latchaw and Sheri Alders Ginger and Jeffrey Leacox Claudia and Allan Leavitt Robert and Barbara Leidigh Yvonne LeMaitre John T. Lescroart and Lisa Sawyer Nelson Lewallyn and Marion Pace-Lewallyn Dr. Ashley and Shiela Lipshutz Paul and Diane Makley* In memory of Jerry Marr Janet Mayhew* Robert and Helga Medearis Verne Mendel* Derry Ann Moritz Jeff and Mary Nicholson Philip and Miep Palmer Gavin Payne Suzanne and Brad Poling 50

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Lois and Dr. Barry Ramer David Rocke and Janine Mozée Roger and Ann Romani* Hal and Carol Sconyers* Tom and Meg Stallard* Karen and Jim Steidler Tom and Judy Stevenson Donine Hedrick and David Studer Jerome Suran and Helen Singer Suran* Rosemary and George Tchobanoglous Della Aichwalder Thompson Nathan and Johanna Trueblood Ken Verosub and Irina Delusina Jeanne Hanna Vogel Claudette Von Rusten John Walker and Marie Lopez Cantor & Company, A Law Corporation* Bob and Joyce Wisner* Richard and Judy Wydick And six donors who prefer to remain anonymous Directors Circle $1,100 – $2,999 John and Kathleen Agnew Dorrit Ahbel Beulah and Ezra Amsterdam Russell and Elizabeth Austin Murry and Laura Baria* Lydia Baskin* Connie Batterson Jo Anne Boorkman* Clyde and Ruth Bowman Edwin Bradley Linda Brandenburger Robert Burgerman and Linda Ramatowski Davis and Jan Campbell David J. Converse, ESQ. Gail and John Cooluris Jim and Kathy Coulter* John and Celeste Cron* Terry and Jay Davison Bruce and Marilyn Dewey Martha Dickman* Dotty Dixon* Richard and Joy Dorf* Thomas and Phyllis Farver* Tom Forrester and Shelly Faura Sandra and Steven Felderstein Nancy McRae Fisher Carole Franti* Paul J. and Dolores L. Fry Charitable Fund Karl Gerdes and Pamela Rohrich Henry and Dorothy Gietzen Craig A. Gladen John and Patty Goss* Jack and Florence Grosskettler* Virginia Hass Tim and Karen Hefler Sharna and Myron Hoffman Claudia Hulbe Ruth W. Jackson

Clarence and Barbara Kado Barbara Katz* Hansen Kwok Thomas Lange and Spencer Lockson Mary Jane Large and Marc Levinson Edward and Sally Larkin* Hyunok Lee and Daniel Sumner Linda and Peter Lindert Angelique Louie Natalie and Malcolm MacKenzie* Stephen Madeiros Douglas Mahone and Lisa Heschong Dennis H. Mangers and Michael Sestak Susan Mann Judith and Mark Mannis Maria Manoliu Marilyn Mansfield John and Polly Marion Yvonne L. Marsh Robert Ono and Betty Masuoka Shirley Maus* Ken McKinstry Joy Mench and Clive Watson Fred and Linda J. Meyers* John Meyer and Karen Moore Eldridge and Judith Moores Barbara Moriel Mary-Alice and Augustus B. Morr Patricia and Surl Nielsen Linda Orrante and James Nordin Alice Oi, In memory of Richard Oi Jerry L. Plummer Prewoznik Foundation Linda and Lawrence Raber* Larry and Celia Rabinowitz Kay Resler* Prof. Christopher Reynolds and Prof. Alessa Johns Thomas Roehr Don Roth and Jolán Friedhoff Liisa A. Russell Beverly “Babs” Sandeen and Marty Swingle Ed and Karen Schelegle The Schenker Family Neil and Carrie Schore Bonnie and Jeff Smith Wilson and Kathryn Smith Ronald and Rosie Soohoo* Richard L. Sprague and Stephen C. Ott Peter Stamos Maril Revette Stratton and Patrick Stratton Brandt Schraner and Jennifer Thornton Verbeck and friends Louise and Larry Walker Scott Weintraub Dale L. and Jane C. Wierman Mary Wood, Ph.D. Paul Wyman Yin Yeh Howard and Diane Zumsteg And five donors who prefer to remain anonymous

Mondavi Center Donors

Encore Circle $600 – $1,099

Gregg T. Atkins and Ardith Allread Drs. Noa and David Bell Marion Bray Don and Dolores Chakerian Gale and Jack Chapman William and Susan Chen Robert and Nancy Nesbit Crummey John and Cathie Duniway Shari and Wayne Eckert Doris and Earl Flint Murray and Audrey Fowler Gatmon-Sandrock Family Jeffery and Marsha Gibeling Paul N. and E. F. “Pat” Goldstene David and Mae Gundlach Robin Hansen and Gordon Ulrey Cynthia Hearden* Lenonard and Marilyn Herrmann Katherine Hess Barbara and Robert Jones Paula Kubo Frances and Arthur Lawyer* Gary and Jane Matteson Don and Sue Murchison Robert Murphy Richard and Kathleen Nelson Frank Pajerski John Pascoe and Susan Stover Jerry and Ann Powell* J. and K. Redenbaugh John and Judy Reitan Jeep and Heather Roemer Jeannie and Bill Spangler Sherman and Hannah Stein Les and Mary Stephens Dewall Judith and Richard Stern Eric and Patricia Stromberg* Lyn Taylor and Mont Hubbard Cap and Helen Thomson Roseanna Torretto* Henry and Lynda Trowbridge* Donald Walk, M.D. Geoffrey and Gretel Wandesford-Smith Steven and Andrea Weiss* Denise and Alan Williams Kandi Williams and Dr. Frank Jahnke Karl and Lynn Zender And three donors who prefer to remain anonymous

Orchestra Circle

$300 – $599 Michelle Adams Mitzi Aguirre Susan Ahlquist Paul and Nancy Aikin Jessica Friedman Drs. Ralph and Teresa Aldredge Thomas and Patricia Allen Fred Arth and Pat Schneider Al and Pat Arthur Shirley and Michael Auman* Robert and Joan Ball Beverly and Clay Ballard In memory of Ronald Baskin Delee and Jerry Beavers Robert Hollingsworth and Carol Beckham Carol L. Benedetti Donald and Kathryn Bers* Bob and Diane Biggs Al J. Patrick, Bankruptcy Law Center Elizabeth Bradford Paul Braun Rosa Maquez and Richard Breedon Joan Brenchley and Kevin Jackson Irving and Karen Broido* In memory of Rose Marie Wheeler John and Christine Bruhn Manuel Calderon De La Barca Sanchez Jackie Caplan Michael and Louise Caplan Anne and Gary Carlson Koling Chang and Su-Ju Lin Jan Conroy, Gayle Dax-Conroy, Edward Telfeyan, Jeri Paik-Telfeyan Charles and Mary Anne Cooper James and Patricia Cothern Cathy and Jon Coupal* David and Judy Covin Larry Dashiell and Peggy Siddons Thomas B. and Eina C. Dutton Micki Eagle Janet Feil David and Kerstin Feldman Sevgi and Edwin Friedrich* Dr. Deborah and Brook Gale Marvin and Joyce Goldman Stephen and Deirdre Greenholz Judy Guiraud Sandeep Kumar Guliani Darrow and Gwen Haagensen Sharon and Don Hallberg Alexander and Kelly Harcourt David and Donna Harris Roy and Miriam Hatamiya Stephen and Joanne Hatchett Paula Higashi Brit Holtz Herb and Jan Hoover Frederick and B.J. Hoyt Pat and Jim Hutchinson* Mary Jenkin Don and Diane Johnston Weldon and Colleen Jordan Mary Ann and Victor Jung Nancy Gelbard and David Kalb Douglas Neuhauser and Louise Kellogg Charles Kelso and Mary Reed Ruth Ann Kinsella* Joseph Kiskis Judy and Kent Kjelstrom Peter Klavins and Susan Kauzlarich Charlene Kunitz Allan and Norma Lammers Darnell Lawrence and Dolores Daugherty Richard Lawrence Ruth Lawrence Carol and Robert Ledbetter Stanley and Donna Levin Barbara Levine Ernest and Mary Ann Lewis* Michael and Sheila Lewis* David and Ruth Lindgren

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Jeffrey and Helen Ma Pat Martin* Yvonne Clinton Mazalewski and Robert Mazalewski Sean and Sabine McCarthy Catherine McGuire Michael Gerrit Nancy Michel Hedlin Family Robert and Susan Munn* Anna Rita and Bill Neuman John and Carol Oster Sally Ozonoff and Tom Richey John and Sue Palmer John and Barbara Parker Brenda Davis and Ed Phillips Bonnie A. Plummer* Deborah Nichols Poulos and Prof. John W. Poulos Harriet Prato John and Alice Provost J. David Ramsey Rosemary Reynolds Guy and Eva Richards Ronald and Sara Ringen Tracy Rodgers and Richard Budenz Sharon and Elliott Rose* Barbara and Alan Roth Marie Rundle Bob and Tamra Ruxin Tom and Joan Sallee Mark and Ita Sanders Eileen and Howard Sarasohn Mervyn Schnaidt Maralyn Molock Scott Ruth and Robert Shumway Michael and Elizabeth Singer Al and Sandy Sokolow Edward and Sharon Speegle Curtis and Judy Spencer Tim and Julie Stephens Pieter Stroeve, Diane Barrett and Jodie Stroeve Kristia Suutala Yayoi Takamura Tony and Beth Tanke Butch and Virginia Thresh Dennis and Judy Tsuboi Ann-Catrin Van Ph.D. Robert Vassar Don and Merna Villarejo Rita Waterman Norma and Richard Watson Regina White Wesley and Janet Yates Jane Y. Yeun and Randall E. Lee Ronald M. Yoshiyama Hanni and George Zweifel And six donors who prefer to remain anonymous

Mainstage Circle $100 – $299

Leal Abbott Thomas and Betty Adams Mary Aften Jill Aguiar Suzanne and David Allen David and Penny Anderson Elinor Anklin and George Harsch Janice and Alex Ardans Debbie Arrington Shota Atsumi Jerry and Barbara August George and Irma Baldwin Charlotte Ballard and Bob Zeff Diane and Charlie Bamforth* Elizabeth Banks Michele Barefoot and Luis Perez-Grau Carole Barnes Gail Kristine Baum Paul and Linda Baumann Lynn Baysinger*

Claire and Marion Becker Sheri Belafsky Merry Benard Robert and Susan Benedetti William and Marie Benisek Robert C. and Jane D. Bennett Marta Beres Elizabeth Berteaux Bevowitz Family Boyd and Lucille Bevington Ernst and Hannah Biberstein Katy Bill Andrea Bjorklund and Sean Duggan Lewis J. and Caroline S. Bledsoe Fred and Mary Bliss Bobbie Bolden William Bossart Mary and Jill Bowers Alf and Kristin Brandt Robert and Maxine Braude Daniel and Millie Braunstein* Pat and Bob Breckenfeld Margaret Brockhouse Francis M. Brookey Linda Clevenger and Seth Brunner Mike and Marian Burnham Margaret Burns and Roy W. Bellhorn Victor W. Burns William and Karolee Bush Gary Campbell and Sharon Lewis Lita Campbell* Robert and Lynn Campbell Robert Canary John and Nancy Capitanio James and Patty Carey Michael and Susan Carl John and Inge Carrol Bruce and Mary Alice Carswell* Jan and Barbara Carter* Dorothy Chikasawa* Frank Chisholm Richard and Arden Christian Michael and Paula Chulada Betty M. Clark Gail Clark L. Edward and Jacqueline Clemens James Cline Wayne Colburn Sheri and Ron Cole Steve and Janet Collins In honor of Marybeth Cook Nicholas and Khin Cornes Victor Cozzalio and Lisa Heilman-Cozzalio Lorraine Crozier Bill and Myra Cusick Elizabeth Dahlstrom-Bushnell* John and Joanne Daniels Nita Davidson Johanna Davies Voncile Dean Mrs. Leigh Dibb Ed and Debby Dillon Joel and Linda Dobris Gwendolyn Doebbert and Richard Epstein Val Docini and Solveig Monson Val and Marge Dolcini* Katherine and Gordon Douglas Anne Duffey Marjean Dupree Victoria Dye and Douglas Kelt David and Sabrina Eastis Harold and Anne Eisenberg Eliane Eisner Terry Elledge Vincent Elliott Brian Ely and Robert Hoffman Allen Enders Adrian and Tamara Engel Sidney England Carol Erickson and David Phillips Jeff Ersig David and Kay Evans Valerie Eviner Evelyn Falkenstein Andrew D. and Eleanor E. Farrand* Richard D. Farshler Cheryl and David Felsch Liz and Tim Fenton Steven and Susan Ferronato

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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Martin Filet and Mary McDonald Bill and Margy Findlay Judy Fleenor* Manfred Fleischer David and Donna Fletcher Glenn Fortini Lisa Foster Robert Fowles and Linda Parzych Marion Franck and Bob Lew Anthony and Jorgina Freese Joel Friedman Larry Friedman Kerim and Josina Friedrich Joan M. Futscher Myra Gable Charles and Joanne Gamble Peggy E. Gerick Gerald Gibbons and Sibilla Hershey Louis J. Fox and Marnelle Gleason* Pat and Bob Gonzalez* Michael Goodman Susan Goodrich Louise and Victor Graf Jeffrey and Sandra Granett Jacqueline Gray* Donald Green Mary Louis Greenberg Paul and Carol Grench Alexander and Marilyn Groth June and Paul Gulyassy Wesley and Ida Hackett* Paul W. Hadley Jim and Jane Hagedorn Frank and Ro Hamilton William Hamre Jim and Laurie Hanschu Marylee and John Hardie Richard and Vera Harris Cathy Brorby and Jim Harritt Ken and Carmen Hashagen Mary Helmich Martin Helmke and Joan Frye Williams Roy and Dione Henrickson Rand and Mary Herbert Roger and Rosanne Heym Larry and Elizabeth Hill Calvin Hirsch and Deborah Francis Frederick and Tieu-Bich Hodges Michael and Peggy Hoffman Steve and Nancy Hopkins Darcie Houck David and Gail Hulse Lorraine J. Hwang Marta Induni Jane Johnson* Kathryn Jaramillo Robert and Linda Jarvis Tom and Betsy Jennings Dr. and Mrs. Ronald C. Jensen Pamela R. Jessup Carole and Phil Johnson SNJ Services Group Michelle Johnston and Scott Arranto Warren and Donna Johnston Valerie Jones In memory of Betty and Joseph Baria Andrew and Merry Joslin Martin and JoAnn Joye* John and Nancy Jungerman Nawaz Kaleel Fred Kapatkin Shari and Timothy Karpin Anthony and Beth Katsaris Yasuo Kawamura Phyllis and Scott Keilholtz* Patricia Kelleher* Dave and Gay Kent Robert and Cathryn Kerr Gary and Susan Kieser Louise Bettner and Larry Kimble Ken and Susan Kirby Dorothy Klishevich Paulette Keller Knox Paul Kramer Dave and Nina Krebs Kurt and Marcia Kreith Sandra Kristensen Leslie Kurtz

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Cecilia Kwan Donald and Yoshie Kyhos Ray and Marianne Kyono Melourd Lagdamen Bonnie and Kit Lam* Angelo Lamola Marsha M. Lang Bruce and Susan Larock Harry Laswell and Sharon Adlis C and J Learned Marceline Lee Lee-Hartwig Family Nancy and Steve Lege Suzanne Leineke The Lenk-Sloane Family Joel and Jeannette Lerman Evelyn A. Lewis Melvyn Libman Motoko Lobue Mary S. Lowry Henry Luckie Maryanne Lynch Ariane Lyons Ed and Sue MacDonald Leslie Macdonald and Gary Francis Thomas and Kathleen Magrino* Deborah Mah* Mary C. Major Jean Malamud Vartan Malian Julin Maloof and Stacey Harmer Joan Mangold Bunkie Mangum Raymond and Janet Manzi Joseph and Mary Alice Marino Donald and Mary Martin J. A. Martin Mr. and Mrs. William R. Mason Bob and Vel Matthews Leslie Maulhardt Katherine F. Mawdsley* Mia McClellan Karen McCluskey* John McCoy Nora McGuinness* Donna and Dick McIlvaine Tim and Linda McKenna Blanche McNaughton* Richard and Virginia McRostie George A. Mealy and Lenore Steiner Martin A. Medina and Laurie Perry Cliva Mee and Werner Paul Harder III DeAna Melilli Barry Melton and Barbara Langer Sharon Menke The Merchant Family Roland and Marilyn Meyer Leslie Michaels and Susan Katt Jean and Eric Miller Phyllis Miller Sue and Rex Miller Douglas Minnis Steve and Kathy Miura* Kei and Barbara Miyano Vicki and Paul Moering Joanne Moldenhauer Lloyd and Ruth Money Louise S. Montgomery Amy Moore Hallie Morrow Marcie Mortensson Christopher Motley Robert and Janet Mukai Bill and Diane Muller Terry and Judy Murphy Steve Abramowitz and Alberta Nassi Judy and Merle Neel Sandra Negley Margaret Neu* Cathy Neuhauser and Jack Holmes Robert Nevraumont and Donna Curley Nevraumont* Keri Mistler and Dana Newell K. C. Ng Denise Nip and Russell Blair Forrest Odle Yae Kay Ogasawara James Oltjen

Marvin O’Rear Jessie Ann Owens Bob and Beth Owens Mike and Carlene Ozonoff* Michael Pach and Mary Wind Charles and Joan Partain Thomas Pavlakovich and Kathryn Demakopoulos Dr. and Mrs. John W. Pearson Bob and Marlene Perkins Pat Piper Mary Lou Pizzio-Flaa David and Jeanette Pleasure Bob and Vicki Plutchok Ralph and Jane Pomeroy* Bea and Jerry Pressler Ann Preston Rudolf and Brigitta Pueschel Evelyn and Otto Raabe Edward and Jane Rabin Jan and Anne-Louise Radimsky Kathryn Radtkey-Gaither Lawrence and Norma Rappaport Evelyn and Dewey Raski Olga Raveling Dorothy and Fred Reardon Sandi Redenbach* Paul Rees Sandra Reese Martha Rehrman* Eugene and Elizabeth Renkin David and Judy Reuben* Al and Peggy Rice Joyce Rietz Ralph and Judy Riggs* David and Kathy Robertson Richard and Evelyne Rominger Andrea Rosen Catherine and David Rowen Rina Roy Paul and Ida Ruffin Michael and Imelda Russell Hugh Safford Dr. Terry Sandbek* and Sharon Billings* Kathleen and David Sanders* Glenn Sanjume Fred and Polly Schack John and Joyce Schaeuble Patsy Schiff Tyler Schilling Leon Schimmel and Annette Cody Fred and Colene Schlaepfer Julie Schmidt* Janis J. Schroeder and Carrie L. Markel Rick Schubert Brian A. Sehnert and Janet L. McDonald Dinendra Sen Andreea Seritan Dan Shadoan and Ann Lincoln Ed Shields and Valerie Brown Sandi and Clay Sigg Joy Skalbeck Barbara Slemmons Marion Small Judith Smith Juliann Smith Robert Snider Jean Snyder Blanca Solis Roger and Freda Sornsen Marguerite Spencer Johanna Stek Raymond Stewart Karen Street* Deb and Jeff Stromberg Mary Superak Thomas Swift Joyce Takahashi Francie Teitelbaum Jeanne Shealor and George Thelen Julie Theriault, PA-C Virginia Thigpen Janet Thome Robert and Kathryn Thorpe Brian Toole Lola Torney and Jason King Michael and Heidi Trauner Rich and Fay Traynham

James E. Turner Barbara and Jim Tutt Robert Twiss Ramon and Karen Urbano Chris and Betsy Van Kessel Diana Varcados Bart and Barbara Vaughn* Richard and Maria Vielbig Charles and Terry Vines Rosemarie Vonusa* Richard Vorpe and Evelyn Matteucci Carolyn Waggoner* M. Therese Wagnon Carol Walden Marny and Rick Wasserman Caroline and Royce Waters Marya Welch* Dan and Ellie Wendin* Douglas West Martha S. West Robert and Leslie Westergaard* Linda K. Whitney Jane Williams Marsha Wilson Linda K. Winter* Janet Winterer Michael and Jennifer Woo Ardath Wood Timothy and Vicki Yearnshaw Elaine Chow Yee* Norman and Manda Yeung Teresa Yeung Phillip and Iva Yoshimura Heather Young Phyllis Young Verena Leu Young* Melanie and Medardo Zavala Mark and Wendy Zlotlow And 47 donors who prefer to remain anonymous

CORPORATE MATCHING GIFTS Bank of America Matching Gifts Program Chevron/Texaco Matching Gift Fund DST Systems We appreciate the many Donors who participate in their employers’ matching gift program. Please contact your Human Resources department to find out about your company’s matching gift program.

Note: We are pleased to recognize the Donors of Mondavi Center for their generous support of our program.

We apologize if we inadvertently listed your name incorrectly; please contact the Development Office at 530.754.5438 to inform us of corrections.

The Friends of Mondavi Center is an active donor-based volunteer organization that supports activities of the Mondavi Center’s presenting program. Deeply committed to arts education, Friends volunteer their time and financial support for learning opportunities related to Mondavi Center performances.

When you join the Friends of Mondavi Center, you are able to choose from a variety of activities and work with other Friends who share your interests.

Mondavi Center Tours Since the Mondavi Center’s 2002–03 inaugural season, Friends of Mondavi Center have managed and staffed the public tours program.

Approximately 2,000 people are expected to participate in Mondavi Center Tours this season. Over the summer, Friends provide tours to parents of incoming students during UC Davis summer advising weeks, guided by specially trained and experienced Friends of Mondavi Center Tour Guides.

To arrange a tour of the Mondavi Center, call the Tour Hotline at 530.754.5399. Tours can be arranged for groups of any size. A Friend of Mondavi Center will return your call to discuss your tour request. Normal tour hours are Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

For information on becoming a Friend of Mondavi Center, email Jennifer Mast at jmmast@ucdavis.edu or call 530.754.5431.

campus community relations is a proud sponsor of the robert and margrit mondavi Center for the performing arts

Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle this playbill for reuse.

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Mondavi Center Staff DON ROTH, Ph.D. Executive Director

AUDIENCE SERVICES Emily Taggart Audience Services Manager/ Artist Liaison Coordinator

Jeremy Ganter Associate Executive Director

Yuri Rodriguez Events Manager

PROGRAMMING Jeremy Ganter Director of Programming

Natalia Deardorff Assistant Events Manager

Erin Palmer Programming Manager

Nancy Temple Assistant Public Events Manager

Ruth Rosenberg Artist Engagement Coordinator

BUSINESS SERVICES Debbie Armstrong Senior Director of Support Services

Lara Downes Curator: Young Artists Program

Mandy Jarvis Financial Analyst

ARTS EDUCATION Joyce Donaldson Associate to the Executive Director for Arts Educaton and Strategic Projects

Russ Postlethwaite Billing System Administrator

DEVELOPMENT Debbie Armstrong Senior Director of Development

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Darren Marks Programmer/Designer

Alison Morr Kolozsi Director of Major Gifts

Mark J. Johnston Lead Application Developer

Elisha Findley Corporate & Annual Fund Officer Amanda Turpin Donor Relations Manager Angela McMillon Development and Support Services Assistant FACILITIES Herb Garman Director of Operations Greg Bailey Lead Building Maintenance Worker

TICKET OFFICE Sarah Herrera Ticket Office Manager Steve David Ticket Office Supervisor

Daniel Goldin Master Electrician Michael Hayes Head Sound Technician

Susie Evon Ticket Agent

Daniel F. Dannenfelser Registered Piano Technician

MARKETING Rob Tocalino Director of Marketing

Russell St. Clair Ticket Agent

Adrian Galindo Scene Technician

Will Crockett Marketing Manager

production Donna J. Flor Production Manager

Kathy Glaubach Scene Technician

Erin Kelley Senior Graphic Artist

Daniel Thompson Scene Technician

Christopher Oca Stage Manager

Morissa Rubin Senior Graphic Artist

Christi-Anne Sokolewicz Stage Manager

Amanda Caraway Public Relations Coordinator

Jenna Bell Production Coordinator Zak Stelly-Riggs Master Carpenter

Head Ushers Huguette Albrecht George Edwards Linda Gregory Donna Horgan Mike Tracy Susie Valentin Janellyn Whittier Terry Whittier

Jennifer Mast Arts Education Coordinator

Mondavi Center Advisory Board The Mondavi Center Advisory Board is a university support group whose primary purpose is to provide assistance to the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis, and its resident users, the academic departments of Music and Theatre and Dance and the presenting program of the Mondavi Center, through fundraising, public outreach and other support for the mission of UC Davis and the Mondavi Center.

11-12 Season Board Officers John Crowe, Chair Joe Tupin, Patron Relations Chair Randy Reynoso, Corporate Relations Co-Chair Garry P. Maisel, Corporate Relations Co-Chair

Members Jeff Adamski Wayne Bartholomew Camille Chan Michael Chapman John Crowe Lois Crowe Cecilia Delury Patti Donlon

David Fiddyment Dolly Fiddyment Mary Lou Flint Anne Gray Benjamin Hart Lynette Hart Dee Hartzog Joe Hartzog Vince Jacobs

Garry P. Maisel Stephen Meyer Randy Reynoso Nancy Roe William Roe Lawrence Shepard Nancy Shepard Joan Stone Tony Stone

Joe Tupin Larry Vanderhoef Rosalie Vanderhoef Honorary Members Barbara K. Jackson Margrit Mondavi

Ex Officio Linda P.B. Katehi, Chancellor, UC Davis Ralph J. Hexter, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, UC Davis Jessie Ann Owens, Dean, Division of Humanities, Arts & Cultural Studies, College of Letters & Sciences, UC Davis Jo Anne Boorkman, Friends of Mondavi Center Board Don Roth, Executive Director, Mondavi Center, UC Davis Erin Schlemmer, Arts & Lectures Chair

Arts & Lectures Administrative Advisory Committee

friends of Mondavi Center

The Arts & Lectures Administrative Advisory Committee is made up of interested students, faculty and staff who attend performances, review programming opportunities and meet monthly with the director of the Mondavi Center. They provide advice and feedback for the Mondavi Center staff throughout the performance season.

11-12 Executive Board

11-12 Committee Members Erin Schlemmer, Chair Celeste Chang Prabhakara Choudary Adrian Crabtree Susan Franck

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Kelley Gove Aaron Hsu Holly Keefer Danielle McManus Bella Merlin

| mondaviarts.org

Lee Miller Kayla Rouse Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie

Jo Anne Boorkman, President Laura Baria, Vice President Francie Lawyer, Secretary Jim Coulter, Audience Enrichment Jacqueline Gray, Membership Sandra Chong, School Matinee Support Martha Rehrman, Friends Events Leslie Westergaard, Mondavi Center Tours Phyllis Zerger, School Outreach Eunice Adair Christensen, Gift Shop Manager, Ex Officio Joyce Donaldson, Director of Arts Education, Ex Officio

Accommodations for Patrons with Disabilities

Ticket Exchange

The Mondavi Center is proud to be a fully accessible state-of-the-art public facility that meets or exceeds all state and federal ADA requirements.

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Tickets must be exchanged at least one business day prior to the performance.

Tickets may not be exchanged after your performance date.

There is a $5 exchange fee per ticket for non-subscribers and Pick 3 purchasers.

If you exchange for a higher-priced ticket, the difference will be charged. The difference between a higher and a lower-priced ticket on exchange is non-refundable.

Subscribers and donors may exchange tickets at face value toward a balance on their account. All balances must be applied toward the same presenter and expire June 30 of the current season.

Balances may not be transferred between accounts.

All exchanges subject to availability.

All ticket sales are final for events presented by non-UC Davis promoters.

No refunds.

Parking You may purchase parking passes for individual Mondavi Center events for $7 per event at the parking lot or with your ticket order.

Rates are subject to change. Parking passes that have been lost or stolen will not be replaced.

Group Discounts

Patrons with special seating needs should notify the Mondavi Center Ticket Office at the time of ticket purchase to receive reasonable accommodation. The Mondavi Center may not be able to accommodate special needs brought to our attention at the performance.

Seating spaces for wheelchair users and their companions are located at all levels and prices for all performances.

Requests for sign language interpreting, real-time captioning, Braille programs and other reasonable accommodations should be made with at least two weeks’ notice. The Mondavi Center may not be able to accommodate last minute requests. Requests for these accommodations may be made when purchasing tickets at 530.754.2787 or TDD 530.754.5402.

Special Seating Mondavi Center offers special seating arrangements for our patrons with disabilities. Please call the Ticket Office at 530.754.2787 [TDD 530.754.5402].

Assistive Listening Devices

Entertain friends, family, classmates or business associates and save!

Groups of 20 or more qualify for a 10% discount off regular prices.

Payment must be made in a single check or credit card transaction.

Please call 530.754.2787 or 866.754.2787.

Assistive Listening Devices are available for Jackson Hall and the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre. Receivers that can be used with or without hearing aids may be checked out at no charge from the Patron Services Desk near the lobby elevators. The Mondavi Center requires an ID to be held at the Patron Services Desk until the device is returned.

Student Tickets (50% off the full single ticket price*)

Elevators

Student tickets are to be used by registered students matriculating toward a degree, age 18 and older, with a valid student ID card. Each student ticket holder must present a valid student ID card at the door when entering the venue where the event occurs, or the ticket must be upgraded to regular price.

Children (50% off the full single ticket price*) Children’s tickets are for all patrons age 17 and younger. No additional discounts may be applied. As a courtesy to other audience members, please use discretion in bringing a young child to an evening performance. All children, regardless of age, are required to have tickets, and any child attending an evening performance should be able to sit quietly through the performance.

Privacy Policy The Mondavi Center collects information from patrons solely for the purpose of gaining necessary information to conduct business and serve our patrons efficiently. We sometimes share names and addresses with other not-for-profit arts organizations. If you do not wish to be included in our e-mail communications or postal mailings, or if you do not want us to share your name, please notify us via e-mail, U.S. mail or telephone. Full Privacy Policy at MondaviArts.org.

POlicies

Policies and Information

The Mondavi Center has two passenger elevators serving all levels.

They are located at the north end of the Yocha Dehe Grand Lobby, near the restrooms and Patron Services Desk.

Restrooms All public restrooms are equipped with accessible sinks, stalls, babychanging stations and amenities. There are six public restrooms in the building: two on the Orchestra level, two on the Orchestra Terrace level and two on the Grand Tier level.

Service Animals Mondavi Center welcomes working service animals that are necessary to assist patrons with disabilities. Service animals must remain on a leash or harness at all times. Please contact the Mondavi Center Ticket Office if you intend to bring a service animal to an event so that appropriate seating can be reserved for you.

*Only one discount per ticket.

Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle this playbill for reuse.

MONDAVI CENTER PROGRAM Issue 6: Feb–Mar 2012 |

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september 2011

december 2011

21

30

7–10 8

11

15 18

Return To Forever IV with Zappa Plays Zappa Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder

october 2011 1 2 6 8 13 19 20 21 24

29 29–30

Wayne Shorter Quartet Alexander String Quartet Yamato Jonathan Franzen San Francisco Symphony Scottish Ballet k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang Rising Stars of Opera Focus on Film: Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould Hilary Hahn, violin So Percussion: “We Are All Going in Different Directions”: A John Cage Celebration

november 2011 4 5–6 7–8 9–11 12

12–13

14 14–15

mondavi center–

Tia Fuller Quartet Mariachi Sol de México de Jóse Hernàndez Lara Downes Family Concert: Green Eggs and Ham Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Show American Bach Soloists: Messiah

january 2012 5 9 14–15

19 25–28 27 29 30

San Francisco Symphony Focus on Film: Platoon Alexi Kenney, violin and Hilda Huang, piano Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca Alfredo Rodriguez Trio Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Alexander String Quartet Focus on Opera: Tosca

february 2012

3 4 Cinematic Titanic Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise 9 Hot 8 Brass Band 11–12 Trey McIntyre Project 14 and Preservation Hall Jazz Band 17 Lara Downes: 18 13 Ways of Looking at the Goldberg

Focus on Film: Salaam Bombay!

22 Growing Up In India: 25 A Film and Photo Exhibition

Oliver Stone Rachel Barton Pine, violin, with the Chamber Soloists Orchestra of New York Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo CIRCA Loudon Wainwright III & Leo Kottke Eric Owens, bass-baritone Chucho Valdés and the Afro-Cuban Messengers The Chieftains Overtone Quartet

Media Clips & More Info:

MondaviArts.org

MondaviArts.org

Rachel Barton Pine

530.754.2787

2 9 10–11 17–18 18 22

24–25 29

Angelique Kidjo Garrick Ohlsson, piano Curtis On Tour Ballet Preljocaj: Blanche Neige Alexander String Quartet Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion Circus Oz SFJAZZ Collective

april 2012 1

9 11 13 14–15 17 18–21 19–22

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2

9 12 13

14

16–19

530.754.2787

| mondaviarts.org

march 2012

Young Artists Competition Winners Concert Focus on Opera: The Elixir of Love Sherman Alexie Bettye LaVette Zippo Songs: Poems from the Front Anoushka Shankar The Bad Plus The Improvised Shakespeare Company Maya Beiser: Provenance

may 2012

Call for Tickets!

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2o11 12

866.754.2787 (toll-free)

San Francisco Symphony Chamber Ensemble Patti Smith New York Philharmonic ODC/Dance: The Velveteen Rabbit Focus on Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor Supergenerous: Cyro Baptista and Kevin Breit

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The art of performance draws our eyes to the stage

Our community’s commitment to arts and culture says a lot about where we live and it brings us together from the moment the lights go down and the curtains come up.

wellsfargo.com © 2011 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved.

Member FDIC. (594507_02705)

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8/4/11 3:10 PM

can The health plan that

take care of your employees.

And your bottom line.

As a founding partner of the Mondavi Center, Western Health Advantage has been a strong supporter of local arts. Which might explain why we’ve lifted local health care to an art form. What’s our method? We deliver friendly, responsive service, keep costs low, and provide access to 2,300 area physicians and specialists. Maybe that’s why over 4,000 local businesses offer our plans and 90,000 individuals and families choose our coverage.

That kind of recognition is worthy of a standing ovation.

Visit westernhealth.com to learn more about our health plans.