2020-2021
Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra
at Northwest Florida State College
Concert Season 34
Guest Pianist
Dzmitry Ulasiuk
From the New World October 10 7:30 p.m. | Mainstage
Conductor Search Finalist
Christopher Confessore For Tickets: (850) 729-6000 or MattieKellyArtsCenter.org 100
COLLEGE
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NICEVILLE,
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2020-2021
Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra
at Northwest Florida State College
Concert Season 34 Guest Pianist
Dr. Devin Stephenson Conductor Search Finalist
Holiday Pops December 11 7:30 p.m. | Mainstage Tickets: $25 Adults, $16 Youth, FREE with NWFSC ID Call or Click for Tickets: (850) 729-6000 or www.MattieKellyArtsCenter.org 1 0 0 C O L L E G E B O U L E VA R D E A S T | N I C E V I L L E , F L 3 2 5 7 8
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Kellen Gray
Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE
Board of Trustees
Brian S. Pennington, Chair Lori Kelley, Vice-Chair Shane Abbott Craig Barker Charlotte Flynt Reynolds Henderson Major General Don Litke, USAF Ret. Major General Thomas “Rudy� Wright, USAF Ret. Dr. Devin Stephenson, President The Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra Guild is designed to support the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and their educational outreach programs such as the Northwest Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Annual Concerto Competition. If you have a love for music and want to pass on the appreciation to future generations, join the Guild today! For more information, visit mattiekellyartscenter.org/nfso. Follow us on Facebook! Northwest Florida Symphony
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Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra Welcome NFSO Supporters, We are thrilled to have you back in our beautiful Mattie Kelly Arts Center to enjoy symphonic music from all around the world as we celebrate our 34th Season. You will note the stage looks different as our musicians are socially distanced, wearing masks when possible and staying partitioned from each other. The sound and the audience feel will be quite different as well as we strive to keep everyone safe. This year is special in so many ways as we search for our new Conductor and Music Director. Four finalists will vie for the position of conductor of our amazing Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. Each of these finalists are outstanding in their field and will perform throughout the season: Christopher Confessore will lead the orchestra October 10th, Todd Craven will conduct for the October 24th concert, Kellen Gray in December and Glen Cortese will grace the stage in April. We hope you will attend each of these concerts and meet each of these distinguished conductors. Find all four conductors’ full bios online at www. mattikellyartscenter.org. We invite you to be part of the selection process of our future music director. You will not want to miss our January Pops Concert, “Almost Elton: Remember When Rock was Young” and “Stars of Tomorrow” in February featuring our concerto competition winners. Thank you for your trust in us, your continued patronage and support. We could not do what we do without you. Jeanette Shires, Director Mattie Kelly Arts Center
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NFSO
Grand Underwriters
The NFSO would like to thank our Grand Underwriters who provided contributions since March 1, 2019- Sept. 2, 2020 NFSO Visionary Society
James H. Taraldson Kathleen “Taty” Saunders
Mattie M. Kelly Northwest Florida Symphony Guild
Platinum Level $5,000+ Fred R. Semasko, Jr. and Annette Semasko ERA American Real Estate Northwest Florida Symphony Guild
Bronze Level $500+ Stacy and Bill Head Laura Miles, in honor of Carolyn Miles Dolores and Joseph Purka Roxanne Ruckdeschel City of Niceville
Gold Level $2,500+
Concerto Circle ($250-$499) Jeanette and Steve Shires Emerald Coast ENT & Allergies, PA
Anonymous Silver Level $1,000+ Jennifer Boxen and Ryan Aycock Bo Burns Donna and Dick Schoditsch Emerald Coast Association of Realtors
Friend’s Circle <$249 Nabanita and Jnanodoy Bhattacharya Tracy Mank Daniel Sluka Coastal Periodontics
Become a sponsor today at MattieKellyArtsCenter.org/nfso
Serving the Emerald Coast
Since 1965! Katie's House of Flowers
850.678.7811
402 Bayshore Dr. Niceville, FL 32578 www.NicevilleFlowers.com
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Dear Patrons, We welcome you back with great enthusiasm for the Mattie Kelly Arts Center’s 2020-2021 season! Our primary goal is the health and well-being of our guests, staff and artists. As a result, we are adopting the below safety measures at all of our venues for as long as necessary in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. • All patrons and guests of the MKAC will be screened when entering the college campus. • Face coverings must be worn by all patrons and staff when entering the buildings (one will be provided if needed). • All structures, especially high-touch areas, are being regularly disinfected and sanitized. • Extra personnel have been added to staff the restrooms to ensure high standards of cleanliness. • Social distancing practices will be mandated inside the theater; please follow direction of MKAC ushers for seating assignments. • Hand sanitizer stations are located at the entrance of the theater. • Plexi-glass partitions have been added to the bar area and concession stands. • Our HVAC unit functions as a high-quality filtration system for quality, clean airflow and undergoes frequent preventative maintenance. Thank you for trusting us and continuing your patronage to the
Stay safe and enjoy the 2020-2021 season!
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Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra
1st Violins Nicholas Hatt, Acting Concertmaster Erin Heidrick Lambert Hsieh Ashtin Johnson Megan Sahley Price Sukhia Michael Yusko
2nd Violins Benjamin Maynard, Acting Principal Samantha Arizpe Yasya Brown Deborah Cafarelli Anna Francis Allen Knight
Violas Michael Fernandez, Principal Daniella Angulo-Martinez Brian Brown Sharon Fugate Allyson Royal
Cellos Jordan Galvarino, Acting Principal Jared Cooper Ayla Green Elizabeth McConnell Shelby Morris Ryan Snapp
Basses John Palensky, Acting Principal David Goldflies Chase Rowe Ernie Szugyi
Flutes
Sarah Jane Young, Acting Principal Ayca Cetin, 2nd/Piccolo Bethany Wood, 3rd/Piccolo
Oboes Matt Fossa, Principal Tina Nutt Rebecca Mindock, English Horn
Trumpets Dale Riegle, Acting Principal Geraldo Mata Johnny Brewer
Trombones Tim Van Dam, Principal Joshua Bledsoe Wess Hillman, Bass Trombone
Tuba William Morris, Principal
Timpani T. Adam Blackstock, Principal
Clarinets Richard Jernigan, Principal Kip Franklin
Bassoons Mark Lauer, Principal Kristina Nelson
Horns Stuart Kinney, Principal Libbie Lawson Robert Malone Kate Warren
Percussion Jordan Wood, Principal Jordan Hale, Asst. Principal Peter Krostag
NFSO Staff Executive Director: Jeanette Shires Operations Manager/ Director of Education and Outreach: Lynne Fehrenbach Personnel Manager/ Librarian: Matt Fossa
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2020-2021
Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra
Remember When
Rock
at Northwest Florida State College
Concert Season 34
Was Young January 23 7:30 p.m. Mainstage Tickets: $45
Guest Conductor
Jason Altieri
Call or Click for Tickets: (850) 729-6000 or www.MattieKellyArtsCenter.org 1 0 0 C O L L E G E B O U L E VA R D E A S T | N I C E V I L L E , F L 3 2 5 7 8
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Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra
From the New World Saturday, October 10, 2020 7:30 p.m. Mattie Kelly Fine and Performing Arts Center Dzmitry Ulasiuk, piano Christopher Confessore, guest conductor/conductor search finalist
Variations on America Charles Ives (1874-1954) arr. Schuman Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) Moderato Adagio sostenuto – Più animato – Tempo 1
Allegro scherzando
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95 Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) “From the New World” Adagio – Allegro molto Largo Molto vivace Allegro con fuoco
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Mattie Kelly Arts Center
Christopher Confessore - Conductor
Christopher Confessore currently serves as Music Director of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra and Principal POPS Conductor of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. During his acclaimed tenure in Brevard, the orchestra has enjoyed a dramatic and sustained period of artistic excellence and has been praised for its innovative programming, spirited performances and broad repertoire. Mr. Confessore joined the Alabama Symphony Orchestraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conducting staff in 2000. During that time, he has led the ASO in hundreds of Pops, Masterworks, Educational/Outreach, and Outdoor performances across the state of Alabama. Mr. Confessoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schedule as a guest conductor has included appearances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, continued on page 15
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Emerald Coast Theatre Company presents:
T S R I F
E T A D a
y d e m o c l a c i s mu
October 14 7:30 p.m. | Main Stage Tickets: $25 Call or Click for Tickets: (850) 729-6000 or MattieKellyArtsCenter.org
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Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Confessore - continued Kansas City Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Charlotte (NC) Symphony, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, New Mexico Philharmonic, Sibiu Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. He also regularly appears as a conductor for two of Walt Disney World’s most elaborate productions: The Candlelight Processional at EPCOT – a production featuring a full orchestra, 300-voice choir and celebrity narrators including Whoopi Goldberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Kurt Russell, and Sigourney Weaver – and The Music of Pixar: A Symphony of Characters at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Heralded as a sensitive accompanist and inspiring collaborator, Christopher Confessore has accompanied a distinguished list of concert artists, including Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, and Lang Lang. As a Pops conductor, he has appeared with a diverse group of superstars, including Grammy Award winners Art Garfunkel, Amy Grant, Roberta Flack, Patti LaBelle, Judy Collins, Indigo Girls, Marvin Hamlisch, LeAnn Rimes, Chris Botti, Peabo Bryson, Rick Springfield, Patti Austin, Jon Anderson, and Charlie Daniels and Tony Award winners Idina Menzel and Jennifer Holliday. Music columnist Mary Colurso of The Birmingham News remarked “Anyone who regards the symphony as stuffy and elitist hasn’t been to a SuperPops show when Confessore’s in charge. He exudes nice-guy appeal on stage, along with real warmth, a sense of humor and smarts to spare.” Mr. Confessore holds a Master of Music degree in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Southern California and the Bachelor of Music degree in Bassoon Performance from Florida State University. n
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2020-2021 SEASON CALENDAR
10/24/2020
1940â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New York
NFSO
12/11/2020
Holiday Pops
NFSO
1/19/2021
Menopause the Musical
1/23/2021
Almost Elton: Remember When Rock Was Young
NFSO
2/5/2021
Lords of 52nd Street
Artist
2/13/2021
Stars of Tomorrow
NFSO
2/19/2021
Jeanne Robertson, Humorist
Artist
3/5/2021
Deborah Norville
4/10/2021
Just Another Variation
NFSO
4/29/2021
That Golden Girls Show: A Puppet Parody
Artist
Broadway
SpeakerSeries
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW! Also offering live streams for select events.
Call or Click for Tickets: (850) 729-6000 or MattieKellyArtsCenter.org
MATTIE KELLY Northwest Flo Florida St State Co College
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Mattie Kelly Arts Center
Dzmitry Ulasiuk - Guest Pianist is a splendid pianist, emerging on the American scene after winning over audiences in Europe with his ferocious technical skills yet quietly refined ability to coax every detail, every note, every lyrical phrase out of the keyboard. Dzmitry has a zest for life that transfers into musical panache. He has amazed audiences since 1998, performing solo recitals in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Belarus, Estonia, and Croatia as well as in China, Japan, Spain, Costa Rica and the United States. Soft-spoken and humble, Dzmitry has a fast-growing reputation for electrifying performances, prodigious technique, and evocative interpretations particularly of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Scriabin. Dzmitry was raised in an environment of classical music performance in Minsk, Belarus. Within one year of professional studies at the State Academy of Music, he made his solo debut with an all-Chopin program in his hometown. A year later, he appeared internationally in the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Germany, performing Beethoven’s Symphony #7 as arranged for piano solo by Franz Liszt. “Mr. Ulasiuk is an artist of depth and mastery, with unwavering conceptions which capture his listener…. Along with ample power and technique, Mr. Ulasiuk revealed sensitivity and soulfulness at all the right times…. His playing always had direction and dramatic shape…” – Dr. Rorianne Schrade, New York Concert Review Online Magazine Mr. Ulasiuk is known for his exquisite interpretations and performances of Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Scriabin. His performances have been broadcast on Belorussian, Croatian and Polish radio and television. He recorded a CD of Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff works released by Centaur Records in April of 2019 which has been played on classical stations such as WFMT in Chicago, WWFM The Classical Network in the New York/New Jersey area, and WDAV in Charlotte, NC. He
Dzmitry Ulasiuk
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T H E G A L L E R I E S AT M AT T I E K E L LY A R T S C E N T E R
UPCOMING GALLERY EVENTS 2020-2021 August 29, 2020- October 16, 2020
29th annual Emerald Coast national juried exhibit in McIlroy Gallery
November 7- December 15, 2020 Holiday Spotlight
January 22- March 5, 2021
Artist Sarah Knobel: Synthetic Nature
March 26- May 3, 2021
Arnie Hart Juried Student Exhibition and Arts Faculty Exhibition
The galleries are open to personal visitation in low numbers. The artwork has been spaced further apart than usual to encourage physical distancing. Appointments are recommended but not required. Guests will wear masks. We have a limit of five persons per gallery, or fifteen persons in the building at a time. To make an appointment, please call 850-729-6044 or email artgalleries@nwfsc.edu. Entry is free and everyone is welcome!
www.MattieKellyArtsCenter.org | (850) 729-6044 | artgalleries@nwfsc.edu
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Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra recorded a second CD of all Scriabin piano music which will be released in 2020. After winning the Svetislav Stančić International Piano Competition in 2007, Dzmitry toured Croatia giving solo recitals and performing with orchestras such as the Croatian Radio-Television Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, and CNT Split Orchestra. Other highlighted performances include concerts with the National Odessa Philharmonic, the Arthur Rubinstein Symphony, Belorusian Philharmonic Orchestra, “Classic-Avantegard” Chamber Orchestra, and the Meadows Symphony in Dallas in addition to solo performances in the Shanghai Oriental Art Center in China, Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Hall in Russia, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall in Poland, and Lisinski Concert Hall in Croatia, among others. A winner or laureate of multiple international piano competitions, Dzmitry has experienced considerable success, including the aforementioned First Prize in the Svetislav Stančić International Piano Competition in 2007; Grand Prize Winner, 2017 25th Fryderyck Chopin International Piano Competition, Corpus Christi, Texas; 2018 Grand Winner (from a field of nearly 2,000 applicants from 88 countries), Kaleidoscope International Music Competition, Los Angeles, California; Gold Medal, 2019 Vienna International Music Competition; 2019 1st Place Winner, Turzno I International V National Chopin Piano Competition; 1st Prize, 2000 National Piano Competition, Mogilev, Belarus; 2nd Prize, 2011 Chopin International Piano Competition USA, Hartford, Connecticut; 2nd Place Winner, 1999 National Piano Competition “F. Chopin in Memoriam,” Grodno, Belarus; 3rd Prize, 2005 International Karol Szymanowski Piano Competition, Lodz, Poland; 4th Prize, 2009 Bremen Piano Competition, Bremen, Germany; and 5th Prize, 2003 Emil Gilels International Piano Competition, Odessa, Ukraine. Dzmitry has been an invited jurist for the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, the International Keyboard Odyssiad® & Festival, U.S.A. (IKOF) in Fort Collins, Colorado, and the Steinway Youth Competition in Dallas, Texas to name a few. He is the epitome of musical professionalism when it comes to piano performance. Dzmitry holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a concert artist’s diploma from the Belarus State Academy of Music, where he studied with Professor Liudmila S. Shelomentseva. To entice him to come to the United States, he received the prestigious Lili Kraus Scholarship to study with Dr. Tamás Ungár in the Artist Diploma program at Texas Christian University. He also has a Performers Diploma from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, where he studied with Professor Joaquín Achúcarro and was named a Legacy Artist of the Joaquín Achúcarro Foundation. Dzmitry also studied with Dr. Pamela Mia Paul at the University of North Texas, and held a teaching fellowship. n
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Mattie Kelly Arts Center
Behind the Music CHARLES IVES (1874-1954) Variations on America (for organ 1891- arranged for orchestra by William Schuman 1963) American composer Charles Ives holds a unique place in our country’s musical history. Heavily influenced by his father George Ives, a bandleader and church musician, Charles Ives was a musical pioneer who lived a life devoted to music without ever earning a living as a musician. Instead, he was an actuary and became a prominent and influential figure in the life insurance industry. Since Ives didn’t rely on income from his work as a composer to support his family, he wrote music exclusively for himself, without worrying about the public’s response to validate his efforts. This freed Ives to experiment as a composer, writing music that introduced techniques such as polytonality (using more than one key simultaneously), polyrhythm (layering of complex, seemingly unrelated rhythms), tone clusters (highly dissonant blocks of sound), and even aleatoric practices (music that includes chance elements that are left up to the performer). Ives’s gift as a composer was his ability to incorporate these experimental techniques into his compositions to enhance his musical expressions rather than merely for shock value. Ives’s unique musical imagination is displayed even in his earliest compositions, including his Variations on America, composed for organ when Ives was seventeen years old. Premiered by Ives on a recital celebrating Independence Day, the piece features a splashy introduction followed by a soft and straightforward statement of the theme (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) and five variations with two interludes. Of special note is the first interlude, which features the upper register instruments playing the theme in F Major while the lower register instruments answer a measure later in D flat Major. Variation 4 casts the melody in F minor, with rhythmic accompaniment that is a cross between a rhumba and a polonaise. The final variation is a pedal exercise and is meant to be played as quickly as the organist can move his or her feet. In 1963, composer William Schuman arranged Ives’s America Variations for symphony orchestra. This version was premiered by the New York Philharmonic and conductor Andre Kostelanetz in 1964. Schuman’s orchestration highlights Ives’s wit and brash originality and is a challenging and exhilarating concert opener.
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Behind the Music SERGEI RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943) Piano Concerto No. 2 (1901) Sergei Rachmaninoff’s artistry as a pianist frequently overshadowed his gifts as a composer. He followed in the long line of composers (Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and more) who championed their own compositions for the piano as solo performing artists. Their compositions served as vehicles for their individual pianistic prowess, helping further their careers in the recital hall and on the concert stage. In Rachmaninoff’s case, the accolades he received as a pianist weren’t enough. He wanted to be taken seriously as a first-rate composer. When that acclaim didn’t come, he suffered emotionally. The most severe episode of depression Rachmaninoff ever experienced followed the disastrous premiere of his First Symphony in 1897. As the story goes, the orchestra was poorly prepared in rehearsal by its conductor, the often inebriated Alexander Glazunov, who took it upon himself to make numerous alterations to the music including cuts and re-orchestrations of several passages. The poorly received premiere, and the negative reviews that appeared afterward in the press, plunged Rachmaninoff into despair. While still able to perform as a pianist, it would be three years before he could bring himself to compose again. Thanks to hypnosis treatment by Dr. Nikolai Dahl, Rachmaninoff regained the confidence to embrace his compositional voice. A year later he had completed his Piano Concerto No. 2, which he dedicated to Dr. Dahl. The concerto’s premiere in 1901, with the composer at the piano, was a magnificent success and boosted Rachmaninoff’s compositional confidence. He never looked back. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 opens mysteriously, with the solo piano stating a series of slow chords that gradually increase in intensity until the first theme is launched by the violins as almost a slow, brooding march. Passages shift from darker tonal areas to light over the course of the movement. The slow movement features extended interplay between the piano and solo woodwind voices, with a steady eighth-note triplet accompaniment. The finale features a melody that was adapted in 1945 as the melodic basis for the pop song “Full Moon and Empty Arms.” The song has been covered by artists ranging from Frank Sinatra, Robert Goulet, Sarah Vaughan, to Bob Dylan. Each movement of the concerto features a wonderful variety of hummable melodies along with extended passages of dazzling virtuosity from the pianist. A favorite of audiences around the world since its first performances, the Rachmaninoff 2nd Piano Concerto is justifiably considered the epitome of the romantic piano concerto.
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Mattie Kelly Arts Center
Behind the Music ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World,” op. 95 (1893) In 1891, Czech composer Antonín Dvořák was regarded, along with Johannes Brahms and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, as one of the world’s leading symphonic composers. American philanthropist Jeannette Thurber loved Dvořák’s music and was determined to hire the composer to lead her newly formed National Conservatory of Music in New York City. While Dvořák traveled extensively throughout Europe during his career, he had never been to America, and while he was flattered by Mrs. Thurber’s initial offer, he was reluctant to leave his family to make the long transatlantic journey. Ultimately, Mrs. Thurber made Dvořák an offer he couldn’t refuse – favorable working conditions that allowed him plenty of private time each day to compose, four months off in the summer, and an annual salary of $15,000 (more than 25 times what he earned teaching in Prague). Once Dvořák’s wife learned the financial terms of the offer, she swayed her husband to accept, and the family began making plans to journey to America. Dvořák taught and lived in America from 1892 to 1895. His family spent the summer of 1893 in the Czech community of Spillville, Iowa, and they visited Chicago and the 1893 World’s Fair. Dvořák’s time in America yielded three of his greatest masterworks, the “American” String Quartet (composed in Spillville), the Cello Concerto, and his final symphony – the Symphony No. 9 in E minor, subtitled From the New World. Dvořák encouraged his composition students and to look to the folk melodies of their native land for inspiration in crafting an “American” style of symphonic composition, specifically citing the melodies of Negro and Native American music. Some listeners have assumed that Dvořák followed his own advice in crafting his New World Symphony, but there is no evidence that any of the symphony’s wonderful melodies are based on or influenced by the music he heard in America. Instead, the New World Symphony is the next logical progression in Dvořák’s symphonic legacy. The influence of folk styles is often present in his music – it didn’t begin when he reached American soil. To my ears, what is especially noteworthy in the Ninth Symphony as well as the Cello Concerto is the sense of longing and nostalgia that pervades much of the music. In his writings, Dvořák made it clear he was homesick. That is what I hear in so many passages of the Ninth Symphony. The symphony is cast in the traditional four movements. It employs cyclic devices, meaning themes and motives from the earlier movements of the work appear in later movements. There is a wonderfully inventive passage in the finale that weaves together motives from all four movements into a seamless texture over the span of eight measures. Unusual instrumental effects include the use of the tuba only in the brass chorale passages that open and close the slow movement, the sparkling sound of the triangle in the third movement, and a single soft cymbal stroke in the finale. Most
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Behind the Music notable is the gorgeous solo for the English Horn in the slow movement – one of many magical moments in this wonderfully inventive symphony that yields new delights with each listening. The Symphony No. 9 From the New World is the Dvořák’s musical postcard from America. Since its Carnegie Hall premiere by the New York Philharmonic led by Anton Seidl, it has remained his most popular and beloved composition.
Recommended recordings and further listening Ives/Schuman – Variations on America
Recommended recording: Of the many excellent recordings available of the orchestral version of Ives’s America Variations, it’s hard to top the virtuosity of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Morton Gould. Also give a listen to the original version for organ as performed by Virgil Fox. Further listening: To hear more sides of Ives’s multifaceted musical personality, explore his atmospheric The Unanswered Question performed by the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein – and his wonderfully original Symphony No. 2, premiered by Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic in 1951, almost 50 years after it was composed!
Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 2
Recommended recording: Almost every great pianist has recorded this concerto. I love the classic recordings by Van Cliburn with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Fritz Reiner and Sergei Rachmaninoff himself as piano soloist with the Philadelphia, led by Leopold Stokowski. Further listening: Your NFSO performs three major works by Rachmaninoff this season! In addition the 2nd Piano Concerto, you’ll hear the virtuosic Symphonic Dances and the beloved Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. For something darker, listen to his evocative Isle of the Dead, performed by Leonard Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Dvorák – Symphony No. 9 From the New World
Recommended recording: There are so many wonderful recordings of this fabulous symphony. I have always admired the flow, energy, and spontaneity of the classic recording by István Kertész and the London Symphony Orchestra. Further listening: While the 9th is Dvorák’s most popular symphony, his 8th, 7th and 6th Symphonies are also frequently performed. For something wonderful, but less familiar, I encourage you to listen to Dvorák’s 5th Symphony in F Major, op. 76 – especially recordings by Istvan Kertész and the London Symphony Orchestra, or Václav Neumann and the Czech Philharmonic. Program notes and recording recommendations prepared by Christopher Confessore.
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2020-2021
Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra
at Northwest Florida State College
Concert Season 34
19 40â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New York
Guest Soloist
Narek Arutyunian
October 24 7:30 p.m. | Mainstage Tickets: $25 Adults, $16 Youth, FREE with NWFSC ID
Conductor Search Finalist
Todd Craven Call or Click for Tickets: (850) 729-6000 or www.MattieKellyArtsCenter.org 1 0 0 C O L L E G E B O U L E VA R D E A S T | N I C E V I L L E , F L 3 2 5 7 8