Boulder Phil 20/21 Concert Series

2020-21 Reimagined

MICHAEL BUTTERMAN, MUSIC DIRECTOR

Let’s play

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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About the Phil Founded in 1958, the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra is creating a new model for American orchestras through dynamic performances that reflect our community’s own values, creativity, and sense of place. Voted “Best of Boulder” for the past eight years, today’s Boulder Phil is bucking national trends with growing, enthusiastic audiences under the vision and leadership of Music Director Michael Butterman.

The 30,000 people served by Boulder Phil programming include Boulder and metro-Denver residents across the Front Range. We offer more than 2,000 free tickets each year, distributed to our social service partners. The Boulder Phil provides many no-cost community events, including concerts at mobile home parks through our Hearing Boulder campaign, and guided musical hikes with Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.

Since COVID-19 hit in March we have presented digital content: archival concerts hosted by our Music Director, new Living Room Concerts by our musicians, Storytime books for kids, and more, all free. Our ticketed Events of Note guest artist series are now monthly online events. We are taking ensembles into neighborhoods, senior facilities, and public spaces.

We are looking forward with anticipation to an innovative 2020-21 Season featuring streamed concerts with Artistic Partners Zuill Bailey and Simone Dinnerstein, pre-recorded in the Brungard Aviation hangar at Boulder Municipal Airport with safety measures in place. A digital Discovery Education Program curriculum will reach new rural/mountain schools across the state. Short courses led by our Music Director and musicians create new learning and social spaces.

For more information about the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, please visit boulderphil.org.

The Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

CONTENTS Welcome to the Phil........................................6 Music Director Michael Butterman.................8 To Our Supporters........................................ 10 Educational Outreach................................... 12 Musician Spotlight........................................ 13 October 17– Vivaldi Recomposed.................. 14 Q & A with Simone Dinnerstein.....................20 Q & A with Zuill Bailey................................... 21 November 14–The Beauty of Bach................22 December 13–Happy Holidays.......................28 January 23–Zuill and Zwilich........................30 February 13–Mozart and Mendelssohn..........38 March 13–A Celebration of Cello.................. 44 April 3–The Soldier’s Tale.............................52 April 24–Beethoven 6 and Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance...............................................58 Events of Note..............................................66 Supporters...................................................68 Boulder Phil Orchestra Roster......................72

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Welcome to the Phil!

Dear Boulder Phil Friends, It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s the Phil “landing” at Boulder Municipal Airport! When we knew we couldn’t play for you live this season, we looked for another way. Our friends at Brungard Aviation, LLC, graciously offered to let us fill their hangar with music, and now we are bringing that music to you with our 2020-21 Season: Reimagined.

Our musicians are passionate about sharing the compelling programs Michael has created with the help of Simone and Zuill. I would like to thank you for joining us on this unique journey, delivered in high definition with professionally engineered audio, and offering opportunities for you to engage with the artists.

We cannot thank you enough for your continued support. Your membership this year allows us to keep local musicians working in a time when so much work has disappeared. Your gifts to the Phil keep the musical learning going strong for thousands of students. We will be here for everyone in our community, through the pandemic and long beyond.

On a personal note: As I have stepped into my new role as Interim Executive Director, I have been overwhelmed by the support of the Boulder Phil family for my continued work with our orchestra and our community. From the board to the staff, to patrons and musicians, my relationship with all of you is what matters to me most. And our shared love of music is what continues to connect us with each other.

Thank you again for joining us for this new season, from the best seats in your house.

SAR A PA RKINSON INT ERIM EXEC UTIVE DI R ECTO R

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

If you like Beethoven’s fifth... you should try ours.

®

Music Director Michael Butterman Dear Boulder Phil Friends, With every crisis comes opportunity — a chance to adapt and reinvent — and we are leaning in to the current moment with our re-imagined virtual season that will take you inside the music and inside the performance itself in ways that were not previously possible.

Our 10-camera array provides fascinating viewing angles and includes bonus interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and informative captions to help you feel even more connected to the music.

As we are reimagining the concert experience, every program includes music that, itself, has undergone reinvention—from fresh takes on Vivaldi, Mozart and Beethoven, to new works by Ellen Zwilich, Jessie Montgomery, Korine Fujiwara as well as the Boulder Phil’s own Paul Trapkus. Throughout history, composers and performers have regularly adapted their offerings to the circumstances of the day, and our season is centered on this very tradition.

For the first time ever, we are welcoming two “artistic partners” for the season — pianist Simone Dinnerstein and cellist Zuill Bailey — each of whom are involved in two concerts this season as soloists and as “curators.” We’re also thrilled to be collaborating with our friends at Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance, the CU Department of Theater, and Boulder Ballet to augment the music with even greater dimension.

Thank you for joining us on our journey of reinvention. We look forward to seeing you again in person before too long!

Be well,

MICH AEL BUTTERMA N MU SIC DIRECTOR

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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To Our Supporters Welcome to the first-ever Boulder Phil digital season! Who would’ve imagined a year ago that we would all be in the situation together? Last spring, when we had to cancel several concerts, it was a bleak time for our orchestra as well as for the rest of the world. But now we have come together to provide something new for our patrons, a digital season that we are very proud to share with everyone now. Michael Butterman and his talented team of musicians that makes up the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra have come up with a superb program.

1600 Range Street, Suite 200 • Boulder, CO 80301 303-449-1343 www.BoulderPhil.org

MUSIC DIRECTOR

Michael Butterman

PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR Gary Lewis

OFFICERS

Ronny Wells, President Bruce Fest, Secretary Steve Miller, Vice President Adrianne Tracy, Treasurer

BOARD

On behalf of our Board of Directors, I would like to extend our thanks to all of our subscribers and patrons who have stood by us with their support and enthusiasm as we make our way through these complicated times.

When the pandemic hit, a number of our enthusiastic supporters helped us raise in a very short period of time over $30,000 for our Musician Relief Fund, paid directly to the musicians to help replace some of their income which was lost when the concerts were canceled last spring. This really did help the musicians at that point in time. In addition, most of our patrons donated the tickets that they had purchased for these concerts to the orchestra, which helped us a great deal as well. During the summer, we established a special COVID-19 Contingency Fund with an initial anonymous gift of $50,000 and a goal of $200,000, which will help sustain our orchestra strategically, above and beyond our normal operating expenses, which are funded by subscriptions, our annual fund, and our Gala.

Michael Butterman, ex officio David Crowe Claire Figel David Fulker Steve Knapp Erma Mantey

Sharon Park Sara Parkinson, ex officio Harry Poehlmann David Rothman Karyn Sawyer Leslie Scarpino

ADMINISTRATION

Sara Parkinson, Interim Executive Director Eve Orenstein, Director of Development Sharon Park, Education & Marketing Associate Nancy Headlee, Personnel Manager, Orchestra Librarian

ADVISORY COUNCIL Barbara Brenton Pamela Dennis Ruth Kahn

TARGETED MARKETING WITH EVERY PERFORMANCE

Warm greeting to you all,

Adam Snider Production Manager Michael Quam Audio & Video Engineer Maggie Hinchliffe Kristen Pierri Kendalia Spencer Eliana Yatsko Interns

Susan Olenwine Dick Van Pelt Brenda Zellner

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South Pacific in Concert • Big River Yesterday & Today, the All-Request Beatles Tribute This program is produced for the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra by The Publishing House, Westminster, CO. Target your marketing with advertising in View Magazine.

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

®

Angie Flachman Johnson Publisher Tod Cavey Director of Sales Stacey Krull Production Manager Sandy Birkey Graphic Designer Wilbur E. Flachman President Emeritus

MY LIFE IS IN YOUR HANDS WildAnimalSanctuary.org

Educational Outreach The Boulder Philharmonic believes that live orchestral music is for everyone and is committed to providing a wide array of opportunities for people throughout our community to encounter the life-enriching power of classical music.

We are one of 200 American orchestras to participate in a national effort to support in-school music education. We’re committed to taking community-specific action to improve access to music education in schools through performances, partnerships and advocacy.

Discovery Program reaches 6,000+ students annually In-School Visit brings live music into classrooms Meet the Maestro creates up-close interactions with Maestro Butterman Side-by-Side brings Boulder Phil musicians into local high schools

‘We have been part of this program for three years and are excited to keep

Hearing Boulder Series offers free & low-cost concerts around town

it going! Thank

Early Explorers Music with Head Start preschoolers

outreach.’

Emerging Composers Program Composition mentorship for high schoolers

you for doing

— Third Grade Teacher

Musical Hikes brings nature and music together For more information about Boulder Phil educational programs & regional outreach, please contact Sara Parkinson, sara@boulderphil.org.

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

Musician Spotlight We spoke with one of the married couples within the orchestra to see what they’ve been up to since March. Here is a quick glimpse into the lives of percussionist Nena Wright and principal trombonist Bron Wright:

and was traveling back and forth to Colorado Springs about once every couple of months. If we were lucky and our travel schedules lined up then we would get to see each other about every 3-6 months.

Q How did you meet?

A We met in 2006 in the “back row” of the orchestra with

Q When did you move to Colorado and how long have you

the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. At the time I was also serving as Principal Trombone of the Charleston Symphony in South Carolina and flying back and forth twice a month to play with both orchestras. Nena was also serving as Principal Percussion of the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans

been in the orchestra?

A I moved to Colorado part-time in 2005 and split my time

between here and Charleston, South Carolina. I moved to Colorado full time in 2007. Nena moved here full time in 2014.

Q What is the best thing about working together?

A Carpooling together and saving on gas!!

Q How have you been spending your time during your ‘safer at home’?

A Working on house projects, exercising and trying to

establish a regular and consistent schedule which we normally don’t get to experience with our busy music schedule.

Nena and Bron Wright at Brungard Airport Hangar

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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Vivaldi Recomposed Saturday, October 17

Michael Butterman, Conductor Charles Wetherbee, Violin

Strum was originally written for string quartet, later re-worked for string orchestra

by Jessie Montgomery

Britten transformed teenage-era piano compositions into this staple of string orchestra literature.

Four Seasons (published 1725) meets the 21st century 14

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

MONTGOMERY Strum BRITTEN Simple Symphony, Op. 4 Boisterous Bourree Playful Pizzicato Sentimental Sarabande Frolicsome Finale RICHTER Recomposed: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons Charles Wetherbee, Violin

Vivaldi Recomposed Biography CHARLES WETHERBEE Concertmaster Charles Wetherbee has performed throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. A native of Buffalo, New York, Charles gave his first performances at age six. He made his debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Symon Bychkov, and since then has performed with the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovitch, as well as the Japan Philharmonic, the Kyoto Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogota (Columbia), the National Repertory Orchestra, the Orchestra Nacional de Mexico, the Symphony Orchestra of the Curtis Institute, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Long Beach Symphony, the Virginia Symphony,and the Boulder Philharmonic, among others.

Mr. Wetherbee is an artist dedicated to the music of today, as well as to the great literature of the past. He gave the Russian premiere of Grammy Award winning composer John Corigliano’s Violin Concerto, and was subsequently invited back to perform the Beethoven Concerto in the famous Shostakovich Philharmonic Hall. He also gave the Mid-West premiere of the Penderski Violin Concerto in Columbus, Ohio, with the composer conducting. Charles has been heard throughout the US on the NPR program “Performance Today,” featuring his performance of the Red Violin by Mr. Corigliano with Joanne Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Other premieres include: Jonathan Leshnoff Violin Concerto with the Columbus Symphony, the Leshnoff Double Concerto for Violin and Viola with Michael Stern and the IRIS Chamber Orchestra, and the Story Teller Concerto by Korine Fujiwara at the National Gallery in Washington, DC, as part of the 100th Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival.

A devoted chamber musician and teacher, Mr. Wetherbee is the first violinist of the Carpe Diem String Quartet, with whom he tours and performs regularly, and is an associate professor of violin at the College of Music - University of Colorado at Boulder.

As a recording artist, he is represented on more than 20 CDs, including, Naxos, Seize the Music Records, Weasel Records, Vienna Modern Classics, and the Cascade labels.

Mr. Wetherbee has been the recipient of numerous honors, including the Ashworth Artist and the George Hardesty awards. In 2002 Charles was able to acquire one of the world’s rare instruments, the Widenhouse 44, and he performs on bows by Beniot Rolland and Charles Espy.

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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Vivaldi Recomposed Orchestra Roster for Vivaldi Recomposed Violin I Charles Wetherbee Annamaria Karacson Susie Peek Veronica Sawarynski Yenlik Weiss

Violin II Leah Mohling Sharon Park Azi Vieira Robyn Sosa

Viola Michael Brook Matthew Diekman Aniel Cabán Cello Charles Lee Charles Barnard

Bass Brian Knott Harpsichord Wesley Leffingwell

Program Notes Jessie Montgomery: Strum Born and raised in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, composer Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981) grew up in a vibrant urban environment. That fact has not prevented her music from suggesting calm spaces at times, though energy and excitement are even more frequently present. Nonetheless, one does not always find swaths of brass and percussion. Being herself a violinist, Montgomery knows well how to bring thrills and motion even from an ensemble of strings, as is the case with the work that concerns us here.

Strum was commissioned in 2006 by Community MusicWorks in the form of a string quartet; 2012 brought a larger scale revision – though still scored only for strings – at the request of the Sphinx Organization. One would be hard-pressed to strum a trumpet, though for strings, it’s second-nature, and strumming effects are frequently employed in the work, providing forward drive and excitement despite the modest scoring and rather brief duration.

Strum begins with pizzicato upper strings leading to a flowing, cantabile theme for cello, joined by serene upper lines, even as the pizzicato element continues. Gradually, those plucked strings take on strumming effects, and one finds much interplay between parts, with phrases leaping from one section to another, and graceful melodic lines sometimes juxtaposed one against another. Here and there, the pizzicato/strumming effect steps aside, its absence leaving a rather haunting mood in its place. However, in the final pages, the energy resumes, ultimately charging to the close. Montgomery’s Strum is modern in spirit, yet quite amenable and mostly brightly lit. It serves well as an engaging overture to a string orchestra program.

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

Vivaldi Recomposed

Britten: Simple Symphony, op. 4 When most classical music lovers think of the English composer Benjamin Britten (1913–1976), it is for his educational Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Yet by the time that work was created in the mid-1940s, Britten was already well along in his career. He had been composing from early childhood and had had much time to hone his skills. Most of his early musical development was under the guidance of composer Frank Bridge (1879–1941), who noticed the ten year old’s talent at the 1924 Norwich Festival and took the boy under his artistic wing, schooling young Britten in advanced compositional techniques. By the time Britten enrolled in the Royal College of Music in 1930, he had already learned so much from Bridge that college studies proved less than stimulating. His own musical voice was already in place.

The Simple Symphony, op. 4, premiered March 4, 1934. In this four-movement string orchestra piece, each movement is given an imaginative title hinting at the music’s mood. “Boisterous Bourrée,” “Playful Pizzicato,” “Sentimental Sarabande,” and “Frolicsome Finale” poke gentle fun at the long tradition of a four-movement work having its first and last movements the strongest statements with the middle movements reserved for gentler moods: one gently restful, the other dancelike. A bourrée was originally a lively dance with a one-two beat, whereas a sarabande was a slower dance with a one-two-three beat. So the first and third movements, both of danceable inspiration, offer contrast of rhythm, but also of spirit.

The second movement is, in all but name, a scherzo, with a lively triple meter and two contrasting melodic ideas: one heard at the beginning and end of the movement, the other appearing between those two statements. In structure alone, it might suggest Beethoven, though with just a string ensemble, and all the bows set aside for a few minutes of pizzicato, the effect is lighter and more effervescent than music by the Viennese master. As for the closing “Frolicsome Finale,” here Britten offers a mix of spirited, folk-like moods and deft compositional balance, never dismissing any thematic idea before he is quite done with it, but also letting nothing overstay its welcome. In all, Britten’s Simple Symphony is a quarter hour of bubbling high spirits, all presented by the forces of orchestral strings.

I. II. III. IV.

Boisterous Bourrée Playful Pizzicato Sentimental Sarabande Frolicsome Finale

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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Vivaldi Recomposed Richter: Recomposed Vivaldi – The Four Seasons Recomposing The Four Seasons: now there’s a formidable task! It isn’t that the music is so expansive as to become a monumental chore. Rather, the trick is that Vivaldi’s timeless concerti are so widely known. Even the smallest alteration would be at least startling, perhaps even concerning. How would the audience react?

How would the performers react? German/British composer Max Richter (b. 1966) thought he’d like to find out, while indulging his imagination regarding how the music might sound were Vivaldi himself alive today and influenced by the musical character of the 21st century.

The result is not simply re-scored Vivaldi: that has been done before. On the contrary, Richter takes fragments of the original and gives them new coloring and new directions. So if one knows Vivaldi’s work well – most of us do – one will hear something one recognizes, something one’s brain could then play back in its original setting. However, with each of these recollections, Richter then dresses them anew and sends them out on unexpected adventures. Spring still sings and dances, though with a more modern energy than that of Vivaldi’s time. Summer retains the determined drive of Vivaldi’s hailstorm: after all, hailstorms still occur.

Autumn continues to be exuberant, and winter is yet imbued with shivers and storms. The heart is Vivaldi’s; the setting is of today.

Of Richter’s musical creation, violinist Daniel Hope (b. 1973 in South Africa, though raised in London) says it was intriguing to re-learn something so fundamentally familiar. His fingers already knew the Vivaldi; he had to teach them the Richter, and keep them from diverging into old pathways. Sometimes shimmering, sometimes driving, it is Richter’s own musical voice. One cannot fairly debate whether it is more compelling than the original, though certainly it is compelling in its own way, having even more vibrancy than Vivaldi had provided. That Richter appreciates Vivaldi’s music and knows it well is clear. As Hope has observed, “even in poking fun at the original, there’s always enormous respect.”

Program notes © Betsy Schwarm, author of the Classical Music Insights series

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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Q & A with Simone Dinnerstein Q You’ve played mostly contemporary music in your

previous Phil performances, yet you’re especially known for playing Bach. How are you influenced by early music practitioners and period instrument performers in your approach to playing Bach’s music on the piano?

A My first contact with musicians was as a child with my

Q You have released a new album that you’ve recorded

while in quarantine in NY. How is this album different from your previous work?

A Everything about this recording seemed to be the opposite of how I normally do things. Usually I spend several months preparing for a recording and then record it in a beautiful concert hall with wonderful acoustics over the course of three days. In this case, I had been struggling to focus on music and was very stressed and depressed by the situation in New York City and the world. My producer encouraged me to record and I put together the music for this album. We recorded it over the course of two nights on my beautiful Hamburg Steinway concert grand in my small music room.

Photo credit Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

parents’ friends, Ben Harms and Lucy Bardo. They were members of the Renaissance quartet, Calliope. There’s a freshness and imagination to their playing - though they were historically informed, they also were open to the improvisation that happens as performers and interpreters. I find that many of the early music specialists have a liveliness and inventiveness to their playing that can be very inspiring.

For myself, I am not motivated by trying to recreate the performance practices from Bach’s time - but I am extremely interested in delving into the intricacies of the score and finding ways to bring the many strands of thought to life.

A Over the past couple of years, I have started to lead from

the keyboard and I really enjoy this process, as it makes the concertos feel much more like chamber music. It allows me to connect directly with the musicians and in many ways it makes the collaboration a lot easier. Much of the leading happens in the rehearsal when I talk about the music and demonstrate passages to them. During the performance, I don’t use a lot of hand gestures so we actually use a lot of eye contact and this connection is very similar to that of musicians in a chamber music group.

Q What’s your favorite thing to do or place to go when you have a little down time in Boulder?

I have had beautiful walks near the home of my lovely Q You will also be conducting the works you’re playing this A host family, and I have enjoyed going to the Boulder Dushanbe season. What is involved in doing that, and how are you able to conduct while also playing your instrument?

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

Teahouse. I love the scenery in and around Boulder and the healthy lifestyle of the people here.

Q & A with Zuill Bailey Q You are fortunate to have several prominent composers

write music especially for you. Did Zwilich collaborate or consult with you as she composed the Cello Concerto?

A It is always such a thrilling and inspiring process to work

with “living” composers as they create a new work. I feel extremely lucky to have had this opportunity in such diverse ways and each situation is very different. Sometimes, the composer simply creates what is purely inside of them and that expression isn’t for discussion. I had the exact opposite experience with the Zwilich Cello Concerto. Ellen was incredibly communicative during the entire process; and there was so much experimentation and evolution. I felt privileged to be part of a world that will forever help me understand future interpretations of compositions: the notes are simply a guide to show a unique path that can be as flexible as life itself.

Q You premiered the Zwilich just a week or so before the pandemic shut down performances around the country.

How is it that we have this new chamber version available already?

A The last public performance I gave was actually the

large scale concerto works. Chamber music is great for musical expression with others...especially trusted friends.

I am looking forward to the Schubert Trout Quintet - it is the ultimate example of why we do this: Inspirational music shared intimately with trusted friends.

Q Do you have “down time,” and what do you enjoy doing when not playing the cello?

A This is a great “Quarantine” question! Around the same time

as starting the cello (age 4), I also began playing table tennis.

My father was a ranked “ping pong” player for the Air Force and took it very seriously. He and I would go to the garage and play for hours. We would talk about everything - and even include life lessons like teaching me dedication, “practice makes permanent,” and the idea of mastering something. It was a huge bonding opportunity and a magical part of my childhood. I played VERY seriously through my early twenties, but soon life got in the way. This past March, I bought a ping pong table and began the process of teaching my two boys the same life lessons my father taught me - all while playing the beautiful game of table tennis. I have found the game from my youth again and created a connection with my children that I never dreamed possible.

Q You’re also playing the Trout Quintet with Phil musicians, yet you spend much of your time as a concerto soloist. How different is playing chamber music from working as an orchestral soloist?

A As the years pass, I revel and appreciate the opportunities to share music with my friends more and more. This awareness has even altered how I perceive and perform

Photo credit Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

premiere of the Zwilich Cello Concerto in March, and she was already at work with this idea before the premiere! Ellen and I were brainstorming about how to give her creation many platforms to be heard. As I began studying the work, I soon realized that it had aspects of an intimate work so I suggested she consider a Chamber version of the piece.

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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The Beauty of Bach with Simone Dinnerstein Saturday, November 14

Simone Dinnerstein, Pianist and Conductor J.S. BACH

Erbarm’ dich mein, o Herre Gott, BWV 721

(Orch. Philip Lasser)

J.S. BACH Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052 Allegro Adagio

Allegro

Bach never heard the modern piano.

Bach was never paid for the Brandenburg Concertos.

J.S. BACH Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067 Overture Rondeau Sarabande

Bourée I/II Polonaise Menuet Badinerie

Orchestral Suite #2: almost a flute concerto

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

Simone Dinnerstein, Piano

Christina Jennings, Flute

J.S. BACH Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050 Allegro Affettuoso Allegro

Simone Dinnerstein, Piano Christina Jennings, Flute Charles Wetherbee, Violin

The Beauty of Bach Biography SIMONE DINNERSTEIN Photo credit Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

American pianist Simone Dinnerstein has a distinctive musical voice. The Washington Post has called her “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity.” She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”

Since that recording, she has had a busy performing career. She has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic to the Melbourne Symphony and has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Seoul Arts Center. Her ten albums have all topped the Billboard classical charts.

The Washington Post writes that “ultimately, it is Dinnerstein’s unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding.” In a world where music is everywhere, Simone hopes that it can still be transformative.

CHRISTINA JENNINGS Flutist Christina Jennings is praised for virtuoso technique, rich tone, and command of a wide range of literature featuring works from Bach to Zwilich. The Houston Press declared: “Jennings has got what it takes: a distinctive voice, charisma, and a pyrotechnic style that works magic on the ears.” Ms. Jennings enjoys a musical career made up of diverse performing and recording, collaborations with living composers, and work guiding young musicians. She is the winner of numerous competitions including Concert Artists Guild, Houston Symphony’s Ima Hogg, and The National Flute Association Young Artists.

Active as a concerto soloist, Ms. Jennings has appeared with over fifty orchestras including the Utah and Houston Symphonies. In 2009 she premiered concertos written for her by Carter Pann and Laura Elise Schwendinger. The Washington Post described her performance of the Jonathan Leshnoff Concerto with the Fairfax Symphony as a “spirited, quicksilver performance.”

In great demand as a teacher, Ms. Jennings is Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Colorado Boulder, and on the summer faculties of Greenwood Music Camp and ARIA. She has also taught at Texas and Sarasota Music Festivals. She is the director of the Panoramic Flutist Seminar and the Once a Flutist Festival, both in Boulder. She received her Bachelor and Master’s degrees at The Juilliard School, and her principal teachers include Carol Wincenc, Leone Buyse, George Pope, and Jeanne Baxtresser. Ms. Jennings lives in Boulder with her husband, violist Matthew Dane, and their twin sons.

CHARLES WETHERBEE (see page 15) Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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The Beauty of Bach Orchestra Roster for The Beauty of Bach Violin Charles Wetherbee Annamaria Karacson Susie Peek Leah Mohling Sharon Park Regan Kane

Viola Michael Brook Megan Edrington

Cello Charles Lee Yoriko Morita

Bass David Crowe

Program Notes JS Bach/Philip Lasser: Erbarm’ dich mein, o Herre Gott, BWV 721 Spending nearly three decades as a church organist, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) was thoroughly familiar with ‘chorales,’ those traditional hymn tunes that stood prominently in the Lutheran hymnal, as well as in the memories of parishioners.

These age-old melodies he would quote in his own works – when he was not actively improvising upon them as preludes to worship services. Some of those improvisations were written down and have survived, not just as melodies familiar to congregations, but in fact ones filtered through the imagination of Bach.

One such chorale is “Erbarm’ dich,” a plea to the Lord for mercy. Bach made of it a solo organ piece. Here, however, it takes one further step, thanks to current composer Philip Lasser, who has built upon that theme a set of variations for piano and string ensemble. Lasser’s creation opens with a tender piano statement of the theme itself, supported and enriched by strings. From there, it gradually evolves, while remaining generally peaceful. Bach would have done much the same thing, though here, Lasser’s musical imagination also has a place.

JS Bach: Keyboard Concerto no. 1 in D Minor, BWV 1052 Bach never composed even one concerto for the piano: he simply never had the chance. In the 1730s, when he wrote most of his keyboard concerti, the piano was a wholly new invention still under development in northern Italy. Bach, living half a continent away in central Germany, knew nothing of the new instrument, and never wrote for it. Instead, he composed for harpsichord, clavichord, and the instrument he had unquestionably mastered: the organ. In scoring these works, he generally described the solo instrument as a “clavier,” a generic term that meant almost anything with a keyboard. Contemporary pianists, in approaching the music of Bach, must adapt these works to their own more modern instrument. Although pianos have 24

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

The Beauty of Bach

more power and range at their disposal, they lack a certain Baroque delicacy; thus, only the finest pianists can find a happy medium between those two extremes.

Of the keyboard concerto that concerns us here, details in the soloist’s part strongly suggest that it is a transcription of an earlier violin concerto which has not itself survived. In either form, it is Bach, and as a gifted performer on both keyboards and violins, Bach would have had no difficulty reworking it to suit a different solo instrument.

The opening Allegro movement begins with stern, driving orchestral lines that lead to the soloist’s music, where one finds the same essential underlying material, though with much more ornamentation. Even as new themes appear, one finds echoes of fragments of those opening lines, neatly unifying the movement. The second movement Largo is tearful, though not quite tragic; it seems to suggest reflection upon past sorrows rather than immediate agonies. With the closing Allegro movement, energy returns. Much of the soloist’s music is based upon quick repetition of three-note phrases, giving additional forward propulsion to the brisk passagework, as it charges to the concerto’s close.

I. II. III.

Allegro Largo Allegro

JS Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor, BWV 1067 While employed at the royal court in Cöthen in central Germany in the early 1720s, Bach enjoyed the advantage of an employer who truly loved music. Duke Leopold ensured that the court was well staffed with gifted performers, and Bach never lacked either a royal audience to listen or musicians up to the challenges of his compositions. Amongst his Cöthen works are the four Orchestral Suites, in which most of the movements offered stylized versions of the ballroom dances of the day. So though one may not readily imagine Bach himself on the dance floor, he certainly knew how to bring that spirit into his music.

The second of the four suites, especially notable for its prominent flute solos, opens with a stately Ouverture rich with dotted rhythms that combine short and long notes into a skipping pattern. After a broad introduction, the tempo picks up and the mood turns lively, though stateliness returns with the movement’s close. The second movement Rondeau offers a graceful, flowing scene in which several melodies, each equally elegant, appear in turn. A somber mood takes over for the third movement Sarabande, inspired by the slow, gentle dance of the same name. With the pair of Bourrées that follow, a new scene emerges, light-footed and buoyant, with special focus on the flute.

For the fifth movement Polonaise, one must not expect something like a Chopin Polonaise; the Polish pianist was not yet born, and Bach had in mind a more staid, almost processional scene without the lively rhythms that would later come to portray a polonaise. The sixth movement Menuet offers no such surprises. Its impact comes from a graceful flow of triple-meter phrases that recur as the steps of the dance would have recurred. Last of all comes the famed Badinerie, playful, energetic, and packed with staccato notes for flute and strings alike, bringing the entire suite to a lively conclusion.

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The Beauty of Bach I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII.

Ouverture Rondeau Sarabande Bourrée I & II Polonaise Menuet Badinerie

JS Bach: “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 5, BWV 1050 Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti bear the name of Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg, younger brother of the Prussian emperor. Having heard of Bach’s musical gifts, the Margrave requested some music that might be played at his court. Two years passed before Bach delivered six concerti scored for diverse soloists and string ensemble, for which effort he never received any compensation. Perhaps the music was simply too difficult for the musical staff at the Margrave’s court; nonetheless, the Brandenburg name remains attached to the music, which has come to be some of the most familiar and most beloved of Bach’s compositions.

For the Brandenburg no. 5, solo instruments are flute, violin, and harpsichord. Although Bach played many instruments with finesse, including the violin, it is clear here where his sympathies lie: firmly in the camp of the keyboard, as a spacious and intricate keyboard solo fills much of the first movement Allegro. Often, the orchestra offers statements and restatements of a central theme, while the soloists delve into more elaborate and varied material. Fragments of melody echo from one soloist to another. These solo interludes steadily become more and more expansive, especially for the keyboard.

The restful second movement Affettuoso is reserved entirely for the soloists, as if the concerto has briefly become a trio for flute, violin, and keyboard. Flute and violin get most of the melodic focus, with keyboard providing highly detailed support, often echoing and expanding upon thematic ideas first presented by the other two soloists.

Having patiently sat out for the second movement, the orchestra rejoins the action for the last movement Allegro, now having abundant compensation for those few minutes of inactivity. Here, the three soloists are often engaged simultaneously with rather different melodic material, bringing a fugue-like element into what is otherwise a standard ritornello with alternating thematic ideas. Those ideas draw frequently upon the danceable dotted rhythms of the gigue. The Brandenburg no. 5 bustles to a sparkling close.

I. II. III.

Allegro Affettuoso Allegro

Program notes © Betsy Schwarm, author of the Classical Music Insights series 26

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

Happy Holidays from the Phil!

Sunday, December 13

conductor Michael Butterman trumpets Leslie Scarpino, Noah Lambert, Derek McDonald, Colin Oldberg horns Michael Yopp, Devon Park trombones Bron Wright, Aaron Zalkind, Daniel Watt, Jeremy Van Hoy tuba James Andrus percussion Mike Tetreault, Nena Lorenz Wright timpani Douglas Walter 28

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

Deck the Halls (Traditional/Rutter, arr. Buerkle) Jubilate Deo (Gabrieli, arr. Buerkle) Patapan/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Monnoye/arr. Buerkle) Wassail Song (Traditional/Vaughan Williams, arr. Allen) Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day (Gardner, arr. Buerkle) A Celebration of Hanukkah (Traditional, arr. Pascuzzi) Christmas Day (Holst, arr. Allen) The Toymaker (DiLorenzo) Carol of the Bells (Ukrainian Folk Carol, arr. Hanson) Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Martin & Blane, arr. Henderson & Dedrick)

CREATIVITY AND RESILIENCE 2020 has presented all of us with tremendous challenges, and performing arts organizations have facied intense disruption.

Here at the Boulder Phil, our staff, board, supporters and audiences have risen to these challenges with careful planning, professionalism, and generosity.

We have been creative, pivoting immediately to offer online content, not only with new performances, but also with educational programming, interviews, and other events that are effective on the screen. Our Music Director Michael Butterman has created a program that will uplift and inspire.

More than 85 donors have given to our Musicians Relief Fund, raising more than $30,000 to support the gifted artists who bring music to you.

Our COVID-19 Contingency Fund, a matching capital fund drive to ensure all programming and operations can continue under any circumstances for the next 18 months, has raised more than $150,000, with a goal of $200,000.

Our educational programming and community outreach concerts continue under new, safe protocols.

In short, the Boulder Phil continues to provide the music and education that is such an important part of our lives. In the end music is notes, but it also so much more than notes. It is composition, and rehearsals, and practice, and study, and imagination, all of which is part of a dynamic conversation that we are determined to sustain.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us keep the music alive!

PLAY A PART! Your generosity brings music to Boulder Our concerts are the tip of our musical iceberg. Join our family of donors and bring music to every corner of Boulder. Your gift supports a thriving Phil and shares your love of music with our community.

To make a donation, visit BoulderPhil.org/support.

Zuill and Zwilich Saturday, January 23

Michael Butterman, Conductor Zuill Bailey, Cello | Jennifer Hayghe, piano SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Vocalise, for cello and piano (1873-1943) Zuill Bailey, cello

ELLEN TAAFFE ZWILICH Cello Concerto (b. 1939) I. II. III.

“Vocalise” = wordless song

A pre-pandemic cello concerto – though by just a few days!

This quintet quotes Schubert’s popular song about a “happy little trout” 30

Michael Butterman, piano

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

Zuill Bailey, cello

FRANZ SCHUBERT Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 Trout (1797-1828) Allegro vivace Andante Scherzo: presto Andantino - Allegretto Allegro giusto

Zuill Bailey, cello Jennifer Hayghe, piano

Silver Circle Sponsors of Cellist Zuill Bailey Joan and Harold Leinbach

Zuill and Zwilich

Biographies ZUILL BAILEY Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, Artistic Director and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has secured his place as one of the most sought after and active cellists today.

A consummate concerto soloist, Mr. Bailey has been featured with symphony orchestras worldwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Indianapolis, Dallas, Louisville, Honolulu, Milwaukee, Nashville, Toronto, Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, Israel, Cape Town, Philharmonia (UK) and the Bruchner Orchestra in Linz, Austria. He has collaborated with such conductors as Itzhak Perlman, Alan Gilbert, Andrew Litton, Neeme Jarvi, Giancarlo Guerrero, James DePriest, Jun Markl, Carlos Kalmar, Andrey Boreyko, Krzysztof Urbanski, Jacques Lacombe, Grant Llewellyn and Stanislav Skrowaczewski. He also has been featured with musical luminaries Leon Fleisher, Jaime Laredo, the Juilliard String Quartet, Lynn Harrell and Janos Starker.

Mr. Bailey has appeared at Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center, the United Nations, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St. Y and Carnegie Hall, where he made his concerto debut performing the U.S. premiere of Miklos Theodorakis’ “Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra.” In addition, he made his New York recital debut in a sold out performance of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bailey also presented the U.S. premiere of the Nico Muhly Cello Concerto with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. World premieres include works by composers such as Lowell Lieberman, Phillip Lasser, Roberto Sierra, Alistair Coleman, Benjamin Wallfisch, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Jeff Lippencott and Michael Daugherty.

His international appearances include notable performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in its 50th anniversary tour of Russia as well as concerts in Ukraine, Korea, Australia, the Dominican Republic, France, Israel, Spain, South Africa, Hong Kong, Jordan, Mexico, South America and the United Kingdom. Festival appearances include Ravinia, the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Manchester Cello Festival (UK), Wimbledon (UK), Consonances- St. Nazaire ( France), Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Deia Music Festival- Mallorca (Spain), Montreal (Canada), Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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Santa Fe, Caramoor, Chautauqua, Bravo!, Vail Valley, Maverick Concert Series, Brevard, Interlochen, Cape Cod and the Music Academy of the West. In addition, he was the featured soloist performing the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Bard Festival in the World Premiere of the Doug Varrone Dance Company performance of “Victorious.”

Renowned recording artist Zuill Bailey has produced more than 30 chart topping titles. Mr. Bailey won a Best Solo Performance Grammy Award in 2017, for his Live Recording of “Tales of Hemingway,” by composer Michael Daugherty. The award winning CD, recorded with the Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor, also won the “Triple Crown,” with Grammys for best composition, “Tales of Hemingway,” and Best Compendium. His celebrated “Bach Cello Suites”, Britten Cello Symphony/Sonata CD with pianist Natasha Paremski, Haydn Cello Concertos CD and recently released Schumann/ Brahms Concertos immediately soared to the Number One spot on the Classical Billboard Charts. Other critically acclaimed recordings include his live performances with the Indianapolis Symphony of the Bloch Schelomo, Muhly Cello Concerto (World Premiere), Brahms Sextets with the Cypress Strings Quartet, Elgar and Dvorak Cello Concertos, described by Gramophone magazine as the new “reference” recording and one that “sweeps the board.” In addition, the Dvorak Cello Concerto CD is listed in the “Penguin’s Guide,” as one the Top 1000 Classical Recordings of all time. Zuill Bailey’s other releases include “Brahms” complete works for cello and piano with pianist Awadagin Pratt, and “Russian Masterpieces” showcasing the works of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich performed with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Mr. Bailey is featured on the chart topping Quincy Jones- produced “Diversity,” with pianist/composer Emily Bear. Other releases include his innovative “Spanish Masters” CD for Zenph Studios, where he forms a unique duo blending with recordings of composer Manuel de Falla and an all American recital program with Pianist Lara Downes on the Steinway and Sons label. His discography also includes a debut recital disc for Delos, Cello Quintets of Boccherini and Schubert with Janos Starker, Arensky and Dohnanyi works with Lynn Harrell, Saint-Saens Cello Concertos No. 1 and 2 “Live,” and the Korngold Cello Concerto with Kaspar Richter and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz for ASV. Zuill Bailey was named the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni and was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation Award for 2006 and 2007 for Beethoven’s complete works for Cello and Piano. The highly touted two disc set with pianist Simone Dinnerstein was released on Telarc worldwide. In celebration of his recordings and appearances, Kalmus Music Masters has released “Zuill Bailey Performance Editions,” which encompasses the core repertoire of cello literature.

Network television appearances include a recurring role on the HBO series “Oz,” NBC’s “Homicide,” A&E, NHK TV in Japan, a live broadcast and DVD release of the Beethoven Triple Concerto performed in Tel Aviv with Itzhak Perlman conducting the Israel Philharmonic, and a performance with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico City. Mr. Bailey is also featured in the televised production of the Cuban premiere of Victor Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the National Orchestra of Cuba. He has been heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “Tiny Desk Concert,” “Performance Today,” “Saint Paul Sunday,” BBC’s

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

Zuill and Zwilich

“In Tune,” XM Radio’s “Live from Studio II,” Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Virtuoso Voices,” the KDFC Concert Series, KUSC, Minnesota Public Radio, WQXR’s “Cafe Concert”, WFMT and RTHK Radio Hong Kong.

Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School. His primary teachers include Loran Stephenson, Stephen Kates and Joel Krosnick. Mr. Bailey performs on the “rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello, formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet. In addition to his extensive solo touring engagements, he is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), the Sitka Summer Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar, (Alaska), Juneau Jazz and Classics, (Alaska), the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington), Classical Inside Out Series- Mesa Arts Center(Arizona) and is Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso .

JENNIFER HAYGHE Jennifer Hayghe has performed in solo recitals and made orchestral appearances throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Hayghe received her bachelor’s, master’s degrees and doctoral degree in piano performance from The Juilliard School, where she was the last student of the legendary artist-teacher Adele Marcus. Hayghe won the William Petschek Debut Award, resulting in her New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall. Hayghe’s orchestral appearances include performances on numerous series with the National Symphony Orchestra, recent concerts with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra and performances with various orchestras in the U.S. and abroad. She has performed in major chamber music series, including the Museum of Modern Art’s “Summergarden” series and Bargemusic in New York. She has also performed as a chamber musician in the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center and has taught chamber music throughout the U.S. and Central America. SHer solo recording, Paintings From the Piano, featuring works by Debussy, Schumann and Mussorgksy, was released by Centaur Records. Hayghe has given master classes at the Manhattan School of Music and as part of the New York University Piano Master Class Series and she has performed and taught as a soloist and chamber musician at universities and colleges throughout the country. Hayghe is currently an Associate Professor of Piano in the Roser Piano and Keyboard Area at University of Colorado Boulder. She is also on the faculty of the Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Piobbico, Italy. Her former tenured faculty positions were at Ithaca College and Louisiana State University.

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Zuill and Zwilich

Orchestra Roster for Zuill and Zwilich Violin Charles Wetherbee

Viola Michael Brook

Cello Charles Lee

Double Bass David Crowe

Program Notes Rachmaninoff: Vocalise, op. 34, no. 14 Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943) composed many dozens of songs. Curiously, the best known of them all is a song in which the singer is given no words to sing. Vocalise was originally part of a set of fourteen songs. Its title refers to the fact that in the original version, there was a vocal part, but no text. That’s what a “vocalise” is: a wordless vocal line. The other songs in the set all had texts, but not this final offering.

Although Vocalise was originally for soprano and piano, the composer himself saw further potential in the music and made two different transcriptions: one for voice with orchestra in 1916, another for orchestra alone in 1919. As even the original was wordless, the melodic line transferred easily to instruments. Numerous other arrangements, not by Rachmaninoff himself, have followed, and are still appearing. Eager instrumentalists have longed to make the music their own, especially as Vocalise showcases one of Rachmaninoff’s finest skills: imagining a memorable melody with long, gracefully flowing lines.

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Zuill and Zwilich

Zwilich: Cello Concerto Throughout her career, American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939 in Miami) has been fascinated by concertos. As she observed this year to ArtBurst Miami, “I love writing for instruments, partly because I think of them as creatures… They have karma, and that’s what I try to get into.” In the genre, she has ranged through the orchestra, and beyond, with concertos for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, bass trombone, percussion, piano (several), violin, a triple concerto for piano, violin, and cello, and a double concerto for violin and cello.

Zwilich’s Cello Concerto is the newest of the lot, written on a commission from the South Florida Symphony and premiered March 5, 2020, with that ensemble, its conductor Sebrina Maria Alfonso, and cellist Zuill Bailey – barely sneaking in before pandemic inspired concert cancellations. Conductor and cellist were two of the four persons named on the dedication page, along with two past masters of the cello, Leonard Rose and Mstislav Rostropovich. Zwilich remarks, “These are the people that were in my head when I was doing this. It’s a pleasure to write for people. I do love the idea that my performers sort of breathe life into my music.”

Spanning about a quarter hour and structured in three interconnected movements, Zwilich’s Cello Concerto bears a distinct jazz influence, with spirited rhythms and bluesy harmonies when the mood strikes it. However, there are also passages of thoughtful reflection, when the composer showcases the cello’s songlike qualities. For all the hustle and bustle of the first few minutes, as the later pages are reached, the music suggests an almost prayerful spirit, more peaceful than rambunctious. One also finds passages in which the solo cello partners with individual members of the orchestra. The effect suggests a bit of chamber music interplay within what is otherwise a solo showcase; clearly Zwilich understands that spotlights can shine on more than just one performer.

Originally, the work was scored for solo cello with orchestra of flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, pairs of bassoons, horns, and trumpets, and strings. However, Bailey then persuaded Zwilich that having a chamber music version of the piece would lead to more performances, especially during socially challenging times. For this re-imagined Cello Concerto, the “orchestra” becomes the chamber forces used in Franz Schubert’s Trout Quintet, that is, piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass.

This new version of her Cello Concerto will premiere January 23, 2021, with Colorado’s Boulder Philharmonic, cellist Zuill Bailey again taking the solo role.

Given times of social distancing, each member of the ensemble will be placed at a healthy distance from the others. However, close communication is vital to successful chamber music, so the Boulder Philharmonic’s conductor Michael Butterman will Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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Zuill and Zwilich participate, ensuring that, though the performers cannot look each other in the eye, they’ll have unity of tempo and interpretive framework. Zwilich is impressed by the approach, saying, “I applaud what the Boulder Philharmonic has done in bringing music to audiences in these difficult times – a time of reflection for all of us – without endangering anyone.”

Schubert: Piano Quintet in A, D. 667, “Trout” In the summer of 1819, Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828) visited the Austrian town of Steyr, about halfway between Salzburg and Vienna. He had come with Michael Vogl, a native of Steyr, a baritone of the Vienna court opera and tireless promoter of his young colleague’s works. Music parties were often the order of the evening, with Schubert’s songs and piano works enjoying great popularity amongst Vogl’s social set. One favorite house was that of Sylvester Paumgartner, a wealthy mining manager and music lover, who allowed Schubert free use of his music room and staged midday concerts in his salon. Paumgartner also commissioned from Schubert a new work, a quintet for piano, violin, viola, cello and double-bass. This instrumentation was quite unusual; however, a few years earlier, Hummel had written a work for these five instruments. Paumgartner so liked that work that he requested from Schubert something similar that the same group of friends could play for their own pleasure.

Certainly, there is much pleasure in this sunny composition, atypically written in five movements, rather than the usual four. The first movement Allegro vivace features a rippling triplet figure reminiscent of barcaroles and other water-inspired works. The motif begins in the piano, but then moves to other instruments. By contrast, the second movement Andante is more tranquil lake than bubbling brook. This gentle Andante is as indolent as a summer afternoon, but the calm is broken by a brisk third movement Scherzo suggestive of folk dances. Next, rather than proceeding to the finale, Schubert inserts one additional movement, from which the quintet takes its nickname. It is based upon one of Schubert’s own songs, Die Forelle (The Trout), a particular favorite of Paumgartner’s. Schubert provides a set of variations on the song, ranging throughout each of the five instruments, so that even the bass has time with the melody. For a finale, Schubert offers a lively Allegro giusto, complete with those rippling triplets from the opening, brings the work to a charming conclusion.

Program notes © Betsy Schwarm, author of the Classical Music Insights series

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Mozart and Mendelssohn Saturday, February 13 Simone Dinnerstein, Piano

Solace Bethena

SCOTT JOPLIN (1868-1917)

Joplin beyond The Entertainer: graceful writing!

This Mozart Concerto was featured in 1967 film Elvira Madigan Mendelssohn was just 16 when he wrote this octet

MOZART/LACHNER Piano Concerto No. 21 K. 467 (1756-1791) (string quintet arrangement) Allegro maestoso Andante Allegro vivace assai Simone Dinnerstein, Piano FELIX MENDELSSOHN Octet for Strings (1825) (1809-1847) Allegro moderato ma non fuoco Andante Scherzo: Allegro leggierissimo Presto Silver Circle sponsors of Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Sara and David Harper

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Lynn Streeter

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Leadership Circle sponsors of Mendelssohn Octet for Strings Karen Connolly

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

| Beatriz and Juan Roederer

Mozart and ZuillMendelssohn and Zwilich

Biography SIMONE DINNERSTEIN Simone Dinnerstein is an American pianist. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, son and dog, less than a mile from the hospital in which she was born.

Photo credit Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

Simone has a distinctive musical voice. The Washington Post has called her “an artist of strikingly original ideas and irrefutable integrity.” She first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”

Since that recording, she has had a busy performing career. She has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Seoul Arts Center and the Sydney Opera House. She has made ten albums, all of which topped the Billboard classical charts, with repertoire ranging from Beethoven to Ravel.

In recent years, Simone has created projects that express her broad musical interests. Following her recording Mozart in Havana, she brought the Havana Lyceum Orchestra from Cuba to the United States for the very first time, raising the funding, booking the concerts, and organizing their housing and transport. Together, Simone and the orchestra played eleven concerts from Miami to Boston. Philip Glass composed his Piano Concerto No. 3 for Simone, co-commissioned by twelve American and Canadian orchestras. She collaborated with choreographer Pam Tanowitz to create New Work for Goldberg Variations, which was met with widespread critical acclaim.

Working with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet, she premiered André Previn and Tom Stoppard’s Penelope at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Aspen music festivals. Most recently, she created her own string ensemble, Baroklyn, which she directs from the keyboard. Their performance of Bach’s cantata Ich Habe Genug in March 2020 was the last concert she gave before New York City shut down.

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Mozart and Mendelssohn

Simone is committed to giving concerts in non-traditional venues and to audiences who don’t often hear classical music. For the last three decades, she has played concerts throughout the United States for the Piatigorsky Foundation, an organization dedicated to the widespread dissemination of classical music. It was for the Piatigorsky Foundation that she gave the first piano recital in the Louisiana state prison system at the Avoyelles Correctional Center. She has also performed at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in a concert organized by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Simone founded Neighborhood Classics in 2009, a concert series open to the public and hosted by New York City Public Schools to raise funds for their music education programs. She also created a program called Bachpacking during which she takes a digital keyboard to elementary school classrooms, helping young children get close to the music she loves. She is a committed supporter and proud alumna of Philadelphia’s Astral Artists, which supports young performers.

Simone counts herself fortunate to have studied with three unique artists: Solomon Mikowsky, Maria Curcio and Peter Serkin, very different musicians who shared the belief that playing the piano is a means to something greater. The Washington Post comments that “ultimately, it is Dinnerstein’s unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding.” In a world where music is everywhere, she hopes that it can still be transformative.

Orchestra Roster for Mozart and Mendelssohn Violin Charles Wetherbee Annamaria Karacson Veronica Sawarynski Robyn Sosa Regan Kane Yenlik Weiss

Viola Michael Brook Stephanie Mientka

Cello Charles Lee Erin Patterson

Bass David Crowe

Program Notes Joplin -- two pieces: Solace and Bethena At the turn of the 20th century, Scott Joplin (1868 – 1917) was the dominant name in ragtime, the spiritedly syncopated style of popular music that had taken the country by storm. In the next generation, ragtime was swallowed up by jazz, and Joplin was largely forgotten. Enter Marvin Hamlisch (1944 – 2012), who brilliantly incorporated Joplin’s music into his score for the Newman/Redford film The Sting (1973). Hamlisch came away with an Oscar, audiences rediscovered Joplin, and nearly fifty years onward, he is still an enduring favorite.

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Mozart and Mendelssohn

Joplin’s best-known pieces generally convey the moods of spirited dancing. However, he could also evoke smoother, more romantic moods, as in Solace and Bethena, heard in chamber arrangements on this Boulder Philharmonic program. Solace bears the subtitle “A Mexican Serenade;” whether or not it sounds particularly “Mexican,” it is certainly serenade-like, being gently flowing music ideal for a languid evening. The first published edition also bears the tempo marking “very slow march time” and though it might not inspire one to march, it certainly has a steady walking beat about it.

By contrast, Bethena is not concerned at all with walking, rather with dancing, and this Joplin subtitled “concert waltz.” In the old Romantic mind, a “concert waltz” is one with a danceable motion, whether or not it was intended to bring couples to the dance floor. One could dance to it, or one could sit and listen agreeably: calling it a “concert waltz” implies that it is more spacious and perhaps more varied in character than a standard ballroom waltz. It is not Joplin’s longest composition, an honor held by his opera Treemonisha. Nonetheless, Bethena is a beautiful example of Joplin’s melodic invention. Johann Strauss Jr. (1825 – 1899) would have been impressed by how much Joplin manages to make of his waltzing theme.

Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 21 in C major, K. 467 – chamber arrangement by Ignaz Lachner (1807 – 1895) Mozart completed his Piano Concerto no. 21 on March 9, 1785, merely one month after his previous concerto. Four more would come to life in the next twenty months. Each of those concerti was written for Mozart himself to perform in concert in Vienna. In its original form, the work was scored for solo piano with orchestra composed of one flute, pairs of oboes, bassoons, horns, and trumpets, strings, and timpani: a favorite combination of Mozart’s.

In later years, the concerto was rescored into chamber form, with solo piano, string quartet and double bass by Romantic Era composer/conductor Ignaz Lachner (1807 – 1895). An admirer of Mozart’s music, Lachner did not undertake the task from any attempt to ‘improve’ it. Rather, he had need of a smaller scaled version of the work, something that might be included in a chamber music recital.

The concerto’s first movement Allegro opens moods of elegance with other, more festive statements. As was Mozart’s habit, he allows the orchestra to first state the main melodic material before the piano soloist elaborates upon them. Never at a loss for a new melody, Mozart adds one more halfway through the first movement, at a point at which other, lesser composers would have been busy trying to decide what to do with the existing material, rather than imagining that something new could be added to the mix.

The second movement Andante features a gently flowing new theme that was prominently featured in the 1967 Swedish film Elvira Madigan, hence the concerto’s occasional nickname, “Elvira Madigan.” Certainly, the composer had no such intention, but it is wistful music, based largely upon short phrases repeated on new pitches, and its mood fits well with the sweet melancholy of that film.

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“Sweet melancholy” is quite absent from the final movement Allegro vivace assai. Here, Mozart concerned himself with laughter and high spirits. Melodies come and go, appearing in various sections of the orchestra as well as the soloist’s part. Mozart usually tended to conclude his compositions in a vibrant spirit, but here he nearly outdoes himself. Given that his previous piano concerto – no. 20 in d minor – had been a relatively somber work, one might imagine that with this newer creation, he thought to clear away the shadows.

Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat, op. 20 The Octet for strings of Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847) dates from 1825 when the precocious young man was all of sixteen years old. The work is remarkable not only for the facility of its melodies and the gracious balance of its various parts, but also because here, young Mendelssohn proved himself a pioneer in producing a masterful work for the combination of two string quartets.

Haydn never wrote such a work: nor did Mozart or Beethoven or Schubert. Louis Spohr (1784 – 1859( did, but his double quartets, written in his mature years, show less mastery of form and instrument than this one early effort of a teenaged genius.

Mendelssohn dedicated the work to his friend, the violinist Eduard Rietz, on the occasion of Rietz’ 23rd birthday. Evidence suggests that the Octet premiered at one of the Mendelssohn family home concerts, perhaps with Rietz and Mendelssohn amongst the performers. Alternately symphonic and intimate, the piece begins with a graceful Allegro moderato first movement that soars with the first violin, then proceeds to a gently thoughtful second movement Andante. The third movement Scherzo is all tip-toes and mystery suggestive of the Midsummer Night’s Dream scherzo that Mendelssohn would compose in later years. The final movement Presto begins with a bustling fugue, a technique learned from the young composer’s extensive studies of Bach, and concludes in a mood of utter exuberance.

The Octet has remained a favorite of audiences and string players alike. Even the composer himself regarded it highly. Late in his tragically abbreviated life, Mendelssohn described the Octet as “my favorite of all my compositions,” and he added, “I had a most wonderful time in the writing of it!” His advice to performers was that they should play in what he termed “symphonic orchestral style,” by which he seemed to mean with close attention to the dynamic markings, so as to allow the various layers in the music to remain clear.

Program notes © Betsy Schwarm, author of the Classical Music Insights series

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2020-2021 Season Performances www.boulderoperacompany.com

• La Boheme Nov 13,14, 19, 22 – Dickens Opera House • Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart March 2021 – The Spark • L’Enfant et les sortileges by Ravel May 2021 – The Spark

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A Celebration of Cello Saturday, March 13

Michael Butterman, Conductor Zuill Bailey, Cello DEBUSSY/SCHOENBERG Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

The Afternoon of a Faun was a scandalously erotic ballet.

Composer Paul Trapkus played violin for many seasons with the Boulder Phil.

SCHUMANN/LASSER Cello Concerto in A minor I. Nicht zu schnell II. Langsam III. Sehr lebhaft Zuill Bailey, cello

PAUL TRAPKUS

SOLLIMA Violoncelles, vibrez!

Zuill Bailey and Charles Lee, cellos WAGNER

Wagner scaled to fit on a stair landing: his own idea!

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Trio for Three Violins Charles Wetherbee, Sharon Park, and Paul Trapkus, violins

Siegfried Idyll Gold Circle Concert Sponsors: Nancy Clairmont and Bob Braudes | Citywide Banks Silver Circle Guest Artist Sponsor: Susan Litt Leadership Circle Sponsor: Francine and Robert Myers

A Celebration Zuill and of Zwilich Cello

Biography ZUILL BAILEY Zuill Bailey, widely considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, is a Grammy Award winning, internationally renowned soloist, recitalist, Artistic Director and teacher. His rare combination of celebrated artistry, technical wizardry and engaging personality has secured his place as one of the most sought after and active cellists today.

A consummate concerto soloist, Mr. Bailey has been featured with symphony orchestras worldwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Indianapolis, Dallas, Louisville, Honolulu, Milwaukee, Nashville, Toronto, Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, Israel, Cape Town, Philharmonia (UK) and the Bruchner Orchestra in Linz, Austria. He has collaborated with such conductors as Itzhak Perlman, Alan Gilbert, Andrew Litton, Neeme Jarvi, Giancarlo Guerrero, James DePriest, Jun Markl, Carlos Kalmar, Andrey Boreyko, Krzysztof Urbanski, Jacques Lacombe, Grant Llewellyn and Stanislav Skrowaczewski. He also has been featured with musical luminaries Leon Fleisher, Jaime Laredo, the Juilliard String Quartet, Lynn Harrell and Janos Starker.

Mr. Bailey has appeared at Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center, the United Nations, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St. Y and Carnegie Hall, where he made his concerto debut performing the U.S. premiere of Miklos Theodorakis’ “Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra.” In addition, he made his New York recital debut in a sold out performance of the complete Beethoven Cello Sonatas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bailey also presented the U.S. premiere of the Nico Muhly Cello Concerto with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. World premieres include works by composers such as Lowell Lieberman, Phillip Lasser, Roberto Sierra, Alistair Coleman, Benjamin Wallfisch, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Jeff Lippencott and Michael Daugherty.

His international appearances include notable performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in its 50th anniversary tour of Russia as well as concerts in Ukraine, Korea, Australia, the Dominican Republic, France, Israel, Spain, South Africa, Hong Kong, Jordan, Mexico, South America and the United Kingdom. Festival appearances include Ravinia, the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Manchester Cello Festival (UK), Wimbledon (UK), Consonances- St. Nazaire ( France),

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Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Deia Music Festival- Mallorca (Spain), Montreal (Canada), Santa Fe, Caramoor, Chautauqua, Bravo!, Vail Valley, Maverick Concert Series, Brevard, Interlochen, Cape Cod and the Music Academy of the West. In addition, he was the featured soloist performing the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Bard Festival in the World Premiere of the Doug Varrone Dance Company performance of “Victorious.”

Renowned recording artist Zuill Bailey has produced more than 30 chart topping titles. Mr. Bailey won a Best Solo Performance Grammy Award in 2017, for his Live Recording of “Tales of Hemingway,” by composer Michael Daugherty. The award winning CD, recorded with the Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor, also won the “Triple Crown,” with Grammys for best composition, “Tales of Hemingway,” and Best Compendium. His celebrated “Bach Cello Suites”, Britten Cello Symphony/Sonata CD with pianist Natasha Paremski, Haydn Cello Concertos CD and recently released Schumann/Brahms Concertos immediately soared to the Number One spot on the Classical Billboard Charts. Other critically acclaimed recordings include his live performances with the Indianapolis Symphony of the Bloch Schelomo, Muhly Cello Concerto (World Premiere), Brahms Sextets with the Cypress Strings Quartet, Elgar and Dvorak Cello Concertos, described by Gramophone magazine as the new “reference” recording and one that “sweeps the board.” In addition, the Dvorak Cello Concerto CD is listed in the “Penguin’s Guide,” as one the Top 1000 Classical Recordings of all time. Zuill Bailey’s other releases include “Brahms” complete works for cello and piano with pianist Awadagin Pratt, and “Russian Masterpieces” showcasing the works of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich performed with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Mr. Bailey is featured on the chart topping Quincy Jones- produced “Diversity,” with pianist/composer Emily Bear. Other releases include his innovative “Spanish Masters” CD for Zenph Studios, where he forms a unique duo blending with recordings of composer Manuel de Falla and an all American recital program with Pianist Lara Downes on the Steinway and Sons label. His discography also includes a debut recital disc for Delos, Cello Quintets of Boccherini and Schubert with Janos Starker, Arensky and Dohnanyi works with Lynn Harrell, Saint-Saens Cello Concertos No. 1 and 2 “Live,” and the Korngold Cello Concerto with Kaspar Richter and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz for ASV. Zuill Bailey was named the 2014 Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni and was awarded the Classical Recording Foundation Award for 2006 and 2007 for Beethoven’s complete works for Cello and Piano. The highly touted two disc set with pianist Simone Dinnerstein was released on Telarc worldwide. In celebration of his recordings and appearances, Kalmus Music Masters has released “Zuill Bailey Performance Editions,” which encompasses the core repertoire of cello literature.

Network television appearances include a recurring role on the HBO series “Oz,” NBC’s “Homicide,” A&E, NHK TV in Japan, a live broadcast and DVD release of the Beethoven Triple Concerto performed in Tel Aviv with Itzhak Perlman conducting the Israel Philharmonic, and a performance with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico City. Mr. Bailey is also featured in the televised production of the Cuban premiere of Victor Herbert’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the National Orchestra of Cuba. He has been heard on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “Tiny Desk Concert,” “Performance Today,” “Saint Paul Sunday,” BBC’s “In Tune,” XM Radio’s “Live from Studio II,” Sirius Satellite Radio’s “Virtuoso Voices,” the KDFC Concert Series, KUSC, Minnesota Public Radio,

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WQXR’s “Cafe Concert”, WFMT and RTHK Radio Hong Kong.

Mr. Bailey received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School. His primary teachers include Loran Stephenson, Stephen Kates and Joel Krosnick. Mr. Bailey performs on the “rosette” 1693 Matteo Gofriller Cello, formerly owned by Mischa Schneider of the Budapest String Quartet. In addition to his extensive solo touring engagements, he is the Artistic Director of El Paso Pro-Musica (Texas), the Sitka Summer Music Festival/Series and Cello Seminar, (Alaska), Juneau Jazz and Classics, (Alaska), the Northwest Bach Festival (Washington), Classical Inside Out Series- Mesa Arts Center (Arizona) and is Director of the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship and Professor of Cello at the University of Texas at El Paso .

Orchestra Roster for A Celebration of Cello Violin Charles Wetherbee Sharon Park Viola Michael Brook Cello Charles Lee, Charles Barnard

Double Bass David Crowe

Bassoon: JJ Sechan

Harmonium Sara Parkinson

Flute Elizabeth Sadilek

Horns Michael Yopp Jeff Rubin

Percussion Mike Tetreault

Oboe Sarah Bierhaus Clarinet Jacob Eichhorn, Randel Leung

Trumpet Leslie Scarpino Piano Jeremy Reger

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Program Notes

Debussy: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun – chamber arrangement by Arnold Schoenberg It may be the most rapturously familiar of all Impressionist compositions: the serenely flowing flute lines, harp glissandos, sweet woodwind phrases, and shimmering strings. However, since when should a conversation about Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun cause the name of Arnold Schoenberg (1871 – 1951) appear alongside that of Claude Debussy (1860 – 1918)? Schoenberg was known for often gritty Expressionist works, Debussy for music that peacefully suggests lily pads on the water. However, even Schoenberg was young once and in need of pocket change. So when asked to create a smaller scale version of Debussy’s 1894 masterpiece for a specific performance, he obliged. It is still recognizably the gently beloved tone poem, just for reduced instrumental forces: flute, oboe, clarinet, harp, strings, and celesta. In his care, the woodwinds remain as lyrical as ever, the harp as sparkling, the viola perhaps a bit more prominent than one remembers. If one needed proof that Schoenberg could turn his hand to more than one compositional approach, here it is – as evocative a sound painting of a languid afternoon as it was in its original form.

Schumann: Cello Concerto in a minor – chamber arrangement by Philip Lasser When Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856) composed his Cello Concerto late in 1850, his emotional health was failing, periods of debilitating depression alternating with manic episodes during which he could not sleep for days. His situation was worsened by responsibilities inherent in his new post as music director for the city of Düsseldorf. Schumann worked frantically, struggling to focus what remained of his powers. He managed to complete the concerto, but spent his last two years in a sanatorium. The concerto’s premiere did not take place until June 9, 1860, almost four years after his death and the day after what should have been Schumann’s fiftieth birthday.

Schumann had spoken of creating a chamber arrangement of the concerto that would make it possible to perform the concerto with only a handful of players, even in a private home, if one desired. Alas, time ran out before he managed that step. However, in recent years, cellist Zuill Bailey and composer Philip Lasser collaborated on filling that gap. Lasser provided the composerly craftsmanship, Bailey the performer’s insights.

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One unusual feature of Schumann’s Cello Concerto is its single movement structure. The three contrasting movements that one would usually hear appear only as tempo changes and headings: Nicht zu schnell (Not too fast) – Langsam (Slow) – Sehr lebhaft (Quite lively). There are no breaks between “movements” and tempos change without intervening silences. So performers – and audiences – need to be prepared for abrupt alterations in forward motion, though also for Schumann’s often rapturously lyrical lines. Had Schumann’s original intention been to establish that the cello can sing as well as the human voice, he could hardly have offered more compelling evidence in support of his thesis.

Trapkus: Trio for 3 Violins Long a violinist with the Boulder Philharmonic, Paul Trapkus is now based in Ohio. His Trio for 3 violins was composed when he was a summer student at the Round Top Festival in Texas in 2012. Learning of a chamber music competition set for the following day, he thought he’d write a trio for himself and two violinist colleagues. The next morning, it was ready for a quick rehearsal. Performance for the competition followed, and they triumphed. There’s nothing quite like a deadline for motivation!

Trapkus finds inspiration in the driving pulses of Minimalism, as found in works by John Adams (b. 1947) and Steve Reich (b. 1936); listeners will readily notice that connection in the steady beat that underlies other, more varied elements. Of those elements, Trapkus says he decided to “focus more on harmony and rhythm than melody,” and also suggests that listeners keep an ear tuned for the “eerie glissando parts in the middle” as evidence of how three like instruments can still provide contrasting color with small changes of pitch. Beyond hoping to do well in the competition, his overall objective was to produce “music that’s just fun to play and fun to listen to… that brings people together.” In these fraught and troubled times, one can imagine few better objectives for any endeavor.

Sollima: Violoncelles, Vibrez!

Here is a very evocatively – and accurately – named composition: Violoncelles, Vibrez! “Violoncelles” is the plural of the formal French name for the instrument more commonly known simply as the cello. “Vibrez” is the French verb for “vibrate.” In this work by Italian composer Giovanni Sollima (b. 1962), two solo cellos takes center stage, along with a string ensemble, and there is abundant vibration, not just of the instruments’ strings, but of the musical notes themselves.

Sollima has cast his score with long, floating phrases, at times given tremolo effects to ensure that vibration carries through, and also with determined building energy at times. The latter half of the work, which spans somewhat less than a quarter hour, features just the two soloists, while the accompanying ensemble waits for the chance to rejoin. Those two soloists provide a tumult Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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of activity, powering through what might seem to be more notes on those few pages than in all the rest of the work combined. In all, Violoncelles, Vibrez! is often haunting, sometimes lyrical, occasionally highly dramatic, and always interesting. It offers vivid proof that a string ensemble can provide plenty of excitement, even in the absence of wind and percussion instruments.

Wagner: Siegfried Idyll It is Richard Wagner on an unexpectedly Mozartian scale: Siegfried Idyll, originally a birthday gift for his second wife Cosima in 1870.

The work’s first performance was given by a chamber orchestra on the stair landing in their Swiss villa near Lucerne, and needed to be restricted to those musicians who would fit in the limited space. So though one may heard the work in grand orchestral form, Wagner initially imagined it for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, two horns, string quartet, and double-bass. In the Wagner family, Siegfried Idyll was long known as the “Staircase Music” and only acquired its more familiar title eight years later when Wagner, in need of funds, decided to publish it. Cosima, regarding the piece as her own property, was furious, but her protests did not carry the day.

Wagner’s musical inspiration lay in his earlier compositions. From the opera Siegfried, he borrowed the horn motif and the melody of the forest bird, as well as the major love theme, which, though sung with great force and exuberance on stage, here takes on a far gentler character. Wagner also quoted melodies from an uncompleted string quartet he had sketched some years before, and he gave to the oboe a solo based upon a lullaby he had composed in 1868. The result is a softer side of Wagner than one is accustomed to hearing, one that brings out a far more endearing side of an otherwise problematic persona.

Program notes © Betsy Schwarm, author of the Classical Music Insights series

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The Soldier’s Tale Saturday, April 3

Michael Butterman, Conductor

Original sets by grandfather of American actor René Auberjonoise

Premiere run cut short by 1918 flu epidemic

Soldier and Devil contend for possession of violin

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STRAVINSKY L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) (1882-1971) The Soldier’s March

Airs by a Stream Pastorale

Royal March

The Little Concert

Three Dances: Tango — Waltz — Ragtime

Dance of the Devil

Grand Chorale

Triumphal March of the Devil Narrator: Ben Stasny Soldier: Rodrigo Gallardo Devils: Claudia Davis and Jeff Steele Dancer: Carly Hambridge Bud Coleman, stage director Lance Hardin, choreographer

The ZuillSoldier’ and Zwilich s Tale

Biographies BUD COLEMAN (stage director) is honored to work again with the Boulder Philharmonic, most recently as the stage director of Peter Boyer’s Ellis Island: The Dream of America. For CU’s Eklund Opera, he directed and choreographed Red, Hot, & Cole, A Grand Night for Singing, and the summer NOW Composer Fellowship Initiative since 2015. Currently the Division Dean of the Arts & Humanities and the Roe Green Professor of Theatre at the University of Colorado Boulder, Bud is a former dancer with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Fort Worth Ballet, Kinesis, and Ballet Austin. Coleman has directed and choreographed many musicals and operas, including the musical Company in Vladivostok, Russia, under the auspices of the U.S. State Department Cultural Envoy program and the Thai premiere of Fiddler on the Roof at Mahidol University. Bud was selected to be a 2009-10 Fulbright Lecturer at Waseda University and Kyoritsu Women’s University in Tokyo.

LANCE HARDIN (choreographer) is a native of Chicago, where he received his training from Larry Long at the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Ballet from Indiana University, where he studied under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Patricia McBride, Jacques Cesbron, and Violette Verdy. As a professional dancer, Mr. Hardin has danced with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, North Carolina Dance Theatre (currently Charlotte Ballet), Chautauqua Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Nouveau Colorado, Boulder Ballet, Springfield Ballet Company, and the Yoko Kasai Ballet Studio located in Japan. He has performed principal roles by world renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine (Allegro Brilliante, Four Temperaments, Western Symphony, Who Cares), Paul Taylor (Esplanade, Company B), Dwight Rhoden (Verge), Nacho Duato (Jardi Tancat), William Forsythe (In the Middle Somewhat Elevated), Michael Pink (Romeo and Juliet), and Alonzo King (Map). Presently, Lance is enjoying many requests as guest artist, teacher, and choreographer. Mr. Hardin has taught dance for the past 23 years and holds numerous choreographic credits including The Denver Independent Choreographer’s Project, Springfield Ballet Company, Boulder Ballet and Fractured a collaboration with his wife Amy Earnest for James Sewell Ballet. Prior to joining Boulder Ballet, Lance and Amy served as Co-Dance Directors at The Myles Reif Performing Arts Center in Minnesota. Lance served as Associate Artistic Director of Boulder Ballet for four years before becoming Artistic Director in 2020.

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CLAUDIA ELLIS DAVIS (Female Devil) is a third year BFA Acting and BA music student at the University of Colorado Boulder. Claudia is an Alabama native, spending her childhood in Montgomery and her teenage years in Tuscaloosa. She was introduced to performance at the age of 3 dancing with the Montgomery Ballet. She also spent a lot of time at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival attending productions and learning about backstage/how a production is put together. Claudia comes from a family of musicians, and she began teaching herself the piano at the age of five. Since then, she has taught herself to play nine other instruments and has studied saxophone technique with several teachers. Claudia was previously featured in the CU Theatre production of Spring Awakening as the bass guitarist and as a puppeteer in She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms.

RODRIGO GALLARDO (Soldier) is a third year student pursuing a Bachelor in fine arts degree in acting as well as a strategic communications degree with an emphasis in advertising. He has been a part of many theatre productions within the CU Theatre and Dance community, including productions such as Spring Awakening and The Laramie Project. He would like to thank his parents and brother for their support. He would also like to thank Bud Coleman for inviting him to be part of this production!

CARLY HAMBRIDGE (Dancer) holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Pedagogy with departmental honors from Butler University. Her classical repertoire includes the title role of Giselle during her first season at Boulder Ballet, and Clara in The Nutcracker and Summer Fairy in Cinderella during her second. Before joining Boulder Ballet, Carly danced with companies across the country including BalletMet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

Aside from performing, Carly teaches ballet to dancers of all ages and participates in local dance projects including Compass Coaching Project and T2 Dance Project. Carly joined Boulder Ballet in 2017.

BEN STASNY (Narrator) is a first year graduate student at CU Boulder. He is currently serving as the Artistic Director of the New Plays Festival and will be developing a new climate play for youth through Inside the Greenhouse this summer! For the past 4 years he has lived in New York City. New York credits include: Off-Broadway: Harry in When Harry Met Nancy (New York New Works Festival), Voice of Mayor Humdinger in Paw Patrol (Event Box). Regional credits include: Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, Pirelli in Sweeney Todd, Henry Etches in Titanic (Arizona Broadway Theatre), Zach in A Chorus Line, Ernst Ludwig in Cabaret, Fred in A Christmas Carol (The Palace Theatre), Father in Ragtime (Interlakes Summer Theatre) Ernst Ludwig in Cabaret (Sierra Repertory Theatre). Cruise Ship/Touring Theatre: Genie in Aladdin (Disney Cruise Line), Punchin in A Commedia Cinderella (Sierra Repertory Theatre, Northern California), Shaggy in Scooby-Doo and the Mystery of the Pyramid, Maddie in Care Bears (Event Box in Saudi Arabia).

JEFF STEELE (Male Devil) is originally from Colorado Springs, Colorado and is a History student at CU Boulder. He graduated from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles in 2018, where he specialized in Shakespeare. Notable film credits include Drag (dir. Brandon Sherrill) and Reversal (dir. LazRael Lison). Stage Credits include Mort in California Suite (dir. Joe Garcia) and King Henry V in Henry V (dir. Tim Landfield). He is currently represented in film by Wilhelmina Denver.

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The Soldier’s Tale

Orchestra Roster for The Soldier’s Tale Violin Charles Wetherbee

Bassoon JJ Sechan

Trumpet Leslie Scarpino

Clarinet Michelle Orman

Bass Brian Knott

Trombone Jeremy VanHoy

Percussion Mike Tetreault

Program Notes Stravinsky: L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) If ever a composer could identify with the challenges of performing in public during a global health crisis, Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) was that man. It was 1918. The Russian-born composer had happened to be away from his native Russia, safely ensconced in Paris, at the time of the 1917 Revolution. However, the Revolution and the world war had cut him off from most of his financial resources. The project that would become L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale) was undertaken to solve that problem. Alas, by the time of its premiere in Lausanne, Switzerland September 28, 1918 (slightly before the war ended), an epidemic of influenza was developing. The premiere performance had been well received; taking Soldat on tour proved impossible, as European theaters promptly closed their doors to all. Stravinsky would likely have been impressed by the way the Boulder Philharmonic has marshalled various resources so as to still bring the work to the public.

Soldat is a tale of man against the Devil: a theme that for centuries has fascinated writers and audiences alike. Medieval morality plays revolved around the concept, and folk tales, many of even more ancient origin than those morality plays, are equally obsessed. Sometimes in such stories, man only bests the Devil through the intervention of heavenly powers; such is the case in Goethe’s Faust. Others allow man to save himself through cleverness, and this approach may be the most popular, for who would not enjoy stories of one who defeats a wily opponent by being even more wily? Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale begins in this fashion; it is only when the soldier seeks one pleasure too many that his luck changes. “One happiness at a time,” the text reads.

“The road to twice-as-much leads to none.”

The script for this musical/theatrical hybrid was written for Stravinsky by his friend, Swiss novelist C. F. Ramuz (1878 – 1947). They found inspiration in a collection of Russian folk tales, choosing episodes from various stories about a soldier who, while on leave from the army, has repeated encounters with the Devil in disguise. A side plot concerns a princess who is offered as bride to anyone who can cure her illness. The soldier succeeds and marries her, hence the lyrical, romantic passages of music. It is when

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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The Soldier’s Tale

he is taking the princess home to meet his mother that the Devil recaptures the violin and the soldier’s soul, as well. Had the fellow simply settled for regaining his soul and winning a princess, all would have been well.

Expecting he would need to accommodate the space limitations of various theaters, Stravinsky scored Soldat for rather slender instrumental resources: solo violin, one clarinet, one bassoon, one horn, one trumpet, one trombone, one ensemble violin, one double-bass, and one percussionist. That percussionist is granted a variety of tools, including snare drums, side drums (without snares), bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, and triangle. So even with the addition of a conductor – someone must coordinate between the instruments and the actors, dancer, and narrator – it’s little more than a dozen performers in all. To fill the positions of those performers who are not part of the instrumental ensemble, the Boulder Philharmonic is collaborating with the CU Department of Theater and the Boulder Ballet.

A recurring plot element in Soldat is the violin: the soldier has it, the devil covets it. So violin solos appear frequently in the work, often rather dance-like in spirit, and not always completely lyrical. At times, Stravinsky calls upon distinctly dissonant colors, particularly in the “Little Concert” scene, in which violin and trumpet are set distinctly at odds. Other movements may be quirky or jaunty, saucy or mournful. Even when peace appears, there is often an undercurrent of tension.

When not occupied with spotlighting the violin, Stravinsky may turn to other members of the ensemble, especially the clarinet, though he always comes back to the violin. After all, that’s the prize over which the soldier and the Devil are contesting. One might imagine the violin as emblematic of the soldier’s soul: he wins it back from the Devil by beating him at cards, then loses it once more. Listen for the violin solo’s bright or dark moods to guess in whose care the soul is at any given time. If one wishes to guess from the music who finally wins, note that the closing movement is more sardonic in color than victorious. Moreover, this closing movement bears the heading “Triumphal March of the Devil.” Alas, from the human standpoint, it is not a happy ending. It is, however, quite an energetic way to bring the tale to a close.

Program notes © Betsy Schwarm, author of the Classical Music Insights series

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Beethoven 6 and Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Saturday, April 24

Michael Butterman, Conductor WALKER

Walker, father of longtime Phil concertmaster Gregory Walker, is the first AfricanAmerican to win Pulitzer for music

Lyric for Strings

FUJIWARA Suite from Claudel

The Women’s Studio Waltz

The Age of Maturity

Korine Fujiwara plays in the Carpe Diem Quartet with Charles Wetherbee

Beethoven’s summer sojourn in the countryside

Frequent Flyers® Aerial Dance Artistic Direction: Nancy Smith Choreography: Nancy Smith with Angela Delsanter, Natalie Devine, and Valerie Morris Performed by: Angela Delsanter, Laurel Johnson, Valerie Morris, Nancy Smith

BEETHOVEN/FISCHER Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, Pastoral

(string sextet arrangement)

Allegro vivace e con brio

Allegretto scherzando

Tempo di Menuetto

Allegro vivace Gold Circle Concert Sponsor: John Hedderich

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Photo: David Andrews

Beethoven 6 and Frequent Flyers ZuillAerial and Zwilich Dance

Biography FREQUENT FLYERS® AERIAL DANCE Frequent Flyers® Aerial Dance, founded by Artistic Director, Nancy Smith, is a Boulder-based non-profit celebrating its 33rd year. We have taught over 21,800 students the joy of dancing in the air. The Professional Performing Company has won many awards and accolades. The Company has performed for Cirque du Soleil, around the U.S., and in the Bahamas. Over 205,000 audience members have experienced the beauty and strength of our performances. Frequent Flyers® also created the first international Aerial Dance Festival, celebrating its 23rd year in 2021. Frequent Flyers is considered the flagship aerial dance organization in the world. Visit us for info about classes and performances: www.frequentflyers.org

Orchestra Roster for Beethoven 6 and Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Violin Charles Wetherbee Annamaria Karacson Veronica Sawarynski

Violin II Leah Mohling Sharon Park Cyndi Mancinelli

Viola Michael Brook Stephanie Mienta Matthew Diekman

Cello Charles Lee Charles Barnard Bass David Crowe

Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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Beethoven 6 and Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance

Program Notes Walker: Lyric for Strings Born in Washington D.C, George Walker (1922 – 2018) was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music, taking that honor in 1996 for his Lilacs, a composition after Walt Whitman’s poem “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.” Decades earlier, he had begun his career as a concert pianist, but came to find that composition and teaching were the arenas to which he preferred to devote his energy. Chamber and orchestral works, as well as songs and choral pieces, fill his catalog, though the most frequently performed of all Walker’s compositions is that which concerns us here.

Scored for string ensemble including double-bass, his Lyric for Strings (1946) began life as the central movement of his String Quartet No. 1, containing the only determinedly slow tempo music of the entire work. One could say the same thing of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings (1938); however, Walker’s Lyric is less concerned with despair. It opens gently, having peaceful, dawn-like colorings. Moments of hesitation appear, though these lead to richly impassioned statements. At times, the moods of reserve and the outpourings are juxtaposed directly against one another, as if the two emotions are attempting to co-exist. In the closing pages, all gradually subsides to an almost breathless pause at the close.

Fujiwara: Suite from Claudel – Current composer/violinist/violist Korine Fujiwara is a native of Montana. Perhaps that state’s “Big Sky” reputation has led her to think ambitiously in her music. Certainly, there is plenty of substance to her dramatic work Claudel (2014). Its instrumental requirements are provided by a string ensemble; its major visual component is dance, as the Boulder Philharmonic welcomes the Frequent Flyers ensemble. Together, it’s a multi-media portrait of French artist Camille Claudel (1864 – 1943): studio assistant, then muse, then, for nearly a decade, and lover of Auguste Rodin (1840 – 1917). Throughout their association, Claudel also created her own sculptures, and was building an artistic reputation. However, when Rodin broke off their relationship, Claudel began to suffer bouts of emotional distress. Her family committed her to an asylum. Decades later, her life would come to an end within those walls.

The Boulder Philharmonic will be performing three movements from the concert suite that Fujiwara crafted from the full version of Claudel. The chosen movements allow both instruments and dance to have a place in the tapestry, and also provide three different perspectives on the artist’s life. First comes The Women’s Studio, representing the art school where Clau-

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Boulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

Beethoven 6 and Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance

del received much of her training, virtually the only one in Paris where women students were permitted to study sculpture.

Fujiwara renders the scene with gracefully flowing lines and touches of pizzicato, as if these young ladies are beginning their studies with a bit of trepidation.

Next is what was originally its fifth movement, and its most conventionally dance-like: The Waltz. Cheerful (if quirky) applications of waltz rhythms appear, with melodies that acquire ornamentation as they go along. Here, one of Claudel’s most admired sculptures, depicting a man and woman in an intimate swirl of frozen motion, and also titled The Waltz, is given musical expression. In Fujiwara’s music, one can readily imagine the curves of that bronze, which ends in a rather spirited conclusion.

The Suite from Claudel ends with The Age of Maturity, in which one finds not brilliant accolades, but rather sorrow: Rodin has ended their relationship. Solo cello and solo violin are juxtaposed, the one regretful, the other increasingly impassioned.

Surely one may imagine that the one represents Rodin and the other Claudel herself. Waltz patterns appear, but do not endure as the suite comes to a close.

I. The Women’s Studio II. The Waltz III. The Age of Maturity

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F major, op. 68, “Pastoral” – arranged for string sextet Imagine the courage it would take to attempt to reduce one of mighty Beethoven’s best-known symphonies down to chamber form. Now make the challenge even more formidable by limiting the performers to six string instruments: no woodwinds, no brass, no percussion. If that still seems insufficiently daunting, have the arranger undertake the task while Beethoven was still alive to provide criticism. Admittedly, at the time, Beethoven was already profoundly deaf, so he could not hear the re-imagined symphony, except in his imagination. However, he could certainly see the notes on the page and, according to colleagues, expressed no reservations about the result.

The year was 1809, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 had only premiered the previous December, and the valiant arranger was Michael Gotthard Fischer (1773 – 1829). Surely in the 18 years that remained to Beethoven’s life, someone brought Fischer’s creation to his attention. However, none of the various friends and colleagues who published memoirs of Beethoven bothered to mention that the great man had expressed any displeasure with the result. Apparently, Fischer had done an adequate job of translating Beethoven’s vision into string sextet form. Anyone who admires Beethoven’s symphonies but perhaps lacks the personnel or the stage space to play them as originally scored ought to be grateful for Fischer’s effort.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 is the one known as the “Pastoral” for its imaginative plot line. In the first movement, the protagBoulder Phil 2020-21 Reimagined

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Beethoven 6 and Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance

onist revels in delightful feelings inspired by his arrival in the countryside. During the second movement, he strolls along the banks of a placid brook, perhaps smiling at wisps of bird song. The third movement brings a boisterous country celebration, perhaps fueled by plenty of ale, before the onset of a formidable thunderstorm. As the storm passes, the fifth and final movement arrives with songs of thanks from the shepherds. For fans of the original Fantasia film (1940), much of this is accompanied by visions of centaurs and winged horses. Beethoven himself had provided only movement headings, not specific imagery. However, that there is first quiet pleasure, then roisterous merrymaking, then a formidable storm, and lastly, a return to relaxation is made utterly clear by the music itself.

As for Fischer’s arrangement for two violins, two violas, and two cellos, it contains all the melodies, most of the harmonies, and a fully varied swath of moods. In places where discriminating minds might consciously perceive the absence of nonstring instruments, one finds that strings manage the complexities perfectly well. At the close of the Scene by the Brook, all the bird songs are there, with first violin taking the flute’s nightingale song, second violin presenting the oboe’s quail, and first viola providing the clarinet’s cuckoo call. The thunder of the storm scene is easily managed by strong bow work on the cellos, and when time comes for the song of thanksgiving, originally an exchange between clarinet and French horn, one finds that first violin and first cello are up to the task. When circumstances do not permit a full orchestra on stage, Fischer’s sextet arrangement provides almost everything a lover of the original Pastoral Symphony could ask. Moreover, it stands easily on its own as a compelling tapestry for strings.

I. II. III. IV. V.

Awakening of Awakening of Cheerful Feelings upon Arriving in the Country – Allegro ma non troppo Scene by the Brook – Andante molto mosso Joyful Gathering of the Countryfolk – Allegro Storm – Allegro Shepherd’s Song. Happy and Thankful Feelings after the Storm – Allegretto

Program notes © Betsy Schwarm, author of the Classical Music Insights series

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